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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8856-8.txt b/8856-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af31cbf --- /dev/null +++ b/8856-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16086 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Secrets Of The Great City +by Edward Winslow Martin + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Secrets Of The Great City + +Author: Edward Winslow Martin + +Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8856] +[This file was first posted on August 14, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT CITY *** + + + + +E-text prepared by David Moynihan, Charlie Kirschner, Charles Franks, and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE SECRETS OF THE GREAT CITY + +A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, +the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City + +BY + +EDWARD WINSLOW MARTIN + + + + + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + + THE CITY OF NEW YORK. + +The City of New York is the largest and most important in America. Its +corporate limits embrace the whole of Manhattan Island, on which it is +situated, and which is bounded by the Hudson, the East and Harlem +rivers, and by Spuyten Duyvil creek, which last connects the Harlem +with the Hudson. Being almost entirely surrounded by deep water, and +lying within sight of the ocean, and only sixteen miles from it, the +city is naturally the greatest commercial centre of the country. The +extreme length of the island is fifteen miles, and its average breadth +a mile and a half. The city lies at the head of New York Bay, which +stretches away for miles until the Narrows, the main entrance to the +harbor, are reached, presenting a panorama unsurpassed for natural and +artificial beauty. The people of New York are very proud of their bay, +and justly regard it as one of the most magnificent in the world. + +The city was originally settled by the Dutch, toward the close of the +year 1614, and called by them New Amsterdam. In 1664, it passed into +the hands of the English, and was named New York, which name was also +given to the whole province. The first settlement was made at the +extreme lower part of the island, on the spot now known as the Battery. +A fort was erected, and the little hamlet surrounded by a strong +stockade as a protection against the savages. The first settlers were +eminently just in their dealings with the red men, and purchased the +island from them, giving them what was considered by all parties a fair +price for it. They felt sure that their new home was destined to become +a place of importance in the course of time. Its commercial advantages +were evident at a glance; the climate was delightful, being neither so +rigorous as that of the Eastern colonies, nor so enervating as that of +the Southern. The hopes of the founders of New York are more than +realized in the metropolis of to-day. + +The city grew very slowly at the beginning. In 1686, it was regularly +incorporated by a charter. In 1693, the first printing press was set up +in the city by William Bradford. In 1690, New York contained five +hundred and ninety-four houses and six thousand inhabitants. In 1790, +one hundred years later, the city had a population of thirty-three +thousand. It was not until the beginning of the present century that it +commenced that wonderful growth which has given it its present +importance. At first it spread more rapidly on the east side than on +the west. As late as the close of the Revolution, what is now Chambers +street was the extreme upper limit, and its line was marked by a strong +stockade, built across from river to river, with gates leading to the +various country roads which traversed the upper part of the island. + +The City of New York now extends from the Battery to the Harlem river +and Spuyten Duyvil creek, and is built up with great regularity as far +as One-hundred and Thirtieth street. Harlem, Yorkville, Manhattanville, +Bloomingdale, Carmansville, and Washington Heights or Fort Washington, +were all originally separate villages, but are now parts of the great +city. The island comes to a point at the Battery, and from this +extremity stretches away northward like a fan. It attains its greatest +width at Fourteenth and Eighty-seventh streets. Broadway is the longest +street, running from, the Battery to Spuyten Duyvil creek, a distance +of fifteen miles. It is lighted with gas along the entire line. Street +railways and omnibus lines connect the various parts of the city, +affording cheap and rapid transportation within its limits. Ferry boats +ply constantly between the island and the neighboring shores, and +railroads and steamboats connect it with all parts of the world. + + + THE POPULATION. + +The population of New York is over one million of inhabitants. This +does not include the immense throng of visitors for business and +pleasure. It is estimated that forty thousand of these arrive and +depart daily. During times of more than ordinary interest--such as a +national convention of some political party, the meeting of some great +religious body, the world's fair, or some such special attraction-- +these arrivals are greatly increased. During the recent session of the +Democratic National Convention, in July, 1868, the number of strangers +present in the city was estimated at two hundred thousand. The amount +of money brought into the city by these strangers is astonishing. +Millions are spent by them annually during their visits to the +metropolis. + +The population is made up from every nation under Heaven. The natives +are in the minority. The foreign element predominates. Irishmen, +Germans, Jews, Turks, Greeks, Russians, Italians, Spaniards, Mexicans, +Portuguese, Scotch, French, Chinese--in short, representatives of every +nationality--abound. These frequently herd together, each class by +itself, in distinct parts of the city, which they seem to regard as +their own. + +Land is very scarce and valuable in New York, and this fact compels the +poorer classes to live in greater distress than in most cities of the +world. The whole number of buildings in the city in 1860 was fifty-five +thousand, which includes churches, stores, etc. In the same year the +population was eight hundred and five thousand, or one hundred and +sixty-one thousand families. Of these fifteen thousand only occupied +entire houses; nine thousand one hundred and twenty dwellings contained +two families, and six thousand one hundred contained three families. As +we shall have to recur to this subject again, we pass on now, merely +remarking that these "tenement sections" of the city, as they are +called, are more crowded now than ever, the increase in buildings +having fallen far behind the increase of the population in the last +eight years. + +This mixed population makes New York a thorough cosmopolitan city; yet +at the same time it is eminently American. Although the native New York +element is small in numbers, its influence is very great. Besides this, +numbers flock to the city from all parts of the Union, and this +constant influx of fresh American vitality does much to keep the city +true to the general character of the country. + +It has been well said, that "New York is the best place in the world to +take the conceit out of a man." This is true. No matter how great or +flattering is the local reputation of an individual, he finds upon +reaching New York that he is entirely unknown. He must at once set to +work to build up a reputation here, where he will be taken for just +what he is worth, and no more. The city is a great school for studying +human nature, and its people are proficients in the art of discerning +character. + +In point of morality, the people of New York, in spite of all that has +been said of them, compare favorably with those of any other city. If +the darkest side of life is to be seen here, one may also witness the +best. The greatest scoundrels and the purest Christians are to be found +here. It is but natural that this, being the great centre of wealth, +should also be the great centre of all that is good and beautiful in +life. It is true that the Devil's work is done here on a gigantic +scale, but the will of the Lord is done on an equally great, if not a +greater, scale. In its charities New York stands at the head of +American communities--the great heart of the city throbs warmly for +suffering humanity. The municipal authorities expend annually seven +hundred thousand dollars in public charities. The various religious +denominations spend annually three millions more, and besides this the +city is constantly sending out princely sums to relieve want and +suffering in all parts of our broad land. + +The people of New York are the most liberal of any in America in +matters of opinion. Here, as a general rule, no man seeks to influence +the belief of another, except so far as all men are privileged to do +so. Every religious faith, every shade of political opinion, is +tolerated and protected. Men concern themselves with their own affairs +only. Indeed, this feeling is carried to such an extreme that it has +engendered a decided indifference between man and man. People live for +years as next door neighbors, without ever knowing each other by sight. +A gentleman once happened to notice the name of his next door neighbor +on the door-plate. To his surprise he found it the same as his own. +Accosting the owner of the door-plate one day, for the first time, he +remarked that it was singular that two people bearing the same name +should live side by side for years without knowing each other. This +remark led to mutual inquiries and statements, and to their surprise +the two men found they were brothers--sons of the same parents. They +had not met for many years, and for fully twelve years had lived side +by side as neighbors, without knowing each other. This incident may be +overdrawn, but it will illustrate a peculiar feature of New York life. + +Strangers coming to New York are struck with the fact that there are +but two classes in the city--the poor and the rich. The middle class, +which is so numerous in other cities, hardly exists at all here. The +reason of this is plain to the initiated. Living in New York is so +expensive that persons of moderate means reside in the suburbs, some of +them as far as forty miles in the country. They come into the city, to +their business, in crowds, between the hours of seven and nine in the +morning, and literally pour out of it between four and seven in the +evening. In fair weather the inconvenience of such a life is trifling, +but in the winter it is absolutely fearful. A deep snow will sometimes +obstruct the railroad tracks, and persons living outside of the city +are either unable to leave New York, or are forced to spend the night +on the cars. Again, the rivers will be so full of floating ice as to +render it very dangerous, if not impossible, for the ferry boats to +cross. At such times the railroad depots and ferry houses are crowded +with persons anxiously awaiting transportation to their homes. The +detention in New York, however, is not the greatest inconvenience +caused by such mishaps. Many persons are frequently unable to reach the +city, and thus lose several days from their business, at times when +they can ill afford it. + +We have already referred to the scarcity of houses. The population of +the city increases so rapidly that house-room cannot be provided for +all. House rent is very high in New York. A house for a family of six +persons, in a moderately respectable neighborhood, will rent for from +sixteen hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars, the rate increasing as +the neighborhood improves. On the fashionable streets, houses rent for +from six thousand to fifteen thousand dollars per annum. These, it must +be remembered, are palatial. Many persons owning these houses, live in +Europe, or in other parts of the country, and pay all their expenses +with the rent thus secured. + +In consequence of this scarcity of dwellings, and the enormous rents +asked for them, few families have residences of their own. People of +moderate means generally rent a house, and sub-let a part of it to +another family, take boarders, or rent furnished or unfurnished rooms +to lodgers. + +Furniture is expensive, and many persons prefer to rent furnished +houses. These are always in demand, and in good localities command +enormous prices. Heavy security has to be given by the lessee in such +cases, as, without this, the tenant might make away with the furniture. +Many persons owning houses for rent, furnish them at their own expense, +and let them, the heavy rent soon paying a handsome profit on the +furniture. + +Persons living in a rented house are constantly apprehensive. Except in +cases of long leases, no one knows how much his rent may be increased +the next year. This causes a constant shifting of quarters, and is +expensive and vexatious in the highest degree. It is partly due to the +unsettled condition of the currency, but mainly to the scarcity of +houses. + +Many--indeed; the majority of the better class of inhabitants--prefer +to board. Hotels and boarding houses pay well in New York. They are +always full, and their prosperity has given rise to the remark that, +"New York is a vast boarding house." We shall discuss this portion of +our subject more fully in another chapter. + +To persons of means, New York offers more advantages as a place of +residence than any city in the land. Its delightful climate, its +cosmopolitan and metropolitan character, and the endless variety of its +attractions, render it the most delightful home in America. That this +is true is shown by the fact that few persons who have lived in New +York for twelve months ever care to leave it. Even those who could do +better else where are powerless to resist its fascinations. + +[Illustration: Broadway, as seen from The St. Nicholas Hotel.] + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + + THE STREETS OF NEW YORK. + +The City of New York has been regularly laid out and surveyed for a +distance of twelve miles from the Battery. It has over two hundred +miles of paved streets. Most of the streets in the old Dutch city are +crooked and narrow, but above that they are broader, and better laid +on; and after passing Fulton street, they become quite regular. Above +Fourteenth street, the city is laid off in regular squares. First +street is located about a mile and four fifths above the Battery. From +this the cross streets extend to Two hundred and twenty-eighth street. + +The lengths of the blocks, between First and One-hundred and twenty- +first streets, vary from one hundred and eighty-one to two hundred and +eleven feet eleven inches. + +Those between the avenues (which run at right angles to the streets), +vary from four hundred and five to nine hundred and twenty feet. + +The avenues are all one hundred feet wide, excepting Lexington and +Madison, which are seventy-five, and Fourth Avenue, above Thirty-fourth +street, which is one hundred and forty feet wide. + +The numerical streets are all sixty feet wide, excepting Fourteenth, +Twenty-third, Thirty-fourth, Forty-second, and eleven others, north of +these, which are one hundred feet wide. + +There are twelve fine avenues at parallel distances apart of about +eight hundred feet. They begin about First or Fourth street, and run to +the end of the island. Second and Eighth are the longest, and Fifth and +Madison the most fashionable. + + + BROADWAY. + +The most wonderful street in the world is Broadway. It extends, as we +have said, the whole length of the island. But its most attractive +features are between the Bowling Green and Thirty-fourth street--the +chief part of these being below Fourteenth street. The street is about +sixty feet wide, and is thronged with vehicles of every description. +Often times these vehicles crowd the streets to such an extent that +they become "jammed," and the police are forced to interfere and compel +the drivers to take the routes assigned them. The scene at such a time +is thrilling. A stranger feels sure that the vehicles cannot be +extricated without loss of life or limb to man or beast, and the shouts +and oaths of the drivers fairly bewilder him. In a few moments, +however, he sees a squad of policemen approach, and plunge boldly into +the throng of vehicles. The shouts and oaths of the drivers cease, the +vehicles move on, one at a time, according to the orders of the police, +and soon the street is clear again, to be blocked, perhaps, in a +similar manner, in less than an hour. Twenty thousand vehicles daily +traverse this great thoroughfare. + +It is always a difficult matter to cross Broadway in the busy season. +Ladies, old persons, and children, find it impossible to do so without +the aid of the police, whose duty it is to make a way for them through +the crowds of vehicles. A bridge was erected at the corner of Broadway +and Fulton street, which is the most crowded part of the city, for the +purpose of allowing pedestrians to cross over the heads of the throng +in the street. It proved a failure, however. Few persons used it, +except to see from it the magnificent panorama of Broadway, and the +city authorities have ordered it to be taken down. It disfigures the +street very much, and its removal will be hailed with delight by the +native population. + +Broadway properly begins at the Bowling Green. From this point it +extends in a straight line to Fourteenth street and Union Square. Below +Wall street, it is mainly devoted to the "Express" business, the +headquarters and branch offices of nearly all the lines in the country +centering here. Opposite Wall street, on the west side of Broadway, is +Trinity Church and its grave-yard. From Wall street to Ann street, +Insurance Companies, Real Estate Agents, Bankers and Brokers +predominate. At the corner of Ann street, is the magnificent "Herald +Office," adjoining which is the "Park Bank," one of the grandest +structures in the country. Opposite these are the Astor House and St. +Paul's Church. Passing the Astor House, the visitor finds the Park, +containing the City Hall, on his right. Across the Park are Park Row +and Printing House Square, containing all the principal newspaper +offices of the city. Old Tammany Hall once stood on this Square, but +the site is now occupied by the "The Sun," and "Brick Pomeroy's +Democrat"--_Arcades Ambo_. + +Beyond the City Hall, at the north-east corner of Chambers street and +Broadway, is "Stewart's marble dry goods palace," as it is called. This +is the _wholesale_ warehouse of A. T. Stewart & Co., and occupies the +entire block. The _retail_ department of this great firm, is higher up +town. Passing along, one sees, in glancing up and down the cross +streets, long rows of marble and brown stone warehouses, stretching +away for many blocks on either hand, and affording proof positive of +the immensity and success of the business transacted in this locality. + +Opposite Pearl street is the New York Hospital, standing back amidst +its noble old trees; the yard is cut off from the street by an iron +railing. Crossing Canal street, the widest and most conspicuous we have +yet passed over, we see the handsome establishment of Lord & Taylor. +rivals to Stewart, in the retail dry goods trade; on the corner of +Grand street. The brown stone building opposite, is Brooks' clothing +house, the largest and finest in the country. Between Broome and Spring +streets, are the marble and brown stone buildings of the famous St. +Nicholas Hotel. On the block above, and opposite, is Tiffany's, too +well known to need a description. On the corner of Prince street, is +Ball & Black's, a visit to which palace is worth a trip to the city. +Diagonally opposite is the Metropolitan Hotel, in the rear of which is +the theatre known as Niblo's Garden. Above this we pass the Olympic +Theatre, the great Dollar store, the Southern Hotel, the New York +Hotel, the New York Theatre, and Goupil's famous art gallery. On the +corner of Tenth street, is a magnificent iron building, painted white. +This is Stewards up town, or retail store. It is always filled with +ladies "shopping," and the streets around it are blocked with +carriages. Throngs of elegantly dressed ladies pass in and out, the +whole scene being animated and interesting. Above this is Grace Church, +one of the most beautiful religious structures in the city. On the +corner of Thirteenth street, is Wallack's Theatre. At Fourteenth +street, we find a handsome square, formerly a fashionable place of +residence, but now giving way to business houses and hotels. This is +Union Square. Passing around it, Broadway runs in a north-westerly +direction, and at the intersection of the great thoroughfare with Fifth +Avenue, at Twenty-third street, we see the magnificent front of the +Fifth Avenue Hotel. On the block beyond are the Albemarle and Hoffman +Houses, with the St. James a little above. Opposite are the Worth +Monument and Madison Square. Above this are several minor hotels, and +Wood's Theatre. The street is but little improved above Thirty-fourth +street. + +Below Twenty-third street, and especially below Union Square, Broadway +is built up magnificently. Marble, brown stone, and iron warehouses, +extend in long rows on each side of the street. There are some old +shanties still standing on the great thoroughfare, but they are rapidly +disappearing, and in a few years will be entirely gone. The view from +any point below Fourteenth street, ranges from Union Square to the +Bowling Green, and is grand and exhilarating beyond description. The +windows of the stores are filled with the gayest and most showy goods. +Jewels, silks, satins, laces, ribbons, household goods, silver ware, +toys, paintings; in short, rare, costly, and beautiful objects, greet +the gazer on every hand. + +There are no railroad tracks on Broadway below Fourteenth street; the +public travel is done by means of omnibusses, or stages, as they are +called. Several hundred of these traverse the street from the lower +ferries as far up as Twenty-third street, turning off at various points +into the side streets and avenues. At night the many colored lamps of +these vehicles add a striking and picturesque feature to the scene. +They are filled with all sorts of people. + +The Broadway side walks are always crowded, and this throng of passers- +by is, to our mind, the most attractive feature of the busy scene. +Every class and shade of nationality and character is represented here. +America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and even Oceanica, has each its +representatives here. High and low, rich and poor, pass along these +side-walks, at a speed peculiar to New York, and positively bewildering +to a stranger. No one seems to think of any person but himself, and +each one jostles his neighbor or brushes by him with an indifference +amusing to behold. Fine gentlemen in broad cloth, ladies in silks and +jewels, and beggars in squalidness and rags, are mingled here in true +Republican confusion. The bustle and uproar are very great, generally +making it impossible to converse in an ordinary tone. From early +morning till near midnight this scene goes on. + +A gentleman from the remote interior, once put up at the St. Nicholas +Hotel. He came to the City on urgent business, and told a friend who +was with him, that he intended to start out early the next morning. +This friend saw him, about noon the next day, waiting at the door of +the St. Nicholas Hotel, surveying the passing crowd with an air of +impatience. + +"Have you finished your business?" he asked. + +"No," said the gentleman, "I have not yet started out. I've been +waiting here for three hours for this crowd to pass by, and I see no +signs of it doing so." + +The friend, pitying him, put him in a stage, and started him off, +telling him that crowd usually took twenty-four hours to pass that +point. + +At night the scene changes. The crowd of vehicles on the street is not +so dense, and the "foot passengers" are somewhat thinned put. The lower +part of the city, which is devoted exclusively to business, is +deserted. For blocks the only persons to be seen are the policemen on +their beats. Above Canal street, however, all is life and bustle. The +street is brilliantly lighted. The windows of the stores and +restaurants, and the lamps of the theatres and concert saloons, add +greatly to the general illumination, while the long lines of the red, +green, and blue lights of the stages, rising and falling with the +motion of the vehicles, add a novelty and beauty to the picture. +Strains of music or bursts of applause, float out on the night air from +the places of amusement, not all of which are reputable. The street is +full of all kinds of people, all of whom seem to be in high spirits, +for Broadway is a sure cure for the "blues." One feature mars the +scene. At every step, almost, one passes women and girls, and even mere +children, seeking for company, and soliciting passers by with their +looks and manner, and sometimes by open words. The police do not allow +these women to stop and converse with men on the street, and when they +find a companion, they dart with him down a side street. This goes on +until midnight. Then the street gradually becomes deserted, and for a +few hours silence reigns in Broadway. + + + THE BOWERY. + +Leaving the City Hall, and passing through Chatham street, one suddenly +emerges from the dark, narrow lane, into a broad square, with streets +leading from it to all parts of the city. It is not overclean, and has +an air of sharpness and repulsiveness that at once attract attention. +This is Chatham Square, the great promenade of that class generally +known as "the fancy." + +At the upper end of the Square is a broad, well paved, flashy looking +street, stretching away to the northward, crowded with street cars, +vehicles of all kinds, and pedestrians. This is the Bowery. It begins +at Chatham Square, and extends as far as the Cooper Institute on Eighth +street, where Third and Fourth Avenues, the first on the right hand, +the other on the left, continue the thoroughfare to the Harlem river. + +The Bowery first appears in the history of New York under the following +circumstances. About 1642 or 1643, it was set apart by the Dutch as the +residence of superannuated slaves, who, having served the Government +faithfully from the earliest period of the settlement