Part 51
Of the two great lines of streets parallel to the river, the one extending along Oxford-street, Holborn, Cheapside, Cornhill, and Whitechapel to the Regent’s-canal, Mile-end, is, says Mr. McCulloch, “above six miles in length;” while that which stretches from Knightsbridge along Piccadilly, the Haymarket, Pall-mall East, the Strand, Fleet-street, Watling-street, Eastcheap, Tower-street, and so on by Ratcliffe-highway to the West India Docks, is, according to the same authority, about equal in length to the other. Mr. Weale asserts, as we have already seen, that the greatest length of street from east to west is about fourteen miles, and from north to south about thirteen miles. The number of streets in London is said to be 10,000, though upon what authority the statement is made, and within what compass it is meant to be applied, I have not been able to ascertain. It is calculated, however, that there are 1900 miles of gas “mains” laid down in London and the suburbs; so that adopting the estimate of the Commissioners of Police, or 1760 miles of streets, within an area of about 90 square miles, we cannot go far wrong.
Now, as to the amount of _traffic_ that takes place daily over this vast extent of paved road, it is almost impossible to predicate anything definitely. As yet there are only a few crude facts existing in connection with the subject. All we know is, that the London streets are daily traversed by 1500 omnibuses--such was the number of drivers licensed by the Metropolitan Commissioners in 1850--and about 3000 cabs--the number of drivers licensed in 1850 was 5000, but many “cabs” have a day and night driver as well, and the Return from the Stamp and Tax Office cited below, represents the number of licensed cabriolets, in 1849, at 2846: besides these public conveyances, there are the private carriages and carts, so that the metropolitan vehicles may be said to employ altogether upwards of 20,000 horses.
In the _Morning Chronicle_ I said, when treating of the London omnibus-drivers and conductors:--“The average journey, as regards the distance travelled by each omnibus, is six miles, and that distance is, in some cases, travelled twelve times a day, or as it is called, ‘six there and six back.’ Some omnibuses perform the journey only ten times a day, and some, but a minority, a less number of times. Now, taking the average distance travelled by each omnibus at between 45 and 50 miles a day--and this, I am assured, on the best authority, is within the mark, while 60 miles a day might exceed it--and computing the omnibuses running daily at 1500, we find ‘a travel,’ as it was worded to me, of upwards of 70,000 miles daily, or a yearly ‘travel’ of more than 25,000,000 miles; an extent which is upwards of a thousand times more than the circumference of the earth; and that this estimate in no way exceeds the truth is proved by the sum annually paid to the Excise for ‘mileage,’ which amounts on an average to 9_l._ each ’bus’ per month, or collectively to 162,000_l._ per annum, and this, at 1-1/2_d._ per mile (the rate of duty charged), gives 25,920,000 miles as the aggregate distance travelled by the entire number of omnibuses every year through the London streets.”
The distance travelled by the London cabs may be estimated as follows:--Each driver may be said to receive on an average 10_s._ a day all the year through. Now, the number of licences prove that there are 5000 cab-drivers in London, and as each of these must travel at the least ten miles in order to obtain the daily 10_s._, we may safely assert that the whole 5000 go over 50,000 miles of ground a day, or, in round numbers, 18,250,000 miles in the course of the year.
According to a return obtained by Mr. Charles Cochrane from the Stamp and Tax Office, Somerset House, there were in the metropolis, in 1849-50, the following number of horses:--
Private carriage, job, and cart horses (in London) 3,683 Ditto (in Westminster) 6,339 Cabriolets licensed 2846 (having two horses each) 5,692 Omnibuses licensed 1350 (four horses each) 5,500 ------ Total number of horses in the metropolis 21,214 ------
I am assured, by persons well acquainted with the omnibus trade, that the number of omnibus horses here cited is far too low--as many proprietors employ ten horses to each “bus,” and none less than six. Hence we may fairly assume that there are at the least 25,000 horses at work every day in the streets of London. Besides the horses above mentioned, it is estimated that the number daily coming to the metropolis from the surrounding parts is 3000; and calculating that each of the 25,000, which may be said to be at work out of the entire number, travels eight miles a day, the aggregate length of ground gone over by the whole would amount to 200,000 miles per diem, or about 70,000,000 miles throughout the year. There are, as we have seen, upwards of 1750 miles of streets in London. It follows, therefore, that each piece of pavement would be traversed no less than 40,000 times per annum, or upwards of a hundred times a day, by some horse or vehicle.
