Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-07-08
TIE GROWTH or LoNpoN.



I4B MmRweIous Expammfom UmdeR Wfo4
toRIa's Reagn.
Whatever future chroniclers may
have to say OF Queen victoria,s reign
and the brilliant celebration of her
not be overlooked is the enormous
growth of London during her maiesty's
lifetime. The metropolis has quad
rupled In population. having increased
from little over 1000. coo to 4,250. 0ooo
&c seems difficult 10 imagine that thera
ever was a time when London was
small place, yet when the queen was
born It was very little larger than
Glasgow is now, and only double the
size of Birmingham.
1t is usual to compare the glories OF
Victoria's reign with those of Eliza
beth, but between the London of to-
day and that of sGood Queen Bess"
there is really no comparison. Lon
don was still girt around by the walls
built by the Romans and was largely
Enclosed within them. The mansions
of the great lay outside the city walls,
chiefly on the way from the Strand to
Westminster. There were few stone
houses, and none tiled or slated, being
mostly built of wood and matched with
straw. Beyond the royal palace at
Westminster was open country, and
marsh lands formed the sole feature of
the landscape across the river. On the
other side of the city was open country,
with sMerrie IsIington," a village, in
the distance. Where ST. Sepulcher's
church now stands were slums. In
Golden lane was a row of curious old
houses, which had been used as a
nursery for the children of Henry VIII
Round about the Moor gate were large
houses, and further out watery tract
which abounded with wild fowl. The
citizens used to exercise themselves
here with archery practice and sport
In Bishopsgate the earls of Devon
shire had their palace. Houndsditch
was foul ditch, the receptacle for sew
age, and there was a similar ditch on
the western side of the city. Sanitary
science was unknown. The paving OF
the streets was in its infancy; except
with regard to a few OF the principal
thoroughfares, each inhabitant paved
as much as he liked before his own door
with the materials that his pride
poverty or caprice might suggest.
The streets were obstructed with
stalls, sheds, signposts and projections
of every kind; curbstones were I'M
known, and only in a few thorough
fares were the footpaths divided from
the carriageway with posts and chains.
This was the London of Elizabeth, just
300 years ago-a very different city
- Il r x,,1
" becoming foul and pestilential. ulti-
mately to be cleared and purified by
the great plague, which carried off a
fifth of the inhabitants in 1865, and the
great fire of the following year, which
involved 400 streets, IS 200 houses, SO
churches, ST. Paul's cathedral and four
city gates. Before the fire it is esti-
mated to have contained from 10000 to
$4,000 streets, alleys and lands, 1867
600 houses and about 100000 inhabit-
ants. So that in II centuries London
had grown to population of under
100000. BY the beginning of Queen
Victoria's life it had increased to 1.0O0.-
GOO. and now, at the end of the six
tieth year of her reign, it is sevenfold
what it was under ''Good Queen Bess.''
hdtncE tHdu 10 C1IZdDctn AOINAOn owes
its growth to Charles II, for after the
restoration those who returned with
him did not care to return to their old
city houses, but built themselves man
sions further west, leaving the city to
the merchants, by whom it has ever
since been monopolized. To James I.
we owe Pail Mall, and Kensington was |
originated by the creation of palace
there when Whitehall was burned |
1own.-London Standard.