The style of upholstery throughout was that of the latest Victorian Era,

modified to meet the requirements of life at sea. There was, of course,

a very grand dining-saloon, and smaller ones for private parties; also a

principal drawing-room, boudoirs, tea-rooms, and in the transoms (_i.e._

the aftermost part of the ship) one small and purely ornamental parlour

in imitation of Princess Ida’s in her college--

“.... a court

Compact of lucid marbles, boss’d with lengths

Of classic frieze with ample awnings gay

Betwixt the pillars, and with great urns of flowers”--

where a statue of that divinity, seated on a throne, with a couple of

tame leopards on each side, was placed as a kind of tutelary genius, to

which the sentimental ladies on board made weekly offerings of the

choicest flowers they could get.

Then there had been skilfully provided in this wonderful ship a small

oratory for the use of Roman Catholic passengers, several libraries,

reading and lecture rooms, a music-room, a cardroom, smoking saloons of

course, a billiard-room, (available in very fine weather), swimming or

rather plunge baths, and electric and ordinary baths in abundance made

of aluminium; besides massage-rooms, coiffeurs’ and barbers’ saloons, a

shooting-gallery, a post and telegraph office, a gymnasium, a

skating-rink, a bowling-alley, a photographic room, an amateur’s

workshop, an apartment specially set apart for ping-pong and similar

games, American bars, and a miniature cafe for the pleasure of those who

would make believe they were still ashore; a tennis-court, a miniature

golf-link, a small running, walking, and cycle track (quoits, cricket,

hockey, and even football could always be enjoyed on the upper deck), an

aviary (parrots prohibited), a natural history room, an aquarium, a

servants’ hall, a nursery (a remote locality) with tracks for

perambulators; small shops for confectionery, millinery, hosiery, and

tobacco; also a printing-press, a dispensary, and a hospital; a cell for

insubordinates, and, alas! a mortuary.[11]

On the upper deck--so great was the distance from stem to stern, twice

up and down being more than a mile--small electric trolley-chairs were

at the disposal of the old or infirm to enable them to take open-air

exercise. A wide shelter-promenade ran round the ship’s sides between

two of the decks, looking out on the sea through spacious port-holes,

and when wind and rain were too pronounced there were the roomy

stairway houses on deck wherein to take refuge.

On every floor there were lifts for those who cared to use them. The

telegraph and telephone made intercommunication easy, and at every

corner of the ship, with its maze of corridors and staircases,

direction-tablets indicated one’s whereabouts.

Families were accommodated with furnished suites of private rooms, which

could be rented or even leased. Here they could bring their own

servants, and be boarded independently of the other travellers. These

suites varied in size from a modest sitting-room and bedroom for

solitary couples, to flats suitable for a large number. There were

bedrooms (not cabins) for spinsters and bachelors, and double-bedded

rooms. The familiar two, four, and six open-berthed staterooms were

conspicuous by their absence.

Of regulations there were few, and these were framed for the general

good and were strictly enforced. No dogs or cats were allowed in any

part of the ship; the playing upon any instrument, except in the

music-room, was prohibited, and this applied even to the private suites;

small children and babies were kept absolutely separate from the adults,

and smoking was forbidden except in saloons set apart for that purpose

and in private rooms.

All cookery was done by electricity,[12] supplemented by charcoal, and

the scale of provisions that had to be dealt with, apart from the ship’s

stores for the crew, was Gargantuan, while fresh fruit, fish, etc., were

always obtained in addition at the various stopping places. For the

round voyage, with allowance for accidents, say forty-two days in all,

there had to be put on board for the passengers: of fish, 36,000 lbs.;

fresh meat (beef, mutton, lamb, veal, and pork), 367,700 lbs.; fowls and

chickens, 16,000; ducks, 1,800; geese, 950; turkeys, 1,500; partridges,

grouse, etc., 3,600 brace; 260 tons of potatoes; 560 hampers of

vegetables; 4,000 quarts of ice-cream; 18,000 quarts of milk; 215,000

eggs; also canned goods, butter, flour, and groceries in proportion. Of

champagne, 18,000 bottles; 15,000 of claret; 110,000 of ale; 45,000 of

stout; 87,000 of mineral waters; and 10,000 bottles of various spirits.

All these, except the stimulants, were preserved in chilled rooms, the

ice being made on board.

At a pinch the _Princess Ida_ could accommodate--besides her crew of

four hundred, a small army of servants, the stewards, and stewardesses

(there were no stokers or firemen)--six thousand souls; but to ensure

comfort, only 3,500 passengers were as a rule booked, necessarily at

high rates. All were of one class, the only difference, as in an hotel,

being in the price paid for position.

The officers were comfortably quartered in the forward part of the ship

in a manner equal to the first class of many a steamer; the crew

beneath, in the so-called forecastle, palatial in comparison with the

old-fashioned sailing ship.

By the time the handy-man had taken these notes H. M.’s mails arrived

alongside, and were put on board by electric trolleys through the

central side port. There was no stupefying, deafening escape of steam,

and no maddening ringing of great bells. The Blue Peter--some fifteen

feet square--fluttered down from the foremast, and a megaphone in

sonorous tones announced that the hour of departure had arrived, and

that visitors must leave for the shore.

The _Ida_ began to show that she could move, and majestically and slowly

shifted her position, until her bow pointed seaward, a mighty cheer

going up from quay and ship. An unseen orchestra gave forth “Auld Lang

Syne,” and in the fading light the _Princess Ida_, glowing with

incandescents, her syren sounding at intervals, disappeared in the river

fog on her maiden voyage.

Going down channel at an easy fifteen knots, it was immediately

noticeable how remarkably steady the great ship was in the choppy sea.

There was an entire absence of vibration, partly attributable to the

metal of which she was constructed, and to the perfect balancing of her

machinery and nice adjustment of weight throughout her holds. Even in

the Bay of Biscay, which was wavelessly heavy in long, sullen rollers

after a mighty storm from the west had died away, the _Princess_ behaved

like a real sea-lady, yielding slowly, but steadily, to the _force

majeur_ of the Atlantic; and no one dreamt of being sea-sick except one

very bilious-looking gentleman, a heavy eater, hailing from Brazil.

In short, she proved herself to be a splendid sea-boat. Not a drop of

water could reach her upper decks; pitch she hardly could, as her great

length enabled her to ride quietly across the valleys between oncoming

waves.

A few hours’ detention at beautiful Madeira, and shortly afterwards

Teneriffe was reached, where it began to be warm; but the ship was so

spacious, and was kept so cool by means of refrigerators, electric fans,

and--when necessary--punkahs, that no one felt in the least

inconvenienced by the heat. There were no smuts, no smoke, and, better

still, no smell of oil or paint (neither of these being used on the

ship), no cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, or rats!

[Illustration: FIG. 35. ELECTRIC LAUNCH ON THE THAMES

_By permission of the_ _Immisch Electric Launch Co., Ltd., London_]

Here she began to put on speed, working up to eighteen knots an hour,

her maximum (very great speed being no special consideration), and it

was then observed that so smooth and tapering were her lines, that she

slipped through the water raising but little bow wave, and almost as

frictionless as a swift ocean-fish.

An hour or so at lonely Ascension, and the same at St. Helena--in each

case to deliver and receive mails, and to keep up telegraphic

communication with London--a voyage altogether of wondrous beauty and

enjoyment, nights of solemn loveliness, and days that broke in perfect

splendour, cloudless, save for little patches of white here and there,

and the ocean a dazzling radiance of deep blue.

Cape Town--six thousand miles in sixteen days out from Tilbury--and,

greeted by thousands who had flocked from far and near to witness the

sight, the _Princess Ida_ glided to her berth inside the great

breakwater.

And there for the present I must leave her.

I think I have demonstrated that, theoretically at least, the tiny

electric launches, put on the Thames in 1889 by the Immisch Company, one

of which, the _Lammda_, took the then Prince of Wales through Boulter’s

Lock, was the forerunner of the ocean steamer of the twentieth century.

But there is no absolute novelty under the sun; for it is stated that in

1838 a distinguished Roman scientist, Jacobi, invented an electric motor

which drove a small boat on the Neva at two miles an hour.

CHAPTER XIX

_SOME ELECTRIC LOCOMOTION DRAWBACKS_

“Perfection is attained by slow degrees; she requires the

hand of time.”--VOLTAIRE.

THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE

Little more need be said as to the advantages of the new order of

things, for however technical opinions may differ about the relative

advantages of steam or electricity, there cannot be any doubt that the

public fully recognise the immense superiority of the latter in details

of cleanliness and general comfort.

Tube railways are intensely disliked by some people, and as heartily

appreciated by millions of others. That they are an advantage in many

ways is unquestionable, though they are not yet without defects.

Motor-cars (electric or petrol), to those who use them, appear to be the

safest and most delightful of vehicles, but here again perfection has

not been reached.

With these four well-known forms of traction I must now deal, and not

eulogisticallv. In the old days when some recluse renowned for his

holiness--which he had instanced by living unwashed for years in a hair

shirt until it fell to pieces--died, his admirers frequently put in a

claim for his canonisation. This necessitated the appointment of an

individual called the _Advocatus Diaboli_, a leader of the opposition,

whose duty it was to raise all kinds of objections to the granting of

the sacred honour, and to recall everything possible to the detriment

of the candidate. Not a pleasant task, certainly, but not altogether

unnecessary.

After this fashion it is fair to bring up some sort of a case against

electric traction.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY ACCIDENTS AND BREAKDOWNS

As regards electric railway accidents and blockings of tubes, the

_Advocatus Diaboli_ is able to quote rather too many examples.