As I said before, the facts that have been collected concerning the absolute traffic of the several parts of London are of the most meagre description. The only observations of any character that have been made upon the subject are--as far as my knowledge goes--those of M. D’Arcey, which are contained in a French report upon the roads of London, as compared with those of Paris.
This gentleman, speaking of the relative number of vehicles passing and repassing over certain parts of the two capitals, says:--“The Boulevards of Paris are the parts where the greatest traffic takes place. On the _Boulevard des Capucins_ there pass, every 24 hours, 9070 horses drawing carriages; on the _Boulevard des Italiens_, 10,750; _Boulevard Poissonière_, 7720; _Boulevard St. Denis_, 9609; _Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire_, 5856: general average of the above, 8600. _Rue du Faubourg St. Antoine_, 4300; _Avenue des Champs Elysées_, 8959. At London, in Pall Mall, opposite Her Majesty’s Theatre, there pass at least 800 carriages every hour. On London-bridge the number of vehicles passing and repassing is not less than 13,000 every hour. On Westminster-bridge the annual traffic amounts to 8,000,000 horses at the least. By this it will be seen that the traffic in Paris does not amount to one-half of what it is in the streets of London.”
OF THE DUST AND DIRT OF THE STREETS OF LONDON.
We have merely to reflect upon the vast amount of traffic just shown to be daily going on throughout London--to think of the 70,000,000 miles of journey through the metropolis annually performed by the entire vehicles (which is more than two-thirds the distance from the earth to the sun)--to bear in mind that each part of London is on the average gone over and over again 40,000 times in the course of the year, and some parts as many as 13,000 times in a day--and that every horse and vehicle by which the streets are traversed are furnished, the one with four iron-bound hoofs, and the other with iron-bound wheels--to have an imperfect idea of the enormous weights and friction continually operating upon the surface of the streets--as well as the amount of grinding and pulverising, and wear and tear, that must be perpetually taking place in the paving-stones and macadamized roads of London; and thus we may be able to form some mental estimate as to the quantity of dust and dirt annually produced by these means alone.
But the table in pp. 186-7, which has been collected at great trouble, will give us still more accurate notions on the subject. It is not given as perfect, but as being the best information, in the absence of positive returns, that was procurable even from the best informed.
Here, then, we have an aggregate total of dust collected from the _principal_ parts of the metropolis amounting to no less than 141,466 loads. The value of this refuse is said to be as much as 21,221_l._ 8_s._, but of this and more I shall speak hereafter. At present I merely seek to give the reader a general notion upon the matter. I wish to show him, before treating of the labourers engaged in the scavenging of the London streets, the amount of work they have to do.
A TABLE SHOWING THE SEVERAL DIVISIONS OF THE METROPOLIS CLEANSED BY THE SCAVENGERS AND PARISH MEN, THE NAMES OF THE CONTRACTORS, THE NUMBER OF MEN AND CARTS EMPLOYED IN COLLECTING, THE QUANTITY OF DUST AND MUD COLLECTED DAILY IN THE STREETS IN DRY AND WET WEATHER, WITH THE ANNUAL VALUE OF THE WHOLE.
