Londinium
as they called it, was occupied by the Romans 43 A. D. York was their British capital, but London was an important camp-a landing place for Watling Street. In the time of Nero it was a celebrated resort of merchants and a center of shipping. The London of Constantine extended from the Tower along the Thames westward about a mile. It was inclosed by a wall, the gates of which are still commemorated by streets. Lud-gate, Posterngate, Bishop's-gate, Moor-gate, Cripplegate, Alder's-gate, and New-gate mark the location, it is believed, of Roman entrances. Excavations for foundations still bring up antiquities, burial caskets, statues, bits of pavement, terra cotta ornaments, lamps, vases, dishes, goblets, trinkets, spoons, needles, pins, etc., dating from the time of Roman occupation.
The original London-the Old London of Wat Tyler-and Jack Cade, the London of fires, famines, and pestilence, the London from which John Gilpin set out on his famous ride-is still known as "The City." It lay, as described, on the left bank of the river at the head of deep water navigation. It is still the very heart of London. It contains St. Paul's Cathedral, the bank of England, the Royal Exchange, Mansion House, Guildhall, Goldsmiths' Hall, Mercers' Hall, the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, the Tower, the Inns of Court, and many other historic buildings. Its chief street, the Fleet, skirted formerly the edge of the Thames. "The City" is the financial center of London. In the daytime the offices are occupied by about a third of a million people; at night, the City is inhabited by not to exceed 30,000 permanent residents and watchmen. It is connected with the right bank of the river by famous London Bridge. Down the river from the City lies the East End, the region of docks and warehouses; while up the river lies the West End, the region of the Strand, the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the modern palaces, clubhouses, and great parks for which London is noted.
The modern municipality of London entirely surrounds the Old City. It lies on both sides of the Thames, occupying a territory about fourteen miles long by eight wide, and covering an area of about 122 square miles. The Thames is crossed by a score or more of bridges. London proper, or Metropolitan London, as it is called, had a population in 1901 of 4,536,541, greater than that of either Scotland or Ireland. The present population is not less than 5,000,000. If suburbs were counted, as is the present tendency in America, Greater London, within a radius of fifteen miles from Charing Cross, could report a total population of 6,800,000.
It is difficult to convey an adequate idea of the size of so great a city. More Scotch reside in London than in Edinburgh; more Irish than in Dublin; more Jews than in Palestine. There are thousands of streets. No one person has ever seen them all. The city grows at the rate of 25 buildings and 300 people daily. It is guarded by 15,000 policemen.
Although London is visited by the ships of all nations, travelers land usually at any one of a dozen different smaller ports and hurry up to the city by train. They arrive at any one of fourteen railway stations. It is estimated that arriving trains bring many million passengers annually. Within the city there are 12,000 cabs, 100 lines of omnibuses, and extensive tramways. The omnibuses collect 200,000,000 fares a year; the tramways, 300,000,000. In the summer time coaches and tallyhoes carry a great many people to the country.
There are three systems or circles of underground railways. They run through fifty-two miles of tunnels beneath streets and buildings. They are reached by well lighted stairways. Hastening people disappear like streams of ants, making their way underground. Passenger transportation is further assisted by a fleet of small steamboats plying to and fro between forty-eight piers or landing places. There are 500 hotels and 1,700 coffee houses. The region about the British Museum, once the aristocratic section of the city, is now given up very largely to boarding houses. This is the section in which travelers usually reside.
The postal system of the city is excellent. It is, of course, under national management. It cares not only for ordinary mail matter but for telegrams, postal orders, and parcels as well. There are 12,000 carriers. Short telegrams may be sent for a sixpence. Small parcels and bulky parcels, even valises, not exceeding seventy-one pounds in weight, may be sent to the end of the kingdom at a cost not exceeding a shilling.
