T HE PE O PL E OF

T HE A BY S S

J A C K L O ND O N
AUT HOR OF

THE CA L L (
/
F T HE W IL D ,
C H I LD RE N

O F THE F R OST, ETC .
, ETC.

HUT/1 AIA N Y IL L US TR A TIONS

F R 011! PH0 T O C R A P/IS

Nth! y ork
T HE M A C M IL L A N C O M PA NY
L O NDO N: M A C M IL L A N co ., Lm .

A ll ngk r:
'

" ser v ed
 7U5432
r

C O P Y R IG HT ,
190 3 ,

BY T HE M A C M IL L A N C O M PA NY .

Se t up, l
e ec t r o t y pe d , a nd p u b l i s h ed Oc t ob e r , 1 90 3 .
c nnt c d
Feb r u a ry , 1 90 4 ; J ne ,
u 190 4 .
T HE c h i ef p r i es t s and r u le r s c r
y

O L d
or a nd Mas ter , no t o ur s t h e gu i l t,

We b i l d but as
u our fa t h e rs bu i l t ;
Beh o ld t h i ne i ma ges h o w t h y t nd e s a

S o v e r e ig na nd so e l t h ro u
gh al l o l nd ur a .

k i s h a d w i t h s w o rd a nd me
O ur t a s r a ,

To h o l d t h i ne ea t h f r e th e r me o ev r sa .

A nd w i t h h p c oo k o f s t eel t k eep
s ar r s o ,

S ti ll a t h ou l eft t t h em t h y h p
s es , s ee .

Th e nC h r i s t
h t o t a na rti a n
so ug u s ,

A lo w b o w ed t nted h gga d ma n
-
r . s u , a r ,

A nd mo t h e l e gi l w h e ng
a r ss r th in os ers

C ru h ed fr o m h r fa i ntl y w a nt a nd i n
s e s .

Th es e s e t h e i nth e mi d s t o f t h e m .

A nd as t e h yd r ew ba c k t h e i r ga r ment h e m

F o r fea r of d e lement, Lo . he r e,
"
sa i dh e,

T h e i ma ges ye ha ve ma d e of me .

R uss ian L o w u . L.
 PR E FA C E

T HE expe riences related i n th is vol ume fe ll to me

in the sum mer of 1 90 2 I wen t down i nto the
.

u nder world Of London wi th an attitude of m ind

-

which I may best liken to that of the explorer I .

was open to be convi nced by the evidence of my

eyes rather than by the teachi ngs of those who had
,

not see n or by the wo rds of those who had seen

.

and gone befo r e F urther I took with me certain

.
,

simple criteria with which to measure the life of th e

under worl d That which made for more l ife for
-
.
,

physic al and spi ri tual heal th w as good ; that which ,

made for less l ife wh ich hu rt and d warfed and di

, , ,

to rt ed l ife was bad

, .

I t will be readil y appare nt to th e reader that I

sa w m uch that was bad Y et i t m ust not be for
.

gotten that the time of wh ich I write was con

s i d e r ed good times i n E ngland The starvation .

and l ack of shelter I encountered consti tu ted a

chronic condition of m ise ry wh ich is never wiped
out e ven in the periods of greatest prosperity
, .

F o l l owi ng the summer i n question came a hard

wi nter To such an ex ten t did the su fferi ng and
.

posi ti ve s tarvation i ncrease that society was u nable

to cope wi th i t G reat n umbers of the un em
.

p l oyed formed i nto p roce ssions as many as a doz en ,

vi i
 PR E FAC E

at a time and dail y marched th rough the streets of

,

London cryi ng for bread Mr J ustin M c Ca rt h y

. .
,

wri ting i n the month of J an uary 1 90 3 to the New , ,

Y ork Independent briey epitom i z es the situation

,

as follows :

The workhouses have no space left i n which to
\
pa ck the starving crowds who a re cra ving every
day and night at their doors for food and shelter .

All the charitable insti tutions have exhausted thei r

m eans i n t ryi ng to rai se supplies Of food for the
famishi ng residents of the garrets and cellars of
London lanes and alleys The qua rters O f the .

S al vation A rmy i n various parts of London are

n ightly besieged by hosts of the u nem ployed and
the hungry for whom neither shelter nor the means

of sustenance can be provided .

I t has bee n urged that the cr iticism I have passed

on things as they are i n E ngland is too pessim istic .

I must say i n extenuation that of optim ist s I am

, ,

th e most optim istic B ut I measure manhood less

.

by political aggregations than by indi viduals S o .

c ie t grows wh ile pol itical machines rack to pieces

y ,

and become scrap F or the E ngl ish so far as
.
,

manhood and womanhood and heal th and happi

ness go I see a broad and sm ili ng futu re Bu t for
, .

a great deal of the pol iti cal mach inery wh ich at ,

presen t m ismanages for t hem I see nothi ng else ,

than the scrap heap .

J A C K LO ND O N .

h u mo ur . CA Lt r o nNtA
.
 C O NT E NT S

C HA PT E R PA C !

T HE D ESC E N T
J O H NN Y U PR I G HT
MY LO DG IN G A ND SOM E O TH E RS
A MAN A ND T HE AB Y SS

T HOS E ON T HE E DG E
FRYI N G PA N
-
A LLE Y AND A G I L M PS E I NF E RNO
A W IN N E R OF T H VIE O R I A CR O
CT SS

T HE CART E R A N D H CA R P N T R
T E E E

THE SPIKE
CA RR YIN G THE BA NN ER
T HE PE G

N I
CO R O A T ON DA Y

D A N CU L L E N D OC K E R ,

HO PS AND HO PPE R s
T HE S EA W I FE

P RO PE RT Y v er su s P ER S ON
I N EF F I C I E N C Y
W A G ES
T HE G H E TTO
CO FF E E -
H OU SE S A ND D oss H OU SES
-

T HE PR E CA I
R O US N E SS O F LI FE
S UICI DE
THE CH R N
IL D E

A V IS I O N or THE N I GHT
T HE H UNG ER W A II .

D RI N K, T ENPER A NC E, A ND T R R IPT

T HE MA NA G EHENT
 IL L U S T R A T IO NS

E ch bench wa
a s j
a mmed wi t h s eel ping occupants

Do t S t eet S pi tal ld
rse r , e s

N w h e m y n c pe th igh t
o er a o e es a e s of a bject po v erty
Tott y old m n nd w men w
er e a o ere sear c h i ng i n t he

h
t ro wnint he mud
A Sh p o h
w er e O l d Cl th o es are so ld
A Vi w e of P et ti co t L n a a e

An Ea s t -e nd S lavey
AH ouse to Let

AH ous e to Let
A D escend ant of th e Sea K ings
W h er e the Ch il d engr ow up r

H ere and th e e I f nd l i ttl r ou e p

s ot s h
w er e a fa i r meas ure of

ha ppiness rei g e nd
Inth e ev e ni ng t h e me nca nbe see na t t h e d oor s, p i pes i n th ei r
mout hs and c hi d rena t l h
t ei r knees
Drunk enW omengh t i ng
Co nfli ct aga i n rec ip pi ta ted
F ying p nAll y
r -
a e

In t he s h ado w of Ch ris t s Ch urch I

ht I
sa w a s ig nev er wi s h to

see aga i n
60 , 6 I
A hil l raw wi nd was blowi ng and t h ese creatures h uddl ed
c , ,

t her e sl eep i n yi n l p
g or t r g to s ee

A lung o f Lo ndo n
Th e Li ne wai t i n g bef or e W hi t ec h a pe l W or kh ouse

xi
 I LL U S T RA T I O N S

P p l W kh
o ar or ous e

C l W d f W h i te h pel W kh
as ua ar o c a or o us e

M i l E nd R d
e oa

B f W h i t h p l W kh
e o re ec a e or ou s e

A Typi l L nd n H pp nd h i M t P ddi ng th H f i n
ca o o o er a s a e a e oo

K nt e

W h i t h p l I n m y
ec a e r ar

A l ng L i t S q
o t Nigh t
e ces e r ua r e a

O nly w t b nt h p l i m n fl h i ng t h i d k l nt n
er e o e see e o ce e , as e r ar a er s

i nt d w yo nd ll y
oo r a s a F ing a e s ac

I w n
sa ld w m n
o h w k l pi ng ndl y
e o o a , a s eer r ec , s ee so u

U nd th A h
er e rc es F ing ac

G nP k
r ee ar

h
T w ll d
e d W t E nd w i t h t h i w i
e -
r ess e nd p g ny
es er s , e r v es a ro e ,

ki ng t h e a i r
w e r e o ut t a

S al ati o nA r my Barrack nea th e S u y Th eat e

v s r rre r E wi ng
I nsi de th e Cou t yar d o f th e S al at io nA my Bar racks
r v r o n S nd y
u a

M or ni ng
For a n h o ur we s t oo d q i t lv i nt h i pack ed c
u e s o ur t
ya r d
C o r o na t i o n P ro cess i o n pa i ng p S t j a me S t
ss u . s r eet

T h e C o r o na t i o n P r o ces s i o n
R a
gge d men ar e t o ss i ng p
u t ei r h h at s a nd cr y i ng ,

G od s av e

th e K i ng F a ci n
g
Th e E ve ni ng o f Cor o nat i o nD ay
O nt h e E mb nk m nt t Th i nth M ni ng
a e a r ee e or

T h M ni i p l D w ll i n
e u gc n t f af m L m n S t e s o ar ro e a r eet

L nd n H pi t l M i l E nd R d
o o os a , e oa

O n f t h W d i nW h i t h p l I n m y
e o e ar s ec a e r ar

T h T mpe n H pi t l
e era ce os a

B t nd t h A t h
er a dy t p i k H p
e u o r r ea o c o s

V i ll g H p P i k
a e d i ti ng i h d f m Lo nd
o c ers as s u s e ro o n H ppo ers

Inth H p F i l d
e o e s

M i l E nd R d
e oa
 I LL U ST RAT I O N S xi ii

Pi cking Oak u m i nt h e Ca sual W d ar

An E as t End I nterio r

D evo ns hi re P lace L i , aso nG ro ve

A pa rt oi a roo m to et l

A Two rela y S ys tem Lo dgi ng

A Gro p o f J wi h C h il d en
u e s r

T h G h t t M ket W h i tech pel

e e o ar , a

V i ew i nS pital elds
V i ew i n Bet h nal G ree n
V iew i n St ra tfo rd
T he Gh ett o M ark et W h i tech apel,

H t n
V i ew i n ox o

V i w i nW ppi ng
e a

T h E t I nd i D k
e as a oc s

T ni ng
ur th S p o ve r e cr a s a nd Sh d re s o f Beef and M utto n
AC t B w os er s
'
arro

Co ee hous e nea r J bil ee S tree t

'
-
u

A S mall Doss house -

A Wo r kma n H o me
s

T he W or ki n m n H m n M i d dl S

g e s o es -
ea r es ex t ree t ,

On e o f th e M o ns ter Doss h ouses -

F aci n
g
Wor ld ngd nens '
H o mes for Meno ny
. l
I nsi de th e Tha m P l i s
e o ce Court
Wh e nth O ga ng i nd e r -
r er goes h is R ou nd F a ci n
g
Commer ci a lS tr ee t

D ow n Lema nS treet to t h e D k oc s

Th e Eas t I nd ia Dock s

A Woman
s C l b at th e Publ ic H ouse D oor
u
 T HE PE O PL E O F T HE
A BY S S

C H A PTE R I

T HE DESC E NT
l
C h ri st oo k upo nus i nt h is ci t , y
y
A nd keep o ur s mpa t h a nd p i t y y
F h nd
r es , a our fa ces h ea ve nwar d
L tw g
es e ro w h ar d
THO
.

M AS

'
BUT yo u can t do i t you k now friends said
, , ,

to whom I appl ied for assistance in the matter of

sinking m yself down i nto the E ast E nd of London .

"
Y ou had better See the pol ice for a gu ide they ,

added on second thought pa i nfully endeavoring to

, ,

adjust them selves to the psychological processes of

a madma n who had come to them wi th better cre
d e nt ials than brains .

"
Bu t I don t want to see the police I protested , .

What I wish to do is to go do wn in to the E ast

,

E nd and see th i ngs for myself I wish to know .

how those people are living there and why they ,

are l iving there and what they are l ivi ng for I n

, .

short I am goi ng to live there myself
, .
2 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE A BY SS

Y ou don t want down t h ere l every to li ve
body said with disapprobation wri t large upon their
,

faces Why i t is said the re are p l aces where a
. ,

m an s l ife isn t worth t u pence

'
.
"

The very places I wish to see I broke i n , .

Do v er R
S T EET, S Prr A L r IEL DS .

'
But you ca n t you know was the u nfai l ing
, ,

r ejoi nder .

Wh ich is not what I came to see you about I ,

answered brusquely somewhat nettled by thei r ,

i ncomprehension I am a stranger here and I
. ,

want you to tell me what you k now of the E ast

E nd i n order that I may have something to start
,

n
09
O

But we know nothing of the East E nd . It

 T HE D ESC E N T 3

is over there somewhere , A nd they waved their .

hands vaguely i n the di recti on where the su n on

rare occasions may be seen to ri se .

Then I shal l go to Cook s I annou nced , .

"
O h yes they said with relief
, , Cook s will be , .

su re to know .

But O Cook 0 Thomas Cook 81 S on path nd

, ,

ers and trai l clearers l ivi ng sign posts to all the

-
,
-

world and bestowers of rst aid to bewildered t rav

e llers u nhesitatingly and i nstantly with ease and ,

celeri ty could you send me to D arkest Africa or

,

I n nermost T hi bet but to the E ast E nd Of London

, ,

barely a stone s th row distan t from L udgate Ci rcus

you know not the wa y !

Y ou can t do i t you know said the h uman , ,

em pori um of routes and fa r es at Cook s Cheapside
branch .

I t is so ahem SO u nusual .

Consul t the pol ice he concl uded a u th o r i ta ,

t i v ely when I pe rsisted
, We are not accus .

t o med to tak ing travellers to the E ast E nd ; we

receive no cal l to take them the re and we know ,

nothi ng whatsoever about the place at all .

Never m ind that I i n terposed to save myself , ,

from being swept out of the of ce by his ood Of

'
negations . H ere s someth ing you can do for me .

I wish you to understand i n ad vance what I i ntend

doi ng so that i n case of troubl e you may be able to
,

ident ify me .
4 T HE P E OP LE OF TH E A BYSS

A h I see ; should you be m urdered we would
, ,

"
be i n position to iden tify the corpse .

H e said it so cheerfully and cold blood edl y that -

on the i ns tan t I sa w my stark and m utilated

cadaver stretch ed upon a slab where cool waters
trickle cease l essly and h im I saw bending over and,

sadly and patie ntly iden t ifyi ng it as the body Of the

i nsane A merican who w o u ld see the E ast E n d .

"
No no I answered ; merely to iden tify me i n
, ,

case I get i n to a scrape with the bobbies This .

l ast I said with a th ri ll ; truly I was grippi ng hold ,

of the vern acular .

"
T h at he said is a matter for the considera
, ,

"
tion of the Chief O f ce .

I t is so u nprecedented you know he added , ,

a pologet ical ly .

The man at the Chief O f ce hem med and hawed .

We make i t a rule he explai ned to give no , ,

i nformat ion concerni ng our Clients .

Bu t i n this case I urged i t is the clien t who , ,

requests yo u to give the i nformation concerni ng

hi mself .

Agai n he hemmed and hawed .

O f course I hasti ly anti cipated I know i t is
, ,

unprecedented but ,

As I was about to remark he wen t on steadily , ,

it is u nprecedented and I don t think we can do ,

a nything for you .

6 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

E ast E nd I repeated
, Nowhere i n particular
. .

j ust dri v e me arou nd anywhere , .

But wot s the h add ress si r ?

S ee here ! I th undered D rive me down to .

the E ast E nd and at once ! ,

No w HR R E HA Y O NE ESC APE T HE S G I HT OP A NJ RCT Po v e R TY .

I t was eviden t that he did not understand but ,

he withdrew his head and grumbl i ngly sta rt ed his

horse .

N owhere i n the stree ts of London m ay one

escape the sigh t of abject poverty wh ile ve m i n ,

u tes wal k from al most any poi nt wi ll bri ng one to a

sl um ; but the region my hansom was now penetr a t

 TH E D ES C E NT 7

i ng was one u nendi ng sl u m The streets were .

l l ed with a new and di fferen t race of peop l e short ,

of stature and of wretched or bee r sodden appear

,
-

ance We rol l ed along th rough miles of bricks and

.

squa l or and from each cross street and al l ey ashed

.

Tor re O LD M EN A ND W O NE N wER E se A R C HING IN THE G AR BAG E

THR O w N IN T HE M UD .

l ong vistas of bricks and m isery H ere and there .

l u rched a d runken manor woman and the ai r was ,

obscene with sounds of jang l i ng and squabbling .

At a market tottery Old men and women were

,

search ing i n the garbage th rown i n t he mud for

8 T HE PEO PL E OF T H E AB YSS

rotten potatoes beans an d vegetables wh ile l ittle

, , ,

children cl ustered l ike fl ies arou nd a festering mass

of fruit th rusti ng their arms to the shoulders in to
,

the liquid corruption and d rawi ng forth morsel s but , ,

partially decayed which they devou red on the spot

, .

Not a hansom did I mee t wi th i n al l my drive ,

while m i ne was l ike an apparition from another and

better world the way the childre n ran after i t and
,

alongside And as far as I could see were the

.

so l id walls of brick the slimy pavements and the , ,

sc reami ng streets ; and for the rst time i n my l ife

the fear of the crowd smote me I t was l ike the .

fear of the sea ; and the m iserable m ul ti tudes street ,

upon street seemed so many waves of a vast and

,

mal odorous sea lappi ng about me and threaten ing

,

to we l l up and over me .

S tepney sir ; S tepney S tation the cabby cal l ed

, ,

down .

I loo ked about I t was real l y a rail road station

.
,

and he had dri ve n desperately to it as the one

familiar spot he had ever heard of i n al l that
wilderness .

Wel l ? I sa i d .

H e spl uttered u ni ntelligi bly shook his head and , ,

looked very m iserable
I m a s t ry nge r ere he .

,

managed to art iculate A n if yer don t want .

S tepney S tation I m blessed if I know wotcher do

,

want .
 TH E D ESC E N T 9


I l l te ll you what I want , I said . Y ou drive
al ong and keep you r eye out for a shop where Old
cl othes are sold Now whe n you see such a shop
.
, ,

d rive right on til l you turn the corner then stop ,

and let me out .

A S HO P w HE R E O LD C LOTHm A R E so w .

I co uld see that he was growi ng dubious of his

fare bu t not long afterward he pulled up to th e
,

curb and i nformed me that an old cl othes shop

was to be found a bi t of the way back .

Wo ntch er py me ? he p l eaded

There s .

seven an six o w i n me

.

Y es I laughed and i t would be the l ast I d
, ,

see of you .
IO T H E P EOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

Lord lumme but i t ll be the last I see Of you

,

if yer don t py me he retorted , .

But a crowd of ragged onlookers had al rea dy

gathered arou nd the cab and I laughed agai n and
,

walked back to the Old c l othes shop .

H ere the ch ief dif cul ty was i n m a king the shop

man understand that I really and t ru ly wanted old
clothes But after fruitl ess attempts to press upo n
.

me new and impossible coats and t rousers he ,

began to bri ng to l ight heaps of old ones look ing ,

mys te rious the while and hi nting darkly This he .

did w ith the palpable i ntention of letting me know

that he had piped m y lay i n order to bu lld o se

,

me through fear of exposure into payi ng heavily

, ,

for my purchases A man in trouble or a high

.
,

class crimi nal from ac ross the water was what ,

he took my measure for i n either case a pe rson ,

anxious to avoid the poli ce .

But I disputed with h im over the outrageous

d i e re nce between prices and val ues til l I q uite
'

disabused h im of the notio n and he settled down to ,

dri ve a hard bargai n wi th a hard customer I n the .

end I selected a pai r of stout though well worn -

trousers a frayed jacket with one remai n i ng button

, .

a pai r of brogans wh ich had plain ly see n service

where coal was shovelled a thi n leather belt and a
, ,

very di rty clot h cap My u nderclothi ng and socks

. .

however were new and warm but Of the sort that

, ,
12 T HE P EOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

lot and I l l se l l them back to you righ t now for

, , ,

eigh t C ome i t s a go l
.
,

But he gri n ned and shook h is head and though ,

I had made a good ba rgai n I was unp l easantly ,

aware that he had made a be tter one .

I fou nd the cabby and a po l iceman with thei r

heads together bu t the latter after looking me
, ,

over sharply a nd particularly sc ru ti ni z ing the bundle

under my arm turned away and left the cabby to
,

wax mu tinous by him self A nd not a step would .

he budge till I paid hi m the seven shi l l i ngs and

S ixpence owing him W hereupon he was wi lli ng
.

to drive me to the ends of the earth apologi z ing ,

profusely for h is i nsistence and explain ing that ,

one ran across queer customers i n London Town .

But he drove me only to H ighbu ry Vale i n ,

North London where my luggage was wai ti ng for

,

me . H e re next day I took o ff my shoes (not

, ,

wi thout regret for thei r l ightness and comfort )and ,

my soft gray travel l ing sui t and i n fact a ll m y

, , , ,

cl oth ing ; and proceeded to a rray myself in the

clothes of the other and u nimaginable men who ,

m ust hav e been i ndeed u nfortu nate to have had to

part with such rags for the pitiable sums obtainable
from a dealer .

I nside my stoker s singl et i n the armpi t I sewed , ,

a gold sovereign (an emergency sum certai nly of

modest proport ions ); and in side my stoker s singlet
 T HE DESC E N T I3

I pu t myse lf A nd the n I sat down and moral i z ed

.

upon the fai r years and fat which h ad mad e my ,

ski n soft and brought the nerves close to the su r

face ; for the singl et was rough and raspy as a hai r
shirt and I am condent that the most rigorous Of
,

ascetics su ffer no more than did I i n the ensui ng

twen ty four hou rs-
.

The remainder of my costume was fai rly easy to

put on though the brogans or brogu es were qu ite
, , ,

a prob l em A s sti ff and hard as if made of wood

.
,

i t was only after a prolonged poundi ng of the u p

pers with my sts that I was able to get my feet
into them at all Then wi th a few shillings a
.
, ,

knife a handkerch ief and some brown papers and

, ,

ake tobacco stowed away i n my pockets I th umped ,

down the stairs and said good by to my forebod ing -

fri ends As I passed out the door the help a

.
,

,

comely middle aged woman could not conquer a

,
-
,

gri n that tw isted her l ips and separated them till the
throat out of i nvol untary sympa th y ma d e the uncouth
, ,

an im al noi ses we are wont to designate as laughter

.

NO sooner was I out on the streets than I was

impressed by the di fference in status e ffected by
my clothes A l l se rvili t y vanished from the de
.

meanor of the common people with whom I came

i n contact P resto ! i n the twinkli ng of an eye so
.
,

to say I had become one of them My frayed and

, .

out a t elbows jacket was the badge and advert ise

- -
,
14 T HE P E OP LE OP TH E A B YSS
ment of my class wh ich w as t heir class I t made
, .

me of l ike ki nd and i n place of the fa w n i ng and

,

too respectful att entio n I had h itherto received I

-
,

now shared with them a com radesh ip The man i n .

cordu roy and di rty neckerch ief no longer addressed

th e as

sir or governor I t w as mate now

.


,

and a ne and hearty word wi th a tingle to i t and , ,

a warm th and gladness wh ich the other term does ,

not possess G overnor ! I t smacks of maste ry

.
,

and power and high authority

,
the tribute O f the
man who is u nder to the man on top del ivered i n ,

the hope that he will let up a bit and ease his

weight W hich is another w a y of sayi ng that i t is
.

a n appeal for alms .

This bri ngs me to a deligh t I experienced i n my

rags and tatters which is denied the average A meri
can ab road The E uropean t raveller from the
.

S tates who is not a C rce s us speedily nds himself

, ,

reduced to a chronic state of self c o nsc i o u s sordid o

ness by the hordes Of cri nging robbe rs who clutter

his steps from dawn til l dark and deplete his ,

pocketbook i n a way that pu ts compou nd i nterest

to the blush .

I n my rags a nd tatters I escaped the pestilence

of tipping and encou ntered men on a basis of
,

equal i ty Nay before the day was out I t u rned the

.
,

tables and said most gratefully Thank you sir
, , , , ,

to a gentleman whose horse I held and who ,

dropped a pen ny i nto my eager palm .

 T HE DESC E N T I5

O ther c h anges I discovered were wrought i n my

condit ion by my new garb I n crossing crowded .

thoroug h fares I found I had to be if anythi ng , ,

more l ively i n avoidi ng vehicles and i t w as strik ,

i ngly impressed upon m e that my life had cheap

ened i n di rect ratio w ith my clothes When before . ,

I i nqu i red the way of a pol iceman I was usually ,

asked Buss or a nso m sir ?

,

But now the query ,

became Walk or ride ? , Also at the rail way ,

stat ions it was the rule to be asked F i rst or ,

second sir ? Now I w as asked noth ing a thi rd
, ,

class ticket being shoved ou t to me as a matter of

cou rse .

But there was compensation for it all F or the .

rst ti me I met the E nglish lower classes face to

face and knew them for what they were When
, .

l oungers and workmen on street corners and i n ,

pub l ic houses tal ked w ith me they tal ked as one

. , ,

man to another and they talked as natural men ,

should talk withou t the least idea of getti ng an y

,

th i ng ou t of me for what they talked or the way

they talked .

A nd when at last I made i nto the E ast E nd I ,

was grati ed to nd that the fear of the crowd no

longer hau n ted me I had become a pa rt of i t . .

The vast a nd malodorous sea had welled up and

over me or I had sl ipped gently i nto i t and there
, ,

wa s nothi ng fea rsome abou t i t wi th the one

ex cepti on Of the stoker s si nglet .
 CH A PTE R I I

J O H NN Y U PR I G HT
Th e pl l i i n q li d d n
peo e e v s ua e s w he re t here canbe n
, o heal t h and no
h ope bu t dogged di smntent a t t h ar o w n lo t and fu t il e di scontent at
, t
'

th e wea l t h w h i ch th ey see posses s ed by o t hers

T HOR OI D ROGE RS
.

. .

I S HA L L not give you the address of J ohn ny

U pright Let it suf ce that he li ves on the most
.

respectable street i n t he E ast E nd a street that
would be conside red very mean i n America but ,

a veri tabl e oasis i n the desert of E ast London I t .

is surrounded on eve ry side by close packed squa l or -

and stree ts jammed by a young and vile and di rty

generation ; but its o w n pavemen ts are compara
t i vely bare of the children who have no other place

to play while it has an ai r of desertion so few are

, ,

the people that come and go .

E ach house on this street as on all the streets is

, ,

shoulder to shoulder with its neighbors To each .

house there is but one entrance the front door , ,

and each house is about eighteen feet wide with ,

a bi t of a brick walled yard behi nd where when

-
, ,

it is not rai ning one may look at a slate colored

,
-

sky Bu t it m ust be u nderstood that this is E ast

.

I6
 J OH NN Y U P RI G H T I7

E nd opu l ence we are no w consider i ng . S ome Of

the people on th is street are e v e n so we l l to do as - -

to keep a slavey J ohn ny U pright keeps one

.
,

as I well know she being m y rst acquai ntance i n

,

this pa rticular portion Of the world .

A
A N E ST- END
S L A VE Y .

T o John ny Upright s house I came and to the ,

d

oor came the slavey

Now mark you her posi
. , ,

t ion i n l ife was pit iable and contemptible bu t i t was ,

with pi ty and contempt that she looked at me .

S he evi nced a plai n desi re that our con versation

should be short I t was S unday and Joh n ny U p
.
,
18 T HE P EOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

righ t w as not at home and that was al l there was ,

to it But I li nge red discussing whether or not

.
,

i t was all the re was to i t till M rs J ohnny U pright , .

w a s attracted to the door where she scolded the ,

gi rl for not having close d i t before turning her

attention to me .

No M r Joh n ny U prigh t was not at home and

, .
,

further he saw nobody on S unday I t is too bad

, .
,

said I Was I looki ng for work ? No quite to

.
,

the contrary ; i n fact I had come to see J ohn ny

,

U pright on busi ness which might be protable to

him .

A change came over the face of th ings at once .

The gentleman in q uestion was at ch urch but would ,

be home i n an hour or thereabouts when no doubt ,

he could be seen .

Would I k i ndly step i nP no the lady did not ,

ask me though I shed for an i nvitati on by stating

,

t hat I would go down to the corner and wait i n a

publ ic house A nd down to the corner I went
. .

but i t being C hu rch time the pub was closed
, ,

.

A miserabl e dri z z l e was fal l ing and i n lieu of , ,

bet ter I took a seat on a neighborly doorstep and

,

wa ited .

A nd here to the doorstep came the slavey
,

ve ry frowz y and very perplexed to tell me that ,

the m issus would l et me come back and wai t i n

the k itchen .
20 T H E PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

But this i nvo l ved a di l em ma A l odgi ng where

.

my prope rty would be safe impl ied a lan dlady apt

to be suspicious Of a ge ntlem an leading a double
life ; wh ile a landlady who would not bother her
head over the double l ife of her lodgers would
imply lodgi ngs where property was u nsafe To .

avoid the dilemma was what had brough t me to

J oh nny U pright A detective Of t h i rtyO d d years
.

contin u ous service i n the E ast E nd known far and

,

wide by a name gi ven h i m by a con victed felon i n

the doc k he was j ust the man to nd me an honest
,

landlady and make her rest easy concerni ng the

,

st range com ings and goi ngs of which I m ight be

gu ilty .

H is t wo daughters beat him home from ch urch ,

and p ret ty gi rls they were i n their S unday

d resses wi thal it was the certai n weak and del icate
,

prett i ness wh ich characte ri z es the Cock ney Iasses ,

a pretti ness which is n o more than a prom ise

wi th no gri p on ti me and doomed to fade quickly
,

away like the color from a sunset sky .

They looked me over with frank curiosi ty as ,

though I were some sort of a strange an imal and ,

then ignored me utterly for the rest Of my wai t .

Then J ohn ny U prigh t h i mself arri ved and I was ,

summoned u pstai rs to confer with him .

S peak loud he i nterrupted my openi ng words
, .

I ve got a bad cold and I can t hear wel l

, .
 J OH NN Y UPRI GH T zI

S hades of O ld Sl euth and S herl ock H o l mes !

I wondered as to where t he assistant was l ocated
whose duty it was to take down whatever i nforma
tion I m ight loud l y vouchsafe And to this day
.
,

much as I have seen of J oh n ny U pright and m uch

as I have pu z z led over the i ncident I have never ,

been qui te able to make up m y m ind as to whether

or not he had a cold or had an assistant planted
,

i n the othe r room But of one th ing I am sure ;

.

though I gave J ohn ny U pright the facts concern

i ng myself and project he withheld j udgment till
,

n ext day when I dodged i n to his st reet co nv en

,

ti o na lly garbed and i n a hansom Then h is greet

.

i ng was cordial enough and I wen t down i nto the

,

dini ng room to joi n the fam ily at tea .

We are humble he re he said not given to
, ,

the flesh and you m ust take us for what we are

, ,

i n our h umble way .

The gi rls were fl ushed and embarrassed at greeti ng

me while he d id not make i t any the easier for them
, .

H a ! ha ! he roared heartily slappi ng the table

,

with h is open hand t i ll th e dishes rang The .

gi rls though t yesterday you had come to ask for

a piece of bread ! H a ! ha ! ho ! ho ! h o !
Th is they indignantly den ied with snapping eyes
,

and gu il ty red cheeks as though i t were an essen

,

ti al of t rue re nemen t to be able to discern u nder

h i s rags a man who h ad no need to go ragged .
22 T H E PE OP L E OF T HE AB YSS

A nd then whi le I ate bread and marmal ade

, ,

proceeded a play at cross p urposes the daughters ,

deeming it an i nsul t to me that I should have

bee n m istaken for a beggar and the father con
,

s i d er i n it as the h ighest compliment to my clever

g
ness to succeed i n bei ng so m istaken A ll Of .

wh ich I enjoyed and the bread the marmalade

, , ,

and the tea till the time came for J ohnny Upright
,

to nd me a lodging which he did not half a

, ,

do z en doors away on his own respectable and

,

Opulent street i n a h ouse as like to h is o w n as a

,

p e a to i ts mate .
 CHAPTE R I I I
M Y LO DG ING A N D S O M E OTHERS
Th e poo r t h e poo r th e poo r t h ey sta nd
, , , ,

Wed ged by t h e press i ng o f Trad e s h and

,

A ga i ns t ani nwa rd ope ni ng door

o

Th a t p ess ure ti gh tens evermo re ;

r

They si gh a mo ns t ro us fo u l a i r s igh ,
-

Fo r t h e outs i de l ea gues o f l i bert y ,

W h ere ar t s weet l a k tra ns la tes t h e sky

, r .

I nto a h eavenl y mel od y .

S I DN EY

FR O M anE ast London standpoi nt the room I ,

rented for six shi l l i ngs or a dol l ar and a half per

, ,

week was a most comfortable aff ai r F rom the .

America n standpoi nt on the other hand i t was

, ,

rudely furnished u ncomfortab l e and sma ll

, By , .

the t ime I had added an ordinary typewri ter table

to i ts scanty furnish ing I was hard put to turn ,

around ; at the best I managed to navigate i t by

,

a sort Of verm icular progression requiring great

dexterity and prese nce Of m i nd .

H avi ng settled mysel f or my prope rt y rather , ,

I put on my knockabou t c l othes and wen t out

for a walk Lodgings ben fresh i n my m i nd I
.
,

began to look them up h ea r i ng i n m i nd the ,

33
24 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

hypothesis that I was a po or young man wi th

a wi fe and l arge fam i l y .

My rs t discovery w as that empty ho uses were

few and far between S o far between i n fact that
.
, ,

though I walked m iles i n irregular circles o ver a

l ar ge area I sti l l remai ned betwee n
,
Not one .

A HOUS E To L ET .

empty house cou l d I nd

a conc l usive proof that

the district was satu rated .

I t being plai n that as a poor young man wi th a

family I could rent n o houses at all i n this most
u ndesi rabl e region I next looked for rooms u n
, ,

fu rn ished rooms i n wh i ch I could store my wife

,
 MY L ODG I N G AN D SO M E O TH ERS 2 5

and babies and ch attels There were not many

.
,
.

but I found them usual ly i n the si ngular for one

, ,

appears to be considered su f cient for a poor man s

fami ly i n which to cook and eat and S leep W hen .

I asked for two rooms the s u blet tee s looked at

,

me very m uch i n the man ner I imagi ne that a , ,

certai n personage looked at O l iver Twist whe n he

asked for more .

Not only was one room deemed suf cient for a

poor man and h is family but I learned that many ,

fam i l ies occupyi ng single rooms had so m uch space

, ,

to spare as to be able to take i n a lodger or two When .

such rooms can be rented for from 7 5 cents to

per wee k i t is a fair conclusion that a lodger with
,

references should obtain oor space for say from ,

I 5 to 2 5 cents H e may even be able to board with

.

the s ublet tees for a few shilli ngs more This ,

however I failed to i nqui re i nto a reprehensible
,

e rror on my part consideri ng that I w a s working

,

on the basis of a hypotheti cal family .

Not only did the houses I i n vestigated have no

bath tubs but I learned that there were no bath tubs
-
,
-

i n al l the thousands of houses I had seen U nder .

the circumstances with my wife and babies and a

,

couple of lodgers su ff eri ng from the too great spa -

c i o us ness of one room taki ng a bat h i n a ti n wash

,

basi n would be an u nfeasible undertaki ng Bu t .

,

it seems the compensation comes i n with the sav

,
2 6 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

i ng Of soap so all s w ell and G od s stil l i n heaven

,

Besides so beautiful is the adj ustmen t of all th i ngs

,

i n th is world here i n E ast London it rai ns nearly

,

every day and willy ni ll y our bath s wou ld be on

, ,
-
,

tap upon the street .

True the san i tation of the p l aces I visited was

,

wr etched F rom the i m pe rfect sewage and d rai n

.

age defective traps poor ventilation dampness and

, , , ,

general foul ness I m igh t expect my wife and babies

,

speedily to be attacked by diphtheria croup typhoid , , ,

erysi pelas blood poison i ng bronch itis pneumonia

, , , ,

consumption and various ki ndred disorders Cer

, .

ta i nly the death rate would be exceedingly h igh -

.

B ut obse rve agai n the beau ty of the adj ustmen t .

The m ost rational act for a poor man in E ast

London with a large fam ily is to get rid of it ; the
conditions i n E ast Londo n are such that they will
get rid of the large family for h im O f cou rse .
,

there is the chance that he may perish i n the

process A djustment i s not so apparen t in th is
.

e ven t ; but it is the re somewhere I am sure A nd , .

when discovered it W i ll prove to be a ve ry beau tiful

and subtle adj ustmen t or else the whole scheme ,

goes awry and someth i ng is wrong .

H owever I ren ted n o rooms but ret u rned to my

, ,

own J ohnny U pright s st reet What with my wife

.
,

and babies and l odgers and the various cubby

, ,

holes i nto wh ich I had tted them my m i nd s eye ,

2 8 TH E PEO PLE OF T H E A BYSS
dri ven ou r ki nd out Those on this stre et are the
.

on l y ones l eft I t s sh ocking s i r l

.
,

A nd then S h e explain ed the process Of satu ration ,

by which the rental va l ue of a neighborhood wen t

up wh i l e its tone went down .

Y ou see si r our kind are not used to crowding

, ,

i n the w a y the others do We need more room . .

T he others the foreigners and lower c l ass peopl e

,
-
,

can get ve and six fam i l ies i nto this house where ,

we only get one S O they can pay more ren t for

.

the house than we can afford I t i s shocking si r ; .

,

and just to thi nk only a few years ago all this

,

neighborhood was j ust as nice as i t could be .

I l ooked at her H ere was a woman of the

.
, .

nest grade of the E ngl ish working clas s with ,

numerous evidences of renement bei ng slowly ,

engulfed by that noisome and rotten tide of human

i ty wh ich the powers that be are po u Ii ng eastward
out of London Town Ban k factory hotel and
.
, , ,

of ce bu ilding must go up and the city poor folk ,

are a nomadic breed ; so they migrate east ward ,

wave upon wave satu rati ng and degrad ing neigh

,

bo r h o od by neighborhood drivi ng the better class,

Of workers before them to pioneer on the rim

of the city or d ragging them down if not in
, ,

the rst generation su rely in the second and thi rd

, .

I t is only a q uesti on of months when J ohn ny

U pright s st reet must go H e real i z es it himself

. .
 MY LO D G I N G AN D SO M E OT HERS 29

I n a couple of years he says my l ease ex , ,

pires My landlord is one O f ou r kind

. H e has .

not put up the rent on any of his houses here and ,

this ha s enabled us to stay But any day he may .

sell or any day he may die which is the same thi ng

, ,

so far as we are concerned The hou se is bought .

by a money breeder who builds a sweat shop on ,

the patch of ground at the rear where my grape vi ne

is adds to the house and ren ts i t a room to a fam ily
, , .

There you are and J oh nny U pright s gone !

A nd trul y I saw J oh n ny Uprigh t and his good ,

w i fe and fair daughters and frow z y slavey l ike so, ,

many ghosts itting eastward th rough the gloom

, ,

the monster city roari ng at thei r heels .

But J ohn ny Uprigh t is not alone i n his i tti ng .

F ar far out on the fringe of the city l ive the small

, , ,

business men little m anagers and successful clerks

, , .

They dwell i n cottages and sem idetached villas ,

with bi ts of ower garden and elbow room and , ,

breathi ng space They i nate themsel ves wi th pride

.

an d th row chests whe n they contemplate the A byss

from which t hey have escaped and they thank G od ,

that they are not as ot her men A nd lo ! down .

u pon them comes John ny U pright and the mon

ster city at his heels Tenements spring u p like .

magic gardens are built upon villas are divided

, ,

and subd ivided i nto many dwellings and the black ,

night of London sett l es down in a greasy pall .

 C H A PTE R I V
A MAN A ND T HE A BY SS
Aft mo ment ar y s i ence spak e
er a l
l
S o me v es se o f a mor e u ngai ny ma ke ; l
l
T h ey s nee r a t me fo r ea ni ng a ll aw ry
Wh at d id th e h a nd t h eno f t h e P o tt er s hak e ?

O M AR K HA YY AM .

I S A Y can you let a l odgi ng ?

,

These words I discharged carelessly over my

shoulder at a stout and elderly w o man of whose ,

fare I was partaki ng in a greasy co ffee house down -

near the P ool and not very far from Lim ehouse .

O h yus she ans w ered shortly my appearance
, , ,

possibly not approximati ng the standard Of a fuence

requi red by her house .

I said no more consumi ng my rasher of bacon ,

and pin t of sickly tea in sil ence Nor did she take .

further interest i n me til l I came to pay my reckon

i ng (fourpence )when I pulled all of ten sh ill i ngs
,

out of my pocket The expected result was pro .

d u ced .

Y us si r she at once vol un teered ;
, , I ave nice
l od gi ns

you d l ikel y tyke a fancy to . Back from
a voyage sir ? ,
 A M A N AND TH E A BY SS 3 I

H ow m uch for a room ? I i nquired ignori ng ,

her cu riosity .

S he l ooked me up and down wi th frank su rpri se .

I don t let rooms not to my reg lar l odgers m uch , ,

l ess casual s .

Then I ll have to l ook along a bit I said wi th , ,

m arked disappointment .

Bu t the sight of my ten shillings had made her

keen .I can let you ave a nice bed i n with two

h o t h er men she u rged G ood respectable men
, .
,

an steady

.

But I don t wan t to sleep wi th two other men ,

I objected .

Y ou don t ave to There s three beds i n the
.

ro om an h i t s not a very small room
, .

H ow m uch ? I demanded .

A rf a crow n a week two an six to a regular , ,

l odger Y ou ll fancy the men I m sure O ne

.
. ,

works in the w a r e o use an e s bi n with me two ,

years now , A n the h o th e r s bi n with me six

.

.

S ix yea rs sir an two months comi n nex S aturday

.
, ,

E s a scene S hifter she went on A steady

m
-
, . ,

respectabl e man never i ss i n a n ight s work i n ,

the time e s bi n with me A n e l ikes the Ouse ; .

e says as it s the best e can do i n the w y of lod gi ns

.

