  The distances are measured from the terminal stations of the great Companies’ lines. The names of these stations are abbreviated thus: Padd.—Paddington; Great Western. Eust.—Euston Square; London and North Western. K. C.—King’s Cross; Great Northern. Shore.—Shoreditch; Great Eastern. Fen.—Fenchurch Street; London and Blackwall. L. B.—London Bridge; South-Eastern, and London and Brighton. Wat.—Waterloo; London and South-Western. Vic.—Victoria or Pimlico; Crystal Palace and other railways. N. L.—North London. Lud.—Ludgate Hill; London, Chatham, and Dover. St. Panc.—St. Pancras; Midland. The places accommodated by the North London Railway have no mileage distances named; for all the stations on that line are equally within the metropolitan limits. The Metropolitan Railway is not here mentioned at all, for a similar reason. For all stations on the South-Eastern, the distance from Charing Cross is about 1¾ miles farther than from London Bridge. On the Chatham and Dover, most of the stations are about equidistant from the Ludgate and Victoria termini. The places reached by steamers are marked St.; while Om. signifies Omnibus, in cases where there is no very available railway route. When a town is some little distance from the nearest station, two mileages are named: thus, ‘Beddington, 10½ Croydon + 2½,’ implies that after a railway journey of 10½ miles to Croydon, there are 2½ miles of road.
CHIEF OMNIBUS ROUTES.There are few better ways for a man to see London, on a fine day, than by riding through it on an omnibus. These vehicles mostly begin to run about 8.30–9 a.m., and cease about 12 p.m. To give more than a mere general notion as regards a few of the chief omnibus routes, is impossible in our limited space here. The fares range, for the most part, from a minimum of 2d. to a maximum of 6d. They are painted inside the omnibus: the main localities passed on the way, outside. The groups of these conveyances known by distinctive names, (all the omnibuses of each group having one common name,) are chiefly the following:— Atlas—colour, green—running between St. John’s Wood and Camberwell Gate, and vice versa, via Oxford Street, and over Westminster Bridge—every 5 minutes. City Atlas—green—between Swiss Cottage, St. John’s Wood, and London Bridge Station, and vice versa, via Oxford St., Holborn, Bank—every 7 minutes. Bayswater—light green—from Notting Hill and Bayswater to Mile-End Bayswater to London Bridge Station, via Oxford Street, Holborn, Cheapside—every few minutes. Bayswater to Shoreditch Station—Oxford Street, Holborn, Cheapside, Threadneedle Street, Bishopsgate Street—every hour. Citizen—Paddington to London Bridge Station—Edgeware Road, (only,) Oxford Street, Holborn, Bank—every 8 minutes. Other omnibuses also run to and from Paddington, as follows:— Paddington to London Bridge Station—green—Royal Oak, Edgeware Road, New Road, City Road, Bank—every 10 minutes. Paddington to Fenchurch Station—Some of the above go to Fenchurch instead of London Bridge Station. Paddington to Whitechapel—green—as above to Bank, then Cornhill and Aldgate—frequent. Paddington to Charing Cross—red—Edgeware Road, Oxford and Regent Streets, Charing Cross—every 8 minutes. Favorite—green—Holloway to London Bridge, via Highbury, Islington, City Road, Bank, King William Street—about every 8 minutes. Favorite—green—Holloway to Westminster, Islington, Exmouth Street, Chancery Lane, Westminster Abbey, Victoria Street. Favorite—blue—Holloway Road, Caledonian Road, King’s Cross, Euston Road, Portland Road, Regent Street, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Museum, “Queen’s Elm”—every 9 minutes. Havelock—Kingsland Gate to “Elephant and Castle,” via Shoreditch, Bishopsgate Street, London Bridge, Borough—at frequent intervals. Paragon—green—Brixton to Gracechurch Street, Kensington, “Elephant and Castle,” London Bridge—every 10 minutes. Buxton to Oxford Street—Kensington, Westminster Bridge, Charing Cross, Regent Street—every half hour. Royal Blue—blue—Pimlico, Piccadilly, Strand, Cheapside, Fenchurch Street Station—every 8 or 10 minutes. Waterloo—blue—from “York and Albany,” Regent’s Park, by Albany Street, Regent Street, Westminster Bridge, “Elephant and Castle” to Camberwell Gate—every 6 minutes. Westminster—brown—Pimlico to Bank, via Lupus Street, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Westminster, Strand, &c.