1936 On the Continent

close to the financial quarter. True, Whitechapel Road,Mile End Road, and the surrounding streets strike a somewhat strange and peculiar note, owing to their preponderantly foreign population, but the bustling activity of Eastern Jews can be observed far better in the ghettos of East European cities than in London, while as to the mode of life of the Chinese, the Chinese quarters of American cities offer a more striking impression than Limehouse, London’s China Town.
Nothing Sinister
    We also know that Whitechapel at one time used to have taverns at which the visitor could derive a thrill from the wild behaviour of seafarers. But these are mostly things of the past. The whole district has been converted to middle class respectability, and the foreigners have adapted themselves to the English sense of mental and physical tidiness. What remains of the former sinister glamour has been preserved for the benefit of tourists, and the reader will lose nothing by “giving it a miss.” At most, if you have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning, you may care to visit Petticoat Lane. The Jewish Street market, in this narrow street, with its noise and movement, presents a striking contrast to the peace of the rest of London.
The Docks
    In the process of destroying the visitor’s illusions, we must also mention the London Docks. Not that the Port of London is not the mightiest, most magnificent and most striking in Europe. It is all that, and more—the warehouse of the world. But the whole character and lay-out of the Port is such that it cannot be regarded as a “sight”. There is no comparison between it and the ports of Hamburg, Rotterdam or Marseilles.
    A walk round the London Docks would be of little use, for if you wish to see everything you would have to tramp somewhere about 60 to 70 miles. The area administered by the Port of London Authority runs along the Thames from Teddington to the Sea, and covers 4246 acres. The estimated weekly arrivals and sailings involve the movements of 5,000 ships. The value of the turnover in goods amounted, in 1934, to £470 millions, which means thata third of the entire overseas trade of the United Kingdom passes through the London Docks.
How to see the Docks
    As the Thames has many turnings in the Port Area, it is not possible to obtain a comprehensive view from any one point, except from the air, and then only in clear weather. The London Docks, the largest of which is the Royal Victoria and Albert Dock, are the clearing houses of every imaginable kind of commodity from all parts of the world. Ivory and marble, rubber and perfume, tea and fruit, chilled meat and tobacco, wool and wheat, and many other articles of commerce pass constantly through the London Docks, and the quantities are so huge that it is difficult to mention them in one breath.
    Naturally, the individual docks, which you can visit by special permission, present much that is interesting even if only because they afford an insight into the whole technique of world commerce. However, since the individual Docks lie behind gigantic walls, and are situated at long intervals from each other, the purely optical impression is not so overwhelming as one would expect from a knowledge of what is happening behind those walls.
    Thus we think the best advice we can give our readers, except those who have special interests in this connection, that they should reserve an afternoon for one of the tours round the Docks organised by the Port of London Authority itself. Such a tour provides a fair impression of the Docks without undue fatigue.
Back to the West end—Soho
    And now we will take a big jump to Soho, a very different district, which has nothing in common with the Port of London except that it, too, is international. Soho is one of the most peculiar parts of London. It lies in the heart of the city, between Oxford Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, only a few dozen yards from Piccadilly Circus, yet, in contrast to Whitechapel, which has already lost a great deal of its exotic atmosphere, Soho retains its foreign character. The origin of the name Soho is a debatable question, but according to a most prevalent view it is a contraction of the hunting cry “So-ho!”, which was used formerly, when the area lay in a hunting district.
    In a sense, hunting is still a favourite sport in Soho, only it is the police who are hunting for shady characters, who live in dark tenements and engage in such queer occupations as the white