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| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | HOW I BECAME A POLICE-COURT MISSIONARY | 1 |
| II. | IN LAMBETH POLICE COURT | 15 |
| III. | A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER | 23 |
| IV. | HUSBANDS AND WIVES | 39 |
| V. | PARENTS AND CHILDREN | 60 |
| VI. | RECORD-BREAKERS: JANE CAKEBREAD | 80 |
| VII. | RECORD-BREAKERS: KATE HENESSEY | 94 |
| VIII. | AMONG DIPSOMANIACS | 115 |
| IX. | CRIMINALS | 132 |
| X. | CRANKS | 161 |
| XI. | THE ARCADIANS AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ‘GUBBINS’ | 180 |
| XII. | HOW THE POOR LIVE—AND DIE | 188 |
| XIII. | THE PROBLEM OF HOME WORKERS | 213 |
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In the various chapters that make up this volume I have madeno attempt to deal with the whole of the humanity that findsits way into London Police Courts: I have but selected a fewindividuals who strikingly illustrate human or social problems.Each of those individuals was well known to me, andmany of them have cost me anxious thought and prolongedcare. It is in the sincere hope that the knowledge I haveslowly gained of these individuals, of their characteristics andenvironments, may lead more influential persons to inquiryand study that I have written of them.
I am also exceedingly glad to have an opportunity of expressingpublicly the debt of gratitude I owe to many; for surelyno one has received greater kindness than myself. First, tothe various magistrates under whom I have been privilegedto work I tender my sincere and warmest thanks for the considerationand kindness which they, without exception, haveshown to me. To the chief clerks and police-court officialsalso my thanks are due for their unvarying courtesy andkindness. To the police generally I owe many thanks forthe confidence they have so liberally accorded me.
To the representatives of the Press in the North LondonPolice Court I owe much for the publicity they have freelygiven to the many cases in which I have been interested,and with which I should have been unable to deal withoutt