—every 6 minutes. Such are a few of the numerous omnibus routes of London. From such places as Charing Cross and the London Bridge Stations, you can get an omnibus for almost any part of London, up till nearly midnight; while, by the aid of a map, no matter in what quarter you may be, you will speedily LONDON TRAMWAYS.There are now three Tramway Companies in London:—1. The Metropolitan Street Tramways Company, (Limited.) They run regularly from Westminster Bridge to Clapham and Brixton, at about every 5 minutes from each terminus, Fare 3d. 2. North Metropolitan Tramways Company: (1) From Aldgate, along Whitechapel and Mile End Road (through Bow) to Stratford Church; (2) From Moorgate Street to the Angel, Islington, thence to Kingsland, Stoke Newington, &c. Both running every 5 minutes, Fares 2d.; (3) another route is by Old Street to Stoke Newington and Clapton. 3. Southall, Ealing, and Shepherd’s Bush Tram Railway Company, (Limited.) This company is constructing lines in the western suburbs of London. There are tramways in the north-west of town. CLUBS AND CLUB HOUSES.There are, in all, in London, about ninety. The following is a list of the principal club-houses:—
THE LONDON PARCELS DELIVERY COMPANY.This Company—whose chief office is in Roll’s Buildings, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, and whose minor receiving houses, at shops, &c., are very numerous—delivers parcels at a tariff of 4d. if under 4 lbs. weight, and within three miles distance; under 14 lbs. within a like range, 6d.; and so on up to a cwt., which will be delivered for 1s. 2d., subject to the aforesaid condition. Over three miles distance, the charge for delivering a parcel under 1 lb. to any part of London and its environs will be 4d., under 7 lbs., 6d., and so forth. For a parcel under 112 lbs., if carried beyond three miles, sender will be charged 1s. 6d. To more distant places, minimum charge is 6d. Light but bulky packages charged for by measurement. The Company does not undertake to collect parcels from the houses of the senders.
The London Postal District, to which special rules relate, includes every town and village within twelve miles of the General Post-office. Reference has already been made to the number of post-offices, receiving-houses, and pillar-boxes, in this area. There are 500 Money-order Offices, the whole of which (with a very few exceptions) have within a recent period been made Post-office Savings-banks also. The facilities thus afforded to strangers visiting London for a few days, for receiving or transmitting money, are very great. A Post-office Money-order will convey sums of a few pounds without risk of loss, at a cost of a few pence, either from the visitor to his country friends, or from them to him. The Post-office Savings-banks are even still more convenient; for a person residing in the country, and having money in the savings-banks, can draw it out in London during his visit, or any part of it, with a delay of a day or two, free of expense. In whatever part of London a visitor may be, he is within five or ten minutes’ walk of a Money-order Office; and at any such office he can, for six hours a day, (10 till 4,) obtain the requisite information concerning both of these kinds of economical monetary facilities. LONDON LETTERS, POSTAL AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.As just stated, the London District Post operates within twelve miles of the General Post-office: that is, within a circle of twenty-four miles in diameter. There are a few outlying patches beyond this circle, but they need not here be taken into account. This large area is now divided into eight Postal Districts, each of which has a name, an initial abbreviation, and a chief office. They are as follows:—
