The Washington times., 1903-11-21
THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS
London Investigations of the Conditions of the London Poor

found man with whom I could do
business. There was no hemming and
and having. no lifted brows, open in
creoulity. OF blank amazement In one
minute / explained myself and my
project, which he accepted as a matter
OF course. In the second minute he
asked my age. height, and weight and
looked me over. And in the third minute,
as We shook hands at parting. he said:
All right, Jack. IN remember you and
keep track"
Mr. London says that his cabman did
not know any more about the East End
that the tourist agency, but he got there
nnally, and bought himself an outfit
sufficiently disreputable to pass muster,
and found himself a lodging He then
proceeded to investigate the lie OF the
East London poor in all its phases.
The book is illustrated from photo
graphs taken in course of this expert
ence.
A Salvation Army Breakfast
One of the most picturesque episodes
recorded here is the experience of the
author in securing a breakfast at Sal
walton Army lodging house. where he
says he was obliged 10 stand in the
court yard and wait several hours,
after having walked the streets all
night, and when finally admitted re-
ceived q scanty supply CT Indifferent
food, after which there was "a prayer
meeting. 1t was nearly noost before the
breakfast was given out. and when he
asked TO go on plea of looking for
work the officers sneered at him as an
impostor. and a man of business" for
assuming TO have in view something
more profitable than hearing sermons.
He is careful to say. however. that he
does not present this as a typical in
stance of Salvation Army work.
More revolving in detail is the account
which he gives OF his experience at the
spike or casual ward OF the work
house, to which he says even vagranss
do not come unless they are driven. The
milder part OF this experience is as sSi-
lows:
The workhoase.
BY o'clock We We're called away to
battle and go TO bed. We stripped our
clothes, wrapping them up in our coats
and buckling our belts about them. and
deposited them in a heaped rack and
upon the foor-a beautiful scheme for
he spread Of vermin Then, two by
two, we entered the bathroom There
were two ordinary tubs. and this /
-A-ApN N-a~ wv men PlEtFI4Aik 4Aa0
washed in that water. We washed in
the same water, and il was not changed
for the two men that followed Us. This
know: but I am quite certain that
the twenty-five OF us washed n the
same water
"A shirt was handed me M'0ich /
could not help but wonder how many
other men had worn, and, with q couple
Of blankets under my arm. I t-rdged
of 10 the sleeping apartment This was
a long, narrow room, traversed by two
low iron. rails. Between these rails we're
stretched. not hammocks. but pieces of
canvas six feet long and less than two
feet wide. These were the beds, and
they We're six inches above che floor.
The chief difficulty was that the head
was somewhat higher than the feet,
which caused the body constantly to slip
down. Being slung 10 the same rails,
when one man moved, no matter how
slightly, the rest were set rocking, and
whenever I dozed somebody was sure
to struggle back to the position from
which he had slipped and arouse me
again. -
Bad Business Methods.
The perfectly unnecessary discomfort
OF this system is the thing which i'm
presses an American Good bread Is
more economical than bad. There Is no
saving in bitter Dorridge. and water il
not expensive. Why could not these poor
tramps have been given food 1T 10 eat,
and clean water? And what was the
need OF that slope in the canvas?
The overcTOwding in London -ene-
ments. as described by the author. g
something frightful He found ii i'm
possible TO secure two or three rooms
suitable for family use. one room being
considered quite enough for a man with
family, and one bed, in the room with
two other men, being the usual allow
ance for single man earning fair
wages
Life in London.
OF London city life in general he says:
AT the best. city life is an unnatural
life for the human; but the city life of
London is so utterly unnatural that the
average workman or workwoman cannot
stand Il. Mind and body are Slapped by
the undermining influences ceaseiessly
at work. Moral and physical stamina
are broken, and the good workman,
fresh from the soil, becomes in the first
city generation poor workman, and by
the second generation devoid Of push
and go and initiative. and actually I'M
able physically to perform the labor his
father did; ne is well on the way TO the
shambles at the bottom of the abyss.
Leaving out the disease germs thai
fill the air Of the East End, consider but
tile one item OF smoke. Sir William