of the island, +were at last allowed to devote their labors to the support of their +dependent families, and were granted parcels of land embracing from +eight to twenty acres each. The Dutch were influenced by other motives +than charity in this matter. The district thus granted was well out of +the limits of New Amsterdam, and they were anxious to make this negro +settlement a sort of breakwater against the attacks of the Indians, who +were beginning to be troublesome. At this time the Bowery was covered +with a dense forest. A year or two later, farms were laid out along its +extent. These were called "Boweries," from which the present street +derives its name. Bowery No. I. was bought by Governor Stuyvesant. His +house stood about where the present St. Mark's (Episcopal) Church is +located. In 1660, or near about that year, a road or lane was laid off, +through what are now Chatham street, Chatham Square, and the Bowery, to +the farm of Governor Stuyvesant, beyond which there was no road. To +this was given the distinctive name of the "Bowery Lane." In 1783, the +Bowery again came into prominent notice. On the 25th of November of +that year, the American army, under General Washington, marched into +the Bowery early in the morning, and remained until noon, when the +British troops evacuated the city and its defences. This done, the +Americans marched down the Bowery, through Chatham and Pearl streets, +to the Battery, where they lowered the British flag, which had been +left flying by the enemy, and hoisted the "Stars and Stripes" of the +new Republic. + +[Illustration: Broadway, looking up from Exchange Place.] + +After the city began to extend up the island, the Bowery, which had +been eminently respectable in its earlier history, lost caste. Decent +people left it, and the poorer and more disreputable classes took +possession. Finally, it became notorious. It was noted for its roughs, +its rowdy firemen, its courtezans--in short, it was the paradise of the +worst elements of New York. The march of trade and improvement along +the east side of the city has effected a partial reformation, but still +the Bowery is generally regarded as one of the doubtful localities of +the city. + +The street runs parallel with Broadway, and is about a mile in length. +It is much wider than the latter thoroughfare. It is tolerably well +built up; and is improving in this respect every year. In connection +with Chatham Square, it is the great route from the lower part of the +island to the Harlem river on the east side. It is devoted principally +to the cheap trade. The Jews abound here. The display of goods in the +shops is attractive, but flashy. Few persons who have the means to buy +elsewhere, care to purchase an article in the Bowery, as those familiar +with it know there are but few reliable dealers along the street. +Strangers from the country, servant girls, and those who are forced to +put up with an inferior article from the want of a few dollars, and +often a few cents, to buy a better one, trade here. As a general rule, +the goods sold are of an inferior, and often worthless, quality, and +the prices asked are high, though seemingly cheap. Large fortunes are +made by the Bowery merchants, who, with but few exceptions, are adepts +in the art of swindling their customers. + +Pawnbrokers' shops, "Cheap Johns," second class hotels, dance houses, +fifth rate lodging houses, low class theatres, and concert saloons, +abound in the lower part of the street. + +The Sunday law, which, seems to be so rigidly enforced in other parts +of the city, is a dead letter in the Bowery. Here on Sunday, one may +see shops of all kinds--the vilest especially--open for trade. Cheap +clothing-stores, etc., concert saloons, and the most infamous dens of +vice, are in full blast. The street, and the cars traversing it, are +thronged with the lower classes, in search of what they call enjoyment. +At night all the places of amusement are open, and are crowded to +excess. Boughs, thieves, fallen women, and even little children, throng +them. Indeed, it is sad to see how many children are to be found in +these vile places. The price of admission is low, and, strange as it +may sound, almost any beggar can raise it. People have no idea how much +of the charity they lavish on street beggars goes in this direction. +The amusement afforded at these places ranges from indelicate hints and +allusions to the grossest indecency. + +Another feature of the Bowery is the immense beer-gardens with which it +abounds. We refer to those of the better class, which are patronized +chiefly by the German element of the city. These are immense buildings, +fitted up in imitation of a garden. Some are very handsomely frescoed, +and otherwise adorned. They will accommodate from four hundred to +twelve hundred guests. Germans carry their families there to spend a +day, or an evening. Clubs, parties of friends, and public societies, +often pay such visits to these places. Some carry their own provisions; +others purchase them from the proprietor. There is no admittance fee: +the entrance is free. Beer and other liquids are served out at a small +cost. Guests are coming and going all the time. Sometimes as many as +five thousand people will visit one of these places in the course of an +evening. The music is a great attraction to the Germans. It is +exquisite in some places, especially in the Atlantic Garden, which is +situated in the Bowery, near Canal street. + +[Illustration: City Hall] + +The profits are enormous; the proprietors frequently realize handsome +fortunes in the course of a few years. Were these places all the +Germans claim for them; they would be unobjectionable; but there is no +disguising the fact that they encourage excess in drinking, and offer +every inducement for a systematic violation of the Sabbath. + +Besides these, there are saloons and gardens where none but the +abandoned are to be seen. These will be noticed further on. + +Respectable people avoid the Bowery, as far as possible, at night; but +on Sunday night, few but those absolutely compelled to visit it, are to +be seen within its limits. Every species of vice and crime is abroad at +this time, watching for its victims. Those who do not wish to fall into +trouble should keep out of the way. + + + THE AVENUES. + +The Avenues of New York commence with First Avenue, which is the second +east of the Bowery. They are numbered regularly to the westward until +Twelfth Avenue is reached. This street forms the western shore of the +island in the extreme upper part of New York. East of First Avenue, +above Houston street, there are five short avenues, called A, B, C, D, +E,--the first being the most westerly. There are also other shorter +avenues in the city, viz.: Lexington, commencing at Fourteenth street, +lying between Third and Fourth Avenues, and extending to Sixty-sixth +street; and Madison, commencing at Twenty-third street, lying between +Fourth and Fifth Avenues, and running to Eighty-sixth street. Second +and Eighth are the longest. Third Avenue is the main street of the east +side, above Eighth street Eighth Avenue is the great thoroughfare on +the west side Hudson street, of which Eighth Avenue is a continuation +is rapidly becoming the West-side Bowery. Fifth and Madison are the +most fashionable, and are magnificently built up with private +residences, along almost their entire length. The cross streets +connecting them, in the upper part of the city, are also handsomely +laid off, and are filled with long rows of fine brown-stone and marble +mansions. + +The streets of New York are well laid off, and are paved with an +excellent quality of stone. The side-walks generally consist of immense +stone "flags." In the lower part of the city, in the poorer and +business sections, they are dirty, and always out of order. In the +upper part they are clean, and are often kept so by private +contributions. + +The avenues on the eastern and western extremities of the city are the +abodes of poverty, want, and often of vice, hemming in the wealthy and +cleanly sections on both sides. Poverty and wealth are close neighbors +in New York. Only a block and a half back of the most sumptuous parts +of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, want and suffering, vice and crime, hold +their court. Fine ladies can look down from their high casements upon +the squalid dens of their unhappy sisters. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + + THE CITY GOVERNMENT. + +The City of New York is governed by a Mayor, a Board of Aldermen and a +Board of Common Councilmen. The Mayor has been stripped by the +Legislature of the State of almost every power or attribute of power, +and is to-day merely an ornamental figure-head to the City government. +The real power lies in the Boards named above, and in the various +"Commissioners" appointed by the Legislature. These are the +Commissioners in charge of the streets, the Croton Aqueduct, Public +Charities and Corrections, the Police and Fire Departments. + +We do not seek to lay the blame for the mismanagement and infamy of the +government of this City on any party or parties. It is a fact that +affairs here are sadly mismanaged, whoever may be at fault. + +In place of any statements of our own concerning this branch of our +subject, we ask the reader's attention to the following extracts from a +pamphlet recently published by Mr. James Parton. He says: + +The twenty-four Councilmen who have provided themselves with such ample +assistance at such costly accommodation are mostly very young men,--the +majority appear to be under thirty. Does the reader remember the +pleasant description given by Mr. Hawthorne of the sprightly young bar- +keeper who rainbows the glittering drink so dexterously from one +tumbler to another? That sprightly young barkeeper might stand as the +type of the young men composing this board. There are respectable men +in the body. There are six who have never knowingly cast an improper +vote. There is one respectable physician, three lawyers, ten mechanics, +and only four who acknowledge to be dealers in liquors. But there is a +certain air about most of these young Councilmen which, in the eyes of +a New-Yorker, stamps them as belonging to what has been styled of late +years "our ruling class,"--butcher-boys who have got into politics, +bar-keepers who have taken a leading part in primary ward meetings, and +young fellows who hang about engine-houses and billiard-rooms. A +stranger would naturally expect to find in such a board men who have +shown ability and acquired distinction in private business. We say, +again, that there are honest and estimable men in the body; but we also +assert, that there is not an individual in it who has attained any +considerable rank in the vocation which he professes. If we were to +print the list here, not a name would be generally recognized. Honest +Christopher Pullman, for example, who leads the honest minority of six +that vainly oppose every scheme of plunder, is a young man of twenty- +seven, just beginning business as a cabinet maker. Honest William B. +White, another of the six, is the manager of a printing office. Honest +Stephen Roberts is a sturdy smith, who has a shop near a wharf for +repairing the iron work of ships. Morris A. Tyng, another of the honest +six, is a young lawyer getting into practice. We make no remark upon +these facts, being only desirous to show the business standing of the +men to whom the citizens of New York have confided the spending of +sundry millions per annum. The majority of this board are about equal, +in point of experience and ability, to the management of an oyster +stand in a market. Such expressions as 'them laws,' 'sot the table,' +'71st rigiment,' and 'them arguments is played out,' may be heard on +almost any Monday or Thursday afternoon, between two and three o'clock, +in this sumptuous chamber. + +But what most strikes and puzzles the stranger is the crowd of +spectators outside the railing. It is the rogues' gallery come to life, +with here and there an honest looking laborer wearing the garments of +his calling. We attended six sessions of this 'honorable body,' and on +every occasion there was the same kind of crowd looking on, who sat the +session out. Frequently we observed looks and words of recognition pass +between the members and this curious audience; and, once, we saw a +member gayly toss a paper of tobacco to one of them, who caught it with +pleasing dexterity. We are unable to explain the regular presence of +this great number of the unornamental portion of our fellow-beings, +since we could never see any indications that any of the crowd had an +_interest_ in the proceedings. As the debates are never reported by any +one of the seventeen reporters who are paid two hundred dollars a year +for not doing it, and as the educated portion of the community never +attend the sessions, this board sits, practically, with closed doors. +Their schemes are both conceived and executed in secresy, though the +door is open to all who wish to enter. This is the more surprising, +because almost every session of the board furnishes the material for a +report, which an able and public-spirited journalist would gladly buy +at the highest price paid for such work in any city. + +_Debates_ is a ludicrous word to apply to the proceedings of the +Councilmen. Most of the business done by them is pushed through without +the slightest discussion, and is of such a nature that members cannot +be prepared to discuss it. The most reckless haste marks every part of +the performance. A member proposes that certain lots be provided with +curbstones; another, that a free drinking hydrant be placed on a +certain corner five miles up town; and another, that certain blocks of +a distant street be paved with Belgian pavement. Respecting the utility +of these works, members generally know nothing and can say nothing; nor +are they proper objects of legislation. The resolutions are adopted, +usually, without a word of explanation, and at a speed that must be +seen to be appreciated. + + * * * * * + +At almost every session we witnessed scenes like the following: A +member proposed to lease a certain building for a city court at two +thousand dollars a year for ten years. Honest Christopher Pullman, a +faithful and laborious public servant, objected, on one or two grounds; +first, rents being unnaturally high, owing to several well known and +temporary causes, it would be unjust to the city to fix the rent at +present rates for so long a period; secondly, he had been himself to +see the building, had taken pains to inform himself as to its value, +and was prepared to prove that twelve hundred dollars a year was a +proper rent for it even at the inflated rates. He made this statement +with excellent brevity, moderation, and good temper, and concluded by +moving that the term be two instead of ten years. A robust young man, +with a bull neck and of ungrammatical habits, said, in a tone of +impatient disdain, that the landlord of the building had 'refused' +fifteen hundred dollars a year for it. 'Question!' 'Question!' shouted +half a dozen angry voices, the question was instantly put, when a +perfect war of _noes_ voted down Mr. Pullman's amendment. Another +hearty chorus of _ayes_ consummated the iniquity. In all such affairs, +the visitor notices a kind of 'ungovernable propensity to vote for +spending money, and a prompt disgust at any obstacle raised or +objection made. The bull-necked Councilman of uncertain grammar +evidently felt that Mr. Pullman's modest interference on behalf of the +tax-payer was a most gross impertinence. He felt himself an injured +being, and his companions shared his indignation. + +We proceed to another and better specimen. A resolution was introduced, +appropriating four thousand dollars for the purpose of presenting +stands of colors to five regiments of city militia, which were named, +each stand to cost eight hundred dollars. Mr. Pullman, as usual, +objected, and we beg the reader to mark his objections. He said that he +was a member of the committee which had reported the resolution, but he +had never heard of it till that moment; the scheme had been 'sprung' +upon him. The chairman of the committee replied to this, that, since +the other regiments had had colors given them by the city, he did not +suppose that any one could object to these remaining five receiving the +same compliment, and therefore he had not thought it worth while to +summon the gentleman. 'Besides,' said he, 'it is a small matter +anyhow';--by which he evidently meant to intimate that the objector was +a very small person. To this last remark, a member replied, that he did +not consider four thousand dollars so very small a matter. 'Anyhow,' he +added, 'we oughter save the city every dollar we kin.' Mr. Pullman +resumed. He stated that the Legislature of the State, several months +before, had voted a stand of colors to each infantry regiment in the +State; that the distribution of these colors had already begun; that +the five regiments would soon receive them; and that, consequently, +there was no need of their having the colors which it was now proposed +to give them. A member roughly replied, that the colors voted by the +State Legislature were mere painted banners, 'of no account.' Mr. +Pullman denied this. 'I am,' said he, 'captain in one of our city +regiments. Two weeks ago we received our colors. I have seen, felt, +examined, and marched under them; and I can testify that they are of +great beauty, and excellent quality, made by Tiffany and Company, a +firm of the first standing in the city.' He proceeded to describe the +colors as being made of the best silk, and decorated in the most +elegant manner. He further objected to the price proposed to be given +for the colors. He declared that, from his connection with the militia, +he had become acquainted with the value of such articles, and he could +procure colors of the best kind ever used in the service for three +hundred and seventy five dollars. The price named in the resolution +was, therefore, most excessive. Upon this, another member rose and +said, in a peculiarly offensive manner, that it would be two years +before Tiffany and Company had made all the colors, and some of the +regiments would have to wait all that time. 'The other regiments,' said +he, 'have had colors presented by the City, and I don't see why we +should show partiality.' Whereupon Mr. Pullman informed the board that +the _City_ regiments would all be supplied in a few weeks; and, even if +they did have to wait awhile, it was of no consequence, for they all +had very good colors already. Honest Stephen Roberts then rose, and +said that this was a subject with which he was not acquainted, but that +if no one could refute what Mr. Pullman had said, he should be obliged +to vote against the resolution. + +Then there was a pause. The cry of 'Question!' was heard. The ayes and +noes were called. The resolution was carried by eighteen to five. The +learned suppose that one half of this stolen four thousand dollars was +expended upon the colors, and the other half divided among about forty +persons. It is conjectured that each member of the Councilmen's Ring, +which consists of thirteen, received about forty dollars for his vote +on this occasion. This sum, added to his pay, which is twenty dollars +per session, made a tolerable afternoon's work. + +Any one witnessing this scene would certainly have supposed that _now_ +the militia regiments of the City of New York were provided with +colors. What was our surprise to hear, a few days after, a member +gravely propose to appropriate eight hundred dollars for the purpose of +presenting the Ninth Regiment of New York Infantry with a stand of +colors. Mr. Pullman repeated his objections, and recounted anew the +generosity of the State Legislature. The eighteen, without a word of +reply, voted for the grant as before. It so chanced that, on our way up +Broadway, an hour after, we met that very regiment marching down with +its colors flying; and we observed that those colors were nearly new. +Indeed, there is such a propensity in the public to present colors to +popular regiments, that some of them have as many as five stands, of +various degrees of splendor. There is nothing about which Councilmen +need feel so little anxiety as a deficiency in the supply of regimental +colors. When, at last, these extravagant banners voted by the +Corporation are presented to the regiments, a new scene of plunder is +exhibited. The officers of the favored regiment are invited to a room +in the basement of the City Hall, where City officials assist them to +consume three hundred dollars' worth of champagne, sandwiches, and cold +chicken--paid for out of the City treasury--while the privates of the +regiment await the return of their officers in the unshaded portion of +the adjacent park. + +It is a favorite trick with these Councilmen, as of all politicians, to +devise measures, the passage of which will gratify large _bodies_ of +voters. This is one of the advantages proposed to be gained by the +presentation of colors to regiments; and the same system is pursued +with regard to churches and societies. At every one of the six sessions +of the Councilmen which we attended; resolutions were introduced to +give away the people's money to wealthy organizations. A church, for +example, is assessed a thousand dollars for the construction of a +sewer, which enhances the value of the church property by at least the +amount of the assessment. Straightway, a member from that neighborhood +proposes to console the stricken church with a "donation" of a thousand +dollars, to enable it to pay the assessment; and as this is a +proposition to vote money, it is carried as a matter of course. We +select from our notes only one of these donating scenes. A member +proposed to give two thousand dollars to a certain industrial school,-- +the favorite charity of the present time, to which all the benevolent +most willingly subscribe. Vigilant Christopher Pullman reminded the +board that it was now unlawful for the Corporation to vote money for +any object not specified in the tax levy as finally sanctioned by the +Legislature. He read the section of the Act which forbade it. He +further showed, from a statement by the Comptroller, that there was no +money left at their disposal for any _miscellaneous_ objects, since the +appropriation for 'City contingencies' was exhausted. The only reply to +his remarks, was the instant passage of the resolution by eighteen to +five. By what artifice the law is likely to be evaded in such cases, we +may show further on. In all probability, the industrial school, in the +course of the year, will receive a fraction of this money--perhaps even +so large, a fraction as one half. It may be that, ere now, some +obliging person about the City Hall has offered to buy the claim for a +thousand dollars, and take the risk of the hocus-pocus necessary for +getting it--which to _him_ is no risk at all. + +It was proposed, on another occasion, to raise the fees of the +Inspectors of weights and measures--who received fifty cents for +inspecting a pair of platform scales, and smaller sums for scales and +measures of less importance. Here was a subject upon which honest +Stephen Roberts, whose shop is in a street where scales and measures +abound, was entirely at home. He showed, in his sturdy and strenuous +manner, that, at the rates then established, an active man could make +two hundred dollars a day. 