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Foreign News
March 9, 1893
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer
Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia
What is this article about?
Mr. J. Newton Mappin proposes glazing over London's chief streets like Cheapside and Oxford Street to shield from rain, boost business, improve health, and enhance urban comfort, as detailed in a letter to the London Daily News.
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OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
LONDON UNDER GLASS.
Mappin's Plan to Glaze Over the Chief Streets of the City.
A proposal to make London a glass roofed city is the subject of a long letter addressed to us by Mr. J. Newton Mappin, says the London Daily News. Interesting as it is, we have not space for the whole of it. The plan, which will not be popular with the umbrella makers, resembles one in Mr. Bellamy's "Looking Backward." Mr. Mappin, however, does not treat the subject as part of a scheme for a future Utopia, but as one to be carried to a practical and successful issue. He says:
"The covering of Cheapside, Poultry, Queen Victoria street, Regent street, or Oxford street with a glass roof may appear a Quixotic suggestion-but other, at first sight less practicable schemes have been launched successfully, and the world has not ceased to revolve on its axis in consequence. The gain to the great British public, or to that section who are in the habit of traveling the main arteries of London, from a point of comfort alone, should be sufficient to warrant a trial. Most people prefer brightness and beauty to dirt and discomfort.
"Nothing to my mind can have a more miserable and tawdry appearance than a leading London thoroughfare on a wet day, when poor dripping humanity descends to the depths of despondency, and every object, animate and inanimate, has a washed-out appearance. A change from the conditions of things would be delightful to all concerned-those who would reside under glass, so to speak, and those who would use the thoroughfare for business purposes. The former would, of course, be called upon to bear the expense of improvement.
"If I say the outlay they would incur would be returned to them in a few years, owing to the increased flow of business to their doors-and to the lessened expenditures upon paint and cleaning-I should be under the mark. Our wood and asphalt streets would be dry, perfectly safe in all weathers, and the lease of life doubled or trebled. If the rain water were not preserved for domestic use it could be usefully applied in flushing the sewers with clean water instead of liquid mud. The health of the inhabitants would be greatly benefitted by breathing a dry atmosphere, instead of a damp, humid one. Our clothes, boots, hats, and general comfort would not suffer as they do now."
Mappin's Plan to Glaze Over the Chief Streets of the City.
A proposal to make London a glass roofed city is the subject of a long letter addressed to us by Mr. J. Newton Mappin, says the London Daily News. Interesting as it is, we have not space for the whole of it. The plan, which will not be popular with the umbrella makers, resembles one in Mr. Bellamy's "Looking Backward." Mr. Mappin, however, does not treat the subject as part of a scheme for a future Utopia, but as one to be carried to a practical and successful issue. He says:
"The covering of Cheapside, Poultry, Queen Victoria street, Regent street, or Oxford street with a glass roof may appear a Quixotic suggestion-but other, at first sight less practicable schemes have been launched successfully, and the world has not ceased to revolve on its axis in consequence. The gain to the great British public, or to that section who are in the habit of traveling the main arteries of London, from a point of comfort alone, should be sufficient to warrant a trial. Most people prefer brightness and beauty to dirt and discomfort.
"Nothing to my mind can have a more miserable and tawdry appearance than a leading London thoroughfare on a wet day, when poor dripping humanity descends to the depths of despondency, and every object, animate and inanimate, has a washed-out appearance. A change from the conditions of things would be delightful to all concerned-those who would reside under glass, so to speak, and those who would use the thoroughfare for business purposes. The former would, of course, be called upon to bear the expense of improvement.
"If I say the outlay they would incur would be returned to them in a few years, owing to the increased flow of business to their doors-and to the lessened expenditures upon paint and cleaning-I should be under the mark. Our wood and asphalt streets would be dry, perfectly safe in all weathers, and the lease of life doubled or trebled. If the rain water were not preserved for domestic use it could be usefully applied in flushing the sewers with clean water instead of liquid mud. The health of the inhabitants would be greatly benefitted by breathing a dry atmosphere, instead of a damp, humid one. Our clothes, boots, hats, and general comfort would not suffer as they do now."
What sub-type of article is it?
Urban Planning
Infrastructure Proposal
What keywords are associated?
London Glass Roof
Mappin Proposal
Street Covering
Urban Comfort
Business Improvement
What entities or persons were involved?
Mr. J. Newton Mappin
Where did it happen?
London
Foreign News Details
Primary Location
London
Key Persons
Mr. J. Newton Mappin
Event Details
Mr. J. Newton Mappin addresses a letter proposing to cover major London streets including Cheapside, Poultry, Queen Victoria street, Regent street, and Oxford street with a glass roof to provide comfort from wet weather, increase business flow, reduce cleaning costs, improve street safety and longevity, enhance public health through drier air, and repurpose rainwater for sewer flushing.