The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-22 00:00:00

DISTRESS IN THE ISLE OF DOGS.

To the majority of Londoners the Isle of Dogs is
a perfect terra incognita, yet in no portion, perhaps,
of the eastern metropolitan districts is the heavy
pressure of hunger and want more severely felt at
the present moment than in the unattractive loca-
lity on which the above canine appellation has been
bestowed. For the information of those who have
not visited the island, we may mention that it con-
sists of a rather extensive tract of low marshy
ground, largely intersected by open drains and
stagnant ditches, and bounded on three of its sides
by the muddy waters of the Thames, the fourth
side being formed by the various basins collectively
forming the West India Import and Export Docks,
which constitute a kind of artificial barrier between
the island and the densely-populated neighbour-
hoods of Limehouse and Poplar. There are two
roads leading into the island. Of these, one com-
mences near Limehouse Church, the other at
Poplar. A steamferry also affords a ready
means of communication between the lower ,
parts of the island and Greenwich, on the opposite i
shore. Until within a comparatively recent period
the place was but thinly inhabited, except in the I
neighbourhood of Millwall, on the western side'
of the island, near Limehouse ; but the remark-
able development of the iron ship-building trade
in this country during the last few years led to
the establishment of large ship-building yards at
different points on the river shore of the island,
thereby occasioning a very considerable influx of
skilled labour from various parts of the kingdom.
This immigration of labour continuing on an ex-
tended scale, it became necessary to provide
suitable house accommodation for the new work-
men and their families. The greater part of the
island, being flat, marshy, and situated below the !
high-water level of the Thames, was by no means
the most suitable for building purposes ; bat it was
necessary, for the convenience both of empinYers
and employed, that the workmen should reside as
near as possible to the scene of their labours.
Hence the erection of Cubitt-town, on the eastern
side of the island. The general activity of the
iron ship-building trade displaying no signs of
diminution, the town rapidly became augmented
both in size and population. Building opera-
tions were carried on in all directions with
great vigour ; new and spacious streets sprang, as
by magic, into active existence ; shops carried on a
thriving trade ; a church and several chapels, toge-
ther with a mission room or two and several
schools, supplied the religious and educational
wants of the islanders ; and at one time it really
seemed as if every trace of grass-land would speedily
disappear beneath the never-ceasing encroachments
of bricks and mortar.

Suddenly there came a pause. The disastrous,
financial panic of 1866 instantaneously paralysed,
as by a single blow, the whole ship-building in-
dustry of the island. For ktime sanguine, although
fallacious, hopes were entertained that, at the
worst, must of the artisans would still remain par-
t:ally employed ; but as the cold, dreary winter
months began to make their unwelcome appearance
the unfortunate men were compelled to realise the
bitter hardships and sufferings which, to the very
last, they had fondly anticipated they would be
enabled to avoid. We are, urfortunately, but too
familiar with the saddening story of their terrible
privations during the earlier months of the present
year ; how they pawned or sold their furniture
before they would accept parochial relief ; how
numbers of them grimly but determinedly kept
the tale of their sufferings to themselves, rather
than be compelled to drink of the bitter and
detested cup of gall in the shape of compulsory
refuge in the workhouse ; and how, at last, cowed
and down-spirited, they flitted here and there like
misty shadows amid the cold and darksome fogs of
January and February last. The Lancashire opera-
tives, in the midst of their great affliction, never
exhibited more patient endurance, more manly
resignation than did these rough-handed, iron-
limbed, and sturdy artisans. Their savings and
trades funds were rapidly consumed, most of their
tools and clothing were either pawned or sold, and
every available resource became exhausted : yet
still these men bore their fate in uncom-
plaining silence. But for the prompt and
energetic action of the various parochial and other
local bodies, assisted largely by the ever-ready
liberality of the public, very many, some hundreds
perhaps, must have perished of sheer cold and
hunger. When spring arrived without bringing
the anticipated improvement in trade, considerable
numbers of the workmen made such preparations
as they best could for removing themselves and
their families from the ill-fated island, and seeking
work elsewhere. A few, taking advantage of a
grant of 11001. voted by the parish of Poplar for
that purpose, emigrated to Canada and other
British colonies. By the time that the summer
had passed away the neighbourhood of Cubitt-
town began to exhibit unmistakable indications of
the swift progress of the depopulating movement ;
and now that the winter mouths have fairly set in,
the appearance of the place is both significant and
distressing.
The various shipbuilding yards, with one or two
exceptions, are utterly deserted and silent, being
occupied only by the few men entrusted with the
care of the different workshops and expensive ma-
chinery contained therein. The numerous forges
are cold and lifeless, the powerful rolling mills
devoid of motion, and the gigantic steam-hammers
sullenly resting in enforced idleness. All is stag-
ration and despondency. The scene in the town
itself is yet more depressing. Here we find whole
streets of houses completely untenanted. We pass
residence after residence in which no signs of life
are perceptible. At the lowest computation there
must be several hundreds of empty houses in the
town. These habitations are chiefly of a most
substantial character, and in prosperous times pre-
sented an exceedingly comfortable and well-to-do
appearance. Their present aspect is, however,
satiny disheartening, possessing no parallel in this
country, unless it be at Macclesfield, where the
silk weavers' quarter is becoming completely de-
' serted. Everywhere we notice in the dust-covered
windows how the neat Venetian blinds, with which
they were uniformly furnished, are dropping to
pieces, while outside the spacious areas are be-
coming green with damp, the thin stucco is peeling
from the doorways, the brickwork crumbling into
ruin, the woodwork rotting into tinder, and the once
smart iron railings in front of the houses becoming
sunken and bent. Still more ominous is the
large number of closed shops. Whole rows
of shops, once doing a busy trade, are now des-
pairingly shut up. In one street we perceive •
largeestablishment empty and deserted, the three
golden balls in front of the building indicating its
former use as a pawnbroker's. Near this is a large
public-house where, some few days since, the whole
of the furniture and other effects belonging to the
landlord were disposed of by auction. When the
publican and the pawnbroker can neither gain a
livelihood, the condition of the mechanics must in-
deed be deplorable. The shops which remain open
have for the moat part a poverty smitten aspect, !
and look,as they really are, but the shadowy ghosts
of their former selves. The solitude of such thorough- j
fares as East Ferry-road remains undisturbed by the
hoarse cry of the coatermonger, for even the iti-
nerant vendors of cheap fish and vegetables receive
little encouragement in their attempts to dispose
of their stock in trade among the penniless inhabi-
tants of this part of the island. The falling off in
the prosperity of the place is illustrated by the
statistics of the steam-ferry opposite Greenwich,
which now conveys a daily average of 800 pas-
seng% re, as against the usual number of 1,500 to
2,000 in more prosperous times. The gin-palaces,
too, have a dingy appearance, and seem almost
deserted. Most remarkable also is the large num-
ber of surgeons and chemists who practise their
vocation in the neighbourhood. The number of
distressed families is estimated at 2,000, but
there are many who refuse to apply for
parochial relief. They seem to regard it as
a degradation from which they can never recover.
"If I accept pauper relief," said one respectably-
attired woman, " I shall remain a pauper all the
rest of my life." To do them justice, the parochial
authorities seem disposed to act considerately to
such people, but their position is one of much diffi-
culty, for although the pours-rate is nearly two-