Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1913-05-23

information about the cata-
combs. One wonders II an
Italian, visiting London, learns any
thing of its subterranean marvels. for
certainly the Londoner himself re-
mains woefully ignorant Of all the
amazing systems of tubes, tunnels,
drains, sewers, cellars and the like,
which honeycomb the ground beneath
his feet, and, compared with Rome's
catacombs, are as a childs toy to St
Paul's cathedral.
Take an instance in point, says the
London Weekly Telegraph. For more
than two years, from 1909 to the be-
ginning of 1911, considerable area
Of the Strand behind St. Mary's church
was inclosed by a gigantic boarding.
Literally millions of people must have
passed and noticed that boarding, but
how many ever gave 1t second
thought? Yet II they had chosen to
investigate they would have found
that 1t inclosed an immense shaft lead
ing down to one of London's greatest
drains-a huge. low level culvert run
ming all the way from Hammersmith
to Bow, a distance of some twelve
and half miles, and costing more
than three-quarters Of a million to
construct
Two Thousand Miles of Drains.
This drain, which is now completed,
gives London a total of 1852 miles. of
main drains, which are linked up
with tremendous network of smaller
drains having a length of over 1000
miles. Their outfalls are at Barking
and Crossness, where are immense
pumping stations capable of dealing
with some 15,000,00O,000 gallons of
sewage in the course Of the "a hours.
In Paris one of the recognized sights
of the city is its sewers, but who
dreams Of inspecting the far more
wonderful sewers of London the wind,
ing serpents of length almost suffi.
cient to stretch from London to Edin-
burgh, and which guard the health OF
over six millions of people? They cost
$55,OO0,000 to construct and $4,000
yearly to care for, yet the money is
well spent, for. since 1870, the death
rate of London has dropped from "a to
ii per thousand.
All day and all night, all the year
round, work goes on ceaselessly In the
wonderful subterranean world of the
sewers. An army of sewer men In
hugh thigh boots wade in the swiftly
running fluid and work in the close
l.1+ o;r 30 tbo doop duy Pm
Through these sewers now run what
were once navigable rivers. The Fleet
for instance, up which barges ant
pleasure galleys once made their cum
brous way. at present runs about foul
feet below the surface of Harrington
street and New Bridge street. The tun
mel through which the river flows II
big enough for the passage Of an ON
nibus, yet in wet weather its bore 1,
not sufficiently large to carry off tn,
storm water, as flooded Easements IL
Tudor street and the neighborhoot
testify When there are high tides IL
the Thames the tidal flaps" at Black
friars bridge are held back by pres
sure of water. and at such times the,
say that. were five foot spike driver
into the middle of New Bridge street
the pentup water Of the Fleet woul,
rush up in Jet as high as Ludgat
Hill station.
Queer Finds In Sewers.
Strange things are found by tn
men who delve in the depths, diggin
London's sewers. In making the Bucl
lersbury sewer the excavation ran sue
denly into large natural cave, thoug
how formed it is impossible to tell. A
for relics Of past days, the Londo
county council has collection G
these and a very interesting little mi
scum 1t forms. Here are tusks of tn
mammoth, the gigantic long haire
elephant that once roamed the grea
marshes where London now stands
Here are bones of early British cattl
and a perfect skull Of prehistori
Londoner who shot game with fir