I now come to the class of cheap lodging-houses usually frequented by
the casual labourers at the docks. It will be remembered, perhaps, that
I described one of these places, as well as the kind of characters to
be found there. Since then I have directed my attention particularly
to this subject; not because it came first in order according to the
course of investigation I had marked out for myself, but because it
presented so many peculiar features that I thought it better, even at
the risk of being unmethodical, to avail myself of the channels of
information opened to me rather than defer the matter to its proper
place, and so lose the freshness of the impression it had made upon my
mind.
On my first visit, the want and misery that I saw were such, that, in
consulting with the gentleman who led me to the spot, it was arranged
that a dinner should be given on the following Sunday to all those who
were present on the evening of my first interview; and, accordingly,
enough beef, potatoes, and materials for a suet-pudding, were sent in
from the neighbouring market to feed them every one. I parted with
my guide, arranging to be with him the next Sunday at half-past one.
We met at the time appointed, and set out on our way to the cheap
lodging-house. The streets were alive with sailors, and bonnetless and
capless women. The Jews’ shops and public-houses were all open, and
parties of “jolly tars” reeled past us, singing and bawling on their
way. Had it not been that here and there a stray shop was closed, it
would have been impossible to have guessed it was Sunday. We dived
down a narrow court, at the entrance of which lolled Irish labourers
smoking short pipes. Across the court hung lines, from which dangled
dirty-white clothes to dry; and as we walked on, ragged, unwashed,
shoeless children scampered past us, chasing one another. At length
we reached a large open yard. In the centre of it stood several empty
costermongers’ trucks and turned-up carts, with their shafts high in
the air. At the bottom of these lay two young girls huddled together,
asleep. Their bare heads told their mode of life, while it was evident,
from their muddy Adelaide boots, that they had walked the streets all
night. My companion tried to see if he knew them, but they slept too
soundly to be roused by gentle means. We passed on, and a few paces
further on there sat grouped on a door-step four women, of the same
character as the last two. One had her head covered up in an old brown
shawl, and was sleeping in the lap of the one next to her. The other
two were eating walnuts; and a coarse-featured man in knee-breeches and
“ankle-jacks” was stretched on the ground close beside them.
At length we reached the lodging-house. It was night when I had first
visited the place, and all now was new to me. The entrance was through
a pair of large green gates, which gave it somewhat the appearance of a
stable-yard. Over the kitchen door there hung a clothes-line, on which
were a wet shirt and a pair of ragged canvas trousers, brown with tar.
Entering the kitchen, we found it so full of smoke that the sun’s rays,
which shot slanting down through a broken tile in the roof, looked like
a shaft of light cut through the fog. The flue of the chimney stood
out from the bare brick wall like a buttress, and was black all the
way up with the smoke; the beams, which hung down from the roof, and
ran from wall to wall, were of the same colour; and in the centre, to
light the room, was a rude iron gas-pipe, such as are used at night
when the streets are turned up. The floor was unboarded, and a wooden
seat projected from the wall all round the room. In front of this
was ranged a series of tables, on which lolled dozing men. A number
of the inmates were grouped around the fire; some kneeling toasting
herrings, of which the place smelt strongly; others, without shirts,
seated on the ground close beside it for warmth; and others drying the
ends of cigars they had picked up in the streets. As we entered the
men rose, and never was so motley and so ragged an assemblage seen.
Their hair was matted like flocks of wool, and their chins were grimy
with their unshorn beards. Some were in dirty smock-frocks; others in
old red plush waistcoats, with long sleeves. One was dressed in an old
shooting-jacket, with large wooden buttons; a second in a blue flannel
sailor’s shirt; and a third, a mere boy, wore a long camlet coat
reaching to his heels, and with the ends of the sleeves hanging over
his hands. The features of the lodgers wore every kind of expression:
one lad was positively handsome, and there was a frankness in his face
and a straightforward look in his eye that strongly impressed me with
a sense of his honesty, even although I was assured he was a confirmed
pickpocket. The young thief who had brought back the 11-1/2_d._ change
out of the shilling that had been entrusted to him on the preceding
evening, was far from prepossessing, now that I could see him better.