The use of the district system is, that if a letter, arriving from the country, has on the outside the district initials as well as the address, it has a fair chance of earlier delivery; and if sent from one part of London to another, such chance is the greater. The reason for this is, that much of the sorting is effected at the eight chief district offices, if the initials are given, to the great saving of time. An official list of a vast number of The portion of each district within about three miles of the General Post-office is called the Town Delivery, and the remainder the Suburban Delivery. Within the town limits there are twelve deliveries daily: the first, or General Post, commencing about 7.30, and mostly over in London about 9; the second commencing about 8.15, and the third at 10.30. The next nine are made hourly. The last delivery begins about 7.45. There are seven despatches daily to the suburban districts. The first, at 6.30 a.m., to all places within the London District limits. A second, at 9.30, to suburbs within about four miles of the General Post-office. The third, at 11.30, takes in almost all the London district. The fourth despatch, at 2.30 p.m., goes to spots within about six miles of the General Post-office. The fifth, at 4.30, comprises the whole of the suburban districts, and, except in the more outlying country spots, letters are delivered same evening. The sixth, at 6 p.m., goes to places under four miles from the General Post-office. The last despatch is at 7 p.m. Letters to go by it should be posted at the town post-offices or pillar-boxes by 6 p.m., or at the chief office of the district to which they are addressed. They will thus probably be delivered the same night, within about six miles of the General Office. The suburban deliveries begin one to two hours after despatch, according to distance. It is always well to remember, that for any given delivery, a letter may be posted rather later at the chief office than at any of the minor offices of each district; that letters only, not newspapers, book-parcels, manuscripts, &c., may be put in pillar-boxes; and that letters posted during the night, (from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.,) have a chance of earlier delivery than otherwise, seeing that the pillar-boxes are cleared at 5 in the morning, and, as a rule, we believe, earlier than the receiving-houses. Outgoing letters for the evening mails are received at most offices till 5.30, and at the chief office of each district till 6. By affixing an extra penny stamp, the letter is receivable till 6 at the minor, and till 7 at the chief offices. Telegraph Offices.—Telegrams may be sent from all Postal Offices within the London district. The charge for 20 words, not including address, is 1s. READING AND NEWS-ROOMS.Jerusalem Coffee-house, Cowper’s Court, Cornhill, (Indian, China, and Australian newspapers.) 3 Wallbrook. 154 Leadenhall Street, (Deacon’s.) 13 Philpot Lane. Royal Exchange, Lloyds’, (Subscribers only.) King’s Head, Fenchurch Street. 88 Park Street, Camden Town. 83 Lower Thames Street. 177, 178 Fleet Street, (Peele’s—files of the Times for many years.) 24 King William Street, (Wild’s.) 34 Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, (St. George’s.) 22 Paddington Green, (Working Men’s.) Patent Museum Library, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, (free.) British Museum Library, (apply for ticket; enclosing letter of introduction from respectable householder.) There are Reading and News Rooms belonging to a large number of learned societies and public institutions; but these are for the most part accessible only to members. CHESS ROOMS.A chess player may meet with competitors at any one of the several chess rooms. The best are Simpson’s, (Limited Co.,) late Ries’s, Divan, opposite Exeter Hall, Strand; Kilpack’s, Covent Garden, (also an American Bowling Saloon;) and Pursell’s, Cornhill. Many Coffee-shops are provided with chess-boards and men, and many dining and chop houses have chess-rooms up-stairs. THEATRES.There are at present about thirty-seven London Theatres, but those named below are all that need here be considered.
CONCERT ROOMS.Willis’s Rooms, King Street, St. James’s. Hanover Square Rooms. Exeter Hall, 372 Strand, Choral Societies, Sacred Harmonic, &c. St. James’s Hall, Quadrant and Piccadilly,—Concerts occasionally. 16 Store Street, Bedford Square, „ „ St. George’s Hall, Langham Place. Princess’s Concert Room, Princess’s Theatre,—Concerts occasionally. Queen’s Concert Room, (attached to Her Majesty’s Theatre,)—Concerts occasionally. Myddleton Hall, Upper Street, Islington. Agricultural Hall, Islington,—Concerts occasionally. MUSIC HALLS.
