that it enabled operatives to have different sleepingrooms for themselves and their young children.

"As the train stopped at Edgware Road, Baker Street, Portland Road, and, indeed, every other station, fresh crowds were waiting on the platform, ready to avail themselves of it; and when we reached Gower Street, we and the manager got into another carriage, so as to be able to consult as many working men as possible on the matter. Here we found a butcher on his way to the meatmarket, a newsvendor going to fetch his morning papers, and others connected with the building trade. We spoke to a carpenter in a grey slouch hat, and with the brass top of his foot-rule just peeping out of the side pocket of his trousers. He was one of those strange growling and grumbling characters so often met with among the working classes. For his part, he didn't see that working men were in any way gainers by the cheap trains, as it cost them is. a week for travelling. All he knew was, that he paid about the same rent out at Paddington as when he lived in Clerkenwell; for landlords were landlords, all the world over. If a man did save is. a week, what was it? Only a pint of beer a day. Besides, the company hadn't kept faith with the public; they had made grand speeches in Parliament about the great benefits they were going to confer on the working classes by giving them penny trains, and directly they got their bill passed, by such humbug, they began by charging them twopence. What was a working man to save upon that, he should like to know?

666

'Come, come, mate,' said another workman, 'fair's fair. Just think of what these here trains save you at night after your work's over. If a man gets home tired after his day's labour, he is inclined to be quarrelsome with his missus and the children, and this leads to all kinds of noises, and ends in his going off to the public for a little bit of quiet; while if he gets a ride home, and has a good rest after he has knocked off for the day, I can tell you he is as pleasant a fellow again over his supper. Besides, if a chap's on piece-work, as I am, it makes a good bit of difference in his earnings at the week's end, whether he goes to his work fagged with walking a long way to it, or comes fresh to it after a ride.'

"On our way to Farringdon Street we passed the early down-train; and this, we could just see, was full of costermongers coming from the Saturday morning's market. At a later part of the same day we travelled from the City to Bishop's Road, in company with other men returning from their work. Many of these lived out at Silver Street, Notting Hill. One man in particular was very communicative, and delighted to go into all the

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details of what he saved by being able to live in the suburbs. 'He had a six-roomed house, with a kitchen,' he said, 'and for this he paid £28 the year, rent and taxes. He let off four rooms for 8s. the week, so that he stood at about 35. a week rent for himself, and for the same accommodation as he had now he would have to pay from 6s. to 6s. 6d. the week in some wretched dog-hole in town.' He certainly found that things were very dear out at Kensington, where he lived; but this made hardly any difference to him, for he did all his marketing at Newgate Market after his work was over, early on the Saturday. 'See here, sir,' said he, spreading open the bass-basket on his knee, there's a prime bit of ribs of beef for the young ones to pitch into to-morrow. I gave 71d. the pound for it, and where I hang out it would have cost me 1od. or 11d. There ain't so much difference in vegetables, and bread's pretty well the same price everywhere. It's mostly people in the building trade as comes up by these trains to the heavy jobs in the City. No one can say what benefit the trains are to men like us. Why, I've made seven and a half days this week, and if it wasn't for the convenience of them, I shouldn't have done six.""

So much for the Underground Railway. This, however, although a very gigantic work, is but a fraction, so to speak, of the intricate and almost inexplicable labyrinth of arteries and sinews that go to make up the great body of "Underground London." Mr. Charles Knight, in his "London," has pithily remarked:-"Could we imagine that this great capital of capitals should ever be what Babylon is-its very site forgotten-one could not but almost envy the delight with which the antiquaries of that future time would hear of some discovery of a London below the soil still remaining. We can fancy we see the progress of the excavators from one part to another of the mighty but, for a while, inexplicable labyrinth, till the whole was cleared open to the daylight, and the vast system lay bare before them, revealing, in the clearest language, the magnitude and splendour of the place to which it had belonged, the skill and enterprise of the people. Let us reflect for a moment upon what this system accomplishes. Do we want water in our houses? We turn a small instrument, and the limpid stream from the springs of Hertfordshire, or of Hampstead Heath, or from the river Thames, comes flowing, as it were by magic, into our vessels. Do we wish to get rid of it when no longer serviceable? The trouble is no greater; in an instant it is on its way through the silent depths. Do we wish for an