I boa rd i m an the bother lodgers too

,

.

I suppose he s saving money right a l ong I

i nsi nuated i nnocently .

3 2 T HE P E OP LE OF T HE A B Y SS

Bless you no ! Nor can e do as well h el se
,

where with is money
.

A nd I though t of my own spacious West wi th ,

room u nder i ts sky and u nlim ited air for a thou

sand Londons ; and h ere was this m an a steady ,

and rel iable man never missing a night s work

,

frugal and honest l odgi ng i n one room with two

,

other men payi ng two dollars and a half per month

,

for it and ou t of h is expe rience adj udgi ng it to

,

be the best he could do ! A nd here was I on ,

the strength O f t he ten shi llings i n my pocket able ,

to enter i n with my rags and take u p my bed with

h im The h uman sou l is a l onely thi ng but i t
.
,

must be very lonely sometimes when there are

th ree beds to a room and casual s with ten sh il ,

l ings are adm itted .

H ow l ong have you been here ? I asked .

Thirteen years si r ; an don t you thi nk you ll

,

fancy the lodgi n ?

The while she talked she was sh u l i ng ponder

o us ly abou t the smal l k i tchen i n wh ich S h e cooked

the food for her lodgers who were also boarders .

When I rst entered she had been hard at work , ,

nor had she let up once th roughout the conversa

tion U ndoubtedly she was a busy woman
. Up .

at half past ve
-
to bed the la s t thi ng at n igh t
, ,

worki n t ter drop thi rteen years Of it and for

, ,

reward gray hairs frow z y clothes stooped shoulders

, , , ,
 A MAN AND T HE AB YSS 33

slatternly gure u nendi ng toil i n a fou l and noi

,

some co ffee house that faced on an al ley ten feet

-

between the wal ls and a wate rs ide environment ,

that was ugly and sickening to say the leas t .

Y ou ll be h i n bagai n to ave a look ? she ques

tio n e d wis tfully as I went ou t of the door

, .

A nd as I turned and looked at her I reali z ed to ,

the fu l l the deeper truth u nderlying that very wise

Ol d max im : Vi rtue i s its own re w a rd


.

I wen t back to her H ave you ever taken a .

vacation ? I asked .

V ycyt i o n
A trip to the cou ntry for a couple of days fresh ,

ai r a day Off you know a rest
, , , .

Lor l umme ! she laughed for the rst time ,

stoppi ng from her work A v ycy ti o n eh ? for the .

,

l ikes 0 me ? J ust fancy How l M ind yer feet ! ,

this l ast sharply and to me as I stumbled over , ,

the rotten threshold .

D own near the West I nd ia D ock I came upon a

young fel low stari ng disconsolately at the m uddy
water A re ma ns cap was pulled down across h is
.

eyes and the t and sag of his clothes wh ispered

,

u nmistakably of the sea .

H ello mate I greeted h im sparri ng for a be
, , ,

gi nning Can you tel l me the way to Wapping

.
?

Worked yer way over on a cattle boat ? he
cou ntered xing my nationality on the i nstan t
, .

D
34 T HE P EO P LE OF T HE A BYSS
A nd the reupo n we en tered u pon a ta l k that ex
tended itself to a public h o use and a coup l e of pin ts
of arf an arf


This led to c l oser i nti macy so that
.
,

when I brought to l ight al l of a S hi l ling s worth of
coppe rs (ostensibly my all )and put aside S ixpence ,

A D ESC E N DA N T o r THE S EA KI N GS .

for a bed and sixpence for more a rf an arf he
, ,

gene r ously proposed that we d ri nk up the whole

sh i l l i ng .

My mate e cu t u p rough las n igh t he ex
, ,

p l ained .A n the bobbies got m S O you can bu nk

,

i n w i me Wot cher say ?

.

I said yes and by the time we had soaked ou r

,
3 6 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

wherewi t h al )and then the paying O ff and the big,

d ru nk at the end After that h aphaz ard litt le .

,

d ru nks sponged i n the pubs from ma tes wi th a

,

few coppe rs left l ike myself and when sponging , ,

w as played out another t rip to sea and a repetit ion

of the beastly cycle .

But women I suggested when he had n i shed , ,

proclaim ing boo z e the sole end Of existence .

Wi mmenl H e thumped his pot upon the

bar and orated eloquen tly Wimmen is a thi ng .

my ed i ca t i o n as learnt me t let alone I t don t

.

pay matey ; it don t pay
, Wot s a man li ke me
.

want o w i mmen eh ? jest you tell me There was

,
.

my mar she was enough a bangi n the kids about
, ,
-

an maki n the Ole man mi s ra ble when e come O me

w ich was seldom I grant A n fer w y ? Becos O

, .

m ar l S he did n t make is O me appy that was

w y

.Then there s the other wimmen O w do they

,

treat a pore stoker with a fe w sh i lli ns i n is

'

t ro u seys ? A good dru n k is wot e s got i n Is

a good long drunk an the wim men ski n

p o c k i t s , ,

i m ou t of is money SO q uick e ai n t ad a r d ly a

glass I know I ve a d my ing an I know wot s

. .

wot .

A n I tel l you where s w i mmen is trouble ,

sc re ec h i n an c a r r y i n on gh t i n c u tt i n bobbies

, , , ,

magistrates an a month s ard labor back of i t al l
,

an no pay day when you come out

-
.
 A MA N AN D T HE A BYSS 37

But a wife and chi l dren I i nsisted A home , .

Of your own and al l that Thi nk of i t back from

, .
,

a voyage l i ttle child ren cl imbing on you r knee and

, ,

the wife happy and smi li ng and a kiss for you ,

when she l ays the table and a k i ss a ll around from ,

the babies when they go to bed and the kett le ,

S inging and the long tal k afterward O f where you ve

been and what you ve seen and O f her and all the

l ittle happen ings at home while you ve been away ,

and
C a m ! he cried with a playfu l shove of h is st ,

on my shoulder Wot s yer game eh ? A missus .
,

kissi n an kids cl i m i n an kettle S ingi n al l on

, , ,

four pou n te n a month w en you ave a ship an ,

four nothi n w en you ave n t I l l tell you w ot .

I d get on four pou n ten a missus rowi n

kids sq u a lli n no coal t make the kettle sing

an the kettle up the spout t h at s wot I d get

, .

E nough t make a bloke b lo o mi n wel l glad to

be back t sea A m issus ! Wot for ? T m ake

.

you mi s ra ble ? K ids ? Jest take my cou nsel

matey an don t ave em
,

Look at me ! I can .

ave my beer w en I l ike a n no b l essed missus

an kids a c ryi n for bread I m appy I am wi th

-

.

, ,

my beer an mates l ike you an a good ship com i n , ,

an another trip to sea 5 0 I say let s ave another

.
,

pint Ar f an arf s good enough fer me
. .

W ithout going further wi th the speech of th is

3 8 T HE P
P EO LE OP T HE A BYSS
young fellow of two and twen ty I thi n k I have ,

suf ciently i ndicated h is phi losophy of lif e and the

u nderlying economic reason for i t H ome l ife he .

had never known The word hom e arou sed noth

.

~

ing bu t unp l easant associations I n the l ow wages

.

WH RE E THE LR
C HI D E N G RO W UP .

of his father and of other men i n the same w al k i n

,

l ife he found su f cie n t reason for brandi ng wife

,

and ch ildren as encumbrances and causes of mas

culine m isery A n u nconsci ous hedon ist u tterl y
.
,

u nmoral and material istic he sought the greatest

,

possible happiness for h imself and found i t i n dri nk

, .
 A MAN AN D T HE A BYSS 39

A young sot ; a prematu re wreck ; physical i na

b i li tyto do a stoker s work ; the gutter or the

workhouse ; and the end h e saw it al l as clearly , ,

as I but it held no terrors for him F rom the

,
.

moment of his bi rth all the forces of his envi ron

,

ment had tended to harden h i m and be viewed his ,

wretched inevitable future w ith a callousness and

,

u nconcern I cou ld not shake .

A nd yet he was not a bad man H e was not .

inherently vicious and bru tal H e had normal .

mental ity and a more than average physique

, .

H is eyes were bl ue and round shaded by long ,

lashes and wide apart A nd there was a laugh

, .

i n them and a fund of hum or behi nd The brow

, .

and general featu res were good the mouth and l ips ,

sweet though already developing a harsh twist

, .

The ch i n was weak but not too weak ; I have seen

,

men sitti ng in the high place s wi th weaker .

H is head was shapely and so gracefully was i t ,

poised u pon a perfect neck that I was not su rprised

by his body that night when he stri pped for bed .

I have seen m any men stri p i n gym nasi um and ,

train i ng quarters men of good blood and upbri ng

,

i ng but I have never seen one who stri pped to

,

better advantage than th is young sot of two and

twenty this you ng god doomed to rack and ru i n
,

i n fou r or ve S hort yea rs a nd to pass he nce with ,

out posteri ty to recei ve the sp l endid heritage it was

his to bequeath .
4 0 T HE P EO LE P or T HE A BY SS
I t seemed sacri l ege to waste such l ife and yet I ,

was forced to confess that he was right i n not

marryi ng on four po und ten i n London Town .

J ust as the scene shifter w as happier i n making

'

both ends meet in a room S hared with two other

me n than he would have been had he packed a
,

feeble fam ily along wi th a couple of men i nto a

C heaper room and failed i n making both ends meet
, .

A nd day by day I became convi nced that not

only is it u n wise bu t i t is crimi nal for the people of
,

the Abyss to marry They are the stones by the

.

builder rejected There is no place for them i n

.

the social fabric whi le all the forces of society

,

drive them downward til l they perish A t the .

bottom Of the Abyss they are feeble besotted and , ,

imbeci le If they reproduce the l ife is so cheap

.
,

that perforce i t peri shes of i tself The work of .

the worl d goes on above them and they do not ,

care to take part i n it nor are they able More , .

over the work of the world does not need them

,
.

There are pl enty far tter than they cl i nging to

, ,

the steep slope above and struggl ing frantical ly to

,

sl ide no more .

I n short the London Abyss is a vast shambles

,
.

Y ear by year and decade after decade ru ral E ng

, ,

l and pou rs i n a ood of vigorous strong l ife that ,

not on l y does not renew i tself but perishes by the ,

th ird generation Competent au thorities aver that

.
 A M AN AN D TH E A BYSS 4 I

the London work man whose pa rents and grand

parents were bo m i n London is so remarkable a
specimen that he is rarely fou nd .

Mr A C P igou has said that the aged poor and

. . .

the residu um which com pose t h e S ubme rged

tenth consti tute yi per cent of the population of

,

London Which is to say that last year and yes

.
,

te rd ay and tod ay at this very moment

, , ,

of these creatu res are dying m iserabl y at the bottom

of the social pit called Lo ndon As to how they .

die I shall take an insta nce from this morni ng s

,

pape n

Y e ste rd ay D r W y nn W es tco tt h el d an i n q ues t a t

.

S h o red itc h res pecti ng t h e d e a th o f E l i zab et h C rew s

, ,

a ged 7 7 y ea rs o f 3 2 Ea s t S treet H o l bo r n w h o d i ed o n
, , ,

Wed nesd ay l as t A l i ce M a t h i eso n sta ted t h a t S h e w a s

.

l a nd l ady o f t h e h o u se w h er e d ecea se d l ived W i tnes s .

l as t s aw h er a l ive o n t h e p r evi o u s M o nd a y S h e l ived .

q u i te a lone M r F ran ci s Birc h r e li ev i ng o f cer fo r t h e

. .
,

Holbo m d i str i ct t t d t h a t d ecease d h a d o cc u p i ed t h e

, s a e

r oo m i n q uest i o n fo r 3 5 y ea rs W h enwi tness w as ca ll ed .

,

o nt h e Is t h e fo u n d t h e o ld w o man i na t err i b l e state a nd

, ,

t h e amb u l a n ce a n d coa c h ma n h ad to be di s i nfected af t er

t h e re mova l D r C h as e F e nn e ll Sai d d ea t h w as d ue t o
'

. .

b loo d p o iso ni ng fr o m bed sor es d ue t o se lf negl ect and

- -
,
-

l t h y s ur rou nd i n gs and th e j u ry retu rn ed a verdi ct t o ,

t h a t effec t .

The most startli ng th ing about this l itt l e i ncident

of a woman s death is the smug comp l acency with

4 2 T HE P EO P LE or T HE A BYSS
wh ich t he o f ci a ls looked u pon i t and rendered
judgment That an O ld wom a n of seventy se ven
.
-

years of age should die Of SE L F NEG LE CT is the most

-

Optimi stic way possible Of looki ng at i t I t was .

the O ld de ad woman s fault that she died and hav

,

i ng located the responsibil i ty society goes con ,

t e nted ly on about i ts own a ffai rs .

O f the submerged ten th Mr P igou has said

, .

E ither th rough lack of bod ily strength or of ,

i n tel ligence or of bre or of all th ree they are

, , ,

i nef cient or unwill ing workers and con sequently ,

unable to support themsel ves They are so

.

often degraded i n i n tellect as to be i ncapable of

distinguishi ng their right from thei r left hand or ,

of recogn iz ing the nu mbe rs of thei r own houses ;

t hei r bodies are feeble and wi thou t stam ina thei r ,

a ffections are warped and they scarcely know what

,

family life means .

F ou r hu ndred and fty thousand is a whole lot

of people The young reman was only one and
.
,

i t took hi m some ti m e to say his little say I .

S hould not l ike to hear them al l talk at once I .

wonder if G od hears them ?

44 T HE P EO P LE OP T HE A BYSS
wraps about them and deadens them R e l igion .

passes them by The U n seen holds for them

.

neither terror nor del igh t They are u naware of .

the U n seen ; and the ful l bel ly and the evening

HERE A ND TH E R E I
I POU ND L T TL E S P TS W O H ER E A F I
A R M EAS U R E or

HA PP IN ESS RE IN
G E D
.

pipe with thei r regu l ar arf an arf i s all they

,

demand or dream of demanding from existence

, , .

This wou l d not be so bad if it were al l ; but it is

not a ll The sati sed torpor i n which they are
.

sunk i s the dead l y i nert i a that precedes dissolution .

There is no progress and wi th them not to progress

,

is to fall back and i nto the A byss I n their own .

 T H O SE O N T H E E DG E 45

l ives they may only start to fa l l leaving the fall to ,

'

be comp l eted by thei r ch ildre n and thei r chi l d ren s

ch i l dren Man al ways gets l ess than he demands
.

from l ife ; and so l ittle do they demand that the ,

l ess than l i tt l e they get cannot save them .

IN Tu e E v au mc THE M EN C A N ansu mA T THE DOO RS PIPE S m Tu m:

U m
.

MO TH S . A ND m A T Tu ms X ma s.

A t the best city l ife is an u nnatu ra l l ife for th e

.

h uman ; bu t the ci ty life of London is so utt erl y

u nnatu ral that the average w orkman or workwoman
cannot stand it M i nd and body are sapped by the
.

u nderm i n i ng i nuences ceaselessly at work Moral .

4 6 T HE P EOP LE or T HE AB YSS

and physical s tam i na are broken and the good ,

workman fresh from the soil becomes i n the rst

, ,

city generation a poor workman ; and by the second

city generat ion devoid of push and go and i ni tia
,

tive and actually unable physically to pe r form the

,

labor his father did he is well on the way to the

,

shambles at the bottom of the Abyss .

If noth ing else the ai r he breathes and from

, ,

wh ich he never escapes is su f cien t to weaken him

,

men tally and physically so that he becomes u nable

,

to compete with the fresh vi rile l ife from the coun

t ry hasten ing on to L ondon Town to destroy and
be destroyed .

L eaving out the disease germs that l l the ai r of

the E ast E nd consider but the one item of smoke
, .

S i r Wil liam Thistleton D ye r cu rator of Kew G ar

-
,

dens has been studyi ng smoke deposits on vegeta

,

tion a nd accordi ng to h is calcu lations no less than

, , ,

s i x tons of sol id matter consisti ng of soot and tarry

,

hydrocarbons are deposited eve ry week on every

,

quarter of a sq uare m i l e i n and about London .

This is equivalent to twen ty fou r tons per week to -

the square mile or 1 2 4 8 tons per year to the sq uare

,

mi le F rom the cornice below the dome of S t

. .

'
P aul s Cathedral was recently t a ken a solid deposit
of crystall i z ed sulphate of lime This deposi t had .

been form ed by the action of the sul phuric acid i n

the atmosphere upon the carbonate of l ime i n the
 TH O SE O N T HE ED G E 47

stone A nd this sulph u ric acid in the atm osphere

.

is constantly be ing breathed by the London work

men through all the days and n ights of thei r
l ives .

I t is i ncontrovertible that the child ren gro w

u p i nto rotte n adults without virility or stamina , ,

a weak k need narrow chested l istless breed that

-
,
-
, ,

crumples up and goes down i n the brute struggle

for life wi th the i nvading hordes from the cou ntry .

The railway men carriers om nibus drivers corn , , ,

and timber porters and all those who req u ire ,

physical s tami na are largely drawn from the coun

,

try ; wh i le i n the Metropo l i tan P ol ice there are ,

roughly cou ntry born as agai nst 3 000 Lon

,
-

don born
-
.

S o one is forced to concl ude that the Abyss is

literal l y a huge man and when I
pass along the little out Of the way stree ts with the - - -

full bell ied artisans at the doors I am aware of a

-
,

greater sorrow for them than for the lo s t

and hopeless wretches dying at the bottom of t he
pi t They at least are dyi ng that is the poi n t ;
.
, , ,

wh i l e these have yet to go through the slow and

preliminary pangs extend ing through two and even
th ree ge erati ons n .

A nd yet the qual ity of the l ife is good A ll

. .

h uman potential ities are i n it G iven proper con .

d i ti o ns it could l ive th rough the cent uries and

, ,
4 8 T HE PE O PLE OF T HE AB YSS

great men heroes and m asters spri ng from i t and

, ,

make the world better by havi ng li ved .

I talked with a woma n who was represen tative

of that type which has been jerked out of its l itt le
out o f the way streets and has started on the fatal
- - -

fall to the bottom H er h usband was a tter and

.

a mem ber of the E ngi nee rs U n ion That he was .

a poor engi neer was evidenced by his i nability to

get regular employment H e did not have the.

energy and enterprise necessa ry to Obtai n or hold

a steady posit ion .

The pai r had two daughters and the fou r of ,

them l ived i n a couple of holes called rooms ,

by cou rtesy for which they paid seven shilli ngs

,

per week They possessed no stove managi ng

.
,

thei r coo ki ng on a si ngle gas ring i n the replace -

.

Not bei ng persons of property they were u nable ,

to obtai n an u nl im ited supply of gas ; but a clever

machine had been installed for their benet By .

dropping a penny i n the slot the gas w a s forth ,

comi ng and when a pen ny s worth had forthcome

,

the supp l y was automatically sh u t off A penny .

gawn i n no time she explai ned an the c o o ki n

,

,

not arf done !

I ncipient starvation h ad been thei r portion for
years Mon th i n and month out they had arisen
.
,

from the table abl e and will i ng to eat more A nd .

when once on the downward slope ch ron ic i nnu t r i ,

 T HOSE O N T HE E DG E 49

ti on is an impo rtan t factor i n sapping vi tal ity and

hastening the descent .

Y et t h is woman was a hard worker F rom .

i n the morn i ng till the last l ight at night she said , ,

she had toiled at maki ng cloth dress ski rts l i ned up -

,

an d with two o u nces for seven shi lli ngs a doz en

, .

Cloth d ress skirts mark you li ned up and with two

-
, ,

o u nces for seve n shill ings a do z en ! T his is equa l

,

to 5 per do z en or 1 4
cents per
, ski rt .

T he husband i n order to Obtai n employment had

, ,

to belong to the u nion which collected one shi l l ing

,

and S ixpence from h im each week A l so when .

,

strikes were afoot a nd he ch anced to be worki ng ,

he had at times bee n compelled to pay as high as

'
seven teen sh illi ngs i nto the un ion s coffers for the
rel ief fund .

O ne daughter the elder had worked as gree n

, ,

hand for a d re ssmaker for one shil l i ng and six ,

pence per week 3 7} cents per week or a frac t ion ,

over 5 cents per day H owever when the slack . ,

season came she was discharged t hough she had ,

been taken o n at such low pay with the u nderstand

ing that she was to learn th e trade and work u p .

After that she had been employed i n a bicycle store

for th ree years for wh ich she received ve sh i ll ings
,

pe r week walking two m i l es to her work and two

, ,

back and being ned for tardi ness

, .

As far as the man and woman were concerned the ,

50 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

game was played T hey had lost handhold and

.

foothold and were fal li ng i nto the pi t

, But what .

of the daughters ? Living l ike swine enfeebled by ,

ch ronic i n nutri tion being sapped men ta lly morally

, , ,

and physically what chance have they to c rawl u p

,

and out of the Abyss i n to wh ich they were born

falli ng ?
As I write this and for an hour past the ai r had
, ,

been made h ideous by a free for all rough and tum - -

,
- -

ble ght going on i n the yard that is back to back

with my yard When the rst sounds reached me
.

I took it for the barki ng and snarli ng of dogs and ,

some m in utes were required to convince me that

huma n bei ngs and women at that could produce
, ,

(such a fearful clamor .

D ru nken women gh ti ng ! I t is not n ice to

th i nk of ; it is far worse to l isten to S ometh ing .

l ike th is i t ru ns
I ncoherent babble sh rieked at the top of the
,

lungs Of several women ; a l ull i n wh ich is heard a ,

'

child c rying and a you ng gi rl s voice pleading tear

'
ful l y ; a woman s voice rises harsh and grating , ,

' "
Y ou i t me ! Jest you i t me ! then swat ! chal ,

l enge accepted and gh t rages af resh .

The back windows of the houses commandi ng

the scene are l i ned wi th en thusiastic spectators and ,

the sound of blows and of oaths that make one s

,

blood run cold are born e to my ears

,
.
5 2 T HE P EO P LE or T HE AB YSS

b l e again but now su nk to a l ower note of terror

,

and growing exhaust ion .

Voices begi n to go u p the scale somethi ng l ike ,

th is :

Y es !
S u f c i ent a f r ma
tion on both sides ,

conict again pre

c i p i t a t ed One .

combatan t gets over

whelmi ng ad v a n

tage and follows i t ,

C NHO A A IN P R C P
J CT G E
up from
I ITA TE D .
the way
other c o m b a t a n t
screams bloody mu rder Bl oody m urder gurgles
.

and dies out u ndoubted ly th rottled by a strangl e

,

hold .

E ntrance of new voices ; a ank attack ; st rangl e

ho l d suddenly broken from way bloody murder goes
up ha l f an octave higher tha n before ; general hu l la
ba ll oo everybody ghti ng
,
.
 T HOSE O N T HE E D GE 53

L u ll ; new voice yo u ng girl s Im goi n ter tyke

,

my mother s part

dialogue repeated about ve
,

times I ll do as I li ke blankety blank blan k !
,

, , ,

I d like ter see yer blankety blank blank ! re
, , ,

newed conict mothers daughters everybody d ur

, , , ,

i ng which my landlady cal ls her young daughter i n

from the back steps whi le I wonder what will be the
,

effect of al l that she has heard upon her moral bre .

 CHA PTER V I

FRY I N G PA N A LLE Y A N D A G L I M PS E
-
OF I N FER N O
Th e beas ts t hey h unger , a nd ea t , a nd di e,
And so d o we, a nd t h e wor ld
s a s ty .

S wi n h d h t h n
e oo a o re med y ,

S y m ny m n n
a a d h e , a a s te nb y .

S IDN E Y LANIE R .

T HR EE us walked down Mile E nd R oad and

Of ,

o ne was a hero H e w a s a slender lad of n i ne

.

tee n so sl igh t and frail i n fact that l ike F ra

, , , ,

L ippo Lippi a pu ff of wi nd m igh t double hi m

,

up and turn h im over H e was a burning you ng .

socia l ist in the rst throes of enthusiasm and

,

ri pe for martyrdom As platform speaker or

.

chai rma n he had taken an active and dangerous

part i n the m any indoor and ou tdoor pro Boer -

meeti ngs wh ich have vexed the serenity of Merry

E ngla nd these several years back Little items .

he had been imparti ng to me as he walked along ;

Of being mobbed i n parks and on tram cars ; of -

climbing on the platfo rm to lead the forlorn

hope when brother speaker after brother speaker
,

had been dragged down by the angry crowd and

cruelly beaten ; of a siege i n a church where he ,

54
FRY I N GP AN ALL EY AN D A G LIM PSE OF IN FERNO 55

and th ree others had ta ken sanctuary and where , ,

a mid yi ng m iss iles and the crashing of stained

glass they had fought O ff the mob til l rescued
,

by platoons of constables ; of pitched and giddy

batt l es on stairways galleries and balconies ; of , ,

sm ashed wi ndows col lapsed stairways wrecked

, ,

lecture halls and broken heads and bones and

,

then with a regretful sigh he l ooked at me and
, ,

said : H ow I envy you big strong men ! I m ,

such a l ittle m ite I can t do m uch when it comes
to gh ting .

A nd I walking a head and shoulders above my

,

two companions remembered m y o w n h usky West

,

and the stal wart men i t h ad been my custom i n ,

turn to envy there

, Al so as I looked at the
.
,

m ite of a you th with the heart of a l ion I though t , ,

th is is the type that on occasion rears barricades

and shows the world that men have not forgotten
h o w to die .

But up spoke my other companion a man of ,

twen ty eight who eked ou t a precarious ex istence

-

i n a sweating den .

I m a ear ty man I am he an nou nced

,Not , .

l ike the other chaps at my shop I ain t They , .

consider me a ne specimen of manhood W y .

d ye know I w eigh one hund red and forty

pou nds !
I was ashamed to tell hi m that I weighed one
5 6 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

h u nd red and seventy so I conten ted myself w ith

,

taking h is m easure P oor m isshapen l ittle man !

.
,

H is skin an u nhealthy color body gnarled and ,

twisted ou t of all decency contracted chest shoul , ,

ders bent prodigiously from l ong hours of toil ,

and head hang

i ng heavi ly for
ward and out of
'

place ! A ea r ty
"
man e was ! ,

H ow tall are

you ?

F i ve foo t
t wo he a n ,

s w e r ed proudly ;

an the chaps at
the shop
Let me see

that shop I ,

said
N A LL
.

a N G - PA EY
The shop was
.

id l e just then bu t I sti l l desi red to see it P ass

, .

i ng Leman S treet we cu t o ff to the left i nto

,

S pi t a l eld s and dived i nto F rying pan Alley

, A -
.

spawn of children cl u ttered the slimy pavemen t ,

for all the world l ike tadpoles j ust turned frogs

on the bottom of a dry pond I n a narrow door .

way so narrow that perforce we stepped over her

, ,
FRY I N G P AN ALLEY AN D A G LI M PSE OF I N FE RN O
-
57

sat a woman w ith a young babe n u rsing at breasts

grossly naked and l ibelling all the sacredness of
motherhood I n the black and narrow hal l behi nd
.

her we waded through a mess of you ng l ife and ,

essayed an even narrower and fouler stai rway U p .

we went th ree igh ts each landing t wo feet by

, ,

th ree i n area and heaped wi th lth and refuse

, .

There were seven rooms i n th is abomi nation

c a lled a house I n six of the rooms t wenty odd
. ,
-

people of both sexes and all ages cooked ate

, , , ,

slept and worked

, I n si z e the rooms ave raged.

eight feet by eigh t or possibly n ine The sev , .

en t h room we entered I t was the den i n which .

ve men sweated I t w as seven feet wide by

.

eigh t long and the table at which the work was

,

performed took up the major portion of the sp ace .

O n this table were ve lasts and there was barely ,

room for the men to stand to thei r work for the ,

rest Of the space was heaped with cardboard ,

leather bu ndles of shoe uppers and a m iscel lane

, ,

ous assortment of material s used i n attachi ng the

uppers of shoes to thei r so les .

I n the adjoi n i ng room lived a woman and six

children I n another vile hole l ived a widow with
.
,

an only son of sixteen who was dying of c o ns u mp

tion. The woman hawked sweetmeats on the
street I was told and more often failed than not
, ,

i n supplying her son with the th ree quarts of m il k

5 8 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

he dail y req uired F urther th is so n weak and .

, ,

dyi ng did not taste meat oftener than once a

,

week ; and the ki nd and qual ity of th is meat can

not possibly be imagi ned by people who have never
watched human swi ne eat .

The w y e coughs is so met h i n terrible v ol u n

,

teered my sweated friend referri ng to the dying ,

boy .

We ear i m ere w ile we re worki n an

i t s terrible I say terrible ! , ,

A nd what of the coughing and the sweetmeats

, ,

I found another menace added to the hosti le e n

v i ro nment of the ch ildre n of the sl um .

My sweated friend when work was to be had , ,

toiled with fou r other men i n this eight by seven - -

room I n wi nter a lam p burned nearly all the day

.

and added i ts fume s to the overloaded ai r which ,

was breathed and breathed and breathed agai n

, , .

I n good t imes when there was a rush of work

, ,

this man told me that he could earn as high as

thirty bob a week Thi rty sh ill i ngs ! S even .

dollars and a half !

Bu t i t s only the best of us can do i t he qual i ,

ed . A n then we work twelve thi rteen and four

, ,

teen hou rs a day just as fas t as we can A n yo u , .

should see us sweat ! J ust ru n ning from us ! I f

you could see us it d da z z le your eyes tacks ,

y i n out of mouth l ike from a machi ne Look

.

at my mouth .
60 TH E P E OP LE O F T HE AB YSS

could m a ke out sh and meat bones garbage pes , ,

t i lenti al rags Old boots broken e a rthenware and

, , ,

al l the general refuse of a h uman sty .

T h is is the last year of th is trade ; they re

getti ng machi nes to do away with us said the ,

IN T HE S HA DOW OP CHRS IT S
'
CH U RCH . I SA W

sweated one mou rnful ly as we stepped over the

,

woman with the breasts gr ossly naked and waded

anew th rough the cheap you ng life .

We next vi sited th e mu nicipal dwell i ngs erected

by the London County Cou ncil on the site of the

slums where li ved A rth u r Morrison s Ch ild of the

J ago. While the bu ildi ngs housed more people
than before i t was m uch health ier But the dwel l
, .

ings were i nhabited by the better class work -

men and arti sans The slum people had simply

.
FRY I N G P A N A L LEY A N D A G LI M PSE OF I N FER N O
-
6!

drifted on to crowd other s l um s or to form new

sl ums .

A n no w

said , t he sweated one the cart y ,

'
man who worked so fast as to da zz l e one s eyes ,

I ll show you one of London s lungs This is
.

A I
S G HT l NEV EE W I S H To S E E AG A IN .

S pi tal eld s G arden . A nd he mouthed the word

garden with scorn .

T he shadow of Ch rist s Ch u rch fa l ls across S pit
al eld s Garden and i n the shadow of Ch rist s '

Church at three O cl ock in the afternoon I s a w a
, ,

sight I never wish to see agai n There are no .

owers i n th is ga rden which is sm aller than my ,

own rose garden at home G rass only grows here .

,

and i t is surrounded by sharp spiked i ron fencing -

,

as are al l the parks of London Town so that home ,

62 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

less men and women may not come i n at night

and s leep u pon it .

As we entered the garden an old woman be , ,

t ween fty and sixty passed us st riding with , ,

stu rdy i ntention if somewhat rickety action with ,

t w o bulky bu ndles covered with sacki ng sl ung

, ,

fo r e a nd aft u pon her S he was a woman tram p .

,

a houseless soul too i ndependent to drag her fail

,

i ng carcass th rough the workhouse door Like .

the snail she carried her home wi th her I n the

, .

two sacking covered bundles were her household

-

goods her wardrobe l inen and dear femi n ine pos

, , ,

sessions .

We went up the narrow gravel l ed walk O n the .

benches on either side was arrayed a mass of m iser

able and d istorted humani ty the sigh t of wh ich would ,

have impel led D or to more diabolical ights of

fancy than he ever succeed ed i n ach ievi ng I t was .

a wel ter of rags and l th of al l man ner of loathsom e ,

ski n diseases open sores bru ises grossness i nde

, , , ,

ce n cy leering monstrosities and bestial faces

, A , .

chill ra w wind was blowi ng and these creatu res

, ,

h uddled there i n thei r rags sleeping for the most ,

part or tryi ng to s l eep H ere were a do z en women

, . ,

ranging i n age from twenty years to seventy Next .

a babe possibly of n i ne months lyi ng asleep at on

, , ,

the hard be nch with neither pillow nor coveri ng

, ,

nor with any one looki ng after i t Next half a .

,
FR Y I N G PAN AL LEY AN D A G LI M PSE OF I N FER N O
-
63

doz en men sleepi ng bo l t u pright or l ean ing agai nst

,

one another i n their s l eep I n one place a fami l y

.

group a c h i ld asleep i n its s l eepi ng mother s arms

, ,

and the h usband (or male mate )c l umsily mending

a dil apidated shoe O n another be nch a woman
.

trimm ing the frayed s trips of her rags with a knife .

,

A LU N G OP L O NDO N
.

and another woman with thread and need l e sew

, ,

ing u p ren ts Adjoin ing a man holding a sl eepi ng

. ,

woman in h is arms F arther on a man his c l oth

.
, ,

ing caked wi th gu tter mud asleep with head i n the

,

Hp of a woman not more than t wen ty ve years old

,
-
,

and al so asl ee p .
64 T HE P EOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

I t was th is sleeping that pu z z led me Why were .

n ine out of te n of them asl eep or t ryi ng to sleep ?

But it was not ti ll afterward that I l earned It i s a .

la w f
o ti l e p o w er s t/za t be t/za t l /ze om less s /za ll not
s leep by mg/zt
'

. O n the pavemen t by the po rtico of ,

'
C h ri st s Church where the stone pillars rise toward
,

the sky i n a stately row were whole ro w s of men ,

lyi ng asleep or drowsi ng and al l too deep su nk ,

i n torpor to rouse or be made curious by (fu r

i ntrusion .

A l ung of London I said ; nay an abscess a , , ,

great putrescen t sore .

O h why did you bring me here ? demanded the

,

bu rni ng youn g Social ist his delicate face white with ,

sic k ness of SOD ] and stomach sickness .

Those w omen the re said ou r gu ide wil l se l l , ,

them se l ves fo r t h r u pe nce or t u pence or a loaf of

'
,

stale b read .

H e said it with a chee rful sneer .

But what more he m ight have said I do not

know for the sick man cried F or heaven s sake
, , ,

let us get out of this .
66 T H E PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

bones and then work like a na vvy next day to pay

,

for i t
.

My second attempt to break i nto the casual war d

began more auspicio usly I started i n the midd l e .

Of the afternoon accom pan ied by the bu rn i ng you ng

,

socia l ist and another friend and a ll I had i n my ,

T HE L IN E WA I IN
T G EEPO E E WHITEc HA PE I . W R K H US
O O E.

pocket was t h r u pe nce They piloted me to the

.

Whitechapel Workhouse at which I peered from ,

around a friendly co mer I t was a few m i nutes .

past v e i n the afte rnoon bu t al ready a long and ,

melancholy l i ne was formed w h ich stru ng out ,

arou nd the corner O f th e building and out of sight .

I t was a most wofu l picture men and women ,

 A W I NNER OF T HE V C I TOR I A C ROSS 67

wai ti ng i n the cold gray end of the day for a

pau per s shelter from the n ight and I confess it

almost u nnerved me L i ke the boy before the den .

t i s t s door I suddenly discovered a m ul titude of

reaso ns for being elsewhere S ome hi nts of the .

struggle going on wi thi n m ust have shown in my

'
face for one of my compan ions said D on t fu nk ;
, ,

you can do it .

O f course I could do i t but I became aware that ,

even t h r u pe nce i n my pocket was too lordly a

treasu re for such a throng ; and in order that al l i n ,

v id i o us disti nctions m igh t be removed I emptied ,

out the coppers Then I bade good by to my .

-

friends and wi th my heart going pit a pat slouched

,
- -
,

down the street and took my place at the end Of the

line Wofu l i t looked th is l ine of poor folk totter
.
,

ing on the steep pitch to death ; how woful i t was

I did not dream .

Next to me stood a short stou t man H ale and , .

hearty though aged st rong featured with the tough

, ,
-
,

and l eathery ski n produced by long years of su n

beat and w ea th er bea t h is was the unmistakable ,

sea face and eyes ; and at once there came to me a

bit of Kipl ing s G alley S lave

b
By th e ra n u o nmy s oul er , d p h d by t h e ga ll of c l i ngi ng l
st ee

l
By th e w e t t h e w h i ps h av e eft me , l by t h e sc ars t at h nev er h eal
By y
e es gro w no ld wit h sta ri ng t h ro u gh th e sunw as h o nt h e -
b ri ne,

I am pai d in ful forl serv i c e .

68 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE A B YSS

H ow co rrect I was i n my su rm ise and how , p e c u

li a r ly approp riate the ve rse was you s h al l l ea rn , .

I won t stand i t m uch longer I won t he was

complaini ng to the man on the other side of him .

I l l smas h a wi ndy a big u n an get ru n i n fo r

'

fou rteen days Then I l l have a good place to sl eep
.
,

never fear an better grub than you get here
, .

Though I d m iss my bi t of baccy th is as an after
though t and said regretfully and resignedly
, .

I ve been out two nights now he went on ; , ,

wet to the ski n night before last an I can t stand ,

i t much longer I m getti n old an some mo r ni n

.

they ll pick me up dead .

H e whirled wi th erce passion on me : D on t

you ever let you rself grow old lad D ie when , .

'
you re young or you l l come to th is I m telli n
, .

you sure S even an eighty years am I an se rved
.

,

my country l ike a man Th ree good conduct .

stripes and the Victori a Cross an this is what I ,
O

get for i t I wish I w a s dead I wish I was dead

.
, .

Can t come any too qu ick for me I tell you , .

The moistu re rushed i nto his eyes bu t before , ,

the other man could comfort h im he began to hum ,

a l i l ting sea song as though the re was no such thing

as heartbreak i n the world .

G iven encou ragemen t th is is the sto ry he told ,

while waiting in l ine at the workhou se after tw o

n ights of exposure i n the streets .
 A WI NN ER OF T HE I T OR IA
V C C ROSS 69

A s a boy he had enl isted i n the British navy ,

and for two score years and more served faithfully

and w ell Names dates commanders ports ships
.
, , , , ,

engagements and battles rolled from his l ips i n a

, ,

ste ady stream but it is beyond me to remember

,

them al l for i t is not qu ite i n keepi ng to take notes

,

at the poorhouse doo r H e had been t hrough the .

F i rst War i n Chi na as he termed i t ; had enl isted

,

in the E ast I ndia Company and served ten years i n

I ndia ; was back i n I ndia agai n i n the E nglish ,

navy at the ti me of the M uti ny ; had served i n the

,

Bu rmese War and i n the C ri mea ; an d al l th is i n

addition to havi ng fought and toiled for the E ngl ish
ag pretty well over the rest of the globe .

Then the thi ng happened A l ittle thi ng if i t .

,

could only be traced back to rst causes : perhaps

the lieutenant s brea k fast had not agreed with hi m ;

or he had been up late the night before ; or h is

debts were pressing ; or the commander had s poken
brusquely to h im The poi nt is that on this
.
,

particular day the l ieutenan t was irri table The .

sailor wi th others was setti ng up the fore riggi ng

, ,

.

Now mark you the sailor had been over forty

, ,

years i n the navy had three good conduct stri pes

, ,

and possessed the V ictoria Cross for disti ngu ished

service i n battle ; so he could not have been such an
altogether bad sort of a sailorman The l ieutenan t .

was irri tab l e ; the l ieutenan t called hi m a name

7 0 T HE P EOP LE OF T H E AB Y S S

wel l not a ni ce sort of na me I t referred to h is

, .

mother When I was a boy i t w as ou r boys code

.

to gh t l ike l i ttl e demons should such an i nsul t be

gi ven our mothers ; and many men have died i n my
part of the world for cal li ng other men this name .

H owever the l ieutenan t called the sailor th is

,

name A t that momen t it chanced the sailor had

.

an i ron lever or bar i n h is hands H e promptly .

struck the lieutenant over the head w i th i t knock ,

i ng him out of the riggi ng and overboard .

A nd then i n the man s o w n words : I saw wha t

,

I had done I knew the R egu l ati ons and I s a id

.
,

to myself I t s all up with you Jack my boy ; so
,

, ,

here goes A n I jum ped over after him my m ind
.
,

made u p to drown us both A n I d ha done it .

t oo only the pi n nace from the agship was just

,

com i n alongside
U p we came to the top me .
,

a hold Of him an pu nch i n him Th is was what

.

settled for me If I had n t h e n s t ri ki n him I could

.

have cl aimed that seei n what I had done I j umped ,

,

over to save him .

Then came the cou rt martial or whatever name ,

a sea trial goes by H e reci ted his sentence word . ,

for word as though memori z ed and gone over i n

,

bi tterness many times A nd here i t is for the .

,

sake of discipl i ne and respect to o f cers not al ways

gen tlemen the pun ishmen t of a man who was
,

guilty of manhood To be reduced to the rank of .

 A WI N N ER OF T HE V C I T OR IA C ROSS 7 1

ordi nary seaman ; to be debarred al l pri z e money

d ue h im ; to forfei t all rights to pe nsion ; to resign
the V ictoria Cross ; to be discharged from the navy
with a good character (th is bei ng his rst Off ence );
to receive fty lashes ; and to serve two years i n
prison .

I wish I had d rowned that day I wish to G od ,

I had he concluded as the li ne moved up and we

, ,

pas sed around the corner .

A t last the door came in sigh t through wh ich the ,

paupers were bei ng adm i tted i n bu nches A nd here .

I l earned a surprising thi ng : t/czs bei ng Wed nes

'

d ay none of a s w ou ld be r elea sed t i l l F r i day mom

,

zn F u rthermore and h you tobacco u sers take

g. O , , ,

heed : w e w ou ld not be per mi t ted to l a ke i n a ny :

t oba cco . This we would have to surrender as we .

entered S ometi mes I w as told i t was retu rned !

. , ,

on leavi ng and someti mes it was destroyed

, .

The ol d man o f war s man gave me a le sson
- -
. .

