These men constitute a large body, and are a class who, all things considered, do their work silently and efficiently. Almost without the cognisance of the mass of the people, the refuse is removed from our streets and houses; and London, as if in the care of a tidy housewife, is always being cleaned. Great as are the faults and absurdities of many parts of our system of public cleansing, nevertheless, when compared with the state of things in any continental capital, the superiority of the metropolis of Great Britain is indisputable.
In all this matter there is little merit to be attributed to the workmen, except that they may be well drilled; for the majority of them are as much machines, apart from their animation, as are the cane and whalebone made to cleanse the chimney, or the clumsy-looking machine which, in its progress, is a vehicular scavenger, sweeping as it goes.
These public cleansers are to be thus classified:—
1. Dustmen, or those who empty and remove the collection of ashes, bones, vegetables, &c., deposited in the dust-bins, or other refuse receptacles throughout the metropolis.
2. Nightmen, or those who remove the contents of the cesspools.
3. Sweeps, or those who remove the soot from the chimneys.
4. Scavengers, or those who remove the dirt from the streets, roads, and markets.
Let me, however, before proceeding further with the subject, lay before the reader the following important return as to the extent and contents of this prodigious city: for this document I am indebted to the Commissioners of Police, gentlemen from whom I have derived the most valuable information since the commencement of my inquiries, and to whose courtesy and consideration I am anxious to acknowledge my many obligations.
RETURN SHOWING THE EXTENT, POPULATION, AND POLICE FORCE IN THE METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT AND THE CITY OF LONDON IN SEPTEMBER, 1850.
| Metropolitan Police District[6]. | City of London[8]. | Grand Total. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inner District[7]. | Outer District. | Total. | |||
| Area (in square miles) | 91 | 609½ | 700½ | 1¾ | 702¼ |
| Parishes | 82 | 136 | 218 | 97 | 315 |
| Streets, Roads, &c. (length of, in miles) | 1,700 | 1,936 | 3,636 | 50 | 3,686 |
| Number of Houses inhabited | 289,912 | 59,995 | 349,907 | 15,613 | 365,520 |
| „ „ uninhabited | 11,868 | 1,437 | 13,305 | 387 | 13,692 |
| „ „ being built | 4,634 | 1,097 | 5,731 | 23 | 5,754 |
| Population | 1,986,629 | 350,331 | 2,336,960 | 125,000 | 2,461,960 |
| Police Force | 4,844 | 660 | 5,504 | 568 | 6,072 |