MODES OF ADMISSION TO VARIOUS INTERESTING PLACES.Free.British Museum.—Chelsea Hospital.—Courts of Law and Justice (at the Criminal Court and the Police Courts a fee is often needed.)—Docks, (but not the vaults and warehouses without an introduction.)—Dulwich Gallery.—East India Museum, Fife House, Whitehall.—Greenwich Hospital, (a small fee for some parts.)—Hampton Court Palace, (Sundays as well as week-days).—Houses of Parliament, (some portions every day; more on Saturdays.)—Kew Botanic Garden and Pleasure Grounds, (Sundays as well as week-days.)—Museum of Economic Geology, Jermyn Street.—National Gallery.—National Portrait Gallery.—Patent Museum, (adjoining the South Kensington Museum.)—Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.—Society of Arts Exhibition of Inventions, (in the spring of each year.)—St. Paul’s Cathedral, (fees for Crypt and all above stairs.)—Westminster Abbey, (a fee for some of the Chapels.)—Westminster Hall.—Windsor Castle, (at periods notified from time to time.)—Woolwich Repository, (the Dockyard was closed in October, 1869, and a letter of introduction is needed for the Arsenal.) Private Picture Galleries are sometimes opened free; of which notice is given in the newspapers. Shilling Admissions.The number of Shilling Exhibitions open in London is at all times very large, but more especially in the summer months. The first page of the Times contains advertisements relating to the whole of them; while the Admit by Introduction.Among the places to which admission may be obtained by personal introduction, or by letter, the following may be named:—Antiquarian Society’s Museum, Somerset House.—Armourer’s Museum, (ancient armour,) 81 Coleman Street.—Asiatic Society’s Museum, 5 New Burlington Street.—Bank of England Museum, (collection of coins.)—Botanical Society’s Gardens and Museum, Regent’s Park.—College of Surgeons’ Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.—Guildhall Museum, (old London antiquities.)—LinnÆan Society’s Museum, Burlington House.—Mint, (process of coining,) Tower Hill.—Missionary Museum, (idols, rude implements, &c.,) Bloomfield Street, Finsbury.—Naval Museum, (formerly, now at South Kensington.)—Private Picture Galleries, (several.)—Royal Institution Museum, Albemarle Street.—Trinity House Museum, (models of lighthouses, &c.,) Tower Hill.—United Service Museum, Scotland Yard.—Woolwich Arsenal. N.B.—These lists are subject to constant change. PRINCIPAL PUBLIC AND TURKISH BATHS.(Those printed in italics are public baths, established rather for the benefit of the working and middle classes, than for the sake of profit. At most of them a third-class cold bath can be obtained for 1d.; from which minimum the prices rise to about 6d. or 8d. Many of the so-called Turkish baths are ordinary baths in which the arrangements for the Turkish or Oriental system have recently been introduced. There are also a few Medicated Baths, kept by medical practitioners for the use of invalids.)
Turkish.
Medicated Baths.
Practically speaking, the new law ordering cabmen to display a flag, on which is painted their tariff per mile and per hour, is a dead letter. Few or none shew flags, and many have none to shew. Cab proprietors can now charge what they please, provided they take out a license from the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police, on which is endorsed the rate by distance or by time intended to be charged, and the number of persons to be carried. No fare less than one shilling is to be offered. The driver is to give passenger a card which specifies the licensed price per hour or per mile. As regards luggage, for each package carried outside 2d. extra is charged. For each person above two 6d. extra on the entire journey. If such extra person be a child under 10 years of age, 3d. Two children of such age to be reckoned as one person. If cab be discharged more than four miles from Charing Cross by radius, an extra charge will be made for such excess of distance, as per sum stated on cabman’s card. Every full mile of such excess will be charged for at per tariff per mile stated on such card. Driver is not compelled to drive more than 6 miles. For every quarter of an hour he is kept waiting, if the cab be hired by time, one-fourth of his tariff per hour. If hired by distance, for every quarter of an hour of waiting, the rate charged per mile. By time, for any period under one hour, the sum stated on driver’s card as charged per hour. As a general rule, cabmen charge 2s. per hour for four-wheeled cabs, and 2s. 6d. for “Hansom;” and by distance, 1s. for the first mile, and 6d. for the second, and so on. Property left in hackney carriages should be asked for at the office for property left in such carriages, at the office of the Commissioners of Police, Great Scotland Yard, Charing Cross. Cabmen are bound, under a penalty, to take such lost property to the nearest police station within 24 hours. In case of disagreement between a cabman and his passenger, the latter can compel the cabman to drive to the nearest police office; and if a Magistrate be then sitting, he will at once settle the dispute. If such office is closed, the cabman may be required to drive to the nearest police station, where the complaint will be entered, and adjudicated at the magistrate’s next sitting. Our readers cannot do better than purchase (price 1s.) a little book on the subject of Cab Fares and Regulations, published under the auspices of the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police. It can be ordered through any bookseller, or may be purchased direct, at the office for its sale, a few doors north of the entrance to Great Scotland Yard. In it will be found a list of fares, and the distances in yards, from many parts in London to others. Its usefulness will amply repay our readers for their small outlay in its purchase.
