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Metropolitan Fire Brigade. — The strength of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade at present is as follows:  50 fire-engine stations; 109 fire-escape stations; 4 floating stations; 56 telegraph lines; 104 miles of telegraph lines; 3 floating steam fire-engines; 1 iron barge, to carry a land steam fire-engine; 3 large land steam fire-engines; 26 small land steam fire-engines; 12 7-inch manual fire-engines; 60 6-inch manual fire-engines; 36 under 6-inch manual fire-engines ; 17 hose carts; 125 fire-escapes and long scaling ladders; 420 firemen, including the chief officer Capt. Eyre Massey Shaw, the superintendents, and all ranks. The number of firemen employed on the several watches kept up throughout the metropolis is at present 91 by day and 168 by night, making a total of 259 in every twenty-four hours; the remaining men are available for general work at fires. The number of fires attended by the brigade in 1878 was 1,659, of which 270 were “serious,” and 1,489 “slight.” The number of persons seriously endangered by fire in 1878 was 151, of whom 126 were saved, and 25 lost their lives. The number of journeys made by the engines of the fifty land stations in 1878 was 16,329, the total distance run being 41,327 miles. The quantity of water used for extinguishing fires in the metropolis during 1878 was 19,226,915 gallons, or about 85,000 tons. 

METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE STATIONS.

Head-quarters: Southwark-br-rd, SE.
A DISTRICT.
Baker-street, 33, King-street.
Brompton,  Trafalgar-square.
Floating, off Millbank
Fulham, Purser-cross.
Hammersmith, Brook-gr-road.
Hampstead, Heath-street.
Kensington, King-street.
Kentish Town, 8, Highgate-road.
Notting Hill, Ladbroke-road.
Paddington, Hermitage-street
Portland-road, 171, Great Portland-street
Regent-street, 30, King-street.
St. John’s Wood, Adelaide-road.
Westminster, Victoria-street.
B DISTRICT.
Chandos-street, 44 Chandos-st.
Clerkenwell, Farringdon-road.
Floating, off Southwark-bridge.
Holborn, 254, High Holborn.
Holloway, Seven Sisters-road.
Islington, Essex-road.
St. Luke’s, 64, Whitecross-street.
St. Pancras, King’s-road.
Watling-street, 66 to 69, Watling-street.
C DISTRICT.
Bethnal Green, 283, Bethnal Green. road.
Bishopsgate, 23, Bishopsgate-street-without.
Bow, Glebe-road.
Floating, off Torrington-stairs, Limehouse-reach..
Hackney, Amhurst-road.
Isle of Dogs, junction of East and West Ferry-roads.
Mile End, 263, Mile End-rd.
Poplar, West India Dock-rd.
Ratcliff, 19, Broad-street.
Shoreditch, 380, Old-street.
Stoke Newington, 98, High-street.
Whitechapel, Commercial-road.
D DISTRICT.
Battersea, Battersea-road, opposite Christchurch.
Blackheath, Tranquil-vale.
Brixton, 10, Shepherd’s-lane.
Camberwell, Peckham-road.
Clapham, near Trinity Church, Clapham-common.
Deptford, Evelyn-street.
Floating, off the P1atform-wharf, Rotherhithe.
Greenwich, 44, Blisset-st.
Kennington. Renfrew-road.
Lewisham, Rushey-green.
Old Kent-rd, corner of Thomas-st.
Rotherhithe, Comm-road, Southwark-park.
Sydenham, Crystal Palace.
Tooley-street, 164 and 165, Tooley-street.
Tooting, Balham-hill-road.
Waterloo, 142, Waterloo-road.
Wandsworth, 123 High-street.
Woolwich, Sun-street. 

Metropolitan Fire-Escape Stations.

