---------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------+-----------------
| No. of | Wives and |
LOCALITIES CLEANSED. | Street- | Children | Money
| Orderlies. | dependent.| expended.
---------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------+-----------------
| | | £ _s._ _d._
1843-4. Oxford and Regent Streets | 50 | 256 | 560 0 0
1845. Strand | 8 | -- | 38 0 0
1845-6. Cheapside, Cornhill, &c., City of London | 100 | 363 | 1540 2 0
1846-7. St. Margaret’s and St. John’s, Westminster | 15 | 65 | 306 0 0
1847. Piccadilly, St. James’s, &c. | 8 | 32 | 115 0 0
1848. Strand | 8 | 31 | 35 0 0
1848. St. Martin’s Lane, &c. | 38 | 138 | 153 0 0
1848. Piccadilly, St. James’s, &c. | 48 | 108 | 341 3 0
1848-9. St. Paul’s, Covent Garden | 13 | 38 | 38 10 0
1849. Regent Street, Whitehall, &c. | 18 | 68 | 98 0 0
1849. St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury | 14 | 71 | 58 1 0
1849. St. Pancras, New Road, &c. | 16 | 46 | 177 6 0
1849. St. Andrew’s and St. George’s, Holborn | 23 | 83 | 63 4 9
1849. Lambeth Parish | 16 | 41 | 84 16 0
1851. St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields | 68 | 179 | 119 3 4
1851. City of London, Central Districts (per | | |
week, during 6 weeks last past) | 103 | 378 | 55 0 0
---------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------+-----------------
Total | 546 | 1897 | 3782 6 1
---------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------+-----------------
The period of nine years comprised in the above statement (1843 and
1851 being both included) gives a yearly average, as to the number of
the poor employed, exceeding 60, with a similar average of 210 wives
and children, and a yearly average outlay of 420_l._ The number of
orderlies now employed by the Association is from 80 to 90.
* * * * *
Such, then, is a brief account of the rise and progress of this new
mode of street-sweeping, and we now come to a description of the work
itself.
“The orderlies,” says the Report of the Association, “keep the streets
free from mud in winter, and dust in summer; and that with the least
possible personal drudgery:--adhering to the principle of operation
laid down, viz., that of ‘_Cleansing and keeping Clean_,’ they have
merely, after each morning’s sweeping and removal of dirt, to keep a
vigilant look-out over the surface of street allotted to them; and to
remove with the hand-brush and dust-pan, from any particular spot,
whatever dirt or rubbish may fall upon it, _at the moment of its
deposit_. Thus are the streets under their care kept constantly clean.
“But sweeping and removing dirt,” continues the Report, “is not the
only occupation of the street-orderly, whilst keeping up a careful
inspection of the ground allotted to him. He is also the watchman
of house-property and shop-goods; the guardian of reticules,
pocket-books, purses, and watch-pockets;--the experienced observer
and detector of pickpockets; the ever ready, though unpaid, auxiliary
to the police constable. Nay, more;--he is always at hand, to render
assistance to both equestrian and pedestrian: if a horse slip,
stumble, or fall,--if a carriage break down, or vehicles come into
collision,--the street-orderly darts forward to raise and rectify
them: if foot-passengers be run over, or knocked down, or incautiously
loiter on a crossing, the street-orderly rescues them from peril or
death; or warns them of the approaching danger of carriages driving in
opposite directions: if other accidents befall pedestrians,--if they
fall on the pavement, from sudden illness, faintness, or apoplexy,
the street-orderly is at hand to render assistance, or convey them
to the nearest surgery or hospital. If strangers are at fault as to
the localities of London, or the place of their destination, the
orderly, in a civil and respectful manner, directs them on their way.
If habitual or professional mendicants are importunate or troublesome,
the street-orderly warns them off; or hands them to the care of
the policeman. And if a _really_ poor or starving fellow-creature
wanders in search of food or alms, he leads him to a workhouse or
soup-kitchen[28].
“_Should the system become general (of which there is now every
good prospect), it will be the means of rescuing no less than_ TEN
THOUSAND PERSONS _and their families from destitution and distress_
(in London alone);--from the forlorn and wretched condition which
tempts to criminality and outrage, to that of comfort, independence,
and happiness--produced by their own industry, aided by the kind
consideration of those who are more the favourites of fortune than
themselves.
“In conclusion it may be stated, that the street-orderly system will
keep the streets and pavements of London and Westminster as clean
as the court-yard and hall of any gentleman’s private dwelling: it
will not only secure the general comfort and health of upwards of two
millions of people, but save a vast annual amount to shopkeepers,
housekeepers, and others, with regard to the spoiling of their goods
by dust and dirt; in the wear and tear of clothes and furniture, by an
eternal round of brushing, dusting, scouring, and scrubbing.”
The foregoing extract fully indicates the system pursued and results
of street-orderlyism. I will now deal with what may be considered _the
labour or trade part of the question_.
By the street-orderly plan a district is duly apportioned. To one
man is assigned the care of a series of courts, a street, or 500,
1000, 1200, 1500, or 2000 yards of a public way, according to its
traffic, after the whole surface has been swept “the first thing in the
morning.” In Oxford-street, for instance, it has been estimated that
500 yards can be kept clear of the dirt continually being deposited by
one man; in the squares, where there is no great traffic, 2000 yards;
while in so busy a part as Cheapside, some nine men will be required to
be hourly on the look-out. These street-orderlies are confined to their
beats as strictly as are policeman, and as they soon become known to
the inhabitants, it is a means of checking any disposition to loiter,
or to shirk the work; to say nothing of the corps of inspectors and
superintendents.