'Why,' said he, 'a man can inspect, and does +inspect, fifty platform scales in an hour,' The cry of 'Question!' +arose. The question was put, and the usual loud chorus of _ayes_ +followed. + +As it requires a three-fourths vote to grant money--that is, eighteen +members--it is sometimes impossible for the King to get that number +together. There is a mode of preventing the absence, or the opposition +of members, from defeating favorite schemes. It is by way of +"reconsideration." The time was, when a measure distinctly voted down +by a lawful majority, was dead. But, by this expedient, the voting down +of a measure is only equivalent to its postponement to a more favorable +occasion. The moment the chairman pronounces a resolution lost, the +member who has it in charge moves a reconsideration; and, as a +reconsideration only requires the vote of a majority, _this_ is +invariably carried. By a rule of the Board, a reconsideration carries a +measure over to a future meeting--to any future meeting which may +afford a prospect of its passage. The member who is engineering it +watches his chance, labors with faltering members out of doors, and, as +often as he thinks he can carry it, calls it up again--until, at last, +the requisite eighteen are obtained. It has frequently happened, that a +member has kept a measure in a state of reconsideration for months at a +time, waiting for the happy moment to arrive. There was a robust young +Councilman, who had a benevolent project in charge of paying nine +hundred dollars for a hackney-coach and two horses, which a drunken +driver drove over the dock into the river, one cold night last winter. +There was some disagreement in the Ring on this measure, and the robust +youth was compelled to move for many reconsiderations. So, also, it was +long before the wires could be all arranged to admit of the appointment +of a 'messenger' to the City Librarian, who has perhaps less to do than +any man in New York who is paid eighteen hundred dollars a year; but +perseverance meets its reward. We hear that this messenger is now +smoking in the City Hall at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars. + +There is a manoeuvre, also, for preventing the attendance of obnoxious, +obstructive members, like the honest six, which is ingenious and +effective. A 'special meeting' is called. The law declares that notice +of a special meeting must be left at the residence _or_ the place of +business of every member. Mr. Roberts's residence and Mr. Roberts's +place of business are eight miles apart, and he leaves his home for the +day before nine in the morning. If Mr. Roberts's presence at a special +meeting, at 2 P. M., is desired, the notice is left at his shop in the +morning. If it is not desired, the notice is sent to his house in +Harlem, after he has left it. Mr. Pullman, cabinet-maker, leaves his +shop at noon, goes home to dinner, and returns soon after one. If his +presence at the special meeting at 2 P. M. is desired, the notice is +left at his house the evening before, or at his shop in the morning. If +his presence is not desired, the notice is left at his shop a few +minutes after twelve, or at his house a few minutes past one. In either +case, he receives the notice too late to reach the City Hall in time. +We were present in the Councilman's Chamber when Mr. Pullman stated +this _inconvenience_, assuming that it was accidental, and offered an +amendment to the rule, requiring notice to be left five hours before +the time named for the meeting. Mr. Roberts also gave his experience in +the matter of notices, and both gentlemen spoke with perfect moderation +and good temper. We wish we could convey to our readers an idea of the +brutal insolence with which Mr. Pullman, on this occasion, was snubbed +and defrauded by a young bar-keeper who chanced to be in the chair. But +this would be impossible without relating the scene at very great +length. The amendment proposed was voted down, with that peculiar roar +of _noes_ which is always heard in that chamber when some honest man +attempts to put an obstacle in the way of the free plunder of his +fellow-citizens. + +These half-fledged legislators are acquainted with the device known by +the name of the 'previous question.' We witnessed a striking proof of +this. One of the most audacious and insolent of the Ring introduced a +resolution, vaguely worded, the object of which was to annul an old +paving contract, that would not pay at the present cost of labor and +materials, and to authorize a new contract at higher rates. Before the +clerk had finished reading the resolution, honest Stephen Roberts +sprang to his feet, and, unrolling a remonstrance with several yards of +signatures appended to it, stood, with his eye upon the chairman, ready +to present it the moment the reading was concluded. This remonstrance, +be it observed, was signed by a majority of the property-owners +interested, the men who would be assessed to pay for one half of the +proposed pavement. Fancy the impetuous Roberts, with the document held +aloft, the yards of signatures streaming down to his feet and flowing +far under his desk, awaiting the time when it would be in order for him +to cry out, 'Mr. President.' The reading ceased. Two voices were heard, +shouting 'Mr. President.' It was not to Mr. Roberts that an impartial +chairman could assign the floor. The member 'who introduced the +resolution was the one who 'caught the speaker's eye,' and that member, +forewarned of Mr. Roberts's intention, moved the previous question. It +was in vain that Mr. Roberts shouted 'Mr. President.' It was in vain +that he fluttered and rattled his streaming ribbon of blotted paper. +The President could not hear a word of any kind until a vote had been +taken upon the question whether the main question should be now put. +That question was carried in the affirmative, by a chorus of _ayes_, so +exactly timed that it was like the voice of one man. Then the main +question _was_ put, and it was carried by another emphatic and +simultaneous shout. + + + POLITICAL BLACK MAIL. + +Mr. Parton thus briefly exposes the system of political black mail +practiced in the City government: + +The plunder of the persons who are so unfortunate as to serve the +public, and of those who aspire to serve the public, is systematic, and +nearly universal. Our inquiries into this branch of the subject lead us +to conclude that there are very few salaries paid from the city or +county treasury which do not yield an annual per centage to some one of +the 'head-centres' of corruption. The manner in which this kind of +spoliation is sometimes effected may be gathered from a narrative which +we received from the lips of one of the few learned and estimable men +whom the system of electing judges by the people has left upon the +bench in the City of New York. Four years ago, when the inflation of +the currency had so enhanced the price of all commodities that there +was, of necessity, a general increase of salaries, public and private, +there was talk of raising the salaries of the fourteen judges, who were +most absurdly underpaid even when a dollar in paper and a dollar in +gold were the same thing. Some of the judges were severely pinched in +attempting to make six thousand half-dollars do the work which six +thousand whole ones had accomplished with difficulty; and none, +perhaps, more severely than the excellent and hospitable judge whose +experience we are about to relate. A person known by him to be in the +confidence of leading men about the City Hall called, upon him one day, +and informed him that it was in contemplation to raise the salaries of +all the judges $2,000 per annum. The judge observed that he was much +relieved to hear it, for he had gone so deeply into the Sanitary +Commission and other projects for promoting the war, and had made so +many expensive journeys to Washington in furtherance of such projects, +that he did not see how he could get through the year if the inflation +continued. 'Well, judge,' said the person, 'if the judges are disposed +to be reasonable, the thing can be done.' 'What do you mean by +_reasonable_?' asked the judge. The reply was brief and to the point: +'Twenty-five per cent, of the increase for one year.' The judge said +No. If his salary could not be raised without that, he must rub on, as +best he could, on his present income. The person was evidently much +surprised, and said: 'I am sorry you have such old-fashioned notions. +Why, judge, everybody does it here.' Nothing more was heard of +increasing the judges' salaries for a whole year, during which the +inflation itself had become inflated, and every door-keeper and copyist +had had his stipend increased. At length, the spoilers deemed it best, +for purposes of their own, to consent the salaries of the judges should +be increased $1,000; and, a year after that, the other $1,000 was +permitted to be added. + +It was recently proved, in the presence of the Governor of the State, +that the appointment of the office of Corporation Attorney was sold to +one incumbent for the round sum of $10,000. This is bad enough, but +worse remains to be told Sworn testimony, from thirty-six witnesses, +taken by a committee of investigation, establishes the appalling fact, +that appointments to places in the public schools are systematically +sold in some of the wards--the wards where the public schools are +almost the sole civilizing power, and where it is of unspeakable +importance that the schools should be in the hands of the best men and +women. One young lady; who had just buried her father and had a +helpless mother to support, applied for a situation as teacher, and was +told, as usual, that she must pay for it. She replied that she could +not raise the sum demanded, the funeral expenses having exhausted the +family store. She was then informed that she could pay 'the tax' in +instalments. Another poor girl came on the witness-stand on crutches, +and testified that she had paid $75 for a situation of $300 a year. +Another lady went to a member of the Ring, and told him, with tears, +that she saw no way of procuring the sum required, nor even of saving +it from the slender salary of the place. The man was moved by her +anguish, took compassion upon her, and said he would remit _his share_ +of 'the tax.' It was shown, too, that the agent of all this foul +iniquity was no other than the principal of one of the schools. It was +he who received and paid over the money wrung from the terror and +necessities of underpaid and overworked teachers. We learn from the +report of the committee that the Ring in this ward was originally +formed for the express purpose of giving the situations in a new and +handsome school 'to the highest bidder'; and, as the opening of the new +school involved the discharge of a small number of teachers employed in +the old schools, the Ring had both, the fear and the ambition of the +teachers to work upon. 'There was a perfect reign of terror in the +ward,' says the report of the investigating committee. 'The agent +performed his duty with alacrity and with a heartlessness worthy of the +employers. It appears that he not only summoned the teachers to come to +him, but that he called on their parents and friends as to the amount +they should pay for their appointments--the sums varying from $50 to +$600, according to the position sought.' + +And who were the Ring that perpetrated this infamy? They were a +majority of the trustees elected by the people, and the School +Commissioner elected by the people--six poor creatures, selected from +the grog-shop and the wharf, and intrusted with the most sacred +interest of a republic, the education of its children. + + + THE RESULT. + +"The result of all this plunder," continues Mr. Parton, "is, that in +thirty-six years the rate of taxation in the city and county of New +York has increased from two dollars and a half to forty dollars per +inhabitant! In 1830, the city was governed for half a million dollars. +In 1865, the entire government of the island, including assessments on +private property for public improvements, cost more than forty millions +of dollars. In 1830, the population of the city was a little more than +two hundred thousand. It is now about one million. Thus, while the +population of the county is five times greater than it was in 1830, the +cost of governing it is sixteen times greater. And yet such is the +value of the productive property owned by the city,--so numerous are +the sources of revenue from that property,--that able men of business +are of the deliberate opinion that a private company could govern, +clean, sprinkle, and teach the City by contract, taking as compensation +only the fair revenue to be derived from its property. Take one item as +an illustration: under the old excise system, the liquor licenses +yielded twelve thousand dollars per annum; under the new, they yield +one million and a quarter. Take another: the corporation own more than +twenty miles of wharves and water-front, the revenue from which does +not keep the wharves in repair; under a proper system, they would yield +a million dollars above the cost of repairs." + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + + THE METROPOLITAN POLICE. + +The Metropolitan Police are justly the pride of New York, for the City +is chiefly indebted to the force for its quiet and security. The old +police system needs no description here. It was a failure in every +respect. It failed to protect either life or property. Criminals +performed their exploits with impunity, and were either encouraged or +aided by the police in many instances. The members of the old force +were too often taken from the ranks of the criminal classes, and made +to serve the ends of unprincipled politicians. Finally the system +became so worthless and corrupt that the best men of the City and +State, without distinction of party, resolved to take the control of +the police out of the hands of the Mayor and Council, and place them +under the direction of a Commissioner appointed by the Legislature. + + + THE NEW SYSTEM. + +The resolution to make the police independent of the politicians in the +City government, was the last resort left to the better class of +citizens, and the Legislature, appreciating the necessity for prompt +action, at once complied with the demand made for a change. A +"Metropolitan District,", consisting of the cities of New York and +Brooklyn, the counties of New York, Kings, Richmond, and Westchester, +and a part of Queens county, embracing a circuit of about thirty miles, +was created by law. The control of this district was given to a +commission of five citizens, subject to the supervision of the +Legislature. The Mayors of New York and Brooklyn were made ex-officio +members of this board. + +Mr. Wood, who was Mayor of New York at the time of the passage of this +law, resolved to resist it, and to continue the old police in power. +His conduct came near creating a terrible riot, but he was at length +induced to submit to the law. The new system worked badly for some +years, owing to the incompetency of the persons appointed as +superintendent; but in 1860 a change was made. Mr. John A. Kennedy was +appointed Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, and the number of +the commissioners was cut down to three. The law was remodeled, and +besides other important changes, the duties of each member of the force +were clearly defined. + +The new superintendent set to work with a will, and it was not long +before the benefits of his administration became manifest. He had been +informed that the force was almost as incompetent and inefficient as +its old time predecessor, and he resolved to stop this. He caused the +creation of the grade of inspector, and the appointment of energetic +and reliable men. These inspectors are required to keep a constant +watch over the rank and file of the force. They report every breach of +discipline, examine the station houses and every thing connected with +them, at pleasure. No member or officer of the force has the right to +refuse to allow such examination or to refuse to answer any question +put to him concerning his duty. The effect of this new rank was most +happy. The men became conscious that the eyes of their superiors were +on them at all times, and that the slightest breach of discipline on +their part was sure to be detected and reported. The force became +attentive and efficient, as if by magic. Incompetent and insubordinate +members were thrown out, and good men put in their places. Matters +continued to improve, until now, after a lapse of nearly eight years, +the city has the best police force in the world. + + + "KING KENNEDY." + +Mr. Kennedy is not a popular man in New York. To say that he has made +mistakes in his present position, is but to say he is human. He has had +a hard task before him, but he has succeeded in accomplishing it. He +has given order, security, and a sense of security to the city, and it +is not strange that in so doing he has made numerous enemies. He has +often exceeded his power, and has committed acts that smack strongly of +petty tyranny; but there can be no doubt of the fact that he has +earnestly and faithfully labored for the cause of law and order. He +makes the best chief of police this country has ever seen, and when he +is gone, his place will be hard to fill. + +Mr. Kennedy has Scotch-Irish blood in his veins, which may be the +reason of his success. He is small in size, and quiet and unobtrusive +in his demeanor. He has executive ability of a high order, but inclines +rather strongly to the side of arbitrary power, which trait has earned +him, amongst the masses, the title of "King Kennedy." He has infused +his energy into the force, and is entitled to the greater part, if not +all of the credit for the success of the new system. + + + THE FORCE. + +The police force on duty in the city, consists of one super intendent, +four inspectors, thirty-four captains, one hundred and thirty-one +sergeants, one thousand eight hundred and six patrolmen, sixty-nine +doormen, and fifty special policemen, making a total of two thousand +and ninety-five officers and men. The men are clothed in a neat uniform +of dark blue cloth, with caps of hard polished leather. They are armed +with clubs and revolvers, and are regularly drilled in military +tactics. In case of a riot, this enables them to act together, and with +greater efficiency against a mob. The most rigid discipline prevails, +and the slightest error on the part of officers or men is reported at +headquarters. + +There are thirty-three precincts, including the detective squad. The +force is charged with the duty of guarding about three hundred day and +four hundred night posts, about four hundred and twenty-five miles of +streets in the patrol districts, and fourteen miles of piers. There are +twenty-five station houses fitted up as lodging rooms for the men, and +having room also for accommodating wandering or destitute persons, +large numbers of whom thus receive temporary shelter. + +During the year ending October 31, 1865, (which may be taken as a fair +specimen of the work of the force,) 68,873 arrests were made. Of these +48,754 were males, 20,119 females; 53,911 arrests were for offences +against the person; 14,962; for offences against property. The +following table will show the status of New York criminal society. + + Total + Charge Males Females Arrests + Assault and Battery 6,077 1,667 7,744 + Assault with intent to kill 197 1 198 + Attempt at rape 40 ---- 40 + Abortion 2 2 4 + Bastardy 141 ---- 141 + Bigamy 14 5 19 + Disorderly conduct 8,542 5,412 13,954 + Intoxication 11,482 4,936 16,418 + Juvenile delinquents 154 25 179 + Kidnapping 20 5 25 + Suspicious persons 1,617 440 2,057 + Vagrancy 978 838 1,816 + Arson 35 ---- 35 + Attempts to steal 236 9 245 + Burglary 291 3 294 + Forgery 151 3 154 + Fraud 104 17 121 + Grand Larceny 1,675 946 2,621 + Gambling 249 3 252 + Highway robbery 199 6 205 + Keeping disorderly house 177 165 342 + Picking pockets 225 20 275 + Petit larceny 3,380 1,860 5,240 + Passing counterfeit money 414 46 460 + Receiving stolen goods 166 51 217 + Swindling 5 3 8 + Violations of the Sunday laws 183 20 203 + + + ON DUTY. + +The police are mustered at a certain hour in the morning by their +officers, and are marched from the station house to their "beats." The +day patrol is relieved by that appointed for night duty. The men are +required to be neat in their persons and dress, and to be polite and +respectful to citizens. They are required to give information to +strangers and citizens concerning localities, etc., and to render +prompt assistance in suppressing any kind of violence or disorder. They +are instructed to direct persons not to lounge or loiter on the main +thoroughfares, which are always too much crowded to permit such +obstructions. Details are made for places of amusement and public +resort. If the patrolman on duty at one of these places sees a known +thief or pickpocket enter, he orders him to leave the premises. If the +fellow refuses to obey, he is arrested and locked up in the station +house for the night. By this means respectable persons, at public +resorts, are saved heavy losses at the hands of the "light-fingered +gentry." + +The largest and finest looking men are detailed for the. Broadway +Squad. The duties of this Squad are heavy, and often require not only +considerable patience, but great physical endurance. + + + HEADQUARTERS. + +The Police Headquarters of the Metropolitan District are located in a +handsome marble building, five stories high, situated on Mulberry +Street, between Houston and Bleecker Streets. The building is fitted up +with great taste for the express accommodation of the business of the +force. The greatest order prevails. Every thing is in its place, and +every man in his. There is no confusion. Each department has its +separate room. + +The Superintendent's office is connected by telegraph with every +precinct in the entire district. By means of this wonderful invention a +few seconds only are required to dispatch the orders of "King Kennedy" +to any part of the district. News of a robbery and description of the +burglar are flashed all over the city and adjoining country before the +man has fairly secured his plunder. If a child is lost a description is +sent in the same way to each precinct, and in a marvellously quick time +the little one is restored to its mother's arms. By means of his little +instrument, "King Kennedy" can track a criminal not only all over his +own district, but all over the Union. He is firm in the exercise of his +authority--often harsh and too impulsive, but on the whole as just as +human nature will allow a man to be. + +[Illustration: A Model Policeman.] + + + THE TRIAL ROOM. + +One of the most interesting rooms in the headquarters is that for the +trial of complaints against members of the force. Every sworn charge is +brought before Commissioner Acton? who notifies the accused to appear +before him to answer to it. Except in very grave cases, the men employ +no counsel. The charge is read, the Commissioner hears the statements +of the accused, and the evidence on both sides, and renders his +decision, which must be ratified by the full "Board". The majority of +the charges are for breaches of discipline. A patrolman leaves his beat +for a cup of coffee on a cold morning, or night, or reads a newspaper, +or smokes, or stops to converse while on duty. The punishment for these +offences is a stoppage of pay for a day or two. First offences are +usually forgiven. Many well-meaning but officious citizens enter +complaints against the men. They are generally frivolous, but are heard +patiently, and are dismissed with a warning to the accused to avoid +giving cause for complaint. Thieves and disreputable characters +sometimes enter complaints against the men, with the hope of getting +them into trouble. The Commissioner's experience enables him to settle +these cases at once, generally to the dismay and grief of the accuser. +Any real offence on the part of the men is punished promptly and +severely, but the Commissioners endeavor by every means to protect them +in the discharge of their duty, and against impositions of any kind. + +Another room in the headquarters is called + + THE PROPERTY ROOM. + +This is a genuine "curiosity shop". It is filled with unclaimed +property of every description, found by or delivered to the police, by +other parties finding the same, or taken from criminals at the time of +their arrest. The room is in charge of a property, clerk, who enters +each article, and the facts connected with it, in a book kept for that +purpose. Property once placed in this room is not allowed to be taken +away, except upon certain specified conditions. Unclaimed articles are +sold, after being kept a certain length of time, and the proceeds are +paid to the Police Life Insurance Fund. + + + MISCELLANEOUS. + +When a man applies for a position in the police force, he has to show +proofs of his good character and capacity before he can be employed. As +soon as he is appointed, he is provided with a uniform, assigned to a +precinct, and put on duty. For one month after his appointment he is +required to study the book of laws for the government of the force, and +to be examined daily in these studies by Inspector James Leonard; who +is in charge of the "Class of Instruction." These examinations are +continued until the recruit is found proficient in the theoretical +knowledge of his duties. + +The following extract from the Metropolitan Police Law will show the +care taken of the men:-- + +If any member of the Metropolitan Police Force, whilst in the actual +performance of duty, shall become permanently disabled, so as to render +his dismissal from membership proper, or if any such member shall +become superannuated after a ten years' membership, a sum of not +exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars, as an annuity, to be paid such +member, shall become chargeable upon the Metropolitan Police Life +Insurance Fund. If any member of the Metropolitan Police Force whilst +in the actual discharge of his duty, shall be killed, or shall die from +the immediate effect of any injury received by him, whilst in such +discharge of duty, or shall die after ten years' service in the force, +and shall leave a widow, and if no widow, any child or children under +the age of sixteen years, a like sum, by way of annuity, shall become +chargeable upon the said fund, to be paid such widow so long only as +she remains unmarried, or to such child or children so long as said +child, or the youngest of said children, continues under the age of +sixteen years. + +We do not claim, in what we have written, that the police of this city +are perfect, but we do maintain that they are better than those of any +other American city. