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LIFE 
IN THE
LONDON STREETS

OR 

STRUGGLES FOR DAILY BREAD

[also known as PICKED UP IN THE STREETS, ed.]

BY 
RICHARD ROWE
"GOOD WORDS" COMMISSIONER; AUTHOR OF "EPISODES OF AN OBSCURE LIFE"

CHEAP EDITION, ILLUSTRATED

LONDON
J.C.NIMMO AND BAIN
14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C.
1881

[-iii-]

PREFACE.

SCENES of poverty and destitution are, alas! in some degree, familiar to all who spend their lives in the metropolis of this Empire, yet how comparatively few are acquainted with the inner life of the humbler classes of their fellow creatures.
    It has been tritely remarked that "one half of the world do not know how the other half live." Truly, indeed, may this be said as regards the country at large, but more especially is it the case with reference to the crowded capital, with its teeming millions of human beings, who eke out from day to day a precarious existence. To remove to a slight extent this ignorance, by drawing aside the veil which enshrouds the dregs of the population, is the object of the accompanying articles, which originally appeared in the pages of "Good Words" and various other Magazines, where they attracted considerable notice. They are now, for the first time, presented to the public in a connected form. With the object of throwing additional light upon the scenes of' life which are depicted, it has been deemed advisable to give some sketches taken on the [-iv-] spot; and the Publishers avail themselves of the present tendering their best thanks to the authorities in Scotland Yard for affording both Author and Artist engaged the opportunity of visiting, in company with members of the Metropolitan police, haunts where, in some cases, it would not have been safe to have appeared unattended by one or more stalwart representatives of the law.
    It is to be regretted that in consequence of the premature death of the Author, during the passage of his work through the press, some of the latter sheets have necessarily been corrected by other hands, who have taken the greatest possible care to give an accurate reproduction of the original.