Commencing with the United States, where in July, 1902, a car,

descending the mountain on the Mountain and Lake Electric Railway, near

Gloversville, where the grade is a thousand feet in four miles, became

uncontrollable, and, acquiring frightful velocity, collided with another

car which was ascending the slope. Both cars rushed down several feet,

and then ran off the rails. Each car contained seventy passengers, and

of these fifteen were killed and injured. Ten bodies, mangled beyond

recognition, were taken from the wreckage. Most of the victims were

women.

At home there is the disastrous Liverpool Electric Overhead Railway fire

of December 23rd, 1901. The trains are run on the multiple control

principle, a motor at each end, and the accident was due to a defect in

the rear one. But as it is a typical case, I will quote in full the

cause of the accident, as assigned by Lieutenant-Colonel H. A. Yorke,

the Board of Trade Inspector. He says: “A gale of wind was blowing from

the west, that is, from the mouth of the tunnel towards the station,

which caused the fire to spread from carriage to carriage until the

whole train was enveloped in flames. It is estimated that the train was

well alight about twelve minutes after the stoppage. There were

twenty-nine passengers, who, when the train first came to a stand, were

urged by the driver and guard to keep their seats, as there was no

danger. The driver and guard seem to have made some futile attempts to

put out the fire; but it soon became apparent that the fire had obtained

the mastery, and the passengers found it necessary to alight. They had

only eighty yards to walk in order to reach the station, and the

majority of them appear to have gone to their homes without any delay,

and to have suffered no ill-effects from the fire. It appears, however,

from the evidence that a few remained behind, presumably to watch the

progress of the conflagration and the result of the effort to control

it.”

The inspector went on to say that in his opinion it would have been

productive of no serious danger had only the driver acted with a

moderate degree of prudence. When this man discovered that his rear

motor had failed his duty was to disconnect his rear motor by means of

the plug provided for the purpose in his apartment. He should then have

run into the station with one motor, as is often done. For some reason

or other, which cannot be conjectured, the driver, instead of

disconnecting the defective motor, and in disregard of the warning of

the guard, made repeated efforts to bring it into use, the result being

that before long the woodwork of the rear carriage was ignited by the

flashes produced by the electric arc when the current was switched on to

the defective motor. While the driver was so employed both he and the

guard appear to have told the passengers to keep their seats, as there

was no danger. Both these men and the station foreman seem to have

exhibited a lamentable lack of judgment in this respect. It is

impossible not to feel that the sacrifice of life might have been

easily avoided. If the passengers had been hurried out of the train as

soon as it became evident that it had broken down, and if none of them

had been permitted to loiter about the station, their safety would have

been secured. And if the train men and station foreman, who deserve

credit for their efforts to prevent the fire from spreading, had only

realised sooner that the train was doomed, they too had ample time to

escape. The cutting off of the current did no good, but, by putting the

place in darkness, rather increased the difficulties and danger of the

situation.

The lesson of the disaster is, that all woodwork should be removed as

far as possible from the electric machinery of the railway carriages,

and that for the purpose of insulation material should be employed which

is uninflammable.

Of blocks or stoppages on tube railways the following are examples.

Serious inconvenience was caused on December 30th, 1901, by a mishap on

the Central London Railway. It appeared that just before five o’clock in

the morning a motor was being shunted into the Bank Station to take the

first train to Shepherd’s Bush, when, though going dead slow, some of

the gear apparently fouled the current rail, and it jumped the points

just where the two tunnels join, and effectually prevented any train

entering or leaving either. The nearest “cross-over,” by which trains

could be shunted from one to the other, was at the British Museum

Station, but even timely notice did not make the walk through the wet

any the more attractive to business men, the rain having caused all the

omnibuses to be filled long before they got to the station gates. When

the line was constructed it was proposed to make a second siding at the

Bank as at Shepherd’s Bush, and had this been done there would have

been no dislocation of traffic, but fears for the effects of vibration

on buildings above vetoed the proposal. On an ordinary railway a

powerful crane would probably have been run alongside, but the space in

the tube is so circumscribed that it was with the utmost difficulty that

the engine, which weighed forty-four tons, and was resting against the

side of the tunnel, could be moved. As the afternoon wore on, crowds of

City men gathered in the subway in the hope that the obstruction would

soon be removed, but it was not till five o’clock that the line was

cleared and the traffic resumed.

Once more the Twopenny Tube distinguished itself by a stoppage. It was

on December 30th, 1902, the anniversary of the precisely similar mishap

in 1901, but fortunately with less serious results. Then the engine fell

against the side of the tube, and the workmen could only get at one

side of it; but this one settled itself in such a position that jacks

could be got to work under both sides. The points at the terminus very

much resemble those at the ends of the tram lines, and with the

tremendous traffic passing over them (engines 1,200 times a day) the

only wonder is that accidents of this kind do not occur more often than

once a year. With a curious perversity, the engine chose the time--four

o’clock in the afternoon--when it would cause the maximum of

inconvenience, and the thousands of City men and women going home

realised more fully than ever the advantage of the tube. The nearest

cross-over is between the British Museum and Chancery Lane, and notice

was at once given that trains were running between the former station

and the western terminus. As soon as possible gangs of men got to work,

and within an hour and a half the wheels were got on, but unfortunately

it was very difficult to see what had caused the mishap, as in getting

the motor back the evidences of the cause were removed. Some little

delay was occasioned by straightening the bent rails, but at half-past

eight an engine was run to and fro over the points to see that they were

all right again, and a few minutes later the message was sent to all

stations: “Resumed bookings and ordinary working.”

These mishaps showed how necessary it was that, instead of cross-overs,

loops should be provided, round which trains could be run.

January 16th, 1902, witnessed an accident on the City and South London

Electric Railway, happily unattended with serious consequences. A train

left the Elephant and Castle Station shortly after seven a.m., and had

proceeded some two hundred yards towards the Borough when what is

technically known as a “short” occurred in the switch. This means,

roughly, that the current had chosen to go a way of its own instead of

through the insulated wires to the motor. Hence, an “arc” was

produced--that is, an arc lamp on a large scale. The insulating material

began to burn and smell and smoke. Small defects of this kind are common

enough, and the flame is frequently put out with the driver’s hand or

cap. On this occasion the flame resisted all efforts to put it out, and

the driver had to stop the cars and send back for assistance. The

following trains came on slowly, and the engine pushed the broken-down

predecessor on to the Borough Station. It was found necessary to ask the

passengers (fortunately numbering only about thirty or forty) to leave

the train, and the fire was then easily extinguished, though it was

found necessary to cut off the current from the generating station for

a short time. The line was only blocked for about an hour, and the

accident was of little importance except as illustrating one advantage

which, it is said, the “engine” system of electric traction possesses

over the “multiple unit.”

MEDICAL OBJECTIONS TO TUBE TRAVELLING

But apart from accidents and breakdowns, a terrible indictment is

brought against tube railways in general, and the Central London in

particular, which, if true, constitutes a veritable drawback. The

accuser is Dr. L. C. Parkes, Medical Officer of Health for Chelsea, who

says: “Tube railways are still such a comparative novelty, that the

question of the healthiness of this mode of travel has not yet been

fully determined. Dr. Wynter Blyth, in an address a year ago, gave the

results of some experiments on the ventilation and condition of the

atmosphere in the tubes and stations of the Central London Railway. The

chief cause of the movements of air in the tubes and stations, lifts and

stairways, is the passage of the trains along the tubes, which the

carriages nearly fill, thus acting as a piston in a cylinder, driving

air before them and sucking it in from behind in their progress from one

station to another. The condition of the atmosphere, was not excessively

foul, the largest amount of CO ascertained to be present, being 11·9

parts per 10,000 vols. This sample was taken in a carriage containing

twenty-seven people between the Lancaster Gate and Marble Arch Stations.

The amount of CO present in the air of the station’s lifts and stairways

varied between 8 and 11 parts per 10,000. In no case, then, did Dr.

Wynter Blyth find the amount of CO in the air of the tube to be more

than three times the amount usually present in the outer atmosphere of

the London streets (average 4 parts per 10,000). Contrasted with the

tunnel of the Metropolitan Railway between Gower Street and King’s Cross

Stations, where a sample of the air taken showed that CO was present to

the extent of 25·9 parts per 10,000, the air of the tube railway is

comparatively pure.”

Dr. Parkes continues: “It may be safely asserted that constant

travelling day after day, even if only for a limited period each day, in

an atmosphere containing 15 to 20 parts per 10,000 of CO, such CO being

derived solely from a human source, must eventually tend to injure

health. There are two other dangers in tube-travelling which require

notice. First, the danger in the warm summer and the cold winter months

alike of bodily chill. In the hot weather the traveller passes suddenly

from the warm street into a much colder atmosphere below the ground

level. In the winter the reverse happens--the passenger who has been

warmed and enervated by the devitalised air below meets the chilly

wintry blast on emerging into the street. Secondly, the air of the tube

being very dry, and constantly in movement, there must be much organic

dust of human origin floating in it. The dangers of tubercular

expectoration are no doubt intensified in such a dry and shifting

atmosphere as that of the tube, and the cautionary notices to prevent

spitting are wisely exhibited in every carriage.”

On the whole, Dr. Parkes favours open air to other methods of

travelling. He recommends that as far as possible travelling should be

by routes open to the air of heaven.

CHAPTER XX

_SOME ELECTRIC LOCOMOTION DRAWBACKS (continued)_

TRAMWAY ACCIDENTS

When the Chiswick High Road tram-line was being made the tradesmen

petitioned the London County Council against it. They complained of the

annoyance as well as of the danger of the trams. They said that the

trams, being large (carrying seventy people in all) and running on eight

wheels, made considerably more noise than the light horse-car; that the

motor was not silent, and the progress of the trolley along the

shivering overhead wire made a continuous, most unmusical, and

penetrating din; while the brake--of necessity powerful--also had a

harsh note quite its own. To this was added the noise and flash of

electric sparks and a singularly sonorous and imperative bell in place

of the usual whistle; and as the cars came along every two and a half

minutes in each direction, they who dwelt along the route did not find

them altogether lovely.