Whether you know the proper cab-fare or not, always make a bargain with the cabman when hiring his vehicle; and take a note of his number. Keep the right hand side of the pavement when walking. If out with other country friends, keep well together. Observe caution while crossing crowded thoroughfares. In asking for information, apply to shopkeepers, or to policemen, rather than to passers-by. The London police are, for the most part, reliable men; and strangers in any doubt or difficulty can generally obtain useful aid from them. Be on your guard against pickpockets in crowds, street exhibitions, and omnibuses. Beware of strangers who endeavour to force their acquaintance on you, and affect to be unacquainted with London; they are often low sharpers. Keep no more cash about you than is needed for the day’s supply. Be cautious in opening your purse or looking at your watch in the streets. Avoid low neighbourhoods after dark; if there is anything worth seeing there, see it in the daytime. Disregard street-beggars; residents only (and not always even they) can tell the deserving from the undeserving. COMMISSIONAIRES OR MESSENGERS.These are a body of retired soldiers of good character, who were originally organized in 1859, by Captain Walter. Their central office, open day and night, is at Exchange Court, 419a Strand, where men can always be hired. But they are also to be seen, and are easily recognisable by their neat dark green uniform and badge, in most large thoroughfares. Their tariff is,—twopence for half-a-mile or under; and threepence for any distance over half-a-mile to a mile. Back fare, or charge for return, (unless bearing a return message,) is not allowed. A charge of one penny per mile extra, if the parcel carried weighs more than 14 lbs. If engaged by time, sixpence per hour, twopence a quarter of an hour, half-a-crown for a day of eight hours. By special arrangement, they may be hired at from 15s. to 20s. per week.
North of the Thames are the High Level, the Middle Level, the Low Level, and the Western District Sewers, together with an Outfall at Barking Creek. The High Level drains Hampstead, Highgate, Kentish Town, Highbury, Stoke Newington, Hackney, and passes under Victoria Park to Old Ford; its length is about 9 miles. The Middle Level runs by way of Kensal Green, Kensington Park, Notting Hill, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and so under a number of minor streets, to Old Ford, being about 12 miles long. The Low Level commences near Pimlico, and passes along under the Thames embankment to Blackfriars, whence it is to go through the City and Whitechapel to West Ham. The Western District Sewers drain Acton, Hammersmith, Fulham, Chelsea, &c., on a plan different from that of the main drainage in other localities. The Outfall, an immense work 6 miles long, continues the Upper and Middle Level Sewers from Old Ford to West Ham, and all the three sewers thence to Barking Creek, where stupendous arrangements are made for conducting the flow of the sewage into the Thames. The drainage south of the Thames comprises a High Level Sewer, a Low Level Sewer, and an Outflow. The High Level drains Clapham, Brixton, Streatham, Dulwich, Camberwell, &c.; the Low Level keeps nearer the Thames, by Wandsworth, Battersea, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Southwark, Bermondsey, and Rotherhithe, to Deptford; while the Outfall continues both these lines of sewers through Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, and across Plumstead Marshes to Crossness Point, where the works are situated for conveying the sewage into the river. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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