His cheek-bones were high, while his hair, cut close on the top, with a
valance of locks, as it were, left hanging in front, made me look upon
him with no slight suspicion. On the form at the end of the kitchen was
one whose squalor and wretchedness produced a feeling approaching to
awe. His eyes were sunk deep in his head, his cheeks were drawn in, and
his nostrils pinched with evident want, while his dark stubbly beard
gave a grimness to his appearance that was almost demoniac; and yet
there was a patience in his look that was almost pitiable. His clothes
were black and shiny at every fold with grease, and his coarse shirt
was so brown with long wearing, that it was only with close inspection
you could see that it had once been a checked one: on his feet he had a
pair of lady’s side-laced boots, the toes of which had been cut off so
that he might get them on. I never beheld so gaunt a picture of famine.
To this day the figure of the man haunts me.
The dinner had been provided for thirty, but the news of the treat
had spread, and there was a muster of fifty. We hardly knew how to
act. It was, however, left to those whose names had been taken down as
being present on the previous evening to say what should be done; and
the answer from one and all was that the new-comers were to share the
feast with them. The dinner was then half-portioned out in an adjoining
outhouse into twenty-five platefuls--the entire stock of crockery
belonging to the establishment numbering no more--and afterwards handed
into the kitchen through a small window to each party, as his name
was called out. As he hurried to the seat behind the bare table, he
commenced tearing the meat asunder with his fingers, for knives and
forks were unknown there. Some, it is true, used bits of wood like
skewers, but this seemed almost like affectation in such a place:
others sat on the ground with the plate of meat and pudding on their
laps; while the beggar-boy, immediately on receiving his portion,
danced along the room, whirling the plate round on his thumb as he
went, and then, dipping his nose in the plate, seized a potato in his
mouth. I must confess the sight of the hungry crowd gnawing their food
was far from pleasant to contemplate; so, while the dinner was being
discussed, I sought to learn from those who remained to be helped, how
they had fallen to so degraded a state. A sailor lad assured me he had
been robbed of his mariner’s ticket; that he could not procure another
under 13_s._; and not having as many pence, he was unable to obtain
another ship. What could he do? he said. He knew no trade: he could
only get employment occasionally as a labourer at the docks; and this
was so seldom, that if it had not been for the few things he had, he
must have starved outright. The good-looking youth I have before spoken
of wanted but 3_l._ 10_s._ to get back to America. He had worked his
passage over here; had fallen into bad company; been imprisoned three
times for picking pockets; and was heartily wearied of his present
course. He could get no work. In America he would be happy, and among
his friends again. I spoke to the gentleman who had brought me to the
spot, and who knew them all well. His answers, however, gave me little
hope. The boy, whose face seemed beaming with innate frankness and
honesty, had been apprenticed by him to a shoe-stitcher. But, no! he
preferred vagrancy to work. I could have sworn he was a trustworthy
lad, and shall never believe in “looks” again.
The dinner finished, I told the men assembled there that I should
come some evening in the course of the week, and endeavour to
ascertain from them some definite information concerning the persons
usually frequenting such houses as theirs. On our way home, my friend
recognised, among the females we had before seen huddled on the step
outside the lodging-house, a young woman whom he had striven to
get back to her parents. Her father had been written to, and would
gladly receive her. Again the girl was exhorted to leave her present
companions and return home. The tears streamed from her eyes at mention
of her mother’s name; but she would not stir. Her excuse was, that
she had no clothes proper to go in. Her father and mother were very
respectable, she said, and she could not go back to them as she was. It
was evident, by her language, she had at least been well educated. She
would not listen, however, to my friend’s exhortations; so, seeing that
his entreaties were wasted upon her, we left her, and wended our way
home.
Knowing that this lodging-house might be taken as a fair sample of
the class now abounding in London, and, moreover, having been informed
by those who had made the subject their peculiar study, that the
characters generally congregated there constituted a fair average of
the callings and habits of those who resort to the low lodging-houses
of London, I was determined to avail myself of the acquaintances I made
in this quarter, in order to arrive at some more definite information
upon those places than had yet been made public. The only positive
knowledge the public have hitherto had of the people assembling in
the cheap lodging-houses of London is derived chiefly from the Report
of the Constabulary Commissioners, and partly from the Report upon
Vagrancy. But this information, having been procured through others,
was so faulty, that having now obtained the privilege of personal
inspection and communication, I was desirous of turning it to good
account. Consequently I gave notice that I wished all that had dined
there on last Sunday to attend me yesterday evening, so that I might
obtain from them generally an account of their past and present career.
