The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-22
From the Kansas City Star.

Y tOAi eiic IAdAsdS 1lly StdT.
 nY far the least known section of N London, with it's 1000 miles of - streets, is, to the average Amer
 can tourist. the East End. That part stretches from Aldersgate Pump to the Backwall Tunnel and farther, even, than that. The round distance of this trip will
 be 20 miles. Some of it will be performed on the tops of omnibuses and in tubes" but the greater part will have to be seen walking. In no guide books will you find an account of this section of the metropolis, for it is the home of the great est most degrading and terrible poverty in the world.
 Here one can see the homes of the cost CTS, whose quaint dialect, with its omis- sion of the aspirate and the final g's, has
 been misnamed by Americans Cock ney." Perhaps 1t would be best to explain
 here that a Cockney Is a person born
 within the hearing of Bow Bells, As the bells can now be heard for only about 50 square yards around Bow church in Cheapside, which has been mentioned in previous article, it easily can be seen that the number of Cockneys rapid ly is diminishing.
 But not so the costers. Their numbers are constantly on the increase. A man
 can be a Cockney whether he be duke
 or factory hand, but only a coster can
 be a coster. Cheyalier. in his masterly impersonations, emphasizes the truth of that statement. No actor could be so
 merrily individual as he. yet he is only ic
 too. that can be seen in no other town in
 no other country on earth. It is not, like the Apaches of Paris, murderous, thiev- ing, thuglike. Or, like the dock rats of
 New York, silent body of dangerous blackguards. London has it's own crim- final class, and the coster Is not among it. Webster's dictionary gives as it's defi- milton of the word costermonger, "a
 hawker who sells or purveys fruit, such
 as apples, bananas and other goods from
 barrow, cart or truck Their places are taken in America by the peanut
 stands and the fruit stalls.
 The favorite name of the coster IS
 'Arry. And the most common name of the costcr girl--of which there are plenty is 'Arriet. Thus came the phrase: You're behaving like 'Arry and 'Arriet
 on 'Ampstead 'Eath-" Hampstead Heath Is the great open air playground for
 Londons poor, and presents an animated scene on bank holidays.
 To continue our journey we meet, say. at Aldersgate Pump, passing on our way | down Leadenhall street. the old street | of. St. Mary Axe, pronounced "Simmery- axe" The ancient church of St. Mary | Axe stands on the corner of Leaden- hall street and St. Mary Axe. On the
 right as we proceed down Leadenhali | street. having passed Bishopgate street and Grasechurch street on our right and
 left, is Leadenhall market, one of the l largest meat markets in the world. On
 our left, past St. Mary Axe, we come to
 c. & E. Morton's huge office premises.
 entered by courtyard behind the Port of | London offices.
 Arriving at Aldersgate Pump, which
 is at the corner of Leadenhall street, Fenchurch street and Aldgate, we stroll | east along Aldgate and soon come to Mid
 dlesex street, still popularly called Pet
 ticoat lane. We are now in the Jewish quarter. For three miles eastward, in a
 quarter that contains 100000 souls, prac-
 ticaily every one is Jewish.
 | mile or so farther on we take the London County electric trans for a penny
 ride along the river to Millwall and the London docks. We are now passing | through Whitechapel, that quarter of
 London always avoided with great persist ence by all visitors to London, even Lon doners themselves, as being "the rough l quarter" In point of fact, although the
 amount of poverty is horrifying, there are
 numerous public baths and public libraries about, as well as plenty of theatres. The docks of London are always in-
 tensely interesting. as 1t is they and the
 fact that they have been possible that
 has made London the greatest city in the world. Were there no Thames there
 could be no Lcndon-whch is an epigram
 emanating from the brain of a Standard editorial writer in 1900. The docks are al-
 ways busy, always seething with human ity which buzzes, like a hive of bees, about the leviathan merchant vessels an- chored to the wharves. As many as 4O,- 100000 people have a direct interest in
 the docks of London. Some of these live thousands of miles away from the metrop- oils itself. All the great ports of the world have an abiding interest in the London docks. They-and the metropolis are the magnet which draws the trade of | the world to London. ssaTo pgoRssty N6defetaad r these stvte-