---------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+-------------------+-----------------+------------+-----------------+ | | Number of Men | Number of Carts | | Number of | | | | employed | used daily in | Number of loads | Cart-Loads | Annual value | | | at scavenging. | scavenging. |collected daily. | annually | of Dirt | Divisions and Districts. | Names of +--------+--------+--------+----------+--------+--------+ collected | collected by | | Contractors. | In dry | In wet | In dry | In wet | In dry |In wet | by the | Scavengers. | | |weather.|weather.|weather.| weather. |weather.|weather.| Scavengers.| | ---------------------------+-----------------+--------+--------+--------+----------+--------+--------+------------+-----------------+ | | | | | | | | | £ _s._ _d._| Kensington |Parish | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Chelsea |Ditto | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Ditto (Hans’ Town) |Mr. C. Humphries | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | St. George’s, Pimlico |Mr. Redding | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1878 | 281 14 0 | Ditto, Hanover Square |Parish | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1-1/2 | 2-1/2 | 626 | 93 18 0 | St. Margaret’s, Westminster|Ditto | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 2817 | 422 11 0 | St. John’s, ditto |Mr. Hearne | 5 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2817 | 422 11 0 | St. Martin’s |Machine | 6 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Hungerford-market |Mr. J. Gore | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | St. James’s, Westminster |Parish | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1878 | 281 14 0 | Piccadilly |Parish and | | | | | | | | | Machine | 20 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 3130 | 469 10 0 | Regent-street and Pall-mall|Ditto, ditto | 8 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | St. Ann’s, Soho |Ditto | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Woods and Forests |Machine | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1878 | 281 14 0 | Paddington |Parish | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | Marylebone (Five Districts)|Ditto | 20 | 35 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 25 | 6260 | 939 0 0 | Portland-market |Mr. Tame | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | Hampstead |Parish | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | Highgate |Ditto | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | St. Pancras, South-west | | | | | | | | | | Division |Mr. Stapleton | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Somers-town |Mr. Starkey | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2504 | 375 12 0 | Southampton Estate |Mr. C. Starkey | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Bedford ditto |Mr. J. Gore | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Brewers’ ditto |Mr. C. Starkey | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Calthorpe ditto |Ditto | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Cromer ditto |Ditto | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Doughty ditto |Mr. Martin | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Foundling ditto |Ditto | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Harrison ditto |Ditto | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Skinners’ ditto |Mr. H. North | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Union ditto |Mr. J. Gore | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Islington District |Parish | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Battle-bridge |Mr. Starkey | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1878 | 281 14 0 | Hackney |Parish | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | St. Giles-in-the-Fields and| | | | | | | | | | St. George, Bloomsbury |Mr. Redding | 7 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 2504 | 375 12 0 | St. Mary-le-Strand |Mr. J. Gore | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Savoy |Ditto | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | St. Clement Danes |Parish | 5 | 7 | 3 |3 waggons.| 2 | 6 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | St. Paul’s, Covent Garden |Ditto | 3 | 5 | 1 |2 carts. | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Covent Garden-market |Mr. Stapleton | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 3130 | 469 10 0 | Holborn |Parish | 6 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | St. Sepulchre’s |Mr. J. Gore | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | Hatton-garden |Messrs. Pratt | | | | | | | | | | and Sewell | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | St. James’s, Clerkenwell |Mr. Dodd | 5 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 2817 | 422 11 0 | St. John’s, ditto |Mr. J. Gould | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | St. Luke’s |Mr. Dodd | 7 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 2817 | 422 11 0 | Goswell-street |Mr. Redding | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Liberty of the Rolls |Messrs. Pratt | | | | | | | | | | and Sewell | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Blackfriars Bridge |Mr. Jenkins | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | City Division, Eastern, A |Mr. G. Sinnott | 10 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 4382 | 657 6 0 | Ditto, North Middle, B |Mr. T. Rooke | 9 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 3130 | 469 10 0 | Ditto, Western, C |Mr. C. Redding | 12 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 5008 | 751 4 0 | Ditto, South Middle, D |Mr. J. Gould | 10 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 3130 | 469 10 0 | Shoreditch |Mr. Dodd | 6 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 3130 | 469 10 0 | Norton Folgate |Mr. J. Gould | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Finsbury Square District |Ditto | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | St. Botolph |Mr. Westley | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Spitalfields District |Mr. Newman | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Spitalfields-market |Mr. Parsons | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Bethnal-green |Mr. E. Newman | 4 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 2817 | 422 11 0 | Whitechapel |Mr. Parsons | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | Commercial-road |Parish | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Mile-end |Mr. Newman | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Ditto, New-town |Mr. Parsons | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | St. John’s, Wapping |Mr. Westley | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | Shadwell |Ditto | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | St. George’s-in-the-East |Ditto | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | Stepney |Mr. E. Newman | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Poplar |Parish | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | East Borough |Mr. Redding | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | West ditto |Ditto | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | Borough Clink |Mr. W. Sinnott | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 939 | 140 17 0 | Bermondsey |Parish | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 3576 | 563 18 0 | Newington |Ditto | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Lambeth |Ditto | 12 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 2817 | 422 11 0 | Ditto (Christchurch) |Ditto | 14 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | Wandsworth |Ditto | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | Camberwell and Walworth |Ditto | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1878 | 281 14 0 | Rotherhithe |Ditto | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Greenwich |Ditto | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1565 | 234 15 0 | Deptford |Ditto | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2191 | 328 13 0 | Woolwich |Ditto | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1252 | 187 16 0 | Lewisham |Ditto | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 626 | 93 18 0 | +-----------------+--------+--------+--------+----------+--------+--------+------------+-----------------+ |Scavengers’ Total| 358 | 531 | 130 | 183 |355-1/2 |548-1/2 | 140,983 |21,147 9 0 | ---------------------------+-----------------+--------+--------+--------+----------+--------+--------+------------+-----------------+ Average total 444-1/2 men. 156-1/2 carts. 452 loads daily. 140,983 loads yearly. £21,147 9 0 | Orderlies 546 ditto. 9 ditto. 2,817 ditto. 352 2 6 | --- ------- --- ------- ----------- | Gross total 990-1/2 men. 156-1/2 461 loads daily. 143,800 loads yearly. £21,499 11 6 | ------- --- ------- -----------|
OF THE STREET-DUST OF LONDON, AND THE LOSS AND INJURY OCCASIONED BY IT.
The daily and nightly grinding of thousands of wheels, the iron friction of so many horses’ hoofs, the evacuations of horses and cattle, and the ceaseless motion of pedestrians, all decomposing the substance of our streets and roads, give rise to many distinct kinds of street-dirt. These are severally known as
(1) _Dust._
(2) _Horse-dung_ and _cattle-manure_.
(3) _Mud_, when mixed with water and with general refuse, such as the remains of fruit and other things thrown into the street and swept together.
(4) _Surface-water_ when mixed with street-sewage.
These productions I shall treat severally, and first of the street-dust.
The “_detritus_” of the streets of London assumes many forms, and is known by many names, according as it is combined with more or less water.
1st. In a perfectly dry state, so that the particles no longer exist either in a state of cohesion or aggregation, but are minutely divided and distinct, it is known by the name of “dust.”
2nd. When in combination with a small quantity of water, so that it assumes the consistency of a pap, the particles being neither free to move nor yet able to resist pressure, the detritus is known by the name of “mac mud,” or simply “mud,” according as it proceeds from a macadamized or stone paved road.
3rd. When in combination with a greater quantity of water, so that it is rendered almost liquid, it is known as “slop-dirt.”
4th. When in combination with a still greater quantity of water, so that it is capable of running off into the sewers, it is known by the name of “street surface-water.”
The mud of the streets of London is then merely the dust or detritus of the granite of which they are composed, agglutinated either with rain or the water from the watering-carts. Granite consists of silex, felspar, and mica. Silex is sand, while felspar and mica are also silex in combination with alumina (clay), and either potash or magnesia. Hence it would appear to be owing to the affinity of the alumina or clay for moisture, as well as the property of silex to “gelatinize” with water under certain conditions, that the particles of dry dust derive their property of _agglutinating_, when wetted, and so forming what is termed “mud”--either “mac,” or simple mud, according, as I said before, to the nature of the paving on which it is formed.