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + + SOCIETY. + +In New York, poverty is a great crime, and the chief effort of every +man and woman's life, is to secure wealth. Society in this city is much +like that of other large American cities, except? that money is the +chief requisite here. In other cities poor men, who can boast of being +members of a family which commands respect for its talents or other +good qualities, or who have merit of their own, are welcomed into what +are called "select circles" with as much warmth as though they were +millionaires. In New York, however, men and women are judged by their +bank accounts. The most illiterate boor, the most unprincipled knave, +finds every fashionable door open to him without reserve, while St. +Peter himself, if he came "without purse or scrip," would see it closed +in his face. Money makes up for every deficiency in morals, intellect, +or demeanor. + +Nor is this strange. The majority of fashionable people have never +known any of the arts and refinements of civilization except those +which mere wealth can purchase. Money raised them from the dregs of +life, and they are firm believers in it. Without education, without +social polish, they see themselves courted and fawned upon for their +wealth, and they naturally suppose that there is nothing else "good +under the sun." + + + WHO ARE THE FASHIONABLES. + +The majority of the dwellers in the palaces of the great city, are +persons who have risen from the ranks. This is not said to their +discredit. On the contrary, every intelligent person takes pride in the +fact that in this country it is in the power of any one to rise as high +as his abilities will carry him. The persons to whom we refer, however, +affect to despise this. They take no pride in the institutions which +have been so beneficial to them, but look down with supreme disdain +upon those who are working their way up. They are ashamed of their +origin, and you cannot offend one of them more than to hint that you +knew him a few years ago as a mechanic, or shop-keeper. + +Some of the "fashionables" appear very suddenly before the world. A +week ago, a family may have been living in a tenement house. A sudden +fortunate speculation on the part of the husband, or father, may have +brought them enormous wealth in the course of a few days. A change is +instantly made from the tenement house to a mansion on Fifth or Madison +Avenue. The newly acquired wealth is liberally expended in "fitting +up," and the lucky owners of it suddenly burst upon the world of +fashion as stars of the first magnitude. They are courted by all, and +invitations to the houses of other "stars" are showered upon them. They +may be rude, ignorant, uncouth in their manners, but they have wealth, +and that is all New York society requires. They are lucky if they +retain their positions very long. A few manage to hold on to the wealth +which comes to them thus suddenly, but as a general rule those who are +simply "lucky" at the outset find Dame Fortune a very capricious +goddess, and at the next turn of her wheel, pass off the stage to make +room for others who are soon to share their fate. + +This element is known in the city as "The Shoddy Society." During the +time of the oil speculations, many persons were suddenly and +unexpectedly made rich by lucky ventures in petroleum lands and stocks, +and the shoddy element was in its glory; but now other speculations are +found to recruit the ranks of this class. Wall street is constantly +sending fresh "stars" to blaze on Fifth Avenue, and ruthlessly sweeping +away others to make room for them. + +The "Shoddy" element is by no means confined to those who make fortunes +rapidly, or by speculations. There are many who rise very slowly in the +world, and who when blessed with fortune throw themselves headlong into +the arms of "Shoddy." + +It is not difficult to recognize these persons. They dress not only +handsomely, but magnificently. Indeed they make up in display what they +lack in taste. They cover themselves with jewels, and their diamonds, +worn on ordinary occasions, might, in some cases, fairly rival the +state gems of European potentates. Their red, hard hands, coarse faces, +vulgar manners, and loud, rude voices, contrast strikingly with the +splendor with which they surround themselves. They wear their honors +uneasily, showing plainly how little accustomed they are to such +things. They look down with disdain upon all less fortunate in wealth +than themselves, and worship as demi-gods those whose bank account is +larger than their own. They have little or no personal dignity, but +substitute a supercilious hauteur for it. + + + A DEFEAT AND A TRIUMPH. + +The following incident will show how money is worshipped in New York: A +gentleman, now one of the wealthiest men of the city, some years ago +found himself well off in worldly goods. He was the possessor of one +million of dollars. He was living at that time in a modest house, in a +modest street, and was anxious to get into society. In order to do +this, he resolved to give a ball, and invite the wealthiest and oldest +families in New York. These people were his customers in business; and +he supposed they would not object to receiving his hospitality. He was, +unlike most of those who worship society, a man of real merit. His +invitations were issued, and at the appointed time his mansion was made +ready for a magnificent entertainment, but, though the family waited, +and the rooms were kept lighted until the "wee hours of the morning," +not a single one of those, to whom the invitations were sent, put in an +appearance during the evening. The mortification of the would-be host +and family, was intense, and it is said that he swore a mighty oath +that he would acquire wealth and luxury, sufficient to _compel_ the +intimacy of those who had scorned him because he was less fortunate +than themselves. He kept his word, and today he stands at the head of +that class to which he once aspired in vain. + + + WHAT THEY TALK ABOUT. + +A work recently published in Paris gives the following account of the +topics discussed at a "shoddy" ball: + +Following the advice of my companion, I listened to the gentlemen who +were idling through the rooms. Everywhere that word 'dollar,' +constantly repeated, struck upon my ear. All conversation had for its +subject mercantile and financial transactions; profits, either +realized, or to be realized, by the speakers, or the general prospect +of the market. Literature, art, science, the drama, those topics which +are discussed in polite European society, were not even alluded to. +Another peculiarity I noticed--namely, the practice of self- +commendation and praise. Egotism seemed to permeate the mind of +everybody--the word 'I' was constantly on the lips of the speakers. + + + FASHIONABLE DISSIPATION. + +A ball or a party is the place to bring out the votaries of fashion. +They crowd the _salons_ of the host or hostess. Frequently they pay +little attention to their entertainers, except to ridicule their +awkwardness and oddities, conscious all the while that similar remarks +will be made about them when they throw open their own houses to their +friends. + +The opera draws them out in crowds, especially the _Bouffe_. Few +understand the French or Italian languages, few are proficients in +music, but they go because "it is the thing, you know." Opera bouffe is +very popular, for those who cannot understand the language are +generally quick enough to catch or appreciate the indecency of the plot +or situations. The more indecent the piece, the more certain it is of a +long run. + +Few fashionable women have time to attend to their families. These are +left to the mercy of hirelings. The titles of wife and mother are +becoming merely complimentary. They are ceasing to suggest the best and +purest types of womanhood. That of mother is becoming decidedly old +fogyish, and to-day your fine lady takes care that her maternal +instincts shall be smothered, and that her family shall not increase +beyond a convenient number. Children grow up in idleness and +extravagance, and are unfitted for any of the great duties of life. +They are taught to regard wealth as the only thing to be desired, and +they are forced up as rapidly as possible to join the ranks of the fast +young men and women of New York, who disgrace what are called our +"upper circles." + + + EXTRAVAGANCE. + +Extravagance is the besetting sin of New York society. Money is thrown +away. Fortunes are spent every year in dress, and in all sorts of +follies. Houses are furnished and fitted up in the most sumptuous +style, the building and its contents often being worth over a million +of dollars. + +[Illustration: A Fashionable Thief--Shoplifting.] + +People live up to every cent of their incomes, and often beyond them. +It is no uncommon occurrence for a fine mansion, its furniture, +pictures, and even the jewels and clothes of its occupants, to be +pledged to some usurer for the means with which to carry on this life +of luxury. Each person strives to outdo the rest of his or her +acquaintances. The rage for fine houses and fine clothes is carried to +an amazing extent, and to acquire them, persons of supposed +respectability will stoop to almost any thing. Of late years, a number +of fashionable ladies have been detected in dry-goods stores in the act +of purloining fine laces, embroideries, and other goods, and concealing +them under their skirts. + + + A LADY'S GLOVE. + +Two or three years ago the fashionable world was thrown into a state of +excitement by the marriage of a Fifth Avenue belle to a gentleman of +great wealth. The night before the wedding the bride's presents, +amounting to a small fortune in value, were exhibited to a select +circle of friends. Amongst the various articles was a magnificent +diamond necklace, the gift of the groom, which attracted universal +attention. After the guests departed, the bride-elect, before retiring +for the night, returned to take a parting glance at her diamonds. To +her horror, they were missing. The alarm was given, and a search was +made. The jewels could not be found, however, but a small kid glove--a +lady's--was discovered lying on the table. The bride's father was a +sensible banker, and he at once "hushed up" the affair, and put the +glove and the case in the hands of an experienced detective. In a few +weeks the thief was discovered. She proved to be the wife of a wealthy +merchant. She had stolen the diamonds with the intention of taking them +to Europe to have them reset. In consequence of the return of the +jewels, and the social position of the thief, the matter was dropped. + + + MARRIAGES. + +Only wealthy marriages are tolerated in New York society. For men or +women to marry "beneath" them is a crime society cannot forgive. There +must be fortune on one side. Marriages for money are directly +encouraged. It is not uncommon for a man who has made money to make the +marriage of his daughter the means of getting the family into society. +He will go to some young man within the pale of good society, and offer +him the hand of his daughter and a fortune. The condition on the part +of the person to whom the offer is made is, that he shall use his +influence to get the bride's family within the "charmed circle." Such +proposals are seldom refused. + +When a marriage is decided upon, it is the bounden duty of the happy +pair to be married in a fashionable church. To be married in or buried +from Grace Church is the desire of every fashionable heart. Invitations +are issued to the friends and acquaintances of the two families, and no +one is admitted into the church without such a card. Often "no cards" +are issued, and the church is jammed by the outside throng, who profane +the holy temple by their unmannerly struggles to secure places from +which the ceremony can be viewed. Two clergymen are engaged to tie the +knot, a single minister being insufficient for such grand affairs. A +reporter is on hand, who furnishes the city papers with the full +particulars of the affair. The dresses, the jewels, the appearance of +the bride and groom, and the company generally, are described with a +slavishness that is disgraceful. + +If the wedding is at Grace Church, Brown, the "great sexton," is in +charge of all the arrangements. He understands every detail connected +with such an affair, and will not allow any one to interfere with him. +A wedding over which he presides is sure to be a success. It is +needless to say he has his time well taken up with such engagements. At +weddings and at parties, Brown makes out the list of persons to be +invited. He allows no interference. He knows his invitations will be +accepted, and as he knows who is in town, both stranger and resident, +he can always make out a full list. He directs every thing, and carries +his arrangements out with the decision and authority of an autocrat. +The Lenten Season is his bugbear. It is fashionable to observe Lent in +New York, and funerals are then the only opportunities for the display +of his peculiar talents. These he makes as interesting as possible. He +charges a liberal price for his services, and is said to have amassed +considerable money. + + + FASHIONABLE DEATH. + +As it is the ambition of every one to live fashionable, it is their +chief wish to be laid in the grave in the same style. Undertakers at +fashionable funerals are generally the sexton of some fashionable +church, that, perhaps, of the church the deceased was in the habit of +attending. This individual prescribes the manner in which the ceremony +shall be carried out, and advises certain styles of family mourning. +Sometimes the blinds are closed and the gas lighted. The lights in such +cases are arranged in the most artistic manner, and every thing is made +to look as "interesting" as possible. + +A certain fashionable sexton always refuses to allow the female members +of the family to follow their dead to the grave. He will not let them +be seen at the funeral at all, as he says "it's horridly vulgar to see +a lot of women crying about a corpse; and, besides, they're always in +the way." + +After the funeral is over, none of the bereaved ones can be seen for a +certain length of time, the period being regulated by a set decree. +They spend the days of their seclusion in consultations with their +_modiste_, in preparing the most fashionable mourning that can be +thought of; in this they seem to agree fully with a certain famous +_modiste_, who declared to a widow, but recently bereaved, that +"fashionable and becoming mourning is _so_ comforting to a person in +affliction." + + + A ROMANCE OF FIFTH AVENUE. + +Hollow as it is, Shoddy in New York has its romances. One of the most +striking of those which occur to us is the story of a family which we +shall designate by the name of Swigg. There will, doubtless, be those +who will recognize them. + +If Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Swigg had a weakness for any thing it was for +being considered amongst that "select and happy few," known to the +outside world as "the upper ten." Mr. Swigg had wealth, and Mrs. Swigg +meant to spend it. She could not see the use of having money if one was +not to use it as a means of "getting into society;" and though she +contented herself with being thus modest in her public expressions, she +was, in her own mind, determined to make her money the power which +should enable her to _lead_ society. She meant to shine as a star of +the first magnitude, before whose glories all the fashionable world +should fall. She would no longer be plain Mrs. Ephraim Swigg, but the +great and wealthy Mrs. Swigg, whose brilliancy should eclipse any thing +yet seen in Gotham. Oh! she would make Fifth Avenue turn green with +jealousy. There was only one difficulty in the way--Mr. Swigg might not +be willing to furnish the sum necessary for the accomplishment of this +grand purpose: still she would attempt it, trusting that when he had +fairly entered upon the joys of fashionable life, he would be too much +charmed with them to begrudge "the paltry sums" necessary to continue +them. + +Mr. and Mrs. Swigg had not always enjoyed such advantages. There was a +time when the lady might have been seen in a market stall, where her +robust beauty drew to her crowds of admirers of doubtful character. She +had made a wise choice, however, and after looking coldly upon these +swains, had bestowed her hand upon Ephraim Swigg, a rising young +butcher, who sold his wares in the same market. To be sure, Mr. Swigg +was not a beauty, nor even as handsome as the plainest of the admirers +she had cast aside; but he had a more substantial recommendation than +any of them. He was the owner of a lucrative business, and had several +thousands laid by in hard cash. So, influenced by these considerations, +Miss Polly Dawkins became Mrs. Ephraim Swigg. In justice to her, be it +said, she made a good wife. He was equally devoted, and they were +genuinely happy. They had one child, a daughter, who, as she grew up, +bade fair to ripen into a very pretty woman. + +They prospered steadily, and matters went on smoothly with them until +the rebellion startled the men of means with a vague fear for the +safety of their worldly possessions; then Mr. Swigg, reckoning over his +property, found himself possessed of a handsome fortune. He watched the +course of affairs anxiously until the great disaster at Bull Run, and +then, like a good patriot, set to work to see how he could help the +country out of its difficulties. Mr. Swigg's patriotism was of the +substantial kind--he derived the chief benefit from it. He bethought +himself of taking out a contract for supplying the Army of the Potomac +with cattle and other necessaries. He put his scheme into execution, +and, like every thing he attempted, it was successful. The army was +fed, and towards the close of the year 1864 Mr. Swigg found himself +worth three millions of dollars. + +Of course, with all this to "back" them, the Swiggs at once became +people of note. Their entrance into society was easy enough, and no one +was sufficiently impolite to remember their past lives against them. +Mr. Swigg's coarse red face was attributed to his fine health, his +rudeness of manner was called eccentricity, and his frequent breaches +of etiquette were passed over in polite silence. Mrs. and Miss Swigg +got on better. The mamma was naturally a shrewd woman, and she quickly +adopted herself to the requirements of New York society, which are very +few and simple to one who has two or three millions at command. The +daughter had enjoyed greater advantages than her parents; she had been +trained in the best schools, and as far as her naturally weak mind was +capable of doing so, had profited by the efforts of her teachers. She +was a weak and silly girl, and was indulged in every whim and caprice +by her parents. She was nineteen years old, and having fulfilled the +promise of her youth, was indeed a handsome girl. Of course she was a +belle, the sole heiress of three millions could be nothing else, were +she as ugly as Hecate. + +Mrs. Swigg had reasoned correctly. With all his shrewdness and good +sense, her liege lord shared her own weakness for high life, and +readily complied with all her requests for money. He was not a stingy +man at heart, and he was really glad to see his wife and daughter doing +so well. Indeed they were all very good people--only their sudden rise +in the world had turned their heads. + +Mr. Swigg purchased an elegant mansion on Fifth Avenue, which some +broken down patrician offered for sale, and the family commenced their +fashionable career in a blaze of glory. They had one of the finest +establishments in the city; they gave splendid entertainments, and the +young bloods soon found that they could enjoy themselves at the Swigg +levees very much as they pleased, as their host and hostess were too +glad to see them, to criticize their conduct very closely. The worthy +couple counted many celebrities amongst their guests. There were +generals, both major and brigadier, colonels and captains in abundance, +and occasionally some dark-skinned, bewhiskered foreigner, who rejoiced +in the title of count, marquis, or lord, and who looked more like he +had passed his days in the galleys, than in the courts of the old +world. The warmest welcome of the host and hostess, especially the +latter, was reserved for these gentlemen. Between the man in the blue +and gold of his country's livery, who had daily perilled his life for +the perpetuity of the institutions that had made the fortunes of the +Swiggs, and the titled, suspicious-looking foreigner, of whom they knew +nothing with certainty, the good people never hesitated. The preference +was given to the latter. + +One of these gentlemen was especially welcome. This was the Baron Von +Storck, who claimed to be an Austrian nobleman of great wealth. In +support of his assertion, when he appeared at fashionable +entertainments, he covered the front of his coat with ribbons of every +hue in the rainbow. He made his appearance in New York society almost +simultaneously with the Swiggs, and from the first, devoted himself +particularly to them or to Miss Arabella, the heiress of the three +millions. + +As might have been expected, in the course of a few months the Baron +proposed for the hand of Miss Arabella, to the great delight of papa +and mamma, and the 'young people' were formally engaged. After this the +young lady and her mother constantly amused themselves with writing the +future title of the former, 'just to see how it looked.' Such a piece +of good fortune could not be kept secret; and Miss Arabella was the +object of the envy of scores of damsels who had been trying in vain to +ensnare the elegant foreigner in their own nets, which were not so +heavily baited. + +One morning the Baron waited upon Mrs. Swigg, and producing an enormous +document, written in German, and furnished with a huge red seal stamped +with an eagle, informed her that the paper was a peremptory order from +his Government, which he had just received, commanding him to return +home at once, as his services were needed. He added that he could not +disobey the command of his sovereign, and asked that his marriage with +Arabella might take place at once, so that they might sail for the old +world in the next Bremen steamer. + +Mr. Swigg was summoned, and the matter laid before him. At first he +hesitated, for he did not like so much haste; but his wife and daughter +at last wrung a reluctant consent from him, and the marriage was +solemnized with great splendor at Grace Church, the inevitable Brown +declaring, as usual, he had never experienced so much satisfaction in +his life. + +Mr. Swigg, like a good father, settled half a million of dollars upon +his daughter. The Baron had expected more, but the old man's shrewdness +came to his aid in this instance, and he declared to his wife that this +was money enough to risk at one time. His suspicions were very vague, +and they were roundly denounced by his better half. He held his tongue, +and after the marriage handed the Baron bills of exchange on Paris and +Vienna for the five hundred thousand. Herr Von Storck, on his part, +formally delivered to his father-in-law a deed, drawn up in German, +(and which bore a wonderful likeness to the letter of recall he had +shown Mrs. Swigg,) in which he said he settled a handsome estate near +Vienna upon his bride. He apologized for not making her the usual +present of diamonds, by saying that his family jewels were more +magnificent than any thing that could be found in New York, and that he +was afraid to risk their being sent across the ocean. They awaited his +bride in his ancestral home. The parents expressed their entire +satisfaction, and begged that he would not mention "such trifles." + +The "young couple" were to sail on the second day after their marriage; +and, at the appointed time, the new baroness awaited her husband, with +packed trunks. He had gone out early in the morning to wind up his +business at the Austrian Consulate. The steamer was to sail at noon, +and as the hour drew near, and the Baron did not appear, the fears of +Papa Swigg began to be aroused. Two, three, four o'clock, and yet no +Baron Von Storck. Terror and dread reigned in the hearts of the Swigg +family. + +Towards five o'clock, a policeman, accompanied by a coarse-looking +German woman, arrived at the mansion. He informed Mr. Swigg that he had +orders to arrest Conrad Kreutzer, alias the Baron Von Storck. The +_denouement_ had come at last. The policeman informed the old gentleman +that the supposed Baron was simply a German barber, who had been +released from the penitentiary but a short time, where he had served a +term for bigamy, and that the woman who accompanied him was Kreutzer's +lawful wife. + +Poor Papa Swigg! Poor Mamma Swigg! Poor Arabella, "Baroness Von +Storck!" It was a fearful blow to them, but it was not altogether +undeserved. + +The successful scoundrel had sailed at noon on the steamer, under his +assumed name, carrying with him the bills of exchange, which were paid +on presentation in Europe, there being then no Atlantic telegraph to +expose his villainy before his arrival in the old world. He has never +been heard of since. + +His victims were not so fortunate. All New York rang with the story, +and those who had tried hardest to bring this fate upon themselves were +loudest in ridiculing the Swiggs for their "stupidity;" so that, at +last, parents and daughter were glad to withdraw from fashionable life, +to a more retired existence, where they still remain, sadder, and +decidedly wiser than when their career began. Mr. Swigg takes the +matter philosophically, consoling himself with the determination to +vote against every foreigner who may 'run for office' in his district. +His wife and Arabella, however, still suffer sorely from their +mortification, and are firmly convinced that of all classes of European +society, the German nobility is the most utterly corrupt. + + + ETIQUETTE OF CARDS. + +From the following article, which appeared recently in the _Evening +Mail_, the reader will obtain a clear insight into some of the outside +customs of society: + +Even the cut of the pasteboard upon which a man announces his name is +regulated by fashion. The man who wishes to have his note-paper, +envelopes and cards, 'on the square' must know what the mode is. +Visiting cards for the present season will be rather larger than +formerly, and of the finest unglazed Bristol board. The new sizes will +tend rather to the square than otherwise. The shape of the card may be +varied, according to taste, the proper adaptation to the size of the +lettering being maintained. + +[Illustration: Fifth Avenue, near Thirty-Fourth Street.] + +Among the various texts in use, nothing will supercede the English +script, and those inimitable styles of old English text; the most novel +being those with dropped capitals, and the extremely neat, extra- +shaded. Visiting cards, with the familiar words denoting the object of +the call, will remain in use, to some extent, especially for calls of +congratulation or condolence. The word _visite_, on the left hand upper +corner, will be engraved on the reverse side. The corner containing the +desired word will be turned down, so as to denote the object of the +call. The word on the right-hand corner, _Felicitation_, will be used +for visits of congratulation on some happy event, as, for instance, a +marriage, or a birth; on the left lower corner, the word _Conge_, used +for a visit previous to leaving town; the other corner is to be marked +_Condolence_. Cards sent to friends before leaving for a long journey, +are issued with the addition of P. P. C. in the left hand corner. These +cards are inclosed in heavy and elegant, though plain, envelopes, +ornamented with a tasteful monogram or initial. + +In wedding invitations, all abbreviations, like eve. for evening, will +be avoided, as well as P. M.; the word afternoon being preferable. +Invitations to ceremonious weddings consist of a square note-sheet, +embellished with a large monogram in relief, entwining the combined +initials of the bride and groom. The individual cards of both bride and +groom must be also inclosed, united with a neat white satin tie; and, +in some cases, another card, with reception days for the following +month. + +A very neat style of card has the customary 'at home' on a note-sheet, +a ceremony card, (at fixed hour,) and the united cards of bride and +groom, all enclosed in a splendid large envelope, of the very finest +texture, with an elaborate monogram, or ornamental initial. Among the +neater forms for a quiet wedding at home is the following: + + MR. AND MRS.-- + +Request the pleasure of M.