Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1852-08-19
The Magnitude Of Inninn.

To comprehend England, London must
be taken as the point of view and one
cannot be in London and avoid looking
out upon that great circle of wealth, actiy-
ity and power, ofwhich it is the centre
To gain an outside acquaintance with
London in a short time, | found the best
method was to take an outside seat of an
omnibus This vehicle, which the Eng
lish call GuSS, contains twelve seats in
side, and nine outside. Over the smooth
to draw it briskly along. With stout
horses and admirable roads, English car
riages of every description carry good
loads. In the Isle of Wight we hired
one-horse carriage called a fly, which east
ly accommodated five persons besides the
coachman The 6uSSes of London 20 in
every direction. and on routes which ex-
tend for miles. When we consider that
London is five times as large as New York
1t Is easy to conceive of the number and
the length Of the drives Seated beside
the coachman. who has a dIguiied court
esy, and a style of conversation peculiarly
his own, or on the tOp,one eau cOnveuIeut-
ly take a survey Of streets. shops, and
dwellings, and Ufthe thr0nging populace.
The immense magnitude too, of London,
Is thus impressed upon the mind you
measure the ground by going over it And
thus you may ride summer day after sum
mcr day. on the routes of omuibusses. be
holding the most stately parts of London !;
and at convenient places you may get out
TO see the great sights like the Cathedral
the Tower, the Abby. And where the
omnibusses do not go you may 60 in a
cab, or on foot, into squares and courts
through lanes and alleys; and when YOU
have made circuits through thirty or forty
thousand acres of ground, by ten or twelve
thousand streets or alleys and have passed
by some three hundred thousand habita-
tions, you may then say that you have
completed an outside view Of London
And this vast city is well paved. we'll
cleaned and drained and so well controll-
ed by its police that there is, perhaps. no
part of 1t where you may not walk with
perfect security by night as well as by
day.
The cleanliness or the streets Of Lond-
on surprised me. This arises not merely
from the regular cleaning Of the streets.
but still more from the manner in which
the streets are paved, and the absolute
prevention of the throwing out Of ofal
and dirt from the dwellings.
The streets of New ork are more filthy
than those of any of the great European
cities, not excepting even Cologne Now
observe, the most of our payements are
round stones embedded in sand The
constant passage of wheels over these
makes continual trituration of the sand
and throws it to the surface, filling our
atmosphere with dust in dry weather.
To this must be added, the immense guam
titles of sand which are thrown upon new
pavements, or where the pavemeuts are
mended- process ever going on with this
kind of pavement And even where square
stones are laid down with close joints,
the sand in like manner is spread over
them. The idea of cementing stones by
loose sand is sufficiently absurd in itself
But if any evidence be required, let the
facts testify; the sand thrown upon the
pavements never disappears between the
stones and becomes hardened into cement
no, there 1t lies, undergoing trituration
preparatory to its conversion into dirt
and mud. Sometimes, indeed, it is srcap-
ed together in heaps, which. neglected to
be removed, are again ground down by ten
thousand wheels. And then to this dirt
is added, from day to day, dirt and offal
from the dwellings, except when the self
respect and good habits of the occupants
forbid, so that at length vile compost Is
made finally to be removed as manure
for suburban fields and gardens. When
the city has undergone a cleansing, after
a time the dust reappears, even where there
are no lew pavings or repairs thus prov
ing again that it Is thrown up from be
meath and between the stones, Indeed.
there can be no end TO this, as long as
round stones are made to play upon loose
sand Let our streets be paved with
square stones closely joined le. the use
Of those quantities of sand be discontinued
even where they are not thus paved. and
let the laws forbiddiBg offal aud filth to
be thrown into the streets be rigidly ex-
ecuted No city in the world is 50 well
supplied with water as New York the
free use Of this, in addition to the above
precautionary measures, viii relieve Us
from the painful contrast in which we now