I found them all ready to meet me, and I was assured that, by adopting
certain precautions, I should be in a fair way to procure information
upon the subject of the cheap lodging-houses of London that few have
the means of getting. However, so as to be able to check the one
account with another, I put myself in communication with a person who
had lived for upwards of four months in the house. Strange to say, he
was a man of good education and superior attainments--further than this
I am not at liberty to state. I deal with the class of houses, and not
with any particular house, be it understood.
The lodging-house to which I more particularly allude makes up as many
as 84 “bunks,” or beds, for which 2_d._ per night is charged. For this
sum the parties lodging there for the night are entitled to the use
of the kitchen for the following day. In this a fire is kept all day
long, at which they are allowed to cook their food. The kitchen opens
at 5 in the morning, and closes at about 11 at night, after which hour
no fresh lodger is taken in, and all those who slept in the house the
night before, but who have not sufficient money to pay for their bed at
that time, are turned out. Strangers who arrive in the course of the
day must procure a tin ticket, by paying 2_d._ at the wicket in the
office, previously to being allowed to enter the kitchen. The kitchen
is about 40 feet long by about 40 wide. The “bunks” are each about 7
feet long, and 1 foot 10 inches wide, and the grating on which the
straw mattrass is placed is about 12 inches from the ground. The wooden
partitions between the “bunks” are about 4 feet high. The coverings
are a leather or a rug, but leathers are generally preferred. Of these
“bunks” there are five rows, of about 24 deep; two rows being placed
head to head, with a gangway between each of such two rows, and the
other row against the wall. The average number of persons sleeping in
this house of a night is 60. Of these there are generally about 30
pickpockets, 10 street-beggars, a few infirm old people who subsist
occasionally upon parish relief and occasionally upon charity, 10 or 15
dock-labourers, about the same number of low and precarious callings,
such as the neighbourhood affords, and a few persons who have been in
good circumstances, but who have been reduced from a variety of causes.
At one time there were as many as 9 persons lodging in this house who
subsisted by picking up dogs’ dung out of the streets, getting about
5_s._ for every basketful. The earnings of one of these men were known
to average 9_s._ per week. There are generally lodging in the house
a few bone-grubbers, who pick up bones, rags, iron, &c., out of the
streets. Their average earnings are about 1_s._ per day. There are
several mud-larks, or youths who go down to the water-side when the
tide is out, to see whether any article of value has been left upon the
bank of the river. The person supplying this information to me, who was
for some time resident in the house, has seen brought home by these
persons a drum of figs at one time, and a Dutch cheese at another.
These were sold in small lots or slices to the other lodgers.
[Illustration: A DINNER AT A CHEAP LODGING-HOUSE.]
The pickpockets generally lodging in the house consist of
handkerchief-stealers, shop-lifters--including those who rob the till
as well as steal articles from the doors of shops. Legs and breasts
of mutton are frequently brought in by this class of persons. There
are seldom any housebreakers lodging in such places, because they
require a room of their own, and mostly live with prostitutes. Besides
pickpockets, there are also lodging in the house speculators in stolen
goods. These may be dock-labourers or Billingsgate porters, having a
few shillings in their pockets. With these they purchase the booty
of the juvenile thieves. “I have known,” says my informant, “these
speculators wait in the kitchen, walking about with their hands in
their pockets, till a little fellow would come in with such a thing
as a cap, a piece of bacon, or a piece of mutton. They would purchase
it, and then either retail it amongst the other lodgers in the kitchen
or take it to some ‘fence,’ where they would receive a profit upon
it.” The general feeling of the kitchen--excepting with four or five
individuals--is to encourage theft. The encouragement to the “gonaff,”
(a Hebrew word signifying a young thief, probably learnt from the Jew
“fences” in the neighbourhood) consists in laughing at and applauding
his dexterity in thieving; and whenever anything is brought in, the
“gonaff” is greeted for his good luck, and a general rush is made
towards him to see the produce of his thievery. The “gonaffs” are
generally young boys; about 20 out of 30 of these lads are under 21
years of age. They almost all of them love idleness, and will only
work for one or two days together, but then they will work very hard.
It is a singular fact that, as a body, the pickpockets are generally
very sparing of drink. They are mostly libidinous, indeed universally
so, and spend whatever money they can spare upon the low prostitutes
round about the neighbourhood. Burglars and smashers generally rank
above this class of thieves. A burglar would not condescend to sit
among pickpockets. My informant has known a housebreaker to say with
a sneer, when requested to sit down with the “gonaffs,” “No, no! I
may be a thief, sir; but, thank God, at least I’m a respectable one.”