---'s company at breakfast, on Wednesday, +December 16, at one o'clock. + '--_Hamilton Square_.' + +Cards of bride and groom must be inclosed for general invitations. Very +simple forms are in the best taste. They may be varied to suit the +occasion, either of _dejeuner_, dinner reception or evening parties. +For example: + + MRS. WILSON. + AT HOME, + +Wednesday evening, January 7. + '--_Fifth Avenue_. + 'Cotillion at 9.' + +Or; Soiree Dansante. + + MR. AND MRS. E. DAY + +Request the pleasure of your company on Monday evening, at 9 o'clock. +R.S.V.P. + +An afternoon wedding reception may be announced in terms like the +following: + + MR. AND MRS. HENRY ROBINSON + +Request the pleasure of your company at the wedding reception of their +daughter, on Thursday, October 15, from 2 until 4 o'clock. + + '--_Maple Grove_.' +Or again: + MR. AND MRS. RICHARD WILSON + +Request the pleasure of your presence at the marriage ceremony of +their daughter Adelaide to Mr. Jones, at Trinity Chapel, on Wednesday +evening, October 5, at 8 o'clock. + Reception from 9 until 11 o'clock. + '--_West Hamilton street_.' + +The mode for private dinners may claim a paragraph. Of late, private +dinners have been conducted with great ceremony. The menu, or bill of +fare, is laid at each plate, an illuminated monogram embellishing the +top of the menu. The list of dishes, tastefully written, and a +beautifully adorned illuminated card are laid on each plate, to +designate the seat of the particular guest. Another style of these +cards is plain white, bound with a crimson or blue edge, and has the +words _Bon Appetit,_ in handsome letters, above the name of the guest, +which is also beautifully written in the same original style, or, +perhaps, in fancy colored ink. + +Acceptance and regret notes are found very useful and convenient on +some occasions. The best forms are: + + MR. AND MRS. C. WHITE'S + +Compliments to Mrs.----, accepting, with, pleasure, her kind invitation +for Wednesday evening, January 14, 1869. + '----Clinton Place.' + +If the note be one of regret, 'regretting the necessity to decline,' is +substituted. These blanks are neatly put up in small packages, with +proper envelopes. + +For billet or note-paper, some new styles of fine Parisian papers have +just been introduced, and, for the extreme neatness of the design, or +figure, in the paper, have become very fashionable. The different +styles in paper and envelopes could scarcely be enumerated. The forms +are small, square, and rather large, oblong shape; both folding in a +square envelope, with pointed flap. A novelty has just been introduced, +in a sheet of paper, so cut as to combine note sheet with envelope. + +Monograms will, this season, tend to an enlarged size, besides being +more complicated than usual. In many cases, the monograms spell pet +names, and sometimes names of several syllables. Illuminated monograms, +especially for heading of party or ball invitations, will be greatly +sought after. For usual letter writing, monograms in one delicate +color, or in white embossed, will be in vogue. These are very stylish, +when used on thick English cream laid paper. Names of country +residences, in rustic design, are also used at the top of the note +sheet. Jockey monograms are formed of riding equipments. Some novelties +in this way have recently made their appearance. For those fond of the +game of croquet, monograms are formed of the implements of the game; +and smokers may have their articles of smoking so arranged as to +represent their initials. + + + AN ECONOMICAL WEDDING. + +New York has long been celebrated for its magnificent entertainments, +and especially for its weddings, and wedding breakfasts. On such +occasions the guests, unwilling to be outdone by the host in +liberality, sometimes vie with each other in presenting the bride elect +with costly gifts of every description. One, two, or three rooms, as +the case may be, are set apart at every "fashionable wedding," where +the presents are displayed and commented upon by the invited guests. It +has been frequently suggested by the more prudent members of society +that these offerings be entirely suppressed, and that none but the +immediate relations should commemorate the day in this wise; but the +idea has met with no favor, till of late, when one of our fashionable +"Murray Hill princes," took a most determined step toward reform. As it +is the only case of the kind on record, a description of the wedding +may not be uninteresting. Several hundred invitations were given, and +at the appointed hour the parlors were crowded almost to suffocation. +The bride was attired in a white marceline silk of most scant +proportions; her veil consisted of one breadth of tulle caught in her +comb, at the back of her hair; no flowers were worn except a very +minute bunch in front of her dress. The groom was attired with like +simplicity, thereby attracting considerable attention. + +No refreshments were offered to the wearied guests, who gladly bade +adieu, and returned to their homes. There was a false hope, raised in +the minds of a few, on seeing a large bride cake in one corner, that a +glass of wine and a piece of cake might be served; but the illusion was +dispelled on questioning the waiter (one only being in attendance), who +informed them he had instructions not to cut it! The presents were +spread upon a small table, and created not a little astonishment. One +five dollar gold piece was laid upon a card, bearing the inscription, +"From your affectionate grandfather." A coin of half this value was +presented by the "affectionate grandmother," while devoted brothers and +sisters testified their affection by the presentation of a gold dollar +each. As might be expected, the guests departed early. One lady was +unfortunate enough to have ordered her carriage to call for her at +midnight. She saw all depart, and then seated herself to await +patiently its coming. After awhile a savory smell of oysters, coffee, +etc., came floating on the air. With some confusion of manner the +members of the family one by one disappeared, and after some delay, the +host hesitatingly invited her to partake of some refreshments. She +declined, and the family retired to discuss the supper; leaving her to +await her carriage alone in the parlor. + + + THE BEST SOCIETY. + +If New York has a profusion of gilt and glitter in its high life, it +has also the real gold. The best society of the city is not to be found +in what are known as "fashionable circles." It consists of persons of +education and refinement, who are amongst the most polished and +cultivated of the American people. To this class belonged Fennimore +Cooper and Washington Irving. It is small, very exclusive, and careful +as to whom it admits to its honors. Shoddy and its votaries cannot +enter it, and therefore it is decidedly unfashionable. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + + THE TOMBS. + +Leaving Broadway at Leonard or Franklin streets, one finds himself, +after a walk of two blocks in an easterly direction, in a wide +thoroughfare, called Centre street. His attention is at once attracted +by a large, heavy granite building, constructed in the style of an +Egyptian temple. This is the Tombs. The proper name of the building is +"The Halls of Justice," but it is now by common consent spoken of +simply as the Tombs. It occupies an entire square, and is bounded by +Centre, Elm, Franklin, and Leonard streets. The main entrance is on +Centre street, through a vast and gloomy corridor, the sternness of +which is enough to strike terror to the soul of a criminal. Within the +walls which face the street, is a large quadrangle. In this there are +three prisons, several stories high. One of these is for men, the other +for boys, and the third for women. The gallows stands in the prison +yard, when there is need for it, all executions of criminals in this +city being conducted as privately as possible. + +The prison is one of the smallest in America, and is utterly inadequate +to the necessities of the city. It was built at a time when New York +was hardly half as large as the metropolis of to-day, and is now almost +always overcrowded to an extent which renders it fearful. It is kept +perfectly clean, its sanitary regulations being very rigid. It is very +gloomy in its interior, and is one of the strongest and securest +prisons in the world. + +[Illustration: The Tombs--City Prison.] + +No lights are allowed in the cells, which are very small, but a narrow +aperture cut obliquely in the wall, near the ceiling, admits the +sunshine, and at the same time cuts off the inmates from a view of what +is passing without. Besides these, there are six comfortable cells +located just over the main entrance. These are for the use of criminals +of the wealthier class, who can afford to pay for such comforts. +Forgers, fraudulent merchants, and the like, pass the hours of their +detention in these rooms, while their humbler, but no more guilty +brothers in crime are shut up in the close, narrow cells we have +described. These rooms command a view of the street, so that their +occupants are not entirely cut off from the outer world. + + + THE BUMMER'S CELL. + +The main cell in the prison is a large room, with a capacity for +holding about two hundred persons. It is known as the "Bummer's Cell." +It is generally full on Saturday night, which is always a busy time for +the police. The working classes are paid their weekly wages on +Saturday, and having no labor to perform on the Sabbath, take Saturday +night for their periodical dissipation, comforting themselves with the +reflection that if they carry their revels to too great an excess, they +can sleep off the bad effects on Sunday. + +From sunset until long after midnight on Saturday, the police are busy +ridding the streets of drunken and disorderly persons. As soon as a +person is arrested, he is taken to the Toombs, or one of the station +houses. It is the duty of the captain in charge of the precinct to lock +up every person thus brought in. He has no discretion, and he is often +compelled to throw those of whose innocence he is satisfied, into the +company of the most abandoned wretches for an entire night. +Drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and fighting are the principal charges +brought against the Saturday night inmates of the Bummer's Cell. Many +visitors to the city, by yielding to the temptation to drink too much +liquor, pay for their folly by an acquaintance with the Bummer's Cell. +They lose their self control in the splendid gin palaces of the city, +and when they recover their consciousness find themselves in a hot, +close room, filled with the vilest and most depraved wretches. The +noise, profanity, and obscenity, are fearful. All classes, all ages, +are represented there. Even little children are lost forever by being +immured for a single night in such horrible company. The females are +confined in a separate part of the prison. No entreaties or +explanations are of the least avail. All must await with as much +patience as possible, the opening of the court the next morning. + + + THE TOMBS POLICE COURT. + +The Court opens at six o'clock on Sunday morning. It is presided over +by Justice Joseph Bowling, a short, thick-set man, with a handsome +face, and a full, well-shaped head, indicating both ability and +determination. Judge Dowling is still a young man, and is one of the +most efficient magistrates in the city. His decisions are quickly +rendered, and are generally just. He has a hard class of people to deal +with, and this has made him not a little sharp in his manner. A +stranger is at once struck with the quick, penetrating power of his +glance. He seems to look right through a criminal, and persons brought +before him generally find it impossible to deceive him. This has made +him the terror of criminals, who have come to regard an arraignment +before him as equivalent to a conviction, as the one is tolerably sure +to follow the other. At the same time he is kind and considerate to +those who are simply unfortunate. Vice finds him an unrelenting foe, +and virtue a fearless defender. So much for the man. + +As soon as the Court is opened, the prisoners are called up in the +order of their arrival during the previous night. Here drunkenness +without disorder, and first offences of a minor character, are punished +with a reprimand, and the prisoners are discharged. These cases +constitute a majority of the arrests, and the number of persons in the +dock is soon reduced to a mere handfull. The more serious cases are +either held for further examination or sent on trial before a higher +court. + +All classes of people come to the Justice with complaints of every +description. Women come to complain of their husbands, and men of their +wives. The Justice listens to them all, and if a remedy is needed, +applies the proper one without delay. In most instances, he dismisses +the parties with good advice, as their cases are not provided for by +the law. + + + A SAD CASE. + +Some of the cases which are brought up before the Tombs Court are +deeply interesting. We take the following from the report of the +General Agent of the New York Prison Association: + +The case referred to is that of a woman indicted for burglary and grand +larceny. She was guilty, and she felt and acknowledged it. She had +lived in a neighboring city for the last six years, and for the last +three years on the same floor with the complainant, and the consequence +was they were very friendly and intimate. Her husband sustained a +severe injury from a fall, and has since been in declining health, +earning nothing for the last eighteen months. At length his mind gave +way and his friends advised his removal to the Lunatic Asylum. He had +been an inmate for six months, and his wife frequently visited him, +always contributing to his wants and comforts. He improved so rapidly +that the doctor informed his wife that on the following week, if the +weather proved clear and fine, he should discharge him. The wife felt +anxious to make her home more than ever cheerful and her husband happy, +but she had no means. She thought of the abundance of clothing her +neighbor possessed, and that some articles could be spared for a short +time, probably without detection; and if she should be detected before +she could redeem them, her friend would excuse her. She devised means +to enter, and conveyed to the pawnbroker's two parcels of clothing, +upon which she realized nine dollars; she made some purchases for the +house, redeemed a coat for her husband, and then started for the asylum +for the purpose of fetching him to her home. But on her arrival there, +the physician told her that he had left a few hours before, that he was +well and happy, and that she must keep him so. On her return home the +larceny had been discovered, and the property found at the +pawnbroker's; it had been pledged in her own name, and where she was +well and favorably known. An officer was waiting, and she was taxed +with the crime; she had destroyed the duplicate. The complainant gave +her into the custody of the officer, but promised to forgive her if all +the property was recovered. The husband went to his friends, and they +advanced funds to redeem the property. It was returned, and also a hat +paid for which had been taken. I carefully examined into this case and +all its surroundings. The woman had sustained the reputation of being a +sober, industrious, honest person; her state of mind was truly +distressing, her greatest fear was that her husband would relapse, and +she would be the cause of all his future misery. I submitted all these +facts to the district attorney; he could not consent to any compromise, +and again referred me to the county judge, who would not yield a +tittle. Counsel having been assigned, a plea of guilty of grand larceny +was put in by him, and she was remanded for sentence until Saturday. I +felt very unhappy at her condition. On Friday evening I endeavored to +find the district attorney, but failed; on Saturday morning I wrote him +and asked him to concede that she could not be convicted of burglary, +and then, was it not very doubtful whether she could be convicted of +any thing more than petit larceny? If so, I urged him to consent to the +withdrawal of the plea put in by her counsel, and then permit it to be +substituted by one of petit larceny. My proposition met with favor; its +suggestions were adopted, and the prisoner, instead of ignominy in the +State Prison, was sent to the Penitentiary for three months. The woman +is now in a situation at work, but her mind is ill at ease, as her +husband has not been heard of since her imprisonment. + + + SAVED IN TIME. + +"A member of an eminent firm in this city," says the gentleman from +whose report the above case is taken, "called upon me with a request +that I would visit a youth, aged seventeen years, now in the Tombs, +charged upon his complaint with embezzling various sums of money whilst +in their employ as collecting clerk. He felt anxious I should see him, +and then advise what should be done. The next morning I repaired to the +prison, and had the youth brought from his cell, when he made the +following statement: That he lived and boarded with his widowed mother +and sisters in a neighboring city, where also he had taken an active +part in all their religious meetings and enterprises. He thinks he +experienced a great moral change when first he became a member, and +until of late had made religious duties his greatest delight. He had +regarded his family as one of the happiest that could be found. Some +seven or eight months since he was introduced to the firm referred to, +and they engaged his services, agreeing to give him five dollars per +week. He was soon appreciated by his employers, and they advanced his +salary to seven dollars a week, out of which he paid his mother for +board five dollars, and one dollar for his weekly fare on the railroad. +This left him but one dollar for his own use. He soon became acquainted +with other collecting clerks, with whom he took lunch, first a sandwich +and a cup of coffee, and then dinners and dessert. _In this way the +money of his employers disappeared._ He could not charge himself with +any one special act of extravagance. He felt, he said, ashamed of +himself, and deeply pained before God, and wondered that he could not +see and feel before that he has sinned greviously. I now urged him to +conceal nothing, but tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, and to +pause and consider before he answered the next question I should put to +him, as it was a very serious one. 'How long would it take to induce +him, with solemn purpose of heart, to resolve, unalterably resolve, +never to be guilty of a repetition of crime, never to spend a cent +belonging to another?' The penalty for his offence was from one year to +five in a State prison. I then begged him to inform me how I should +approach his honor the judge, before whom he must be brought if +prosecuted. Should I ask the court to show him mercy, and send him but +for two years? or would it require a longer sentence to effect a +permanent change in his life? He wept distressingly, and said: 'Oh, +save me from such a fate, if not for mine, for my mother's sake. Beg +and pray of the firm to show me mercy, and I will be careful and honest +for the future.' One of the gentlemen called upon me and inquired if I +had seen this youth." + +[Illustration: Scene in the Tombs Police Court] + +I replied that I had. 'Then what do you advise?' I asked if it +was known in the house that the lad was a defaulter. 'To none but my +partner' he replied. Then, said I, the best advice I am capable of +giving is, _forgive him, ask the court to discharge him, and take him +back again into your office_. I am happy to say that my advice was +adopted. The youth was discharged, forgiven, and taken back again into +the house, and is now performing his duties with alacrity, very +grateful to the Association, and more especially to the firm for their +noble conduct in this matter. That young man has no doubt been saved +from a career of crime. + + + RELIGIOUS SERVICES. + +The prisoners confined in the Tombs are provided with the means of +hearing divine service every Sunday. The Roman Catholic clergy have the +exclusive privilege of ministering to the spiritual wants of the women +and children, and for this purpose have quite a nice little chapel +fitted up in the female department of the prison. The Sisters of +Charity preside over this part of the prison at all times, and no one +is permitted to interfere with them. + +The Protestant clergy are permitted to preach to the male prisoners in +the main corridor of the prison. The preacher stands on the platform at +the upper end of the passage, and the prisoners in their cells can hear +him without seeing him. They pay little or no attention to him, but +receive their friends in their cells, or employ themselves according to +their own fancies during the preaching. The bummers are grouped in the +corridor just below the preacher, and are called out from time to time +by the keepers, as they are wanted in the court room. The minister is +frequently annoyed and embarrassed by the shouts; jeers, and imitations +of the prisoners in their cells. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + + REFORMATORY ESTABLISHMENTS. + +The principal reformatory establishments of New York city are the +Penitentiary, on Blackwell's Island, and the House of Refuge, devoted +to juvenile criminals, on Randall's Island. + + + THE PENITENTIARY. + +The large pile of buildings which forms such a prominent object on +Blackwell's Island, known as the Penitentiary, is familiar to most of +the residents of New York City, though the every day life of its +inmates is practically known only to that class to which they +immediately belong. + +The Penitentiary, which is under the wardenship of Mr. Fitch, is +capable of accommodating about seven hundred and fifty prisoners, but +at present their numbers are slightly under five hundred--about three +hundred men, and ninety women. The prisoners are divided into classes, +the particular dress of each indicating the nature and gravity of their +offences, and though amenable to the same laws as to labor and +discipline, they work in separate gangs and mess by themselves. They +are under the control of twenty-four keepers, each keeper, who is +heavily armed, having fifteen men in his charge, whose roll he calls, +and for whose absence he is responsible. At six o'clock the prisoners +are all paraded to call the roll, at half-past six they have breakfast, +consisting of dry bread and a bowl of coffee, and at seven, those who +are skilled workmen are told off to the blacksmiths', carpenters', +tailors', and weavers' shops, where all necessary repairs to the +building and its fittings are done, and the clothing for the prisoners +is made; others to labor in the gardens and fields, while the remainder +are marched off in two divisions, one to work in the stone quarries at +home, the others to be conveyed by the Commissioners' steam vessel +Bellevue to the quarries on Ward's Island. The female prisoners are +principally occupied in the sewing-room, in the brush-manufactory, in +washing clothes, and scrubbing out the cells. + +The majority of the prisoners are committed for assault and battery or +larceny, for terms varying from one month to four years and a half; +those committed for graver offences are confined at Sing Sing; all +drunkards, vagrants, and disorderly characters at the workhouse. During +the past year two thousand three hundred and fifteen persons were +incarcerated for different periods--two thousand one hundred and +thirty-nine whites, one hundred and seventy-six blacks. Of these about +one third were native Americans, one third Irish, one tenth German, and +the remainder of various nationalities. The visitor to the Penitentiary +cannot but be struck by the youth of the male prisoners compared with +that of the females, the bulk of the males being between fourteen and +thirty years of age, the females between twenty-five and fifty. Few +young girls find their way here, as in their earlier career they are +able to gain enough by a life of prostitution, without committing +larceny, and consequently do not resort to it till their charms begin +to wear, and the consequent diminution of their means of subsistence +from such a source compels them to resort to some other. There is +another fact which appears in these statistics of crime, one highly +suggestive to the housekeeper. Of the four hundred and eleven female +prisoners committed during the past year, no less than three hundred +and two were domestic servants, and of these two hundred and forty-one +were Irish girls and women. + +At twelve o'clock the prison bell rings for dinner. It is a sad sight +to stand on the terrace and see the various gangs of men and lads march +home from their work, the greater proportion of them fine, sturdy +looking young fellows; it is sadder still to see some of them carrying +a heavy iron ball and chain slung over the shoulder and attached to a +strong iron band locked round the leg immediately above the ankle. +These men have tried to escape. Necessary as it may be to adopt such +measures to prevent them from repeating the attempt, surely it is +unnecessarily cruel to compel these poor creatures to wear their irons +at night. Their dinner consists of a can of soup, a plate of meat, and +ten ounces of bread. They are allowed one hour, and are then marched +back again to their work in the quarries; they have supper, bread and +coffee, at five o'clock, and at half-past five they are all locked in +their cells, which, though scrupulously clean, are certainly too small +(about the size of an ordinary clothes closet), considering that the +prisoners have to pass twelve hours out of the twenty-four in them. + +On Sunday the sewing-room of the female prisoners is used as a Chapel, +the men attending services in the morning, the women in the afternoon; +once a month there is service for the Roman Catholic prisoners. The +convicts have no privileges; a sharp, intelligent lad may become a hall +boy or get employed in the mess room; or a mechanic may be appointed to +one of the workshops and so gain some slight relief from the monotony +of their lives; but they get no reward, beyond a little tobacco once a +week for chewing; smoking is strictly prohibited; once a month they are +allowed to be visited by their friends. On entering the building the +visitor is forcibly struck by the following inscription over the +doorway. + + 'The way of the transgressor is hard.' + +'Such is the greeting to the unfortunate criminal as he puts his foot, +often for the first time, within the prison walls. If an inscription be +necessary, surely the Department