Some people maintain that electric trams are not merely unlovely, but

are decidedly dangerous to travel in. There have been electric tram

accidents, of course, and very serious ones. For instance, at

Huddersfield, one June night in 1902, a car, as it approached the town

and was half-way down an incline of a mile in length, got out of

control. The trolley arm left the wire, plunging the conveyance into

darkness. By this time the pace of the car was too great to permit of

anyone getting off. It went whizzing past the car standing in the next

loop; but failing to negotiate a sharp curve at the bottom of Somerset

Road, ran straight across the street, smashing the pavement and dashing

with great force into a grocer’s shop, the wooden front of which

collapsed. The front of the car was also driven in. Three persons were

killed and six seriously injured.

At Chatham a catastrophe, resulting in four deaths and many injuries, is

still fresh in people’s minds. It occurred on October 30th, 1902, and

was extraordinary in many respects, the tram being completely wrecked.

The Chatham and District Light Railway is worked as an electric tramway

on the overhead trolley system, and has been in operation about twelve

months. The scene of the mishap was at the foot of Westcourt Street, Old

Brompton, in the parish of Gillingham, close to the main entrance to

Chatham Dockyard, where there is a very steep gradient. A workmen’s car,

filled with mechanics and labourers on their way to work, suddenly

bolted in descending the hill, notwithstanding that the brakes had been

duly applied. The weight of the heavily laden vehicle increased the

velocity every yard of the way, and a terrific pace was obtained.

There is a sharp curve in the railway at the end of the road. The

passengers screamed as they realised their danger. The driver shouted to

them to jump off the car, which many did; and the driver and conductor

themselves took a leap for their lives, and thus avoided serious injury.

As anticipated, the curve proved fatal to the safety of the car. The

heavy vehicle toppled over on its side with a terrific crash, and the

passengers, projected in all directions, made a confused heap in the

highway.

Those who were not seriously injured struggled to their feet, but others

remained prostrate, unable to move, shrieking or groaning with pain, and

several more were rendered insensible. Assistance was speedily

forthcoming, and the sufferers were removed to the Royal Naval Hospital,

which is within a stone’s-throw of the scene of the accident.

In September of the same year a remarkable accident took place at

Glasgow, also with fatal results. About half-past nine one Saturday

night, when the streets were at their busiest, a Possilpark car got out

of the driver’s control, and began to move down a slope of Renfield

Street, which is the main car artery of Glasgow. Where Renfield Street

cuts Sauchiehall Street, the principal thoroughfare of the city, the

vehicle dashed into a Pollokshields car, standing at the junction. Both

cars left the rails, and the runaway, without perceptible interruption,

continued on its career, driving the other before it, the conductors’

platforms being interlocked. A few yards further on a Dennistown car was

encountered. The two locked cars swept down, and, driving the third in

front of them, continued their course down to Argyle Street, a distance

of about six hundred yards. A long succession of cars was moving

upwards, and with the momentum the three heavy cars had then attained a

disaster seemed imminent. However, where the Dennistown line, coming out

of St. Vincent Place, joins Renfield Street, the foremost of the three

runaways took the branch points, swerved with such speed that it failed

to keep the rails, and plunged headlong across the street, being

eventually brought up by the wall of a shop. The second and third cars,

still locked together, followed the former, striking the shop almost at

the same point.

At Devonport another accident, resulting in death, occurred the same

month. About nine o’clock in the morning, a car containing eight

passengers, six of whom were on the top, got beyond the control of the

driver on the incline leading to the South-Western Railway Station. The

powerful brakes were promptly applied, but failed to check the progress

of the car, which rapidly gathered momentum, although the reversing gear

was also applied at full pressure.

At the foot of the slope, where the line takes a sharp curve into one of

the main roads to Devonport, the vehicle, which had by this time

attained a terrific pace, jumped the rails, crossed the road, and dashed

into a wall enclosing the carriage entrance to the station. The force of

the impact broke the wall, and caused the car itself partly to topple

over. Some of the terrified passengers on the top jumped into the

roadway, and others were thrown off. One young man, in jumping off,

succeeded in clearing the car and the wall, but as he alighted in the

roadway, which slopes down to the entrance of the station, a piece of

granite coping, weighing several hundredweight, dislodged by the force

of the collision, fell on his head, death being instantaneous. Other

injured persons were lying in the roadway some distance from the wrecked

car, the upper part of which was a shapeless mass of broken seats and

twisted rails. The position of the car enabled it to be seen that the

brakes were gripping the wheels lightly, while the wooden brakes, which

act on the lines, appeared to be down to the utmost extent.

In this case the verdict of the coroner’s court coincided with the Board

of Trade’s subsequent report, to the effect that the accident was

brought about by the negligence and incapacity of the driver of the car,

the Board of Trade adding that the cause was excessive speed on a steep

gradient and sharp curve, that the driver was responsible for the

accident in failing to use the brake-power, and in disobeying the

company’s orders by leaving the stopping-place without a signal.

These runnings away of electric trams called for increased attention to

the question of brakes, which, though they will always hold a car on a

stiff incline on dry rails, yet when the track is greasy they introduce

an element of danger by reason of their very power. They skid the

wheels, which is always a source of great danger. In such cases safety

lies in relaxing the pressure, but it needs a wary brain and firm nerves

to ease off the brake at all when the car has already bolted.

Then there are collisions, which luckily seldom occur. In October last

one took place between two electric tramcars between Middleton and

Rhodes, near Manchester. The cars were carrying workmen, and the

accident occurred near what is known as the Parkfield loop. The vehicles

were travelling in opposite directions, and owing to some cause, at

present unexplained, they both got on the same line, instead of one

waiting on the loop. About twelve of the passengers were more or less

hurt by broken glass, and one of the drivers was injured about the leg.

Cars can be completely overturned, as was proved by an incident that

happened in December last year to one of the London County Council

trams. It left the metals at St. George’s Circus, and after jolting

along for a few yards slowly toppled over into a ditch three feet deep,

which had been dug on the near side for the purpose of laying the

electrical connections. There were about ten passengers on the top and

twelve inside, and the tram was already overturning before they had

fully realised their danger. Fortunately they retained their presence of

mind, and those on the top, by clinging to the rails, prevented

themselves from being hurled into the roadway. Two small boys, who were

unable to retain their grip of the rail when the side of the car struck

the ground, were thrown off into the gutter, but escaped with little

more than a few cuts and a severe shaking. The cause was difficult to

discover, but probably as the lines were being rearranged some piece of

iron or other hard substance eluded the observation of those put to

watch, got into the groove of the metals, and caused the car to jump the

rail at a spot where excavations were being made.

In our climate tramway traffic is not exposed to any very inclement

weather, so that electric traction is not likely to prove a failure by

reason of heavy snowfalls, as in New York last winter during a blizzard.

ELECTRIC SHOCKS

There is a serious feature in the overhead trolley system which ought

not to be overlooked, as the following will show. In the centre of

Sunderland four principal streets cross, and here, about eight o’clock

one Saturday night in August, 1902, when the thoroughfares were

congested with people, the trolley-arm of a tram-car became entangled,

and no fewer than three live electric wires snapped. A woman received a

severe shock through one of them striking an iron handrail on the tram

which she was boarding; but the promptitude of a motor inspector in

turning off the current averted further personal injury.

The Fulham Public Baths tragedy at the beginning of this year

exemplified the fact that it does not require a high alternative current

to kill. Under certain conditions 200 volts are sufficient. Criminals

are electrocuted at a voltage of 2,000, the current passes in at the

skull. The murderous elephant, Topsy, in New York paid the penalty of

her misdeeds by having a current of 6,600 volts passed through her, and

died in ten seconds; but a minute before, she had swallowed 460 grains

of cyanide of potassium!

My own personal experience somewhat resembles that of the woman at

Sunderland. It was at Ramsgate on a rainy day, and, the car being full

inside, I had to travel outside, seats, metal-work, and everything being

naturally very wet, and in taking hold of the iron framing of a seat I

experienced so strong a shock that I called up the conductor. He

ridiculed the idea, but while he was arguing the matter out, contending

that it was an impossibility, he inadvertently grasped the wet

trolley-pole, which gave him such an electric sensation that he yelled

and fell flat on the roof. The car had to be stopped, and until the rain

ceased no passengers were allowed outside.

MOTOR-CAR ACCIDENTS

By those who dislike them, every imaginable evil is laid at the doors,

or, rather, the wheels of motor-cars, whether propelled by petrol or

electricity, and recorded accidents are quoted, chapter and verse being

given to show that they are the enemies of pedestrian, driving, and

cycling mankind. Here are some examples.

On a steep hill in the neighbourhood of Grimsthorpe, near Bourne, on May

25th, 1902, a motor-car got out of control and overturned. The driver,

employed by Lord Willoughby de Eresby, M.P., for whom the vehicle had

been built at Birmingham, was instantaneously killed, his skull being

fractured. He had brought the car to Grimsthorpe Castle only the

previous evening, and was out with a party of friends, mostly Lord

Ancaster’s employés, when the accident happened. One man was badly

injured, and two others of the party received slight injuries, but a

child, who was flung over a hedge, escaped unhurt.

The following day a motor-car was being driven down a steep hill just

outside Stroud, when the brake failed to act, and the car ran violently

into a stone wall, carrying part of it away. One of the occupants, a

local cloth manufacturer, was seriously injured, and a gentleman who

accompanied him escaped with some ugly bruises.

