The Greatness of London.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 931, 3 January 1890, Page 4

The Greatness of London.

Every four minutes marks a birth. In the next two hours after you read this thirty babies have been born, and twenty deaths have taken place. Think of it ! The oven, ing paper that records the births and deathß of the preceding fonr-and-twenty hours must give 300 separate items. Yerily its joys and sorrows are a multitude. London has 7000 miles of streets, aud if you walked them at the rate of twenty miles a day you would have to walk almost a year, and more than' a year by nearly fifty days, if you should rest on Sundays. And if you were a thirsty sort of a traveller, and couldn’t pass a public house, don’t be alarmed—the 7000 miles have 75 miles of public houses ; so you need not think of thirst. In a year London folks swallow down 500,000 oxen, 2,000,000 sheep, 200,000 calves, 300,000 swine, 5,000,000 head of fowls, 500,000,000 pounds of fish, 500,000,000 oysters, 200,000,000 lobsters—is that enough to figure on ? If not there are Borne million tons of canned provisions, no end of fruit and vegetables, and 50,000,000 bushels of wheat. But how they wash all the food down you might feel glad to know. It takeß 200,000,000 quarts of beer. But more than this, they drink 10,000,000 quarts of rum aud 50,000,000 quartß of wine—the wine, the rum. the beer, 260,000,000 quarts.—London Telegraph.