of Public Charities and Correction +might have chosen one less harsh in character; one that breathes a +larger amount of Christian charity to a poor fellow creature, one that +may offer him some small portion of that encouragement which is so +essential to his reformation. Some such epigram as 'it is never too +late to mend' would be altogether more suitable and far more +encouraging. + + + THE HOUSE OF REFUGE. + +The Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction, in their last +report, made the startling announcement that there are no less than +thirty-nine thousand children in the City of New York, growing up in +ignorance and idleness. These children, influenced from their cradles +by the most terrible surroundings, have no alternative but to become +beggars and thieves almost as soon as they can run alone. Thousands of +them are orphans, or perhaps worse, for they are often the children of +parents who, ignoring the laws of nature, use them for the purpose of +furthering their own vicious ends. They live principally in a +neighborhood which abounds in lodging-houses for sailors, the lowest +class of liquor stores, dancing and concert rooms, and various other +low places of amusement; a neighborhood swarming with brothels, whose +wretched inmates are permitted to flaunt their sin and finery, and ply +their hateful trade openly, by day and night; where at midnight the +quarrels, fights, and disturbances, are so noisy and so frequent that +none can hope for a night's rest until they are inured by habit; where, +night after night, they witness the most desperate encounters between +drunken men and women, kicking, biting, and tearing one another's hair +out, as they roll together in the gutter, or, as is too often the case, +using deadly weapons, and where the crowd, instead of interfering to +stop these awful scenes, stand by in a brutal enjoyment of them, +abetting and encouraging the principal actors therein. And their homes, +what are they? Their fathers, often out of work, are unable to support +their families; their clothes, their bedding, their furniture, all gone +to the pawn-shop; father, mother, and children, are often compelled to +sleep on the bare boards, huddling close together for warmth in one +ill-built, ill-ventilated room. Amid their misery, this neglect of the +common decencies of life, this unblushing effrontery of reckless vice +and crime, what chance have these poor unhappy little children of +becoming decent members of society. They are sickly from the want of +proper nourishment, vicious from example, ignorant because they do not +care to learn, and their parents take no trouble to compel them to do +so, and must inevitably grow up only to swell the already fearful sum +total of our criminal population. At ten the boys are thieves, at +fifteen the girls are all prostitutes. + +A system of State reformatories and State apprenticeships on an +extensive scale is the only way of grappling with this terrible state +of things. Such institutions as the House of Refuge on Randall's Island +have done and are doing much, but a dozen such institutions might be +established with advantage in the State of New York alone. On Randall's +Island the young criminal has the opportunity of acquiring regular +habits and learning a useful trade. They are subject to a humane, +though strict discipline, and a very large per centage, especially of +the boys, do undoubtedly become reformed. This reformatory, a wise +combination of school and prison, can accommodate one thousand inmates. +There are at present about eight hundred boys, and one hundred and +fifty girls on the register. The boys' building is divided into two +compartments, the first division, in the one, is thus entirely +separated from the second division, in the other compartment. The +second division is composed of those whose characters are decidedly +bad, or whose offence was great. A boy may, by good conduct, however, +get promoted from the second into the first division. As a rule the +second division are much older than the first. Each division is divided +into four grades. Every boy on entering the Reformatory is placed in +the third grade; if he behaves well he is placed in the second in a +week, and a month after to the first grade; if he continues in a +satisfactory course for three months, he is placed in the grade of +honor, and wears a badge on his breast. Every boy in the first division +must remain six months, in the second division twelve months in the +first grade, before he can be indentured to any trade. These two +divisions are under the charge of twenty-five teachers and twenty-five +guards. At half-past six o'clock the cells are all unlocked, every one +reports himself to the overseer, and then goes to the lavatories; at +seven, after parading, they are marched to the school rooms to join in +religious exercises for half an hour; at half-past seven they have +breakfast, and at eight are told off to the work-shops, where they +remain till twelve, when they again parade, previous to going to +dinner. For dinner they have a large plate of excellent soup, a small +portion of meat, a small loaf of bread, and a mug of water. At one +o'clock they return to their work. When they have completed their +allotted task they are allowed to play till four, when they have +supper. At half-past four they go to school, where they remain till +eight o'clock, the time for going to bed. Each boy has a separate cell, +which is locked and barred at night. The cells are in long, lofty, well +ventilated corridors, each corridor containing one hundred cells. The +doors of the cells are all grated, in order that the boys may have +light and air, and also be under the direct supervision of the +officers, who, though very strict, apparently know well how to temper +strictness with kindness. Before going to bed, half an hour is again +devoted to religious exercises, singing hymns, reading the Bible, etc. +There is a large chapel, where the services are conducted on Sunday, +the girls having the gallery to themselves. There is, however, no +Catholic service. This, surely, is not right. At the Penitentiary on +Blackwell's Island they have service once a month for the Catholics. Of +the six hundred and eighty-two children committed from the Courts +during the year 1867, no less than four hundred and fourteen were +Irish, and in all probability a large proportion of these are Roman +Catholics. Institutions of this character should certainly be made as +unsectarian as possible. + +One of the most interesting, and at the same time, one of the most +important features of the Refuge, is the workshop. On entering the +shop, the visitor is amused by finding a lot of little urchins occupied +in making ladies' hoopskirts of the latest fashionable design; nearly +100 are engaged in the crinoline department. In the same long room, +about 50 are weaving wire for sifting cotton, making wire sieves, rat +traps, gridirons, flower baskets, cattle noses, etc. The principal +work, however, is carried on in the boot and shoe department. The labor +of the boys is let out to contractors, who supply their own foremen to +teach the boys and superintend the work, but the society have their own +men to keep order and correct the boys when necessary, the contractors' +men not being allowed to interfere with them in any way whatever. There +are 590 boys in this department. They manage on an average to turn out +about 2,500 pairs of boots and shoes daily, which are mostly shipped to +the Southern States. Each one has a certain amount of work allotted to +him in the morning, which he is bound to complete before four o'clock +in the afternoon. Some are quicker and more industrious than others, +and will get their work done by two o'clock; this gives two hours' play +to those in the first division, the second division have to go to +school when they have finished till three o'clock, they only being +allowed one hour for recreation. The authorities are very anxious to +make arrangements to have a Government vessel stationed off the island, +to be used as a training-ship for the most adventurous spirits. If this +design is carried out it will be a very valuable adjunct to the working +of the institution, and will enable the Directors to take in many more +boys, without incurring the expense of extending the present buildings. +The girls are also employed in making hoop skirts, in making clothes +for themselves and the boys, in all sorts of repairing, in washing +linen, and in general housework. The girls are generally less tractable +than the boys; perhaps this is accounted for by their being older, some +of them being as much as five or six and twenty. The boys average about +13 or 14, the girls 17 or 18 years of age. Nearly two thirds of the +boys have been boot-blacks, the remainder mostly what are technically +known as 'wharf rats.' Some of them are now in the house for the third +time; one, a lad only 15 years of age, has passed one year in a +juvenile asylum, four years in a reformatory, and is now at Randall's +Island. Another has been three times convicted of horse stealing; he +would, late at night, ask permission to sleep in a stable; he is a +complete cripple, and by attracting sympathy his request was often +granted; when every one had left the place he would quietly open the +door and lead out the horses. On each occasion that he was convicted he +managed to get off with three horses. Another little fellow, only six +years old, with a chum, broke into a pipe store, and stole 150 +meerschaum pipes; he was however detected while trying to dispose of +them. There is a colored lad, about eighteen, who is very amusing; he +is a great orator, and addresses the others on all subjects, both +general and political. On one occasion, when the Principal ventured to +ask him whom he had adopted as his model for speaking, he grandly +replied, 'I will have you to know, sir, that I am no servile imitator.' +Some of the boys cannot overcome their thieving propensities, but will, +even in the Refuge, purloin things that can be of no earthly use to +them, if they get the chance. They are very quick and expert. Only a +few days ago one of the boys fell down in a fit in the schoolroom; some +of the others assisted the teacher to carry him into the open air. The +poor fellow had a collection of nick-nacks in one pocket, and about 20 +penny pieces in the other, but during the moment that passed in +carrying him out both pockets were emptied. The Directors of the house +of Refuge, while having a due regard for the well-being of its inmates, +very properly take care that they are not so comfortable or so well fed +as to lead them to remain longer in the reformatory than necessary. As +soon as the boys appear to be really reformed they are indentured out +to farmers and different trades. In the year 1867 no less than 633 boys +and 146 girls were started in life in this way. Any person wishing to +have a child indentured to him, has to make a formal application to the +Committee to that effect, at the same time giving references as to +character, etc. Inquiries are made, and if satisfactorily answered, the +child is handed over to his custody, the applicant engaging to feed, +clothe, and educate his young apprentice. The boy's new master has to +forward a written report to the officer, as to his health and general +behavior from time to time. If the boy does not do well, he is sent +back to the Refuge, and remains there till he is 21 years of age. Most +of the children, however, get on, and many of them have made for +themselves respectable positions in society. The annals of the Society +in this respect are very gratifying and interesting. Many young men +never lose sight of a Refuge which rescued them in time from a criminal +life, and to which they owe almost their very existence. Instead of +alternating between the purlieus of Water street and Sing Sing, they +are many of them in a fair way to make a fortune. One young man who was +brought up there, and is now thriving, lately called at the office to +make arrangements for placing his two younger brothers in the House, +they having got into bad company since their father's death. A very +remarkable occurrence took place at the institution not long ago. A +gentleman and his wife, apparently occupying a good position in +society, called at the Refuge and asked to be allowed to go over it. +Having inspected the various departments, just before leaving, the +gentleman said to his wife, 'Now I will tell you a great secret. I was +brought up in this place.' The lady seemed much surprised, and +astounded all by quietly observing 'And so was I.' So strange are the +coincidences of human life. + +"The last financial report issued by the Managers is certainly +encouraging, and might be studied with advantage by the Directors of +other public institutions. The total expenditures for the year 1867, +for an average of nine hundred and ninety inmates, was $115,036; but +the earnings of the work-shops amounted to $55,090, making the net +expenditures $59,946. In 1864, the net cost of each child was $83; in +1865, $80; in 1866, $74, and in 1867, $61. In 1864, the net earnings of +each child were $39; in 1865, $42; in 1866, $49, and in 1867, $56, +showing every successive year a better result. At the Red Hill +Reformatory in England, the net cost of each child for the year 1867, +was $135, and the net earnings of each child $30. The total expenditure +of the Penitentiary on Blackwell's Island for last year was $93,966 for +an average of five hundred and thirty three-inmates; deducting $15,175, +the value of convict labor, the net expenditure was $77,791, making the +net annual cost of each convict $146. After making all allowances for +difference of age, etc., there is a very wide margin between $146 and +$61. The Principal of the Refuge, Mr. Israel C. Jones, has been +occupied for seventeen years in Reformatory work, and no doubt the +successful results attending the operations of this society are mainly +due to his great experience. Mr. Jones takes great pleasure in +receiving visitors who are desirous of seeing the practical workings +of his system." + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + + LINES OF TRAVEL. + +In a city so vast as New York, one of the greatest considerations is to +provide ample means for rapid and sure passage from one part of the +corporate limits to another. Persons who live at the upper end of the +island cannot think of walking to their places of business or labor. To +say nothing of the loss of time they would incur, the fatigue of such a +walk would unfit nine out of ten for the duties of the day. For this +reason all the lines of travel in the City are more or less crowded +every day. The means of transportation now at the command of the people +are the street railways and the omnibusses, or stages; as they are +called. + + + THE STREET CARS. + +The majority of the street railways centre at the Astor House and City +Hall. From these points one can always find a car to almost any place +in the city. The fare is six cents to any part of the City below 62nd +Street, and seven to any point above that and below 130th Street. The +cars are all more or less crowded. With the exception of a few lines, +they are dirty. An insufficient number are provided, and one half of +the passengers are compelled to stand. The conductors and drivers are +often rude and sometimes brutal in their treatment of passengers. One +meets all sorts of people in these cars. The majority of them are rough +and dirty and contact with them keeps a person in constant dread of an +attack of the itch, or some kindred disease. Crowded cars are a great +resort for pickpockets, and many valuable articles and much money are +annually stolen by the light-fingered gentry in these vehicles. + +The wages paid to employees by the various companies are not large, and +the drivers and conductors make up the deficiency by appropriating a +part of the fares to their own use. Some are very expert at this, but +many are detected, discharged from the service of the company, and +handed over to the police. The companies exert themselves vigorously to +stop such practices, but thus far they have not been successful. Spies, +or "Spotters," as the road men term them, are kept constantly +travelling over the lines to watch the conductors. These note the +number of passengers transported during the trip, and when the +conductors' reports are handed in at the receiver's office, they +examine them, and point out any inaccuracies in them. They soon become +known to the men. They are cordially hated, and sometimes fare badly at +the hands of parties whose evil doings they have exposed. As all the +money paid for fares is received by the conductor, he alone can +abstract the "plunder." He is compelled to share it with the driver, +however, in order to purchase his silence. In this way, the companies +lose large sums of money annually. + +There is either a car or stage route on all the principal streets +running North and South. There are, besides these, several "cross town" +lines, or lines running across the City. East and West, from river to +river. The fare on these is five cents. They cross all the other +railways, and their termini are at certain ferries on the North and +East Rivers. + + + THE STAGES. + +The stages of New York are a feature of the great city which must be +seen to be appreciated. They are fine, handsome coaches, with seats +running lengthways, and capable of seating from twelve to fourteen +persons. They are drawn by two horses, and have all the lightness and +comfort of a fine spring wagon. Their routes begin at the various +ferries on the East river, from which they reach Broadway by the +nearest ways. They pass up Broadway for over a mile, and turn off from +it to other sections of the city at various points between Bleecker and +Twenty-third streets. The fare in these vehicles is ten cents, and is +paid to the driver, who communicates with the passenger by means of a +hole in the upper and front end of the coach. The checkstring passes +from the door through this hole, and is fastened to the driver's foot. +By means of this, a passenger can at any moment stop the stage. In +order that the driver may distinguish between a signal to stop the +coach and one to receive the passenger's fare, a small gong, worked by +means of a spring, is fastened at the side of the hole. By striking +this the passenger at once commands the driver's attention. + +The stage drivers are entirely exposed to the weather, and suffer +greatly from the extremes of heat and cold. They can not leave their +seats, and are oftentimes terribly frozen in the winter, before +reaching the ends of their routes. They are constantly on the watch for +passengers, and it is amusing to watch the means to which they resort +to fill their coaches. In the early morning, and towards the close of +the day, they have no need to solicit custom, for then both stages and +cars are crowded to their utmost capacity. During the rest of the day, +however, they exert themselves to fill their coaches. They are called +upon to exercise no little skill in driving. Broadway, and the cross +streets along their routes, are always crowded with vehicles, and it +requires more dexterity than one would at first suppose, to avoid +accidents. + +Good drivers are always in demand. Their wages are fair, and they are +allowed the greater part of Saturday, or some other day in the week, +and as the stages do not run on Sunday, they are always sure of two +"off-days" out of the seven. Like the street railway men, they consider +it perfectly legitimate to fill their own pockets at the expense of the +owners of the vehicles. The writer of these pages once had a long +conversation upon this subject with the driver of a stage. Jehu +endeavored to justify the practice of robbing his employers by a number +of very ingenious arguments, and finally closed with the remark: + +"Well, you see, Mr. Martin, where the boss is a sensible man, he don't +object to a driver's making a few dollars for himself, for he knows +that a man who can make a plenty of stamps for himself will always make +a plenty for the boss, to keep from being found out; and it is a fact, +sir, that them as makes most for themselves always makes the biggest +returns to the office." + +The drivers are frequently in trouble with the police. They have a holy +horror of falling into the hands of these limbs of the law, and this +feeling renders them more careful in their driving, and general conduct +while on duty. + +Owing to the high rate of fare demanded by the stages, the rougher and +dirtier portion of the community are seldom met in them. The passengers +are generally of the better class, and one meets with more courtesy and +good breeding here than in the street cars. Ladies, unaccompanied by +gentlemen, prefer the stages to the cars. They are cleaner, and females +are less liable to annoyance. + +[Illustration: Scene on Broadway--Dangers of crossing] + +Like the cars, however, they are the favorite resorts of pickpockets. +At night they are patronized to such an extent by streetwalkers seeking +custom, that the city press has styled them "perambulating assignation +houses." + + + THE FERRIES. + +Including the Harlem and Staten Island lines, there are twenty-three +lines of ferries plying between New York and the adjacent shores. Of +these, nine are in the North or Hudson river, and fourteen in the East +river. The boats are large side-wheel vessels, capable of carrying both +foot-passengers, horses, and vehicles. Early in the morning they are +crowded with persons and teams coming into the city, and in the +afternoon the travel is equally great away from the city. On some of +the lines the boats ply every five minutes; on others the intervals are +longer. The Harlem and Staten Island boats start hourly--the fare on +these lines is ten cents. On the East river lines it is two cents, on +the North river three cents. + +The boats are large and handsome. Nearly all of them are lighted with +gas, and at least a score of them are seen in the stream at the same +moment. At night, with their many colored lights, they give to the +river quite a gala appearance. The travel on them is immense. Over +fifty millions of persons are annually transported by them. Many often +carry from 800 to 1000 passengers at a single trip. + +During the summer it is pleasant enough to cross either of the rivers +which encircle the island; but in the winter such travelling is very +dangerous. Storms of snow, fogs, and floating ice interfere greatly +with the running of the boats, and render accidents imminent. +Collisions are frequent during rough or thick weather, and the ice +sometimes carries the boats for miles out of their course. The East +river is always more or less crowded with vessels of all kinds, either +in motion or at anchor, and even in fair weather it is only by the +exercise of the greatest skill on the part of the pilot that collisions +can be avoided. The following incident from one of the city journals +for November 14, 1868, will show how terrible these accidents are: + +"Early this morning, when the Brooklyn boats are most crowded, chiefly +with workmen and girls coming to the city just before working hours, a +frightful collision took place as one of the Fulton ferry boats was +entering the New York slip, resulting in the wounding of probably +twenty persons, many of them fatally. At that hour four boats are run +on the Fulton ferry, the Union and Columbia running on a line, as also +the Hamilton and Clinton. The Clinton being slightly detained on the +New York side, the Hamilton, waiting for her, remained longer than +usual at the Brooklyn slip, and received therefore an immense load of +passengers, probably over a thousand. At this time in the morning, it +being flood tide, a strong current sets up the East river from +Governor's Island, which is just now further strengthened by the +freshet on the Hudson. The Hamilton, therefore, after being carried up +on the Brooklyn side, and turning in the centre of the river, steamed +down some distance below the New York slip, as usual, in order not to +be carried beyond by the upward tide. Turning, she then came up to the +slip, where the Union was laying, chained up, at the southern or lower +ferry-way. Close in by the piers an eddy from the main current which +strikes New York about Beekman street, sets strongly down stream. As +the Hamilton came into the slip from below, aiming at the upper ferry- +way, her bow was caught by this eddy and swung around with great force +toward the end of the Union. The Hamilton having a full load and the +Union having just discharged hers, the former was much the lower in the +water. The projecting guard of the Union therefore entered the front +part of the ladies' cabin at about the height of the seats, and also +smashed the rails on the outer deck. This particular part of the boat +was, of course, the most densely crowded, and the consequences of the +shock were frightful. One boy, George Brewer, who was said to have been +outside the chain, was caught by the foot and instantly killed, his +head and a good part of the body being mashed to a jelly. Several had +their feet cut off below the knee, and a dozen others were seriously +injured. The following is the list of those known to be hurt. It is +probable that several cases have not yet been discovered, and one or +two may have fallen overboard and not yet been missed. People looking +anxiously for missing friends, supposed to have been on the fated boat, +have been calling in great numbers during the morning at the ferry- +house and the police station." + +Efforts have been made to span the East river with a bridge, for the +purpose of affording sure and safe communication between this city and +Brooklyn, but the plan has always met with the sternest and most +uncompromising hostility from the ferry companies, who wish to retain +their present enormous business. