Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/834

794

Communication. The terminal railway stations were, of course, a favourite target of the German airmen during the war; considerable damage was done to Liverpool St. station on June 13 1917, and St. Pancras also was injured slightly on Feb. 17 1918. The new Waterloo station, begun before the war, was nearly completed in 1921. The Central London railway had been extended to Liverpool St. and Ealing (in conjunction with the G.W.R.) The Bakerloo tube ran to Queen's Park, where a junction was effected with the L. & N.W.R. for through running to Watford. The Metropolitan District trains reach Hounslow, Uxbridge. East Ham and Barking. No new " tubes " had been opened, but various schemes of extension were in the air. The Underground group of companies (popularly known as the " Traf- fic Combine "), formed by the amalgamation of the Metropoli- tan District, the London Electric, the City and South London and Central London railways, and the London General Omnibus Co., had greatly improved facilities for through traffic between the associated companies. Its headquarters are at Electric Railway House, Broadway, Westminster. Fares had been standardized and, though necessarily higher than in pre-war days, were (judged by the average fare paid per passenger) cheaper than in New York, Paris or Berlin.

The total mileage of tramways in Greater London in 1921 was 350. Horse traction for trams had disappeared. The annual number of passengers approached 700 millions. There were no tramways in the City or West End.

The great majority of motor omnibuses belong to the London General Omnibus Co., and are included in the above-mentioned " Combine " and in one system of numbered routes. Improved new vehicles have been introduced, carrying from 46 to 54 passengers (as compared with 34 on the old type). They carried 860 million passengers in all in 1919. During the busiest traffic period at least 300 to 400 omnibuses pass certain points hourly. In summer motor-omnibuses run to points 30 m. from the centre of the metropolis. A notable feature has been the great increase in motor chars-a-bancs running to places of interest within a radius of 50 m. or more from London.

Hansoms are now rarely seen, and the horse-drawn four- wheeler carries on a precarious existence only in the service of railway passengers with bulky luggage. The general service is maintained by motor vehicles (" taxicabs "), all provided with automatic taximeters. Of the 13,794 hackney carriages licensed to ply for hire in 1919, less than 2,000 were horse-drawn. Probably 75% of the entire traffic of the London streets is now carried on by motor.

London was in 1921 in regular communication with the conti- nent of Europe by air. There were four daily services to Paris, one to Brussels, and one to Amsterdam, all starting from the Croydon aerodrome. About 400 passengers were dealt with weekly, and the number was steadily increasing. These ser- vices connect with air-services to various other points in Europe and even (via Spain) to Africa (Casablanca).

Post Office. The buildings of the General Post Office were greatly extended, and an underground tube railway was con- structed for the conveyance of postal packets of all kinds, extend- ing W. to Paddington and E. to Whitechapel. The eight postal districts were subdivided into delivery office areas, each with its distinctive number, so that postal addresses are now completed with such formulae as W.C.i, N.W-3, S.E.2S, and so on. In addition to the General Post Office and the head district offices there were 105 local delivery offices.

Telephones. In accordance with the agreement of 1905 the State took over the whole business of the National Telephone Co. on Jan. i 1912. Telephone call offices for public use are now found at nearly all post-offices and railway stations, and at many shops, public libraries and the like. The London telephone area is 640 sq. m. in extent, containing 83 exchanges with an average of about 1,000,000 daily calls. Its headquarters are at I44A, Queen Victoria Street. From certain offices trunk calls may be made to any part of the country; and London is also in telephonic communication with various Continental towns.

Population and Public Health. The pop. of Greater London

in 1911 was 7,251,338 and in 1921 7,476,168; that of the county was 4,521,685 in 1911 and 4,483,249 in 1921; of the Outer Ring 2,729,673 in 1911 and 2,992,929 in 1921; of the City 19,657 in 1911 and 13,706 in 1921. Greater London increased by 10-2% between 1901 and 1911 and by 3-1% between 1911 and 1921, but the county of London had decreased by 0-3% and 0-9%. The statistics for the metropolitan boroughs are as follows:

Area in statute ac.