An accident occurred near Rearsby, Leicestershire, on August 9th, 1902,

whereby the master of the Quorn Hunt, Captain Burns Hartopp, and Mr. A.

Burnaby were injured. The party were motoring from Little Dalby Hall to

Quorn, when, near Rearsby, the car ran into a cow, with the result that

the occupants were pitched out and the car was wrecked. Captain Burns

Hartopp was picked up in a semi-conscious condition, Mr. Burnaby was

more seriously injured, while Mr. Dashwood escaped with a shaking.

A curious escape was witnessed the same day at Monmouth. General Sir

Evelyn Wood, who was accompanied by Colonel Grierson, acting Q.M.G., and

Captain Wood, A.D.C., had been inspecting the Monmouth Royal Engineers

(Militia) under the command of Lord Raglan. Afterwards the General and

staff proceeded in a motor-car to Abergavenny. While the machine was

being reversed towards the entrance of the Angel Hotel a brake refused

to work, and the car mounted the pavement and ran into the wall of a

shop, just missing a plate-glass window. Captain Wood, who had alighted,

narrowly escaped being caught between the motor and the wall.

The following month a motor-car accident occurred at Barnet, when the

Hon. C. S. Rolls was returning home in a motor-car from Barnet Fair. Mr.

Rolls saw a trap containing three or four persons approaching him, and

he steered his car into the hedge, but a collision could not be avoided.

One of the occupants of the trap--a youth--was thrown to the ground, and

the horse was cut on the leg. Mr. Rolls escaped with a slight shaking.

On the 17th of October last, while motoring from Chester, the Rev.

Arthur Guest, vicar of Lower Peover, with his wife and a friend, had a

startling experience. In steering past a milkcart near Lostock Chemical

Works, the car ran into a brick wall and was overturned and badly

smashed. The vicar, strange to say, escaped without injury, but his wife

and friend were not so fortunate.

A lamentable catastrophe occurred in February this year in London, when

Mr. George Edward Colebrook, an Australian merchant, of St. Mary Axe,

E.C., lost his life. It appeared that on the previous Sunday the

deceased went for his first motor-car ride with his brother-in-law,

accompanied also by the owner of the car and a professional driver.

There had been a sharp fall of snow and hail, and the roads were in a

bad state. When attempting to pass at a moderate pace another car in the

Finchley Road, near the Royal Oak at Hendon, the hind wheels skidded.

The car turned round and ran against a raised footpath and then

overturned. Mr. Colebrook was fatally injured, and died on Tuesday

night from concussion of the brain, having been unconscious from the

time of the accident. His brother-in-law received a fractured arm and

other injuries.

THE GENERAL VERDICT

Thus much for the opposition, and the _Advocatus Diaboli_ now resumes

his seat. His accusations appear formidable; but it might be justly

pointed out that if a catalogue were compiled of the serious results

caused by the shortcomings of the horse, motor-car accidents would be

found few in comparison. It might be demonstrated that in twelve days 17

persons had been killed and 143 injured in accidents attributable to

that noble animal.

When the foregoing tram and motor casualties are analysed, it will be

found that the majority were due to lack of control over the brake

power, to ignorance, or to careless driving.

As I have observed before, many evils have been laid to the charge of

electric traction. Last year it was reported in the papers that a young

woman had been instantaneously killed at Shepherd’s Bush by the

overhead wires. The fatality was attributed to one of the guide-wires

breaking at the extreme end (an accident which had really occurred on

the line), but it had been replaced _before_ the young lady fell down in

the road, and it was proved at the inquest that she died in the normal

way of heart disease.

In the old coaching days the dire forebodings of evil arising from

travelling by steam were much more comprehensive than those of the

present day from electric travelling. Horse-breeding, it was said, would

cease and farmers become ruined, their crops perhaps destroyed by

sparks from passing engines; human beings would be asphyxiated while

rushing through the air at tremendous speeds; high roads would fall to

rack and ruin; and every innkeeper on coach routes would be bankrupted!

In fact, a lamentable social revolution was bound to be brought about by

Stephenson’s pestilential proposals!

Of electrical traction, its greatest detractors can only urge--and with

truth--that it is not yet without drawbacks, not yet so perfected as

to render accidents impossible. And the _Advocatus Diaboli_, after due

consideration of his own arguments, generously acknowledges that he has

failed to make out his case.

CHAPTER XXI

_ELECTRIC LOCOMOTION AND OUR NATIONAL LIFE_

“Long sleeps the summer in the seed;

Run out your measured arcs, and lead

The closing cycle rich in good.”--TENNYSON.

HOW IT AFFECTS EXISTING RAILWAYS

Thomas Alva Edison is reported to have said, “Electricity will displace

steam,” and, taking his prediction as a text, I will begin by quoting a

few figures; for Britishers, though they may affect otherwise, dearly

love statistics.

Well, in the year that Queen Victoria ascended the throne the capital

invested in railways might have been expressed in a few figures. When

she died, the “iron horse” represented the vast sum of twelve hundred

millions sterling.

Twenty years ago investments in electric traction enterprises amounted

to not more than £100,000. To-day they involve immense sums, the County

Council’s scheme for London alone running up to £50,000,000! But this is

nothing to the probabilities of the near future, as Mr. Percy Sellon

pointed out to the London Chamber of Commerce. “Within the next ten

years,” he said, “electric supply and traction may be expected, with a

fair field, to engage at least 250 millions of capital”; and this

estimate seems to be by no means exaggerated; in fact, it is

underrated. As one of the leading “dailies” observes, “Apart from such a

large project as the electrification of the District and Metropolitan

Railways, there is scarcely a municipal authority in Great Britain which

has not in hand some scheme of electric railway, tramway, or lighting.

It is as well to think that electricity is not the agent of the future,

but of the present, and an era which has already dawned. In displacement

of steam, electricity is evidently destined to be one of the products of

the first quarter of the twentieth century.”

It may be surmised that by the time Mr. Sellons ten years have expired

all the great railway companies in the kingdom will have adopted

electricity as motive power, certainly on their suburban lines, and for

the passenger traffic on the main lines.

With what effect, and at what cost?

The latter question can hardly be answered, but the former may be

guessed at. For a long time the railway companies will naturally be

reluctant to bring about such a revolution as the substitution of

electricity for steam. Engines of enormous power, such as the new Great

Eastern “Decapod” or ten-wheeler, will be requisitioned to accelerate

the working of trains; and, to save fuel, petroleum will be extensively

adopted on others.

But electricity the public will have, if it is shown to be more

economical in the long run.

Still, to entirely dispense with a great stock of costly locomotives,

substituting up-to-date motor engines--with the possibility looming in

the future that these, too, in their turn, by the perfecting of storage

batteries, may be displaced--to, perhaps, build new cars, or completely

remodel existing rolling-stock; to erect new buildings (in many cases)

for power stations; to lay down third rails; all this would involve an

expenditure that even long-suffering shareholders would rebel against.

While, if the steam locomotives were retained to work an accelerated

goods service on separate tracks, the widening of bridges, cuttings, and

viaducts, the duplication of tunnels on many lines, and the enlargement

of stations and sidings, would entail disastrous expenditure. However,

the change will doubtless be made gradually, perhaps commencing with the

suburban lines, probably as a direct result of the electrification of

the Inner Circle Railway, over whose system several main lines have

important running powers, and which will then be compelled to abandon

steam. Or should some enterprising Socialistic Government come into

power with no such trifling matters as Education, Water, Gas, or Tube

Bills on its hands, it might by the year 1913, in its anxiety to carry

theory into practice, decide to nationalise and electrify our railways

wholesale, and at any cost--to the ratepayers!

The effect, anyhow, would not be so very startling, for by that time

electric travelling would be a matter of course, and disused locomotives

of the type so familiar on the “Underground” would be inquired for by

relic hunters and presented as curios to every big town.

Already the change on the great lines has begun, and it is a significant

fact that the North Eastern have decided to adopt electricity on some

thirty-seven miles of their system in the neighbourhood of

Newcastle-on-Tyne, and a modified form of it in the shape of auto-cars

with petrol engines and dynamos generating the current, on the short

line between Hartlepool and West Hartlepool.

Of electric lines in progress or projected, we have the Manchester and

Liverpool, the London and Brighton, the Edinburgh and Glasgow, and

others.

In London all the big termini will be linked together, and connected

with the metropolitan Tube systems, whatever form the latter may

ultimately assume. This may have the effect of increasing the crowding

and bustling of our big stations, but, on the other hand, a vast number

of wealthy people will use motor-cars from “house-to-house,” dispensing

altogether with the railway.

Trains, more speedily and more economically run, will start more

frequently. Goods traffic will be on entirely separate lines, and

passenger trains will be able to follow one another in rapid and safe

succession.

Exteriorily all the termini will look as they do now, minus the presence

of horsed four-wheelers and hansoms. But Victoria will be greatly

enlarged along Buckingham Palace Road; while Euston, nearly doubled in

size, will have its frontage brought forward to Euston Square. Within,

there will be less confusion, as either the American check system of

booking luggage will be adopted, or that of collecting it beforehand by

the railway company’s swift motor-vans, and there will be less

steam. On the whole, however, the old stations will probably be

unchanged--Paddington, with its familiar transept roof, impressive as in

1854, when the late Queen, travelling from Windsor, paid it her first

visit; the Midland, remarkable for its noble span roof, soaring one

hundred feet above the level of its eleven lines of rail and its four

platforms; the Great Eastern, the largest terminus in the kingdom, under

five great spans--four parallel and one transverse--of glazed roofing,

with its eighteen arrival and departure platforms; and Waterloo, once a

mere shed propped up by arches, but now second in size only to

Liverpool Street, a maze to the uninitiated.