The beggars who frequent these houses go about different markets and
streets asking charity of the people that pass by. They generally go
out in couples; the business of one of the two being to look out and
give warning when the policeman is approaching, and of the other to
stand “shallow;” that is to say, to stand with very little clothing
on, shivering and shaking, sometimes with bandages round his legs,
and sometimes with his arm in a sling. Others beg “scran” (broken
victuals) of the servants at respectable houses, and bring it home to
the lodging-house, where they sell it. You may see, I am told, the
men who lodge in the place, and obtain an honest living, watch for
these beggars coming in, as if they were the best victuals in the
City. My informant knew an instance of a lad who seemed to be a very
fine little fellow, and promised to have been possessed of excellent
mental capabilities if properly directed, who came to the lodging-house
when out of a situation as an errand-boy. He stayed there a month or
six weeks, during which time he was tampered with by the others, and
ultimately became a confirmed “gonaff.” The conversation among the
lodgers relates chiefly to thieving and the best manner of stealing. By
way of practice, a boy will often pick the pocket of one of the lodgers
walking about the room, and if detected declare he did not mean it.
The sanitary state of these houses is very bad. Not only do the lodgers
generally swarm with vermin, but there is little or no ventilation to
the sleeping-rooms, in which 60 persons, of the foulest habits, usually
sleep every night. There are no proper washing utensils, neither towels
nor basins, nor wooden bowls. There are one or two buckets, but these
are not meant for the use of the lodgers, but for cleaning the rooms.
The lodgers never think of washing themselves. The cleanliest among
them will do so in the bucket, and then wipe themselves with their
pocket-handkerchiefs, or the tails of their shirts.
A large sum to be made by two beggars in one week is 20_s._; or 10_s._
a-piece, one for looking out, and the other for “standing shallow.” The
average earnings of such persons are certainly below 8_s._ per week. If
the Report of the Constabulary Force Commissioners states that 20_s._
per week is the average sum earned, I am told the statement must have
been furnished by parties who had either some object in overrating the
amount, or else who had no means of obtaining correct information on
the subject. From all my informant has seen as to the earnings of those
who make a trade of picking pockets and begging, he is convinced that
the amount is far below what is generally believed to be the case.
Indeed, nothing but the idle, roving life that is connected with the
business, could compensate the thieves or beggars for the privations
they frequently undergo.
After obtaining this information, I attended the lodging-house in
pursuance of the notice I had given, in order to ascertain from the
lodgers themselves what were the callings and earnings of the different
parties there assembled. I found that from 50 to 60 had mustered
purposely to meet me, although it was early in the evening, and they
all expressed themselves ready to furnish me with any information I
might require. The gentleman who accompanied me assured me that the
answers they would give to my questionings would be likely to be
correct, from the fact of the number assembled, as each would check the
other. Having read to them the account (in the _Morning Chronicle_) of
my previous interview with them, they were much delighted at finding
themselves in print, and immediately arranged themselves on a seat all
round the room. My first question was as to the age of those present.
Out of 55 assembled, I found that there were; 1 from 60 to 70 years
old, 4 from 50 to 60, 1 from 40 to 50, 15 from 30 to 40, 16 from 20
to 30, and 18 from 10 to 20. Hence it will be seen that the younger
members constituted by far the greater portion of the assembly. The 18
between 10 and 20 were made up as follows:--There were 3 of 20 years,
8 of 19 years, 3 of 18 years, 4 of 17 years, 1 of 16 years, and 2 of
15 years. Hence there were more of the age of 19 than of any other age
present.
My next inquiry was as to the place of birth. I found that there
were 16 belonging to London, 9 to Ireland, 3 to Bristol, 3 to
Liverpool, 2 were from Norfolk, 2 from Yorkshire, 2 from Essex, 2
from Germany, and 2 from North America. The remaining 14 were born
respectively in Macclesfield, Bolton, Aylesbury, Seacomb, Deal,
Epping, Hull, Nottinghamshire, Plumstead, Huntingdonshire, Plymouth,
Shropshire, Northamptonshire, and Windsor. After this I sought to
obtain information as to the occupations of their parents, with a view
of discovering whether their delinquencies arose from the depraved
character of their early associations. I found among the number,
13 whose fathers had been labouring men, 5 had been carpenters, 4
millers and farmers, 2 dyers, 2 cabinet-makers, a tallow-chandler,
a wood-turner, a calico-glazer, a silversmith, a compositor, a
cotton-spinner, a hatter, a grocer, a whip-maker, a sweep, a glover,
a watchmaker, a madhouse-keeper, a bricklayer, a shipbuilder, a
cow-keeper, a fishmonger, a mill-wright, a coast-guard, a ropemaker,
a gunsmith, a collier, an undertaker, a leather-cutter, a clerk, an
engineer, a schoolmaster, a captain in the army, and a physician.