Population

Increase

( + )or Decrease (-)

1911

1921

Battersea Bermondsey. Bethnal Green Camberwell. Chelsea ....

2,163 i ,53 760 4,480 660 I,S64.

167,743 125,903 128,183 261,328 66,385 109,496 87,923 153,284 95,968 222,533

121,521 85,495

49,357 327,403 172,317 298,058 160,834

142,551 162,442 118,160 218,387 111,390 191,907 279,804 50,659 3",36o 160,261 121,376

19,657

167,693 119,455 117,238 267,235 63,700 112,500 76,019

157,944 100,493 222,159 130,287 86,080 42,796 330,028 175,686 302,960 174,194 144,273 162,618 104,222 210,986 104,308 184,388 249,738 52,167 328,656

Hi,3i7 140,403

13,706

50 - 6,448 -10,945

+ 5,907 - 2,685 + 3,004 -11,904 + 4,660 + 4,525 - 374 + 8,766 + 585 - 6,561 + 2,625 + 3,369 + 4,902 + 13,360 + 1,722 + 176 -13,938 - 7,401 - 7,082

- 7,519 30,066 + 1,508 + 17,296 -18,944 + 19,027

- 5,951

Finsbury.

587 1,706

Greenwich Hackney. Hammersmith Hampstead Holborn .... Islington. Kensington Lambeth. Lewisham Paddington

3,859 3,287 2,287 2,265 405 3,092 2,290 4,083 7,015 1,357

2,'l'U

St. Marylebone St. Pancras Shoreditch Southwark

1,473 2,694 658

1,131

1,767

Stoke Newington. Wandsworth. Westminster, City of. Woolwich City of London (County Corporate).

863 9,107 2,503 8,282

678

The proposed new " London health area " would contain more than 9,000,000 souls.

The birth-rate sank from 24-3 per 1,000 in 1914 to 17-9 in 1917, but it had climbed again (according to the estimates of the registrar-general) to 26-5 in 1920. The death-rate curve for the same period was 13, 18, 12-4. Both birth and death rates are below the figures for 1910-4 (28-5 and 16-5 respectively). The comparative death-rates for the different boroughs were about the same, and London maintained its relatively favourable position in comparison with other large towns.

Sanitation. The general regulations as to public health remain much as they were in 1910. The Act of 1891 was supplemented by the Housing Acts of 1909 and 1919, and various Diseases of Animals Acts. Many of the provisions or the National Insurance Acts of 1911-20 are administered by an Insurance Committee of 80 mem- bers, one-fifth of whom are appointed by the County Council. The mileage of the main sewers had increased to about 370 m., the cost of construction (to March 1919) to 12,608,000, and the annual cost of maintenance to about 500,000 (1918-9). The total annual cost, including debt charges and the work of the Metropolitan Borough Councils, was nearly 1,000,000 (1918-9).

Hospitals. The powers of the Metropolitan Asylums Board were further defined by sundry orders of the Ministry of Health, and its scope and services increased. The activity of the London County Council, which controls the asylums for acute or recoverable cases of insanity, was especially notable in the improved treatment of tuberculosis and venereal diseases and in the campaign against infant mortality. The growing share of woman in the medical life of Lon- don is illustrated, e.g. by the existence of several hospitals wholly run by women. The so-called " Unit System," adopted from America, will (it is hoped) prove of great benefit.

Water Supply. Under the Metropolitan Water Board Act of 1915 the Board was completing in 1921 a reservoir at Littleton, with a capacity of 6,350,000,000 gallons. The existing storage reservoirs for unfiltered water had an area of nearly 2,000 ac. with a capacity of 13,000,000 gallons. The total supply in 1919-20 was 100,079,- 000,000 gals, of water, being a daily average of 273,400,000 gallons (about 40 gallons per head of population). The total income on revenue account for 1919-20 was 3,158,391, and the expenditure 4,143,258, leaving a deficiency of 984,867, which was met by pre- cepts levied on the contributory authorities. In 1916 the Metro- politan Water Board decided to save coal by chlorinating raw