THE RESULT OF SEEING LONDON LIFE.

Evening Star, Issue 3448, 11 March 1874, Page 3

THE RESULT OF SEEING LONDON LIFE.

A few days ago an enterprising youth, who had recently left school, and happened to be in London, took the opportunity of exploring the interesting haunts rendered so familiar by the descriptions of Dickens, For two or three dais all went on well, but, after seeing much, he wis ed to make the acquaintance of the “ waterside character?,” and to survey the homes of the Gaffers and Rogue Riderhoods. For this purpose he betook himself one evening to those labyrinths of squalor and mi ery which skirt the canal about Islington, and after having comfortably engaged himself in conversation with two or three of the most characteristic “growths” of that neighborhood, he was persuaded to accompany them home that they might show him what he wanted to see. In full confidence he followed them through two or three dingy courts into a large room. The manner of his companions then suddenly changed. One held him down while another completely shampooed bis head with a filthy sort of train oil. This was succeeded by an application of treacle. Presently a woman brought some llour with which they powdered his head. * amid all the jeers aud laughter of the neighborhood, he was trotted out through the court, and pelted by every imaginable kind of m ssile, such as potatoes, cabbage stalks, apple rinds, and the like, and saluted as “pickpocket,” “old jailand “ chap that robs the poor. ’ On a policeman making his appearance some decamped, others, however, stuck to their prey, charging him with burglary and intent to rob. The poli.eman, however, being a sensible man, saw how matters stood, and put the sufferer into a cab. Fortunately, he was not hurt, and will probably be content for the future to read about “life,” without being so anxious to s e it.— ‘ Echo.’