CREWE, in Cheshire, is one of the most remarkable instances of a thriving and popu lous town springing into existence in connec tion with the system of railway communica tion. It owes its erection entirely to the for mation of the London and North Western line of railway. The inhabitants consist almost wholly of persons in the employment of the railway company, with their families, and the tradesmen and shopkeepers required to supply them with the necessaries and conve niences of life. The houses and shops in the town are, of course, nearly all new, and they are well built ; the streets are wide, and the footpaths are laid with asphalte. The town is lighted with gas, and well supplied with water ; a powerful steam-pump supplying at once the engines in the extensive work shops of the company, the locomotive engines, and the houses in the town. This pump raises from 80,000 to 90,000 gallons of water daily ; the portion intended to be used by the inhabitants passes through two filtering pro cesses before reaching the houses. Baths are also provided at a cheap rate. The town of
Crewe has a council for the management of the affairs of the community : two-thirds of the council are elected by the workmen and inhabitants, and one-third by the directors of the railway company. Medical attendance and medicine are secured for the workmen and their families on payment of a small weekly rate, the highest charge (that for a married man with a family) being 2d. per week. A field in the neighbourhood is used for cricket-playing.
The railway station at Crewe is very spacious and splendid. From this place branch off five lines of railway, affording ready means of communication with all parts of the country. The workshops and machinery of the North Western Railway Company at Crewe are on a very extensive scale. Railway carriages and locomotive engines are manufactured and re paired. The number of carriages of all kinds maintained at Crewe amounts to nearly 700, of which 100 at a time are usually under repair.