The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-07

London clear across England from the Welsh lakes. At present London Is sup piled by the Thames and Lea rivers. but 1t already uses 205. 900, 900 gallons day, and 1t is estimated that the demand will soon be such as to impair the navigation of the Thames. Birmingham IS getting its water from Wales and so are other cities. and London will in all probability have to do likewise. The water works are now in the hands of private compa- nies whose gross income last year amount ed to something like $10. .ooo, ,oo0. and whose profits were over $5,000.000. The London County Council proposes to buy out these parties and run the water works as a city institution.
 This would undoubtedly be better for London in sanitary way and also for. its fire department. This city has ten fires every day the year through. It has more than $500 fires a year. and the fire brigade is a very important part of the metropolis. This now consists of 1.100 men. and it is equipped with seventy steam engines, of which eight are river engines to protect the shipping of the Thames. Tn most of the towns of Eng land the fire departments are not as well organized as in our own. and the ma chinery here is far behind the times.
 IneY 6aVo 0SLCSI AUAADs
 There is one thing, however. which I find much better here than in the United States I refer to the postal and tele- graph services. These are under the gen. eral government, and are excellently well managed. If Iremember correctly our postal service is run at a loss. The Eng fish postal service makes profit or about $1s.000.0 900 a year. and gives better
 x letter weighing four ounces to any part of the United Kingdom for Q penny, or cents. and overweight costs a half pen ny. or 1 cent, for two ounces. You can send parcels which weigh as much as eleven pounds, for cents for the first pound, and g. cents, for each additional pound, and the book post Is about the same as ours.
 The telegraph service is lower than in America The cost of a dispatch to any part of Great Britain and Ireland is l cent a word, the lowest charge being 12 cents, and both address and signature being paid for. In the general postofi1cs in East London there is a telegraph room where 500 men are employed receiving and sending dispatches. while in the basement there are four steam engines which supply the pneumatic tubes by which the telegrams are forwarded for delivery to the various parts of the city.
 I like the postal savings bank system which Is in use all over Great Britain, so that every little village has its savings bank You can deposit money wherever there is postofice, and the savings banks are so well patronized that they now have more than 500 oOo. .e0o. on deposit Such an institution would be of the greatest good to the United States. and fl sr
 holding every cent of our own nationa debt. ssA
 American-Londo4 Exposition.
 During my stay in London I have beer to America's exposition at the Crysta | Palace. It is not a sitcckss either in tn number of it's exhibitors nor the mum | Der of its visitors Indeed. you can se more American goods in walk alcni
 Piccadiily .vr the strand than. you car | at the Crystal Palacess. Many of the ex hihitors claim thatS they have beei brought here under false pretenses. and |
 would have been much better for then l and for the reputation of the United States if there had been no exposition a all. As far as can see, the whole sho7 consists of d fair display of AmericaI typeS,fiters. few machinery exhibits, a' American seda water fountain. a carps sweeper or so from Grand Rapids, e lawl mower from N,w York. patent beer bot tie washer from Philadelphia, a kodal or so and half dozen spectacle sellers The spectacle sellers have boxes of spec tacles on hand, and they will sch yo, microscope or test your eyes while yol wait. . |. 2,
 American Typewriters in London.
 I talked to the typewriter exhibitors They tell me that the whole of the type writing trade of Great Britain is now fl American hands and that there is onl] one English machine worth speaking of This is called the Salter. but there ar, not more than, 300 in use in the who'll country. 3
 The demand for typewriters here Il
 steadily increasing, although it. 1t stiI nothing as compared with that of tn. United States. I find typewriting estab
 lishments in all the cities. and fairly goot
 typists. as the typewriter girls are called
 In most cases, however. the English type
 writer girl is not accustomed to taking dictat.on and she does better as a copyist Here in London dictation costs half a crown, or 62 cents an hour. or 10 shil- lings day. You can have copying done I by good operators for 25 cents per thous- l and words and by less expert ones as low as 15 cents a thousand. .7~s s Some of my work has been done at an office near the Covent Garden market
 and strange to say. my typewriter is 6 granddaughter of Charles Dickens. She is an expert typist and has some efficient assistants. She charges me @ cents ar hour, and she, can rattle off letter like this in fust about two hours and a half