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + + STREET MUSICIANS. + +Street musicians in New York are as plentiful as the leaves in +Vallambrosa. One cannot walk two blocks in the entire City, without +hearing from one to half a dozen street instruments in full blast. A +few of the instruments are good and in perfect tune, but the majority +emit only the most horrible discord. + + + THE ORGAN GRINDERS. + +Only a few of the organ grinders own their organs. The majority hire +them from parties who make a business of letting them. The rent varies +from two to twenty dollars per month, according to the quality of the +instrument; the French flute-organ commanding the best price. The +owners of the organs generally manage to inspire the "grinders" with a +wholesome terror of them, so that few instruments are carried off +unlawfully, and after all, the organ grinders are generally more +unfortunate than dishonest. + +The men are generally Italians. Occasionally a German or Swiss is seen, +but Italy contributes the great majority. Women are not often seen on +the streets in such capacities, except in company with their relatives +or lovers, and then they accompany the organ with the tambourine. + +In good weather, a man with a good flute-organ can generally make from +two to five dollars a day. Those who have the best instruments seek the +best neighborhoods in the upper part of the city. There they are always +sure of an audience of children, whose parents pay well, and some of +these seemingly poor fellows have made as much as from ten to fifteen +dollars in a day and evening. In bad weather, however, they are forced +to be idle, as a good organ cannot be exposed with impunity at such +times. The "grinders" pay from five to eight dollars per month for +their rooms, and sustain their families entirely upon maccaroni. They +use but a single room for all the purposes of the family, and, no +matter how many are to be accommodated with sleeping arrangements, +manage to get along in some way. They are very exclusive, and herd by +themselves in a section of Five Points. Baxter and Park and the +adjoining streets are taken up, to a great extent, with Italians. + +The better class of Italians keep their apartments as neat as possible. +Children of a genial clime, they are fond of heat, and the temperature +of their rooms stands at a stage which would suffocate an American. + +As a general rule, the organ grinders are better off in this country +than in their own. Their wants are simple, and they can live with +comfort on an amazingly small sum. + +There are, however, many who are not so fortunate as those to whom we +have referred. These are the great majority of the organ grinders, the +owners, or renters of the vile, discordant instruments which are the +bane of city people. They earn comparatively little but kicks and +curses. They are ordered off by irate householders, and receive but +little or no consideration from the police. They live in wretchedness +and want. Their homes are vile and filthy, and they are the +perpetrators of a great many of the crimes that disgrace the city. They +are frequent visitors at the Tombs, and are ready to be employed for +any dirty job for which unscrupulous men may wish to engage them. + + + THE WANDERING MINSTRELS. + +Any one who can turn a crank can manage a street organ. The arrangement +of the instrument being entirely automatic, no knowledge of music on +the part of the grinder is necessary. Another class of street minstrels +are required to possess a certain amount of musical skill in order to +perform creditably. These are the strolling harpers and violinists. +Like the organ grinders they are chiefly Italians, but they are not so +fortunate in a pecuniary sense. Their earnings are very slender, and +they live lives of want and misery. A very few are excellent +performers, but the great mass have not the faintest idea of music. + + + CHILD MINSTRELS. + +It is said that there are several hundred child minstrels in the City +of New York, by which we mean children below the age of sixteen or +seventeen years. They are chiefly Italians, but there are a few Swiss +and some Germans amongst them. They are generally to be found in the +streets in pairs; but sometimes three "travel" together, and sometimes +only one is to be found. + +Mr. Nathan D. Urner, of the _Tribune_, whose experience of city life +has made him a valuable authority in such matters, has recently +contributed an article on this subject to _Packard's Monthly_ for +November, 1868, from which we make the following interesting +quotations: + +"As a general rule, the little ones have parents or relatives--mostly +engaged in the same business--to whose support they contribute; but +there are both men and women in the city--and most heartless, worthless +wretches they are--who import orphan children from Naples and Tuscany, +for the purpose of turning their childish talents, both as musicians +and beggars, to practical account. Indeed, a number of years ago, there +was a villain, living in Baxter street, who employed at one time +fourteen children, mostly girls, in this manner. His name, if my memory +serves me correctly, was Antonelli. At any rate, by a cruel system of +punishment and semi-starvation, he reaped considerable profit from the +unfortunates--compelling them to steal as well as beg, and converting +the girls into outcasts at the earliest possible age--until his arrest +and imprisonment in the penitentiary of a neighboring State released +them from their bondage, though only, it is to be feared, to fall into +hands quite as bad. But they are seldom much better off, even if they +have parents. A detective police officer told me that he knew of half- +a-dozen cases where Italian fathers of this class had made a regular +business of hiring out their children for the purposes of prostitution; +and the precocity of development and expression frequently betrayed by +the girls, still young in years, is mournful evidence of the truth of +his statement." + +It is astonishing to see how little musical talent is exhibited by +these little ones, whose natures are drawn from the land of music. We +have repeatedly seen them sawing away patiently at a violin, or jerking +the strings of a harp, but could detect no semblance of melody in the +noise they made. Not a few of the little ones endeavor to make up in +dancing what they lack in musical skill. Their parents or proprietors +are harsh and stern with them, and endeavor to beat some slight +knowledge of their art into them, but it is a long time before they +succeed. Sometimes death steps in to end the troubles of the child +before success has crowned the efforts of the parent. Let us hope the +little voices will be more melodious in the unseen world. + +Sometimes these children will be found in pairs on the streets, +consisting of a boy with a small harp, and a girl with a violin; or +sometimes two girls; one with an old, broken guitar, and the other with +a tambourine; or, again, of two boys, with harp and violin. Their +music, at the best, is but worthless, and their voices have a cracked, +harsh, monotonous cadence, but they also possess a sadness which rarely +fails to bring a penny or two into the outstretched hat. They are +dirty, ragged, and more like monkeys than children, but they have a +wistfulness and weariness about their gaze and manner that make one's +heart ache. It is so sad to see young children condemned to such lives. +They are very young, the average age being eight years, but they do not +seem like children. You think they are little old men and women. + +At all hours of the day, and until late at night, you may hear their +music along the streets, and listen to their sad, young voices going up +to the ear that is always open to them. They are half fed and half +clothed, and their filthiness is painful to behold. They sleep in fair +weather under a door step, in some passage-way or cellar, or in a box +or hogshead on the street, and in the winter huddle together in the +cold and darkness of their sleeping places, for we cannot call them +homes, and long for the morning to come. The cold weather is very hard +upon them. They love the warm sun, and during the season of ice and +snow are in a constant state of semi-torpor. You see them on the +street, in their thin, ragged garments, so much overpowered by the cold +that they can scarcely strike or utter a note. Sometimes they are +permitted by the keeper of some saloon to approach his stove for a +moment or two. These are the bright periods of their dark lives, for as +a general rule, they are forced to remain in the streets, plying their +avocations until late in the night, for blows and curses are their +reward should they fail to carry to those who own them a fair day's +earnings. Give them a penny or two, should they ask it, reader. You +will not miss it. It is more to them than to you, and it will do you no +harm for the recording angel to write opposite the follies and sins of +your life that you cast one gleam of sunshine into the heart of one of +these little minstrels. + + + AN INCIDENT. + +During one of the heavy snows of the last winter, one of these child +harpers was trudging wearily down Fifth Avenue, on his way to the vile +quarter in which he was to spend the night. It was intensely cold, and +the little fellows strength was so much exhausted by the bleak night +wind that he staggered under the weight of his harp. At length he sat +down on the steps of a splendid mansion to rest. The house was +brilliantly lighted, and he looked around timidly as he seated himself, +expecting the usual command to move off. No one noticed him, however, +and he leaned wearily against the balustrade, and gazed at the handsome +windows through which the rich, warm light streamed out into the wintry +air. As he sat there, strains of exquisite music, and the sounds of +dancing, floated out into the night. The little fellow clasped his +hands in ecstacy and listened. He had never heard such melody, and it +made his heart ache to think how poor and mean was his own minstrelsy +compared with that with which his ears were now ravished. The wind blew +fierce and keen down the grand street, whirling the snow about in +blinding clouds, but the boy neither saw nor heard the strife of the +elements. He heard only the exquisite melody that came floating out to +him from the warm, luxurious mansion, and which grew sweeter and richer +every moment. The cold, hard street became more and more indistinct to +him, and he sat very still with his hands clasped, and his eyes closed. + +The ball ended towards the small hours of the morning, and the clatter +of carriages dashing up to the door of the mansion, gave the signal to +the guests that it was time to depart. No one had seen the odd-looking +bundle that lay on the street steps, half buried in the snow, and which +might have lain there until the morning had not some one stumbled over +it in descending to the carriages. With a half curse, one of the men +stooped down to examine the strange object, and found that the bundle +of rags and filth contained the unconscious form of a child. The harp, +which lay beside him, told his story. He was one of the little outcasts +of the streets. Scorning to handle such an object, the man touched him +with his foot to arouse him, thinking he had fallen asleep. Alas! it +was the eternal sleep. + + + A SAD STORY. + +Mr. Nathan D. Urner, from whose interesting paper in _Packard's +Monthly_ we have already quoted, draws the following touching picture +of minstrel life: + +A horrible murder had been committed. All engaged in it, including the +victim, were foreigners. There was not a redeeming feature, not even +the rather equivocal one of passion's frenzy, connected with the deed. +It was deliberate, long-concerted, mercenary, atrocious, and bloody. +The murderers--there were two--were shortly afterwards arrested; tried, +convicted, and sentenced to death, with a dispatch and inexorableness +which--probably owing to their friendlessness--was somewhat unusual +under the statutes of this State. The most affecting incident connected +with the condemned--both of them desperate villains--was the parting +scene between the Italian criminal (his comrade was a Spaniard) and his +child. This was a little girl, scarcely ten years of age; I doubt if +she numbered so many. The man was low-browed, narrow-templed, and of a +generally brutal, repulsive aspect. They were about to lead him into +the dungeon of the condemned, the studded door of which would not open +again save to admit his passage to the gallows-tree; and his poor child +was beside him. Hardened, sin-stained as he was, the father was himself +visibly affected; but the tempest of wild, passionate grief that +agitated the little girl, so soon to be left an orphan, was something +remarkable in one of her years. + +She was evidently a child of the streets. Her dress was ragged and +foul, and even her face so unclean as to be barely redeemed by the +large, beautiful black eyes which would alone have betrayed the sunny +clime of her origin. While the wretched criminal stood, shame-facedly +and with drooping crest, before her, she fell upon his manacled hands, +kissing them wildly, and betraying in her childish grief all the deep, +sensitive, despairing sorrow of a woman. The villain before her might +have often beaten her, debased her immeasurably, but the mysterious +cord that linked their beating hearts was unbroken, though it sang like +a bowstring in the gusty horror that swept between, and stretched to +attenuation as the elder spirit sank, groaning, into the abyss of its +own wickedness. Hot tears gushed from her eyes, her little throat was +swollen with the choking sobs, and her narrow, rag-covered chest heaved +with tumultuous agony. But after he was taken away, when the iron door +which to her was, indeed, the door of the tomb, had closed between them +forever, she became quickly calm, and her face soon wore an air of +quiet resignation. + +As she was about leaving the court-room she stooped and picked up a +weather-stained guitar. I guessed her vocation, and was resolved to +speak to her. + +'What is your name, little one?' + +'Angela, sir.' It was a sad voice, but very sweet. + +'And do you play on this for a living?' + +'I play and sing also, sir.' + +The court had been dismissed, and the crowd were confusedly +dispersing. + +'I say, little gal, can't you give us a song 'afore you go?' said an +inconsiderate policeman, meaning to be good-natured. + +'I shall not sing to-day, sir!' said the little girl, decisively; and +then, with a dignity of grief which sat well upon her, despite her +rags, she passed out of the room with her dingy guitar, while the large +man who had accosted her so rudely shrank back, abashed, before the +glance with which the black eyes reproached him to the heart, ere they +vanished in the crowd. + +Here was a chance for me. I happened to be the only reporter present at +the scene--'sensation' was my forte--a 'beat' upon all the other +dailies had come directly to my hand. It was late in the week, and I +was also afforded the chance of cooking the thing up remuneratively for +two or three weekly papers. But the whole thing stood before me like a +picture which it seemed a sacrilege to copy. So I cheated the _Tribune_ +with the rest, and, for the first time in my life, let the opportunity +for a sensation slip my hand. No credit to either heart or head, +however, for a relapse into my chronic state of impecuniosity, on the +following week, caused me to curse a squeamishness whose absence might +have earned a score of dollars. + +But I soon forgot the incidents in the court-room in the manifold and +hum-drum duties of my profession. + +Several months afterward, however, I was passing down Park Row, when my +attention was attracted to a little girl playing a guitar and singing +an Italian song in a plaintive, monotonous air. Her dress and voice +attracted my attention on the instant, and, when I saw her face, I +recognized Angela, the girl of the trial-scene. It was her father whom, +at that very moment, I was going to see hanged. I stood stock-still +with amazement, the coincidence was so startling. + +When she had finished her song, and had garnered up the few coppers +placed in her hand by the careless and uncritical crowd, I stepped up +to her and said: + +'Angela, do you remember me?' + +'Yes, sir,' she replied, her dark face lighting up with a gleam of +recognition. + +'Do you know what day this is?' + +'It is the morning of my father's death--how should I forget it?' + +'You refused to sing on the day of his sentence--can you find heart, +then, to do so in this dreadful hour?' + +The dirty little fingers fluttered nervously over the music-strings--as +the creative hand might do with a human heart of whose destiny there +was a doubt. For an instant a pang of agony wreathed the young face to +the depth of its expressions, but she resumed her sorrowful complacency +immediately. + +'I am singing to my mother across the sea,' she said, quietly. + +"Then, resuming her guitar, she swept out a yet more plaintive air, and +lifted her young, shrill voice in song. The crowd around her did not +increase, the interest was not enhanced, and the chary pennies of +approbation were as few as before. But to me there was a wild, desolate +melancholy in the melody that fell so unheedingly upon the ears of the +crowd. They did not see nor hear what I did. They merely saw a dusky +foreign girl using her voice for a scanty livelihood. I saw a patient, +suffering, religious spirit, singing out its agony to a kindred spirit +beyond the eight hundred leagues of heaving brine (I would wager my +life that the mother heard that song, were she buried in the bosom of +the Appenines); and the deep melancholy of those large, dark eyes, +uplifted so plaintively, the saintly refinement of sorrow that lingered +in the soft, olive face which spoke of far Italy, the 'divine despair' +of the mellow voice, haunted me strangely and unpleasantly as I hurried +away to the scene of death." + + + WHAT BECOMES OF THESE CHILDREN. + +It is very sad to think of the future of these little ones. Without +education, with an early familiarity with want, misery, brutality, and +crime, the little minstrels rarely "come to any good." The girls grow +up to lives of shame, and fortunately die young. The boys become +vagrants, thieves, and often assassins. They soon find their way to the +reformatory establishments and prisons of the city. The police watch +them closely, and never overlook one of their offences. Everybody +condemns them, and no one reflects that they are irresponsible for +their sins. "As the twig is bent the tree is inclined." + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + + THE PRESS. + +The press of New York is a subject which requires more time and space +in its treatment than can be given to it in this volume, and we must +therefore confine ourselves to a brief glance at it. It is divided into +two branches, the secular and religious, and in the former we include +all the political and literary journals of the City. + + + THE MORNING PAPERS. + +The daily journals of New York are the ablest and best conducted in +America, and among the most brilliant in the world. Their power is +immense, and they generally shape and direct the tone of the provincial +journals. They are conducted upon a most excellent system as far as +their internal arrangements are concerned, and the persons employed +upon them are men of ability and experience. As pecuniary investments, +they pay handsomely. The stock is very valuable, and it is impossible +to purchase it at any price, the present owners being unwilling to +sell. Nearly all the principal journals have handsome printing houses +of their own. The new Herald office is one of the most magnificent +edifices in the City, and in its internal arrangement is the most +convenient in the world. + +The morning papers are the _Herald, Tribune, Times, World, Sun, +Democrat, Journal of Commerce, Staats Zeitung_, and _Commercial +Advertiser_. + + + THE HERALD + +The Herald is regarded as the model newspaper of the United States. Its +office is located at the corner of Broadway and Ann Streets, and is +built of white marble, in the modern French style. Below the sidewalk +are two immense cellars, or vaults, one below the other, in which are +two steam engines of thirty-five horse power each. Three immense Hoe +presses are kept running constantly from midnight until seven in the +morning, printing the daily edition. The rooms and machinery are kept +in the most perfect order. Nothing is allowed to be out of place, and +the slightest speck of dirt visible in any part, calls forth a sharp +rebuke from Mr. Bennett, who makes frequent visits to every department +of the paper. + +On the street floor, the main room is the public office of the journal. +Its entrances are on Broadway and Ann street. It is paved with marble +tiles, and the desks, counters, racks, etc., are of solid black walnut, +ornamented with plate glass. Every thing is scrupulously clean, and the +room presents the appearance of some wealthy banking office. + +On the third floor are the editorial rooms. The principal apartment is +the "Council Room," which overlooks Broadway. Every other branch of the +editorial department has its separate room, and all are furnished with +every convenience necessary for doing their work with the utmost +precision and dispatch. + +Each day, at noon, the editors of the _Herald_, twelve in number, +assemble in the "Council Room." Mr. Bennett, if he is in the City, +takes his seat at the head of the table, and the others assume the +places assigned. If Mr. Bennett is not present, his son, James Gordon +Bennett, Jr., presides at the council, and, in the absence of both +father and son, the managing editor takes the head of the table. + +The council is opened by Mr. Bennett, or his representative, who +presents a list of subjects. These are taken up, seriatim, and +discussed by all present. The topics to be presented, in the editorial +columns of the _Herald_ the next day, are determined upon, and each +editor is assigned the subject he is to "write up." All this is +determined in a short while. Then Mr. Bennett asks the gentlemen +present for suggestions. He listens attentively to each one, and +decides quickly whether they shall be presented in the _Herald_, and at +what time; and if he desires any subject to be written upon, he states +his wish, and "sketches," in his peculiar and decisive manner, the +various headings and the style of treatment. + +There are twelve editors and thirty-five reporters employed on the +_Herald_. They are liberally paid for their services. Any one bringing +in news is well rewarded for his trouble. + +The composing rooms are located on the top floor, and are spacious, +airy, and excellently lighted. A "dumb waiter," or vertical railway, +communicates with the press room; and speaking tubes, and a smaller +"railway," afford the means of conversation and transmitting small +parcels between this room and the various parts of the building. Five +hundred men are employed in the various departments of the paper. + + + THE OTHER JOURNALS. + +The _World, Tribune, Times_, and other journals, have fine +establishments of their own, that of the _Times_ ranking next to the +one just described. The advantages of the _Herald_ system are so +manifest that the other City dailies are adopting it as rapidly as +possible. + + + THE EVENING PAPERS. + +The evening papers are a noticeable feature of the great city. They are +the _Evening Post_, the _Evening Mail_, the _Express_, the _Telegram_, +the _News_, and the _Star_. These issue their first editions at one +o'clock in the afternoon, and their latest at five or six o'clock. On +occasions of more than usual interest, extras are issued hourly as late +into the night as eleven or twelve o'clock. The evening papers contain +the latest news, gossip, and a variety of light and entertaining +matter, and are bought chiefly by persons who wish to read them at +home, after the cares and fatigues of the day are over. + + + THE WEEKLIES. + +The weeklies are too numerous to mention. The principal are the _Round +Table_, the _Nation_, the _Ledger_, the _Mercury_, the _New York +Weekly_, the _Sunday Mercury_, the _News_, the _Dispatch_, the +_Leader_, the _Examiner and Chronicle_, the _Courier_, the _Clipper_, +_Wilkes' Spirit_, the _Turf, Field and Farm_, _Harper's Weekly_, _Frank +Leslie's Newspaper_, the _Bazaar_, the _Albion_, the _Citizen_, the +_Irish Citizen_, _Irish American_, etc., etc. All of these journals +display more or less ability, and each one has its specialty. Some are +devoted to politics, some to literature alone, some to sporting +matters, some to police items, and some to general news. + + + THE RELIGIOUS PAPERS. + +The principal religious papers are, the _Observer_, the _Independent_, +the _Protestant Churchman_, the _Church Journal_, the _Methodist_, +etc., etc. They are devoted principally to denominational and sectarian +matters, but too frequently dabble in politics to an extent that +renders them more partisan than laymen care to see religious sheets. + + + PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE. + +Opposite the City Hall, at the junction of Nassau and Spruce streets +and Park Row, is a large open space, known as "Printing House Square," +so called because the offices of the leading journals of the city are +either immediately on this square, or within a couple of blocks of it. +Standing in the Park at this point, one may count the signs of at least +thirty first-class journals of various kinds. + + + A PRESS CURIOSITY. + +One of the curiosities of Printing-House Square is the huge engine +which runs so many presses. This is owned by a firm in Spruce street +between William and Nassau, and occupies the basement of their +building. There is a large one hundred and fifty horse-power engine +which runs during the day, and a seventy-five horse-power which +relieves it at night. From this shafting and belting distribute the +power in every direction. One shaft runs to and across Frankfort +street, supplying THE MAIL and other offices, another crosses William +street and runs the six cylinder presses which pile the three hundred +thousand copies of the _Ledger_ in its beautiful press-room. Another +shaft crosses Spruce street, runs through and across Beekman, and even +supplies presses in Ann street. + +Altogether these engines supply over one hundred and twenty-five +presses--each being estimated and charged so much per horse-power +according to this estimate. It runs three quarters of a mile of main +shafting, beside a mile or more connecting shafts and as much belting. +One of these belts, an india-rubber one, one hundred and twenty feet +long, connects a fifth-story press on Nassau street with the main +shafting on Spruce, across the intervening yards, and another leather +one on Beekman street, one hundred and forty feet long, perfectly +perpendicular, connects