Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1911-12-01

money to buy lands, but new IDEAS,
higher ambitions and wider outlook
on the world.
Ii.-PETTlcoAT LANE AND BETH.
NAL GREEN.
In the previous chapter told of
my purpose in visiting Europe. In the
present chapter shall tell something
Of my Impressions Of London, where
my first extended observations were
made.
The first thing that impressed me
about London, was Its size; the second
was the wide division between the
different elements in the population.
London Is not only the largest city
in the world: 1t is also the city In
which the segregation of the classes
has gone farthest. The West End. for
example, is the home Of the King and
the Count. Here are the Houses of
Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the
British Museum, most of the histor-
ical monuments, the Art Galleries and
nearly everything that is interesting,
refined and beautiful In the lives of
seven millions Of people who make
up the Inhabitants of the city
If you take a cab at Trafalgar
Square, however, and ride eastward
down the Strand through Fleet street,
where all the principal newspapers Of
London are published. past the Bank
of England, ST. Paul's Cathedral and
the interesting sights and scenes OF
the older part Of the city, you come,
all of sudden, into very different
region, the center of which Is the IA
nous Whitechapel.
The difference between the East
End and the West End OF London Is
that East London has no monuments,
no banks, no hotels, ,theaters, art gal.
leries: no history nothing that is in
teresting and attractive but it's poverty
and Its problems. Everything else
is drab and commonplace.
It is said that more than one hun
dred thousand of the people in this
part of the city, In spite Of all efforts
that have teen made to help them. are
living on the verge Of starvation. So
poor and so helpless are these people
that it was at one time, seriously pro
posed to separate them from the rest
Of the population and set them of in
city by themselves, where they
could live and work entirely under the
direction of the state. 1t was pro.
posed to put this hundred thousand
Of the very poor under the direction
and care of the state because they
were not able to take care Of them.
selves; and because it was declared
that all the service which they rem
dered the community could be per-
formed by the remaining portion OF
the population in their leisure mo-
ments, so that they were, in fact, not
! help but hindrance to the city as
a whole.
l got my first view Of one Of the
characteristic sights Of the East End
life at Middlesex street, or Petticoat
Lane, as i, was formerly called. Petit
coat Lane is the center Of the Jew.
ish quarter, and on Sunday morning
there is a famous market in this
street. On both sides of the thorough.
fare, running northward from White
chapel road until they lose themselves
in some of the side streets, one sees
a double line Of push-carts. upon which
every imaginable sort Of. ware. from
wedding rings to cells In Jelly. are ex.s9
posed fer sale. On both sides Of these
carts and in the middle of the street
a motley throng Of bargain-hunters
are pushing their way through the
crowds, stopping to look over the Gu.
rious wares in the carts or to listen
to the shrill cries of some hawker
selling pain killer or some other sort
of magic or cure all.
Nearly all Of the merchants are
Jews, but the majority of their GUS
toners belong to the tribes. of the
Gentiles. Among others noticed q
class OF professional customers. They
were evidently artisans Of some sort
or other. who had come to pick out
from the goods exposed for sale
plane or saw or some other sort of
secondhand tool; there were others
searching for useful bits Of old iron.
bolts. brass. springs, keys. and other
things Of that sort which they would
be able to turn to some use. In their
trade. l @
spent an hour or more wandering
through this street and the neighbor.
ing lane into which this petty push
cart trafic had oyerfowed. Second
hand clothing, secondhand household
articles, the waste meats Of the Satur.
day market, all kinds Of worn-out and
CASTOR articles which had been nshed
out Of the junk heaps Of the city or