of Sewers," whose members were nominated by the Government, and during the nine succeeding years six new and differently-constituted commissions were successively appointed; but throughout this period they appear to have been unable to mature and carry out works of any magnitude with the view of remedying the evils arising from the sewage flowing into the Thames. In 1854, Mr. Bazalgette, the chief engineer to the Commissioners of Sewers, was directed to prepare a scheme of intercepting sewers, intended to effect the main drainage of London, and Mr. Haywood was associated with him for the northern portion. These plans remained under consideration until the formation of the Metropolitan Board of Works, two years later, when fresh plans for the drainage of the metropolis were drawn up by Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Bazalgette. After some further delay, these plans were eventually adopted, and the works were commenced in 1859. The chief object sought to be attained by the main drainage works was the interception of the sewage, so as to divert it from the river near London. New lines of sewers were accordingly constructed, laid at right angles to those already existing, and a little below their levels, so as to intercept their contents and convey them to outfalls about fourteen miles below London Bridge. These outfalls are situated at Barking Creek, in Essex, and at Crossness Point, in Erith Marshes. As large a proportion of the sewage as practicable is by this means carried away by gravitation into the salt water, and for the remainder a constant discharge is effected by pumping with powerful engines and machinery. At the outlets the sewage is received into reservoirs, situate on the banks of the Thames, and placed at such a level as will enable them to discharge into the river at or about the time of high water. By this arrangement the sewage is not only at once diluted by the large volume of salt water in the Thames at high water, but is also carried by the ebb tide to a point in the river some twenty-six miles below London Bridge, and the possibility of its return by the following tide within the metropolitan area is by this means effectually prevented.

The drainage of London on the north side of the Thames is effected by three lines of sewers, the High Level, the Middle Level, and the Low Level. The first of these commences by a junction with the old Fleet sewer, at the foot of Hampstead Hill, and passes through Upper Holloway, Stoke Newington, and Hackney Wick, to Abbey Mills pumping-station, near Plaistow ; the second commences at Bayswater, and skirting

Hyde Park, passes along Oxford Street, High Holborn, and by the railway-station in Farringdon Road, and Old Street Road, and joins the High Level sewer at Old Ford; whilst the Low Level sewer, with its branches, extends from Chiswick and Acton to Abbey Mills, passing on its way by Chelsea and Pimlico, where we have already noticed the large pumping-station,* and so on by the Houses of Parliament, and along the Victoria Embankment. From the pumping-station at Abbey Mills the drainage is conveyed across Plaistow Marshes by the outfall sewer to the reservoir at Barking Creek. On the south side of the Thames the intercepting sewers extend from Upper Norwood, Clapham, and Putney, in three main lines, to Deptford, where they unite, and thence pass on through Charlton and Woolwich, and across Plumstead Marsh to the pumping-house and reservoir at Crossness Point.

It need hardly be mentioned that during the formation of this vast net-work of sewers-comprising, as it does on the whole, something over 1,300 miles—a large number of ancient remains of animals, coins, and curiosities, were found; they consisted chiefly of the bones of elephants, whales, and horns of deer and oxen, with some flint implements of war, and human skulls, stone and leaden coffins, and a number of Roman coins.

It must not, however, be supposed that the various railway tunnels are all, or nearly all, the wonders of subterranean London, for the arrangements for supplying the metropolis with gas and water, and for carrying off the drainage from the streets and dwellings of the entire metropolis, are equally wonderful; and as these present a terra incognita to most readers of the educated classes, they may well claim a brief notice here.

Any one who has seen London at night from some elevation in the neighbourhood—say Hampstead Heath, or Sydenham Hill-will readily understand how minute, as well as extensive, must be the network of pipes overspreading its soil a few feet below the surface, to afford an unfailing supply of gas to illuminate such a vast space as is spread out before him. Thirty years after the general introduction of gas for the lighting of the metropolis-which took place in 1814-there were no less than eighteen public gas-works in London and its immediate vicinity, and twelve public gasworks companies; the capital employed in works, pipes, tanks, gas-holders, apparatus, &c., amounted to the sum of £2,800,000, and the yearly revenue derived represented nearly £500,000. 180,000

*See p. 41, ante.

