Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-03-01
THE GREATEST OF ALL UTIg
The Great Wonder of the World ,,5c...
Good and Evil.
Pail Mail Gszatts

49, NAoiA AhAeLLe.
A huge city like this Of ours viii 4
boundless possibilities before # n,
or for i'll, on the one hand pe,5.trsr1
coming more unmanageable ana
exhausting TO life; on the o,bs,
continually throwing up ups,,
sigss of vitality and hope-sact ,
stands at the parting of the WAYS
already by far the most inorgsri, !
of habitations that ever cumbe,.s
planet, and to the bulk of its nom,
though not to the fortunate niro-
is, alas! by far the most depressiDg
yet, even now 1t is the healthies,
capitals; and in certain aspects Of
one OF the best ordered; to a ye-y
Which is to prevail in the future
boundless evil or the boupdless ,oo5
Take the first, the darker side. (
is the hugest assemblage Of bslii
ever piled BY men on one spot Of 4
For three centuries one Of the great 4
of thinking people has been ths 4
nous growth of London; and vet !
about a hundred years ago, neiihs.I
population nor it's area were gbsI
should call abnormal. But since tss
hundred years it has advanced BY \
and bounds, increasing its popg.l
fourfold within this century aud Ia
at least ten or fifteen fold. Even ii
own lifetime the area of London "a
creased at least fivefoid and It's III
tion between two and threefold 80
we now have a continuous popua,io1|
some four millions, with nearly i
miles of streets, hardly anywhere
than ten or eleven miles in I'd
line.
And whele is it going to stop 4
year 10000 souls, roughly speaking
added by immigration and births. 4
year more square miles are added to
area. Year by year some 10000 4
grants press into this city; that 4
population of fair country tow N,
every ten years there is added to Il
by immigration alone a city as ara
Bristol OF Lisbon; and by the 4
series of causes, a new city as large
Petersburg or Vienna. And thus ~
in this corner of the Thames, .ls''
huddled together about one'slIta oiI
entire population of England. W
is it to stop?" we ask, as the tide o!
migrants pours in, and great arn''
builders are perpetually laying
acres of meadow under brick,
Size and numbers are not necss''
bad things per Sc. But unhappl!
site and numbers of London have ~
ing consequences of their on .
cities have to grow organicly win
kind of self adaptation to thsit d'''
ment. But the increase OF LONDON :.
adaptation and adjustment Inc 4"
new souls a year arrive before Iva
has time to consider what ahe oal
with them. The bricks pour doFn u
regular heaps, almost as If, IN son.
clysm or tornado, il we're raining Ok
ont of heaven on the earth below
huge pail of smoke gets densef SI1
sui phurous, stretching out tls!
some thirty miles into the COUNTY
Berkshire, Bucks, Herts and Aen' %
ginning to be pollutee Uy rs -
From Charing Cross or the ho!-
change man has to walk some A' ~ !
miles before he can see ine ~
meadows or breathe the coHl"!
Few of US ever saw more tnan n1-
city we live in, and some OF us new.
nine.tenths of it. We all i've NV
less in SCOT and fog, in smos!' 7
contaminated air, IN which trees ~
longer grow to their fun size sI-
sulphurous vapor OF which eais s'- Z.
surface of stone. The beau'iili, b.
oar once silver Thames q 'u. -.
msdy receptacle of refuse az ~, ~.
describably nasty and unsno' sl
The wate- we drink is continual! ~
with drainage, and at THESE ''lp,-
periIously near to being ~ l.'
health. Our burying places, "a h,
new ara a perpetual anxiety ty o aIO IN
Our sewers pour forth 5,5OO,VO.. !. /,
sewerage per week, almost a., . y.
fully and dangerously di'cnsi ~,
immense proportion Of our 49, n /.
ulation are insuficiently hou's- urba
les. comfortless and even - n.
lodgings. Not few Of these SIS ~, q
BILE dens or squalid cabins UNI. ..g
man dwelling place. E7sI{ i lev "a
some epidemic breaks out "nl-- Al,
of lite thousands. II some io-i
London the conditions o. nls - u
depressing and sorjid' VI. Win . 4grS
advantages which city life ah0 .-s
amusem ents, such as they are 81 !
unworthy of Us; the resources vbiIs
and recreation are too rev ,Ls i-
dangers to life, to morality, 20 w
genee. are very real and ever