The large provincial stations will most likely remain much as they are

at present--Bristol, Exeter, York, Glasgow, Liverpool, all splendid

specimens of important termini and junctions; Swindon, Crewe,

Manchester, and Warrington, greatly improved, if not entirely rebuilt.

Power machinery will be housed in existing railway buildings when

practicable, and intermediate sub-stations will be marked features along

the railway routes. Pumping-houses, water-tanks, coalyards, stages, and

sidings will have disappeared.

Sleepy wayside stations, with their pleasant gardens and rural

surroundings, will probably remain untouched by the new order of things,

save that the rapid delivery of farm produce by horseless vehicles or by

light railways, acting as feeders, will wake them up.

THE IMPROVEMENT OF STREET TRAFFIC

The general use of horseless vehicles will do more--at any rate in

London--towards the sanitation of great cities than all the enactments

of county or borough councils. Medical experts are agreed that the

condition of the roads, however well kept, in dry weather particularly,

is highly conducive to the spread of all kinds of throat diseases, not

to mention influenza; while if the roads are neglected, the peril is

increased and every sense is offended. Horses, as beasts of burden,

should have no place in crowded thoroughfares, and their presence in

numbers produces on wood-paving a pernicious and offensive ammoniacal

result which anyone can test in, say, Broad Street, after the omnibuses

have ceased running for the day, or, rather, for the night. All over

London, and even in the suburbs, the streets are Augean stables, which

no effort of the Hercules of Spring Gardens or the Guildhall can

effectually cleanse. It is estimated that at the present time there are

over 16,000 licensed horse carriages in London, besides tradesmens vans

and other vehicles, and that 200,000 horses are stabled every night,

necessitating the removal of thousands of tons of manure and refuse

daily.

Noise, too--that distracting rattle and rumble of vans, light carts,

omnibuses, and cabs--will be done away with, and how much this will help

to restore the nervous system of Londoners who can tell? Horses having

almost vanished, the space each one would occupy--some seven feet in

length--will be saved on each vehicle, and thus the increase of traffic

will be partly provided for. Collisions and the running-down of cars

will be unheard of, the steering and stopping powers of the electric

motors being perfect.

ITS SOCIAL RESULTS

The effect of universal electric traction on our social life may be

far-reaching and prodigious. It may result in a partial decrease in the

resident population of London, the working-classes living largely in the

country and travelling up and down at uniform penny fares, clerks and

others doing the same; while the wealthy and the well-to-do may use

their motor-cars to such an extent as to habitually sleep outside the

town boundaries, as may also members of both Houses. Only those persons

whose duties compel them, will live within hearing of Big Ben.

Society will be still more restless, but its members will be healthier,

as fresh air will readily be obtainable. There will be even less time

for reading than now. Formal calls will largely cease; friends in

luxurious electro-cars will “pop in” _en route_ on short surprise

visits, and hospitality will, on the whole, diminish.

In these vehicles, touring parties (_without_ Cook and Son, or Gaze and

Co.) will be constantly arranged to traverse the world. House rents

generally will be lower, save at the seaside and other health resorts,

where they may actually become higher. So that for those who elect to

remain in town, it will be possible to live on a moderate income, rates

and taxes, it is to be hoped, also being lessened.

The cost of living will be reduced, produce of all kinds being more

extensively home-grown and more economically brought to market.

Horses, being discarded for draught purposes, will be plentiful and

cheap; cavalry remounts will be readily obtained, and all over Europe

mounted forces may be the order of the day. The smallest farmer will be

able to employ several horses on his farm, and everyone in the country,

grown tired of cycling and motoring, will have their stables full at low

cost, while in the season Rotten Row will be more crowded than ever with

equestrians.

Wages will be higher, and there will be a wider field and less

competition.

Lastly, hygienic conditions being vastly improved, and smoke abolished,

the death-rate of London and all large cities will be reduced. But the

greatest boon electrical traction can bestow, will be reserved for the

working and poorer classes. Take London, for example.

THE EFFECT ON OVERCROWDING

“Overcrowding! Why, everybody knows what that means!” said the Hon. John

Middlemass. “Only the other day I had to travel to town from

Southampton, and the first-class compartment actually filled up--a

beastly nuisance, for we could not play whist as we had hoped. And in

the afternoon, when on my way to pay a visit at Lancaster Gate, I

couldn’t get a seat in the Twopenny Tube, but had to stand all the way,

holding on by one of the straps in the roof! Overcrowding! Why, the last

time I dined at the Gresham Club in the City, there was not a table to

be got to one’s self. They were all packed, and the waiters could hardly

move about. And that evening at Lady Danby’s reception in Piccadilly we

couldn’t even stir, I can assure you, once we were in her big

drawing-room. While as for supper, it was a fight to get near the

buffet, and when I did manage to get some consommé for Sybil Clare, who

was positively starving, just as I was piloting it out of the crush,

some fool jobbed my elbow, and sent the lot of it right into old Colonel

Curry’s face, and made him swear like a trooper! To make matters worse,

I stepped upon the Dowager Lady Harvey’s train, which had no business on

the floor at all, and, I am told, tore three breadths out of it,

whatever that may mean. Anyhow, I was not asked to any of her dinners

again that season.

“Overcrowding! Yes! You should have been stopping with me at Rookfort

Castle the Christmas after young Lord Staunton had come of age! Two in

each bedroom, I assure you, and they actually had the cheek to ask some

of us to put up with the box-room at the top of the house, as every

square foot of the place was occupied. Oh, yes, I know what trying to

put too many eggs in one basket means! I went through it all on board

the P. and O. _Arabia_, from Bombay. Six in a cabin; no room to dress,

had to take it by turns; all the grub served in double relays; baths out

of the question, unless a fellow sat up all night to grab one; and the

promenade-deck like the enclosure at Ascot on Cup Day; which reminds me

that I never was at any of the big races when the grand stand wasn’t

crowded out.

“Then, as to overcrowding in small houses, used I not to call upon poor

Bristowe, my chum at Eton, who became a lawyer’s clerk at £300 a year,

got married, had eleven children, and lives in a poky little house down

Fulham way--only eight rooms--and I believe some of them sleep in the

bathroom and the kitchen, and the slavey in the scullery!”

Evidently the Hon. John did not know much about the social problem of

overcrowding amongst the poor, and how it has arisen.

“It is not good that man should be alone,” and ever since that divine

maxim was enunciated, man has taken good care to act upon it, in more

senses than one. His nature is gregarious, and as the world he was sent

into ceased to give him its fruits spontaneously, he was obliged to take

to a country life to obtain the means of existence by the sweat of his

brow. He did not readily adapt himself to the new conditions, and, as

the history of Babel shows, there was always a tendency to congregate,

build great cities, and get as much agricultural work done as possible

by slaves.

Nowadays the dislike of solitude is more marked than ever. Who does not

know of beautiful country vicarages whose inmates would give their souls

to go and live in towns; of farms where wife and daughters pass their

time in grumbling because it is so dull at the old house; of squatters

far away in Gipp’s Land or Maneroo Plains, who, as soon as they make

their pile, leave the roomy verandahed station, and, importuned by an

impatient family, settle down at St. Kilda, Toorak, Darling Point, in

Melbourne, or Sydney? Even peasants, country born and bred, seeking to

“better themselves” in Canada, often cannot, or will not, bear the

absence of such small excitement as falls to their lot in their native

village.

This is illustrated by a case known to myself, where a labouring lad,

assisted out to the far West, and there obtaining good wages, and--what

to him was luxury indeed--unlimited eggs to eat, threw up his situation

and came back to his home in Kent and to his wretched wages, simply

because, as he said, “It was too lonely in Manitoba; there was no

amusement and no village inns.”

As Mr. Rider Haggard has remarked, “Some parts of England are becoming

almost as lonesome as the veldt of Africa.”

Therefore there is the danger ahead that Goldsmith’s foreboding may be

realised:--

“Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,

Where wealth accumulates and men decay.

Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade,

A breath can make them as a breath has made,

But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride,

When once destroyed can never be supplied.”

Hodge, as a class, cannot emigrate. He has muscle, he has a wife and

usually several children, but he has no capital, and the colonies, with

the exception of Canada, do not encourage him or want him without. His

advent also means a disturbance in the labour market and lowers the wage

rate. So millions of acres of fertile land in our dependencies where

there is room, and more than room, for all, remain untilled,

dependencies created by British capital, defended from invasion by

British fleets, helped by British taxpayers, but allowed by a succession

of Governments, with the precedent of the American colonies in their

minds, to surround themselves with _chevaux-de-frise_ of exclusiveness.

No longer do great clipper ships leave these shores crowded with hopeful

emigrants, the refrain of “Cheer, boys, cheer,” on their lips, and speed

across wide oceans to the Antipodes. A new order of things prevails.

Workmen’s wages in Australasia must be maintained at a fixed standard,

come what may. Heavy duties must be levied to effect this, and

everything must be “protected,” except the interests of Great Britain.

But Hodge wants to move somewhere and earn more money, so he and his

belongings migrate to London, side by side with other kinds of

impoverished labourers; but, alas! for them, side by side also with the

poor alien, who is unquestionably one great cause of the congestion in

certain districts. Russians, Poles, and Germans swarm into the world’s

metropolis, whose streets, they have been told, are paved with gold that

only requires picking up! They are willing to pay almost any price for

wretched accommodation near their work, where they herd together under

conditions as low as they can well be.

The following illustrates this. At the London Hospital in December of

last year Mr. Wynne E. Baxter held an inquest on the body of Mary

Moretsky Libermann, aged nine, who was accidentally burnt to death. The

coroner said the only articles in the room where the fatality took place

were a small bed and a broken chair, and that the mother and two

children slept in the bed, and four other children on the floor. The

woman, it appeared, came from Russia, and had only been in England seven

weeks. For the small room she paid 3_s._ 6_d._ a week. A juryman urged

that there ought to be some sort of supervision over the kind of house

in which this woman and her family existed.