O pening h is pouch he emptied the tobacco (a

,

pitiful q uanti ty) i nto a piece of paper This . .

snugly and atly wrapped went down his sock ,

i nside his shoe D own wen t my pi ece of tobacco

.

i nside my sock for forty hou rs wi thout tobacco is

,

a hardship all tobacco users will understand .

Agai n and agai n the l ine moved up and we ,

were slowly but surely approach i ng the wicket .

A t the moment we happened to be standing on an

7 2 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E A B YSS

i ron grating and a man appeari ng u nderneath the

, ,

Old sai l or ca l led down to h im :

H ow many more do they want ?

Twenty four cam e the answer
-
, .

We looked ahead anxiously and cou nted Thi rty .

fou r were ahead of us D isappointment and con.

Po r LA It W o x x Ho us r ,

s te r na t io n dawn ed upon the faces about me

I t is .

not a n ice thing h ungry and pe nn i l ess to face a

, ,

sleepless n igh t i n the streets But we hoped .

against hope till when ten stood outside the

, ,

wicket the porter tu rned us away

, .

F ul l up was what he said as he banged the

, ,
 CHA PT ER V I I I

T HE C A RTER A ND T HE C A RPE NTER

It is no t to d i e nor even to di e o f h u nger t h at makes a ma n
. .

w ret ch ed M a ny me n ha v e d ied ; all menmus t d i e But i t is to i ve

. . l
l
mi serab e, We kno w no t Wh y ; to w or k so r e, a nd yet gai nno th i ng ; to be
l l
h ea rt wo rn, w ear y, yet iso a ted, unr e a ted, gi rt in w i t h a co d, uni ver sa
-
l l
CA R L YL E.

T HE Carter with his clean c ut face ch i n beard

,
~
, ,

and S haved uppe r l ip I should have taken i n the ,

U n ited S tates for anyth i ng from a master workman

to a well to do farmer The Carpenter well I
- ~ . .

should have taken him for a carpenter H e looked .

it lea n and wiry with sh rewd observant eyes and

, , , ,

hands that had grown twisted to the handles of

tools th rough forty seven years work at the trade -
.

The ch ief dif cul ty with these men w as that they

we re old and that thei r ch ildren instead of growing
, ,

u p to take care of them had died Thei r years h ad , .

told on them and they had been forced out of t h e

,

wh i rl of i ndust ry by the younger and stronger com

p e t i t o rs who had taken their places .

These two men tu rn ed away from the casual ,

ward of Whitechapel Workhouse were bou nd with ,

me for P oplar Workhouse Not m uch of a S how .

,

74
 TH E CART ER AN D T H E CA R P EN T ER 75

they thought bu t to chance it was all that remained

,

to us I t was P oplar or the st reets and night

.
,
.

Both men were anxious for a bed for they were ,

abo ut gone as they ph rased i t

,

The Carter .
,

fty eight years of age had spent the last three

-
,

CA S UA LW RA D OF W HI l EC HA PEL
'

W R K H US
O O E
.

nights without shelter or sleep wh ile the Carpenter , ,

sixty v e years of age had been out ve nights

-
, .

But 0 clear soft people ful l of meat and b l ood

, , , ,

with white beds and airy rooms wa iting you each

night h ow can I make you k now what i t is to suffer
,

as you would su ffer if you spent a weary night on

7 6 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

London s streets ? Bel ieve me you wou l d thi nk a ,

thousand centuries had come and gone before the

east paled i nto dawn ; you would shiver ti ll you
we r e ready to cry aloud with the pai n of each ach
ing m uscle ; and you would marvel that you could
end ure so m uch and l ive S hould you rest u pon a.

bench and you r tired eyes close depend u pon i t the

, ,

po l i ceman wou l d rouse you and gr u fy order you to

move on Y ou may rest upon the bench and

.
,

benches a re few and fa r between ; bu t if rest means

sleep on you must go draggi ng your ti red body
, ,

t hrough the endless streets S hould you i n des .

,

perate slyness seek so me forlorn alley or dark pas

,

sa e w a
g y and lie down the omnipresent, pol iceman
will rout you out just the same I t is h is busi ness .

to rout you out I t is a la w of the powers that be

.

that you shall be routed out .

Bu t when the dawn came the nightmare over , ,

you would hale you home to refresh you rself and ,

until you died you would tell the story of you r ad

venture to groups of adm i ri ng friends I t would .

grow i nto a m ighty sto r y Y ou r l ittle eight hour .

-

night would become an O dyssey and you a H omer .

Not so with these homeless ones who walked to

P oplar Workhouse with me A nd there are thi rty .

v e thousand of them men and women i n London

, ,

Town th is night P lease don t remember i t as you
.

go to bed ; if you are as soft as you ough t to be ,

 TH E C A R T ER AN D T HE C A RPE NT ER

77

you may not rest so wel l as usual Bu t for old .

men of sixty seven ty and eighty il l fed with

, , ,
-
,

neither meat nor blood to greet the d a w n u nre , .

freshed and to stagger th rough the day i n mad

,

search for crusts with relen tless night rushi ng down

,

upon them agai n and to do th is ve nights and

,

days 0 dear soft people full of m eat and bl ood

, , ,

how can you ever understand ?

I wal ked up Mile E nd R oad be tween the Carter
and the Carpenter Mile E nd R oad is a wide thor
.

o u gh fa r e cu tt ing the heart of E ast London

, and ,

there were tens of thousands of people abroad on

it I tell you th is S O that you may fully appreciate
.

what I shal l describe i n the next pa r agraph As I .

say we wal ked along and when they grew bi tter

, ,

and cu rsed the land I c ursed with them cursed as

, ,

an Ameri can waif would cu rse stranded i n a strange ,

and te rrible land And as I tried to lead them to

. ,

bel ieve and succeeded i n maki ng them bel ieve they

, ,

took me for a seafari ng man who had spent his

,

money in riotous livi ng los t his clothes (no u nusual

,

occu rrence w ith seafari ng men ashore ) and was ,

temporari ly broke while look i ng for a sh ip This .

accou nted for my ignorance of E nglish ways i n

general and casual wards in particular and my ,

curiosi ty concern ing the same .

The Carter was hard pu t to keep the pace at

wh ich we wal ked (he told me that he had eaten
7 8
T H E PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

noth ing that day ) but the Carpenter lean and , ,

hungry his gray and ragged overcoat fl appi ng

,

mournfully i n the bree z e swung on in a long and ,

ti reless stride which rem i nded me strongly Of the

plai ns coyote Both kept thei r eyes upon the pave
.

ment as they walked and talked and eve ry now and ,

then one or the other would stoop and pick some

thing u p never m issi ng the stride the wh ile I
, .

thought it was cigar and cigarette stumps they

were collecting and for some time took no notice
, .

Then I did notice .

F r om Me sli my d ew a lk , t/cey
si w er e p i cb i a
g p u

bi ts o
f or a nge p eel a , pp
le sk i n , a nd g r ape s tems ,

a nd tbey w er e ea t i ng l i t em . Tbe pi t f s o
g r ee ngage
pl u ms th ey cr a cked bet w een t/zei r teet /t f or Me ker nels
i ns ide . Tlzey pi k d c e u
p s tr a
y m b f b
cr u
s o r ea d t/ze

si z e o
f p ea s, pp l
a e cor es s o bla ck a nd d i r ty one
w ou ld not ta ke t /zem t o be a pp l e cor es , a nd t/zese
t /zi ags t /zese t w o men t ook i nt o t /zei r moa t/t s , a nd
ti tem, nd t/t em nd t]:i s betw een

cbew ed a s w a l ow ca l a ,

nd n k i n tbe m i ng of A ugu s t 2 0

s x i a seve o cloc co ,

y ea r o f ou r L or d 1
90 2 , i n tb e bea r t of tbe gr ea t
es t , w ea l t/t i es t , a nd most p ow erf u l emp i r e t/ze w or ld

These t wo me n talked They were not foo l s . .

Th ey were merely old A nd natu rally thei r gu ts .

, ,

a reek wi th pavement o ffal they tal ked of bloody

-
,

revol uti on They tal ked as a narchists fanatics

. , ,
80 TH E P EO P LE OF T HE AB YSS

W hat chance does that gi ve me to l o ok for work ?

S pose I do get i n to the casual ward ? Keep me

i n al l day t o morrow let me out mo r ni n 0 nex t ,

'
day What then ? The law sez I can t get in
.

another casual ward that n ight less n ten m iles
H ave to h u rry an wal k to be there i n

d istan t .

ti me that day What chance d oes that give me to .

'
look for a job ? S pose I don t walk S pose I look

for a job ? I n no t ime there s night come an no ,

bed No sleep all nigh t nothi n to eat what shape
.
, ,

am I i n i n the mo r ni n to look for work ? G ot to

make up my sleep i n the park somehow (the vision

of Christ s Church S p i tal eld s was strong on me )

, ,

an get somethi ng to eat A n there I am ! O ld

.
,

down an no chance to get up
, .

U sed to be a tol l gate ere said the Ca rter -
, .

Many s the time I ve paid my tol l ere i n my

carti n days
.

I ve ad th ree a pe nny rolls i n two days the

Carpenter an nou nced after a long pause i n the ,

conve rsation .

T wo of them I ate yesterday, an the th i rd

to d ay he concl uded after another long pause
, , .

'
I ai n t ad anyth i ng t o day said the Carter , .

A n I m tagged out My legs is h u rt i n me

somethi ng fearful .

The rol l you get i n the spike is that ard you

can t eat i t nicely w ith less n a pi nt of water sa id ,

 TH E C AR T E R AN D T H E C A RP E NTE R 81

the Ca rpenter for my ben e t A nd on asking , .

,

h im what the spike was h e answe red The cas
, ,

ua l ward I t s a ca n t word you know

.
, .

Bu t what surprised me was that he should have

the word can t i n his vocabulary a vocabulary

,

that I found was no mean one before we parted .

I asked them what I m ight expec t i n the way

of treatm ent if we succeeded i n gett i ng into the
,

P oplar Workhouse and bet wee n them I was s up ,

pl ied with much i nformatio n H aving taken a cold .

bath on enteri ng I would be given for suppe r si x ,

ou nces Of bread and th ree parts of skil ly

.

Three parts means three q uarters of a pi nt and -

,

skilly is a uid concoct ion of th ree q uarts of

oatmeal sti rred i nto three buckets and a half of

hot water .

Milk and suga r I suppose and a silver spoon ? , ,

I queried .

No fear S al t s what you l l get an I ve seen

.

some places where you d not get any spoon O ld

.

e r up an let e r run down that s o w they do it , .

Y ou do get good skilly at A ck ney said the

Carter .

O h wonderfu l skilly that praised the Carpe n

, , ,

ter and each looked e l oquen tly at the other

, .

Flour an water at S t Ge orge s i n the E ast .

said the Carter .

The Carpenter nodded H e had tried th em all . .

.

0
82 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

Then what ? I demanded .

A nd I was i nformed that I was se nt di rectl y to

bed . Cal l you at half after ve in the mor ni n an
,

you get up an take a sl uice if th ere s an y soap
.

Then breakfast same as supper th ree parts 0 skilly

, ,

"
an a six ou nce l oaf

-
.

Ti s nt al ways si x ou nces corrected the Carter

, .

no ; an often that sou r you can a r d ly

eat i t When rst I started I couldn t eat the

.

skilly nor the bread bu t now I can eat my own an ,

another ma n s port ion
.

I could eat three other men s portions said the ,

C a rter I aven t a d a bi t th is blessed day
.

.

Then what ?

The n you ve got to do you r task pick fou r ,

pounds of oakum or cl ea n an scrub or break ten , ,

to eleven hu ndredweigh t O stones I don t ave to .

break stones ; I m past sixty you see They ll , .

make you do it though Y ou re young an strong, .

.

'

What I don t l ike gru mbled the Carter is to , ,

be locked up i n a cel l to pick oakum I t s too .

m uch li ke prison .

B ut suppose after you ve had your night s ,

sl eep you refuse to pick oakum or break stones or

, , ,

do any work at all I asked .

NO fear you ll refu se the second time ; they l l
'

run you i n answered the Carpenter

Wouldn t

.
,

advise you to try i t on my lad , .
84 THE P EO P LE OF T H E AB YSS

men S O she showed no pity for them on l y for me

.
, ,

who deserved i t least or not at al l Not in honor .

do gray ha i rs go dow n to the gr ave i n London

Town .

O n one side the door was a bel l handle on the ,

othe r side a press button .

R i ng the bell said the Carter to me , .

A nd j ust as I ordinari l y would at anybody s door ,

I pulled ou t the handle and rang a pea ] .

O h ! O h ! they cried i n one terri ed voice .

Not so ard !
I l et go and they looked reproachfu l ly at me as
, ,

though I had im perilled thei r chance for a bed and

three parts of skilly Nobody came L uckily i t . .
,

was the wrong bell and I fel t better , .

P ress the button I said to the Carpenter , .

No no wait a bit the Carter hurried l y i nter

, , ,

posed .

F rom al l o f wh ich I drew the concl usio n that a

poorhouse po rter who commonly d raws a yearly ,

salary of from thi rty to forty dollars is a ve ry ,

nicky and important personage and cannot be ,

treated too fastidiously by paupe rs .

S o we waited ten ti mes a decen t i nterval when

, ,

the Carter stealthi ly advanced a tim id fore nger to

the button and gave i t the faintest shortest possi
, ,

ble push I have looked at waiti ng men where l ife

.

a nd death was in the issue ; bu t anxious suspe nse

 T HE CAR TER AN D T HE CA RP E N T ER 85

showed less plainly on thei r faces than i t S howed on

the fa ces of these two me n as they wai ted for the
coming of the po rter .

H e came H e b a rely looked at us
. F ul l u p .
,

he said and sh ut the door

, .

A nother night Of it groaned the Carpenter , .

I n the di m l igh t the Carter looked wan and gray .

I ndisc rimi nate charity is vicious say the pro ,

fess i o na l philanthropists Well I resol ved to be

.
,

vicious.

C ome on ; get you r kn ife out and come here ,

I said to the Carter drawi ng hi m i nto a dark alley

, .

H e glared at me i n a f ri ghtened manner and ,

tried to draw back P ossibly he took me for a

.

latter day Jack the R ipper with a penchant for

- -
,

elderly male pau pers O r he may have thought I

.

w a s inveigl i ng h im into the commission of some

desperate crime A nyway he was f rightened

.
, .

I t will be remembered at the outset that I sewed

, ,

'
a pou nd i nside my stoker s si nglet under the arm
pi t Th is was my emerge ncy fu nd and I was now
.
,

cal led upon to use i t for the rst time .

Not un til I had gone th rough the acts of a con

t o r ti o ni st and shown the round coi n sewed i n did
, ,

I succeed i n getting the Carter s help E ven the n

.

h is hand was trembl ing so that I was afraid he

would cut me i nstead of the stitches and I was ,

forced to take the kn ife away and do i t m ysel f .

86 T H E PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

O u t roll ed the gold piece a fo rtune i n thei r h ung r y ,

eyes ; and away we stam peded for the nearest co ee

hous e .

O f course I had to ex pl ai n to them that I was

merely an i nvestigator a social student seeki ng to , ,

nd ou t how the other half l i ved A nd at once .

they shu t up l ike c l a ms I was not of their ki nd ; .

my speech had changed the tones of my voice were ,

d i fferent i n short I was a superior and they were

, , ,

superbly class conscious .

What will you have ? I asked as the wai ter ,

came for the order .

Two slices an a cu p of tea meek l y said the ,

Carter .

Two slices an a cu p of tea meekly said the ,

Carpenter .

S top a moment and consider the S i tuation , .

H ere were two men i n vi ted by me i nto the co ff ee

- ,

hou se They had see n my gold piece and they

.
,

could u nderstand that I was no pauper O ne had .

eate n a ha penny roll that day the other had eaten

,

nothing A nd they called for two slices an a
.

cup of tea ! E ach m an had given a t u pe nny

o r der
. Two sl ices by the w a y means two sl ices

, ,

of bread and butter .

This was the same degraded h umility that had

characteri z ed their atti tude toward the poorhouse

porter But I wou l dn t have it S tep by step I
. .
88 T H E PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

smal l pox No sooner was this ove r than the fath er

.

came down wi th fever and went to the hospital for

th ree mo nths Then he w as done for H e came
. .

out weak debil itated no strong young son to stand

, ,

by him his l ittl e busi ness gone gl imme ri ng and

, ,

not a farth ing The th i ng had happened and the

.
,

game was up NO chance for an old man to .

s tart again F riends all poor and u nabl e to hel p

. .

H e had t ried for work when they were putt i ng up

the stands for the rst Coronation parade
An

.

I got fai r sick of the answer ; No ! no ! no ! I t

rang i n my ears at n igh t when I tried to sleep ,

al w ays the same No ! no ! O nly the past

,

w eek he had answered an adve rtisement i n H ack

ney and on gi vi ng h is age was told O h too old
, , , ,

too old by far .

The Carpenter had been born i n the army where ,

his father had served twenty two years Li ke wi se -

.
,

h is two brothers had gone i nto the army ; one ,

troop sergeant major of the S even th H us sa rs dyi ng

-
,

i n I ndia after the Muti ny ; the other after n i ne ,

years u nder R oberts i n the E ast had been lost i n ,

E gypt The Carpenter had not gone i n to the

.

army so here he was still on the planet

, , .

But ere gi ve me your and he said ripping
, , ,

'

ope n his ragged shi rt I m t for the anatomist .

,

that s all I m w a st i n away si r actuall y w ast i n

.

, ,

away for wan t of food F eel my ribs an you l l see .

.
 T HE C A RT ER AN D T H E C ARPE NT E R 89

I put my hand under h is shi rt and felt The .

ski n was stretched like parchment over the bones ,

and the sensation produced was for al l the world

li ke ru nn ing one s hand over a washboard .

S even years 0 blis s I a d he said A good , .

mi ssus and three bonn ie lassies But they all died . .

S carlet fever took the gi rl s i nside a fortnight .

After this si r said the Carter i ndicating the
, , ,

spread and desi ring to tu rn the con ve rsation i nto

,

more chee rful chan nel s ; after this I would n t ,

be able to eat a workhouse breakfast i n the

morn ing .

Nor I agreed the Carpen ter and they fell to
, ,

discussi ng bell y del ights and the ne dishes their
respective wives had cooked i n the old days .

'
I ve gone three days and never broke my fast ,

said the Carter .

A nd I ve his com panion added tu rni ng
, , ,

gloomy wi th the memory of it F ive days once .
,

with nothing on my stomach but a bi t of orange

'
peel an outraged nat ure wouldn t stand it S i r an
, , ,

I near died S ometimes walki n the streets at

.
,

n ight I ve ben that despe rate I ve m ade up my
,

mi nd to wi n the horse or lose the saddle Y ou .

know what I mean sir to comm i t some big ,

robbery But when mo r ni n come there was I

.

, ,

too weak from unger an cold to arm a mouse
.

As their poor vital s warmed to the food they ,

90 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

began to expand and w ax boastful and to ta l k po l ,

iti es I can on l y say that they talked pol itics as

.

wel l as the average middle class man and a great -

,

dea l better tha n some of the middle class men I -

have heard What surprised me was the hold

.

they had on the world its geography and peoples , ,

and on recent and contemporaneous history As .

I say they were not fools these t w o men They

, , .

were merely old and their children had undutifully

,

fai led to gro w up and gi ve them a place by the

re .

O ne last i ncident as I b ade them good by o n

,
-

the corner happy with a couple of s h illi ngs i n thei r

,

pockets and the certai n prospect of a bed for the

night L igh ti ng a cigarette I w a s about to thro w
.
,

away the burn ing match w hen the Carter reached

for i t I pro ffered him the bo x but he said
. , ,

Never m i nd won t waste it s i r
, A nd wh i le he

, .

ligh ted the cigarette I had given him t h e Carpen ,

ter h urried with the ll i ng of his pipe i n order to

have a go at the sa me match .

I t s wrong to waste said he , .

Y es I said but I was thi nki n g of the wash
,

board r Ibs over which I had ru n my hand .

 C H A PTE R I X

T HE S PI KE
Th e o ld . Sp t ar a ns h ad a w is er met h od ; a nd went ou t and h unted
d ow nt h ei r H l t nd s pea red a nd S p i tted t h em, w h en t h ey grew t oo
e o s, a

nu merous . W ith
our i mp ro v ed fas h i o n s of h un ti ng n o w a ft er t h e i n ve n ,

t i o no f rea r ms a nd s ta nd i ng ar mi es , h o w m u ch eas i e r w e r e s u ch a h u nt !
l l
P er h a ps i nth e mos t t h ick y peo p ed co u ntry, so me th ree days a nnua y ll
migh t suf ce to S h oo t all th e a b bo died paupers t hat had
le
-
a ccu mu ated l
h
w i t i nth e ye ar .
CA nL vL E .

FI RS T of all I m ust beg forgiveness of my body

,

for the vileness through which I have d ragged i t ,

and forgi veness of my stomach for the vileness

wh ich I have thrust i nto i t I have been to the .

spike and s l ept in the spike and eaten i n the

, ,

spike ; also I have ru n away from the spike

, .

After my two unsuccessful attempts to penetrate

the Whitechapel casual wa rd I started early and , ,

joined the desol ate l i ne before th ree O clock i n the

afternoon They did not let in t ill six but at
.

,

that early hour I was n u mber 2 0 while the news ,

had gone forth that only twenty two were to be -

admi tted By fou r o cl ock the re were thi rty four

.

-

i n l ine the l ast ten hangi ng on i n the slender

,

hope of getting i n by some ki nd of a m i racle .

Many more came looked at the l ine and went , ,

9!
94 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

is concern ed he is a broken man H is only ch a nce

, .

to earn a l ivi ng was by heavy work H e is now .

i ncapable of perform i ng heavy work and from now ,

u ntil he di es the spike the peg and the streets ar e

, , ,

all he can look forward to i n the way Of food and

.

shel ter The thi ng happened that is all H e pu t .

h is back u nder too great a load of sh and his ,

chance for happiness in l ife was crossed O E the

books .

S everal men i n the l i ne h a d bee n to the U n ited

S tates and they were wishi ng that they had r e
,

mai ned there and were cu rsing themselves for thei r

,

folly i n ever havi ng left E ngland had become a .

prison to them a prison from which there was no

,

hope of escape I t was impossibl e fo r them to

.

get away T hey could neither scrape together the

.

passage money nor get a chance to work their

,

passage The coun try w a s too overru n by poor

.

devils on that lay
.

I w as on the seafaring man wh o had lost his clothes- - - - - -

and money tack and they all condoled with m e and

-
,

gave me m uch sou nd advice To sum it U p the .

,

advice was something l ike th is : To keep ou t of al l

places like the spike There w as noth ing good i n .

it for me To head for the coast and bend every

.

c o rt to get away on a ship To go to work i f .

,

possib l e and scrape together a pound or so with

, ,

which I m ight bribe some steward or underl i ng to

96 TH E P EO P LE OF T H E AB YSS

Bu t th e men i n the l i ne were not all of th i s

cal iber S ome were poo r w retched beasts i na r ti c u
.
, ,

late and call ous bu t for all of t h at in many ways

, ,

very h um an I remember a carter e v idently retu rn

.
,

ing home after the day s work st oppi ng his cart ,

before us so that his you ng hopeful who had run to ,

meet h im could cl imb i n B ut the cart was big

, . ,

the you ng hopeful l ittle and he failed i n his seve ral

,

attempts to swarm up W hereupon one of the

.

most degraded looki ng men stepped out of the l i ne

-

and hoisted him i n N ow the vi rtue and the joy of

.

th is act l ies i n that it w a s se rvice of lo v e not h ire , .

The cart er was poor and t he man k new it ; and th e

,

man was standi ng i n the spike line and the carter ,

knew it ; and the man had done the l ittle act and ,

the carter had thanked him even as you and I ,

wou l d have done and thanked .

A nother beautiful touch was that displayed by

the H opper and his Ole woman H e had been


.

i n line about half an h our whe n t he ole woman

( h is mate ) came u p to h im S he was fai rly clad. ,

for her class with a weatherworn bonnet on her

,

gray head and a sacki ng covered bundle i n her

a rms As she talked to him he reached forward
.
, ,

caugh t the one stray wi sp Of the wh i te hai r that was

yi ng wild deft l y twirled i t betwee n his ngers and
, ,

tucked it back properly behi nd her ear F rom al l .

of which one may conc l ude many things H e cer .

 TH E S P I R E 97

ta i nly
l ik ed her well enough to wish her to be neat
and ti dy H e was proud of her standi ng there i n
.
,

the spike l i ne and it was hi s desi re that she should

,

look well i n the eyes of the other u nfortu nates who

stood i n the s pike l i ne But last and best and .
,

underlyi ng all these motives it was a stu rdy affec ,

tion h e bo re her ; for man is not prone to bother

-

h i s head over neatness and tidi ness i n a woman for

whom he does not care nor is he likely to be proud ,

of such a woman .

A nd I fou nd myself questioni ng why th is man

and his mate hard workers I knew from their tal k
, ,

should have to seek a pauper l odging H e h ad .

pride pride i n his old woma n and pride i n himse l f

, .

When I asked h im what he thought I a gree nh o m , ,

m ight expect to earn at hoppi ng he si z ed me p p
, ,

and said that i t all depended P lenty of people .

were too slow to pick hops and made a fai l ure of it .

A man to succeed m ust use his head and be quick

, ,

with h is ngers m ust be exceeding quick with h is

,

ngers Now he and h is Old wom a n could do very

.

well at it worki ng the one bi n bet ween them and

,

not goi ng to sleep over it ; but then they had been ,

at it for years .

I ad a mate as wen t down l ast year spoke up ,

a man I t was is fust time but e come back w i
. .

two poun ten i n is po cki t an e was only gone a

mon th .
98 T HE P EO P LE or T HE A Bv ss

There you are sai d the H opper a w ea l t h of

, ,

E was quick

admiration i n h is voice E was
. .

jest na t ral ly born to i t e was

.
,

A men l .o w HO PP ER A ND HIS M A TE P I
ADD NG T HE HOO P
IN KE N T.

Two pou nd ten twelve dol lars and a half for
a month s work when one is jest nat ra lly born

to it ! A nd i n addi tion sl eepi ng out without ,

blankets and l ivi ng the L ord knows how T here .

are moments when I am thankfu l th at I was not

100 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

don t li ke

and here was the rift withi n the l ute
n the oof down there

d i

is pa d .

I t w as plai n the years were tel ling on th is ener

geti c pai r and wh ile they enjoyed the quick work
,

wi th the ngers pad d i n the oof which is walk ,

i ng was begin n ing to bear heavily upon them

, .

A nd I looked at thei r gray hai rs and ahead i nto ,

the futu re ten years and wonde red how it would be ,

with them .

I noticed another man and his old woma n join

the l i ne both of the m past fty
, The woman .
,

because S h e was a woman was adm i tted i nto the ,

spike ; but he was too late and separated from his , ,

mate was turned away to tramp the streets all

,

n igh t .

The street on which we stood from wall to wal l , ,

w a s barely twenty feet wide The sidewal ks were .

three feet wide I t was a residence street A t . .

least workmen and their fam ilies existed in some

sort of fashion i n the ho uses across from us A nd .

each day and every day from one i n the afternoon ,

till six our ragged spike li ne is the principal featu re

,

of the view commanded by thei r fron t doors and

wi ndows O ne workman sat i n his door directly
.

opposite us taking his rest and a breath of ai r after

,

the toi l of the day H is wife came to chat with .

h im The doorway was too small for two so she

.
,

stood up Their babes sprawled before them A nd

. .
 T HE S PI K E 01

here was the spik e l Ine less tha n a score of feet

.
,

away neither p ri acy for the workman nor p ri
v ,

vacy for the pauper ; About ou r fee t played the ,

'

chi l dren of the nei gt rh ood To them our p res .

ence was noth ing un usual We were not an i n .

trusion We were as na t u ra l and ordi nary as the

.

brick wa l ls and stone cu rbs of t hei r en vi ronment .

They had been born to the sight of t he sp i ke l ine ,

and al l thei r brief days they had s ee n it

A t S i x O clock the li ne moved up and wewe re

admitted i n groups of th r ee Name age occh pa

'

.
~
, ,

tion place of bi rth cond ition of destitution and

, , ,

the previous night s doss were take n with light


,

ni ng l ike rapidity by the superi ntendent ; and as

-

I tu rned I w as startled by a man s thrusti ng i nto

my hand somethi ng that felt l ike a bri ck and ,

shouti ng i nto my ear A ny k ni ves matches or , , ,

tobacco ?
NO si r I l ied as lied eve r y man
, ,
"
,

who en tered A S I pas sed downstai rs to the cel

.

lar I looked at the brick i n my hand and saw that

, ,

by do i ng violence to the language i t m ight be

called bre ad
By i ts weight and hardness it
.

certai nly m ust have been u nleavened .

The light was very dim down in the ce ll ar and ,

before I knew i t some other man h ad thrust a

pan ni ki n into my other h and Then I stu mb l ed .

on to a stil l darker room where were benches and ,

tables and men The pl ace smelled vilely and

.
,
102 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE A B YSS

the sombre gl oom and the m u mble of voices from

,

out Of the obscu rity m ade it seek; more l i ke some

,

anteroom to the infernal regi o n S:

Most of the men were? jsulferi ng from tired fee t
'

m
,

and they prefac ed t h e ea l by removi ng thei r

!

shoes and u nb i rrdi tig the l thy rags with wh ich

thei r feet we n e w r apped Th i s added to.the gen
eral no is m ness while i t took away from my appe
pe ,

tite .

Infri ct I fou nd that I h ad made a m istake

, I .

:
h ad eaten a hearty din ner ve hou rs before and ,

to have done j ustice to the fare before me I should

have fasted for a couple of days The pann iki n .

contai ned skilly th ree q uarters of a pin t a m ixtu re

,
-
,

of I ndian corn and hot water The men were .

dippi ng thei r bread i nto heaps of salt scattered

over the d irty tables I attempted the sam e but
. ,

the bread seemed to stick i n my mouth and I ,

remembered the words of the Carpenter : Y ou
need a pi nt of water to eat the bread n icely .

I wen t over i nto a dark corner where I had

Obse rved other men goi ng and found the water ,
.

Then I returned and attacked the skil ly I t was .

coarse of texture u nseasoned gross and bitter

, , , .

Th is bitterness which l ingered persistently i n the

mouth af ter the skilly had passed on I fou nd e s ,

pe c i ally repulsive .I struggled manfully bu t was ,

m astered by my qu al ms and ha lf a do zen mouth,

IO4 THE P EO P LE OF T HE AB YSS

A roar of applause greeted the time honored yarn -

,

and from somewhere over i n the deeper darkness

came another voice orati ng angrily ,

Tal k 0 the count ry bei n good for tommy [food ]

.

I d l ike to see i t I jest came up from D over an

.
,

'
blessed l itt l e tommy I got They won t gi ye a .

dri n k 0 water they won t much less tommy ,

, .

There s m ugs neve r go ou t of Kent spoke a ,

second voice a n they l ive bloo mi n fat al l along

,
'
.

I come through Ke nt went on the rst voice , ,

still more angri ly an G awd bl imey if I see any ,

tommy .A n I always notices as the blokes as
'
talks about Ow much they can get w en they re in ,

the spike can eat my share 0 skilly as well as
their bleedi n o wn
.

There s chaps i n London said a man across ,

the table from me that get al l the tommy they ,

wan t an they never th i n k 0 goi n to the count ry
, .

S tay in London the year round Nor do they

.

thi nk of looki n for a ki p [place to sleep ] ti ll nine

or ten o clock at nigh t .

A general chorus veried th is statement .

"
But they re bloody clever them chaps said an

, ,

admi ri ng voice .

Course they are sai d another voice But it s ,

not the l ikes of me an you can do i t Y ou got to

.

be born to it I say Them chaps ave ben ope ni n

, .
'

cabs an selli n pape rs si nce th e day they was born ,
 T HE SP I K E 10 5

n thei r fathers an mothers before em

'
a I t s al l i n .

the t ra i ni n I say an the li kes of me an you ud

, ,

starve at it .

This a l so was veri ed by the general chorus and ,

l ikewise the statemen t that there we r e m ugs as

l ives the twel vemonth rou nd i n the spike an never

get a blessed bit 0 tommy other than spi ke skilly

a n bread .

I o nce got ar t a crown i n the S tratford S pike ,

said a new voice S ilence fe l l on the i nsta nt and .

,

all l istened to the wonderful tale T here was three .

of us breaki n stones Wi nter time a n the cold

.
-
,
'

was cruel T other t wo said they d be blessed if
.

they do it an they didn t ; bu t I kept w ea r i n i nto

,

mi ne to warm up you know An then the , .

guardians come an t other chaps got ru n i n for ,

fou rteen days an the guardians w en they see
, ,

wot I d been doin gives me a tanner each ve 0

, ,

them a n tu rns me up
'
.
,

The majori ty of these men nay all of them I , , ,

fou nd do not li ke the spike and only come to it

, ,

when driven i n After the rest up they are good .

for two or th ree days and nights on the streets ,

when they are driven i n agai n for another rest O f .

course this con tin uous hardship quickly breaks

,

their const itutions and they reali z e it though only , ,

i n a vague way ; while it is so m uch the com mon

run of thi ngs that they do not worry abou t i t .
Iw THE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

O n the doss they call vagabo ndage here which
, ,

corresponds to on the road i n the U n ited S tates

.

The agreemen t is that kipping or dossi ng or sleep , ,

i ng is the hardest problem they have to face harder

, ,

even than that of food The i nclemen t weather

.

and the harsh laws are mainly responsible for this ,

while the men themsel ves ascribe their homeless

ness to foreign immigration especially Of P olish and,

R ussian J ews who take thei r places at lower wages

,

and establ ish the sweat i ng system .

By seven o clock w e were called a w ay to bathe
and go to bed We st r i pped ou r clothes wrappi ng
.
,

the m up i n ou r coats and buckl i ng ou r belts about

them and deposi ted them in a h eaped rack and on
,

the oo r a beautiful scheme for the spread of
vermin T hen two by two we entered the bath
.
, ,

room . There were tw o ordinary tubs and thi s I ,

know : the two men precedi ng had washed i n that

w ater we washed i n the same water and i t was not
, ,

changed for the two men that followed us This .

I know ; but I am q uite certain that the twen ty two -

of us washed i n the same water .

I did no more than make a S how of splashi ng

some of this dubious l iqu id at myself wh ile I hastily ,

brushed i t o ff wi th a towel wet from the bodies of

other men My equan im i ty was not restored by
.

seeing the back of one poor wretch a mass of blood

f rom att acks of verm i n and retal iatory scratching .
108 T H E PEO PLE OF T HE AB YSS

or some simi lar animal on my breast I n the qu ick .

transi tion from s l eep to waking befo re I was com ,

plet el
y myself I
, raised a shou t to wake the dead .

A t any rate I woke the l ivi ng and they cu rsed me

, ,

roundly for my lack of man ners .

W HITDCHA PEI. INPIKH A R Y .

Bu t morning c ame w ith a six o cl ock breakfast of

,

bread and ski l ly which I gave away ; and we were

,

told 0 3 to our various tasks S ome were S et to

.

scrubbing and cleaning others to picking oakum

, ,

and eight of us were convoyed across the street to

the Whitechapel I n rmary where we were set at
,

scavenger work This was the method by which

.
 TH E SPI KE 109

we paid for our skilly and can vas and I for one , , ,

k now that I paid i n ful l m any times over .

Though we had m ost revolting tasks to perform ,

ou r allotmen t was considered the best and the other ,

men deem ed themselves l ucky i n being chose n to

perform it .

D on t touch i t mate the n urse se z it s deadly

, , ,

warned my worki ng partner as I held ope n a sack ,

i nto which he w as emptying a garbage can .

I t came from the sick wards and I told him that ,

I pu rposed neither to touch i t nor to allow i t to ,

touch me Nevertheless I had to carry the sack

.
, ,

and other sacks down ve ights of stai rs and

,

empty them i n a receptacle where the corruption

was speedily spri nkled with strong disinfectant .

P erhaps there is a wise mercy i n all th is These .

men of the spike the peg and the street are enc u m
, , ,

b ra nces . They are of no good or use to a ny one ,

nor to them selves They clutter the earth with

.

thei r presence and are better out of the way

, .

Broken by hardship il l fed and worse nou rished

, , ,

they are al ways the rst to be struck down by

disease as they are l ikewise the qu ickest to die
, .

They feel themselve s that the forces of society

, l

tend to h ur l th em ou t o f ex istence We were

_ _ _ .

spri nkli ng disi nfectan t by the mortuary when the ,

dead wagon drove up and ve bodies were packed

i nto it The conversation turned to the whi te
.

0 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

potion and bl ack jack and I found they were al l

,

agreed that the poor pe rson man or woman who i n , ,

the I n rmary gave too m uch trouble or wa s i n a

bad way w as pol ished o ff That is to say the
,

.

,

i ncu rables and the obstreperous were given a dose

'
of black jack or the w hite potion and sen t over

,

the divide I t does not matter i n the least whether

.

this be actual ly so or not The point is they have .

,

the feeli ng that i t is so and they have created the ,

language with which to express that feeli ng

black j ack wh ite potion pol ishi ng o

,

,

.

A t eight o clock we went down i nto a cellar
under the I n rmary where tea was brough t to us , ,

and the hospital sc raps These were heaped h igh .

on a h uge platter i n an i ndescribable mess pieces
of bread chunks of grease and fat pork the bu rn t
, ,

ski n from the outside of roasted joints bones i n , ,

short all the l eavings from the ngers and mouths

,

of the sick ones s u eri ng from all manner of di s

eases I nto this mess the men pl u nged thei r hands
.
,

diggi ng pawi ng turning over exami n ing reject

, , , ,

ing and scrambl ing for I t wasn t pretty P igs

, .

.

couldn t have done wo rse But the poor devi ls .

were hu ngry and they ate ravenously of the swill

, ,

and when they could c a t no more they bu ndled

what was left in to thei r handkerchiefs and th rust it
i nside thei r sh i rts .

O nce w e n I was ere before wot did I nd ou t
, ,
1 12 T HE PE OP L E OF T HE AB YSS

A n get fourteen day s ?

No ; get away .

A w I come ere for a rest he said compla
, ,

ce n t ly

A n another night s kip wo n t urt me

.

none .

They were all of this opinion so I w as forced to ,

s l i ng i t alone

.

Y ou ca w nt ever come back ere agai n for a

doss they warned me
, .

NO bloody fear said I with an enthusiasm they

,

,

could not com prehend ; and dodgi ng ou t the gate , ,

I sped down the street .

S traigh t to my room I h u rried cha nged my ,

C lothes and less than an hour from my escape in a

, ,

T urkish bath I was sweati ng out whatever germs

,

and other th i ngs had penetrated my epiderm is and ,

wishing that I could stand a tem perat ure of th ree

h undred and twenty rather than two h undred and
twenty .
 CH A PTE R X

C A RRY I N G T HE BA N N ER
I w ou ld n ot ha ve th e l b
a o rer sa cr i ced to th e r es u l t . I wou ld n ot

ha v e t h e alb o rer s acr i ced to my co nveni ence a nd pri d e, nor t o t ha t of a

gr ea t c l h as me Let th ere be w o rse
ass o f s uc . cot t o n and bett er men .

T h e wea v er s h oul d no t be berea ved o f h is super i ori ty to h is wor k .

EM E RS ON .

carry the banner means to walk the streets
To
all n igh t ; and I w ith the gu rative emb l em hoisted
, ,

went out to see what I could S ee Men and women .

walk the streets at night all over this great C i ty but ,

I selected the West E nd making Leicester S quare ,

my base and scou ti ng abo ut f rom the Thames E m

,

ba nk me nt to H yde P ark .

The rain was fal ling heavily when the theatres let
out and the brill iant throng wh ich pou red from the
,

places of am usement was hard put to nd cabs .

The streets were so many wi l d ri vers of cabs most ,

of wh ich were engaged however ; and here I saw ,

the desperate attempts of ragged men and boys to

get a she l ter from the n ight by procu ring cabs for
the cabless ladies and ge ntl emen I use the wo rd .

desperate advisedly ; for these wretched homeless
ones were gambling a soaking against a bed ; and
I 3
1 14 T HE P EOP LE or T HE A BYS S

most of them I took notice got the soaki ng and

, ,

m issed the bed Now to go th rough a stormy night

.
,

with wet c l othes and i n addition to be i l l nou rished

, , ,
-

and not to have tasted meat for a week or a mon th ,

is about as severe a hardship as a man can undergo .

Wel l fed and wel l c l ad I have trave l led al l day with

- -
,

A MONG L u c es r u
'
S QUA R S n N IG HT .

the spi rit thermometer down to seventy four degrees -

below z ero ; and though I suffered i t wa s a mere ,

nothing compared with carryi ng the ban ner for a

nigh t i ll fed ill clad and soaking wet
,
-
,
-
, .

The streets grew very qu iet and lonel y after the

theatr e crowd had gone home O nly were to be
.
.

seen the ubiquitous pol icemen ashing thei r dar k ,

 C A RRY I N G TI IE B AN NER
-
1 15

l anterns i nto doorways and al l eys and men and ,

women and boys taki ng shel ter in the l ee of bu ild

i ngs from the wi nd and rain P iccadi ll y however .
, ,

was not quite so deserted I ts pavements were .

brightened by wel l dressed women withou t escort

-
,

and there was more l ife and action there than e l se

I sa w o ne ow wo m
a n . A n
sa u a w a s cx , sw a r ms SO U N LY
D .

where due to the process of nding escort But by

, .

'
three o c l ock the l ast of them h ad vanished and it ,

was then i ndeed lonely .

A t half past one the steady downpou r ceased and

-
,

on l y showers fel l thereafter The home l ess fol k .

came away fro m t h e protection of the buildi ngs and

o
,
1 16 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

s l ouched up and down and everywhere i n order to ,

rush up the ci rculation a nd keep wa rm .

O ne old woman between fty and si xty a sheer , ,

wreck I had noticed earlier i n the n igh t standi ng

, , ,

i n P iccadilly not far from L eicester S quare S he

, .

seemed to have nei ther the sense nor the strength

to get out of the rai n or keep walki ng but stood ,

stupidly whenever she got the chance meditating

, ,

on past days I imagi ne when l ife was young and

, ,

bl ood was warm But she did not get the chance .

often S he was moved on by every pol iceman and

.
,

it required an average of six moves to send her dod

dering off one man s beat and on to another s By
.

th ree o c l ock she had progressed as far as S t J ames .

