Londons Underworld | Page 3

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LONDON'S UNDERWORLD
by Thomas Holmes (Secretary of the Howard Association)
(1912)
*
PREFACE
I am hopeful that some of the experiences given in the following
chapters may throw a little light upon some curious but very serious
social problems. Corporate humanity always has had, and always will
have, serious problems to consider.
The more civilised we become the more complex and serious will be
our problems--unless sensible and merciful yet thorough methods are
adopted for dealing with the evils. I think that my pages will show that
the methods now in use for coping with some of our great evils do not

lessen, but considerably increase the evils they seek to cure.
With great diffidence I venture to point out what I conceive to be
reasons for failure, and also to offer some suggestions that, if adopted,
will, I believe, greatly minimise, if not remove, certain evils.
I make no claim to prophetic wisdom; I know no royal road to social
salvation, nor of any specific to cure all human sorrow and smart.
But I have had a lengthened and unique experience. I have closely
observed, and I have deeply pondered. I have seen, therefore I ask that
the experiences narrated, the statements made, and the views expressed
in this book may receive earnest consideration, not only from those
who have the temerity to read it, but serious consideration also from
our Statesmen and local authorities, from our Churches and
philanthropists, from our men of business and from men of the world.
For truly we are all deeply concerned in the various matters which are
dealt with in "London's Underworld." THOMAS HOLMES. 12,
Bedford Road, Tottenham, N.
*
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I MY FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES II LONDON'S
UNDERWORLD III THE NOMADS. IV LODGING-HOUSES V
FURNISHED APARTMENTS VI THE DISABLED VII WOMEN IN
THE UNDERWORLD VIII MARRIAGE IN THE UNDERWORLD
IX BRAINS IN THE UNDERWORLD X PLAY IN THE
UNDERWORLD XI ON THE VERGE OF THE UNDERWORLD XII
IN PRISONS OFT XIII UNEMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYABLE
XIV SUGGESTIONS.
*
LONDON'S UNDERWORLD


CHAPTER I
MY FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES
The odds and ends of humanity, so plentiful in London's great city,

have for many years largely constituted my circle of friends and
acquaintances.
They are strange people, for each of them is, or was, possessed of some
dominating vice, passion, whim or weakness which made him
incapable of fulfilling the ordinary duties of respectable citizenship.
They had all descended from the Upper World, to live out strange lives,
or die early deaths in the mysterious but all pervading world below the
line.
Some of them I saw, as it were, for a moment only; suddenly out of the
darkness they burst upon me; suddenly the darkness again received
them out of my sight.
But our acquaintance was of sufficient duration to allow me to acquire
some knowledge, and to gain some experience of lives more than
strange, and of characters far removed from the ordinary.
But with others I spent many hours, months, or years as circumstances
warranted, or as opportunities permitted. Some of them became my
intimates; and though seven long years have passed since I gave up
police-court duties, our friendship bears the test of time, for they
remain my friends and acquaintances still.
But some have passed away, and others are passing; one by one my list
of friends grows less, and were it not that I, even now, pick up a new
friend or two, I should run the risk of being a lonely old man. Let me
confess, however, that my friends have brought me many worries, have
caused me much disappointment, have often made me very angry.
Sometimes, I must own, they have caused me real sorrow and
occasionally feelings of utter despair. But I have had my
compensations, we have had our happy