GREATER LONDON

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXII, Issue 12432, 3 April 1908, Page 4

GREATER LONDON

Some idea of the great things expected of London is given in one of the reports of the Metropolitan Water Board. Fresh works are contemplated by the Board, and it is making provision for sufficient water to meet the needs of 16,000,000 persons, which, it is thought, will be London's population in fifty years. This has set a writer in a London newspaper thinking of the future, and he is appalled at the result of his investigations. In the first place, he has pictured in his mind this vast concourse of human beings marching past a corner, at the ordinary walking pace of three miles* an hour, each person occupying one yard of space. It would take them eighteen weeks, marching all day and all night, Sundays included, to go by. In a single day they would eat 7000 tons of bread, they would drink 666,000 gallons of milk, use 528, 000,000 gallons of water, consume 7,000500 pounds of fruits and vegetables, and 6,000,00 pounds of meat, and burn nearly 100,000 tons of coal. It will be a great problem to meet the demands of tranic. From 1881 to 1901 the population of Greater London increased by something more than one-third, but the number of passengers on the railway, the tramway and the omnibus was muhtplied three times. It is estimated that by 1961 Londoners will be making at least three hundred journeys each every year. This will give 4,800,000,000 passengers, about four times as many as ore carried at present. Even now, in one hour, between 11 a.m. and 12 noon, traffic is held up for thirty-seven minutes at Princes 1 Street, and between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. for fortythrfee minutdfc at St. James's Street, Piccadilly. To meet the demands of the future almost incredible changes must be made in the thorughfares. Main roads will be widened, and there will be overhead railways and more underground railways. There will probably be balconies running from house co house continuously, to relieve the footways, with shops, restaurants, post offices, banks and other institutions on the first floors. Calculations based on figures for the present time show that there -will be 48,000 criminal offences in the year. There will be 600,000 indoor paupers, 500,000 indoor patients, 80,000 insane persons, and a police force of 36,000 men, which is the full strength 01 an army corps. By that time, evidently, London will be a good place to avoid.