S tree t and as the clocks were st ri ki ng fou r I saw

,

her sleepi ng sou ndly against the iron rail ings of

G reen P ark A brisk shower was fall ing at the
.

time and she m ust have bee n d re nched to the skin

, .

Now said I at one o clock to myself ; consider
, , ,

tha t you are a poor you ng man penn iless i n Lon , ,

don Town and that to morrow you m ust look for

,
-

work I t is necessary t herefore that you get some

.
, ,

sleep in order that you m ay have strength to look

for work and to do work in case you nd it .

S o I sat down on the stone steps of a bui ldi ng .

F i ve m inutes later a pol iceman was looki ng at me

, .

My eyes were wide open so he only gru nted and ,

passed on Te n m i nutes later my head was on

.
U ND E Rm s A RCH ES
.

 C A RRY I N G T HE BANN ER 1 17

my knees I was doz ing and the s a me pol icem an

, ,

was saying gru fily E re you get outa that !, , ,

I got A nd like the old woman I con ti n ued

.
, ,

to get ; for eve ry time I do z ed a policeman was ,

there to rout me along agai n N ot long after .

,

when I had gi ven this up I was walki ng with a ,

young Londoner (who had been out to the col

on i es and wished he were out to them again )when
'

I noticed an open passage leading u nder a buildi ng

and di sappeari ng in dark ness A low iron gate .

barred the entrance .

'
Come on I said Let s cl imb over and get
, .

a good sleep .

Wot ? he answered recoil ing from me An , .

get run i n fer three months ! Bl imey if I do !
Later on I was passi ng H yde P ark with a young
,

boy of fou rt een or fteen a most wretched looking ,

-

youth gaunt and hol low eyed and sick

,
-
.

Let s go over the fence I proposed and

, ,

crawl into the sh ru bbery for a sleep The bobbies .

couldn t nd us there .

No fear he answe red , There s the park .

guardians and they d run you i n for six months

,

.

Times have changed a l as ! W hen I was a ,

youngster I used to read of homeless boys sleep

ing i n doorways Already the thing has become .

a tradition As a stock situation i t wil l doubt

.

l essly l inger i n literature for a centu ry to come ,

1 18 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

bu t as a cold fact i t h as ceased to be H ere are .

the doo rways and here are the boys but happy
, ,

conj unctions are no longer e ected The door .

ways remai n empty and the boys keep awake and ,

carry the banner .

I was down under the arches gru mbled ,

another you ng fel low By arches he mean t the .

shore arches where begi n the b ridges that s pa n

the Thames I was down u nder the arch es
.
,

w en i t was r y ni ng i ts a r d es t an a bobby comes

i n an c h yse s me out Bu t I come back an e .
,

"
come too E re sez e wot you doi n ere ?
.
, ,

A n ou t I goes but I sez Think I wan t ter pi nch

, ,

[ ]

steal the bleedin bridge ?
A mong those who carry the ban ner G reen Park ,

h as the reputation of open i ng its gates earl ier than

the other parks and at q uarter past fou r in the
,
-

morni ng I and many more ente red G reen P ark

, , , .

I t was rai ni ng agai n but they were worn ou t with ,

the night s walki ng and they were down on the

benches and asleep at once Many of the men .

stretched ou t full length on the dri ppi ng wet

grass and with the rai n falli ng steadily upon them
, , ,

were sleepi ng the sleep of exhaustion .

A nd now I wish to criticise the powers that be .

They a r e the powers therefore they may decree ,

whatever they please ; so I make bold only to c r i t i

cise the ridiculousness of their decrees A ll n ight .
 C A RRY I N G T HE BANN ER [ 19

long they make the homeless ones wal k up and

down They d rive them out of doors and pas
.

sages and lock them out of the parks The evi

, .

dent i ntention of all th is is to deprive them of

sleep Well and good the powers have the powe r
.
,

to depri ve them of sleep or of anything else for ,

that matt er ; but why u nder the su n do they open

the gates of the parks at ve o clock i n the mo m

i ng and let the homeless ones go i nside and sleep ?

I f i t is thei r i ntenti on to deprive them of sleep why ,

do they let them sleep after ve i n the morning ?

A nd if i t is not thei r i n tention to deprive them of

sleep why don t they let them sleep earl ier i n the
,

nigh t ?
I n this con nection I wil l say that I came by
,

G reen P ark that sam e day at one i n the aftern oon , ,

and that I cou nted scores of the ragged wretches

asleep i n the grass I t was S unday afte rnoon the
.
,

su n was fi tfull y appeari ng and the well d ressed ,

-

West E nders wi th thei r wi ves and progeny were

, ,

out by thousands taki ng the ai r I t was not a

, .

pleasan t sight for them those horrible unkempt , , ,

sleeping vagabonds ; while the vagabonds them

selves I know would rather have done thei r sleep
, ,

i ng the nigh t before .

A nd so dear soft people should you e ver visi t

, ,

London Town and see these men asleep o n the

,

be nches and i n the grass please do not thi nk they ,

 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

are l a z y creatures p referri ng s l eep to work K no w

, .

that the powers that be have kept the m walk i ng

all the n ight long and that in the day they h a v e
,

nowhere else to sleep .

 C H A PTE R X I

T HE PEG

A nd I bel ieve h h l
t at t is c a i m fo r h ea l th y body fo r all of us car r ies
a

wi t h i t al l o t h er d ue cl ai ms ; fo r w h o k no w s w h ere t h e see ds o f d iseas e ,

w h i c h ev e nri ch peo pl e su ffer fro m w er e rs t so w n

, F ro m t h e l uxu ry
o f anan ces to r per h a ps ; yet o ft e n I s us pe t fr o m h is po v ert y
c ,

W
, , .

i u uuu
. M O R R IS .

BUT after carrying the ban ner all night I did not
, ,

sleep i n G ree n P ark when morn ing dawned I was .

wet to the ski n i t is true and I had had no sleep

, ,

for twenty four hours ; but sti l l adven tu ri ng as a

-
,

penn il ess man looki ng for work I had to look about ,

me rst for a breakfast and next for the work

, , .

D u ri ng the nigh t I had heard of a place over on

the S urrey side of the Tham es where the S al vation ,

A rmy every S unday mornin ggave away a brea k fast

to the u nwashed (And by the way the men who
.
, ,

carry the banner a r e u nwashed i n the morning and ,

unless i t is rai ni ng they do n ot have m uch show for

a wash either ) This though t I is the ve ry thi ng
, . , , ,

breakfast i n the morni ng and the n the who l e ,

day i n which to look for work .

I t was a wea ry wal k D own S t James S treet . .

I d ragged my tired legs along P al l Mall past , ,

32 1
12 2 T H E PEOP L E "
OI T HE AB YSS

Trafalgar S quare to the S tr and I crossed the

, .

Waterloo B ridge to the S urrey side cut across ,

to Blackfriars R oad com ing out near the S urr ey

,

Theatre and arrived at the S al vation A rmy bar

,

racks before seven o clock This was the peg .

.

A nd by the peg i n the argot is mean t the p lace

, ,

where a free meal may be obtai ned .

H ere w as a motley crowd of woebegone wretches

who had spent the n ight i n the rain S uch pro .

d i gi o us m isery ! and so m uch of i t ! O ld men ,

young men all manne r of men and boys to boot

, , ,

and all man ner of boys S ome we re drowsi ng .

standi ng up ; half a score of them were stretched

out on the stone steps i n most pai nful postu res al l ,

of them sound asleep the ski n of thei r bod ies show

,

i ng red through the holes and rents i n their rags .

A nd up and down the stree t and across the st reet

'

for a block ei ther way each doorstep had from two,

to three oc cu pants all asleep thei r heads bent for

, ,

ward o n thei r knees A nd it m ust be remembered

.
, ,

these are not hard times i n E ngland Things are .

goi ng on very m uch as they ordinarily do and times ,

are neither hard nor easy .

A nd then came the pol iceman G et ou ta that you .
,

bloody swi ne ! B i gh l eigh ! G et out now ! A nd

l ike swine he drove them from the doorways and
scattered them to the four wi nds of S u rrey Bu t .

whe n he encoun tered the crowd as l eep on the steps

 T H E PEG 12 3

he was astou nded S hoc ki ng ! he exc lai med
. .

S hocki ng ! A nd of a S unday morn ing ! A pretty

sight ! E igh ! eigh ! G et outa t ha t you bleedi ng ,

nuisances !
O f cou rse i t was a shocki ng sigh t I was shocked .

myse lf A nd I shou ld not care to have my own

.

daughter pollu te her eyes with such a sigh t or come ,

wi thin half a mile of it ; but and there we were ,

and there you are and but is all that can be said
,

.

The policeman passed on and back we cl ustered , ,

l ike ies around a honey jar F or was there not .

that wonderful thing a breakfast awaiti ng us ? We , ,

could not have cl ustered more pe rsistently and des

e r a tel had they been givi ng away m illion dollar
p y
-

bank notes S ome were al ready o ff to sleep when

-
.
,

back came the pol iceman and away we scattered ,

only to retu rn again as soon as the coast was clear .

A t half past seven a l ittl e door opened and a S al

-
,

vation A rmy soldier stuck out his head A y nt

no sense bloc k i n the w y up that w y he said

, .

Those as as tickets ca w n come hi n now an

,

those as as nt ca w nt come h i n till nine

.

O h that breakfast ! N ine o clock ! A n hou r and

,

a half longer ! The men who held tickets were

greatl y envied They were pe rmitted to go i nside
.
,

have a wash and sit down and rest unti l b reak

,

fast while we waited for the same breakfast on the

,

street The tickets had been distri buted the pre

.
[24 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

v i o us
night on the streets and along the E m bank
me nt and the possession of them was not a matter
,

of meri t bu t of chance
, .

A t eight thirty more men wi th tickets were

-
,

adm itted and by n i ne the l ittle gate was opened to

,

I NS IDE THE CO UR Y R
T A D 0? THE S A V A TIOL N A R M Y BA RR
A C KS
ON S UN DA Y MO RN N
I G.

us We crushed through somehow and fou nd ou r

. .

sel ves packed i n a courtyard l ike sardi nes O n .

more occasions than one as a Y ankee tramp i n ,

Y ankeeland I have had to work for my bre akfast ;

,

but for no breakfas t did I ever work so hard as for

12 6 T HE PEOP LE O I T H E AB YSS "

trip sometimes last ing as long as three years ; and

,

they cannot sign o ff and receive their discharges

u n ti l they reach the home po rt which is E ngland , .

T hei r wages are lo w thei r food is bad and their , ,

treatmen t worse V ery often they are really forced

.

by thei r captains to desert i n the Ne w World or

the colonies leavi ng a handsome sum of wages
,

beh ind them a distinct gai n either to the captai n

, ,

or the owners or to both But whether for this

, .

reason alone or not i t is a fact that large num bers

,

of them desert Then for the home voyage the

.
, ,

ship engages whatever sailors it can nd on the

beach These men are engaged at the somewhat
.

higher wages that obtain i n other portions of the

world under the agreemen t that they shal l sign o ff on
,

reach ing E ngland The reason for th is is obvious ;

.

for i t would be poor busi ness pol icy to sign them

for any l onger t i me si nce se amens wages are lo w

i n E ngland and E ngland is al ways crowded with

,

sa i lo r me n on the beach S o this ful ly accoun ted .

for the Ameri can seamen at the S al vation A rm y

barracks To get o ff the beach i n other outland ish
.

places they had come to E ngland and gone on the ,

beach i n the most ou tlandish place of al l .

The re were fully a score of Ame ri cans i n the

crowd the non sailors be i ng tramps royal the m en
,
-

,

whose mate is the wi nd tha t t ramps the world

.

They were all cheerful facing th ings wi th the pluck ,

 T HE PEG 12 7

which is their ch ief characteristic and whi ch seems

never to dese rt them with al they were cu rsing the ,

count ry wi th l urid metaphors quite refresh i ng after

a month of un imaginati ve monotonous Cock ney ,

sweari ng The Cockney has one oath and one

.
,

oath only the most i ndecent i n the language which

, ,

he uses on any and every occasi on F ar different .

is the l um inous and varied W estern sweari ng which ,

runs to blasphemy rather tha n i ndecency A nd .

after al l since men will swear I thi nk I prefer

, ,

blasphemy to indecency ; there is an audacity about

i t an a dven tu rousness and deance t h at is far ner
,

than sheer lt h i ness .

The re was one A merica n tramp royal whom I

found particularly enjoyable I rst noticed h im .

on the street asleep i n a doorway h is head on h is

, ,

k nees but a hat on his head that one does not

,

meet this side of the Western O cean When the .

policema n routed him out he got up slowly and ,

deliberately looked at the pol iceman yawned and

, ,

stretch ed hi mself looked at the policeman agai n

,

as much as to say he didn t know whether he

would or wouldn t and then sau ntered leisurely

do w n the sidewal k At the ou tset I was sure of

.

the hat bu t th is made me su re of the wearer of

,

the hat .

I n the jam i nside I fou nd myself alongside of

him and we had quite a chat
, H e had been .
I2 8 T HE P EOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

through S pai n I taly S wi tz erl and and F rance and

, , , ,

had accompl ished the practicall y i mpossi ble feat of

beati ng his way th ree h undred m i les on a F rench
rai l way withou t bei ng caught at the nish Where
-
.

was I hanging out ? he asked And how did I .

manage for kippi ng which means sleeping D id

.

I know the rou nds yet ? H e was getting on ,

though the coun t ry was h o rs t yl and the cities

were bum F ierce wasn t it ? Could n t batter


.
,

beg
( ) anywhere withou t bei ng pi nched But he
.

wasn t goi ng to qu it i t Bu ffalo Bill s S how was

.

comi ng over soon and a man who could d ri ve

,

eigh t horses was su re of a job any time These .

m ugs over here didn t k now beans about d riving
anything more than a span What w a s the matter .

with me hangi ng on and waiti ng for Bu ffalo Bill ?

H e was su re I could ring i n somehow .

A nd so after al l blood is thicker than water

, , .

We were fello w c o u ntr yme n and strangers i n a

o

strange land I had wa rmed to his battered old

.

hat at sight of it and he was as sol ici tous for my

,

welfare as if we were blood brothers We swapped .

al l man ner of useful information concerni ng the

count ry and the ways of i ts people methods by ,

which to obtai n food and shelter and what not and ,

we parted gen u inel y sorry at havi ng to say good by -

.

O ne thing part icularly conspicuous i n this crowd

was the shortness of stature I who am but of .
,
13 0 T H E P EOP LE or T H E AB YSS

For n
hour we stood qu ietly i n this packed
a

cou rtyard Then the men began to grow res tless

. .

There was pushi ng and shovi ng forward and a ,

m ild h ubbub Of voices Noth i ng rough however .

, ,

or viole nt ; merely the restlessness of weary and

hung ry men At th is j u ncture forth came the
.

adjutan t I d i d not l ike h im H is eyes were not

. .

good There was nothi ng of the lowly G alilean

.

about him b u t a great deal of the cent urion who

,

said : F or I am a man i n authori ty havi ng sold iers ,

under me ; and I say to this man Go and he goeth ; , ,

and to another Come and he cometh ; and to my

, ,

servant D o this and he doeth i t
, , .

Well he looked at us i n j ust that way and those

, ,

nearest to h im quai led Then he lifted hi s voice . .

S top th is ere n ow or I ll tu rn you the other

, ,

w y an
, march you o u t an you ll get no break ,

fast .

I can not convey by pri nted speech the i nsu er

able way i n wh ich he said this the self conscious ,
-

ness of superiority the brutal gl u ttony of power , .

H e revelled i n that he was a man i n au thori ty ,

able to say to half a thousand ragged wretches ,

Y ou may eat or go h ungry as I elect , .

To deny us our brea k fast after standing for

hours ! I t was an a w ful threat and the pi t i ful , ,

abject silence wh ich i nstantly fell attested its a w ful

ness A nd i t was a cowardly threat a foul blow
.
, ,
 T H E P EG 13 1

struck below the belt We could not strike back

.
,

for we were sta rving ; and it is the way of the

world that when one ma n feeds another he is
that man s master But the centurion

.
I mean
the adj utan t was not satis ed I n the dead .

silence he raised his voice again and repeated the ,

threat and ampli ed i t and glared ferociously

, , .

A t l ast we were pe rmi tt ed to en ter the feast i ng

hall where we found the ticket men washed but
,

unfed . A ll told there m ust have been nearly

,

seven hu ndred of us who sat down not to meat
or bread but to speech song and prayer F rom
, , , .

all of wh ich I am conv inced t h at Tan talus s u e r s

in many guises this side of the i nfernal regions .

The adjutan t made the prayer bu t I did not take ,

note of it being too engrossed with the massed

,

pict ure of mi se ry before me But the speech ran .

something like th is : Y ou will feast i n paradise .

No matt er h o w you starve and s u er here you ,

will feast i n parad ise that is if you wil l fol low the
, ,

di rections .A nd so forth and so forth A clever .

bi t of propaganda I took i t but rendered of no

, ,

avail for two reasons F irst the men who received

.
,

it were unimagi native and materi a l istic u naware of ,

the exi stence of any U nseen and too i nu red to ,

he l l on earth to be frightened by hell to come .

A nd second weary and exhausted from the night s

,

sleeplessness and hardship s u er i ng from the long ,

13 2 T H E PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

wait u pon their feet an d fai nt from h unger they

, ,

were yearn i ng not for sal vati on but for grub The
, , .

soul snatchers (as these men c a ll al l religious

-

p ropagandists )should study the physiological basis

of psychology a l i ttle if they wish to make thei r
,

e fforts more e ffective .

Al l i n good time abou t eleven o clock breakfast
, ,

arri ved . I t arri ved n ot on plates but i n pape r

, ,

parcel s . I d id not have all I wa nted and I am ,

su re that no man there had all he wanted or half ,

of what he wanted or needed I ga v e part of my .

bread to the tramp royal who was wai ti ng for

Bu a lo Bill and he was as ravenous at the end as
,

he was i n the begi nning This is the breakfast :.

two slices of bread one small piece of bread with

,

raisi ns i n i t and called cake a w afer of cheese
, ,

and a mug of water bewitched N umbers of the .

men had been wai ti ng since ve O clock for i t ,

while all of us had w ai ted at least fou r hours ; and

i n addition we had been herded l ike swi ne packed
, ,

l ike sardi nes and treated l ike cu rs and been

, ,

preached at and sung to and prayed for Nor

, , .

w as that all .

No sooner was breakfast over (and it w as over

almost as q uickly as i t takes to tel l )than the ti red
heads began to nod and droop and in ve m i nu tes ,

half Of us were sound asleep There were no signs .

of our bei ng dism issed while there were u nmi sta k ,

1 34 T H E PEOP LE or T H E AB YSS

so ns for w ishi ng to go a nd politely requ ested that ,

he let me go .

But it ca w nt be done he sa id waxi n

g vi rtu ,

,

o us ly i ndignant at such i ngrati tude The idea ! .

he snorted The idea ! .

D O you mean to say that I ca n t get out of

here ? I dema nded That you wi l l keep me here .

agai nst my will

Y es he snorted
, .

I do not know what m igh t have happened for I ,

was waxing i ndignan t m yself ; but the congrega

tion had piped t he si tuation and he d rew me

,

over to a corner of the room and then i nto another ,

room .H ere he agai n demanded my reasons for

wishi ng to go .

I wan t to go I said because I wish to l ook
, ,

for work over in S tepney and every hour lessens ,

my chance of ndi ng work I t is no w twenty v e .

-

m i nutes to twelve I did not th ink when I came i n

.

that it would take so long to get a breakfast .

Y ou ave business eh ? he sneered A man , .

of business you are eh ? Then wot did you come ,

ere for ?

I was out al l n igh t and I needed a breakfast ,

i n order to strengthen m e to nd work That is .

why I came here .

A nice th ing to do he went on in the same , ,

sneering manne r A man with busi ness should n t
.

 T HE PEG 13 5

come ere Y ou ve tyken some poor man s break

.

fast ere th is morn ing that s w o t you ve done

, .

Wh ich was a l ie for eve ry mother s son of us
,

had come in .

Now I subm i t was th is Christ ian lik e or eve n

,
-
,

honest ? after I had plai n ly stated that I w a s

homeless and h u ngry and that I wi shed to look,

for work for h i m to cal l my looki ng for work

,

busi ness to call me therefore a busi ness man

, ,

and to draw the corollary that a man of business ,

and well o ff did not req uire a charity breakfast and

, ,

that by taking a charity breakfast I had robbed

some h ungry waif who was not a man of busi ness .

I kept my temper but I went over the facts ,

agai n and clearly and concisely demonstrated to

him how u njust he was and how he had pe rverted
the facts A s I manifested no signs of ba cki ng
.

dow n (and I am sure my eyes were begi n ning to

snap )he l ed me to the rear of the buildi ng where
, , ,

i n an open court stood a ten t I n the same sneer

, .

ing tone he informed a couple of pri vates standi ng

there that ere is a fellow that as busi ness an e

wan ts to go before services .

They were duly shocked of cou rse and they , ,

looked u nutterable horror while he went into the

tent and brought out the major S till in the same .

sneeri ng manner l aying particular stress on the

,

business he brough t my case before the co m

,

1 36 T H E PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

mandi ng Ofcer The major was of a di fferen t

.

stam p of man I li ked h im as soon as I saw h i m

.
,

and to h i m I stated my case i n the same fashion as

before .

D idn t you know you had to stay for services ?
he asked .

Certai n ly not I answered or I should have
, ,

gone withou t my breakfast Y ou have no plac ards .

posted to that e ffect nor was I so i nformed when I ,

entered the place .

H e meditated a moment Y ou can go he said .

, .

I t was twelve o cloc k when I gai ned the stree t ,

and I could n t qu i te m ake up my m i nd whether I
had been i n the army or i n prison The day was .

half gone and i t w as a far fetch to S tepney A nd

, .

besides i t was S unday and why should even a

, ,

sta rving man look for work on S u nday ? F u rther

more i t was my judgment that I had done a hard
,

night s work wa l king the st reets and a hard day s

work get ti ng my breakfast ; so I d isconnected my

s elf from my working hypothesis of a starvi ng young

man i n search of employmen t hai led a bus and , ,

cl imbed aboard .

After a shave and a bath wi th my c l othes all Off , ,

I got i n between clean white sheets and went to

sleep I t was six i n the eveni ng when I closed my
.

eyes When they ope ned agai n the clocks were

.
,

striki ng n i ne next morn ing I had s l ept fteen .

 C H A P TE R X I I

C ORO N AT I O N DAY
0 t h ou t ha t sea walls sever
-

From lands unwalled by seas !

W i l t th ou e ndure for ever ,

0 M i l to n E ngland th es e ?

s ,

Th ou t ha t was t h is R epubl ic ,

W il t t h ou cla p t h ei r k nees ?
s

Th ese royal ties r us t ea ten -

,

Th es e wo rmcorr oded l ie
-
s

T hat keep t h y h ead s torm bea te n -

,

An d su nl i k e t re n
-
g
st h of e yes

Fro m t h e o pe nai and heaven r

Of i nter cepted s ki es
S wnrs vm .

V I V AT R ex Ed ua rd us ! They crowned a king th is

day and there has been great rejoicing and elabo
,

rate tomfoolery and I am perplexed and saddened

, .

I never saw anythi ng to compare wi th the pageant ,

except Y ankee ci rcuses and A l hambra bal lets ; nor

did I ever see anythi ng so hopeless and so tragic .

To have enjoyed the Coronation procession I ,

should have come straight from America to the

H otel Cecil and straight from the H otel Cecil to a
,

v e gu inea seat among the washed

-
My m istake .

was in comi ng from the u n w ashed of the E ast E nd .

13 8
 C ORO NATI O N D A Y 1 39

T here were not many who cam e from that q uarter .

The E ast E nd as a whole remai ned i n the E ast

, ,

E nd and got dru n k The S ocial ists D emocrats

.
, ,

and R epubl icans wen t off to the country for a

breath of fresh ai r qu ite unaff ected by the fact that
,

forty m il l ions of people were taki ng to themsel ves a

R
CO O NA TIO N R
P O E C SS IO N PA SS ING U P ST .
j a u rs R
S T EET .

crowned and anoi nted ru l er S i x tho usand ve .

h undred prel ates priests statesmen pri nces and

, , , ,

warrio rs beheld the crowning and anoi nting and

the rest of us the pageant as i t passed .

I saw i t at T rafalgar S quare the most spl endid ,

site in E urope and the very u ttermost heart of the
,
14 0 T HE PEOP L E or T H E AB YSS

empi re There were many thousands of u s al l

.
,

check ed and held i n order by a superb displ ay of

armed power The li ne of march was double wal led
.
-

wi th soldiers The base of the Nelson C olum n was

.

triple fringed with bl ue jackets

-
E astward at the -
.
,

ent rance to the squa re stood the R oyal Mar i ne ,

A rtillery I n the tri angle of P all Mall and Cock

.

spur the statue of George I I I was bu tt ressed on

,

either side by the Lancers and H ussa rs To the .

west were the red coats of the R oyal Marines and ,

from the U nion Club to the embouch ure of Wh ite

hall swept the gli tteri ng massive cu rve of the t st ,

Life G uards gigantic men mou nted on giga n t ic
chargers steel b r eastpla ted steel helmeted steel
,
-
,
-
,

caparisoned a great war sword of steel ready to the

,
-

hand of the powers that be A nd fu rther th rough .

,

out the crowd we re fl u ng long l i nes of the Met ro

,

politan Cons tabulary wh ile in the rear were the ,

reserves tall well fed men with weapons to wiel d
,
-
,

and muscles to wield them i n case of need .

A nd as i t was th us at Trafal gar S q ua r e so w as i t ,

along the whole l i ne of march force overpower ,

i ng force ; myriads of men splendid men the pick , ,

of the people whose sole function in life is bl indly

,

to obey and bl indly to kil l and destroy and stam p

,

out l ife A nd that t hey should be well fed we ll

. ,

cl othed and wel l a rmed and have shi ps to h u rl

, ,

them to the ends of the earth th e E ast E nd of ,

14 2 T HE P EOP LE OF T HE AB YSS
Th i s wi ll be t h e ma nn er
ki ng t h a t sh a l l r ei gn
of th e
over y o u ; h e wi ll ta k e y o u r so n s an d a ppo i nt t h e m u nt o
,

hi m f o r h i s ch ar i o ts an d t o be h i s h o rse men a nd t h ey
, , ,

s h a ll run b e fo r e h i s c h ari o t s .

A n d h e w i ll a ppo i nt t h e m unto hi m fo r ca p tai ns O f

th o u sa nd s and c a p ta i ns o f ft i es ; a nd h e w i l l se t so me t o
,

p l ough h i s gr o und a nd t o rea p h i s h a rves t a nd t o mak e

, ,

h i s i ns tr u ments o f w a r an d t h e i ns t r u me nts o f h i s c h a ri ot s
, .

A nd h e wi ll ta k e yo u r d a ugh te r s t o be co nfectio na r i es ,

an d t o be coo k s and t o b e ba k er s
, .

A nd h e w i ll ta k e y o u r e l d s a nd y o ur v i ney a r d s a nd
, ,

y o ur Oli ve y a r d s even t h e b est o f t h em a nd gi ve t h e m t o

, ,

h is se r vants .

A nd h e w i ll tak e a te nt h o f yo ur seed a nd o f y o ur vi ne ,

yar d s and give t o hi s o f cer s and t o h is se rvant s

, , .

A nd h e w i ll ta k e y o u r me nse rva nt s a nd your ma i d se r ,

vants and y o u r good l i e st y oung men a nd yo ur as ses a nd

, , ,

p u t t h e m t o h i s w o r k .

He w i ll ta k e a t e nt h o f yo ur oc k s ; an d ye sh a ll be h is
s er v an ts .

A nd y e s h a ll c a ll o u t i n t h at d a y be ca u se o f y ou r k i ng
w h i c h y e s h a ll h a ve c h o s e n y o u ; a n d t h e Lo rd w i ll no t
a nsw er y o u i n t h at da y .

All of which came to pass i n that ancien t day ,

and they did cry ou t to S am uel sayi ng : P ray for ,

thy servan ts u nto th e L ord thy G od that we die ,

not ; for we have added u nto all our sin s this evi l ,

to ask us a ki ng A nd after S aul and D avid
.

came S olomon who answered the people rough l y
, ,

saying : My father m ade your yoke heavy but I ,

wil l add to you r yoke ; my father chastised you wi th

wh ips but I will chastise you wi thM
, us .

 C ORO NATI O N D A Y 14 3

A nd i n these latter days v e hu ndred hered ita ry ,

peers own one ft h of E ngla nd ; and they and the

-
,

of cers and servants u nder the Ki ng and ,

who go to com pose the powers that be yearly ,

i n wasteful l uxu ry which is thi

two per cent of the total wealth produced by al l
toilers of the cou ntry .

A t the Abbey clad i n wonde rful go l den raiment

, ,

amid fanfare of tru mpets and throbbing of music ,

su rrou nded by a brilli an t th rong of masters lords ,

and rulers the Ki ng w as bei ng i nvested t h the

,

i nsign ia of h is sovereign ty The spu rs were placed .

to h is heels by the Lord G reat Chamberlain and a ,

sword of state i n purple scabbard was presented

, ,

h im by the Archbishop of Can terbury wi th these ,

words

R eceiv e t h i s k i ngl y sw o rd b r ough t now fr o m t h e a l tar

o f G od a n
, d d e li ver ed t o y o u by t h e h a nd s of the b is h o p s
an d se rv a nts o f God t h o ugh u n w ort hy
, .

W hereupon being girded he gave heed to the

, ,

A rchbishop s exhortation

With th i s sw o r d
j us ti ce s t op t h e gro w t h o f i ni q ui ty
do , ,

p r otec t t h e H o l y C h u r c h o f Go d h el p a nd d e fen d w i d o w s
,

an d o rph an s r est o r e t h e t h i n gs t h a t a r e go ne t o d eca y

, ,

mai nta i n t h e t h i ngs t h a t a r e r e st o re d p u ni s h a nd r e fo rm

,

w h a t i s a mi s s a nd co n r m w h a t i s i n go od ord e r
, .
144 T H E PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

But hark ! There i s chee ring do w n Whi tehall ;

the crowd sways the double walls of soldiers come
,

to attention and i nto view swing the Ki ng s water

,

men i n fan tastic medi ae val garbs of red for al l the

, ,

world like the van of a circus parade Then a royal .

carriage ll ed with l adies and gentl emen of the

,

household with powde red footmen and coachme n

,

most gorgeous l y arrayed More carriages lords

.
, ,

and C hamberlai ns viscounts m istresses of the robes

, ,

lackeys all Then the warriors a k ingly escort

.
, ,

generals bron z ed and worn from t he ends of the

, ,

earth come up to London Town ; volu n teer oi cer s ,

offi cers of the mili tia and regular forces ; S pens

and P lumer B roadwood and Cooper w h o relieved
,

O okiep M a lth i as O f D argai D ixon of Vlakfontei n ;

, ,

G eneral G as elee and Adm i ral S eymour of Chi na ;

Kitchener of Khartou m ; Lord R oberts Of I ndia

and al l the world the gh ting men of E ngland ,

masters of destruction engi nee rs of death ! A nothe r

,

race of men from those of the shops and slums a ,

totally d i fferent race of men .

Bu t here they come i n all the pom p and certitude

,

of power and st ill they come these men of steel

, , ,

these war lords and world harnessers P ell me l l .

-
,

peers and comm oners pri nces and maharajahs , ,

E querries to the K ing and Y eomen of the G uard .

And here the colonials l i the and hardy men ; and

,

he re al l the breeds of all the world soldiers from
14 6 T HE PEOP L E or T HE AB YSS

A nd now th e H orse G uards a gl i mpse of beau ti ,

fu l cream pon ies and a golden panoply a hu rricane

, ,

of cheers the crashing of bands

, The Ki ng ! t h e

K ing ! God save the K ing ! E ve rybody has gone
mad The con tagion i s sweeping me 0 3 my feet
. .

I too want to shou t The K i ng ! God save t h e
, , ,

Ki ng ! R agged men abou t me tears i n their eyes , ,

are tossing up thei r h ats and cryi ng ecstatically ,

Bless em ! Bless e m ! Bless em ! S ee there

he is i n that wond rous go l den coach the great

, ,

crown ashing on h is head the woman i n wh ite ,

beside him l i kewi se crowned .

A nd I check myse lf with a rush stri vi ng to con ,

vince myself that i t is al l real and rational and not ,

some gl im pse O f fairyland This I can not succeed .

i n doi ng and i t is better so I much prefer to be

, .

lieve that all this pom p and van ity and show and , , ,

c ry has come from fai ryland than ,

to bel ieve he pe rformance O f sane and sensible

people who have m astered matter and solved the ,

secrets of the stars .

P rinces and prince l ings d ukes duche sses and al l , , ,

man ner of coroneted fol k of the royal trai n ar e

ashi ng past ; more warriors and lackeys and con , ,

q uered peoples and the pageant is over I drift

, .

with the crowd ou t of the square into a tangle of

narrow st reets where the publ ic houses are a roa r
,
-

with d ru nken ness men women and children mixed

, , ,
14 8 T HE PE OP LE OF TH E A Bv ss

Why the L ord Chambe rlai n I could not precisely ,

see nor could he but that was the way he fel t

, , ,

he said concl usi vely and t here was no more dis ,

c u ss i o n .

As night drew on the city became a blaz e of ,

l igh t S plashes of color green amber and ruby

.
, , , ,

caugh t t h e eye at every point and E

i n great
cut c rystal l etters and ba cked by am i n
, .

-
g gas was ,

everywhere The crowds i n the streets i ncreased

.

by hu ndreds of thousands and though the pol ice ,

sternly put down ma i ck i ng d ru nken ness and rough ,

play abou nded The tired workers seemed to have

.

gone mad with the relax ation and exc itemen t and ,

they su rged and danced down the streets me n and ,

women old and you ng with li nked arms and i n

, ,

long rows si nging I may be craz y but I love
, , ,

y ou D olly
, G ray and The H oneysuckle and
, the
Bee t h e last rendered somethi ng like this
,

Yew aw th e e n y
n , e nnysec lt le, O i em t er bee, h
C i d li ke ter si p t h e r

e nny fro m t h os e red lip s, y ew see .

I sat on a bench on the Thames E mbankmen t ,

looking across the illu m i nated water It was a p .

p r o a c h i ng midn ight and before me pou red the bet ,

ter class of merrymakers shun n ing the more riotous ,

streets and returni ng home O n the bench beside .

me sat two ragged creatures a m an and a woman , ,

nodding and do z i ng The woman sat with her .

 COR ONA I ION

DAY 14 9

a rms c l asped acros s the breast ho l di ng tigh tl y her , ,

body i n constant play now droppi ng forward till

,

i t seemed i ts balance woul d be overcome and she

wou l d fall to the paveme nt ; now incl i ning to the
left sideways til l her head rested on the man s
, ,

THE Ev e mno OP CO RN
O A T IO N DA Y .

Th e i l l u mina ti ons fro m th e T hm

a es Em b nmn
a k e t
.

shou l der ; and now to the righ t stretched and ,

strained till the pai n of it awoke her and she sat

,

bol t uprigh t Whereu pon the dropping forward

.

would begi n agai n and go th rough its cyc l e til l she

w as aroused by the strai n and stretch .

E very l ittle while boys and young men stopped

,
I SO T HE PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

l ong enough to go behi nd the bench and give ven t

to sudden and endish shou ts This always jerked .

the man an d woma nabruptly from thei r sleep ; and

at sigh t of the startled woe upon thei r faces
the crowd woul d roar wi th laughter as i t ooded
past .

Th is was the most st ri ki ng thi ng the general ,

h ear t less ness ex h i bi ted on every hand I t is a com .

mo npla ce the homeless on the benches the poor

, ,

m iserable folk who may be teased and are harmless .

F i fty thousand people m ust have passed the bench

wh ile I sat upon i t and not one on such a j ubilee
, ,

occasion as the crowning of the K i ng fel t his heart ,

str i ngs touched suffi ciently to come u p and say to

the woman : H ere s sixpence ; go and get a bed .

But the women especially the you ng women mad e

, ,

witty remarks u pon the woman noddi ng and i nv a r i a ,

bly set their companions laugh ing .

To use a Bri ticism i t was c r uel ; the corre
,

s po n di ng A mericanism w a s more appropriate it

was erce
I confess I began to grow i ncensed
.

at th is happy crowd stream i ng by and to extract a ,

sort of satisfaction from the London stat istics wh ich

demonstrate that one i n every fou r ad ults is destined
to die on publ ic chari ty either i n the workhouse, ,

the i n rma ry or the asyl um

, .

I talked with the man H e was ft y fou r and a

.
-

b ro k e nd o w n docker H e could only nd odd w ork

.
1 52 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB Y S S

N o e ay nt the ma n c ried heated l y

Es a

,

.

Y a nk th at s w o t e is I know
, . .

Lord l umme l ook a tha t she excl aimed as , , ,

we debouched upon t h e S tra nd choked wi th the ,

roari ng reel i ng Coronati on crowd the men bellow

, ,

i ng and the gi rl s si ngi ng i n high throaty notes :

Oh ! onCoro na ti o nD y, nCoro nati on D y,

'
o

We ll '
ave a s ree, p l
a j ub i ee, an s h o ut Ip, i p,
'
oor ay .

Fo r we

ll all be merr y , d r i nki n wh isk ey, wi ne,

a nd h
s er r y ,

We l l '
be merr y onCoro nati onD y
.

O w dirty I am bein around the
I ave the , wy ,

woman said as she sa t down i n a co ff ee house ,

-
,

w i ping the sleep and grime from the corners of her

eyes . A n the sights I ave seen this d y an I

enjoyed i t though it was lonesome by myse l f A n
, .

the duchesses an the lydies ad sich gran w ite

dresses They was jest b u fu l b u fu l

.
, .

I m I rish she said i n answer to a question , , .

My nyme s E yeth o r ne
.

What ? I asked .

E yet h o me si r ; E ye t h o r ne , .

S pell it .

H a y t h o r ne Eyet h o me
- - - - - - - -
,

O h I said I rish Cockney
, , .

Y es si r London born
, ,
-
.

S he had l ived happi ly at home til l her father

died ki lled i n accident when she had found her
, ,
 CO R O NA I IO N

DA Y 1 53

self on the worl d O ne brother was in the army

.
,

and the other brother engaged i n keepi ng a wife ,

and eight ch ildren on tw en ty shi llings a week and

u nsteady employment coul d do noth i ng for her , .

S he had been out of London once i n her l ife to a ,

place i n E ssex twelve m iles away where she had

, ,

picked fru it for th ree weeks A n I was as brown
as a berry w e n I come back Y ou won t b li ev e

.

it bu t I was
, .

The l ast place i n which she had worked was a

co ffee house hours from seven i n the morning till
-
,

eleven at nigh t and for wh ich she had received

,

ve sh ill ings a week and her food Then she had .

fallen sick and si nce emerging from the hospi ta l

,

had been u nable to nd anyth ing to do S he .

wasn t feeling up to m uch and the last two nigh ts

had been spen t i n the street .

Between them they stowed away a prodigious

amou nt of food th is m an and woman and i t was not
, ,

til l I had d upl icated and t riplicated thei r origi nal

orders that they showed signs Of easing dow n .

O nce she reached across and fel t the texture of

my coat and shirt and remarked upon the good,

clothes the Y anks wore My rags good clothes ! I t .

put me to the blush ; but on i nspecting them more ,

closely and on exa mi ni ng the clothes worn by the

man and woman I began to fee l qu ite we l l dressed
,
-
 1 54 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

What do you expect to do i n the end ? I
'
asked th em Y ou know you re growi ng old er
.

every day .

Wo r k o use said h e

, .

Gawd bl imey if I do said she There s no , .

ope for me I know bu t I ll die on the streets NO

, ,

.

w o r k o u se for me thank you

, .

NO i ndeed she sn i ffed i n the silence that fell

, ,

.

After you have been ou t all n ight i n the streets ,

I asked what do you do i n the morni ng for some

,

th ing to eat ?

Try to get a pen ny if you aven t one saved ,

over the man explai ned
, Then go to a coffee

ouse an get a m ug 0 tea

.

Bu t I don t see how that is to feed you I ,

objected .

T he pai r sm iled knowi ngly .

Y ou drink you r tea i n little sips he went on , ,

maki ng i t l ast i ts longest An you look sharp .
,

an there s some as leaves a bit be i nd em

.

I t s s pr is i n the food wot some people leaves

'

, ,

the woman broke i n .

The thi ng sai d the man judicial l y as the , ,

trick dawned upon me is to get old 0 the pen ny ,

.

A s we s tarted to leave M iss Hay th o r ne gathered ,

up a couple of crusts from the neighboring tabl es

and thru st them somewhere i nto her rags .

Oa w nt wy s te em you k now said she to w hi ch

, , ,
1 56 T H E PEOP LE or T HE A B Ys s

fam ily to do I t would not be a pleasan t th ing

.

to specu l ate upon h is though ts ; but this I know ,

and al l London knows that the cases of ou t o f ,

-

works killi ng their wi v es a nd babies is not an u n

common happe ning .

O ne can not wal k along the T hames E mbank

ment i n the small hou rs Of morn ing from the
, ,

H ouses of P arliament past Cleopatra s Needl e to ,

Waterloo Bridge withou t bei ng rem i nded Of the

,

su er i n s
'

g seven and , twenty cen turies O ld recited ,

by the author of J ob :

T h er e ar e t h at remove t h e lan d marks ; t h ey vi ol ent ly

ta k e a w ay ock s an d feed th em .

T h e y d r i ve a w a y t h e as s o f t h e fa t h e r l es s th ey ta ke t h e ,

w i d o w s o x fo r a p l ed ge

.

T h ey t u r n t h e need y o ut o f t h e w ay ; t h e poo r o f t h e
e a r t h h i d e t h e mse lv es t o get h er .

Beh o l d as w i l d a ss es i nt h e d e se rt t h ey go fo rt h t o t h e i r
,

w o r k se e k i n
, g d i l i g e nt l y f or m ea t ; t h e w i l d e rn es s y i e l d e t h
t h e m foo d fo r t h ei r c h i l d r en .

