The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-06-16
THE SEAMY SIDE OF LONDON
What Was Witnessed During a Daylight
Visit in the Whitechapel District.
A Section Of the Great City Where the Traces
of Crime Are Visible in All Directions
The Policemen and Their Methods.

LONDON, May -Sluinmln Is seeing
tho sights of those portions of large cities
that are the abodes of poverty, misery,
vice and crime, in their most striking, and,
at the same time, most %rcpulsive forms.
Under the guidance and protection of o
Scotland Yard inspector, a man who knows
London thoroughly and has carte blanche
to GO wherever he pleases. q party of
Americans made an invasion of the White
chapel district. 1t was Sunday morning:
q strange time, one would think. for such
an expedition, but quite the best time to
see the lower life of London in its most
active form. Certain streets in this Sec
ton are exclusively devoted to what might
be called market purposes, but the sellers
in almost every case were what would be
described as 'fakirs.p The streets were
thronged with them. men, women and chill
dren of all n~atlonalities and conditions,
who shouted out their wares and cursed,
pushed and fought each other, un-
molested by the policemen, who walked
unconcernedly about. They had almost
everything on sale. all cheap and poor
grades, however, within reach of the limited
means of the purchasers. Piles of old and
badly worn clothing, hats, boots and shoes
covered the sidewalks, and were trampled
in the mud from which they were fished out
by the owners, amid curses and jeers.
Cheap and flashy jewelry, all sorts of
secondhand tools and mechanical devices,
notions. books, flash" papers and furnish
ings were ON the stand, while the carts
were filled with sandwiches, tarts, lemon
ade. beer, vegetables tserved hot and
greasy, alleged soup and almost everything
else that a person with the stomach of an
ostrich could consume. At every stand,
and there were hundreds and hundreds of
them, there were crowds of people, only a
few of whom made purchases, while the
others stood about and chartered like mag
pies. For six blocks. in little narrow streets,
we had almost to fight our way, while We
were numerically guyed by the crowds.
One street was devoted to the sale of birds.
chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, sheep. ETC.,
and scores of boys ran about Offering them
for sale. On another, dairy products were
for sale. and on another vegetables of all
kinds. in advanced stage of decay, evident
ly having been thrown away as unstable
by the regular produce houses. In old barn
like buildings, dirty and dilapidated, were
scores of stands for the sale of secondhand
goods, and the vendors were not at all sub
dued In advertising their wares. The
streets were rainy and muddy, but the
crowds, not dismayed by these conditions,
pushed and jOstled each other about.
laughed and joked. swore and fought.
From these busy marts it was but a few
steps to the dark and dirty streets where
poverty and crime abide. They were filled
with people, half-naked children. women
in rags, with faces beaten black and
blue. and drunken men. reeling out Of the
low groggerles, cursing and fighting. Beg
gars of every description crowded the gut
ters and persistently followed u.s.. 1t was
in these byways that the so-called White
chapel atrocities were committed; and their
localities were pointed out to us. while the
curious habitues, who, unbidden, followed
us. insisted on recalling local circumstance
of those remarkable tragedies. They APP
peared to glOat over them, and to enjoy
the recital of those bloody deeds as though
they had been acts of hefUism and valor.
1t was o remarkable spectacle, illustrating,
as it did, the unfathOmable depths of de-
Cling. AS we walked down Whitechapel
road, in strange contrast to the sounds and
scenes l have described, were the singing
of Christian women and the exhortations
of the preachers who. wherever they could
find o comparatively quiet spot, wereholding
impromptu services on this dreary Sabbath
morning. They represented the Salvation
Army, bands of whom are seen in almost
every. street here, and various missions and
churches, who had sent out their represent
atives to rebuke sin in its very stronghold.
| They were not what might BIO called "high-
toned" preachers, but men whose intellect
ual plane was but little above that of their
hearers. in many cases CONDITION which
less more effective. As a rule they were
| listened to respectfully, but not for a long
time. as the crowds were coming and going,
The singing seemed to be more attractive
than the preaching, and it was not particu-
larly good singing, either.
There are thousands of people here"
| said the detective, who have never seen
| West London the fashionable part of the
and many of them died hero. without
either going out of town or to other
parts of it,"
Dc the West-end people ever come down
| heref" | asked.
Only. when business or sheer curiosity
causes them to-" said be. ut isn't entirely
safe fer them. unless they come under pro-
lection or take care not to 20 into the side
streets and alleys. l don't say that a
stranger venturing alone throughout this
district would get hnrt or robbed. but it is
Just as we'll not TO chance It,. The trouble
is in the hundreds of dark alleys, lanes and
resorts, in which q crime might he commit
ted and never detected"
'Can't your police regulate these mat
tersi" | asked.
"Thcy do the best they can," was the
evasiye reply.
Wo went through, as it seemed to me,
miles of such streets. differing but little
from each other, but all having the mark Of
Cain, or some like identification, OH them.
Of course, there are such. quarters in all
large cities, but In this they
are far more extensive and des-
peratc, one might say, than in any other.
Vice is not confined to this section OF the
city, however, for its devotees, old and mid
dle-aged women rs well as young girls. fock
up town after night, filling the sidewalks on
fashionable streets, boldly addressing every
man whom they pass, and being so persist
ent hat they become q great annoyance. /
was told at Scotland Yard that there are
fully 200, 600 such women III London
From this subject it is an easy transition
to that of the police. They are a good look
ing set of men, we'll uniformed. and, with
out exception, so far as know. polite and
courteous, especially to strangers. Aside
from this, and preventing blockades of
vehicles, which would inevitably occur
without them, they do not seem inclined TO
do much, however. They do not arrest a
person on suspicion OF hearsay. In fact, they
don't arrest them at all. even when they
need arresting' very badly. 1t is a common
thing to see a half-drunken, or even q sober
man, abuse a policeman unstintedly. The
way the hobbies conduct themselves in
emergencies is unique. A few nights ago /
was on Trafalgar square, when q rough
looking customer came up TO a mar stand
ing near me. and apparently without the
slightest provocatiOn brutality assaulted
him, knocking him down with q blow in
the face, from which the blood poured in a