THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1901. ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 111, 21 February 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1901. ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

So much is heard of the diffetence in modern public life and that of a century ago that a short description of the Old Country as it was then cannot now fail to be of some general interest. The only drawback to such a contrast is that one scarcely knows how to confine mention of the wealth of material to the space of one or two newspaper articles. Throughout the whole body politic so many and so great changes have occurred that one is as different from the other as is night from day. The end of the eighteenth century was a time of great gloom and depression, and it IB doubtful if there was a,ny real advance beyond that of the seventeenth. The contrast between the state of England under the vigorous rule of William of Orange and that under the third George, at the end of the eighteenth, is painful to recall. In 1800 England had been at war with France since 1793; everything had been disastrous, and theie was great distress and dissatisfaction. The lower classes clamoured for peace, for peace and plenty, .while a succession of bad. , harvests increased the price of food and led to rioting and tumults. In February, 1800, in order to prevent a useless expenditure of wheaten flour by the consumption of new bread, a Bill was passed prohibiting any baker within ten miles of the Eoyal selling bread until it Ijad been twenty-four hours baked, under a penalty of £5 for.every loaf sold. The resultant riots were dispersed by soldiery, mostly volunteers, for there Were at this

time no police. The population which had to be fed at the beginning of this century was a small one compared with that of the present day. The total population of England and Wales in 1801 was 8,892,536, and, of this , number 4,721,352 lived in rural districts; that is, rather more than half. In 1891 the total population of England and Wales was 29,002,525, and of this number 5,534,000 lived in rural districts ; that is, not quite onefifth. Thus, instead of being paramount as in 1801, rural interests in 1891 were those of less than one-fifth of the whole people. Fashion was ever a fickle jade, and nothing more readily illustrates this than the dress of a century ago. The English ladios wore their dresses low and arms bare out of ddors, and the materials were so thin that it was a wonder they ecerkept themselves warm. It clung close to the figure, with very high waist, and was only suited to the young and slight. The men, too, affected tight clothes. Dandies padded their shoulders and had their collars as high as their hat?. No one wore trousers ; these came much later, and were violently opposed, even as late as 1812 undergraduates of Cambridge j being forbidden to appear so j clad. In 1800 all had knee breeches and stockings, top boots or gaiters, and for evening wear silk stockings and knee

breeches were the mods. The custom of wearing swords and periwigs was fast dying, but hair powder was still in vogue. The principal streets only were paved, and there was no attempt at ; surface drainage. Hackney coaches and chairs, stage coaches I and waggons provided slow conveyance, but cabs, omnibuses or trams there were none. It was an age of heavy eating and drinking, but smoking had not become universal. Sanitary methods and appliances were in their infancy, and afc this date there was scarce such a thing as a bathroom in the whole of London. The streets were lighted by oil lamps, and indoors candles were almost the sole illuminant. Gas was not introduced until 1813, its first use being on Westminster bridge. The insecurity [of the streets was increased by there being no police. By day they were not patrolled at all, and at night they were entrusted to the care of a number of ancient watchmen, who, armed with a staff, a rattle and a lantern, called the hours and then retired into a sentry-box: till the next call was due. There were a few Bow street runners and constables at the police courts, chiefly employed in thief-taking, but the new police of Sir " Bobby". Peel were not introduced until 1829. In 1800 severe punishments were thought the best preventive of crime, and there were no fewer than 160 offences for which capital punishment was the penalty. Among these were such as " stealing a cotton counterpane," " stealing a pair of stockings," " six silver spoons." Sentences of daath for these named offences were passed at the Old Bailey in September, 1801. When the end came, and the Londoner lay dead, where was he to be buried ? First, he had to be wrapped in woollen. This had been the law for many years, and till 1815. It was supposed to benefit the woollen manufactories. Then he was " inspected" by inspectors appointed for that purpose, and then he was buried in the town in a churchyard. It was not till 1852 that this evil was so widely recognised as to be swept away by an Act which rendered burial away from the heart of the city imperative. Such was life in 1800; what it is in 1900 we know. What will it be like in 2000?