CAVE OF ALADDIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19418, 28 August 1926, Page 2 (Supplement)

CAVE OF ALADDIN.

TREASURE UNDER LONDON, WONDERFUL RAILWAY HOARD WORKING DAY AND NIGHT. In the heart of London recently a writer in Tit-Bits stumbled upon a hidden cava, a huge subterranean vault, the presence of which not one in fifty suspects. From its lofty ceiling hundreds of lamps shed their beams upon fantastic scene of ordered chaos. Hundreds of men in strange attire busied themselves with bales and boxes of various merchandise, sorting them and storing them in huge piles against the wails. Ihe sounds of hurrying feet and raucous shouts that echoed strangely in the lofty cavern vied with the noises of barrows and trucks moving hither and thither laden with packages bearing the names of faroff towns. Strange scents brought to mind exotic perfumes of the East. Approaching one of the mystorious workers, the writer said: " Hullo, Smbad, whose place is this?" "My name's Alf Bloggs, and this 'ere 'ole is the tarringdon Street City Depot of the London

and North-Eastern Railway," he replied, gruffly. That ended a fanciful romance, but the many interesting features of this underground goods station still possessed an attraction. The investigator learned that this depot lies directly below Smithfield Market, while below the depot flows the old River Fleet. There is only one opening for. trains, and through this they come j and go day and night throughout the year. They arrive from Scotland and the Midlands laden with goods for London firms, disgorge their loads, and depart North shortly afterwards with .further supplies ..collected from City warehouses. ( When a train arrives its trucks are immediately uncoupled and distributed bv hydraulic capstans to various unloading platforms. Those that cannot, be conveniently handled on the ground floor are lifted bodily by three waggon-hoists, one of which has a capacity of 27 tons, to a second floor which contains 12 unloading bays. Into these, trucks are skilfully directed by mechanical means. The goods are then taken from the trucks and dispatched, after checking, to the Cifcy warehouses. Trains that arrive ih the early morning are unloaded and the goods delivered" to their Cifcy destinations as soon as the shops and stores are open. Apart from the section where the loading and unloading is performed, there is

a space of 50,000 square feet on an upper floor set apart for the use of private traders who desire the railway company ito store their goods for them. This place is a veritable Aladdin's cave. There are mountains of "casks and crates containing every variety of merchandise; silks, cottons and linens from Manchester; thousands of boxes of silk stockings from lihe Lancashire mills, and woollen and leather goods from Yorkshire. The writer concludes:—"One crate that towered above its neighbours caught my eye. I peered into it, and then jumped back. A boo} was sticking out! All my. first (suspicions of the place returned. Suppose, after all, this was a villain's hoard! A modern Bluebeard, perhaps, who stacked bis victims in grim-looking boxes! Taking courage 1 looked again, and ther. liighed with mingled relief and disappointment. They were only boots—thousands of them from busy Midland factories."