Underground London.]

tons of coal were annually used in the making of gas; 1,460,000,000 cubic feet of gas were made in the year; 134,300 private burners were supplied to about 400,000 customers; there were 30,400 public or street consumers-about 2,650 of these were in the City of London; 380 lamp-lighters were employed; 176 gas-holders, several of which were double ones, capable of storing 5,500,000 cubic feet; 890 tons of coal were used in the retorts in the shortest day, in twenty-four hours; 7,120,000 cubic feet of gas were used in the longest night (say 24th of December); and about 2,500 persons were employed in the metropolis alone in this branch of manufacture. Between the years 1822 and 1827 the consumption of gas was nearly doubled; and within the next ten years it was again nearly doubled; and since 1837 these figures must be trebled. Since 1841, when the above statistics were taken, many of the gas companies have amalgamated; and in 1872 their number was reduced to nine, a number which has since been slightly increased. One advantage of the amalgamation of the different companies is that the consumer's interests are more effectually provided for, and that the gas is supplied at a lower price and better in quality.

In a previous chapter we have spoken of the pipes that were laid from the conduit at Bayswater* in order to supply the City with water. We learn from Stow that this arrangement dated from the time of Henry III., when—" the river of the Wells, the running water of Walbrook, the bourns, and other the fresh water that were in and about the City, being in process of time, by encroachment for buildings, and otherwise heightening of grounds, utterly decayed, and the number of the citizens mightily increased, they were forced to seek sweet waters abroad "—at the request of the king, powers were "granted to the citizens and to their successors by one Gilbert Sanford, to convey water from the town of Tyburn, by pipes of lead, into the City." Besides the conduits which were set up in Cheapside, Leadenhall, Fleet Street, and other public places, "bosses" of water were also provided in different parts, which, like the conduits, in some places drew their supply from the Thames. The conduits and water-heads, as we have already had occasion to show, used to be regularly visited in former times by the Lord Mayor "and many worshipful persons, and divers of the masters and wardens of the twelve companies." During these early days the water had to be brought from the conduits to the dwellings of the inhabitants in

See p. 183, ante.

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pitchers or other vessels. It was not until 1582 that any great mechanical power or skill was applied in providing London with water; in that year, however, Peter Morris, a Dutchman, made at London Bridge a "most artificial forcier," by which water was conveyed into the houses. We are told how that, on the Lord Mayor and Aldermen going to view the works in operation, Morris, to show the efficiency of his machine, caused the water to be thrown over St. Magnus' Church. The water-works at the bridge were famous for a long time as one of the sights of London. In 1594 water-works of a similar kind were erected near Broken Wharf, which supplied the houses in West Cheap and around St. Paul's, as far as Fleet Street. This was all that was accomplished in the way of supplying London with water up to the appearance of Hugh Middleton, "citizen and goldsmith," upon the scene, early in the reign of James I. It seems that power had been granted by Elizabeth for cutting and conveying a river from any part of Middlesex or Hertfordshire to the City of London, with a limitation of ten years' time for the accomplishment of the work; but the man to accomplish it was not forthcoming. James I. confirmed the grant; and then it was that Middleton came forward with the offer of his wealth, skill, and energy. After long search and deliberation two springs rising in Hertfordshire were fixed upon, and in 1608 the work was actually commenced. Of the difficulties and obstacles with which the worthy "citizen and goldsmith" met in the accomplishment of his self-imposed task, and also of the "New River," which he formed, we have spoken in our account of Islington.*

When London, however, mustered beyond a million of inhabitants, even the "New River" failed to give an adequate supply of water to the mouths and the houses which required it, and other companies were formed for the purpose of supplying different parts of the great metropolis, and the Chelsea and other water-works were started by various companies in succession. Of some of these we have already made mention.

In 1833-4, the quantity of water daily supplied by the eight different water companies of London was upwards of 21,000,000 imperial gallons. By far the greatest portion of this was drawn from the Thames, a small quantity from the springs and ponds of Highgate and Hampstead, and the rest from the River Lea and the New River. The capital expended on the works of these companies then amounted to more than £3,000,000, and their

See Vol. II., p. 266.