CITY.
Aldersgate-st, opposite Charterhouse School.
Aldgate Pump, Aldgate-high-st.
Bishopsgate-st, near Widegate-st.
Cheapside, G.P.O. yard.
Custom House-quay.
Farringdon-st, 27 ½
Finsbury-circus, corner ot West-st.
Holborn-circus.
New Bridge-st, Blackfriars, by Obelisk.
Old Swan-pier.
Royal Exchange, by Wellington Statue.
St. Mary-at-hill, corner of Rood-la.
Southwark-bridge.
Temple-pier.
B DIVISION
Broad Sanctuary, Westminster.
Brompton, near Knightsbridge-gr.
Eaton-sq, by St. Peter’s Church.
Fulham-rd, Pelham-crescent.
Howick-place, Victoria-street.
Sloane-square, Chelsea.
Warwick-sq, St. Gabriel’s Church. 
C DIVISION.
Conduit-st, corner of George-st.
Golden-square.
Piccadilly, facing St. James’s Ch.
Regent-st, Argyll-place.
South Audley-st, by the chapel.
D DIVISION.
Baker-st, corner of King-st.
Edgware-rd, near Cambridge-terr.
Oxford-st, corner Marylebone-lane. Connaught-place.
E DIVISION.
Albany-st, by Trinity Church.
Bedford-row, South-end.
Chandos-st, 44
Endell-st, near Long Acre.
Euston-sq, Euston-rd, by St. Pancras Church.
Great Portland-st by the chapel.
Guildford-st, Foundling Hospital.
Hart-st, Bloomsbury, by St. George’s Church.
King’s-cross, Liverpool-st.
Oxford-st, opposite Dean-st, Soho.
Strand, by St. Clement’s Church.
Tottenham-court-rd, by the chapel.
G DIVISION.
Corner of Claremont-square and -Pentonville-rd, Clerkenwell.
Goswell-st, opposite St. Thomas’s Church.
Old-st, corner of Bath-st, St. Luke’s.
Old-st-rd, 380
St. John-st, opposite Corporation- -row, Clerkenwell
H DIVISION.
Commercial-rd, Whitechapel. Tower-hill, by the Mint.
K DIVISION.
Bethnal-green, opposite St. John’s Church.
Bow, Glebe-rd.
Corner of E. &  W India Dock-rd. 
Mile End-rd, opposite Charrington’s Brewery.
Near the Stepney railway-station.
Old Ford, St. Stephen’s-rd.
Poplar, opposite All Saints Church.
Ratcliffe, in Commercial-rd, by the “Swan” public-house.
St. George-in-the-East, front of the church.
St. John’s, Wapping from of the church.
Shadwell, High-at, opposite St. -Paul’s Church.
Wapping, Church-st.
West Ferry-rd, Isle of Dogs.
L DIVISION.
Kennington-cross.
Lambeth, junction of Westminster-bridge and Kennington roads.
St. George’s-rd, south end.
M DIVISION.
Bermondsey, St. James’s Church. Blackfriars-rd, corner of Great Charlotte-st.
Southwark, front of St. George’s -Church.
Southwark-bridge-rd fire-engine-station.
Star-corner, Bermondsey.
Tooley-st, Vine-yard.
N DIVISION.
Hackney, Amhurst-rd.
Hoxton, in front of the “Sturt Arms.”
Islington-green.
Islington, Newington-green~rd and 2 Cloudesley-rd, Barnsbury.
Kingsland, Ridley-rd.
Kingsland-road, by the workhouse.
Stoke Newington, High-st.
P DIVISION.
Arthur-st, Camberwell-gate.
Camberwell, on the green.
Corner of Thomas-st, Old Kent-rd.
Hill-st, High-st, Peckham.
Lewisham, Avenue-rd.
Old Kent-rd, by “Green Man”. gate.
Sydenham, in the High-st.
R DIVISION.
Blackheath, near the railway station.
Broadway, Deptford.
Deptford, Trinity Church.
Greenwich, opposite St. Alphage Church.
Rotherhithe, Cobourg-st, Commercial-docks, and the workhouse.
Spa-road.
Woolwich, at the fire-engine-station in Sun-st.
S DIVISION.
Aberdeen-place, near St. John’s. wood-rd.
Camden Town, front of the “Southampton Arms.”
Hampstead, corner of Heath-st.
Marylebone-rd, corner of Albany-st.
Portsdown-place.
St. John’s Wood, near “Eyre Arms,” end or “Swiss Tavern.”
T DIVISION.
Chelsea, King’s-rd, by Carlyle-sq.
Fulham, Walham-gn, Percy-cross;
Hammersmith, Broadway, Brook-green-rd.
Kensington, King-st.
Redcliffe-gardens, Brompton.
West Brompton railway-station.
V DIVISION.
Battersea, at the fire-engine-station.
Putney, adjoining police-station.
Wandsworth, at the fire-engine-station.
W DIVISION
Balham-rd, fire-station.
Brixton, at the fire-engine-station in Shepherd’s-lane.
Clapham Old Town, fire-station. Spurgeon’s Orphanage, Clapham-rd, Stockwell.
X DIVISION.
Kilburn, Bridge-crescent.
Lancaster-gate, Bayswater-rd.
Notting-hill, Ladbroke-rd.
Paddington, Trinity Church.
Y DIVISION.
Highbury-crescent, West-gates, Holloway-rd.
High-st, Camden-town, Cobden Memorial.
Kentish Town, at the fire-engine-station in Highgate-rd.
Kentish Town-rd, nr North London railway-bridge.
Metropolitan Cattle Market, near -“Lion”
Seven Sisters-rd fire-engine-station. 

Charles Dickens (Jr.), Dickens's Dictionary of London, 1879