Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1875-02-05
NO. g..
The Grentne.. Of Londnn.

In few cities are there more than halra
dozen railway stations In London there
are at least 1J0 Some Ct the railways new
or pass beyond its limits, and Of one, the
Tottenham and Hampstead, Punch saws.
mo one ever travels by il, rs no one knows
where IL begins or wherc ii ends" Tho
Metropolitan and other intramural rail-
ways run trains every thee or five min.
| utes, and convey from twenty to fifty mil
lions OF passengers annually. Clapham is
the great southwestern junction, and thro'
1t 700 trains pass every day. Its platforms
arc so numerous and its underground pas
sages and overground bridges so perplex-
ing that 10 find the right train ON changing
Is one Of those things /" that no fellow can
understand" As proof Of the expansive
nature of London traffic, ii was supposed
that when the Metropolitan railway was
opened omnibuses would be run Off the
ground, but although it carried forty-tbree
millions Of passengers last year, it has been
iound necessary to increase the number of
omnbuses on the southern route, and they
yield one per cent more revenue than be-
fore The opening Of the railway.
Besides the railways there are some four
teen or fifteen thousand tram-cars. omni-
buses and cabs traversing the streets there
are lines Of omnibuses known only TO the
inhabitants of their own localities-such as
tbose across the Isle Of Dogs from Poplar
TO Milwall from London bridge. along
Tooley street 10 Dockhead, &c. The Lon
don Omnibus Company have jG5 omnibus
es, which carry fifty millions Of passengers
annually.
IL is more dangerous 10 walk the streets
OF London than TO trdvel by railway or
cross the Atlantic. Last year I25 persons
were killed aud 25l3 injured by vehicles in
the streets. Supposing every individual
man, woman and child made one Journey
on loot in London per diem, which is con-
slderably above the average, the deaths
would be one in eleven n,illions' willie the
railways only kill about one in finy mill
lions of passengers, and the Cunard Com
pany OF Atlantic steamers boast of having
never lost passenger.
Other instances of the immensitv of the
population of London are that three.uuar-
ters Of million of business men enter the
city in the morning and leave il in the
evening for their suburban residences.
There are 10000 policemen, as many cab
drivers, and the same number of persons
connected with the post office, each of
whom, with their families, would make a
large town. When London MAKES boli-
day, there are several places of resort. such
as The crystal palace, the geological gar
uehs, elc', which absorb from thirty to fifty
thousand visitors each. The cost of gas for
lighting is e2,5OO,OOO annually; the water
supply Is one hundred millions of gallons
per diem. In the year 1873 there were 573
fires; and for the purpose of supplying
information on the passing events of the
day Sl4 daily and weekly newspapers are
required.
WHAT London will eventually become it
Is idle TO predict. 1t already stands in four
counties, and is striding onward TO a fifth.
The probability is that by the end of the
century the population will exceed Nv
millions, and will thus have quintupled
ltseif in the century. Should it progress
at an equal rate in the next it will in the
| year 1000 amount to tho enormous aagre.
gate oftwenty-five millions and the ques-
ton that naturally arises is, how could
such multitude be supplied with food
But the fact is that the more its population
increases the better they are fed. In the
Plantagenet days, when the population
was not third ofa million, flmines were
of frequent occurrence, but now, with the
command of The pastures, the harvests aud
The fisheries of the world, starvation be-
comes an almost impossible eventuality,
even with twenty-five millions Of mouths
to feed.-London city Press.