Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/624

 618 LONDON level. The sewers formerly emptied into the Thames, and during the rise of the tide over their orifices the whole drainage was stopped until the ebb set in, converting the sewers into cesspools. At present the sewers are diverted to reservoirs. Much of the sewage is utilized for agricultural purposes. The aver- age daily amount discharged on the N. side of the river is estimated at over 10,000,000 cubic feet, and on the S. side over 4,000,000. The whole system was nearly completed in 1874. The fluctuations in the water supply give rise to periodical alarm in the overcrowded dis- tricts, and schemes are proposed from time to time to increase the quantity and to improve the quality by artificial supplies from moun- tain regions. But the basin of the Thames continues to be the great reservoir of London, and it is believed that only careful filtration, removal of old cisterns, and other improve- ments are needed to make the water adequate to all requirements. It is supplied by eight companies, five on the N. and three on the S. side of the river, on the so-called intermittent system. The supply pipes are not attached to mains in which the water is always under pres- sure, but to smaller pipes into which it is daily turned on for one or two hours. The average quantity supplied daily in July, 1874, was 127,- 563,243 gallons. The royal commissioners on the water supply believe that the amount may be increased by the existing companies to 180,- 000,000 gallons, which they deem sufficient for a maximum of 5,000,000 residents at the height of the season. Drinking fountains are also increasing in number in public thorough- fares and parks. Extensive new swimming baths were opened near Hungerford bridge in 1874, and a similar establishment is in course of construction near Pimlico pier. The law has been made stringent in regard to the im- mediate removal of offensive burial grounds; and the increasing demolition of old churches leads to the removal of the dead to cemeteries, although many of the churchyards in the older parts of London remain undisturbed. Many new cemeteries are required in addition to the present number, which includes Bunhill Fields, near Finsbury square (for dissenters) ; and there is a general tendency to lay them out in fine lo- calities, as Norwood, Kensal Green, Brompton, and Highgate cemeteries, and in remoter rural districts. The public health act of 1872 was the complement of the local government board act of 1871, and both were results of the royal sanitary commission of 1869-'70. The mean temperature of the year is 50-5 ; that of the surrounding country about 48. In January it averages 36-34, February 39-6, March 42, April 47-61, May 55-4, June 59-36, July 62-97, August 61, September 57'7, October 50-79, November 42-4, December 38-71. The temperature in summer seldom rises to 80 in the shade, though occasionally going above 90, and seldom falls in winter to 20 during the day, but has sunk as low as 5 be- low zero at night. The mortality reached the annual rate of 23-1 in 1,000 in 1871, and de- clined to 20-7 in 1872, 20 in 1873, and 19-9 in the year ending June 30, 1874, being 2-6 lower than the average rate in the urban dis- tricts generally, 2*3 lower than that in the 18 large towns, 1*1 below the rate for the whole of England and "Wales, and only 0-8 higher than the rate in the rural districts. Of 123,- 990 who died during the spring quarter of 1874, nearly 60,000 had escaped the perils of infancy, but were cut off before they attained old age. London has a great drawback in its moist climate, though it is not considered un- healthy. The sufferings and hard realities of life are also more glaring in this overwhelming concentration of people in one and the same community than among more scattered popu- lations. The noises, too, in the centres of traffic are bewildering. But there are not a few spots of idyllic stillness in the midst of perpetual motion, and London is on the whole the city of all cities where persons of all degrees and tastes can live in perfect in- dependence, without being interfered with as long as they do not interfere with others, well protected in their lives and property, and with many reasonable opportunities of uncostly en- joyments. The metropolis presents the most edifying spectacle at early dawn, when cara- vans of wagons arrive with provisions for the still sleeping millions; the most dazzling late in the evening, when the popular thorough- fares swarm with the multitude, and are ablaze with light ; and the most ominous during the night, when the dangerous and degraded classes prowl through the streets. During great pro- cessions the dangerous classes still constitute a formidable mob, such as alarmed the queen at the time of her coronation. The East End sup- plies the contingent of roughs, and the West End that of drones and idlers. Apart from the many criminals in the prisons, there are thousands on the verge of crime and without visible means of existence. The first authen- tic notice of the existence of London (Lon- dinium) occurs in Tacitus. About 100 years after Julius Csesar's invasion, it was taken by the Romans under Claudius, called Augusta, and placed under a Roman administration. In A. D. 61 the Britons under Boadicea captured and burned the city, which was however soon rebuilt. It is supposed to have remained un- protected by fortifications until the reign of Constantine the Great, who, judging from many coins which have come to light, is be- lieved to have constructed the walls of Lon- don and to have erected it into an episcopal see. The walls commenced in the vicinity of the present tower, and their compass was completed by another wall along the banks of the Thames. Gates were added to these walls, and roads laid out which led to different parts of the country. The names of the gates are per- petuated in various localities ; a considerable portion of the old New gate was excavated