T h ey c ut t h ei r p r ovend er i n t h e e l d a nd t h ey gl ea n ,

t h e vi n tage o f t h e w i ck ed .

T h ey li e a ll n i gh t nak e d w it h o ut cl o t h i n g and h ave no ,

cov e ri n g i n t h e c o l
. d
Th ey a r e w et w i t h t h e s h ow er s o f t h e mo untai n s a nd ,

e mb r a ce t h e r o c k fo r w a n t o f a s h e lt er .

T h e re a r e t h a t p l uc k t h e fat h e r l es s f ro m th e b reas t and ,

t ak e a p l ed ge o f t h e p oo r .

S o th a t t h ey go a bo u t nak ed w it h o ut c l o t hi ng a n d be i n g ,

a nh un g e r e d t h e y ca rr y t h e s h eav es
M . O .
 R NATI ON
CO O DAY

S eve n a nd twenty cent urie s agone ! A nd it is

all as true and apposite tod ay i n the i n ner most
centre Of this C hristian civili z ation whereof E dward
vu is k in g
.
 CHA PTE R X I I I

DA N C UL L E N DOC K ER
,

Li fe scar ce ca ntr ea d majes ti ca y ll

F ou l court and fever s tr i ckena ley
-
l .

THOH As

I STOOD yes terday i n a room i n one

, ,

Mu nicipal D wel l ings not fa r from Leman ,

I f I l ooked i nto a drea ry fu ture and sa w that I

would have to l i ve i n s uch a room u nti l I d ied I ,

should im mediately go down pl um p i nto the ,

Thames and cu t the tenancy short

, .

I t was not a room Cou rtesy to the language.

will no more pe rm it i t to be called a room th an it

wi ll permi t a hovel to be call ed a mansion I t was .

a den a lai r S eve n feet by eight were i ts d i men

, .

sions and the ceil ing w as so lo w as not to gi ve the

,

cubic air space req u ir ed by a B ri tish soldier i n bar

racks . A cra z y couch wi th ragged coverlets , ,

occupied near l y half the room A rickety table a .

,

chai r and a couple of boxes left l ittle space i n

,

which to t urn around F ive dollars would have .

purchased e v eryth ing i n sigh t The oor was .

bare whi le the walls and ceili ng were l itera l ly co v

,

ered wi th b l ood marks and splotches E ach mark .

15 8
 D AN C U LL E N , Do c R 1 59

represen ted a vi olen t death of a bedbug with ,

wh ich vermi n the bu ildi ng s w armed a pl ague with ,

which no person could cope si ng l e handed -

.

The man who had occupied th is hole one D an ,

Cullen docker was dyi ng i n hospita l Y et he had

, , .

impressed h is personal ity o n h is m iserable sur

rou ndings s ui c ient ly to gi ve an in kl i ng as to what
sort of a man he was O n the walls were ch eap .

pictures of G aribaldi E nge l s D an Bu rns and , , ,

o ther labor leaders wh i l e on the tabl e l ay one of

,

Wal ter Besant s novels H e knew his S hake
.

speare I was told and h ad read history sociology

, , , ,

and econom ics A nd he was se l f ed ucated

.
-
.

O n the table am idst a wonderful disarray lay

, ,

a sheet of paper on wh ich was scrawled : M r Cu l .

len p lea se r et u r n t/ze la rge w h i te j ug a nd cor kscr ew

,

1 lent y ou , articles loa ned d uri ng the rst stages ,

of his sickness by a wom a n neighbor and de

, ,

ma nd ed back i n anticipation of his death A large .

wh ite j ug and a corkscrew are far too val uab l e to

a creature of the A byss to pe rmit another creatu r e
to die i n peace To the l ast Dan Cullen s so ul
.
,

m ust be harrowed by the sordidness ou t of which

i t strove vai nly to rise .

I t is a brief l it tle sto ry the story of D an C u ll en

, ,

but there is m uch to read between the lines H e .

was born lowly i n a ci ty and land where the l ines

of cast e are ti gh tly d rawn A l l h is days he toiled .
1 60 TH E PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

hard with his bod y ; and because he had opened

th e books and been caught up by the res of the
,

spi rit and could write a letter l ike a lawyer he
,

,

had been selected by h is fellows to toi l hard for

them with hi s brai n H e became a leader of the .

fru it porters represented the docke rs on the Lon

-
,

don Trades Cou ncil and wrote trenchant articles ,

for the labor journ als .

H e did not c ri nge to other men even though ,

they were his economic masters and con trol led the
mea ns whereby he l i ved and he spoke his m ind ,

freely and fought the good ght I n the G rea t

, .

D ock S trike he was gui lty of taki ng a l ead ing part .

A nd that was the end of D an Cullen F rom that day .

he was a marked man and every day for ten years , ,

and more he was paid o ff for what he had done

,

.

A docker is a casual laborer Work ebbs and .

o ws and he works or does not work accord ing to

,

the amou nt Of goods on hand to be moved D an .

Cu l len was d iscri mi nated agai nst Wh ile he was .

not absol utely turned away (wh ich wou l d have

caused trouble and which would certai nly have
,

been more merciful )he was cal led i n by the fore ,

man to do not more than tw o or th ree days work
per week This is what is called bei ng disci
.

p l i e d or dri
, lled I t means
bei ng star
. v ed .

There is no pol iter word Ten years of i t broke .

his heart and broken hearted men can not l ive

,
-
.
16 2 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

Da n C ul le n s feet became swollen with dropsy

.

H e sat u p day on the side of the bed (to keep

a ll

the water out of h is body )no mat on the oor a , ,

thin bl anket on his legs and an old coat around his

,

shoulders A m iss iona ry brough t h im a pai r of

.

paper sl ippers worth fou rpence (I sa w them ) and

, ,

proceeded to o ff er up fty prayers or so for the

good of D an Cullen s soul But D an Cullen was .

the sort of a man that wanted h is sou l left alone .

H e d id not care to have Tom D ick or H arry on , , ,

the strength of fourpen ny sl ippers tam pe ri ng with ,

it H e asked the m i ssiona ry ki ndly to open the

.

window so that he migh t toss the s l ippers out

, .

A nd the missionary wen t away to retu rn no more , ,

l ikewise impressed wi th the u ngrateful ness of th e

poor .

The cobbler a brave old hero himself though u n

, ,

an naled and u nsung went privi l y to the head of ce

,

of the big fru i t brokers for whom D an Cullen had

worked as a casual laborer for thi rty years Thei r .

system was such that the work w as al most enti rely

done by casual hands Th e cobbler told them the
.

man s desperate plight O ld broken dyi ng wi t hout
, , , ,

hel p or money reminded them that he had worked

,

for them thi rty years and asked them to do some

,

th i ng for him .

O h said the manager reme
, ,

l en wi thou t havi ng to refer

 D AN C ULL E N , Doc R 16 3

we make it a rule never to he lp casua l s and we can ,

do noth ing .

N or did they do anyth ing not eve n sign a l etter ,

aski ng for D an C ullen s admission to a hospita l .

A nd i t is not so easy to get i nto a hospital i n Lon

don T own At H amstead if he passed the doctors
.
, ,

LO N DO N Hos Prr A L , M t LE E xt) R OA D .

at l east fou r months would elapse before he cou l d

get in there we re so many on the books ahead of
,

h im The cobbler na ll y got him i nto the Wh ite

.

chapel I n rmary where he vi sited him frequent l y

, .

H ere he fou nd that D an Cul len had succum bed to

the prevalent fee l ing that being hopeless they were
, , ,

hurryi ng h i m out of the way A fair and logical .

164 T HE P EOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

conclusion one m ust agree for an old and broken

, ,

man to arrive at who has been resol utely disci

,

li n

d

p e and dri lled

for ten years Whe n they .

'
sweated h i m for Bright s disease to remove the fat
from t he k idneys D an Cul l en contended that the
,

swea t i ng was hasteni ng his death ; while Bright s

O NE O F T HE WR A D S IN WH ITE CHA P EL IN FIR M A R Y .

diseas e being a w asting away of the k idneys there

, ,

was therefore no fat to remove and the doctor s
excuse was a palpab l e l ie Whereupon the doctor .

became wroth and did not come near hi m for n i ne

,

days .

Then h is bed was ti lted up so that h is feet and

l egs were elevated At once dropsy ap pe ared in the
.
 T HE PE OP LE OF T HE AB YSS

n ight ; who drea med his dream and struck valiantly

for the C ause ; a patriot a lover of h uman freedom
, ,

and a ghter u n afraid ; and i n the end not gigant ic

,

enough to beat down the conditions wh ich ba f ed

and stied him a cyn ic and a pessimist gaspi ng h is
, ,

nal agony on a pauper s couch i n a charity ward .

F or a man to have died who m ight have been wise

and w as not this I cal l a tragedy
, .
 C H A P T E R X IV

HOP S AN D HOPPER S

I ll fa e t h land t h t ni ng i ll prey
r s e , o as e s a ,

W h w l t h accum lat nd m nd cay

er e ea u es a e e

P inc nd l d m y ou i h m y f d e
r es a or s a r s , or a a ,

A b t h canmak t h em
r ea b r t h i mad
e , as a ea s e ;
B t u ab l d pe ntry t hei co nt y p i de
o asa , r u r

s r ,

W h en nce d t yed ca nne be pp l i d

o es ro ,
ver su e .

GO L DsmTH .

SO far has the divorcemen t of the worker from

the soil proceeded that the farm ing districts the
, ,

civi l i z ed world over a re depend ent upon the cities

,

for the gatheri ng Of the harvests Then it is when . ,

the land is spi l l ing its ripe weal th to waste that the ,

street folk who have been driven away from the

,

soil are c all ed back to it agai n But i n E ngland

, .

they retu rn n ot as prod iga l s but as ou tcasts stil l as

, , ,

vagrants and pariahs to be doubted and outed by

,

thei r cou n try brethren to sleep i n jails and casual

,

wards or u nder the hedges and to live the Lord

, ,

knows how .

I t is estimated that Ke nt alone requ ires eigh ty

t housand of the street people to pick her hops A nd .

e obedient to the call which i s the call

, ,

1 67
168 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

of their bell ies and of the l i ngeri ng d regs d ad v en

tu re l ust sti ll i n them S lum stews and gh etto
-
. , ,

pou r them forth and the festering conte nts of sl u m

, ,

stews and ghetto are u nd imi nished Y et they over

,
.

ru n the cou nt ry l ike an army of ghouls and the ,

country does not want them They are out of .

place As they d rag their squat m isshapen bod ies

. ,

along th e highways and byways they resemble some ,

vile spawn fro m undergrou nd Their ve ry presen ce .

,

the fact of their existence is an out rage to the fresh

,

bright su n and the g r een and growing thi ngs Th e .

clean u p standi ng trees cry shame upo n th em and

,
-

their wi thered crookedness and thei r rottenn ess is ,

a sl imy desecration of the sweetness a nd pu rity of

natu re .

I s the pictu re overdra wn ? I t all depends F or .

one who sees and thi nks l ife i n terms of shares and
coupons i t is certai nly overdrawn
, But for one .

who sees and thi nks l ife i n terms of ma nhood a nd

woman hood it cannot be overdrawn
, S uch hordes .

Of beastly wretchedness and inarticulate m isery are

no compensation for a m il lionnaire brewer who l ives

i n a West E nd pal ace sates h imself with the sensu
,

ous del ights of London s golden theatres hobnobs ,

with lordl ings and pri ncel ings and is kn ighted by ,

the ki ng W ins his spu rs G od forbid ! I n Old
.

time the great blonde beasts rode i n

and won thei r spurs
17 0 T HE P EOP LE or THE ABYSS
d ays h as sent ma ny h und red s o f h o ppers i n to Kent w h o ,

wi ll h ave t o w a i t ti ll t h e e l ds ar e rea dy for t h em A t .

D over t h e n umbe r o f vagrants i n t h e wo r kh o u se is tr e b l e

t h e n umbe r t h er e l as t year at t h i s ti me a nd i n o t h er t o w n
, s

t h e l a tenes s o f t h e sea so ni s r e s po n si b l e f o r a l arge i nc rea s e

i nt h e n u mber o f ca sua ls .

To cap their wretched ness whe n at last the pick ,

ing h ad begun hops and hoppers were we ll nigh

,
-

swept away by a frightful storm of wind rai n and , ,

hail T he hops were st ripped clean f rom the poles

.

and pou nded i nto the earth wh ile the hoppe rs seek , ,

ing shel ter from the sti ngi ng hail were close to ,

d rowning i n thei r huts and cam ps on the low lyi ng -

gr ou nd Thei r condi tion after the storm was pitia

.

ble thei r state of vagrancy more pronou nced than

,

ever ; for poor crop that i t was its destruct ion had
, ,

taken away the chance of earn i ng a few pen nies ,

and nothing remai ned for thousands of them but to

pad the hoof back to L ondon .

We ay nt crossi n sweepe rs they said turn ing

-
, ,

away from the grou nd carpeted a nkle deep with ,

-

hops .

Those that remai ned grumbl ed savage l y among

the half stripped poles at the seven bushels for a
-

shil l i ng a rate paid i n good seasons when the
hops are i n pri me condition and a rate l ikewi se ,

paid i n bad seasons by the growers beca use th ey

ca nnot a fford more .
 HOPs A ND Ho PPE R s 17 1

I passed th rough Teston and E ast and West

F arleigh shortly after the storm and l istened to ,

the gru mbl i ng of t he hoppers and saw the hops

rotti ng on the ground A t the hothouses of Bar
.

ham Cou rt thi rty thousand panes of gl ass had been

,

broken by the hail while peaches pl ums pears

, , , ,

apples rh ubarb cabbages mangolds

, ,
eve rythi ng
, , ,

had been pounded to pi eces and torn to sh reds .

A l l of wh ich was too bad for the owners cer ,

ta i nly ; bu t at the worst not one of them for one , ,

meal would have to go sho rt of food or dri nk Y et

, .

i t was to them that the newspape rs devoted colum ns

of sym pathy thei r pecun iary losses bei ng detail ed
,

at harrowing l ength M r H erbe rt L eney ca lcu
. .

lates his loss at 8000 ; M r F reml in of brewery .

,

fame who ren ts all the land i n this parish loses

, ,

and M r L eney the Wateringbury

'

.
,

brewer brother to Mr H erbert Leney is another

, .
,

heavy los er As for the hoppers they d id not
.
,

cou nt Y e t I ventu re to assert that the several

.

almost sq uare meals lost by underfed W ill iam

Buggles and u nderfed M rs Buggles and the
, .
,

underfed Buggles kiddies was a greater tragedy ,

than the lost by M r F remlin A nd in . .

addition u nde rfed W illiam Buggles tragedy m ight
,

be mu l tipl ied by th ousands where Mr F remli ns .

cou l d not be multipl ied by ve .

T o see h o w W i l l iam Bu ggles and his kind fared ,

17 2 T H E P EOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

I donned my seafari ng togs an d started ou t to

get a job With m e was a young E as t London
.

cobb l er Bert who had yi el ded to the l ure of

, ,

adventu re and joined m e for the trip Acti ng on .

my advice he had brought h is worst rags and

,

,

R
BE T A ND T HE AUTHO RR EA D Y To P IC K HO PS
.

as we hiked u p the London R oad out of Maid

stone he was worryi ng greatly for fear we had
come too i ll d ressed for the business
~
.

Nor was he to be blamed W hen we stopped i n

.

a tavern the publican eyed us gi ngerly nor did his ,

demeanor brighten til l we ashed the col or of our

1 74 T HE P EOP L E or T HE A EY s s

ance and tale neither Be rt nor I succeeded i n,

making out ; but i n the end he softened h is heart

and found us the one unoccupied bin in the place
a bin deserted by t w o other men from what I ,

could learn because of i nabili ty to make l iving

,

wages .

NO bad conduct m i nd ye warn ed the ba il iff

, , ,

as he left u s at work i n the m idst of the women .

I t was S aturday afternoon and we knew q uit ,

ti ng time would come early ; so we appl ied ou r

selves earn estly to the task desi ring to learn if we ,

could at l east make our sal t I t was simple work .

,

woman s work i n fact and not m an s We sat on

, , .

the edge of the bi n between the standing hops , ,

wh ile a pole puller supplied us with great fragran t

-

branches I n an hour s time we became as expe rt

.

as i t is possible to become A s soon as the ngers .

became accustomed automatical ly to d iff erentiate

between hops and l eaves and to stri p half a doz en
blossoms at a time there was no more to lea rn .

We worked nimbl y and as fast as the women ,

themsel ves though thei r bins lled more rapidly

,

be cause of thei r swarm i ng children each of which

picked wi th two hands al m ost as fas t as we
picked .

D o ntc h e r pick too clean it s against the ru l es

, ,

one of the women i nformed us ; and we took the

tip and were grateful
. .
 HO P S AN D HOPPERS 17 5

A s the afternoon wore a l ong we real i z ed that l iv ,

i ng wages could not be made by men Women .

could pick as m uch as men and children could do ,

al most as well as women ; so i t was impossible for

a man to compete with a woman and half a do z en
children For it is the wom an and the half doz en
.
-

V t LL A G E HO P Pi c Rs A s msT m S HED FROM L ONDO N

"
Ho PPR R s .

childre n who cou n t as a uni t and by the ir combi ned

capaci ty determ ine the u nit s pay .

I say matey I m beastly h u ngry said I to Bert

, , , .

We had not had any di nner .

Blimey but I could eat the ops he repl ied
, , .

Whereupon we both lame n ted our negligence i n

not rea ri ng up a numerous progeny to hel p us i n
176 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS
th is day of need A nd i n such fash ion we wh i l ed
.

away the time and talked for the ed i c a t i o nof ou r

neighbors . We qu ite won the sympathy of the
pole pul ler a young count ry yokel who now and
-
, ,

agai n em ptied a few picked blossoms i nto our bi n ,

it bei ng part of his busi ness to gather up the stray

cl usters torn o in the process of pulli ng .

W ith hi m we discussed how much we could

sub and were i nformed that wh ile w ewere being

,

paid a sh ill ing for seven bushels we could only ,

sub or have advanced to us a shill ing for every

, ,

twel ve bushels Wh ich is to say that the pay for

.

ve out of every twelve bushels w as wi thheld a

method of the grower to hold the hopper to his
wo rk whether the crop ru ns good or bad and espe ,

c i a ll if it ru ns bad
y .

After all i t w as pl easant sitting there i n the

,

bright sunshi ne the golden pollen showeri ng from

,

our hands the pungent aromatic odor of the hops

, ,

biting our nostri ls and the while remembe ri ng ,

d imly the soundi ng cities whence these people

came .P oor street people ! P oor gutter folk !
E ven they grow earth h ungry and yearn vaguely -
,

for the soil fro m which they have bee n d ri ven and ,

for the free l ife in the open and the wi nd and ra in

and su n all u nd e led by ci ty smi rches As the sea .

calls to the sailor so calls the land to them ; and

, ,

deep down i n thei r aborted and decayi ng carcasses ,

17 8 T HE P EOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

came on the hee l s of the setti ng sun I n the .

adjoi n ing bin two women and half a do z en ch il

,

d ren had picked n i ne bushe l s ; so that the ve

bushels the measurers found i n ou r bin demon
s t ra t ed that we had done eq ually wel l for the half ,

do ze n ch ild re n had ranged f rom n i ne to fourteen

years of age .

F ive bushe l s ! We worked i t ou t to eigh t pence

ha penny or seventee n cents for two men working

, ,

three hou rs and a hal f E ight and one half cen ts

.
-

apiece a rate of two and three sevenths cents per

,
-

hour ! But we were allowed only to sub v e

pence of the total su m though the tal ly keeper ,

-
,

sho rt of change gave us sixpence E ntreaty was

, .

i n vai n A hard l uck story could not move h i m

. .

H e proclaimed loudly that we had received a

penny more than our due and went his way , .

G ranti ng for the sake of the argument that we

, ,

were what we represen ted ou rselves to be namely , ,

poor men and broke then here was ou r position

,

n ight was com ing on ; we had had no supper m uch ,

less din ner ; and we pos sessed sixpence between us .

I was h ungry enough to eat three s i xpe nno r th s of

food and so was Bert O ne thing was patent By

, . .

doi ng 1 6 per cen t j ustice to our stomachs we ,

would expend the sixpence and ou r stomachs ,

would still be gnawi ng u nder 8 3 per cen t i nj ust ice .

Bei ng broke agai n we could sleep u nder a hedge

, ,
 HO Ps AND HO P PERS 1 79

wh ich was not so bad though th e cold would sap

,

an undue portion of what we had eaten But the .

morrow was S u nday on which we could do no

,

work though our silly stomachs would not knock

,

O H on that accou nt H ere then was the probl em :

m
.
, ,

how to get th ree eals on S u nday and two on ,

Monday (for we cou l d n ot make another sub ti l l

Monday eveni ng) We k new that the cas ual wards

.

were overcrowded ; also that if we begged from

,

farmer or villager the re w a s a large l ikel i hood of

,

our going to jail for fou rteen days What was to .

be done ? We l ooked at each other i n despai r

N ot a bi t of i t We joyfully thanked G od
.

t hat we were not as other men especially hoppers

, ,

and went down the road to Maidstone j i ngl ing i n ,

ou r pockets the half crowns and o r i ns we had

-

brought from London .

 C H A PTE R XV

THE S EA WI FE
Th e e s s tu pi d peasants w ho th rough out t he wor l d h ol d potentates
, , ,

on t h ei r t h ro n es ma k e ta t es me n i ll u t r i ous pro vi d e ge n
,
s s erals w i th las t
,

i ng vi ct ori es all wi t h ignora nce i nd iffer ence o r hal f wi t ted ha tred

, , ,
-
,

mo vi ng th e wo r l d wi t h t h e str engt h o f t h ei r ar ms and gett ing t h eir ,

h ea ds k nock ed togeth er i n th e na me of God t h e ki ng o r t h e s toc k , ,

ex cha n g e i m mor t a l
, d r ea mi n g h o pe l ess
, as ses w h o s urr e nd e r t h ei r
,

reas o n to t h e car e o f a s h i n i ng puppet a nd per s ua d e so me t oy to ca r r y

,

t h eir li v es i nh is purse .

S TEPH EN CR A NE .

Y ou m ight not expect to nd the S ea W ife i n

the heart of Kent bu t that is where I found her, ,

on a mean street i n the poor quarter of Maidstone

, .

I n her window she had no sign of l odgings to

let and pers uasion was necessary before she could
,

bri ng herself to let me sleep i n her front room I n .

the even i ng I descended to the sem i subterranean ~

kitchen and tal ked with her and her old man
, ,

Thomas Mugridge by name .

A nd as I talked to them all the subt l eties and ,

complexities of this treme ndous machi ne civil i z ation

vanished away It seemed that I wen t down
'

through the ski n and the esh to the naked sou l

of i t and i n Thomas M ugridge and h is o ld woma n
,

gripped hol d of the essence of

180
18 2 T H E P EOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

of work they possessed noth ing had nothi ng to ,

l ook forward to save more work A nd they were .

contented T hey expected nothi ng e l se desi red

.
,

nothing else .

They l ived simply T hei r wa nts were few .

a ,

pi nt of beer at the end of the day sipped in the ,

semi subterranean kitchen a weekly paper to pore

-
,

over for seven nights h a nd r u nni ng and con versa ,

tion as med itative and vacant as the chewi ng of a

heifer s cud F rom a wood engravi ng on the wa l l
.

a slender angel ic gi rl l ooked down upon them and

, ,

u nderneath was the legend : O u r F utu re Q ueen .

A nd from a highly colored l ithograph alongside

looked down a stou t and elderly lady with u nder ,

neath : O u r Queen D iamond J ubilee .

W hat you earn is sweetest quoth M rs M ug , .

ridge when I suggested that i t was about time they

,

took a rest .

No an we don t wan t hel p said Thomas

, ,

Mugridge i n reply to my question as to whethe r

,

the children lent them a hand .

We ll work ti ll we d ry up and blow away

mother an me he added ; and M rs Mugridge , .

nodded her head i n vigo rous i ndorsement .

F ifteen ch ild r en she had h o me and a l l were away ,

and gone or dead ,The baby however l ived in
.

, ,

Maidstone and she was twenty seven W hen the

,
-
.

chi l dren married they had their hands ful l wi th

 T HE SEA WI FE 18 3

their own fam ilies and tr oub l es l ike thei r fathers ,

and mothers before them .

Where we re the ch i l d ren ? Ah where were they ,

not ? L i z z ie was i n A us tral ia ; Mary was i n Buenos

Ayres ; P ol l was i n New Y ork ; J oe had died i n
I ndia, and so they call ed them u p the l ivi ng and ,

the dead soldier and sailor and colonist s wife for
, , ,

the travel ler s sake who sat i n their ki tchen .

The y passed me a photograph A tri m you ng .

fellow i n soldier s garb l ooked out at me .

A nd wh ich so n is this ? I asked .

~
They laughed a hearty chorus S on ! Nay .
,

grandson just ba ck from I ndian servi ce and a

,

soldier trum peter to the K i ng

-
H is brother was .

i n the same regiment wi th him A nd so i t ran .

,

sons and daughters and grand sons and daughters

, ,

worl d wanderers and empi re builders all of them

- -
, ,

while the old fo l ks sta yed a t home and worked at

buildi ng empi re too .

Th ere d wel ls a wi fe by th e Nort hernGate ,

An d a weal thy wi fe is sh e
Sh e b re ed s a b re ed 0 ro vi n men
'

An d casts them ov er sea .

A nd me are d ro wned i nd ee p
so w ater ,

And so me i nsigh t o f s h ore

And w or d go es back to t h e w ear y wi fe ,

And ever sh e se nd s mo r e .
1 84 T H E PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

But the S ea Wife s chi ldbea ri ng is abou t done

.

T he stock is runn ing out and th e planet is lli n g ,

up T he wi ves of her sons may ca rry on the breed

.
,

b u t her work is past The erstwh il e men of E ng .

l and are now the men of A ustral ia of Africa o f , ,

America E ngland h as sent forth the best s h e

.

breeds for so long and has destroyed those tha t

,

remai ned so ercely that l i tt le remai ns for her t o ,

do bu t to sit down th rough the long nights a nd

gaz e at royal ty on the wall .

The true Briti s h me rchant seaman has passed

away The merchant se rvice is no longer a recru i t
.

i ng ground for such sea dogs as fought with Nel so n

at Trafalgar and the N ile F oreigners largely ma n .

the merchant shi ps though E ngl i s hmen still co n ,

ti n ne to o i c r them and to prefer foreigners fo r a rd

.

I n S outh Africa the col onial teaches the Islande r

how to shoot and the o i cers m uddle and bl under ;
'
,

whi l e at h o me the street people play hysterically a t

ma i ck i ng and the War O ffi ce lowers the statu re
,

for enl istment .

I t could not be otherwise The most complacen t .

Britisher can not hope to d raw off the l ife blood a nd

'

underfeed and keep i t up forever The average

, .

M rs Thomas Mugridge has been d riven i nto t h e

.

city and she is not breeding very m uch of anyth i n g

,

save an an aem ic and sickly progeny which can no t

nd enough to eat The st rength of the E ngl ish
.
 CH A PTE R XV I

PROPERTY 00 5 11 8 PER SO N
Th e h
r i g ts of pr o per ty h ave beenso much e tended t ha t th e righ ts
x

o f t h e co mmun i ty h a ve al mo s t al t oget h er d i a ppea red and i t is har d l y

s ,

t oo much to sa y t h a t t he p r os per i ty an d t h e co mfo rt a nd th e li be rti a o f

a grea t p ropo r t i o no f t h e po pu la t io nh as be e n lai d a t th e feet o f a s mal l

number of pro pri et ors w h o nei t h er to i l nor s p i n

J OS EPH C H AM BE R LA IN
.
,

IN a civil i z ation frankly material istic and based

upon property not so ul i t is i nevitable that prop
, ,

ha l l be exal ted over soul t hat cri mes against

,

prope rty S hall be considered far more serious than

crim es agai nst the person To pound one s wi fe to
.

a jel ly and break a few of her ribs is a tri vi al off ence

compared wi th sleepi ng out under the naked stars
because one has not th e price of a doss The l ad .

w h o steals a few pears from a wealthy railway cor

p o r a t i o n is a gr eater menace to society th an the

young brute who comm its an unpro voked assault
upon an old man over seven ty years of age While .

the young girl who takes a l odgi ng under the pre

tence that she h as work commits so dangerous an
o ffence that were she not severely pu nished she
, , ,

and her ki nd m igh t bri ng the whole fabric of prop

er t
y c l attering to the grou nd H ad sh e .

186
 P ROPERT Y VER S U S PERSO N 18 7

tramped P iccadilly and the S trand after midni ght ,

the pol ice would not have i nterfered wi th her and ,

S h e would have been able to pay for her lodgi ng .

The followi ng il l ust rati ve cases are c ul led from

the pol ice court reports for a si ngle week
Wi d nes Po l ice C o u rt Be fo re A l d er men Go ssage a nd .

Nei l Th o ma s Ly nch ch a r ged w i th be i ng d runk a nd

.
,

d is ord er ly a nd w i t h ass a ulti ng a co nsta b l e Defend ant .

resc ued a w o ma n fr o m c ustody ki cked th e co ns tab le a nd , ,

t h rew sto nes at h i m . F in d

e 3 s . 6d . fo r t h e r st o ffe nce ,

an d 103 a nd costs for . t h e as s au l t .

Gl asgo w Qu ee ns Par k Po l i ce C ourt

. Befo re B ai li e
Nor man T h o mp so n J o h n K a ne p l ead ed .
gu i l ty t o a s sa u lt
i ng h is w ife . T h ere w er e ve p r ev i ou s co nv i cti o ns .

Fi n d e 2 23 .

Ta u nto n C o u nt y J oh n Pai n ter a b i g

Petty S es s i o ns .
, ,

b ur ly fell ow d e sc ri bed a s a la bo r er ch a r ged w i t h as sa u l t

, ,

i ng h i s w i fe Th e w o man re ce ived t w o sev er e b l a c k e y e s

.
,

an d h er face w a s ba d l y sw o ll en F i ned 1 8 1 in c l ud i n g . .

co st s an d b ound ove r t o k ee p t h e p eace

,
.

W id ne s P o l i ce C o u r t . R i c h ar d Be stw i ck a nd George
H u nt , c h arged wi t h t r es pa ssi ng i nsearc h o f ga me H unt .

ned 1 and c o s t s Best wi ck 2 a n

,
d co sts ; i nd efa u l t o ne
mo nt h .

S h ft b ur y Pol i ce Court Befo re t h e M ayor (M r A

a es . . .

T . C ar pente r ) T h o ma s Bak er c h arged w it h sl eep i ng

.
,

ou t . Fo u rt eendays .

Gl asgow C entr a l Po li ce C ourt B efore B a i li e D un l o p . .

Ed w ar d M o rr i so n a la d co nvi c t ed of st ea li n g fteen p ear s

, ,

fr o m a l o rry a t t h e rai lroa d st a ti on S ev en d ay s

'

. .
18 8 T HE PEOP LE OF T HE A B Y S S

Doncas ter Bo r o ugh P o l i ce C ou rt Be fo r e A l d er man .

Cla r k and o th er magis tra tes J a mes M G o w a n c h ar ged .

'

u n d er t h e Poa c hi ng P rev e nti o n A c t w i t h be ing f o u n d i n

p ossess i on of po ach i ng i mp le me nts a nd a nu mber o f
ra bb i ts Fined 2 a nd co sts or o ne mo nth
.
, .

D u nfe r mli ne S h ri ffe C o urt G i ll es p i e

. Bef o r e S h ri ff
e .

J h n Y oung a pit
o ,
-
h ea d w o r k er p lead ed gui l ty t o a ssau l t ,

i ng A l exa nd e r S t o r ra r by be a ti ng h im ab o u t th e h ea d a nd
bod y w i t h hi s sts th r o w i ng h i m o nt h e ,
gr o u nd , a nd a lso
stri ki ng hi m w i t h a pi t p ro p F i ned 1 . .

Ki
k ca ld y Po lice C o urt Before Bai l i e D i s h ar t S imo n
r . .

W a l k er p l ea d ed guil t y t o a ssa ul ti ng a ma n by s tr i k i ng
an d k noc ki ng hi m d o w n I t w as a nu n p r ov o k i ng as s a u l t .
,

an d t h e ma gi str a te d e scr i bed t h e a ccus ed a s a pe r fect

d ange r t o t h e co mmu ni t y F ined 3 05 . .

M a ns e ld P o li ce C o u r t M a y o r M es srs Be for e t h e , .

F .
J T
. u r n e r J W h i t F Tid sb ur y E H o l mes a nd
a k e r , .
, .
, .
,

D r R Nes b i tt
. .J ose ph J ack so n c h a r ged w it h a s sa ul t i ng
.
,

C h ar l es Nunn W i t h out a ny p r ovo ca t io n d e fe nd a nt st r uc k

.
,

t h e co mp la i nant a v io l ent b l o w i n t h e fa ce k no ck i ng h i m ,

d ow n a nd t h en ki ck ed hi m o nt h e s i d e o f t h e h ea d He
,
.

w as ren d er ed unco nsci o u s a nd h e r e mai ned und er med i ca l ,

tr eat ment fo r a fo r tni gh t F i ned z rs . .

Per t h S h ri ff
e C o urt . Befo re S h i ff er Sym . Da vi d
M i tc h ell , c h a r ged
t h p o ac h i ng T h er e w er e t w o p r e
wi .

vi o ns co nvi cti on s t h e l ast bei ng t h r ee y ear s a go Th e

,
.

s h eri ff w as a s k ed t o d ea l l e ni e nt ly wi t h M i tc h e ll w h o w as ,

t w o ye a r s o f a ge a n d w h o o ffere d no r es i s ta nce t o
'

s -
,

t h e ga mek eep e r Fo ur month s . .

D u nd ee Sh er i ff C o urt . Be fo r e Ho n . S h ri ff
e s u b s ti

tu te R . C W a l k er
. . J o h n M ur r a y D onal d C rai g , , a nd
190 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E A B YSS
St y Th o mas
or e , B r a mmer , a nd S a muel W i l coc k , c h arged
w i t h p oac h i ng . O ne mo nt h a h
e c .

S uth amp t n C
o nty P o li ce C o ur t Befo r e A d miral J
o ou . .

C R o w l e y M r H H C ul me ey mou r a nd ot h er ma gi s
.
, . . .
-
S ,

tr a tes H enry Th o rr i ngt on c h arged w i t h s l eep i ng ou t

.
, .

S e ve n d ay s .

E ck i ngto n P o l i ce C o urt . Be fo r e M aj o r L B . . B owd e n,

M ess rs R E y re a nd H A . .
, . . F o w er ,l and D r C o ur t . J o se ph .

Watts , h arged c w it h stea l i n g n i ne fer ns f ro m a ga r d en .

O ne month .

R i p l ey Pe tty S i
e ss o s n . Befo re M es sr s J W h ee l er
. . B .
,

W D Bembr i d ge a nd M H oo per
. .
, . . V i ncent A ll e n a nd
Geor ge H a ll c h ar ge d u nd e r t h e Po a c h i ng P reve nti o nA ct
,

wi th be i ng fo und i n po ss es si o n o f a n umbe r o f r abb i ts ,

an d J o h n S par h a m c h a r ged w i t h a i d i ng a nd a be tti ng ,

t h em H a ll a nd S par h a m n ed 1
.
4d an d A ll e n .
,

2 17 s 4 d inc l u di n g co st s ; th e fo rmer co mmi tt ed for

. .
,

fo u rtee n days a nd t h e latt e r fo r o ne mo n t h i n d efa ul t o f

p ayment .

S th w
ou n Po li ce Court Lond on Before M r R ose
-
es ter ,
. . .

J oh n Pr obyn c h ar ge d w it h d oi ng gr i evou s bo d i l y h arm to

,

a co nst ab le Pr i so ner h ad be en k ic k i ng h i s wi fe a nd a l so
.
,

ass a u l ti ng anot h er w o man w h o p rotested aga i ns t h i s b ru

ta l i ty T h e co nstab l e tri ed t o p ersuad e h i m t o go i nsid e
.

h i s h o u se b u t p ri s o ner s u dd e n l y t ur n ed u p o n h i m knoc k
, ,

i ng h i m d ow n by a b l ow o n t h e face ki c ki n g h i m as ,

h e la y o n t h e gr o u nd an d a tt e mp ti ng to str a ngl e h i m , .

F i n a ll y t h e pr i so ner d e li ber atel y k icked t h e o f cer i n a

d an ger o us par t i n i c ti ng an inj u ry w h i c h w il l k eep h im
,

O ff d u t y for a l o n g ti me t o c o m e S i x w ee k s . .
 PROPERT Y VE R S US PERSON
La mb et h P o l i ce C our t L ond on Befor e M r H o pk i ns
, . . .

Baby S t u a rt a ged ni net een d esc r i bed a s a c h or u s gi r l

, , ,

c h a r ged w i t h ob t a i n i ng fo o d a nd l o d gi ng t o t h e v a l ue
of sr . b y fa l se p r etences a nd w i t h i nt ent t o d efra u d
, ,

E mma B ra si er . E mma Br a si er co mp l ai na nt l od gi ng
, ,

h ouse keep er of A tw el l R oa d Pr i soner t oo k a p a rt ment s

.

a t h e r h o u s e o n t h e r e p r e s ent a ti o n t h a t s h e w a s e mp l oyed
a t t h e C r ow n T h ea t r e . A ft er p ri so ner h a d b een i n h er
h ou se tw o or t h r ee d ays M r s B r a si er ma d e i nq ui r i es
, .
,

an d nd i ng t h e gi r l s st o r y u nt ru e gav e h er int o c u st od y

, , .

Pr i so ner t o l d t h e ma gi st r a t e t h a t s h e w ou l d h av e w o r k ed
h a d s h e not h a d s u c h b a d h ea l t h S i x w ee k s h a rd l a b o r
. .
 C HA PTE R XV I I
I N EFFI C I E N C Y
Id

h er die on t h e h igh roa d unde r t h e o pen b lue I d rat h er
rat .

s tar v e t o d ea t h i nt h e s weet a i r o r d r o w ni nt h e b ra v e sa l t s ea o r h a e
, , , v

on e erc e gla d h our o f ba tt l e an d t h ena b ull et t h nlead t h e l i f

, ,f a a e o

bru te i n a sti nk ing h ell and gas p out my brok en brea t h at la t o na

, s

WW

B p a ll et .
R OB E R T BLA TC HPO R D .

I STOPPED a momen t to listen to an argument on

the Mi l e E nd Waste I t was night time and they .
-
,

were al l workmen of the better cl ass They had .

surrou nded one of thei r n umber a pleasant faced ,

-

man of thi rty and were givi ng it to h im rather

,

heatedly .

But o w about th is ere cheap immigration ?

one of them demanded The J ews of White .

ch apel say a c utt i n ou r throats right along ?

, ,
-

Y ou can t blame them
was the answer , .

They re just l ike us and they ve go t to l ive , .

D on t blame the man who offers to work cheaper
than you and gets your job .

Bu t o w abou t the wife an kiddies ? his i nter

loc utor demanded .

The r e you are came the ans wer H ow
, .

about the wife and kiddies of the man who works

19:
194 T H E PEO PL E OF T H E AB YSS

There s where you r cheap labor of W hitechapel

comes i n They re u nskilled and have no un ions

.
, ,

and cut each o ther s th roats and ours i n the bar ,

gai n if we don t belong to a strong un ion

, .

Withou t goi ng fu rther i nto the argument th is ,

man on the M ile E nd Waste pointed the moral

that when two men were a fter the one job wages
were bound to fall Had he gone deeper i nto the
.

matter he would have fou nd that even the u nion

, ,

say twenty thousand st rong could not hold up ,

w ages if twen ty thousa nd idle men were tryi ng to

displ ace the un ion men This is admi rably i n .

s ta nced j ust now by the return and disbandment

, ,

of the soldiers fro m S outh A frica They nd .

themsel ves by tens of thousands in desperate

, ,

straits i n the army of the u nemployed There is .

a general decl ine i n wages throughou t the land ,

which gi vi ng rise to labo r d isputes and strikes

, ,

is taken ad van tage of by the u nem ployed who ,

gladly pick up the tools th rown down by the

stri kers .

S weati ng starvation wages arm ies of unemployed

, , ,

and great numbe rs of the homeless and shelterless

are inevitable when there are more men to do work
than there is work for men to do The men and .

women I have met u pon the streets and i n the ,

spikes and pegs are not there because as a mod e

,

Of l ife i t may be considered a soft snap I have
.
 IN EFF I C I E NCY 19 5

su i c i entloutli ned the hardsh ips they u ndergo to

y
demonst rate that thei r e x istence is anyt hing but

soft .

I t is a matter of sober calculation here i n E ng ,

land that i t is softer to work for twenty S hil l ings

,

Prc e G OA q 11: T HE C As uA L WR
A D .

a week and have regul ar food and a bed

, ,

at n ight than it is to wal k the st reets The man

, .

who walks the stree ts suffers more and works ,

harder for far less retu rn I have depicted the

, .

nights they spend and h o w driven i n by physical

, ,

exhaustion they go to the casual ward for a rest

,

1 96 T HE PEOP LE or T HE A EY ss

up N or is the casual ward a soft snap To pick

.
0
.

four pounds of oakum break twelve hu ndredweight ,

of stones or pe rform t he most revol ting tasks i n

, ,

retu rn for the m iserable food and S helter they r e

ce i v e ,
is an u nqual ied extravagance on the part
of the men who a re guilty of it O n the part of .

the authori ties i t is shee r robbe ry They give the

, .

men far less for their labor than do the capitalistic

employers The wage for the same amou n t of
.

l abor performed for a pri vate em ployer would buy

, ,

them bett er beds better food more good cheer and

, , , ,

above all greater freedom

,
.

As I say it is an ext ravagance for a man to pat

,

ron i z e a cas ual ward A nd t h at they know it them

.

'

selves is shown by the way these men shu n it t ill

d ri ve n i n by physical exhaustion Then why do .

they do i t ? Not because they a re discou raged

workers . The very opposi te is t ru e ; they are
discou raged vagabonds I n the U ni ted S tates the .

t ramp is al most invariably a discou raged worker .