[Illustration: FIG. 36. WHERE THE POOR LIVE

Original drawing by Hanslip Fletcher

_By permission of Mr. Hanslip Fletcher_]

The presence of aliens and their competition also lowers the already

sufficiently low rate of wages. Houses, therefore, in these

localities--once tenanted by a single family--are let off at exorbitant

rates to as many as can be crammed into them. Lucky, indeed, is the

married labourer who can anywhere secure a single room for 4_s._ to

6_s._ a week. And such a room! No means of preparing a real meal, the

family fare generally consisting of tea, “two-eyed steaks” (herrings),

and a “couple of doorsteps” (two slices of bread) per head.

But, as “General” Booth says, “A home is a home be it ever so low, and

the desperate tenacity with which the poor cling to the last wretched

semblance of one is very touching. There are vile dens, fever-haunted

and stenchful crowded courts, where the return of summer is dreaded

because it means the unloosing of myriads of vermin which render night

unbearable, which (the dens) nevertheless are regarded as havens of rest

by their hard-working occupants. They can scarcely be said to be

furnished. A chair, a mattress, and a few miserable sticks constitute

all the furniture of the single room in which they have to sleep and

breed and die; but they cling to it as a drowning man to a

half-submerged raft.... So long as the family has a lair into which it

can creep at night, the married man keeps his footing, but when he loses

that solitary foothold, there arrives the time, if there be such a thing

as Christian compassion, for the helping hand to be held out to save him

from the vortex that sucks him downward, aye, downward to the hopeless

under-strata of crime and despair.”

Truly in such cases one realises the truth of these lines:--

“God made the country, and man made the town,

What wonder then that health and virtue, gifts

That can alone make sweet the bitter draft

That life holds out to all, should most abound

And least be threatened in the fields and groves.”

Booth writes chiefly of the East of London; but of all overcrowded vile

dens, perhaps none are so bad as those in the West End, frequently not a

stone’s-throw from fashionable thoroughfares and luxurious residences.

At Notting Dale, Kensington, is a district comprising five streets,

consisting entirely of common lodging-houses and “furnished rooms,”

whose occupants are thieves, rogues, professional beggars, hawkers, and

“unfortunates.” It has been rightly named the “West End Avernus,” and so

offensive are the habits of its unwashed crowds, that the policeman on

his beat is often compelled to hold his handkerchief to his nose as he

passes by.

Still lower in the grade of accommodation for a married labourer is the

“part of one room” system; and, lowest of all, the common lodging-house,

where over-crowding is inevitable.

In one alley in Spitalfields there were last year ten houses in whose

fifty-one rooms (none of them more than 8 ft. by 9 ft.--about the size

of a biggish bathroom) no fewer than 254 human beings were distributed;

from two to nine in each apartment, but nine in the room was not the

maximum.

There is an old story to the effect that a district visitor,

sympathising with an occupant of some such lodging as the above in St.

Giles’-in-the-Fields, where four families respectively _tenanted_ the

four corners, was met with the philosophic reply, “Oh, yes, we should

have been comfortable enough if the landlord hadn’t gone and let the

middle of the room to a fifth family.”

Think of all this, fathers and mothers, who jealously guard your

children from every possible source of moral contamination, whose

daughters’ modesty would be startled if accidentally a bedroom window

momentarily revealed their toilettes, whose children at boarding-schools

feel sensitive about dressing and undressing before others.

Yet this is nothing! A well-known rector in the East End says: “From

one of my parochial buildings I have seen through the thinly-veiled

windows of a house, four men and six women retiring for the night in one

room, all of them respectable, hard-working people, and the majority of

them sleeping in beds on the floor,” the rent per week being eight

shillings.

As to the alleged dislike of the very poor to the use of soap and water,

it is chiefly because the privacy essential for tubbing is simply

non-existent.

Probably the lowest depth is attained, as I have said, in the common

lodging-house, where all kinds of characters assemble under conditions

which make innocence and decency impossible, children looking without

any emotion upon sights they ought never to see, and listening to

language they ought never to hear.

The victims of this result of overcrowding are human beings like

ourselves, “fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject

to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the

same winter and summer.”

It is not from choice that men, women, and children are thus herded

worse than cattle. Necessity compels them to dwell within a certain

area, especially the “docker,” who cannot afford to take a journey in

search of work, while the smallness and uncertainty of their earnings,

together with the high rent they pay, deprive them of the power to exist

otherwise.

Figures prove little, but it is a fact that for all London the average

population per acre is fifty-seven; and an idea of the extent of

overcrowding in certain localities may be gathered by comparing this

with that of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, which is 210; with

Whitechapel, 225; and with Spitalfields, 330; the latter equivalent to

crowding into the area of Grosvenor Square (six acres), tenements

containing 1,980 souls, instead of 342! On the other hand, in the

wealthy parts of London there is far too much room, great mansions that

could comfortably accommodate scores of people being habitually left

almost empty.

The moral effect of it all is terrible. Thousands of infants, ill-born,

tainted, ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, are growing up under

conditions where purity of thought is impossible, growing up to taint

future generations and undo the good work effected elsewhere in social

regeneration. Why keep the main stream pure if foul rivulets be allowed

to arise and pollute it again? Why make clean the outside only of the

cup and platter?

But, as Cervantes says, “there is a remedy for everything but death.”

And for the “submerged tenth,” who cannot move away to the suburbs, no

doubt in time vast barracks built of steel with garden roofs, unsightly

but utilitarian, will be created in every poor quarter, resembling the

Park Row Buildings in New York, 380 feet in height, and consisting of

thirty stories; or the Fisher, the Marquette, and the Champlain blocks

in Chicago, of seventeen stories each.

These buildings would accommodate thousands of lodgers--British subjects

only--at low rentals, under decent and sanitary conditions. While for

workmen and others in receipt of fair wages cheap electric traction,

enabling them to go to and from their daily task, will solve the problem

of overcrowding so far as they are concerned.

Overcrowding, however, is only one out of a host of problems and

questions that characterised the closing decades of the last century,

and beset the opening of the present one.

We are haunted with problems, and if none existed we should probably

regret it, and try to invent them. There are endless political and

economic problems, the naval and military, the religious and

educational, the national food supply, and with it the land and

agricultural question, the labour question, and the relief of the poor,

who are always with us.

Social problems bristle on all sides, and every active lady appears to

belong, not to one, but to many of the societies for the reform or

abolition of this, and for the bringing about of that, which abound. Mr.

Jellyby’s little project for civilising the natives of Borrioboola-Gha

on the left bank of the Niger, and providing them with blankets, would

be but a drop in the philanthropic ocean of to-day!

Temperance, morality, smoking, marriage laws, vaccination, funeral

customs and cremation, early closing, domestic service, cooking, dress,

hygiene, our boys and girls and what to do with them, in fact,

everything in life, seems to have been converted into a “Question,” and

provides a text upon which more or less eloquent sermons are preached.

Everyone seems to work hard, and has no time for anything. Everyone,

too, is restless and expectant, eager for excitement and change, while

miracles of discovery and invention are wrought so frequently as to be

almost unnoticed.

All nations are being chained together by iron roads or lines of swift

steamers, and everybody travels. Locomotion is the order of the day, a

sign of the times, and electricity is the great factor that has brought

it about.

Just as in the building of some vast cathedral unsightly scaffolding

conceals the graceful proportions of the uprising building, so in what

is going on around us may appear much confusion and absence of purpose.

But out of it is being evolved a state of readiness for the coming era,

when wars shall cease and vexed problems be finally solved.

Meantime the world’s feverish workers might well despair, were it not

that they

“...see in part

That all, as in some piece of art,

Is toil co-operant to an end.”

