LONDON 



3488 



LONDON 



lent institutions include Victoria and Saint Jo- 

 seph's hospitals, an asylum with hospital build- 

 ings, Roman Catholic and Protestant orphan- 

 ages and a home for aged people. Exceptional 

 educational advantages are offered 

 by the Western University, Huron 



College, Normal School, Saint Peter's Semi- 

 nary, a collegiate institute, an industrial and 

 arts school, medical and business colleges and a 

 public library. London is the seat of an Angli- 

 can and a Roman Catholic bishop. Springbank 

 Park is the largest park reservation. G.P. 



f ONDON, ENGLAND, the capital of the 

 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 

 and of the vast British Empire. The famous 

 traveler-lecturer, E. Burton Holmes, thus sum- 

 marizes its greatness: 



London is the most important place on earth. 

 It is not only the most populous, but it is the 

 greatest of great cities. No other city is the cen- 

 ter of so many world-wide interests. Towards no 

 other city do so many human beings look for in- 

 spiration, for commands and for rewards. 



No other city contains so many spots that 

 are associated with the lives of people who 

 have played a prominent part in the history 

 of the Anglo-Saxon race. No other city con- 

 tains so many landmarks which remind one of 

 poets whose works are among the masterpieces 

 of the English language; of authors whose 

 books have become the common heritage of the 

 human race; of men of science who by their 

 researches and discoveries have contributed to 

 the advancement of mankind, and of men of 

 great achievement in the domain of politics, 

 commerce, finance and other branches of hu- 

 man activity. 



Situation and Extent. London is situated in 

 the southeastern part of England on both banks 

 of the River Thames, about forty miles from 

 its mouth. The Thames is a tidal river up to 

 London Bridge, and is navigable for the largest 

 seagoing vessels. This location explains the 

 commercial importance of the place. Modern 

 London consists of the "city" and of the ad- 

 ministrative county of London, which together 

 occupy an area of 117 square miles; it is about 

 one-third as large in area as Greater New York 

 and one-half smaller than the area of Chicago; 

 in 1911 it had a population of 4,521,685. It is 

 divided into twenty-eight . separate boroughs or 



municipalities, besides the "city," each of them 

 governed by an elected council and mayor. 

 But outside these limits there is a wide area 

 which, with the "city" and county, forms what 

 is known as Greater London. This vast collec- 

 tion of buildings extends about fifteen miles in 

 every direction from Charing Cross, the official 

 center of the metropolis, and covers an area of 

 443,424 acres, or about 700 square miles, and 

 had a population of 7,251,358 inhabitants in 

 1911. (It should be noted that Greater New 

 York, which is under one central municipal 

 government, has a greater population than 

 London proper. See the article NEW YORK 

 [CiTY] in these volumes.) 



The City of London. The city of London, 

 the historic nucleus around which Greater Lon- 

 don has grown, is situated on the north bank 

 of the river. It covers an area of about 670 

 acres, a little over a square mile. Here are 

 located the great financial institutions and the 

 offices of the large industrial, commercial and 

 shipping companies whose activities extend 

 over the world. The resident population, whi< 

 is composed of caretakers, or janitors, and 

 licemen, numbers about 20,000 ; the day popul 

 tion, representing employees of the great bus 

 ness houses, is over 250,000; while the numl 

 of people that pass each day within the sqi 

 mile occupied by the "city" is over 1,000,( 

 The "city" of London is a separate mm 

 pality, having a civic corporation of its 

 at the head of which is the lord mayor 

 London, who holds his office for one year. 



London Seen from Trafalgar Square. Lor 

 don is situated on low ground and on tl 

 account one cannot get a general view of 

 whole metropolis, but a characteristic view 

 this wonderful city may be obtained from 



