286 EEPORT — 1881. 



inhabitants. Assuming theatrical provision on the same proportion among 

 the 20,000,000 of urban population, there would be provision of- 400,000, 

 and at l.s. 6d. each for 200 nights, the total sum would be 6,O0O,0O0L 

 The ' Bra Almanac ' gives a list of about 276 theatres, and this, at an 

 average capacity of 1,400, would give an aggregate capacity of 386,000. 

 The London theatres are considerably larger. Of music-halls the number 

 o-iven in the ' Era ' is 216. Taking their average capacity at 400 and at 

 6d. per night, also for 250 nights, the sum so expended would be about 

 500,000L, making, with the theatrical, an expenditure of 6,500,000Z., 

 only one-fourth of which, viz., 1,600,000Z., is spent in materials, or in the 

 proportion of 0'12cZ. gross and 0-03(7. net per head per day. 



Other Armisements. 



The Crystal Palace is a type of another order of amusements. By 

 the courtesy of the manager, Major Page, we learn that the average 

 number of visitors who paid for admission in the three years, 1878 to 

 1880, was 988,760, of whom 833,728 were adults, and 15.5,032 children, 

 besides nearly as many of season-ticket holders, performers, and others. 

 The ordinary receipts of the Company from admissions in 1880 were 

 40,000L, and the amount received from reserved seats and programmes 

 20,604L, making a total of 60,600Z., giving an avei'age of about Is. 3cZ. per 

 person. Add Is. Qtl. for the railway and 6(Z. for refreshment in excess of 

 the cost at home, we may assume that every visitor pays at least 3s. 3cZ. 

 There are, however, special days — Boxing Day and Easter ]\Ionday, and 

 two other Bank holidays, or equivalent days in the manufacturing dis- 

 tricts, in all four days in the year — when a large portion of the population 

 is in quest of amusement. On one such day in London 120,000 find 

 their way to the Crystal and Alexandra Palaces, 72,000 to the different 

 Galleries, and 95,000 to the Zoological, and Horticultural, and Kew 

 Gardens. Assuming that on such days one in ten of the urban popula- 

 tion, or about 2,000,000, is bent on amusement, and that on an average 

 3s. per head is the amount expended, the total for each day would be 

 300,000^., or for the four days 1,200,000L' But there are amusements of 

 quite another order. How shall we estimate the expense incurred on the 

 Derby day or on racing all the year. There are about 2,500 race-horses, 

 the breeding and training of which cost 300Z. each, or 750,000Z. The 

 amount spent in a month's grouse-shooting by a single party is jiut down 

 at least at 4477. Fox-hunting is another heavy source of expenditure. 

 There are 150 packs of fox-hounds kept in England and Wales, the 

 aggregate cost of which, including the cost of hunters, is put down at 

 700,0007. Then there is fishing, coursing, cricket, archery, bicycling,^ 



' The weekly railway receipts indicate the effect of a holiday on the movements 

 of the people. Taking the entire passengers' receipts of the Great Eastern, Great 

 Northern, Great Western, London and Brighton, London, Chatham, and Dover, 

 London and South-Western, Midland, and London and North- Western for the week 

 before, and the week after the Bank holidays in 1880, the excess of receipts 

 amounted to 260,000Z., but as many take their holiday before the actual day, and 

 many return after the same, the account is not exact. The average receipts per 

 annum for the last three years for traffic to the Crystal Palace by the London, 

 Brighton, and South Coast Railway were 25,6557. On Easter Monday the receipts 

 were 1,084Z. ; on Whit Monday 1,0221. ; on the August Bank Holiday 790/., and on 

 Boxing Day 466Z. 



- The Secretary of the Bicycle Union informs us that 100,000 may be taken as 

 the number of machines in use, entailing an annual expense of about 500,000Z., besides 

 the expense of subscription to clubs, uniforms, repairs, and many more items. 