INDEX

Accidents on electric railways, 251-256

-- to motor-cars, 264-267

-- tramway, 258-263

Adaptability of shallow underground system to London, 198, 199

Advance of motoring, 202

Agricultural motor vehicles, 218, 219

Agriculture, Decay of, 277, 278

Aldershot trials of motor vehicles, 215-217

Aliens and overcrowding, 279, 280

American capital and London’s railways, 61, 160, 161

Balfour’s, Mr., views on motor-cars and public highways, 228, 229

Ballybunion and Listowel Railway, 36, 37

Barnet motor-car accident, 266

Birmingham electric tramways, 170, 171

Black country, Facts and statistics respecting the, 177-179

Board of Trade Committee upon vibration in Tubes, 87

-- -- Report of upon shallow underground system, 199

-- -- -- -- vibration in Tubes, 87-89

Boer war and motor-cars, 214, 215

Boston shallow underground railway, 190-194

Brighton Beach Electric Railway, 13, 14

British Electric Traction Co.’s tramways, 180-182

Brunel’s shield and Thames Tunnel, 76, 77

Buda-Pesth shallow underground railway, 190

Cabs, new and old, 212, 213

Cars, Curious uses of motor, 221-223

-- Description of various motor, 206

-- -- electric tram, 137, 138

Central London Electric Railway, The, 63-73

-- -- -- -- Description of, 66-68

-- -- -- -- Effect on omnibus traffic of, 70

-- -- -- -- History of, 63-65

-- -- -- -- Its annual sale of lost articles, 72, 73

-- -- -- -- Its City subways, 65, 66

-- -- -- -- Means of exit from cars of, 72

-- -- -- -- Ventilation of, 70-72

Centres of Great Britain, Manufacturing, 174-177

Chatham electric tramway accident, 259, 260

Chester motor-car accident, 266

City and South London Railway, The, 15-18, 22, 23

-- -- -- -- A trial trip in, 19-22

Claims for damage by railway tubing, 83-86

Combination omnibus (electricity and petrol,) 210, 211

Conveyances, Public, 208-213

County Council, The London, 143

-- -- -- and rehousing, 143, 144

County Council’s, The London, design for shallow underground railway, 187, 188

-- -- -- tramway system, 140-150

-- -- -- tramways, Business journey on, 151-156

Country, Changes produced by electric locomotion in the, 273

Crimean war and traction engine, 217

Devonport electric tramway accident, 261, 262

Earth tremblings, 89

Electric haulage on tramways by accumulators, 137

-- -- -- closed conduit, 134

-- -- -- open conduit, 133, 134

-- -- -- overhead trolley, 134-137

-- locomotion, Devil’s Advocate and, 250, 251

-- -- Drawbacks of, 250-267

-- -- our national life and, 269-286

-- -- Various forms of, 9, 10

-- motor-cars, 206, 208

-- -- vehicles, 214, 219

-- omnibuses, 211, 212

Electric railway accident in United States, 251

-- -- -- on Liverpool Overhead, 251-253

-- -- accidents, official report upon causes of, 251-253

-- -- breakdown on City and South London, 255, 256

-- -- breakdowns on Central London, 253-255

-- railways, Accidents on, 251-256

-- -- Pioneer, 11-30

-- -- Remarkable, 31-46

-- traction undertakings, Investment of capital in, 269, 270

-- tramcars, Description of, 137, 138

-- tramway accidents, Official report upon causes of, 261, 262

-- -- traction, Various methods of, 131-138

-- tramways generally, 128-140

-- -- Objections to, 258

Electricity, amount required to cause death, 264

-- Definition of terms used in, 8, 9

-- for traction, how produced, 7, 8

-- Signs of the times and, 285

-- Storage of, 235

-- -- applied to navigation, 230-249

-- -- Edison’s system, 235, 236

Emigration and overcrowding, 278, 279

Factories, Removal from London of, 144-146

Flourishing state of motor-car industry in Great Britain, 204-206

General verdict upon drawbacks of electric locomotion, 267, 268

Giant’s Causeway Electric Railway, The, 11-13

Glasgow electric tramway accident, 260, 261

-- tramways, 166-168

Great Northern, Brompton, and Piccadilly Circus Railway, The, 117, 118, 127

-- -- -- -- -- -- Advantages of, 117, 118

-- -- -- -- -- -- Aristocratic character of, 126, 127

-- -- -- -- -- -- Route of, 118-126

Grimsthorpe motor-car accident, 264, 265

Haulage on tramways, Various methods of, 130, 131

High-speed railways, 38-40

History of tramways, 128-130

Horseless vehicles, electrical and otherwise, 200-229

-- -- in the past, 203, 204

How railway Tubes are bored, 77-81

Huddersfield electric tramway accident, 258, 259

Improvements in railway travelling, 2-4

Inner Circle, Rejuvenating the Metropolitan, 47-62

Introduction of tramways by G. F. Train, 128, 129

Investment of capital in electric traction undertakings, 269, 270

Legislation respecting motor-cars, 226

Light Railway Act of 1896, 162-166, 171, 172

-- -- -- -- Effect on rural tramways of, 163, 164

Liverpool electric tramways, 168, 169

-- Overhead Railway, The, 26-30

Local authorities and rural tramways, 182-185

Locomotion, Electric, Changes in the country produced by, 273

-- -- -- at London termini produced by, 272, 273

-- -- Devil’s Advocate and, 250, 251

-- -- Drawbacks of, 250-267

-- -- -- General verdict upon, 267, 268

-- -- Improvement of street traffic arising from, 273, 274

-- -- Its effect upon existing railways, 270, 272

-- -- Our national life and, 269-286

-- -- overcrowding, Effect of, on, 257-286

-- -- Social results of, 274, 275

-- -- Various forms of, 9, 10

-- New and old order of, 1-9

Locomotives, Steam railway, 2, 4

-- Steam in railway, 4, 5

London County Council, The, 143

-- -- -- and rehousing, 143, 144

-- -- Council’s tramway system, 146-150

-- -- -- tramways, Business journey on, 151-156

-- Motor-car accident in, 266, 267

-- Overcrowding in, 279-284

-- Removal of factories from, 144-146

-- termini, Changes at, produced by electric locomotion, 272, 273

-- tramcar overturned, 262, 263

-- tramways in the past, 129, 130

-- United Tramways Company, 156-160

-- -- -- -- Extension to Hampton Court, 156, 159

London’s congested traffic, 186, 187

-- latest and longest Tube, 117-127

-- railways and American capital, 61, 160, 161

-- -- Royal Commission on, 112-116, 142, 143

-- -- Selection of central authority respecting, 115, 116

London’s street traffic, 141, 142

-- tangled Tubes, 107-116

-- congested traffic, suggested remedy for, 108, 109

-- tramways, 141-161

Maintenance of tramway tracks, 150, 151

Manchester and Liverpool Electric Express Railway, The, 40-46

-- -- -- -- -- -- Advantages of, 41, 42, 45

-- electric tramways, 169, 170

-- tramcar collision, 262

Manufacturing centres of Great Britain, 174-177

Medical objections to railway travelling in Tubes, 256, 267

Mercantile motors, 220-223

Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways, Construction of, 48-51