The shops of London, stores, we call them, are not so gay as those of Paris, but they are exceedingly attractive. Watches, jewelry, optical instruments, stationery, books, periodicals, prints, engravings, musical instruments, photographs of public buildings, millinery, lace, silks, clothing, gloves, furs, cutlery, glassware, china, carpets, rugs, artists' material, and table delicacies are displayed temptingly. Bazaars are a feature of the city. There are several arcades with stalls. The Soho Bazaar is one of the most attractive bazaars in the world. There are 50 theaters and 1,200 churches. All shops and places of amusement are closed on Sunday.
London is governed by a city council. The city debt is $223,000,000. The annual expenditure is greater than that of Norway and Sweden combined and four times that of Denmark. A million lamps are required to light the streets. Water from wells, springs, distant streams and the upper reaches of the Thames is supplied by eight different companies. Although it is allowed to settle in tanks and is filtered through beds of sand, the quality is regarded as far from satisfactory. Two hundred million gallons are required daily. A very complete system of sewers covers the territory on both sides of the river. Sewage is conducted by main tunnels to a point far below the city. It is then pumped from lower to higher levels and sent out to sea. At times the tides bring polluted water back into the city, causing trouble.
Public baths have been provided on a large scale. There is a nominal charge ranging from a penny upward. For so large a city, sanitary conditions are fair. During fifteen years the death rate has fallen from 24 people to 16 people per 1,000, a saving of about 37,000 lives a year. Even yet, one child in seven dies before reaching the age of twelve months.
The markets of the city are not particularly attractive, but they are conducted on a scale that almost surpasses belief. According to statistics already outgrown, the city consumes 8,000,000 head of poultry and game, 400,000,000 pounds of fish, 500,000,000 oysters, 1,200,000 lobsters and 300,000,000 salmon a year. The butchers' sales of beef, veal, mutton, and pork amount to $300,000,000. The consumption of bread, fruit, vegetables, tea, coffee, sugar, and-other household supplies is on a corresponding scale. In addition to the markets, there are over 3,000 bakeries and as many butcher shops. A vast amount of peddling is carried on by means of pushcarts. Billingsgate market is famous for fish; Leadenhall market, for poultry and game; Smithfield, for fresh meats; Covent garden, for vegetables, fruit, and especially for flowers and house plants.
The greater part of the city is unattractive in appearance. It is a vast sea of dingy, blackened, grimy, brick buildings. Coal is depended upon for fuel. A heavy dark pall hangs over the city the greater part of the time. Statisticians have estimated that the air contains no less than 7,000,000 tons of smoke and coal dust. It has been suggested that power and heat be applied by electricity-developed in the Midland coal fields. If the project proves feasible, it will solve the smoke problem. In early winter, a heavy fog is likely to roll up from the sea, making street traffic almost impossible. There are on an average, 1,326 hours of sunshine yearly. The temperature is, on the whole, equable. The greatest extremes known are 20 deg. and 81 deg. The annual rainfall is about 25 inches, New York has 44.
No city in the world presents greater contrasts. The poorer sections are indescribably squalid and dirty. The men are drunken; the women are slatternly and tipsy; the children are poorly clad and poorly fed. They live from hand to mouth. The men work in the docks when work is to be had; the women go out to service; the children are required by law to attend school. Truant officers see that they do. At night the parents return with a shilling or two, which they spend for a day's rent, a little coal, or some food. Too often the greater part goes for gin. Heroic efforts have been made to mend the condition of the London poor. Entire quarters formerly occupied by reeking, filthy rookeries, have been torn down by authority of Parliament and replaced by respectable tenements in which the humblest wage earners may find shelter and bathing privileges at nominal cost. Public schools have been established throughout the entire city. Even yet, so great is the destitution and want of foresight among the poorer people, that thousands of children come to school too feeble and too hungry to work until they have been marched down into the basement and given a bowl of soup and a piece of bread.
The eastern part of the city is the home of the greatest misery. In the western end there are spacious parks, squares adorned with monuments and statuary, and streets of spacious marble mansions. Lackeys, carriages, prancing horses, mounted harness, furs, laces, and silks give an impression of unbounded wealth. Between the two sections lies the great London of commerce and finance. The roar of traffic and the hurry of business on the Strand, the Fleet, and adjacent streets is unequaled.