H e nds t rampi ng a softer mode of life than work

i ng But th is is not t rue i n E ngland H ere the
. .

powers that h e do thei r u tmost to di scourage the

tram p and vagabond and he is i n a l l truth a , , ,

m igh tily discouraged creatu re H e kno ws that two .

sh illi ngs a day wh ich is only fty cents will buy

, ,

h im three fair meal s a bed at n igh t and leave him

, ,

a CO M for pocket money H e woul d .

198 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

The mortal i ty is excessi ve but even then they die , , ,

far too lingeri ng deaths .

H ere then we h ave the construction of the

, ,

Abyss and the shambles Th roughou t the whole .

i ndustrial fabric a constan t el imination is goi ng on .

The i nei c i ent are weeded out and ung down ward .

Various things constit ute i nei c ie ncy The engi .

neer who is irregular or i rresponsibl e wil l si nk down

unti l he nds his place say as a casual laborer an , ,

occupation i rregular i n i ts very nature and in which

there is littl e or no respo nsibil ity Those who are .

slow and cl u msy who su ffer from weakness of body

,

or m i nd or who lack ne rvous me ntal and physica l

, , ,

stami na must sink down someti mes rapidly some

, , ,

times s tep by step to the bottom Acciden t by, .

,

disabli ng an ei c i ent worker wil l make h im i nef ,

cient and down he m ust go A nd the worker who

, .

becomes aged with fail ing energy and n umbing

,

brai n must begin the frightfu l desce nt which k nows

,

no stopping place short of the bottom and death

-

I n this last i nstance the statistics of London tel l,

a terri ble tale The pop u lation of London is one

.

seventh of the total population of the U n ited K ing

dom and i n London year i n and year out one adul t
, , ,

i n every fou r dies on public chari ty either i n the ,

workhouse the hospital or the asy l um When the

, , .

fact that the well to do do not end th us is taken

- -

i nto consideration i t becomes man ifest that it is t he

,
 I N EFF I C I E N CY 199

fate of at l east one i n every three ad ul t workers to

die on publ ic chari ty .

A S an il l ustration of how a good worker may

suddenly become ine ffi cient and what then happens ,

to hi m I am tempted to gi ve the case of M G ar ry

,

a man thi rty two years of age and an in mate of the

-
,

workhouse The ex trac ts are quoted from the

.

an nua l report of the trade union

I w or k ed a t S ulli va ns p la ce i nW i d nes bett er k nown as

'
,

t h e B ri ti s h A l k a li C h e mi ca l W or ks I w as w or k in g i na .

s h ed a n d I h ad to cross t h e yar d I t w as t en o c l oc k at
'
.
,

ni gh t a nd t h er e w as no l i gh t a bo u t W h i l e cr ossi n g t h e
, .

y a r d I fel t so met h i ng t a k e h o l d of my leg a nd sc r ew i t o ff .

I bec a me u nc o nsc i o us ; I d id nt k no w w h a t beca me o f me

fo r a d ay o r t w o O nt h e fo ll ow i ng S u nda y nigh t I ca me
.

t o my se ns es a n d fo u nd my se lf i n t h e h o s p i ta l
,
I as k ed .

t h e nu r se w h a t w as to d o wi t h my l egs a n d s h e t o l d me ,

bot h l egs w er e o ff .

T h e re w as a s ta ti onary cra nk i n t h e yard let into t h e ,

g r o u nd ; t h e h o l e w as 1 8 i n c h e s l o ng 5 1 i nc h e s d ee p a nd , ,

1 5 in c h e s wi d e T h e c ra nk r evo l ved i n t h e h o l e t h ree

.

r evo l u ti o n s a mi n ute T h ere w a s no fen ce o r coveri ng

.

ove r t h e h o l e S i nce my accid e nt t h ey h ave stopped i t a l

.

toget h er an d h ave covered t h e h o l e u p wit h a p i ece of

,

s h eet i ro n Th ey gave me 2 5 T h ey d i d nt rec k o n

'
. .

t h at a s co mp ensa ti o n; t h ey sai d i t w as o nly for c h ari ty s

s ak e . O u t o f t h at I p a i d 9 f or a ma c hi ne by w h i c h t o
w h ee l my se lf ab o ut .

I w as l ab o r i ng at t h e ti me I got my l egs o ff I got .

twenty fo ur sh i ll i ngs a w eek ra t h er be tt er pa y t h an t h e

-
,

o t h er men beca use I use d t o ta k e s h if ts

, W h enth ere w as .
2 00 T H E PEO PLE OF T H E AB YSS
h eavy w or k to be d o ne I u se d to be p i c k ed o ut to do i t .

Mr .M anto n t h e mana ger h v i s i ted me a t t h e h os p i t a l se v

,

e r a l t i me s . W h e n I w as ge tti ng be tte r I as k ed h i m i f h e ,

wou l d be ab le t o nd me a job He to ld me not t o t r o ub l e .

myse lf a s t h e r m w a s not co l d h earted I w o u l d be

,
-
.

r i gh t e n o ugh i n a n M r M n t n t o ppe d
y ca se . a o s .

co mi n g t o s ee m e ; an d t h e l a s t t i me h e s ai d h e t h o u g,h t o f
ask i ng t h e d i r ector s t o gi ve me a ft y po u nd -
not e , so I
co u l d go h o me t o my f ri en d s i n I re l a nd .

P oor M G a r ry ! H e received rather better pay

than the other men because he was ambitious and

took shifts and when h eavy work was to be done
,

he was the man picked out to do i t A nd then .

the thing happened and he went i nto the work ,

house The al ternative to the workhouse is to go

.

home to I reland and burden his friends for the

rest of his l i fe Com ment is super uous
. .

I t m ust be understood that effi ciency is not de

t e rrni ned by the workers them selves bu t is deter ,

m ined by the demand for l abor I f three men .

seek one positi on the most efcient man will get ,

it The other two no matter how capa ble they

.
,

may be will none the l ess be i nefc i e nt s I f G er

,
.

many J apan and the U nited S tates shou l d cap

, ,

ture the en tire world market for i ron coal and , ,

tex tiles at once the E nglish workers would be

,

thrown idle by hu ndreds of thousands S ome .

would em igrate but the rest would rush thei r

,

labor i nto the remai n i ng i nd ustries A general .

 C HA PTE R XV I I I

WAGES
So me se t ll h i l i f
b ead e r ves or r

S mo t e se ll h i
f g ld ; l e r so u s or o

S m k th i b d ;
o e see e r ver e

So m k t h w kh ous m l d
e s ee e or e o .

S h i p d E ngl nd w y
uc s ro u a

s s a ,

W h w al t h m y w k i t wi ll ;
ere e a or s

Wh i t h i ch p t d y
e es s ea o- a ,

W hi t l h p ti ll
e so u s ar e c ee e r s .

F ANTAsrAS .

W HE N I l earned that i n Lesser London ther e

were peopl e who received 2 1 shi l l ings
or less a week per fam ily I became in terested as ,

to how the wages coul d best be spen t i n o rder to

maintai n the physical ec i ency of such fami lies .

F amil ies Of s ix seven eight or ten bei ng beyond

, , ,

conside ration I have based the fol l owing table

,

upon a fam ily of ve a father mother and th ree

, , ,

children ; while I have made 2 1 sh ill ings eq u i v a

lent to though actual ly 2 1 s h i l l i ngs are ,

equivalent to about
2 02
 WAGES 2 03

A n analysis of one item alone wi ll show how

l ittle room ther e is for waste B r ea d $ 1 : for a
.
,

fami l y of v e for seven days one dollar s worth of

, ,

bread wi l l gi ve each a daily ration of 2 9 cents ; and

if they eat t hree meals a day each may consume ,

per meal 9 5 m il l s worth of bread a l it tle less than,

one cent s wort h Now bread i s the heavi est item
. .

They will get less of m eat per mouth each meal ,

and sti ll less of vegetabl es ; while the smal ler i tems

be come too microscop ic fo r co nsi dera ti o n O n the .

other hand these food a rtic l es are all bought at

,

small re tail the most expensi ve and wasteful

,

method of pu rchasi ng .

While the table given above will perm i t no

ext ravagance no overl oadi ng of stomachs i t wi ll
, ,

be noticed that there is no su rpl us The whole .

is spent for food and rent There is no .

2 04 T HE PEOP L E or T HE AB YSS

pocket money l eft over D oes the man buy a glass .

of bee r the family m ust eat that m uch less ; and i n

,

so far as i t eats less j ust that far will it impai r i ts

,

physical effi ciency Th e membe rs of th is family .

can not ride i n bu s es or trams can not write letters , ,

take outings go to a t u pe nny gaff for cheap

,

vaudeville joi n soc ial or bene t clu bs nor can they

, ,

buy sweetmeats tobacco books or newspape rs , , , .

A nd further should one child (and there are

,

th ree )requi re a pair of shoes the family m ust st ri ke ,

meat for a week from i ts bill of fare A nd since .

,

there are ve pairs of feet requi ring shoes and ,

ve heads req u i ri ng hats and ve bodies requ i ri ng ,

clothes and since the re are laws regulati ng i nde

,

ce ncy the fam ily m ust constantly impai r i ts physi

,

cal effi ciency i n order to keep warm and out of jail .

F or notice when rent coals O il soap and rewood

, , , , ,

are extracted from the weekly i ncome there remai ns ,

a daily allowance for food of 9 cen ts to each pe r

son ; and that 9 cen ts can not be lessened by buy
i ng clothes withou t i m pai ri ng the physical ei
cie ncy .

Al l of wh ich is hard enough But the thing hap .

pens ; t he husband and father breaks his l eg or his

nec k No 9 cen ts a day per mo nth for food is
.

coming i n ; no 9 h mills worth of bread per meal ;

and at the end of the week no

, for ren t S o , .

out they m ust go to the streets or the workhouse

, ,
2 06 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YS S
R ent, r e, a nd l igh t .

Boar d at h o me
Boar d at th e o f ce
Street car far e
Laundr y

This l eaves nothing for clothes recreation or , ,

sickness A nd yet man y of the gi rls are receivi ng

. ,

not but $3 and per week They , .

m ust have clothes and recreat ion and ,

M anto Manso nj ,
o ff u
us t
Is a l ways so to Woman .

A t the Trades U nion Congress now bei ng held

i n London the Gas w o rk ers U nion moved that
,

instructions be given the P arl iamen ta ry Comm ittee

to i ntroduce a bill to pro h ibi t the em ployment of
children u nder fteen years of age M r S hackle . .

ton Member o f P arliament and a representative of

,

the Northern C ou nties Weavers opposed the reso ,

l u ti o non behalf of the textile workers who he said , , ,

could not dispense with the earn i ngs of thei r ch il

d ren and l ive on the scal e of wages which obtained .

The representatives of workers voted agai nst

the resol ution while the representat ives of
,

workers voted i n favor of it When workers

.

oppose a resol ution proh ibiti ng ch ild labo r under -

fteen i t is evi dent that a less than l i vi ng wage is

,
- -
 WAGES 2 07

bei ng paid to an i mmense nu mber of the adu l t

workers of the coun try .

I have S poke n wi th women i n Wh itechape l who

recei ve right along less than 2 5 cents for a twe l ve
hour day i n the coa t making sweat shops ; and wi th
-

women trousers n ishers who receive an average

princely and weekly wage of 7 5 cents to $ 1 .

A case recently cropped up of men i n the employ ,

of a wealthy busi ness house r eceiv ing thei r board ,

and $ 1 5 0 per week for six worki ng days of sixteen

.

hou rs each The sandwich men get 2 7 cen ts per

.

day and nd themselves The ave rage wee kly

.

earni ngs of the hawkers and costermongers are not

more than to $ 3 The average of all com .

mon labore rs outside the dockers is less than $ 4

, ,

per week while the dockers average from $ 2 to

,

These gu res are t aken from a royal com

mission report and are authentic .

Conceive of an old woman broken and dyi ng , ,

suppo rti ng hersel f and fou r children and payi ng ,

75 cen ts per week ren t by maki ng match boxes

, at
45 cents per gross Twelve do.z en boxes for 4}
cents and i n add ition nd i ng her own paste and
, , ,

thread ! S he never knew a day OH either for sick ,

ness rest or recreation E ac h day and every day

, , .
,

S undays as well she toiled fou rteen hou rs H er

, .

day s sti nt was seve n gross for which she recei ved

3 ,
1 cents I n the
. week of n inety eight hours work -

,
2 08 T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

she made 7 066 match boxes and earned l ess ,

her paste and th read .

Las t year Mr Thomas H olmes a pol ice cou rt

, .
,

m issionary of note after wri ting about the condi

,

tion of the women workers received the fo ll owing ,

l etter dated Ap ri l 1 8 1 90 1
, ,

S rR : m t a k ing b ut h avi n g rea d

Par d o n t h e li be r ty I a , ,

w h a t y ou sa id a bo ut p oo r w o me nw o r k i n g f o u rt ee n h o ur s

a d ay fo r te n s h i lli ngs pe r w eek I beg to sta te my ca se , .

I a m a t i e ma k er w h o a fte r w o r k i ng a ll t h e w ee k ca nno t
-
, , ,

ea r n mo re t h a n v e s h i l li ngs a nd I h av e a p o
, o r a ffl i c t e d
h us b and to k eep w h o h as nt ea rned a penny fo r mor e t h an
'

t e n ea
y rs .

I magine a woman capable of wri ti ng such a clear

, ,

sensible grammatical letter supporti ng her husband

, ,

and self on 5 shill i ngs per week ! M r .

H olmes visi ted her H e had to squee z e to get i nto

.

the room There lay her sick h usband ; there she

.

worked al l day l ong ; there she cooked ate washed , , ,

and s l ept ; and there her husband and she pe rformed

al l the fu nctions of l ivi ng and dying There was .

no space for the mi ssionary to sit down save on the ,

bed wh ich was part iall y covered wi th ties and s i l k

, .

The S ick man s l ungs were i n the last stages of
decay H e coughed and expectorated constantl y
.
,

the woman ceasing from her work to assist him i n

his paroxysms The silken u ff from th e ties was
m
.

not good for his sickness ; nor M a

 C H A PTE R X I X
T HE G HETTO
Is i t we ll h t wh il
t a e we ra nge wi t h Sci ence , lg yi ng i n h i m
or t e t e,

Ci t yc h il d n k
re soa and b lack ensoul and se n i n i y li m ?
se c t s e

Th e re a mo ng t h e lg oo my a ll e s y P ro gr ess h l np l i d f
a ts o a s e ee t,

C ri me a nd h unger eas t our mai d ens by t h e t ho usa nd o nth e street ;

The e th m te c i mps h i h gga d sea m tr of h dai l y bread ;
r e as r s r s a r s ess er

T h ere i ngl
a sd i d t t i c h l d th li i ng nd th e d d ;
e sor a o s e v a ea

T h e t h m l d i ng f f
er e s ou c
er p c o t h tted o
re o ev er ree s a r ss e ro o r,

A nd t h e cr ow ded couc h of inces t , i nt he w arr ens of th e poor .

T ENNY SON .

A T one time the nations of E urope con ned the

u ndesi rable J ews i n ci ty ghettos Bu t t o day the .

dom inant econom ic cl ass by less arbitrary bu t none ,

the less rigorous methods has conned the u nd es i r ,

able yet necessary workers i nto ghettos of rema r ka

ble mean ness and vast ness E ast London is such .

a ghetto where the ri ch and the powerful do not

,

dwell and the traveller cometh not and where

, ,

two million workers swarm procreate and die , , .

I t m ust not be supposed that al l the worke rs of

London are crowded i nto the E ast E nd bu t the ,

tide is setting strongly i n that di rection The poor .

quarters of the city proper are constan tly bei ng

destroyed and the mai n stream of the u nhoused is
,

2 10
 T HE GH E TT O 2 11

toward the east I n the las t t w elve years one dis

.
,

tr i c t
, L ondo n over the Border as it is call ed , ,

which l ies wel l beyond Aldgate Whi tec hapel a nd , ,

M ile E nd has i ncreas ed

, or over s i x ty per
cent The churches i n this district by the way can
.
, ,

seat bu t one i n e v ery th i rty se v en of the added pop-

u la t i o n
.

The Ci ty of D readful Mono tony the E ast E nd is

ofte n cal led especially by well fed optimistic Si gh t
,
-
,

seers who look over the su rface of th ings and are

,

merely shocked by the i ntolerable same ness and

meanness of i t all If the E as t E nd is worthy of no
.

worse title than The Ci ty of D readful Monotony ,

and if work ing people are u nworthy of variety and

beau ty and su rprise it wou ld n ot be such a bad
,

place i n wh ich to l i ve But the E ast E nd does .

meri t a worse title I t should be called The City

.

of D egradation .

While i t is not a city of S l ums as some people ,

imagine i t may well be said to be one gigantic

,

sl um F rom the stand poi n t of simple decency and

.

clean manhood and womanhood any mean street , ,

of all its mean streets i s a sl um W here sigh ts and

, .

sounds abound which neither you nor I would care

to have our children see and hear is a place where

no man s ch ildren should l i ve and see and hear , .

Where you and I wou ld not care to have our wi ves

pass thei r li ves is a place where no other man s wife
2 12 T H E P EO PLE OF T H E AB YSS

should have to pass her l ife F or he re i n the E as t

.
,

E nd the Obscenities and bru te vulga rities of l ife are

,

rampant There is no privacy The bad corru pts

. .

the good and al l fester together I n nocent chi l d

, .

hood is sweet and beau tiful ; but i n E as t London

innocence is a eeting thi ng and you must catch
,

S
A N EA T E ND INTER rO R .

them before they craw l ou t of the c radle or you wi ll ,

nd the very babes as u nholi l y wise as you .

The app l ication of the Golden R ule dete rmines

that E ast London is an un t pl ace i n which to l i ve .

Where you wou l d not have your o w n babe l ive and ,

develop and gather to i tself knowledge of life and

,

the th ings of l ife is not a t place for the babes

,
2 14 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB Y S S

The workers as a class are bei ng more and , ,

more segr e gated by thei r economic mas ters ; and

this process with its jamm i ng and overcrowding
, ,

tends not S O m uch toward i mmora l ity as u nmoral

ity H ere is an extract fro m a recen t meeti ng of
.

the London Coun ty Council terse and bald bu t , ,

with a weal th of horror to be read between the

l i nes

Mr . ask ed t h e C h a irman o f t h e P ub li c H eal th

B r uce
C o mmittee w h et h er hi s a ttenti o n h a d bee n ca ll ed t o a
nu mber o f ca ses of ser i o us overc r ow d i ng i nt h e Ea s t E nd .

In S t G eorge s i nt h e Ea st a ma n a nd h i s w i fe a nd t h e i r
.
- o -

fa mi ly o f ei gh t occ u p i ed o ne s ma ll roo m Th i s fa mi l y .

c o n sis ted o f v e d a u gh ter s a ged tw e nty sevent ee n ei gh t , , , ,

fou r a nd an i nfant and t h ree so ns aged ft een t h i rt ee n

, , , , ,

an d twe l ve I n W h itec h a pe l a ma na nd h i s w i fe a nd t h ei r
.

t h r ee d a ugh ter s aged sixteen ei gh t a nd fou r a nd tw o

, , , ,

s o n s a ged t enan
, d twe l ve y ea r s occu p i ed a sma ll e r roo m , .

I n Bet h na l G ree n a ma na nd h i s w i fe w i t h fou r so ns a ge d , ,

tw ent y t h ree t w e nty o ne ni net ee n a nd si xt ee n a nd t w o

-
,
-
, , ,

d a ugh ter s a ged fo u rt ee n a nd seve n w e r e a ls o fo und i n

, ,

on e r oo m He a sk ed w h et h er i t w as no t t h e d ut y o f t h e
.

va r i ous l oc a l a ut h ori ti es t o p revent suc h ser i o us over

cro w d in g .

But wi th people actually l ivi ng u nder

illegal conditions the au thori ties have their hands ,

full When the overcrowded folk are ejected they

.

stray off i nto some other hole ; and as they move ,

thei r belongi ngs by n ight on hand barrows (one ,

-
 L
D Ev O NS HrR E P A CE , L rsS O N G R o v E
.
2 16 TH E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

S he had extensi ve sores on her legs and h er stock ,

i ngs were adherent to those sores The sores were .

"
the resul t of verm i n .

A man present at the i nquest w rote : I h ad the
evil fort une to see the body of the u nfortunate
woman as i t lay i n the mortuary ; and even now
the memory of that grewsome sight makes me
shud d er There she lay in the mortuary shell so

.
,

starved and emaciated that she was a mere bu ndle

of ski n and bones H er hai r which was matted
.
,

with lth was sim ply a nest of verm i n O ver her

, .

bony chest leaped and rolled h und red s thou sands , ,

myriads of vermin .

If i t is not good for you r mother and my mothe r

so to die then it is not good for this woman whoso
, ,

ever s mother she m ight be so to die , .

Bishop Wilki nson who has li ved i n ! ul uland

, ,

recently sa id No headman of an African vill age

,

would allow such a prom iscuous m ix i ng of young

men and women boys and girls , H e had refer .

ence to the children of the ove r crowded folk who

at ve have nothi ng to learn and m
,

uch to u nlearn
which they will never u nlea m .

I t is notorious that here in the G hetto the houses

of the poor are greater profi t earners than the man ~

sions of the rich Not on l y does the poor worker

.

have to live like a beast but he pays proportionate l y

,

more for i t than does the rich man for his spac io u s
 T H E GHE TTO z :7

co mfort A class of house s w eaters has been made

.
-

possible by the competit ion of the poor for houses .

There are more peop l e than there is room and ,

n umbers are i n the workhouse because they can not

nd shelter elsewhere Not on l y are houses l et but
.
,

R
A PA T 0 ? A noo n TO L ET .

they are sublet and s ub sublet down to the very

,
~

rooms .

A pa rt of a room to l et T his notice .

posted a short while ago i n a window not fi ve

mi n utes wal k from S t James s H all The R ev

.

. .

H ugh P rice H ughes is authority for the statement

that beds are let on the th ree relay system that
-

is th ree tenants to a bed each occupying i t eigh t

, ,
2 18 T H E P EO PL E OF T H E AB YSS

hou rs so that i t never gr ows co l d ; while the oo r

,

space underneath the bed is l ikewise let on t h e

th ree relay system H ealth of cers are not at al l
-
.

u n used to nding such cases as the following : i n

on e room having a cubic capaci ty of 1000 feet three ,

ad ul t females i n the bed and two adul t females ,

under the bed ; and i n one room of 16 5 0 cubic

feet one adult male and two children i n the bed
, .

and two adul t females under the bed .

H ere is a typical example of a room on the more

respectable two relay system I t is occupied i n the
-
.

dayti me by a young woman employed all n igh t

'
i n a hotel At seven o clock i n the eveni ng she
.

'
vacates the room and a bricklayer s laborer comes
,

i n A t seven i n the morning he vacates and goes

.
,

to his work at wh ich time she returns from

,

hers .

The R ev W N D avies rector of S pi ta l eld s

. . .
, ,

took a census of some of the al leys i n his parish .

H e says :
I n o ne a h o use s 5 1 r oo ms n ea r ly a l l
ll ey th er e ar e 10 ,

a bo u t 8 feet by 9 fee t an d 2 54 peo p l e Ins i x i ns ta n ces .

on l y d o 2 p eo p l e occu py o ne r oo m ; a nd i n ot h e r s t h e
nu mb er v a r i ed fr o m 3 t o 9 In ano t h er cou r t w it h 6
.

h o uses a nd 2 2 r oo ms w er e 84 peo p l e aga i n 6 7 8 , , , ,

an d 9 bei ng t h e nu mbe r l ivi ng i n one r oo m i n se vera l ,

i n stan ces In o ne h o u s e w i t h 8 r o o ms a r e 4 5 peo p l e

.

o ne r oo m co ntai ni ng 9 pe r so ns o ne 8 t w o 7 and , , ,

a no th er 6 .
A Tw m
o - 11 ? Sm ut 140001316 .
 T H E GH E TT O 2 19

Th is G hetto crowding is not th rough i nc l ination ,

but compulsion N early fty per cen t of the workers

.

pay f rom one fourth to one half of their earnings for

- ~

ren t The average ren t i n the larger part of the

.

E ast E nd i s from to per week for one

room wh ile skilled mechanics earni ng
, per ,

week are forced to part with

, of i t for two or
three pokey l i ttle dens i n which they strive desper ,

ately to obtain some semblance of home l i fe A nd .

rents are going up all the ti me I n one st reet i n .

S tepney the i ncrease i n onl y two years has been

from to i n another street from to
$4 ; and i n another street from to ,

wh ile i n Wh itechapel two room houses that r e ,

-

ce n t ly rented for a re now costing

E ast west north and south the rents are going
, , , ,

up W hen l and is worth from

. to
an acre some one must pay the landlord
, .

Mr W C S tead man in the H ou s e of Com mons

. . . , ,

i n a speech concern ing his consti tu ency i n S tepney ,

related the following

Th i s morni n g not a h und r ed ya rd s fr o m w h er e I a m

,

myse l f li vi ng a w i d o w s to ppe d me S h e h a s six ch i l dr en

, .

t o s u pp o rt and t h e r en
, t of h er h o use w as 14 s h i l li ngs pe r
w eek S h e gets h er li vi ng by l e tti ng t h e h o use t o l od gers
.

an d d o i ng a d a y s w a sh i ng or ch a ri ng T h a t w o ma n w i t h
'
.
,

tea rs i nh er eyes to l d me t h at th e l a nd lor d h ad i ncreased

,

t h e re nt f r o m 14 s h i ll i ng s t o 1 8 s h i l lings W ha t co u l d t h e .
220 THE P EO PLE OF T HE AB YSS
w oma n do ? T h er e i s no accommoda ti o n in St e pney .

Ever y p l ac e is ta k en u p and over cr owd ed .

Cl ass supremacy can rest only on c l ass degra

dation ; and when the workers are segregated i n the
G hetto they can not escape the consequen t degrada
,

tion A short and stun ted people is created

.
a ,

A 6 110 11 0? 1
11m m G u nm a n .

breed stri ki ngly di fferentiated from thei r m asters
breed a pavemen t fol k as i t were lacking stam ina
, , ,

and strength The m en become caricatu res of

.

what physical men ough t to be and their women ,

and children are pale and an aemi c wi th eyes ri nged ,

darkl y who stoop and s l ouch and are early twisted

, ,

out of al l shapeliness and beau ty .

222 T HE P EOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

wi th thei r hands and the n stupidly surrender them

,

se l ves to the executioners There is no splendid

.

audacity abou t their tr ansgressions They gouge .

a mate with a dull knife or beat his head i n wi th

,

an iro n pot and then sit down an d wai t for the

,

pol ice Wife beating is the masculine prerogati ve

.
-

of matri mony They wear remarkable boots of

.

T i l l! G H ETTO R
M A K ET ,

brass and iron and when they have polished o ff

,

the mother of their ch ildren with a black eye or

so they knock he r dow nand proceed to t rample
,

her very m uch as a Western stall ion tramples a

ratt l esnake .

A woman of the l ower G hetto classes is as m uch

the slave of her husband as is the I ndia n squaw .

A nd I for one were I a woman and had bu t the

, ,
 T HE GHE TT O 22 3

two choices shou l d prefer bei ng the squaw The

, .

men are economically dependent on their m asters ,

and the wome n are econom ically dependent on the

men The resul t is the woman gets the beating
.
,

the man should gi ve his m aster and she can do

,

noth ing There are the kiddies and he is the

.
,

bread w i nner and she dare not send him to jail and
,

WH IT EC HA P E L .

leave herself and chi l d ren to starve E vidence to.

convict can rare l y be obt a i ned when such cases

come i nto the courts ; as a rule the trampled wife
and mother is weeping and hysterical l y beseeching
the magist rate to let her husband 03 for the k iddies

sakes .

The wives become scream i ng harridans or broken

spiri ted and dogl ike l o se what l itt l e decency and
,
2 24 T HE P EOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

se lf respect they ha ve remaini ng over from their

-

maiden days and all si nk together unheedi ng i n

, , ,

their degradatio n and di rt .

S ometimes I become afraid of my own general i z a

tions upon the massed m ise ry of this G hetto life and ,

feel that my impressions are exaggerated that I am ,

too close to the picture and lack perspective A t .

such moments I nd it well to turn to the testi mony

of other men to prove to myself that I am not be
coming overw rough t and addle pated F rederick-

H arri son h as al ways struck me as being a l eve l

hea ded well controlled man and he says
,
-
,

To meat l east i t wo ul d be e nough t o co nd emn mod ern

, ,

s o c i e ty as h ard l y a na d va n ce o ns l ave ry o r ser fd o m i f t h e ,

per ma nent co nd i ti ono f i nd u s tr y w er e t o be t h a t w h i c h w e

be h o l d t h at ni nety pe r ce nt o f t h e act ua l p r od ucers o f
,

w ea l t h h ave n o h o me t h a t t h e y ca n ca l l t h ei r o w n bey o n d
t h e e nd o f t h e w e e k ; h ave n o h i t o f s o i l o r so mu ch as a
,

r oo m t h a t b e l o n gs t o t h e m h a v e n o t h i ng o f v a l u e o f a ny
k i nd exce p t a s muc h o ld fu r ni tu r e as w i ll go i nto a car t ;
,

h ave t h e p reca r i o us ch a nce o f w ee k l y w ages w h i c h bar e l y

,

s u f ce t o k ee p t h e m i n h e a l t h a re h o u se d f o r t h e mos t
,

p a rt i n p l aces t h at no ma n t h 1nk s t for hi s h ors e ; a re

,

se p a ra t ed by s o n a r r o w a ma r gi n fr o m d es titu ti o n t h a t a

mo nt h o f bad tr ad e s i ck n ess o r u nex pected lo ss b r i ngs

, ,

t h e m face to face w it h h un ger and p aup eri sm . But

be lo w t h i s no rma l st a te o f t h e aver age w ork man i n tow n
an d co u ntr y t h er e i s fo u nd t h e grea t ba nd o f d e st i t u te o ut

,

ca sts t e ca mp fo ll o er
h w s o m
f t h e a r y o f i n d ustry at

l eas t one te nt h of t h e w h o l e p r o l e ta r i a n po pu lati o n w h ose

-
,
 T HE GH ETTO 22 5

n or ma l cond i ti on i s o ne o f si c k ening wr etc h edness If

.
.

t h i s i s t o be t h e pe rmanent arra ngement o f mod er n

soc i e ty ci v i l iz a ti o n mu s t be h el d t o b ri n
, g a cu rs e o n t h e

g r e a t ma j or i t y o f mank i n d .

N inety per cent ! The gu res are appal ling yet ,

the R ev S topfo r d Brooke after drawi ng a frightful

. ,

V 1E w m BETH NA L G R EE N .

London pictu re nds h imsel f com pe ll ed to m u l tiply

,

it by half a m ill ion H ere i t is

.

I oft en u sed t o mee t w h en I w as c ura te at ensi ng

, K
t o n fa mi li es d r ift i ng i nt o L o n
, d on a lo ng t h e H a mmer s mit h
R o ad . O ne d a y t h e r e ca me a l o n g a l a bo r er a nd h i s w i fe ,

h is so na nd t w o d a u gh ter s . T h ei r fa mi l y h ad li v ed for a
l ong ti me o nanestat e i n th e co unt ry a nd ma naged wi t h , ,

t h e h e l p o f t h e co mmo nl and a nd t h ei r l a bo r t o ge t o n
-
, .

Q
226 TH E P EO PL E OF T H E A B YSS
B ut th e ti me ca me w h en t h e common w as en cr oac h ed
u po n a n
, d t h ei r l abo r w as no t nee d ed o n t h e es ta te a nd ,

th ey wer e q ui et ly tu rned o ut of t h ei r cotta ge W h er e .

s h o u l d t h ey go ? O f course t o Lo nd on w h ere wor k w as ,

t h o ugh t t o be p l enti ful Th ey h ad a li tt le savings and

.
,

t h ey t h ou gh t th ey co ul d get t w o d ec ent ro o ms t o l ive i n .

Bu t t h e i nexo ra b le l and q u est i o n met t h e m i n Lo nd o n .

VIEW 1s S T R F
AT O R D
.

T h ey tri ed d ecent cou rts for l od gi ngs and fo und t h a t

th e ,

tw o roo ms woul d cost t en s h i ll i ngs a w ee k Food w as .

cl ea r a n d h ad w at er w as b ad a nd i n a s h o rt ti me t h ei r
, ,

h eal t h su ffered W ork w as h ard t o get a nd i ts wage w as

.
,

s o lo w t h a t t h ey were s o o n i n d eb t T h ey be c a me mor e
.

i ll an d more d es pa i ri ng wit h t h e p o i so n o us s u rro u nd i ngs .

t h e d a r k ness a n
, d t h e l o ng h o urs o f w or k ; and t h ey w ere
d riven for t h t o seek a ch ea p er l od gi ng Th ey fo und i t i n
.

a co u r t I k new w e ll a h ot bed o f cri me and na mel ess
228 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

f rom heaven The very cobblestones are sc umm ed

.

wi th grease . I n brief a vast and com placent dirti

,

ness Obtains which could be done away wi th by

,

nothi ng short of a Ves u vius O I Mount P el e

H ere l ives a popu l ation as dul l and u ni magi na

tive as its long gray m iles of d ingy brick R eligion .

has vi rtually passed i t by and a gro ss a nd st u pid

'

T 1111 G HETTO R
M A K ET .

m aterial ism reigns fatal alike to the th i ngs of t h e

,

spi ri t and the ner i nstincts of l ife .

I t used to be the proud boast that eve ry E ngli sh

man s home was his castle Bu t t o d ay it i s a n
.

a nachron ism The G hetto fo l k have no hom es

.
.

They do not know the signi cance and t h e sac red

ness of home l ife E ven th e
where l ive the better
.

au m
n ici pal d w el l i ngs ,
 T HE GHE TTO 2 29

barracks They have no h Ome l ife

. The very .

l anguage proves i t The fathe r retu rn ing from

.

work asks h is chi l d i n the st r eet where her mother

i s ; and back the answer comes I n the buildi ngs
, .

A new race has spru ng up a street people , .

They pass their l ives at work a nd i n the streets .

They have dens and l airs into which to craw l for

WH CHA PE L
IT E .

s l eeping pu rposes and tha t is a l l O ne cannot

, .

travesty the word by ca l l in g such dens and lai rs

homes The traditional silen t and reserved E ng

.

l ishman has passed away The pavement folk are

.

noisy voluble high strung exci table when they

, ,
-
,

are yet young As they grow Ol der they become

.

steeped and st upe ed i n beer When they have .

nothing else to do they ru minate as a cow rum i

,
2 3 0 T HE P EO P L E OF T HE AB YSS

nates . T hey are to be met w ith everywhere ,

standi ng on c urbs and corners and stari ng i nto ,

vacancy Watch one of them H e wil l stand the r e

. .
,

motionless for hou rs an d when you go away you

, ,

wil l l eave him still stari ng i nto vacancy I t is mos t .

absorbi ng H e has no money for beer and his lai r

.
,

Vl zw m HO XTO N .

is on l y for sleepi ng pu rposes so wh at else remai ns ,

for him to do ? H e has al ready so l ved the mys te ~

'
ries of gi rl s love and wife s love and chi l d s love
, , ,

and found them del usions and S ham s vai n and fl eet ,

i ng as dewdrops quick vanishing before the ferocious

,
-

facts of l ife .
 CHA PTE R XX

C OFFE E HO U S ES
-
A ND B OS S HO U S ES
-

W h y h o ld w
s u e be packed , ha d a nd tai l li k
, e ca nned 3 51mm ?
RO BE R T BL A TC HEO E O .

A N OTHER ph rase gone gl immeri ng shorn Of ,

romance and tradition and all that goes to make

phrases wo rth keeping ! F or m e henceforth , ,

co ffee house wi ll possess anyth ing but an agre e

-

able con notation O ver on the other side Of the

.

world the mere men ti on of the word was sufcient

,

to conj ure up whole crowds Of i ts h istoric frequen t

ers and to send trooping th rough my ima gi nati on
,

endless groups of wit s and dandie s pamphle teers ,

and bravos and bohemian s Of G rub S tre et

, .

Bu t here on th is side O f the world a las and al ack

, , ,

the very name is a misnomer Coffee house : a .

-

place where peopl e d ri nk coff ee Not at al l Y o u . .

cannot Obta in coff ee i n suc h a p lace for l ove o r

money True you may call for coHee and you wi l l
. , ,

have brought you something in a cup purport i ng t o

be co ee and you will taste it and be d isi ll usion e d
, ,

for co ee i t certainly is not .

V IEW 1s W N
A PP I G .
2 34 T H E PEOP LE OF T H E AB YS S

working man from the z est with wh ich he addresses

-
,

himself to the board E ati ng is a necessity and .

,

there are no fri l ls about i t H e bri ngs i n with h im .

a pri miti ve voraciousness and I am condent , , ,

carries away with him a fai rly heal thy appetite .

When you see such a man on his way to work i n ,

the morn i ng order a pi n t of tea which is no more

, ,

tea t h an it is ambrosi a pull a h unk of dry bre ad ,

from h is pocket and wash the one down wi th the

,

other depend upon i t that man has not the right

, ,

sort of stu ff i n h is bel ly nor enough Of the wrong ,

'
sort of stuff to t h im for his day s work A nd
, .

fu rther depend upon it he and a thousand Of his kind

, ,

wi ll not tu rn out the quantity or q ual ity of work

that a thousand men will w h o have eaten heart ily
of meat and potatoes and d runk co ffee that is co ffee .

A pi nt of tea kippe r (o r bloater)and two slices

, ,

(b r ead and butter )are a very good breakfa s t for a

London workman I have looked i n vai n for h i m
.

to order a v e penny or six penny steak (the cheap

- -

est to be had ); while when I ordered one for myse lf

, ,

I have usually had to wait ti ll the proprietor cou l d

send ou t to the nearest bu tch e r s h op and buy one .

As a vagrant in the HObO Of a Cal iforn ia jai l

I have been served better food and dri nk than the

London workman recei ves i n h is co ffee hou ses ; -

whi l e as an A merican laborer I have eaten a

breakfast for twelvepence such as the Bri t ish
 C OFFEE HO U SES AN D D o s s HO U SES
- -
2 35

l aborer would not dream of eati ng cou rse he . Of ,

wil l pay onl y three or fou r pence for h is ; which is ,

however as m uch as I pa id for I would be earn ing

, ,

six sh il lings to his two or two and a half O n the .

other hand though and i n retu rn I would turn ou t

, , ,

an amou nt of work i n the cou rse of the day that

would put to shame the amou n t he tu rned out S O .

there are two sides to i t The man with the high .

standard of livi ng w ill al ways do more work and

better than the man with the low standard of l ivi ng .

There is a com parison wh ich sa i lo rmen make

between the E ngl ish and A merican merchan t
services I n an E nglish ship they say i t is poor
.
, ,

grub poor pay and easy work ; i n an A merica n

, ,

ship good grub good pay and hard work A nd

, , , .

th is is appl icable to the working populations of both

countries The ocean greyhou nds have to pay for
.

speed and steam and so does the workman But if , .

the workman is not able to pay for it he wi ll not ,

have the speed and steam that is all The proof , .

of it is when the E ngli sh workman comes to

America H e will lay more bricks in New Y ork
.

than he will i n London sti l l more bricks i n S t , .

Louis and stil l more bricks when he gets to S an

F r a nc 1sc o
H is standard O f l iving h as been risi ng
.

all the time .

T h e Sa n F ra ncis co bri ck l ayer r ece i v es t went y hi l lings

s
per day,
and a t present is o ns tr i k e fo r twe nt yf
-
ou r s h ill i ngs .
2 3 6 T H E P EO PL E OF T HE AB YSS

E arly i nthe morn ing al ong the streets frequented

,

by wo r kmen on the way to work many women sit ,

on the sidewalk wi th sacks of bread beside them .

N 0 end Of workmen purchase these and eat them as ,

they wal k a l ong They do not even wash the dry

.

bread down with the tea to be Obtained for a pen ny

TU R r uHG O VE R THE S c R A Ps A ND 5 1mm or Be e r A ND M tr r rO H

.

i n the co ffee houses I t is i ncontestab l e that a man

-
.

is not t to begi n his day s work on a meal like that ;
and i t is equally incontestable that the loss wil l fal l
u pon his employer and u pon the nation For some .

time now statesmen have been crying Wake u p
, , , ,

E ngl and ! I t wou l d show more hard headed -

2 3 8 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

the worth of their coppe rs I kept my eye on one . ,

particularl y Offensive looki ng bi t of m eat and fol

-
,

lowed i t through the clutches Of over twenty women ,

til l it fe l l to the l ot of a timid appearing l i tt l e -

woman whom the butcher b u lld o sed i nto taking it .

All day long this hea p Of sc raps was added to and

taken away from the dust and di rt of the street fal l
,

ing upon i t fl ies settl ing on i t and the di rty ngers

, ,

turni ng it over and over .

The costers wheel loads of specked and decaying

fru it around i n the barrows al l day and very Often ,

store it i n their one l i vi ng and sleeping room for

the n ight There i t is exposed to the sickness and
.

disease the e fuv i a and vile exhala tion s of over

,

crowded and rotten life and nex t day i t is carted,

abou t agai n to be so ld .

The poo r worker of the E ast E nd never knows

what it is to eat good wholesome meat or fruit i n
fac t he rarely eats meat or frui t at al l ; while the
,
-

skilled workman has noth ing to boast of i n the

way Of what he eats J udging from the coffee .

houses wh ich is a fair criterion they never know

, ,

i n all their l ives what tea coff ee or cocoa taste , ,

'

like The slops and water witcheri es of the c o ee

.
-

houses varyi ng only i n sloppi ness and witche ry

, ,

neve r even approximate or suggest what you and

I are accustomed to d ri nk as tea and co ffee .

A l ittle i ncident comes to me connected with a ,

 C OFFEE HO U SES AN D
-
B OSS HO U SES
-
2 39

co ee house not far from J ubilee S t reet on the

-

Mi l e E nd R oad .

Ca w nyer let me ave so met h i n for this d a ugh

,

ter ? A ny th i n H i don t m i nd H i aven t ad a

'
.
,

bite the blessed d y an H i m that fynt

.
,

CO FFEE HO US E- HEA Rj us rL EE ST R E ET.