-- -- -- -- Differences of opinion between the New, 61, 62

-- -- -- -- Chelsea power house of, 51-54

-- District Railway, New, Driving power of trains on the, 54, 55

-- -- -- rejuvenated, Rolling stock of, 55-57

-- -- -- Rejuvenation of, 51-59

-- -- -- -- Stations and tunnels of, 57-59

-- Inner Circle, Rejuvenating the, 47-62

-- Railway, Rejuvenation of the, 59, 60

-- railways fifty years ago, 47, 48

Modern social questions, 284, 285

Mole, Tube at work, The, 81

-- -- -- -- Objections to, 82

Monmouth motor-car accident, 265, 266

Mono-railway, Ballybunion and Listowel, 36, 37

-- -- Behr’s, 35, 36

-- -- Manchester and Liverpool Electric Express, 40-46

-- railways, 31-38

Motor-car accident at Barnet, 266

-- -- at Chester, 266

-- -- at Grimsthorpe, 264, 265

-- -- in London, 266, 267

-- -- at Monmouth, 265, 266

-- -- at Rearsby, 265

-- -- at Stroud, 265

-- industry, Flourishing state of British, 204-206

Motor-cars, Accidents to, 264-267

-- Boer War and, 214, 215

-- Curious uses of, 221-223

-- Description of various, 206

-- Electric, 206, 208

-- Private, in country, 203

-- -- in town, 202, 203

-- Public highways and, 227-229

-- -- -- Mr. Balfour’s views on, 228, 229

-- Speed of, 224-226

Motor-cars, Speed of, Legislation respecting,226

-- Unpopularity of, 200-202, 226

-- Usefulness of, 226, 227

Motor-cycles, 220, 221

Motor vehicles, Agricultural, 218, 219

-- -- at Aldershot, Trials of, 215-217

-- -- Rider Haggard and, 219

-- -- Warfare in, 214, 217, 218

Motors, Mercantile, 220-223

Motoring, Advance of, 202, 203

Municipal tramways in the British Isles, Extent of, 164-166

Navigation, Electricity applied to, 230-249

New and old order of locomotion, 1-9

-- order of locomotion, 5-8

New York shallow underground railway, 194-198

Official report upon causes of electric railway accidents, 251, 253

-- -- -- -- tramway accidents, 261, 262

Old and new order of locomotion, 1-9

-- order of locomotion, 1-5

Omnibuses, Advantages of horseless, 212

-- Combination (electricity and petrol), 210, 211

-- Electric, 211, 212

-- Existing, 208, 209

-- Steam, 209, 210

Overcrowding and aliens, 279, 280

-- and emigration, 278, 279

-- Effect of electric locomotion on, 275-286

-- in London, 279-284

-- -- -- Facts and statistics relating to, 283, 284

-- -- -- Possible remedy for, 284

-- What it is like, 280-283

-- What it is not like, 275-277

Paris shallow underground railway, 188-190

Parliament, Tube Bills in (1902), 110, 111

-- -- -- (1902), Authorised, in, 112

-- -- -- (1903), Postponed, 114, 115

Piccadilly, Associations of, 122-126

Pioneer electric railways, 11-30

_Princess Ida_, The, 230-249

-- -- Construction of, 239-243

-- -- Description of, 239

-- -- Provisioning of, 245, 246

-- -- Recreations and conveniences on board, 243-245

-- -- Visit to, 238, 239

-- -- Voyage to the Cape of, 247-249

Private motor-cars in country, 203

-- -- in town, 202, 203

Provincial tramways, 162-185

-- rural tramways, 171-174

Public conveyances, 208, 213

-- highways and motor-cars, 227, 228

-- -- -- Mr. Balfour’s views on, 228, 229

Questions, Modern social, 284, 285

Railway accident on Liverpool Overhead Electric, 251-253

-- -- in United States, Electric, 251

-- breakdown, City and South London Electric, 255, 256

-- breakdowns, Central London Electric, 253-255

-- Electric, Brighton Beach, 13, 14

-- -- Central London, 63-73

-- -- City and South London, 15-18, 22, 23

-- -- Giant’s Causeway, 11-13

-- -- Great Northern, Brompton, and Piccadilly Circus, 117-127

-- -- Liverpool Overhead, 26-30

-- -- Manchester and Liverpool Express, 40-46

-- -- Metropolitan, 59, 60

-- -- -- District, 51-59

-- -- Waterloo and City, 23-26

-- Light, Act of 1896, 162-166, 171, 172

-- -- -- Rural tramways effect on, 163, 164

-- Metropolitan, Rejuvenation of, 59, 60

-- -- District, Rejuvenation of, 51-59

-- -- -- New, Driving power of trains, 54, 55

-- -- -- -- Power house at Chelsea, 51-54

-- -- -- -- Rolling Stock of, 55-57

-- -- -- -- Stations and tunnels of, 57-59

-- Mono, Behr’s, 35, 36

-- travelling, Improvements in, 2-4

-- -- in Tubes, Medical objections to, 256, 257

-- Tubes, Annoyance from vibration in, 86-89

-- -- -- -- Official Commission upon, 87

-- -- -- -- -- -- Report of upon, 87, 89

-- -- Depths of, 81

-- -- How they are bored, 77-81

-- Tubing, Claims for damage by, 83-86

Railways, Construction of Metropolitan and Metropolitan District, 48-51

-- Differences of opinion between the Metropolitan and Metropolitan

District, 61, 62

-- Electric, Accidents on, 251-256

-- -- Remarkable, 31-46

-- Existing, Effects of electric locomotion upon, 270-272

-- High-speed, 38-40

-- London’s, Royal Commission on, 112-116, 142, 143

Railways, London’s, Selection of Central authority respecting, 115, 116

-- Metropolitan, fifty years ago, 47, 48

-- Mono, 31-38

-- Tube, open for traffic in London, 110

Ramsgate tramcar shock, 264

Rearsby motor-car accident, 265

Rider Haggard and motor vehicles, 219

Rural tramways, 162-185

-- -- and local authorities, 182-185

-- -- New order of, 179-182

-- -- Old order of, 173, 174

-- -- Provincial, 171-174

-- -- Usefulness of, 172, 173

Rush for the London tramways, 138-140

Shallow underground railway, Boston, 190-194

-- -- -- Buda-Pesth, 190

-- -- -- London County Council’s design for, 187, 188

-- -- -- New York, 194-198

-- -- -- Paris, 188-190

-- -- -- system, The, 186-199

-- -- -- -- Board of Trade report upon, 199

-- -- -- -- Its adaptability to London, 198, 199

Ships and steamers, Development in size of, 230-235

-- -- Use of aluminium in building, 234

Signs of the times and electricity, 285

Social results of electric locomotion, 274, 275

Speed of motor-cars, 224-226

-- -- Legislation respecting, 226

Steam railway locomotives, 2, 4

-- in railway locomotives, 4, 5

-- omnibuses, 209, 210

Storage of electricity, 235

-- -- Edison’s system, 235, 236

Street traffic, Improvement in, arising from electric locomotion, 273, 274

Stroud motor-car accident, 265

Subways and suburban lines, 109, 110

Sunderland tramcar shock, 263

Thames Tunnel and Brunei’s shield, 76, 77

Touring in the Tubes (a sketch), 90-106

Traction engine used in Crimean War, 217

Traffic, London’s congested, 186, 187

-- -- street, 141, 142

Tramcar collision at Manchester, 262

-- overturned in London, 262, 263

-- shock at Ramsgate, 264

-- -- Sunderland, 263

Tramcars, Electric, Description of, 137, 138

Tramway accidents, 258-263

Tramway tracks, maintenance of, 150, 151

-- traction, various methods of electric, 131-137

Tramways, Birmingham, 170, 171

-- British Electric Traction Co.’s, 180-182

-- Electric, Accident at Chatham, 259, 260

-- -- -- Devonport, 261, 262

-- -- -- Glasgow, 260, 261

-- -- -- Huddersfield, 258, 259

-- -- Accidents, Official report upon causes of, 261, 262

-- -- accumulators, Haulage of by, 137

-- -- closed conduit, Haulage of by, 134

-- -- generally, 128-140

-- -- Municipal, Extent of, in British Isles, 164-166

-- -- Objections to, 258

-- -- open conduit, Haulage of by, 133, 134

-- -- overhead trolley, Haulage of by, 134-137

-- Glasgow, 166-168

-- haulage on, Various methods of, 130, 131

-- History of, 128-130

-- Introduction of, by G. F. Train, 128, 129

-- Liverpool, 168, 169

-- London County Council’s system of, 146-150

-- -- in the past, 129, 130

-- -- United Company, 156-160

-- -- -- -- Extension to Hampton Court, 156-159

-- London’s, 141-161

-- Manchester, 169, 170

-- Provincial, 162-185

-- -- rural, 171, 174

-- Rural, Effect of Light Railways Act, 1896, on, 163, 164

-- -- Local authorities and, 182-185

-- -- New order of, 179-182

-- -- Old order of, 173, 174

Tramways, Rural, Usefulness of, 172, 173

-- Rush for the London, 138-140

Trial trip in the City and South London Railway, 19-22

Tube Bills in Parliament (1902), 110, 111

-- -- -- -- Authorised, in, 112

-- -- -- (1903), Postponed, 114, 115

-- London’s latest and longest, 117-127

-- mole at work, The, 81, 82

-- -- -- Objections to, 82

-- Railway, Central London, 63-73

-- -- City and South London, 15-18, 22, 23

-- -- Great Northern, Brompton, and Piccadilly Circus, 117-127

-- -- Waterloo and City, 23-26

-- railways, Depths of, 81

-- -- How they are bored, 77-81

-- -- open for traffic in London, 110

Tubes, London’s tangled, 107-116

-- -- -- Suggested remedy for, 108, 109

-- Railway travelling in, Medical objections to, 256, 257

-- Touring in the (a sketch), 90-106

Tubing, Claims for damage caused by railway, 83-86

Tubular system, The, 74-89

-- -- Origin of, 75, 76

Unpopularity of motor-cars, 200-202, 226, 227

Usefulness of motor-cars, 226, 227

-- of rural tramways, 172, 173

Vehicles, Electric motor, 206, 208

-- Horseless, electrical and otherwise, 200-229

-- -- in the past, 203, 204

Vibration of railway Tubes, Annoyance from, 86-89

-- -- -- -- -- Board of Trade Committee upon, 87

-- -- -- -- -- Report of Board of Trade Committee upon, 87-89

Warfare, motor vehicles in, 214-218

Waterloo and City Railway, 23-26

PLYMOUTH

WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON

PRINTERS

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This is by no means the oldest steam-engine at work in the

kingdom, the doyen being one built as far back as 1767, and used

continuously ever since at Charles Clifford and Sons’ Metal-rolling

Mills, Birmingham. It is of beam type, and the oak beam was only

replaced at the end of last year by one of iron. In 1812 a new

cylinder was put in, but the rest of the engine remains as it was 136

years ago, even to the connecting-rod for rolling-mill purposes. It

is said that this G.O.M. is more economical than many of the modern

engines used in the trade.

[2] The biggest and most powerful locomotive in the world is stated to

be the “Bessemer,” built in 1900 at the Pittsburg Locomotive Works,

U.S.A., weighing with its tender 175 tons. Its height is 16 feet from

rail to top of smoke-stack, and it is capable of easily drawing a

train of 4,000 tons at 25 miles an hour, or 8,000 tons at 15 miles

an hour. Its hauling power is therefore enormous, and so it ought to

be, as the diameter of the smallest ring of the boiler is 7 feet 10

inches. The nearest approach in size to this monster was constructed

in Great Britain for the Santa Fé Railway in Argentina, and weighed

150 tons.

[3] See Chapter I.

[4] These have since given place to motor-cars built in America.

[5] Report of Parliamentary Committee on Housing of the Poor, 1902.

[6] _vide_ Chapter V.

[7] One of the largest tramway schemes ever promoted is contained

in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Bill, which came

before Parliament in March last. The routes have a total length of

80 miles, and pass through a district with a population of close

upon three-quarters of a million. The idea is to connect, by means

of electric tramways, the towns of Nottingham, Long Eaton, Derby,

Ilkeston, Ripley, Alfreton, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Pleasley, Mansfield,

Eastwood, Bulwell, and Hucknall Torkard.

[8] In England the motor-car is beginning to play an important part

in country parliamentary elections. Motor-cars are used by commercial

travellers, and are being tried for the official work of the police

about the metropolis. The General Post Office is also giving motor

carriers a trial for letters and parcels; and motors are utilised for

dust-carts.

[9] A very curious and, to the superstitious, significant coincidence

was recently reported from Ireland.

Last year, when permission was asked to repair the road between

Newcastle and Kilcoole, a member of the rural council opposed,

declaring that it was good enough for farmers, and they did not want

to encourage “galoots in motor-cars” and “go-boys on bicycles” in

their neighbourhood. This councillor was, not long since, killed

through the wheel of his cart catching in one of the ruts complained

of!

[10] Both Brunel and Scott Russell, the eminent shipbuilder, argued

that from scientific theory and actual experience there need be no

limit to the size of a ship when constructed on the tubular principle,

except that which the quality of the material imposed.

[11] The Hamburg-American Line’s luxurious yacht _Prinzessin Victoria

Luise_ has a splendidly-equipped gymnasium, where the passengers can

indulge in horse-riding, cycling, and rowing, on the various apparatus

installed. On one of the decks is a first-class “cricket-pitch,” a

tennis-court, and an archery ground.

[12] A heater devised by Mr. E. G. Rivers, chief electrical engineer

to the Office of Works, brings the problem of electric heating for

domestic purposes well within the bounds of practical utility. It

renders possible the employment of electricity for heating buildings,

for cooking, and for other uses in a manner hitherto impossible. Mr.

Rivers is engaged in developing his invention in the direction of

applying it to cooking-ranges, and expects very shortly to adapt it to

that use.

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

safeguard against breaksdown=> safeguard against breakdowns {pg 8}

Motor tricycles and bicylces=> Motor tricycles and bicycles {pg 205}

End of Project Gutenberg's Tube, Train, Tram, and Car, by Arthur H. Beavan