London is a manufacturing city of importance. It is the largest brewing, distilling, and sugar refining center in the world. There are extensive manufactures of silk, metal goods of all kinds, plated ware, jewelry, watches, brass work, hats, furniture, and carriages. The making of cloth, boots and shoes, and millinery centers largely in London. The enormous shipping interests have built up manufactures of ropes, masts, sails, and all sorts of ship supplies. Soaps and dyes are made on a large scale. The annual production of books, periodicals, and papers exceeds that of any other city in the world.
It goes without saying that London is the greatest port in the world. The Thames from the Bridge of London downward for twenty miles is one vast port. Counting fishing boats, sailing vessels, steamers and all, it may be said that a ship arrives from some part of the world every minute of the day and night. Enormous docks have been excavated along the banks of the Thames. They are surrounded by wharves, sheds, vaults, and warehouses of vast dimensions. St. Catherine's docks occupy an area of twenty-four acres. London docks, lying farther to the east, cost $20,000,000, and cover one hundred twenty acres. The tobacco dock alone covers an area of five acres. A kiln and tall chimney in which officials destroy adulterated goods, when found, is known as the "Queen's Tobacco Pipe." The East India docks and the West India docks receive the imports from these regions. Albert dock, finished in 1880, admits ships drawing thirty feet of water. Ships enter through gates at high tide. The gates are closed before the tide goes out. Though the water in the river sinks until the Thames is reduced to a dirty ditch, the ships ride safely in the docks and discharge their cargoes or take on goods for foreign ports. Of a busy day as high as 3,000 men are employed carrying goods in a single dock. They are a sorry-looking lot. They are admitted at the city gate in the morning in the order of "First come, first served." They work all day, possibly without food. At night, they clutch a few pennies and go back to the city. Some take their money to their families; others spend it for food and liquor and sleep in the gutter or in doorways. In the morning they are back again in an army besieging the gates for work. In 1902 the tonnage of the port of London was 17,564,108. In 1900 the total value of the imports, largely food-stuffs, was $875,000,000. The exports for the same year, chiefly clothing, cloth, and manufactured articles, was $450,000,000. Aside from slight charges for dock privileges, and with the exception of a few articles, the ships of any nation with which the United Kingdom is at peace may land goods at the London docks and reload without paying custom duties.
It is out of the question to give an adequate idea of the crowding and the roar of London. As Dr. Holmes remarks, "the great sight of London is London." The reader who is interested in the mock auctions, pickpockets, thieves, coffeehouses, curio shops, street scenes, and types of humanity to be met in London may find them described in Dickens' pages. Oliver Twist, Old Curiosity Shop, and Dombey and Son are excellent reading. They describe London as it was seen by Dickens fifty years ago and are not yet out of date.
A noted writer sums up London as follows: "London sits enthroned at the gates of the sea, the mighty center, commercial, financial, political, social, and intellectual, of a vast realm, where English laws, English institutions, the English tongue, and all the treasures of English literature reign and govern and enrich the lives and the minds of millions of men, generation after generation, all over the globe, with a sovereignty that seems imperishable and destined never to pass away."
See special articles on ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL; BANK OF ENGLAND; LONDON BRIDGE; BILLINGSGATE; THAMES; LONDON TOWER; CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE; CHARING CROSS; HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT; WESTMINSTER ABBEY; PALL MALL; PICCADILLY; BRITISH MUSEUM; SLOANE; HYDE PARK; KENSINGTON; CRYSTAL PALACE; WINDSOR; KEW; LLOYD'S; SCOTLAND YARD; SPURGEON; DERBY; CLUB; FIRES; ST. JAMES; INNS OF COURT; CHARING CROSS; CHELSEA; HAMPTON COURT; WATLING; BOADICEA; GREENWICH, etc.