The Express.
London, England, 1866-02-05 00:00:00

A DOUBLE NUMBER

OF TIM

"EXPRESS"
Will be published TO-MORROW, on the occasion
of the delivery of the Royal Speech at the
opening of the Two Houses of Parliament.

Advertisements intended for insertion in this number of
tke " Express" must be et the office by 12 o'clock at noon,
lame day.

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5.

Tns Whitechapel casual wards are some distance
from the workhouse, and not to be found easily
without a guide. Two doors from the Pavilion
Theatre, and at a point where the bustling, flaring
Whitechapel highway is at its noisiest and busiest,
a dark and narrow passage leads into a dirty, unlit
open court. At the broad end of this, and beyond
.series of carts and stage waggons, which are either
bid up in ordinary or resting for the night, is the
entrance to the large atone yard belonging to the
workhouse. Its heavy knocker is fastened dos d,
but admission is easily gained by applicant. who
kick or hammer with a stone against the door. A
muddy, desolate little waste has to be traversed
before it can be reached, and the explorer who
visits these casual wards will do well to remember
the character of the locality, and to wait in the main
street until the friendly pilotage of a policeman can
be secured. The gleaming bull's-eye of a mem-
ber of the force was the only relief to
the intense darkness, as we picked our
way thither half an hour before midnight on Sa-
turday, and the approach looked as unsavoury, un-
tempting, and even hazardous as the most adven-
turous could wish.

After some ineffectual fumbling at the nailed-
down knocker, a few kicks at the wicket brought out
an old pauper, and the door was promptly opened.
There was neither parleying nor scrutiny until we
reached a sort of exaggerated rabbit-hutch within
the stone yard, and were brought face to face with
another old pauper seated in it. Before and around
us huge masses of granite, more or less macada-
mized, could be seen through the darkness, and at
the end of the large open space another light showed
WI the sheds in which the casuals sleep. Every-
thing seemed in exactly the same condition as at
our last visit more than twelve months ago. One
of the aged pauper janitors we saw then had been
superannuated, or perhaps gone to his long home,
and another reigned in his stead, but in the bright
bead-like eye and shrewd smile of the old man in
the hut, we readily recognised the worthy, whose
indignant comments upon the bad characters and
riff-raff claiming shelter made such a profound im-
pression upon us before. The superintendent had
just returned for the night, sixteen male casuals
bad been admitted, and were now in the sheds, and
after a slight delay the former came forward and
showed us round the labour yard and sleeping
places.
The best has been made of bad materials, but the
general results are most unsatisfactory. We were
distinctly told the year before last that the casual
accommodation provided was of a temporary
character, and would be superseded as soon as the
guardians had secured new wards elsewhere. We
heard exactly the same story on Saturday. The
sixteen sleepers were locked up in one shed, which
did not appear to be waterproof ; and out of this
a door opened into a miserable little cupboard, in
which more barrack-beds (empty) were ranged side
by side. Bedding, rugs, floors, and walls were com-
mendably clean ; and a gas lamp was burning
brightly over the doorway on our arrival, and is,
we are told, kept alight all night. But either
through the thickness of the mattresses, or the low-
ness of the wooden divisions between bed and bed,
the separation of the sleepers is not as complete as
might be wished, and the radical lack of efficient
supervision is very marked. On Saturday every-
body was sound asleep, and the place quiet as
an empty church ; but we have reason to know
that the tramps selecting these wards are frequently
among the most riotous and unruly of their class,
and with the superintendent in bed and out of
speaking distance, and the two old men at the
other end of the yard, it is not difficult to guess
what the night license of the locked-up sleeping
shed must sometimes be. Again, the ordinary
superintendent of labour for the workhouse has
bad the task of looking after casuals added to his
other functions, so that the concessions and altera-
tions hitherto made by the Whitechapel guardians
have been both meagre and unsatisfactory. Even
the Spartan fare agreed upon the other day by the
disorderly conclave at St. Martin's Hall is denied
the houselees wanderers who have shelter given
them ; and while other metropolitan boards grant
bread and hot gruel or sometimes cocoa, the White-
chapel authorities confine their hospitality to bread
and water. It is true that " not yet, but we're going
to," is given in reply to any question ►bout gruel ;
but when the obstructive procrastination which has
signalised the substitution of efficient for temporary
wards is remembered, this is rather an aggravation
than an excuse. The sheds used for sleeping
places are half wood, half brick, have neither fire-
places nor proper windows, and were we believe
only certified on a distinct pledge being given that
no time should be lost in fitting up better ones.