I now sought to learn from them the trades that they themselves were
brought up to. There were 17 labourers, 7 mariners, 3 weavers, 2
bricklayers, and 2 shoemakers. The rest were respectively silversmiths,
dyers, blacksmiths, wood-turners, tailors, farriers, caulkers, French
polishers, shopmen, brickmakers, sweeps, ivory-turners, cowboys,
stereotype-founders, fishmongers, tallow-chandlers, rope-makers,
miners, bone-grubbers, engineers, coal-porters, errand-boys, beggars,
and one called himself “a prig.”
I next found that 40 out of the 55 could read and write, 4 could read,
and only 11 could do neither.
My next point was to ascertain how long they had been out of regular
employment, or to use their own phrase, “had been knocking about.” One
had been 10 years idle; one, 9; three, 8; two, 7; four, 6; five, 5;
six, 4; nine, 3; ten, 2; five, 1; three, 6 months, and one, 2 months
out of employment. A bricklayer told me he had been eight summers in,
and eight winters out of work; and a dock-labourer assured me that he
had been 11 years working at the dock, and that for full three-fourths
of his time he could obtain no employment there.
After this, I questioned them concerning their earnings for the past
week. One had gained nothing, another had gained 1_s._, eleven had
earned 2_s._; eight, 3_s._; nine, 4_s._; five, 5_s._; four, 6_s._;
four, 7_s._; six, 8_s._; one, 10_s._; one, 11_s._; and one, 18_s._
From three I received no answers. The average earnings of the 52 above
enumerated are 4_s._ 11_d._ per week.
Respecting their clothing, 14 had no shirts to their backs, 5 had no
shoes, and 42 had shoes that scarcely held together.
I now desired to be informed how many out of the number had been
confined in prison; and learnt that no less than 34 among the 55
present had been in gaol once, or oftener. Eleven had been in once;
five had been in twice; five, in 3 times; three, 4 times; four, 6
times; one, 7 times; one, 8 times; one, 9 times; one, 10 times; one,
14 times; and one confessed to having been there at least 20 times.
So that the 34 individuals had been imprisoned altogether 140 times;
thus averaging four imprisonments to each person. I was anxious to
distinguish between imprisonment for vagrancy and imprisonment for
theft. Upon inquiry I discovered that seven had each been imprisoned
once for vagrancy; one, twice; one, 3 times; two, 4 times; one, 5
times; two, 6 times; two, 8 times; and one, 10 times; making in all 63
imprisonments under the Vagrant Act. Of those who had been confined in
gaol for theft, there were eleven who had been in once; seven, who had
been in twice; two, 3 times; three, 6 times; one, 8 times, and two,
10 times; making a total of 77 imprisonments for thieving. Hence, out
of 140 incarcerations, 63 of those had been for vagrancy, and 77 for
theft; and this was among 34 individuals in an assemblage of 55.
The question that I put to them after this was, how long they had been
engaged in thieving? and the following were the answers: one had been
15 years at it; one, 14 years; two, 12 years; three, 10 years; one, 9
years; one, 8 years; two, 7 years; one, 6 years; two, 5 years; three, 4
years; and one, 3 years; one, 18 months; one, 7 months; two, 6 months;
and one, 2 months. Consequently, there were, of the half-hundred and
odd individuals there assembled, thieves of the oldest standing and the
most recent beginning.
Their greatest gains by theft, in a single day, were thus classified.
The most that one had gained was 3_d._, the greatest sum another had
gained was 7_d._; another, 1_s._ 6_d._; another, 2_s._ 6_d._; another,
6_s._; five had made from 10_s._ to 15_s._; three from 1_l._ to 2_l._;
one from 2_l._ to 3_l._; six from 3_l._ to 4_l._; one from 4_l._ to
5_l._; two from 20_l._ to 30_l._; and two from 30_l._ to 40_l._ Of the
latter two sums, one was stolen from the father of the thief, and the
other from the till of a counter when the shop was left unoccupied, the
boy vaulting over the counter and abstracting from the till no less
than seven 5_l._ notes, all of which were immediately disposed of to a
Jew in the immediate neighbourhood for 3_l._ 10_s._ each.
