Some of London's Records

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXI, Issue 8835, 15 July 1905, Page 4 (Supplement)

Some of London's Records

I Heavy Tainbursts mean a tremendous loss to London. The damage done in a twentyI minutes' tempest to ladies' dresses alone has been assessed by experts at £12,000. In the case of men's attire, the damage I caused by the tempest has been assessed at five figures. The amount of damage done to men's 'hats by the mud of London is also an extremely heavy item. The loss from injury done by London smoke to paint, decorations, hangings, carpets, and clothes has been estimated by Sir Charles Cookson. Taking all these items into consideration, in addition to the cost of extra -washing and cleaning,, he states that the sum amounts annually to £4,000,000. Again, the amounts of money spent on soap, due to the hard condition of the Lon- I don water, is also an immense one. j Then, take the quantity of water used for extinguishing fires in the county of London. According to an official return issued by the London Fire Brigade it amounts to 27,000,000 gallons a year. This gigantic quantity of -water -weighs somewhere about 120,536 tons. The actual amount of damage done by fire in London is incalculable. In a statement issued by the officials of the London Fire Brigade it was state<Pthat in the year 3574 fires occurred in London. London suffers tremendously from the roads always , being "up." For instance, take' the case of the disturbance of traffic caused by a J

single private company, the Gas Light and Coke Company. In evidence before the Traffic Commission it was stated that in one year the company pulled up the streets in 21,273 places. London suffers greatly from the depredations of rats. The sanitary authorities aro continually waging war against rats. These rats are destroyed and their bodies burnt in ships' furnaces at the London docks. During a recent period of sis months alone the rodents' death Toll Teached no less a, total than 238,531. _. . - London is responsible for the production of over seventy insane persons each week. It is due, not so much to overwork as to worry and anxiety. Alcohol is the cause of all insanity. occurring in the males of London, and more than half this proportion in women. The leading family in London is the Smith family. In the new issue of the London directory the Smith head the poll with a large majority, as they are responsible for about 1500 entries. Next comes the Jones family with 950, followed by the Browns with 700, and tho Robinsons with only half this number. The City of London itself is only of small area, the total being 638 acres. This area contains 48j miles of streets, and has a Tatable value of practically £5,000,000. This is one-eighth of the ratable value of Greater London. Every day 100,000 vehicles and 1,250,000 people go to the city, but at night the tide ebbs back, and leaves only a paltry village population of 26,923. The population during day is estimated at 360,000.

In a single day 248,000 people use the crossing in front of the Mansion House, without counting 60,000 people who pass through the sub-way beneath the street. Every working day before 10,30 more than 87 workmen's trains, 396 cheap trains, and 365 ordinary trains run into Central London. In fact, more than 500,000 people aTrive in Central London by that hour. There is one house in London which rakes in over £2,000,000 every week. This is Somerset House, and the inland revenue department may well be called the goldfield of the Strand. However, the burgling profession avoid Somerset House; although the clerks of the Bank of England call once every twenty-four hours, they invariably do so in broad daylight, and take away the money in four-wheelers.

London has the biggest flagstaff in the world. The flagstaff upon which floats the Union Jack above the House of Parliament is the highest on any tower in the world. In order to get to it, one has to ascend the longest semi-circular staircase in existence.

Again, the great archway guarding the entrance to the House of Parliament is the third highest in the world. The carpet in the Royal Gallery is the largest ever woven.