S he was an O ld
woman clad i n decent black ,

rags and in her hand she h eld a pen ny The one

. .

she had addressed as daughter was a care worn
-

woman of fo r ty p r opri et res s and waitress of the ho use

, .

I wai ted possibl y as anxiously as the Old woman

, ,

to see how the appeal wou ld be received I t was .

24o T H E PEOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

four i n th e afte rn oon and she looked fai nt and sick , .

The woman hesi tated an insta nt then brough t a ,

large plate of stewed lamb and young peas

I .

was eati ng a plate of i t myself and it is my j udg ,

ment that t he lamb was mutton and that the peas

m ight have bee n younger without being youthful .

H owever the poi nt i s the dish was sold at si x

, ,

pence and the proprietress gave i t for a pen ny

, ,

demonstrati ng anew the old t ruth that t h e poor

are the most charitable .

The O ld woman profuse i n her gratitude took , ,

a seat on the other side O f the narr ow table and

ravenously a ttacked the smoki ng stew We ate .

steadily and silen tl y the pai r of us when suddenly , , ,

explosively and most gleeful ly she cried out to ,

me
H i sold a box 0 matches !

Y us she con rmed if anything with greater
, ,

and more explosive glee H i sold a box 0 .

matches ! That s O w H i got the penny
.

Y ou must be getti ng along i n years 1 ,

suggested .

S ev enty fo u r yesterday she repl ied and r e
o

, ,

turned with gusto to her plate .

Blimey I d l ike to do someth ing for the Old
,

'
girl that I wou l d but this is the rst I ve ad
, ,

to d y the young fell ow alongside vol unteered to

-
,

A n I only ave th is because I appe ned to

me .

A S HA LL Doss HO
-
US E
.
 CO PPEE -
Houss s AN D BO S S HO U SES
-
24 1

make an odd sh illing was h i n out Lord l umme ! I

don t know o w many pots

.

NO work at my own tryde for six weeks he ,

said further i n reply to m y questi ons ; nothi n

,

but Od d jobs a blessed l ong wy between .

O ne meets with al l sorts of adventu res i n coff ee

houses and I shall not soon forget a Cockney
,

A maz on i n a place nea r Trafalgar S quare to whom ,

I tende red a sovereign when payi ng my score .

(By the way one is supposed to pay , be f ore he

begins to eat and if he be poorly dressed he is
,

compelled to pay before he eats ) .

The gi rl bit the gold piece between her teeth ,

rang it on the cou nter and then looked me and ,

my rags wi theri ngly up and down .

Where d you nd i t ?
she at lengt h de
ma nded .

S ome mug l eft i t on the table when he went

out eh don t you th i nk ? I retorted

, .

Wot s yer gyme ? she queried look i ng me

calmly i n the eyes .

I makes em quoth I , .

S he sni ffed superciliously and gave me the

change i n smal l silver and I had my revenge by ,

biting and ringi ng every piece of i t .

I l l gi ve you ha penn y for an other l um p of

sugar i n the tea I said , .

I ll see you i n el l rst came the retort cou r

,
2 4 2 T H E PEOP L E OF T H E A B YSS

t eo us Also she ampl i ed the retort cou rteous

.
,

i n divers vivid and unprintable ways .

I never had m uch talent for repa rtee bu t she ,

knocked silly what li ttle I had and I gulped down ,

my tea a beaten man while she gloated after me ,

even as I passed out to the stree t .

While peopl e Of London l i ve i n on e

room tenemen ts and ,are illegally and
viciously housed more are registered as
,

l iving i n common lodging houses known i n the -

vernacular as doss houses The r e are many kinds

~
.

of does houses bu t i n one thi ng they are al l al ike

-
, ,

from the l thy little ones to the monster big ones

paying ve pe r cent and blatantly lauded by s m ug
middle class men who know nothi ng about them
-
,

and that one thing is thei r u n inhabitableness By .

this I do not mean that the roofs leak or the w al ls

are draugh ty ; but what I do mean is that life i n
them is degradi ng and u nwholesome .

The poor man s hotel they are Often called but , ,

the ph rase is cari cature Not to possess a room to .

one s self in which someti mes to sit alone ; to be

forced out of bed willy ni lly the rst thi ng i n the

-
,

m orn ing ; to engage and pay anew for a bed each

n igh t ; and never to have any privacy surely is a ,

mode of ex istence qu ite diff eren t from that of hotel

l ife .

T his m ust not be considered a sweepi ng co nd em

2 44 T HE P EO PL E OF THE AB YSS

a place i nhabited al most enti rely by wo rki ng m en -

.

T he entrance was by w a y of a ight of st eps de

T HE WO R t tG -M B N S

Ho nes . N EA R M mo t ss s x R
S T EE T
.

scending from the sidewal k to wh at was p rope rl y

the cellar of the buildi ng H ere were two l ar ge.

and gl oom ily l igh ted rooms in which men cooked ,

2 46 T H E P EO PLE or T HE AB YSS

checkerboa r ds were bei ng used by young working

men who waited i n re l ays for their turn at the
,

W RK N
O I G- M EN

S Ho u m, PO R M EN ONL Y .

games wh i l e many men were si tti ng arou nd smo k

, ,

ing read i ng and mendi ng thei r clothes

, , The .

young men we re hilarious the old men were ,

 C OFFEE HO U SES AN D D o ss HO U SES
- -
247

gloom y I n fact there were t w o types of men the

.
, ,

cheerful and the sodden or bl ue and age seemed to ,

determi ne the cl assication .

But no more than the t w o cellar rooms did this ,

room convey the remotest suggestion of home .

Certainly there could be nothi ng homel ike about i t

to you a nd me who kno w what home real ly is
,
.

O n the wal l s were the most preposterous and insult

i ng notices regu lating the conduct of the guests ,

and at ten O clock the l ights were put out and noth

i ng remained but bed This was gai ned by de .

scend ing agai n to the cellar by su rrenderi ng the ,

brass check to a burly doorkeeper and by cli mbi ng ,

a long igh t of stai rs into the upper regions I .

wen t to the top of the bu ildi ng and down agai n ,

passi ng several oors lled with sleepi ng men .

The cabins were the best accommodation each

,

cabi n allowing space for a tiny bed and room alongside

O f it i n which to u ndress The beddi ng was clean .
,

and wi th neither it nor the bed do I nd any fault .

But the re was no privacy about it no bei ng alone , .

TO get an adeq uate idea Of a oor lled wi th

cabi ns you have merely to magnify a l ayer of the
,

pasteboard pigeon holes Of an egg crate t il l each

- -

pigeon hole is seven feet i n height and otherwise

-

properl y dimensioned then place the m a gni ed

,

layer on the oor O f a large barn li ke room and , ,

there you have i t There are no ceili ngs to the

.
2 48 T H E PEOPL E OF T HE AB YSS

pigeon holes the w a l l s are thin and the snores

-
, ,

from all the sleepers and every move and turn Of

your nearer neighbors come plai nly to you r ears .

A nd th is cabin i s you rs only for a l ittle while I n .

the morn i ng out you go Y ou cannot put you r .

trun k i n it or come and go when you like or lock

, ,

the door behind you or anything of the sort I n

, .

fact there is no door at all only a doorway If you

, , .

care to remai n a guest i n this poor man s hotel you ,

m ust put up with al l this and with prison regula ,

tions which impress upon you constantly that you

are nobody wi th l ittle soul of your own and less to
,

say about i t .

Now I contend that the least a man who does h is

day s work should have is a room to himself where

, ,

he can lock the doo r and be safe in h is possessions ;

where he ca n si t down and read by a wi ndow or
look out ; where he can come and go whenever he
wishes ; where he can accum ulate a fe w personal
belongings other than those he carries about with
h im on his back and i n his pockets ; where he can
hang up pictures of hi s mother sister sweetheart , , ,

,

ba l let dancers or bu l ldogs as his heart l isteth i n
,

short one place of h is own on the earth Of which

,

he can say : This is m i ne my castle ; the world ,

stops at the th reshold ; here am I lord and master .

H e wi ll be a better ci ti z en this man ; and he wil l ,

do a better day s work

.
 C H A PT E R XXI

T HE PRECA R I O U S N ESS OF L I FE

W hat d o yo k a t Y ou l oo k i ll
u wor .

It s me l un I m a k e ul ph ur i c aci d

gs . s .

You ar e a sa l t ca k e ma n -

Y es .

h ard wo rk
l s it
It i d a mned ha rd w o r k
s .

W h y do you wo rk at such a s l a vis h t rad e

I a m marri ed 1 ha v e ch i l dren A m I to starv e and let t h em
. .

W hy do yo u lead t h is l ife
I am marri ed T h er e a terr i bl e lot of men out of wo rk i n S t
.

s .

H l
e e ns
.

Wh t d o yo u c
a d wo r k a ll h ar

My w k Yor ou co m
. an d h ea e t h em t h ree h un d red wei gh t l umps
e v ~

w i t h a ft y po u nd bar i nt h at h ea t a t t h e f rnace doo r and tr y i t

-
, u , .

I wi ll not I a m a ph il oso ph e r
. .

O h Well t h ee ti ck to t job O urs is t ar y devi l

, s

.

v .

I W A S talking with a very vi ndicti ve man I n .

h is opin ion his wife had wronged him and the

,

la w had wronged him The merits and mora l s .

of the case are immaterial The meat o f the .

matter is that she had Obtained a x para t i o n ,

and he was com pel l ed to pay ten sh i ll ings e ach

week for the support Of her and the ve children .

'
But l ook you said he to me w o t ll appen to er

, ,

2 5 0
 T HE PRE CAR I O U S N ESS OF LIFE 2 5 1

if I don t py up the ten sh illings ? S posi n now

, ,

just s po si n a acci den t a ppe ns to me so I ca w nt

work S po si n I get a ru ptu re or the rheuma t ics

.

, ,

or the chole ra Wot s she goin to do eh ? Wot s .
,

sh e o i n to do ?

g
NO ope for e r The

H e shook his head sadly . .

best she cawn do is the w o rk o use a n that s el l

,
'
.

A n if she don t go to the w o rk o u se it ll be worse

'

ell Come along ith me an I ll show you women

.

sleepi n i n a passage a do z en of em


A n Ill show ,

.

you worse w o t she l l come to if a nyt h i n appe ns to

,
'

me and the ten shill ings .

The certitude of this man s forecast is worthy of

consideration H e knew c onditi ons suf ciently to
.

know the precari ousness of his wife s gras p on food
and shelter F or her the game was up when his
.

worki ng capacity w as impai red or destroyed A nd .

when this state of a ffai rs i s looked at i n its la r ger

aspect the same will be fou nd t rue Of hundreds of
,

thousands and even mill ions Of men and women

li vi ng amicabl y together and c o b pera t i ng in the
pu rsui t of food and shel ter .

The gu res are appall ing ; people i n

London live on the poverty li ne and be l ow i t and ,

another l ive with one week s wages bet ween

them and paupe rism I n al l E ngland and W ales .

,

eighteen per cent of the who l e populati on a re d riven

to the parish for rel ief and i n London according to , ,
2 5 2 T HE PEO PL E OF T H E AB YSS

the statistics Of the London Cou nty Council twen ty ,

one per cent of the whole population are dri ven to

the parish for relief Between being d ri ven to the
.

parish for rel ief and being an out and Ou t pauper there - -

is a great di fference yet L ondon supports ,

paupers qui te a city of folk i n themselves O ne i n

, .

eve ry four i n London dies on publ ic charity while ,

939 out O f every 1 00 0 i n the U n ited K ingdom die

i n poverty ; simply st ruggle on the ragged
edge of starvati on and , more are not
co mfortable i n the simple and clean sense Of the
word .

I t is i nterest ing to go more i nto detail concern

i ng the London people who die on chari ty I n .

18 8 6 and up to 1 8 9 3 the percen tage of pau pe rism

, ,

to population was less i n London than i n all E ng

land ; bu t si nce 18 9 3 and for every succeeding ,

year the percentage of pauperism to popul ation has

,

bee n greater i n London than in all E ngland Y et . ,

f r om the R egistrar G eneral s R eport for 1 8 8 6 the ,

follo w i ng gu res are taken :

Out of deaths i n Lond on (1 8 8 4 )
Inwo rkho uses
Inh ospi ta l s
Inl una t i c asy l u ms
T otal i np ubl ic refuges
Commenting on these gures a F abian w ri ter ,

says : Considering that comparatively few of these

2 54 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

to even half ex ist they m ust l ive u p to the l ast

,

'
penny Of i t so that a week s wages
, is all that ,

stands between this fam ily and pau perism or star

vation The th ing happens the father is st ruck
. ,

down and what then ?

, A mother wi th th ree
ch ildren can do l itt l e or nothi ng E ither she m ust .

hand her ch ildren over to soc i ety as j uven ile pau pers ,

i n order to be free to do someth ing adequate for

herself or she m ust go to the sweat shops for work
,
-

wh ich she can perform in the vile den possible to

her reduced income But with the sweat shops
.
-
,

married women who eke out thei r h usband s earn

i ngs and single women who have but themselves

,

m iserably to suppo rt determ i ne the scale O f wages , .

A nd this scale of wages so determ i ned is so lo w , ,

that the mother and her three child ren can l i ve

only i n positive beastl i ness and sem i star vation til l -
,

decay and death end thei r su fferi ng .

To show that this mother with her three ch ildren ,

to support can not com pete i n the sweati ng i ndus

,

t ries I i nstance from the cu rrent newspape rs the

,

two followi ng cases A father i ndignantly writes

.

that his daugh ter and a gi rl companion receive 1 7

cen ts pe r gross for maki ng boxes They made .

each day fou r gross Their ex penses were 16 cen t s

.

for carfare 4 cents for stamps 5 cents for gl ue and

, , ,

2 cents for stri ng so that all they earned betwee n

,

them was 4 2 cents or a daily wage each Of 2 1 cents

, .
 T HE PREC A R I O U S N ESS or LIFE 2 55

I n the second case before t h e L uton G uardi ans a,

few days ago an Old woman O f seventy two appeared

,
-
,

aski ng for relief S he was a straw h at m aker but
.
,

had been compel l ed to give up the work Owi ng to

the price she Obtained for them namely 4 } cents , 1

each .F or that price she had to provide plait

trimmi ngs and make and nish the hats .

Y et this mother and her th ree ch ildre n we are

consideri ng have done no w rong that they should
,

be so pu nished They have not sin ned . The .

thi ng happened that is all ; the h usband father and

, ,

bread wi nner was struck down There 18 no guard

-
, .

ing against it I t is fortui tous A fam ily stands

.
.

so many chances of escapi ng the bo ttom of the

Abyss and so m any chances of fall ing pl ump down
,

to i t The chance is reducible to cold pitiless gures

.
, ,

and a few of th ose gu res w i ll not be out Of p l ace .

S i r A F orwood cal culates that

. ,

1 o f ev er y 1 4 00 wo rk meni s k i ll ed annuall y .

1 o f ev er y 2 5 00 wo rk meni s t o ta ll y d i sa b l ed .

1 o f e e r y 3 0 0 w o r k menis p erma n
v en t l y pa rt ia ll y d isabl ed .

1 O f ev er y 8 wo rk me nis t e mpo rar i l y d isa bl ed 3 o r 4 w eeks .

But t hese are only the acciden ts of i ndust ry .

The h igh mortal i ty of the people who li ve i n the

G hetto plays a terrible part The average age at .

death among the people of the West E nd is ft y

v e years ; the average age at death among the
people of the E as t E nd is th i rty years T hat is to .
2 5 6 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

say the person i n the West E nd h as t wice the

,

chance for l ife that the person has i n the E ast

E nd Talk Of w a r ! The mortal ity i n S outh Africa
.

and the P hil ippi nes fades away to i nsigni ca nce .

H ere in the heart of peace is where the blood i s

, ,

bei ng shed ; and here not even the ci vili zed rules
of warfare Obtain for the wome n and children and
,

babes i n the arms are ki lled just as ferociously

as the men are killed War ! I n E ngland every .
,

year , men women and children engaged

, , ,

i n the various i ndustries are killed and disabl ed , ,

or are i nju r ed to disablement by disease .

I n the West E nd eigh teen per cent of the child r e n

die before ve years of age ; i n the E ast E nd fty v e -

per cent Of the children d ie before ve years of age .

A nd there are streets i n London where out of ,

every one h und red ch ildren born i n a year fty ,

die duri ng the next year ; and of the fty that

remai n twenty v e die before they ar e ve
,
-

years old S laughter ! H erod did not do qu ite

.

so bad ly his was a m ere fty per cent bagatel l e
mortality .

That i ndustr y causes greater havoc wi th h uman

life than battle does no better substantiation can be
gi ven than the fol lowing extract from a recent r e
port Of the L iverpool Med ical O f cer which is n ot ,

appl icable to L iverpool alone

2 5 8 T HE PEO PLE OP T H E A B YSS

wh ile i n the carding and spi n n ing departm e n t s t h e

ne dust produces l ung disease i n the m ajori ty Of -

cases and the woman who starts cardi ng a t se ve n

,

teen or eighteen begins to break up and go to p iec es

at th i rty The chem ical laborers picked fro m t h e
. ,

s trongest and mos t sp l endidl y built m en t o b e

found l ive on an ave rage less tha n fo r ty eig h t
, , ,
-

'
S ays D r A r l i d ge
the potter s t rade : P ot te r s Of

. ,

dust does not kill suddenly but settles yea r aft e r , ,

year a little more rm ly i nto the l un gs u n t i l a t

, ,

lengt h a case Of plaster is formed Breath i ng be .

comes more and mo re d iffi cu l t and dep ressed a nd ,

nally ceases .

S teel dust stone dust c l ay dust a lka li du st u

, , , ,

,

dust bre dus t all these things kill and they a r e ,

more deadly than machi ne gu ns and pom po ms - -

.

Wors t Of all is the lead dust i n the wh ite l ea d

t rades H ere is a desc ri ption Of the typical di ss ol u
.

tion of a young healthy well developed gi rl w h o , ,

-

goes to work i n a white l ead factory

H ere af ter a varyi ng d egr ee of ex pos ure sh e be c o m es

, ,

an e mi c I t may be th a t h er gu ms s h ow a ver y f ai nt b l u e
.

l in e or p er ch ance h er teet h a nd gu ms a re perfec tl y s o u nd

, ,

an d no b l u e li n e i s d i sce rni b l e Co i nci d ent l y wi t h t h e .

an x mi a s h e h as been ge tti n g t h i n ner b u t s o gra d ua ll y a s ,

r
sca ce l y to i mp res s it se l f u p o n h e r o r h e r f r i ends Sick .

n ess h ow ever ensues and h ea d ac h es gr ow i ng i ni nten si ty

, , , .
,
 T H E PRE CAR I O U S N E S S OF LI FE 2 59

are d eve lo ped . T h ese ar e freq u ent l y att ended

by obsc ura
ti onof vi s i ono r tempo r ary b l i nd ness S uch a gi r l pa sses .

into w h a t a ppears to h er fr i e n d s a nd me d ica l a d vi ser as

o r di n a ry h y s te r ia Th is gr ad u a ll y d ee pe n s w i th ou t w arn
.

i ng un ti l s h e i s s udd enly sei z e d w i t h a co nv u ls i o n begin

, ,

ni ng i n o ne h a lf Of t h e f ace t h en i nvo l vi ng th e ar m next

-
, ,

t h e leg Of t h e sa me s i d e o f t h e b o d y unti l th e con vu ls ion , ,

vi o l ent and p u re ly e p i le p ti c fo r m i n ch ar acter beco mes ,

un i versa l T h is i s att end ed by l o ss o f co nsci o us ne ss o ut

.
,

o f w hi c h s h e p ass es i n to a se r i es of co nvu l si on s grad ual ly ,

i nc r eas i ng i nse ve ri ty i n one o f w hi c h s h e di es

,
Or c o n

s ci o usn es s p a rtia l o r pe rfect i s regai n ed e it h e r i t may be

, , , , ,

fo r a few min ut es a few h o urs or d ay s d ur i ng w h i c h

, , ,

v i o l ent h ea d ac h e i s comp l ai ned o f or sh e i s d elir i ou s a nd ,

exci ted as i nac u t e ma n

,
ia o r d u ll a nd su ll en as i nmela n
,

ch o li a a n
,
d r eq ui r es t o be r o used w h e nsh e i s fo un d wa n ,

d eri ng a nd h er s peec h is so mew h a t i mpe rfec t Wi th out

,
.

f ur th er w arni ng s ave th at t h e p u lse w h i c h h as beco me

, ,

s o ft w i t h n ea r l y t h e n o r ma l n
, umbe r o f beat s a ll a t o n ce ,

beco mes low and h ard ; s h e i s sudd enly seiz ed wi t h anoth er

co n vu l sio n i n w hi c h sh e di es or p as ses i nto a state of
, ,

co ma fro m w h i c h s h e n ev er r a ll i es In anot h er case t h e .

co n vu lsi ons w i ll gr a d uall y s ubs i d e th e h ea d ac h e di sa p ,

pea rs and th e p ati ent r ecover s o nl y t o nd t hat sh e h as ,

co mp l e te l y l o st h er ey esi gh t a l os s t h at ma b e t em p rary
y , o

or p er man ent .

A nd here are a few speci c cases Of wh ite l ead

poison ing :
C h ar l o tte R a ff erty a ne w el l gro w n youn g woma n -

w i t h a s p l en di d co ns ti tu ti o n w h o h a d n ever h a d a d a y s
, ,

i l lness i n h e r li fe became a w hi te l ea d w ork er Conv ul .

si o n s se iz ed h er at t h e foot o f t h e la dder i n th e w o r k s .
2 60 T H E P EO PL E OF T H E AB YSS
D r O l iver
. xami ned h er fo und t h e b l ue li n e al on g h er
e ,

g u m s w ,h i c h s h o w s t h at t h e s y s t e m i s u nd e r t h e i n ue n c e

o f t h e l ea d He k n ew t h a t t h e co nvu l sion s wo u l d sh ort l y

.

return Th ey d i d so a nd s h e d i ed
.
, .

M ary A nn Tol er a gi r l
v ntee n w h o h ad n ever Of se e ,

h ad a t i n h er lif e t h r ee ti mes became ill a nd h a d to
l eave O ff w or k i n t h e fa cto ry Be fo r e sh e w as ni net ee n .

s h e s h ow ed sy mp t o ms O f l ea d p o is o n i n g h a d t s f ro t h e d ,

at t h e mouth a nd d ied , .

M ar y A a n u nusua ll y vi gor ous woman w as a b l e t o

.
, ,

w or k i n t h e l ea d f a ct ory for tw a t /y y ea r s h a vi n g c o l i c ,

on ce o n l y d u r i ng t h a t ti me He r ei gh t c h i l d r en al l di ed
.

i n ea r l y i nfa nc y fr o m co n v u l sio ns O ne mor n ing w h i ls t .

,

b r us h i ng h er h a i r t hi s w o ma n su dd enly lost a ll po w er i n
,

bo t h h er wr i st s .

E l iza H a ged t w e nty v e af ter v e mantles at l ea d

.
,
-
,

w or k s w a s se i z ed w i t h co li c
, S h e ent ered an o t h er facto ry
.

( a ft er b e i ng r e f u se d b y t h e r s t o ne )a nd w o r k e d o n u nin
t err u pt ed ly for t w o y ea rs T h e n t h e fo rmer s y mpt o ms
.

ret ur ned sh e w a s sei z ed w it h convu ls io ns a nd d ied i nt w o

, ,

da ys o f acute l ead po i son i ng .

M r Vaughan Nash speaki ng O f the u nborn ge n

.
,

cration says : The child ren O f the wh ite l ead
,

worker enter the world as a rul e only to die from , ,

the convulsions of lead poison i ng they are ei ther

born prematurely or die with i n the rst year , .

A nd nally let me instance the case Of H arri et

, ,

A Walker a young gi rl O f seven tee n k illed wh i l e

.
, ,

l eadi ng a forlorn hope on the i ndustrial battleel d .

S he was employed as an enamelled ware brush e r ,

 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

their chance agai nst heavy odds O f cou rse if they

.
,

a r e favorably made and are not tied by ki nsh ip d u

ties they may r un away fro m the i ndustri a l battle

,

eld In wh ich event the safest thi ng the ma ncan

.
,

do is to join the army ; and for the woman possibly

, ,

to beco me a R ed Cross nurse or go i nto a nun nery .

I n either case they m ust fo r ego home and children

and all that m akes life worth living and Old age
other than a n ightmare .
 C HA PTE R XXI I
SU C I I DE
En gla nd i s t h e paradi se o f th e ri ch, t h e pur ga tor y of t h e wi s e, a nd th e
h ell of t he oor p .

W I T H l i fe so precarious and opportun i ty for the ,

happi ness of l ife so remote it is i nevi table that life ,

sha l l be cheap and su icide common SO common .

is it that one can not pick up a dail y paper withou t

,

runn ing across i t ; wh il e a n attempt at sui ci de case - -

i n a pol ice court excites no more i nte rest than an

ordi nary dru nk a nd is handl ed with the same

,

rapidi ty and u nconcern .

I remember such a case i n the Thames P o l ice

Court I pride myself that I have good eyes a nd
.

ears and a fai r working k now l edge Of me n and

,

things ; bu t I confess as I stood i n that cou rt roo m , ,

that I was hal f bewi lde r ed by the amaz i ng despatch

-

with wh ich d ru nks disorderl ies vagrants brawlers , , , ,

wife heaters thieves fences gamblers and women

-
, , , ,

of the street wen t throug h the machi ne Of j ustice .

The dock sto od i n the cen tre of the cou rt (where

the l ight is best )and i n to i t and ou t agai n stepped
,

men women and chi l d ren i n a stream as steady as

, , ,

2 63
2 64 T HE PEOP LE OF

T HE AB YSS

the st re am of sentences which fel l from the magi s

t rate s lips.

I was stil l pondering over a consum ptive fence

who had pleaded i nabi l ity to work and necessity for

suppo rti ng wife and chi ldren and who had recei ved
,

l mE T HE T HA HES Po nc e C O UR T.

a year at hard labor when a young boy of about

,

twen ty appeared in the dock Alfred F reeman .

.

I caught his name but fai l ed to catch the cha rge

, .

A stout and motherly looki ng woman bobbed u p

-

i n the witness box and began her testimony W ife

-
.

Of the Britannia l ock keeper I learned she w as

-
, .
2 66 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E ABYSS
Th e boy i n the dock m umbl ed someth i ng i ndis
ti nctly H e was sti ll daz ed
. .

What does he say constabl e ? the magi stra te ,

asked impatien t l y .

The sta l wart man i n blue ben t his ear to the

pri soner s l ips and t hen r epl ied l oud l y H e says
, ,

he s ve ry sorry you r Worsh ip , .

R emanded said h i s Worship ; and the nex t
,

case was under way the rst witness a l ready ,

engaged i n taki ng the oath The boy daz ed an d .

,

unheedi ng passed ou t wi th the jai l er T hat was

, .

al l ve m i nutes from start to nish ; and two

,

hulki ng brutes i n the dock were t rying st r en uous l y

to shift the responsibil i ty of the possession of a
sto l en sh i ng pole worth probably ten cen ts
-
, .

The chief t rouble wi th these poo r fol k is that

they do not know how to commi t sui cide and ,

us ually have to make two or three a t tempts before

they succeed This very natu rally i s a horrid
.
, ,

nu i sance to the constables and magistrates and ,

gi ves them no end of trouble S ometi mes how .

,

ever the magi strates are frankly ou tspoken abou t

,

th e matter and censure the pris oners for the slack

,

ness of thei r attempts F or i nstance Mr R S ykes .

, . .
,

chai rman of the S ta l ybridge magist rates i n the case ,

the other day of A nn Wood who tried to make ,

away w ith herself i n the canal : If you wan ted to
do it why did n t you do i t and get i t done wi t h ?
,

 S UI CIDE 2 67

de manded th e indignant M r S ykes Why did . .

you not get u nder the water and ma ke a n end

of it i nstead of givi ng u s a ll th is t roubl e and
,

bother ?
P overty m ise ry and fear of the workhou se are
, , ,

the pri ncipa l causes of su icide amo n g the worki ng

c l asses I l l drown myself before I go i nto the
.

workhouse said E llen H ughes H u nt aged fty

, ,

two Last Wednesday they held an inquest on

.

her body at S horeditch H er h usband came from .

the Isl ington Workhouse to testify H e had been .

a cheesemonger but fail u re i n busin ess and pove rty

,

had driven h i m i nto the workhouse whither his ,

wife had refused to accom pany h im .

S he was last seen at one i n the morn ing Three .

hou rs later her hat and j acket were fou nd on the

towi ng path by the R egent s Canal and later her ,

body w as shed from the water Ver d i ct : S u i ci de .

La w th ro ugh i t men l ie most shame _ _

l essl y F or
. i nstance a disgraced woman forsaken
, ,

and spat upon by kith and ki n doses he rself and ,

her baby wi th laudanum The baby dies ; but she .

pull s th rough after a few weeks i n hospi tal is ,

charged with m urder con victed an d sentenced to , ,

ten years penal servitude R ecoveri ng the Law . ,

holds her responsible for her actions ; yet had she ,

2 68 T H E PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

d ied the same Law wou l d have rendered a verdi c t

,

of tempora ry i n san i ty .

Now considering the case Of E llen H ughes H un t

, ,

i t is as fai r and logical to say that her h usband was

su fferi ng from temporary i nsani ty when he wen t
i nto the Isli ngto n Workhouse as i t is to say that ,

she was su ffering from tem porary i nsan i ty when

she went i nto the R egen t s Canal A s to which

.

is the preferable sojou rning place is a matter of

opi nion Of i ntel lectual j udgmen t 1 for one from
, .
, ,

what I know of canal s and workhouses should ,

choose the canal were I i n a similar position

, .

A nd I make h o ld to contend that I am no mo r e

insane than E llen H ughes H u nt her h usband and , ,

the rest Of the human herd .

Man no longer follows i nstinct with the Old natu

ral deli ty H e has developed i nto a reas oning
.

creature and can i ntell ectually cl ing to life or dis

,

card l ife j ust as l ife happens to prom ise great p l eas

ure or pai n I dare to assert that E llen H ughes
.

H u nt defra uded and bi lked of al l the joys Of l ife

n
,

wh ich fty two years service i t he worl d had

-

earned with nothing but the horrors of the work

,

house before her was ve ry rational and level headed

,
-

when she elected to j ump in to the canal A nd I .

dare to assert further that the j u ry had done a

, ,

wiser thing to bri ng i n a verdict charging society

with tem porary i nsan i ty for a l lowi ng E llen H ughes
2 7 0 T H E PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS
w as h o l d i ng an emp ty bott l e i n o ne h a nd a nd stat ed th a t ,

s o me t w o o r t h ree h o u rs p r ev i ous l y s h e h a d s wa ll owed a

q ua nti ty Of la ud anum A s sh e w as evi d ent l y ver y i ll t h e

.
,

d i vi s i ona l s ur geon w a s sent fo r a nd h avi ng ad mi ni stered

,

so me co ff ee o r d ered t h at s h e w a s t o b e k e p t a wa k e
, .

W h en d efend ant w as c h ar ged s h e s tat ed t h at t h e r eas o n

,

w h y s h e atte mp t ed t o ta ke h er li fe w as s h e h a d n e i th er

h o me nor f ri end s .

I do not say that all people who comm it suicid e

are sane no more than I say that all peop l e who do
,

not com m it suicide are sane I n security of food .

and shel ter by the way is a great cause Of i nsani ty

, ,

among the l ivi ng Costermonge rs hawke rs and

.
, ,

pedlars a cl ass of workers who live from hand to

,

mouth more than those of any other class form the ,

highest percentage of those i n the l u nati c asylu ms .

Among the males each year per go ,

i nsane and among the women

, O n the other ,

hand of soldiers who are at least sure of food a nd

, ,

shelter 1 3 per
,
go i nsane ; and of farmers
and graz iers on ly S O a coster is twice as l ike l y
,

to lose h is reason as a soldier and ve times as ,

l ikely as a farmer .

Misfortune and mise r y are very pote nt i n tu rni ng

people s heads and d rive one person to the l unati c

asy l um and another to the morgue or the gal lows

, .

When the t hi ng happens and the fath er and h us ,

band for all of his love for wife and children and
,

his wi ll ingness to work can get no work to do i t is , ,

 S UI C I DE 2 7 1

a simple matt e r for hi s reaso n to totter and the

light withi n his brai n go ou t A nd i t is especially .

simp l e when it is t aken in to consideration that his

body is ravaged by i nn utri tion and disease i n addi ,

tion to h is soul being torn by the sight of his suffer

i ng wife and little ones .

H e is a good looking man with a mass of bl ack

-
,

hai r dark expre ssive eyes del icately chi selled nose
, , ,

and ch i n and wavy fair moustache

, This is the
, .

reporter s desc ripti on of F r ank Cavilla as he stood

i n court th is dreary month of S eptember d ressed
, ,

i n a m uch worn gray su it and weari ng no collar , .

F rank Cavilla l ived and worked as a house deco

rator i n London H e is descri bed as a good work
.

man a steady fe llow and not given to d ri nk wh i l e

, , ,

all h is neighbors u nite i n testifyi ng that he was a

gentle and affectionate husband and father .

H is wife H a n nah Cavill a was a big handsome

, , , ,

ligh t hearted woman S he saw to it that his chil

-
.

d ren were sen t neat and clean (the neighbors all

remarked the fac t )to the Ch i ld e ri c R oad Board
S chool A nd so with such a man so bl essed work
.
, , ,

i ng steadil y and l iving tem perate l y all went we l l , ,

and the goose hung high .

Then the thi ng happen ed H e worked for a .

M r Beck bui lder and l ived i n one of h is master s
.
, ,

houses i n T r u ndley R oad Mr Beck was thrown . .

from his t rap and ki ll ed The thing was an u nru l y .

2 7 2 T H E PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

horse and as I say i t happened Cavilla had to

, , , .

seek fresh employmen t and nd another ho use .

This occu rred eighteen months ago F or ei gh .

o

tee n months he fought the big gh t H e got .

rooms i n a l ittle house on Ba tavia R oad but could ,

not make both ends meet S teady work could not .

be obtai ned H e struggled manful l y at casu a l

.

employment Of al l sorts his wife and fou r ch ild r e n

,

starvi ng before his eyes H e starved h imself and .

,

grew weak and fel l i ll This was t hree months ago

, .
,

and then there was absol u tely no food at all They .

m ade no com plaint spoke no word ; bu t poor folk

,

know T he housewives of Batavia R oad sent

.
!

them food but so respectable were the Ca v i llas

,

that the food was sen t anonymously mysteriously , ,

so as not to hu rt their pride .

The thing had happe ned H e had fough t and .

,

s tarved and suffered for eighteen month s H e

, .

got u p one S eptember morning earl y H e opened , .

his pocket knife H e cut the th roat of his w ife

-
.
,

H an nah Cavi lla aged th i rty t hree H e cu t the

,
-
.

th roat Of h is rs t born F rank aged t welve H e

-
, , .

cut the th roat of his son Wal ter aged eight H e , , .

cut the th roat of his daughter Nel lie aged four , ,

.

H e cut the throat Of his youngest born E rnest -

, ,

aged sixteen months Then he watched beside

.

the dead all day unt il the even ing when t h e pol ice ,

came and he told them ;

, the slot a e
2 7 6 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

laughter and moulds those i t does not kill i n to

,

sodden and forlorn creatu res u ncou th degraded , ,

and wretched below the beasts Of the eld .

As to the manner i n which this is done I h ave ,

i n previous chapters described at l ength ; here l et

P rofessor H uxley desc ri be i n brief : A ny one wh o
is acquainted with the s tate of the population of
all great i ndustrial centres whether i n this or ot he r
,

coun tri es is aware that am idst a large and i nc r eas

,

i ng body of tha t populat ion there reigns sup re me

that condition wh ich the F rench call la mzsr e
'

a word for which I do not think there is any ex a c t

E nglish equi valent I t is a conditi on i n wh ich th e
.

food warm th and clothi ng which a re necessa ry for

,

the mere ma i ntenance of the functions of the bod y

i n thei r normal state can not be Obtai ned ; i n wh ich
men women and chi ld ren are forced to cro wd
, ,

in to dens wherei n decency i s abol ished and th e ,

most ordi nary condi tions of heal thful existence a re

i mpossible of attai nmen t ; in which the pl eas u re s
withi n reach are reduced to bru tality and d ru n k
en nes s ; i n which the pains accum ulate at compo u n d
i nterest in the shape of starvation disease st u n t e d
, ,

development and moral degradation ; i n wh ich t h e

,

prospect of even steady and honest i ndust ry is a

life of unsuccessful bat tl ing wi th h unger rou n d e d ,

by a pauper s grave
.

I n such condition s the outlook for ch il d re n is

,
 T HE C H I LDRE N 2 77

h opeless They d ie like ies and those that sur

.
,

vive su rvi ve because they possess excessi ve vi tal ity

,

and a capacity Of ada p ta tion to the degradation

wi th which they are su rrou nded They have no .

home l ife I n the dens and lairs i n which they l ive

.

they are exposed to all that i s Obscene and inde

cen t A nd as their m inds are made rotten so are
.
,

thei r bodies made rot ten by bad san i tation over ,

crowding and u nderfeedi ng Whe n a father and

, .

m other l ive with three or four child re n i n a room

where the child ren take t urn abou t i n si tti ng up to
d rive the rats a w ay from the sleepe rs when those ,

ch ildren never have enough to eat and a re preyed

u pon and made m iserable and weak by s w armi ng
verm i n the sort of men and women the s urvi vors
,

wil l make can readily be imagi ned .

Du ll d p
es ai r a nd mi sery
Li e b h em fro m t h eir bi rth
a ou t t

U gl y cu rses ugl i er mi rt h
, ,

A re t hei r ear l ie st l ulla by .

A man and a woman marry and se t up house

keepi ng i n one roo m Thei r i ncome does not i n
.

cre a se wi th the years though t heir family doe s and

, ,

the man is exceedingl y l ucky if he can keep h is

heal th and his job A baby comes and the n
.
,

another This means that more room should be

.

obtai ned ; bu t these l i tt l e mout hs and bodi es mea n

2 7 8 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

addi tio nal expense and make i t abso l utely i mpo ss i

ble to get more spacious q uarters More babi es .

come There is not room in wh ich to tu rn arou n d

. .

The youngsters run the streets and by the ti m e ,

they are t wel ve or fourtee n the room issue comes to -

a head and out they go on the st reets for good

, .

The boy if he be lucky can manage to mak e t h e

, ,

common l odging houses and he may have any o n e

-
,

O f several ends But the gi rl Of fou rtee n or ft e e n

.
,

forced i n this man ner to leave the one room c a l l ed

home and abl e to earn at the best a pal t ry ve o r
,

six shill ings per week can have but one e nd A n d

, .

the bitter end of that one end is such as that of th e

woman whose body the police fou nd this mo m
i ng i n a doorway on D orset S treet Wh itecha pel , .

H omeless shel terless sick with no one wi th h er

, , ,

i n her last hour she had died in the n igh t of

,

exposure S he was sixty two years Old a nd a

.
-

match vender S he died as a wild animal dies

. .

F resh i n my m ind is the pict ure of a boy i n t h e

cl ock of an E ast E nd pol ice court H is head w as .

barely visible above the raili ng H e was bei n g .

proved guil ty of steal ing two shilli ngs fro m a

woman which he had spen t not for candy a n d
, ,

cakes and a good time but for food ,

.

Why did n t you ask the woman for food ? th e

magistrate demanded i n a hurt sort of tone, S he .

would surely have give n you somethi ng to eat .

2 80 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

they play truan t at th i rtee n steal and at s i xtee n

, ,

are suf ciently developed hoo l igans to smash the

po l icemen .

T he R ev J C artmel R obi nson tells of a boy and

. .

girl of h is parish who se t ou t to wal k to the fores t

, .

They walked and wal ked th r ough the never endi ng -

streets expecting al ways to see i t by and by ; unti l

,

they sat down at l ast fai nt and despa i ri ng an d , ,

were rescued by a ki nd wo man who brought them

back E videntl y they had been overlooked by the
.

people who try to help .

The same gentl eman is authori ty for the state

ment that i n a street i n H oxton (a d i stri ct of th e
vast E ast E nd ) over seven h undred children
, ,

between ve and thi rteen years l ive i n eighty ,

smal l houses And he adds : I t is because L on
.

don has largel y shut her child ren i n a maz e of

stree ts and houses and robbed them Of t h ei r righ tfu l
i nheritance i n sky and eld and b rook that they ,

grow up to be men and women physically u n t .

H e te l ls Of a member of his congregation who let

a basement room to a married couple They said .

they had two ch ildren ; when they got possession i t

t urned out that they had fou r A fter a while a ft h .

appeared and the landlord gave them notice to

,

q uit They paid no attention to it Then t he

. .

san itary i nspector who has to wi nk at the law so

,

Often came i n and threatened my friend with lega l

,
 TH E C H I L DRE N 2 8!

proceedi ngs H e pleaded that he could not get

.

them out They pleaded that nobody would have

.

them with so ma ny ch il dren at a ren tal withi n t hei r

means which is one of the commonest compl ain ts
,

of the poor by the bye What was to be done ?

, .

The landlord was between two m illstones F i nally .

he appl ied to the magistr ate who sen t up an o f cer ,

to i nqu i re i nto the case S ince that ti me abou t.

twenty days have elapsed and noth i ng h as yet ,

been done I s this a singu lar case ? By no means ;

.

i t is q uite common .

Last week the pol ice raided a d isorderly house .

I n one room we re fou nd two you ng childre n They .

were arrested and charged with bei ng inmates the

same as the women had been Their fa ther .

appeared at the trial H e stated that himself and

.

wife and t wo o l der children besides the t wo i n the ,

dock occupied that room ; he stated also that he

,

occupied i t because he could get no other ro om for

the ha l f c rown a week he paid for it The magis
-
.

trate discharged the t wo j uveni l e o ffenders and

warned the father that he was bri nging h is ch i ldren
up u nhealthily .

Bu t there is need further to m ultiply i ns tances .

