The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-24
John Mitchell Tells IS Of the Daily.
Experiences Of 'Toili1g
Millions.
HOUSES SMALL AND CROWDED

AdDOI5 n LcdQGI& Days 3DllllSll84 lIC-
tropolis Needs Rapid Transit
/. and Tenement Dwellings.
The most interesting thing which
have seeii about London is not st. Pauls
Cathedral or Westminster Abbey. but
the homes of the London rkingn1en.
The stranger In London Is struck by
che endless streets, extending hundreds
OK miles. ana containing row after row
Of small houses, In, which reside the men
who have made tho city what 1t is,
The impression Is very different from,
that OF New York. III that great Amer.
lean city the streets are flanked on both
sides BY huge tenements, each OF them
containing hundreds OF Inhabitants Lon
don. on the contrary, Is a city Of small
houses, and the population. instead OF
living In the air, as IN New York. is
spread over al, Immense and fever-In-
creaslng area. 1t Is almost Impossible
for the casual visitor to understand or
appreciate tho immensely OF London. A
mere statement that 1t Is greater than
any other city In The world; that It's pop
ulation Is larger t han that OF Scotland.
or Ireland, or OF any State OF the Union,
except New York and Pennsylvania, docs
not mean half so much as a bus ride
through the endless miles OF streets In
the workingmen's districts. ij st$5l
have spent many hours in various
sections OF this city. where wage-earners
dwell and have gathered vivid impress
slons from what / have seen and from
what has been told me. This city seems
like a grea I. overgroWn9 town. i Is poDu-
s1ation Is Increasing by lea ps o. nd bounds.
Every train brings In new people from
the country or from foreign hores;S and
fresh throngs are yearl y dumped into the
great. secthing. roaring sea Of humanity
which makes lip the va ~ N tropolis:
Houses 20 up at the rate OF tens OF
thousands per gear, but still there Is no
room for the newcomers who crow IN 70
rapidly. There is no room to breathe;
no room 10 live: no chance for the aver
sngc workinEman OF moderate income to
live With comfort and In healthy and
pleasant surroundings.
Great Cry for Rooms.
~ TI.s grea cry OF London is for rooms
TbeHcity8 does not have to deal withs the
problem which confronts Manhattan,
whose two millions are pressed 81 In ( be-
tween The North, and the East Rivers 4
Here there is Z chance to expand In
cyeryi&directiun: to- the north. to the
south. to the east. TO the west: but 3hith-
eric this extension has not been sui
ciently rapid 10 keep pace with the ever
Increasing population. There is still con-
,s,derabl over a million work In gmen and
sworktpgwoment In the great city. and
these must be accommodated with resi-
drnces more or less close TO their work.
AZ there were an extensive md pid
system, OF el ectric traction. wi tn overhead
and underground raj ways lea ding TO all
pa rtsB 81 tho city. the average yTorkin
man might ike at q distance of eight or
ten miles from the center Of the metropo-
lis and still get to his work In time.
nsHit8is, the great mass OF the working
reputation is congcsted In the inner por-
lions OF the town. with the result that
the houses OF the people are Gro Wded
beyond their capacity ss u 355S
.fa Even the most 81 Gro wded tricts q
j .ondon are probably rot quite so dense
IL populated as certain longest ed 8 por-
5tiens Sof New Pork city. as. for instance,
some OF the wards on the East and West
Side: but the actual conditions are worse.
There Il more room III 4 stx-s tory tene-
n1cnt8 han In a two-story INIT. In Lon
dor, hundreds Sof thousands Q f5E people
= wa rm II, "a rty houses and ronkeries. ~
cellars In hack alleys. and in turn ble-
ffIo Nm shanties. compared to which some
sof the worst tenements of New York are
like palaces. The overcrowdinE becomes
worse with each succeeding yea r.S2ll u We
count those people nsS orercr 70 IS ded who
llve two or moro In n: room. y y VIII pc
found that consid era bly, over million, Q
I.ondon's Inhabitants would como within
this class. There are many who live
four In room. many who live six and
eight; and there arc even place where
twelve persons occupy one room.
In certain sectionsBof the city the over.
crowd Ing is even mora intense. Taking
,.o,don as a Whole. thirty out OF evas4
hundred people are living in an over
crowded condition-in other words. I wo
or more to "a room; in some sections c9
'fifty-fivc to- sixty per cent. live IN q
sinrila e state. IN tho ], famous White7
shnpel5 district over Rnd-scventh of the
po,pnIation is living: four or more TO q
room. 3 a s "
How Poorer Glasses Live.
Wc hear terrible stories Of how the
poorcr3 classes or this giant metropolis
i've or rather exist, In the houses which
their means permit them to occupy. "a
room may be divided between two fami-4
lies. dodgers may BIO ia ken In Il or a. bed
may DO leased or divided betweet, q
mar, who works by tho daysa and one who
works BY night 1t Is impossible to see
tic conditions, and quite impossible to
realize thern. The over-orowding ex-s
tsts not only in the VIII techa pei District.
butSini West Londonsnnd In many other
PARTS 4 Of the city. 4S3 The pressure for
ICONS near to the center OF the town
causes rents to rise constantly, and the
tenant is at the mercy of the landlord or
Ills agent, who exacts from him the ut
ternost penny. The tenants rebel occa-