The greatest earnings by begging had been 7_s._ 6_d._, 10_s._ 6_d._,
and 1_l._; but the average amount of earnings was apparently of so
precarious a nature, that it was difficult to get the men to state a
definite sum. From their condition, however, as well as their mode of
living whilst I remained among them, I can safely say begging did not
seem to be a very lucrative or attractive calling, and the lodgers were
certainly under no restraint in my presence.
I wanted to learn from them what had been their motive for stealing in
the first instance, and I found upon questioning them, that ten did so
on running away from home; five confessed to have done so from keeping
flash company, and wanting money to defray their expenses; six had
first stolen to go to theatres; nine, because they had been imprisoned
for vagrants, and found that the thief was better treated than they;
one because he had got no tools to work with; one because he was “hard
up;” one because he could not get work; and one more because he was put
in prison for begging.
The following is the list of articles that they first stole: six
rabbits, silk shawl from home, a pair of shoes, a Dutch cheese, a few
shillings from home, a coat and trousers, a bullock’s heart, four
“tiles” of copper, fifteen and sixpence from master, two handkerchiefs,
half a quartern loaf, a set of tools worth 3_l._, clothes from a
warehouse, worth 22_l._, a Cheshire cheese, a pair of carriage lamps,
some handkerchiefs, five shillings, some turnips, watch-chain and
seals, a sheep, three and sixpence, and an invalid’s chair. This latter
article, the boy assured me he had taken about the country with him,
and amused himself by riding down hill.
Their places of amusement consisted, they told me, of the following:
The Britannia Saloon, the City Theatre, the Albert Saloon, the Standard
Saloon, the Surrey and Victoria Theatres when they could afford it, the
Penny Negroes, and the Earl of Effingham concerts.
Four frequenters of that room had been transported, and yet the house
had been open only as many years, and of the associates and companions
of those present, no less than 40 had left the country in the same
manner. The names of some of these were curious. I subjoin a few of
them. The Banger, The Slasher, The Spider, Flash Jim, White-coat Mushe,
Lankey Thompson, Tom Sales [he was hung], and Jack Sheppard.
Of the fifty-five congregated, two had signed the temperance pledge,
and kept it. The rest confessed to getting drunk occasionally, but not
making a practice of it. Indeed, it is generally allowed that, as a
class, the young pickpockets are rather temperate than otherwise; so
that here, at least, we cannot assert that drink is the cause of the
crime. Nor can their various propensities be ascribed to ignorance, for
we have seen that out of 55 individuals 40 could read and write, while
4 could read. It should be remembered, at the same time, that out of
the 55 men only 34 were thieves. Neither can the depravity of their
early associations be named as the cause of their delinquencies, for
we have seen that, as a class, their fathers are men rather well to do
in the world. Indeed their errors seem to have rather a physical than
either an intellectual or a moral cause. They seem to be naturally of
an erratic and self-willed temperament, objecting to the restraints of
home, and incapable of continuous application to any one occupation
whatsoever. They are essentially the idle and the vagabond; and they
seem generally to attribute the commencement of their career to harsh
government at home.
According to the Report of the Constabulary Force Commissioners,
there were in the metropolis in 1839, 221 of such houses as the one
at present described, and each of these houses harboured daily, upon
an average, no less than eleven of such characters as the foregoing,
making in all a total of 2431 vagrants and pickpockets sheltered
by the proprietors of the low lodging-houses of London. The above
twopenny lodging-house has, on an average, from fifty to sixty persons
sleeping in it nightly, yielding an income of nearly 3_l._ per week.
The three-penny lodging-houses in the same neighbourhood average from
fifteen to twenty persons per night, and produce a weekly total of
from 20_s._ to 25_s._ profit, the rent of the houses at the same time
being only from 5_s._ to 6_s._ per week.
There is still one question worthy of consideration. Does the
uncertainty of dock labour generate thieves and vagabonds, or do
the thieves and vagabonds crowd round the docks so as to be able to
gain a day’s work when unable to thieve? According to returns of the
metropolitan police force, the value of the property stolen in this
district in the year 1848 was 2007_l._, of which only 365_l._ were
recovered. The number of robberies was 521, the average amount of each
robbery being 3_l._ 17_s._ 0-1/2_d._ The amount recovered averaged
14_s._ on each robbery.