I n London the s l aughter of the i n nocents goes on

on a scale more stupendous than any before i n the
h istory of the world And eq ual ly stupendous is
.

the call ousness of the people who beli eve i n C hris t ,

 T HE PEOP L E OF TH E A BY S S

acknow l edge G od and go to church regu l arl y o n

,

S unday F or the rest of the week they riot abo u t

.

on the rents and prots which co me to them from

the E ast E nd stai ned with the blood of the ch i l
dren A lso at ti mes so pecul iarly are they made
.
, , ,

they wil l take half a m il lion of these rents and

prots and send it away to educate the black boys
of the S oudan .
2 84 T HE P EO PLE OF T HE AB YSS

lled with civic pride bo ast fu l l y procl aim that there

,

is noth ing the matter with the E ast E nd as a l iving

p l ace for men and wome n .

I t is rather hard to te ll a tithe of what I saw .

M uch of i t is u nte ll able Bu t i n a genera l way I

.

may say that I saw a n igh tmare a fearfu l s l ime that

,

Do w n L am a: s neer T0 ms Do cx s
.

quickened the paveme nt with l ife a mes s of unmen ,

t io na ble obsceni ty that put into eclipse the

horror of P iccadi lly and the S trand I t .

menagerie of garmented bipeds that l ooked

thing like h umans and mo re l ike beas ts and to ,

complete the pictu re brass buttoned

,
-
kept
order among them when t h ey sn a r l ed too erce l y .
 A V I SI ON or T H E N I GH T 2 85

I was gl ad the keepers were there for I did not ,

have on my seafari ng clothes and I was what is

,

ca l led a mark for the creatu r es of prey that

prowl ed up and down A t t imes betwee n kee pers . , ,

these males looked at me sharply h u ngrily gu tt er , ,

wol ves that they were and I was afrai d of thei r ,

hands of thei r naked hands as one m ay be afraid

, ,

of the paws of a gori lla They rem inded me of .

goril las Thei r bodies we r e small ill shaped and

. ,
-
,

squat There were no swel li ng m uscles no abun

. ,

dant t hews and wide spread ing shoulders They

-
.

exh ibited rather an elemen tal economy of nature

, , ,

such as the cave men m ust have exhibited -

But .

there was strength in those meagre bodies the ,

ferocious pri mordial strength to cl utch and gripe

,

and tear and rend Whe n they spri ng upo n thei r.

human prey they are kno w n even to bend the victim

backward and doubl e i ts body til l the back is
broken They possess neither conscience nor
.

sen timen t and they will kill for a half sovereign

,
-
,

without fear or favor if they are given but half a ,

chance They are a new species a breed of city

. .

savages The streets and houses alleys and cou rts

.
, ,

are their h unting grounds As val ley and moun .

tai n are to t he natu ral sav age street and building ,

are val l ey and mountai n to them The slum is .

thei r j ungl e and they l ive and prey i n the jungle

, .

The dear soft people of the golden theat res and

2 86 T H E PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

wonder mansions of th e Wes t E nd do not see these

-

creatures do not dream that they exist But they

, .

are here alive very m uch al ive in thei r ju ngle

, , .

And woe the day when E ngland is gh ti ng i n h er

,

las t trench and her able bodied men are on the

,
-

r i ng l ine ! F or on that day they will crawl out of

-

their dens and lairs and the people of the W est ,

E nd wil l see them as the dear soft aristoc rats of ,

F eud a l F rance saw them and asked one another ,

Whence came they A re they men ?

But they were not the only beasts that ranged
the menagerie They were only here and the re
.
,

l urki ng i n dark courts and passing l ike gray

shadows along the wall s ; bu t the women from
whose rott en loi ns they spri ng were eve rywhe r e .

They whined i nsolen tly and i n maudli n ton es ,

begged me for pennies and worse They held , .

carouse i n every boo z i ng ken sl atternly u nkempt , , ,

bleary eyed and tousled leering and gi bberi ng

-
, . ,

ove rspilli ng wi th foul ness and corru ption and gone , ,

i n debauch sprawl i ng across benches and bars

, ,

u nspeakably repul sive fearful to l ook upo n , .

A nd there were othe rs strange wei r d faces and , ,

forms and twisted monstrosities that shouldered me

on every side i nconcei vable types of sod den ugli
,

ness the wrecks of society the perambu l ating car

, ,

casses the l i ving deaths women b l asted by disease

, ,

and d ri nk til l thei r shame brought not t u pe nce i n

2 88 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

wi fe and children because he can not nd work

enough to give them food and she l ter .

T he u n t and the u n needed ! The mi serab l e an d

despised and forgotten dyi ng in th e socia l shamb l es
, .

The progeny of prostitution of the p rostitution of
men and women and ch il dren of esh and blood, ,

and spark l e and spi rit ; i n brief the prosti tution of

,

labor I f this is the best that civili z ation can do

.

for the h uman then gi ve us howli ng and naked

,

savagery F ar better to be a people of the wi lder

.

ness and desert of the cave and the squatti ng place

,
-
,

than to be a people of the mach ine and the Abyss .

T HE Eu r
. l a ma Doc x s .
 C H A P T E R X XV
T HE H U N GER WAI L
I h ol d , i f th e Al mi gh ty h ad ev er made a set o f men to d o all of t he
ea ti ng nd no ne of th e w or k, he w ou d h a ve
a l ma de t hem wi t h mout hs
l
o ny a n, d no h a nds ; and i f h e ha d ev er mad e anot her se t t ha t h e had
l
i nt e nded s h ou d d o all of th e w o rk and n on e o f t h e eat i n , he w ould
g
ha v e made t h em wi t hout mou t hs a nd wi t h a ll hands .

Anaa w u t LINCO L N .

M v father has more stam i na tha n I for he is ,

cou nt ry born -
.

The speaker a bright young E ast E nder was , ,

lamenting his poor physical development .

Look at my scrawny arm wi ll you H e pu ll ed , .

up h is sleeve Not enough to eat that s what s
.
,

the matter wi th i t O h not now I have what I .

, .

want to eat these days But it s too late It cant

. .

make up for what I didn t have to eat when I was a

kiddy D ad cam e up to London from the F en

.

Country Mother di ed and there were six of us

. ,

kiddies and dad li vi ng in two smal l rooms .

H e had hard ti mes dad did H e m ight have , .

chucked us but he did n t H e sl aved all day and at

,

. ,

nigh t he came home and cooked and cared for us .

H e was father and mother both H e did h i s bes t , .

,

bu t we didn t have enough to eat We ra r el y saw .

0 2 39
2 90 T H E H UN GER w an .

meat and then of the worst A nd it is not goo d

,
.

for growing kiddies to sit down to a d in ner of bread

and a bit of cheese and not enough of i t, .

A nd what s the res ult ? I am undersi z ed and I

haven t the stami na of my dad I t was sta r ved ou t .

of me I n a couple of generations there l l be no

.
'

more of me here i n London Y et there s m y .

'
you nger brother ; he s bigger and better developed .

Y ou see dad and we childre n held together an d

, ,

that accou nts for it .

Bu t I don t see I objected
I shoul d th i n k
, .
,

u nder such conditions that the vi tal i ty should d e ,

crease and the younger children be born weaker a nd

weaker .

Not when they hol d together he rep li e d , .

Whenever you come along i n the East E nd a n d

see a ch ild of from eight to twelve good s i z e d ,
-
,

well developed and hea l thy loo ki ng j ust you ask

-
,
-
, ,

and you will nd that it is the you ngest i n t he

family or at least is o ne of the you nger The w a y
, .

of it is this : the older ch ild ren starve more than t he

younger ones By the time the younger ones co me
.

along the older ones are starting to work and there is

, ,

more money comi ng i n and more food to go around , .

H e pulled down h is sleeve a concrete i ns t ance of ,

where chronic semi starvation kills not bu t st u n t s

-
, .

H is voice was but one among the myriads that ra i se

the cry of the hu nger wail i n the greatest empi re in
2 92 T H E PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

appeased A nd he clai m ed that th is chron ic star

.

va tion of his childhood h ad robbed him of h i s sight .

To support the claim he quoted from the report of ,

the R oya l Com mission on the Blind Bl i ndness is ,

most preval en t in poor di stricts and poverty accel er ,

ates this dreadful a f iction .

Bu t he went further th is bl ind man and i n h is , ,

voice was the bittern ess of an a f icted man to whom

society d id not gi ve enough to eat H e was one of .

an army of six mi ll ion bl ind i n London and he ,

said that in the bl ind homes they did not receive hal f
enough to eat H e gave the diet for a day :
.

k
Br ea fast pi nt o f skilly and dry bread .

Di nner 3 oz . mea t .

l
1 s ic e o f br ead .

lb pota toes
. .

Supper pint o f ski y ll a nd d ry bra d .

O scar Wilde God rest his soul voices the

, of , cr y

the p ri son child which i n varying degree is the cry

, , ,

of the pri son man and woma n : The second th i ng

'

from wh ich a child s u e rs i n prison is hunge r .

T he food that is gi ven to it consists of a piece o f

usual ly bad baked prison bread and a ti nof wate r
-

for breakfast at hal f past seven A t twel v e o cl oc k
-
.

i t ge ts di n ner com posed of a tin of coarse I nd i a n

'
,

m eal sti rabout (ski lly )and at hal f pa st ve i t gets

,
-

a piece of d r y bread and a ti nof water fo r its s u p

per T his di et i n t he case of a s t ro ng gr o w nma n
.
 THE H U N GER w an . 2 93

is al ways productive of ill ness of so me ki nd ch iey ,

of cou rse d i a rr h cr a wi th i ts a ttendant weakness

, .

p I n fact i n a big prison astri ngent medici nes are

,

se rved out regul arly by the warders as a matter of

cou rse I n the case of a chi ld the ch ild is as a
.
, ,

rule i ncapable of eating the food at a ll Any one

, .

who kno w s anything about children kno w s h o w

easily a child s diges tion is upset by a t of c ryi ng

,

or trouble and men ta l distress of any k ind A ch ild .

who has been c ry ing all day long and perh aps half ,

the n ight i n a l onely dim l i t cell and i s preyed

,
-
,

upo n by te rror simply can not eat food of this

,

coarse horrible ki nd I n the case of the l ittle chi l d

, .

to whom warden Marti n gave the biscu its the child ,

was c ryi ng wi th h unger on Tuesday morn i ng a nd ,

u tterly u nabl e to eat the bread and water served to

it for its breakfast Marti n went out after the
.

breakfasts had been served and bought the few

sweet biscuits for the chil d rather than see i t sta r v
i ng I t was a beautiful action on his part and was
.
,

so recogn i z ed by the child who utterly u nconscious

, ,

of the regu l ations of the P rison Board told one of ,

the senior wardens how ki nd this j unior warden h ad

been to him The resul t was of cou rse a report
.
, ,

and a dismissal .

R obert Blatchford compares the workhouse

'
pau pe r s daily diet wi th the soldier s which when , ,

he was a soldier w as not considered l ibe ral enough

, .

and yet is twice as l i be ra l as the pauper s .
 T HE PEOP L E OF T H E AB YSS

Fa u n a S O L D IE R

The adu l t ma l e pauper gets meat (out s ide o f

soup )but once a week and the pau pers h a v e
,

nearl y all that pall id pasty com pl exion wh ich i s t h e

,

s u r e mark of sta r vation .

H ere is a tab l e comparing the workhou se pa u pe r s

,

weekly allowance with the workhouse of c e r s

weekly allowance :

O FF IC E R PA U PE R

A nd as the same writer remarks : The of cer s

diet is stil l more l iberal than the pauper s ; bu t e vi
d ently it is not considered libera l enough for a foot ,

note i s added to the Of cer s t able saying th a t a

 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

h
Br oug t for war d
Beer
To bacco
Insurance Pr ud ent ia l
La bo r ers U ni on

Wood , t oo s, l dispensar y ,
et c .

Insur ance Fo rester s and ma rgInfor

l
c ot hes I 1

To tal

The guardians of the workhouse i n

U nion pride themselves on thei r rigid
I t costs per pauper per week
M en 1}
Wo men 6} 1

Ch ildren I
i
If the laborer whose budget has been described ,

should q ui t his toil and go i n to the workhouse h e ,

would cost the guardians for

Hi msel f
W ife
Tw o c hi ldren
Tota l a m . to ld .

Or , h ly
r o ug ,

I t would requ ire for the workhouse to care

for h i m and his fam ily wh ich he someho w manages
, , ,

to do on A nd i n addition it is an u nde r ,

stood fact that it is cheaper to cater for a large

n umber of peop le buyi ng cooki ng and se r ving , ,
 T H E H UN G ER WAI L 2 97

who l esale than i t is to cater for a smal l number
of people say a fam ily
, .

Neverthel ess at the t i me thi s budge t was com

,

p i led there was i n that pa ri sh anothe r fami ly not

, ,

of four bu t eleven pe rso ns who h ad to l ive on an

, ,

i ncome not of thi rteen sh ill i ngs but of twelve shi l

, ,

l ings per week (eleven sh illings i n wi nter) and ,

wh ich had not a rent free cot tage bu t a cottage

,
-
,

for which i t paid th ree sh il l i ngs per week .

This m ust be understood and u nde rstood clearly ,

t r u e of L on d o n i n Me w ay of p over ty
degr a da t i on i s t r u e of a l l E n an
/ d While
,
g .

P aris is not by any means F rance the city of ,

London is E ng l and . The frigh tfu l conditio ns

which mark L ondon an i nferno l ikewi se mar k the
U n ited Kingdom an i nferno The argument that .

the decentral i z ation Of L ondon wou l d ameliorate

conditions is a vai n th i ng and fal se I f th e .

people of London were separated into

one hu ndred ci ties each w i th a populati on of
mise ry would be decent ral i z ed but not d i m i n ished .

The sum of i t woul d remai n as l arge .

I n th is instance M r B S R own tree by an

, . . .
,

exhaustive analysis has proved for the country

,

town what M r Charles Booth has proved for the

.

metropolis that fully one fou rth of the dwel lers are
,
-

condemned to a poverty which destr oys them

physicall y and spiri tually ; that fully one fourt h of -
2 98 T HE PEOP LE OF T H E AB YSS

the dwellers do not h ave enough to eat are i nad e ,

q ua t e ly clothed sheltered and warmed i n a rigorou

, s ,

climate and are doomed to a mora l dege nera c y

,

which puts the m l ower than the s avage in cleanl i

ness and decency .

After listeni ng to the wail of an old I rish peas a n t

i n Ker r y R obert Blatchford asked him what h e
,

wanted
The old m an leaned u pon his spade a nd
.

looked out across the black peat e l ds at the lowe r

i ng skies What is i t that I m wantu n he said ;
.

then i n a deep plai n ti ve tone he conti nued more to ,

h imself than to me A ll our brave bh oys and de a r ,

ur r l s is away an over the says an the agent h a s
g ,

taken the pig o ff me an the wet has spiled t h e ,

praties an I m an o w ld man cm 1 w a nt t/ze D ay a v

,

j ud
g ment .

The D ay of j udgment l More than he w a n t

it F rom all the land rises the h u nger wail from
.
,

G hetto and cou ntryside from prison and casual ,

ward from asylum and workhouse the cry of the

,

people who have not enough to eat M ill io ns of .

people men women chi ldren l i ttle babes the blind

, , , , , ,

the deaf the hal t the sick vagabonds and toilers

, , , ,

prisoners and paupers the people of Ireland E ng , ,

land S cotland Wales who have not enough to

, , ,

eat A nd th is i n face of the fact that ve men can

.
,

produce bread for a thousand ; that one workman

can produce cotton cloth for 2 50 people woollens ,
 C H A P T E R X XV I

DR I NK , TE M P E R A N CE , A ND THR IFT
S o meti mes th e po or ar e prai sed for b ei ng th rifty But to recommend .

t h ri ft to th e po o r i s bo t h gr otes q ue and i nsul t i ng It i s l i k e a d v i s i ng a .

ma n w h o is s ta r v i ng t o ea t l ess . F or a t ow n or countr y la borer to

pract i ce t h ri ft woul d be abso l utel y i mmoral Ma ns h oul d . not be ready

t o s h ow t h at h e canl i e l i k e a b ad l y fed a n
v i ma l -
.

OSCAR WIL DE .

T HE E ngl ish worki ng classes may be

id to be sa

soaked i n beer They are m ade du ll and sodd enby

.

it The ir e f ciency is sadly i mp a i red a nd th ey

.
,

lose whatever imagination i nvention a nd quic k ness , ,

may be theirs by righ t of race I t may h a rd ly .

be called an acqu ired habit for they a r e a ccu s ,

t o med to it from thei r earl iest infancy C hildre n .

are begotten i n drunken ness sat u rated in dri nk be ,

fore they draw thei r rst breath bo m to the s mel l ,

and taste of it and brough t up i n the m idst of i t

, .

The publ ic house i s ubiquitous I t ou rishes on .

every corner and between corners and it is fre ,

u ent ed almost as m uch by women as by men

q .

Ch ildren are to be found in it as well waiti ng ti ll ,

their fathers and mothers are ready to go home ,

sipping from the glasses of thei r elders l istening to ,

3 00
 DR INK T E MPE R AN C E AN D T H R I FT
, , 3 0 !

the coarse l a n guage and degradi ng conversation ,

catching the conta gion of it fam iliari z i ng them

,

se l ves with l icen tiousness and debauche ry .

Mr s G ru ndy rules as supremely over the workers

.

as she does over the bou rgeoisie ; but i n the case of

A WOII A Ns

C LU mmc HOU S E
B A T THE P DO O R
.

the workers the one thing she does not fro w n u pon
,

is the public house No di sgrace or shame att aches

.

to i t nor to the young woman or gi rl who makes a

,

practice of enteri ng i t .

I remember a girl i n a coff ee house sayi ng I -
,

never dri nk spiri ts when i n a public Ouse S he .
30 3 TH E PEOP LE or T HE a avss

was a young and pretty waitress and she was layi ng ,

down to another w a itress her pre emi nent respec ta

b il i ty and discretion M rs G rundy drew th e l ine

. .

at spi rits bu t allowed that i t was quite pro pe r for

,

a clean you ng girl to d rink beer and to go i nto a

public house to dri nk i t .

Not only is this beer un t for th e people to dri nk

it but too Often the men and women are un t
,

to dri nk i t O n the other hand i t is thei r very

.
,

u n tn ess tha t dri ves them to drink it I ll fed .

-
,

su fferi ng from i n n utri t ion and the evi l eHec ts of

overcrowding and squalor their constitutions de ,

v elop a morbid cravi ng for the dri nk just as the ,

sickl y stomach of the over strung Manchester fac -

tory operative hankers after excessive quan ti ties of

Ic k les and sim ilar wei rd foods U nheal thy work
p .

ing and livi ng engenders unheal thy ap petites and

desi res Man can not be worked worse than a horse
.

is worked and be h oused and fed as a pig is housed

,

and fed and at the same t ime ha ve clean and

,

who l esome ideals and aspi rations .

A s home l ife van ishes the publ ic house appea rs

-
, .

Not only do men and women abnormally cr ave

dri nk who are overworked ex hausted s uff eri ng
, , ,

from deranged stomachs and bad sanitation and ,

deadened by the ugl i ness and m onotony of existence ;

but the gregarious me n and women who have no
home l ife fl ee to the bright and clatteri ng publ ic
-
3 4
0 T HE P EOP LE OF TH E a av s s

bound to die si nce fty ve per cent of t h e E ast

E nd chi ld re n die before they are ve years old the ,

body is laid out i n the same room A nd if they .

are very poor it is kept for some ti me unti l they

,

can bu ry it D u ring t he day i t lies on the bed ;

.

duri ng the ni gh t when the l ivi ng take the bed

, ,

the dead occupies the table from which i n the , ,

morning when the dead is put back i n to the bed

, ,

they eat thei r breakfast S ometimes the body is

.

placed on the shelf which serves as pan try for thei r

food O nly a couple of weeks ago an E ast E nd
.
,

wom an was in trouble because i n this fashion

, , ,

being unable to bu ry i t she had kept her dead,

chi l d th ree weeks .

Now such a room as I have desc ribed is not ,

home but horror ; and the men and women who fl ee

away from i t to the pu bl ic house a re to be pi ti ed ,

not blamed There are

. people i n London , ,

divided in to fam il ies that live in si ngle rooms while ,

there are who are illegally housed accordi ng

to the P ubl ic H eal th Act of IBOI a respectable
recru iti ng ground for the dri nk traf c .

T hen there are the i nsecuri ty of happi ness the ,

preca riousness of existence the we l l founded fear,

-

of the fu tu re potent factors i n drivi ng people to
d ri nk Wretched ness squ i rms for al leviation and
.
,

i n the public house its pai n is eased and forgetfu l

ness is Obtained I t is u nh w .
y i t is .
 D RI NK TE M P E R AN C E AN D T H RIFT
, , 3 5
0

but everything el se about thei r l ives is u nheal thy ,

while thi s bri ngs the obl ivion that no thing else i n
t hei r li ves can bri ng I t even exal ts them a nd
.
,

makes them fee l that t hey a re ner and better ,

though at th e sa me ti me i t drags t hem do w n and

makes them more beastly than e v er F or the nu .

fort unate man or woman i t is a ra ce be twee n ,

m iseries that ends with death .

I t is of no avail to preach temperance and tec to

t a li s m to these people The drink habit may be
.

the cause of many m iseri es ; but it is in tu rn th e , ,

e ffect of other and prior m iseries The tem pe rance .

advocates may preach thei r heart s ou t over the

evils of dri nk but un til the evi ls that caus e people
,

to d ri n k are aboli shed dri nk a nd its ev i ls wil l

,

remai n .

U n til the peop l e who t ry to help real iz e th is , ,

thei r well intentioned efforts will be futile and they

-
,

will present a spectacle t onl y to set O lympus

laugh ing . I have gone th rough an exh ibi ti on of
J apa nese art got up for the poor of W hitechapel
,

with the idea of ele v ating them of begetti ng i n them ,

yearn ings for the Beaut ifu l and Tru e and G ood .

G ranti ng (what is not so)that the poor folk are

th us taugh t to k now and yearn after the Beaut i ful
and True and Good the fou l facts of thei r existence
,

and the social law that dooms one i n th ree to a

publ ic chari ty death demonstrates that th i s k nowl
-
,
3 06 T HE P EOP L E or T H E AB YSS

edge and yearning w i l l be only so much of an added

cu rse to them They will have so much more to
.

forget than if they had never known and yearned .

D id D esti ny to day bi nd me down to the life of

-

an E ast E nd slave for t h e rest of my years a nd ,

did D estiny gran t me but one wish I shoul d ask ,

that I m ight forget al l about the Beau ti ful and

T rue and G ood ; that I might forget all I had
learned from the open books and forget the people,

I had known the thi ngs I had heard and the lan d s
, ,

I had seen A nd if D estiny didn t grant it I am

.

pretty conden t that I should get drunk and forget

i t as Ofte n as possibl e .

T hese people who t ry to hel p ! Thei r col l ege

settlements missions charities and what not are
, , , ,

fai lures I n the nat ure Of things they cann ot bu t

.

be fail ures They are wrongly though si ncerel y

. , ,

conceived They appro ach l ife through a mi su nd e r

.

standi ng o f l ife these good folk They do not

, .

u nderstand the West E nd yet they come down t o

,

the E ast E nd as teachers and sa vants They do .

not understand the sim ple sociology of Christ yet ,

they come to the miserable and the despised wi th

the pomp of social redeeme rs They have worked .

fai thfully but beyond rel ievi ng an i n nitesimal frac

,

tion of m isery and collecti ng a certai n amou n t of

data which m ight otherwise have been more sc i e n
t i ca lly and less expe nsively collected they ha v e

m
,

achieved no t
3 0 8 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

an d
gl e for a chance to work is keen because of ,

th i s struggle wages sink to the lo w est means of

subsistence To be thrifty means for a worker to
.

spe nd less than his i ncome i nother words to live ,

on less This is equivalent to a lo w eri ng of the

.

standard Of l i ving I n the competi tion for a chance

.

to work the ma n with a lower standard of living

,

wil l u nderbid the man wi th a hi gher standard A nd .

a small group Of such thrifty workers i n any over

crowded i ndustry wil l permanently lower the wages
Of that i ndustry A nd the th rifty ones will no
.

longer be thrifty for their i ncome will have been

,

reduced t ill it balances their expenditure .

I n short th rift negates th rift If e very worker

, .

i n E ngland should heed the preachers of thrift and

cut expe nditure in half the condition of there bei ng
,

more men to work than there is work to do would

swiftly cut wages in half A nd the n non e of the .

workers of E ngla nd would be thrifty for they woul d ,

be living up to thei r dimi n ished i ncomes The .

short sighted thrift preachers would natura lly b e

- -

astounded at the outcome The measure of thei r .

failure would be precisely the measure of the suc

cess of their propag a nda A nd anyway it is sheer
.
, ,

bosh and nonsen se to preach thrift to the

Lo ndo nworkers who are di vided i nto fam i lies which
have a total income of less than 5 p e r week o ne ,

quarter to one half of wh ich must be paid for re nt

-
.
 DR I N K TE MP ER AN C E AN D T H R I FT
, . 0
3 9

Concern i ng the futil ity of the people who t ry to .

he l p I wi sh to make one notable noble exceptio n

, , ,

namely the D r Barnardo H omes D r Barnardo

, . . .

is a child catcher F i rst he catches them when

-
. ,

they are you ng before they are set hardened i n

, , ,

the vicious social mould ; and then he sends them

away to grow up and be formed i n another and
better soc ial mould U p to date he has sen t out Of
.

the cou n t ry I 3 3 4 0 boys m ost of them to Canada

, , ,

and not one i n fty has fai l ed A splendid record . ,

when it is considered that these lads are wai fs and

strays homeless a nd parent l ess jerked ou t from the
, ,

ve ry bo ttom of the Abyss and forty nine ou t of

,
-

fty of them m ade i nto men .

E very twenty four hours in the year D r Barnardo

-
.

snatches ni ne waifs from the streets ; so the enor

mous eld he has to work i n may be co mpr eh ended .

The people who try to hel p have someth ing to learn

from h im H e does not pl ay with pal liatives H e
. .

t races social v iciousness and mi sery to their sources .

H e remo v es the proge ny of the gutter fol k from -

thei r pestile ntial envi ronment and gi ves them a ,

heal thy who l esome e nvironment i n which to be

,

pressed and prodded and moulded i n to men .

When the people w h o try to he l p cease thei r

playi ng and dabb l i ng wi th day n u rse ries and J apa n
ese art ex hibi ts and go back and learn their West
,

E nd and th e soci ology of C hr ist the y w i ll be i n ,

3 Io T H E PEO PL E OF THE A B YSS

better shape to buckle down to the work they ough t

to be doi ng i n the world A nd if they do buckl e
.

down to the work they wil l fol low D r Ba r na r do s

, .

lead only o n a scale as large as the nation is large

, .

They wo nt cra m yearni ngs for the Beautiful and

Tru e and Good down the throat of the woma n

maki ng violets for three farth i ngs a gross but they ,

w ill make somebody get Off her back and qu i t c ra m

m ing himself till like the R omans he m ust go to a
, ,

bath and sweat it out A nd to their consternation

. ,

they will nd that they will have to get off that

woman s back themselves as well as the backs of a

few other women and ch ildre n they did not drea m

they were ridi ng u po n .
3 12 T HE P EOP L E OF T HE AB YSS

wise t i mber for thei r houses wh ich they bui ld pa rt l y ,

u ndergrou nd and i n which they l ie snugly dur

,

ing the pe riods of i ntense cold I n the summer .

they live i n tents ope n to every bree z e and cool

, .

They are heal thy and strong and happy Thei r , , .

one prob l em is food They have their times of .

ple nty and times of fam i ne I n good times they .

feast ; in bad times they die of starvation But .

starvation as a ch roni c condition prese nt with a

, ,

large nu mber of them all the time is a thi ng u h ,

known F urther they have no debts

.
, .

I n the U n ited K ingdom on the ri m of the West ,

e m O cean l i v e the E ngl ish fol k

, They are a con .

s u mma t ely civil i z ed people Thei r capital amou n ts

.

to at l east $ 1 500 per head They gai n thei r food .

,

not by hu nting and sh ing but by toi l at colossal ,

a rt i c e s F or the most part they s u er from l ack

.
,

O f shelter The greater n umber of them a re vi lel y

.

housed do not have enough fuel to keep them

,

warm and are i nsuf c iently clothed

, A constan t .

n umber never have any houses at al l and s l eep she l ,

t e r les s u nder the stars Many are to be fou nd wi n

. ,

ter and summer shive ri ng on the streets in thei r

,

rags They have good times and bad I n good

. .

times most of them manage to get enough to eat ,

i n bad times they d ie of starvation They ar e .

dyi ng now they were dying yesterday and last year

, ,

they will die to morrow and nex t year of starvat i on; ,

 T H E MANA GEM E NT 3 13

for the y un l ike the I n nu it s uffer from a ch roni c

, ,

condition of starvation There are . of

the E ngl ish fol k and 9 3 9 out of e v ery 1000 of them

,

die i n poverty while a constan t army of

,

st ruggles on the ragged edge of starvation F ur .

ther each babe that is born is born i n debt to the

, ,

su m of $ 1 10 This is because of an arti ce cal led

.

the National D ebt .

I n a fai r compariso n of the average I n n uit and

the average E ngl ishman i t will be seen that l ife is
,

less rigorous for the I n n u it ; that wh il e the I nn u it

su ffers only d uri ng bad t imes from sta rvation the ,

E ngl ishman su ffers du ring good times as well ; t hat

no I n nu it lacks fuel clothi ng or housi ng wh i le the
, , ,
'

E ngli shman is i n pe rpe tual l ack of these three

essen tials I n this connection it is wel l to i nst ance
.

the j udgment Of a man such as H uxley F rom the .

knowledge gai ned as a medical Of cer i n the E ast

E nd of London and as a scientist pu rsui ng i n vesti
,

at io n s among the most elemental savages he con

g ,

c l ud es, Were the al ternati ve presented to me I
would del iberately prefer the l ife of the sa v age to

that of those people of Ch ristian London .

The creatu re comforts man enjoys are the prod

S i nce Civil i zation h as failed

u c ts of man s labor .

to give the average E ngl ishman food and shelter

equal to that enjoyed by the I nnu i t t he questi on ,

arises : Ha s Czmlziza t zon i ncr ea sed the pr od u ci ng

' '
3 4
1 T HE PEOP L E OF T HE A BYSS

p ow er o
f Me a v er a
g man
If it h as not increas ed
e

m a ns prod uci ng power the n Civil iz atio n ca nno t

s tand .

But i t will be i nstan tly admitted Ci v il i z ation iza s

, ,

i ncreased ma ns producing power F ive men ca n

.

produce bread for a thou sand O ne man ca n pro .

duce cotton cloth for 2 5 0 people woollens for 3 00 , ,

and boots a nd sh oes for 1000 Y et i t has bee n .

show n th roughou t the pages of this book that E ng

l ish fol k by the m ill ions do not receive enough food ,

clothes and boots , Then arises the thi rd and

.

i nexorable question : If Ci v i li za t i on nas in cr ea sed

t/ze p r od u ci ngp ow er
fo M e a ver a e ma n
g , way n os it
no t better ed t/ze lo t M e a v er a e ma n 7
o
f g .

There ca n be one answer only M I S M A N AG E

M E N T Ci vili z ation has made po ssible al l manner
.

of creature comforts and heart s del ights In

.

these the average E nglishman does not part ici

pate If he shal l be forever unable to participate
.
,

the n C ivili za tion fal ls There is no reaso nfor the

.

co nti n ued e x istence of an artice so avowed a fail

ure But it is impossible that men s hould have
.

reared this tremendous artice i n vai n I t stuns the .

i ntellect To acknowledge so cru shi ng a defeat is

.

to give the death blow to strivi ng a nd progress

-
.

O ne other alternative and one other on ly pre , ,

sents itself Ci v i l i z a ti on mu st be compelled t o bet ter

.

t he lot of t/ze a ver age ma n This accepted it be .

,
3 16 T HE PEO PL E OF TH E A B YSS

S IO n I t has drai ned the U nited K ingdo m of i ts

.

life blood I t has e nfeebled the stay a t home fol k

-
.
- -

til l they are u nable longer to strugg l e in the v a n of

the competing nations I t has bu i l t up a West .

E nd and an E ast E nd as large as the Ki ngdo m is

large i n which one end is ri ot ous a nd rot te n th e
, ,

other end sickl y and u nderfed .

A v ast empire is foundering on the hands of thi s

i ncapable management A nd by empire is mean t
.

the pol itical machinery wh ich holds together the

E ngl ish speaki ng people of the world outside of the
-

U n ited S tates Nor is th is charged in a pessim istic

.

spi ri t Blood empire is greater than pol itical empi re

.
,

and the E nglish of the New World and the A nt i p

Odes are strong and vigorous as ever But the .

pol itical em pire u nder which they are nomi nally

assembled is perishi ng The pol itical mach ine
.

known as the Bri tish E mpire is running down I n .

the hands of i ts managemen t i t is losing mome ntu m

every day .

I t is inevitab l e that th is manageme nt whi ch has ,

grossly and crimi nal ly mismanaged s h all be swep t ,

aw ay Not only has i t been wasteful a nd i nei

.

cient bu t it has misappropriated the fu nds E very

, .

worn out pasty faced pauper every bli nd man every

-
,
-
, ,

prison babe every man woman and ch ild whose

, , ,

belly is gnawi ng with hunger pangs is hu ngry be ,

cause the funds have been mi sappropri ated by the

managemen t .
 T HE MANAGE M E NT 3 7
1

Nor can one me mber of this managi ng class plead

not guilty before the j udgment bar of Man The .

living in their houses and i nthei r graves the dead

, ,

are challenged by every babe that dies of i nnut r i

t ion by eve ry girl that flees the sweater s den to the
,

nightly promenade of P iccadilly by every worked,

O u t toiler that plu nges i nto the canal The food

.

this managi ng class eats the wi ne i t drinks the

, ,

shows it makes and the ne clothes i t wears are

, ,

challenged by eigh t mill ion mouths which have

never had enough to ll the m and by twice eight
,

million bodies which have never bee n su f ciently

clothed and housed .

There ca n be no m istake Civi li z ation has i n

.

creased ma ns produci ng power a n hu ndred fold

and through m ismanagement the me n of Civili z a

tion l ive worse than the beasts and have less to eat
,

and wear and protect them from the elements tha n

the savage I n nuit i n a frigid cli mate who lives to
day as he li ved i n the stone age ten thousand years
ago.
T HE P EOP LE OF T HE AB YSS

C H A LL E NG E

I h av e vague r emembr ance

a

O f a st o r y t h a t i s t o l d
In s o me a nci ent S p a ni s h l egend
O r ch r oni c l e of o ld .

It w as w h e nb r a ve K i ng S
nc h ez a

Wa s b efo r e ! a mor a s l a i n ,

A nd h i s gr ea t b e si egi ng a r my
L a y enca mped u p o nt h e p l a i n .

D o n D i ego d e O r d enez
S a ll i ed fort h i nf r ont o f a ll ,

A nd sh outed l o u d h i s c h a ll enge
To t h e w ar d e r s o n t h e w a ll .

A ll t h e p eo p l e of ! a mor a ,
Bo t h t h e h or n a nd t h e u nb or n,
A s t r a i to r s d i d h e h a llengec

W i t h t a u nti ng w or d s of sco r n .

Th e l i v i ng i n t h ei r h ou ses ,

A nd i n t h ei r gr a ves t h e d ea d ,
A nd t h e w a t er s i n t h ei r r i ver s,
A nd t h ei r w i ne, a nd o i l, a nd b r ea d .

T h er e i s a gr e a t e r a r my
THE C A L L OF THE WIL D
By J A CK LO NDON

A f
uthor o The Childr enof the Frost, etc .

Wi h t I ll ustra tions inCo lor by

PHI IP
L IV INGsTO N B
Goo nw m an L RULL
d C HA R LEs .

Deco ra te d by C HA R LEs E D WA D HOO P E R R

Cl ot h Ia mo
n
i ty of i ts nd th e r mnm of i ts exeem
t to na re e q l ly ua re ma r kb a le
u
a st o ry h
t at pa t h e
a
rea d er ly .

ao
It i s ar t . i t
mu ch re n
,

so na b le neas mu c h convi n
soe g l ogi c

k d
.
,

J Lon on is o ne o f the ve r k w youn wr i te rs w h o are maid en vi a b e l
reco r s d
ac
fo r t h e mse l ves Th e y Ite ra ryty a n
ua d vi ri e s tren
. of is st ori es
is la teat vo lu me
g
? l h

bb
i s h i s es t i nth e ic tur es ue a n d Imagi na t i v e
Th e oo k is a ser i es O f re ma r ab e i ct ures
p q
uali t o f th e h o rnsto -te er
b u t a o ve a ll i t is a

k
cture of d og l p
q yb pi
ll .

o ri gi n
h
a i t an l y
d a so rt o f vi ri e oetr
d
li fe t at i n i ts won er fu i maginat i ve ua l i t s tan s ui te a o n l
a toget er a mo st exc e t i on
e
l p
ossesses a n
oo k

y
q yl h
d q l
p
p
lb

a .

1Vm Yor k commer ci a l A l ber tas

'

y b h h h
.

A bi i nso e r En
sto r gli s an d w i t t o ro u h
ar t i nth e co n s tr ucti o n
w on e d ly pc rfe ct b i t o f w o r k
t ures a re as exci ti n as a n m
a boo k t h a t
a ns ex oi t s cou
g
b e . an d Mr
,

Il be h ea r d of Th e d og ad ven
'
pl
o n o ns w o r man
'
a

l d L
.

d k
y
h ll y
.

s i hp is w o sa ng
'

b l d
.

Th e sto r i s o n y
e th a t wi sti r t h e ll
of every lov er o f a i fe i ni ts c losest rela l
t io nto n at ure
T h e Ca o f th e ll
o ever o ves th e
. W h
W ld
a mos t fa s c i n n
oo

"
l
b d
n o r a vent ure fo r i ts own sa e wi ll fi nd
B r ookly nE agle m
k
i g oo k
d d b
. .

Ev enth e mo st is t ess rea er wi b e st i rre l l ll y

th e v i ril e force of th e sto r th e y
st ro n , swee i n
h g
t e re i nare a i n
g
te
st ro es
p
p w
th e n
i t w i
d by
c
arra to r an
kt h e
d t
ci ur
in
e a o
s ig t
f thh h h
e n
eni n
or t e r n w i ld s a n
to th e sou of t h e ri mi
d th e i f
e
h
h l p
,

l
y
.

t i ve i n n at u re o re t a n t a t i t i s o n M e of h h
b es t sto r i enof t h e ea r ,
an d o ne t a t w i n h ot be forgo tt en
.

ll Tu
,

Dealer , C ev e a n l l d
d
. .

A ma r ve o us i nteresti n ll g ly a s to r t a t m u s t co mman i n y h te re st a n d
a d mi ra ti o n on L
d o n h as a c i ev ed a tr i u m h h
i nt i s sto r i nth e ful est sen y l
o f th e w o r
l p
dy .

It is w ri t teni nma s ter fa s i o n

.

h l p
ik e oet r w o e assages t a t g o w wi t s e n i tr ut
e re a re w o e
h
l
ly h p
h pl d d h h l p
a ges t a t t r i l
7 1nd
se
. h h l
p b d
, . .

p
In t h e rs t a ra gr a h s o f t is su er s to r th e rea er s i n p
h y
te rest is i rr esi sti bl
a muse
th e
d
an
bl d d a tt e nti o ni s e
h e re i s pi
en c ai n e
ue co o r t o tr a n
to th e en h l
d;
s o rt th e rea er to
d l
h
h er e is exci te ment t o s
r i miti v e scen
d p d p
an
oo
h
.

d er e i s exce ence of ter ary wor k ma n ll s i eser vi n g of u nres erve

7 1: Pr ess , P i a e
es ,
ra i se
ia
hpd dh l pd lph .

Inno o n e of h i s fo rmer sto r i ea of li fe h as h e ro mh e of th e ap len

v
di d
an
a re th e s o h
es t
l
d o ri gi na e ni us h e h as d i s a e in Th e C all o f
pg
u ma n i t an h
s wers t h e d ee
ve
e pl
cry of t is ta e y
y
Il d d A
G rea t boo s
t u n er p h
.

l d k
c u rre n d l
t Is ca rr i e be o w t h e s ur fa ce o f t h e st or . a force o ld as th e w o r t h e cry of y
.

d
THE M ACM I LL A N C OM PA NY
so F IF T H A VENU E NEW Y OR K ,
T HE C H IL DR E N O F T HE FR OS T

By J A CK LONDON

A uthor of Yh e S onof the Wolf , The God f hi s

o

F a ther s , etc .

W it h Ill us tra ti o ns by R A P HA E LM . R mv

C lo t h 1a mo

To l d h
w i t so met i ng o f t h hat s a me v i go r o u s a nd h o n st manl iness a nd
e ind i ffer
en c e Wl i h w h tch M r K i in g pl ma k nb eggi ng ye t d i rec t
es u a nd u nfai lt ng a ppea l to
y y d
.

th e s m at of 1 p h
115 rea er
"
. R t e/ mend D i sp a t c h .

M L nd n
r o o is gro w i ng i ter a r fo r ce
a l y
He i s to b e r ec o ne a mo ng th e k d
y
. .

o un D em/er R epu bl zca n

s t ro n gest o f o ur g w ri ters , i f no t th e st r o ngest . .

p
S o o w e rful ly w ri tt en, and so t o ta l ly d i ffere nt fr o m th e great mass o f b k oo s .

Tol ed o D a r/y B l a d e .

T HE K E MPTO N WA CE L E TTE R S -

B y J A C K LONDON a nd A NNA S TR U NS K Y

C lo t h 1a mo

I a m mu c i m resse th e h p
oo d by b k
i t ts a n enter ta tni ng t o u g t co m h h
b k b b
-
,

p ll
e in g o o I s o u d no t b e. s u r h l
p nse d i f i t e ca me a c las s w o nth e s u j ect o f

l
o ve ED W I
. AR N M K
HA M , W es ter le tgh . S ta te nIs a nd N Y l , . .

T is h u ni q l itt l
ue e vo u l me is a mo ng th e few co nt r i b uti o ns to t h e y ea r s
'
c ti o n
h
t at d eser ve se ri ous co ns i d e ra t i o n .
"
Th e Commer ci al A d v er t i ser .

THE M AC M IL L A N C OM PAN Y
6 6 F IF TH A V EN UE , NEW Y OR K