Moreover, their
profession necessitates their walking some miles every night.
For the most part these women lodge in pairs in their own flats, where
they pay about 35_s_. a week for three unfurnished rooms. The Officer
told me that often some despicable man, who is called a 'bully,' lives
on them, following them round the streets, and watching them. Even the
smartest girls are not infrequently the victims of such a man, who
knocks them about and takes money from them. Occasionally he may be a
husband or a relative. She added that as a class they are much better
behaved and less noisy than they used to be. This improvement,
however, is largely due to the increased strictness of the police.
These women do not decrease in number. In the Major's opinion, there
are as many or more of them on the streets as there were fourteen
years ago, although the brothels and the procuresses are less
numerous, and their quarters have shifted from Piccadilly to other
neighbourhoods.
The Army methods of dealing, or rather of attempting to deal with this
utterly insoluble problem are simple enough.
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