the sub-cellar and attic. + +"This engine prints all McLaughlin's toy books, runs the immense +establishments of Bradstreet and J. W. Oliver, besides many other job +printers, a hoop-skirt manufactory and several binderies, and prints +nearly fifty papers, besides magazines and books innumerable; among +them, the '_Mail_,' the '_Independent_,' '_Dispatch_,' '_Leader_,' +'_Star_,' '_Examiner and Chronicle_,' '_Observer_,' '_Courier_,' +'_Clipper_,' '_Wilkes' Spirit_,' '_Turf, Field and Farm_,' '_Police +Gazette_,' '_La Crosse Democrat_,' '_Ledger_,' '_New York Weekly_,' +'_Literary Album_,' '_Sunday Times_,' '_New Yorker Democrat_,' +'_Commonwealth_,' '_Scottish American_,' '_Freeman's Journal_,' +'_Tablet_,' '_Emerald_,' '_Irish American_,' '_Irish People_,' etc., +etc. Truly a power in the world." + +[Illustration: View of Wall Street.] + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + + WALL STREET. + +If you pass down Broadway to the main entrance to Trinity Church, and +then turn abruptly to your left and cross the street, you will find +yourself at the head of Wall street, the great financial centre of +America. It is a narrow street, extending from Broadway to East river, +and lined with handsome brown stone, marble, and granite buildings. +Scarcely a house has less than a score of offices within its walls, and +some have very near three times that number. Space is very valuable in +Wall street, and some of the leading firms in it have to content +themselves with a narrow, small, dark hole, which a conscientious man +would hardly call an office. The rent demanded for these "offices" is +enormous, and the buildings bring their owners princely fortunes every +year. The houses are all covered with signs, the names on which one +will immediately recognize as famous in the financial world. The +streets running into Wall street, for the distance of one or two +blocks, on the right hand and the left, are also occupied with the +offices of bankers and brokers, and are included in the general term, +"Wall street," or "the street." + + + ITS HISTORY. + +Wall street has always been famous in the history of New York. It was +originally used as a sheep pasture. Its natural condition being partly +rolling upland and partly meadow of a swampy character. The name of the +street originated thus: In 1653, the Dutch settlers, being threatened +with an attack by their New England neighbors, resolved to fortify the +town by constructing a wall or stockade across the island just beyond +the northern limits of the settlement. The line selected was drawn +across the old sheep pasture. In the course of a few years, the +anticipated hostilities having passed over, the settlers began to build +houses along the line of the city wall, and the new street, when laid +off, received by common consent the name of "the Wall street," which it +has since borne. The wall, having fallen into decay, was demolished +about the year 1699, and the stones were used in building the first +City Hall, which stood at what is now the corner of Nassau and Wall +streets, the site of the Sub-Treasury of to-day. This building was used +for the various purposes of the city government until the close of the +Revolution. It contained, besides the council and court rooms, a fire +engine room, a jail for the detention and punishment of criminals, and +a debtors' prison, which was located in the attic, a cage, and a +pillory. A pair of stocks were set up on the opposite side of the +street, wherein criminals were exposed to the indignant gaze of a +virtuous public. + +After the close of the Revolution, the building was enlarged and +improved for the use of the Federal Government. The first Congress of +the United States assembled within its walls in the year 1789, and upon +its spacious portico George Washington took the oath to support and +defend the Constitution, as President of the United States. + +The street was originally taken up with private residences, but at +length monetary institutions commenced to find their way into it. The +Bank of New York was located here in 1791, at the corner of William +street. Other institutions, and private bankers, soon followed it, and +the work of improvement went on until the street of to-day is the +result. Famous lawyers have also had their offices in this street. +Alexander Hamilton's sign might once have been seen here, not far from +where his humble monument now stands in Trinity churchyard, and the +name of Caleb Cushing is now to be found just a little below Broadway. + +The street fairly began its present career in the days of Jacob Little, +"the great bear of Wall street." He opened an office here in 1822, and, +in twelve years, by dint of such labor as few men are capable of +performing, placed himself at the head of American operators. His +credit was good for any amount, for his integrity was unimpeachable. He +could sway the market as he pleased, and his contracts were met with a +punctuality and fidelity which made "his word as good as his bond." +Efforts were made to ruin him, but his genius and far-sightedness +enabled him to defeat all his enemies with their own weapons. His gains +were enormous, and so were his losses. He met the latter cheerfully. +The late war, however, brought his reverses so rapidly upon him that he +had not the time to meet one before another stared him in the face. +Still, he was calm and undismayed. He gave up his last dollar without +repining, saying that he would willingly sacrifice even life itself for +the perpetuity of the Union and the Constitution. He died early in the +year 1861, honored by all, and leaving his life an example to those of +us who are left behind him. He was a devout member of the Episcopal +Church, but he extended his charities, which, though quiet, were +unusually large, to all denominations. + + + THE SUB-TREASURY. + +The Sub-Treasury is a handsome white marble building, located at the +corner of Wall and Nassau streets. The Treasury is built in the Doric +style of architecture; and its massive flight of steps and handsome +portico present a striking appearance. It is built in the most +substantial manner, and has an entrance at the rear on Pine street. The +interior is tastefully arranged, and massive iron gratings protect the +employees from surprise and robbery. The vaults are burglar-proof. This +is the principal depository of the Government, and millions of dollars +are always in its vaults. + + + THE CUSTOM HOUSE. + +The Custom House was built for and formerly used as the Merchants' +Exchange. It is situated at the corner of Wall and William streets, and +is a large, handsome, granite edifice. The colonade at the front +entrance and the rotunda are well worth seeing. + + + BANKING HOUSES. + +Just below the Custom House is the handsome marble building of Brown +Brothers, bankers, one of the model houses of New York, as regards both +the firm and the edifice. The Messrs. Brown are regarded as the most +reliable and accomplished operators in the street. Across the way, in a +dingy granite building, is the office of August Belmont & Co., the +American agents of the Rothschilds, and bankers on their own account. +Jay Cooke & Co. occupy the fine marble building at the corner of Wall +and Nassau streets, opposite the Treasury, and there conduct the New +York branch of their enormous business. Fisk & Hatch, the financial +agents of the great Pacific Railway, are a few steps higher up Nassau +street. Henry Clews & Co. are in the building occupied by the United +States Assay Office. Other firms, of more or less eminence, fill the +street. Some have fine, showy offices, others operate in dark, dingy +holes. + + + THE STOCK EXCHANGE. + +The Stock Exchange is located on Broad street, to the south of Wall +street. It is a fine white marble edifice, extending back to New +street, which is also taken up with brokers' offices. There is an +entrance on Wall street, but the main building is on Broad street. It +contains the "Long Room," the "The New York Stock Exchange," the +"Mining Board," the now obsolete "Petroleum Board," and the "Government +Board." All sorts of stocks are bought and sold in this building. +"Erie" and "Pacific Mail" are the most attractive to the initiated, and +the most disastrous as well. + +The Chamber of the Board of Stock Brokers is a large, handsomely +furnished apartment, somewhat like a lecture room in appearance. Each +broker has a seat assigned to him. Outsiders are not admitted to the +sessions of the board, but any one may communicate with a member by +handing his card to the doorkeeper, who will at once call out the +gentleman. The sessions of the Board are presided over by a President, +but the work is done by a Vice-President, who from ten o'clock until +one, calls over the list of stocks, and declares the sales. Each day a +list of stocks to be put in the market is made out, and no others can +be sold during the sessions. The Board has the right to refuse to offer +any stocks for sale, and a guarantee is required of the party making +the sale. The members of the Board are men of character, and their +transactions are fair and open. They are required to fulfil all +contracts in good faith, however great the loss to themselves, on pain +of expulsion from the Board, and an expelled member cannot be +reinstated. The entrance fee is three thousand dollars. Persons wishing +to become members are required to make their applications at certain +times. This is publicly announced, and if any one can bring and sustain +an accusation affecting the integrity of the applicant, he is not +admitted. + +Ordinarily the sale of the stocks offered, proceeds in a monotonous, +humdrum manner, but when "Erie," or "Pacific Mail," or any other +favorite stock is called, each man springs to his feet. Bids come fast +and furious, hands, arms, hats, and canes are waved frantically +overhead to attract the attention of the presiding officer. The most +intense excitement prevails throughout the room, and the shouts and +cries are deafening. Sales are made with the utmost rapidity, and the +excitement is kept up at the highest point as long as any thing of +interest is offered. If a sale is contested, the president names the +purchaser, and his decision is final, unless revoked by an +instantaneous vote of the Board. + + + THE OPEN BOARD. + +The Open Board of Stock Brokers meet in the second story of a handsome +brown stone building adjoining the Stock Exchange. Their sessions are +from ten until one. The business of the Board is similar to that of the +Stock Exchange, and is dispatched with as much precision, quickness, +and clamor. + + + THE GOLD ROOM. + +Descending from Broad street to the basement of the building used by +the "Open Board," we find ourselves in a long, dimly lighted passage- +way, which leads us into a small courtyard. As we emerge into this +yard, we hear a confused hum above our heads, which grows louder as we +ascend the steep stairway before us. Passing through a narrow, dirty +entry, we open a side door, and our ears fairly ache with the yells and +shrieks with which we are startled. For a moment we think we are about +to enter a company of lunatics, but we pass on reassured, and the next +instant stand in the Gold Room. + +This is a handsome apartment, in the style of an amphitheatre, with a +fountain in the centre. A gallery runs around the upper part, and +several telegraph offices are connected with the room. There are but +few benches. The members of the Board are always too much excited to +sit, and seats are only in the way. Though the main entrance is on +Broadway, the Gold Room really fronts on New street. During the +sessions of the Board, it is filled with an excited, yelling crowd, +rushing about wildly, and, to a stranger, without any apparent aim. The +men stamp, yell, shake their arms, heads, and bodies violently, and +almost trample each other to death in the violent struggle. Men, who in +private life excite the admiration of their friends and acquaintances +by the repose and dignity of their manner, here lose their self- +possession entirely, and are more like maniacs than sensible beings. + +Few members of either the Stock or Gold Boards operate for themselves. +They generally buy and sell for outside parties, from whom they require +a guarantee at the outset, and charge a fair commission on the sale for +their services. Members have confidence in each other, for they know +that no one can afford to be dishonest. Expulsion and financial ruin +and disgrace are the swift and inflexible punishments of bad faith. + +There are many persons, whose transactions in the stock and gold +markets amount to millions of dollars each year, who cannot enter these +boards as members. They are regarded as unsafe, and their petitions are +invariably rejected. They usually operate through regular members. + + + CURBSTONE BROKERS. + +Any one who can pay one hundred dollars a year for the privilege, is +allowed to operate in the "Long Room," as the lower floor of the Stock +Exchange is called. His capital may be one, one hundred, or one +thousand dollars, but if he pays his dues regularly, no one is allowed +to molest him. No rules or regulations bind these operators. The honest +man and the rogue mingle freely together. Persons dealing with them +have no guarantee of their good faith, and must look out for rough +treatment at their hands. They overflow the hall, crowd the steps and +sidewalks, and extend out into the street. From this circumstance they +are termed "curbstone brokers," a name which will probably cling to +them. A few of these operators are men of integrity, who being unable +to enter the regular boards, are compelled to conduct their business in +this way. They have regular places of business in some of the +neighboring streets, and are as fair and upright in their dealings as +any member of either of the boards; but the great majority are simply +sharpers, men who will not meet their losses, and who will fleece any +one, who falls into their hands, out of his last cent. + + + STOCK GAMBLING. + +It has been remarked that the men who do business in Wall street have a +prematurely old look, and that they die at a comparatively early age. +This is not strange. They live too fast. Their bodies and minds are +taxed too severely to last long. They pass their days in a state of +great excitement. Every little fluctuation of the market elates or +depresses them to a fearful extent, even though they may not be +conscious of it at the time. At night they are either planning the next +day's campaign, or hard at work at the hotels. + +[Illustration: United States Sub-Treasury.] + +On Sunday their minds are still on their business, and some are to be +seen hard at work in their offices, where they think they are safe from +observation. Body and mind are worked too hard, and are given no rest. + +The chief cause of all this intense excitement, is the uncertainty +which attends such operations. No man can tell one week whether he will +be a beggar or a millionaire the next, the chances being decidedly in +favor of the former. Nine out of ten who speculate in stocks or gold, +lose. Like all gamblers, they are undismayed by their first reverse, +and venture a second time. They lose again, and to make their loss good +venture a third time, risking in the end their last dollar. The +fascination of stock gambling is equal to that of the card table, and +holds its victims with an iron hand. The only safe rule for those who +wish to grow rich, is to keep out of Wall street. While one man makes a +fortune by a sudden rise in stocks or gold, one thousand are ruined. +Even the soundest and best established firms fall with a crash under +these sudden reverses. The safest are those who buy and sell on +commission. If the profits go to other parties, in such cases, the +losses fall upon outsiders also, so that under all circumstances a +legitimate commission business is the safest, as well as the most +profitable in the end. This is proved by the fact that there are very +few old firms in "the street." Houses supposed to be well established +are failing every day, and new ones springing up to take their places. +Nothing is certain in Wall street, and we repeat it, it is best to +avoid it. Invest your money in something more stable than speculations +in stocks. + + + A KEEN GAME. + +Some years ago, the famous Jacob Little resolved to bring down the +market value of Erie stock, which was then selling readily at par. He +contracted with certain parties to deliver to them an unusually large +amount of this stock on a certain day. A combination was immediately +formed in the street to ruin him. The parties concerned in this league +took his contracts as fast as they were offered, and bought up all the +stock in the market. In doing this, they firmly believed they were +placing all this paper to be had out of the reach of Mr. Little, who +would be ruined by being unable to deliver the stock at the time, and +in the quantities agreed upon. His friends shook their heads ominously, +and declared that his enemies had been "one too many" for him this +time; but the "Great Bear," as he was called, kept his own counsel. +When the day for the delivery of the stock arrived, his enemies were +jubilant, and all Wall street was in a fever of excitement; but he was +as calm and as smiling as ever. Repairing to the office of the Erie +Railway Company he laid before the astonished officers of the road a +number of certificates of indebtedness. The faith of the Company was +pledged to redeem these certificates with stock, upon presentation. Mr. +Little demanded a compliance with this contract. The Company could not +refuse him, and the stock was issued to him. With it he met his +contracts promptly. The result was fearful to his enemies. This sudden +and unexpected issue of new stock brought "Erie" down with a rush, and +the sharp witted operators who had bought either at par or at a +premium, solely to ruin their great rival, were ruined themselves, +almost to a man. + + + A "DEAR" SALE. + +But a short while ago, a house in Wall Street, which had ventured too +far in its speculations, failed. It settled its liabilities honestly, +but had not a penny left. One of the partners had used U.S. bonds to +the amount of fifteen thousand dollars, belonging to a relative, and +these had been swept away. Whether for the purpose of replacing this +amount, or for his own benefit, the broker resolved to get possession +of a similar amount in bonds at once. The failure of his house had not +become generally known, and he determined to lose no time in his +operations. + +Proceeding to the office of a well known house, one morning just as +business hours opened, he asked for fifteen thousand dollars worth of +Government bonds, and offered the cheque of his firm in payment for +them. Being well and favorably known to the parties, his request (which +was based upon the falsehood that he wished the bonds to fill an order +for a countryman who was in a hurry to leave town, and that he had not +the amount in his own safe), was complied with. The bonds were +delivered to him, and his cheque taken in payment. He at once departed, +and the banker, feeling no uneasiness at the transaction, did not send +the cheque to bank at once. Several hours passed away, and he heard +rumors of the failure of the house to which he had sold the bonds. The +cheque was at once sent to the bank; payment was refused, on the ground +that the house had failed, and had no funds in the bank. The fraud was +plain now, and the banker, repairing to the office of the unfortunate +firm, was informed by the partner of his friend that the transaction +was a swindle. The detectives were at once set on the track of the +swindler, who had made his escape immediately after getting possession +of the bonds. + + + HOW FORTUNES ARE MADE AND LOST. + +Fortunes are made quicker and lost more easily in New York than in any +other place in the world. A sudden rise in stock, or a lucky +speculation in some other venture, often places a comparatively poor +man in possession of great wealth. Watch the carriages as they whirl +through Fifth Avenue, going and returning from the Park. They are as +elegant and sumptuous as wealth can make them. The owners, lying back +amongst the soft cushions, are clad in the height of fashion. By their +dresses they might be princes and princesses. This much is due to art. +Now mark the coarse, rough features, the ill-bred stare, the haughty +rudeness which they endeavor to palm off for dignity. Do you see any +difference between them and the footman in livery on the carriage-box? +Both master and man belong to the same class--only one is wealthy and +the other is not. But that footman may take the place of the master in +a couple of years, or in less time. Such changes may seem remarkable, +but they are very common in New York. + +See that gentleman driving that splendid pair of sorrels. He is a fine +specimen of mere animal beauty. How well he drives. The ease and +carelessness with which he manages his splendid steeds, excites the +admiration of every one on the road. He is used to it. Five years ago +he was the driver of a public hack. He amassed a small sum of money, +and being naturally a sharp, shrewd man, went into Wall street, and +joined the "Curbstone Brokers." His transactions were not always open +to a rigid scrutiny, but they were profitable to him. He invested in +oil stocks, and with his usual good luck made a fortune. Now he +operates through his broker. His transactions are heavy, his +speculations bold and daring, but he is usually successful. He lives in +great splendor in one of the finest mansions in the city, and his +carriages and horses are superb. His wife and daughters are completely +carried away by their good fortune, and look with disdain upon all who +are not their equals or superiors in wealth. They are vulgar and ill +bred, but they are wealthy, and society worships them. There will come +a change some day. The husband and father will venture once too often +in his speculations, and his magnificent fortune will go with a crash, +and the family will return to their former state, or perhaps sink +lower, for there are very few men who have the moral courage to try to +rise again after such a fall, and this man is not one of them. + +In watching the crowd on Broadway, one will frequently see, in some +shabbily dressed individual, who, with his hat drawn down close over +his eyes, is evidently shrinking from the possibility of being +recognized, the man who but a few weeks ago was one of the wealthiest +in the city. Then he was surrounded with splendor. Now he hardly knows +where to get bread for his family. Then he lived in an elegant mansion. +Now one or two rooms on the upper floor of some tenement house +constitute his habitation. He shrinks from meeting his old friends, +well knowing that not one of them will recognize him, except to insult +him with a scornful stare. Families are constantly disappearing from +the social circles in which they have shone for a greater or less time. +They vanish almost in an instant, and are never seen again. You may +meet them at some brilliant ball in the evening. Pass their residence +the next day, and you will see a bill announcing the early sale of the +mansion and furniture. The worldly effects of the family are all in the +hands of the creditors of the "head," and the family themselves are +either in a more modest home in the country, or in a tenement house. +You can scarcely walk twenty blocks on Fifth Avenue, without seeing one +of these bills, telling its mournful story of fallen greatness. + +The best and safest way to be rich in New York, as elsewhere, is for a +man to confine himself to his legitimate business. Few men acquire +wealth suddenly. Ninety-nine fail where one succeeds. The bane of New +York commercial life, however, is that people have not the patience to +wait for fortune. Every one wants to be rich in a hurry, and as no +regular business will accomplish this, here or elsewhere, speculation +is resorted to. The sharpers and tricksters who infest Wall Street, +know this weakness of New York merchants. They take the pains to inform +themselves as to the character, means, and credulity of merchants, and +then use every art to draw them into speculations, in which the tempter +is enriched and the tempted ruined. In nine cases out of ten a merchant +is utterly ignorant of the nature of the speculation he engages in. He +is not capable of forming a reasonable opinion as to its propriety, or +chance of success, because the whole transaction is so rapid that he +has no chance to study it. He leaves a business in which he has +acquired valuable knowledge and experience, and trusts himself to the +mercy of a man he knows little or nothing of, and undertakes an +operation that he does not know how to manage. Dabbling in speculations +unfits men for their regular pursuits. They come to like the excitement +of such ventures, and rush on madly in their mistaken course, hoping to +make up their losses by one lucky speculation, and at length utter ruin +rouses them from their dreams. + +Although New York is the chief business centre of the country, fortunes +are made here slowly and steadily. Great wealth is the accumulation of +years. Such wealth brings with it honor and prosperity. One who attains +it honestly, has fairly won the proud title of "merchant;" but few are +willing to pursue the long life of toil necessary to attain it. They +make fifty thousand dollars legitimately, and then the insane desire +seizes them to double this amount in a day. Nine lose every thing where +one makes his fortune. + +The reason is plain. The speculation in stocks is controlled by men +without principle, whose only object is to enrich themselves at the +expense of their victims. The _Herald_ recently presented the following +picture of the transactions in the stock market: + +Within the past few days we have seen the most gigantic swindling +operations carried on in Wall street that have as yet disgraced our +financial centre. A great railway--one of the two that connect the West +with the Atlantic seaboard, has been tossed about like a football, its +real stockholders have seen their property abused by men to whom they +have entrusted its interests, and who, in the betrayal of that trust, +have committed crimes which in parallel cases on a smaller scale would +have deservedly sent them to Sing Sing. If these parties go unwhipped +of justice, then are we doing injustice in confining criminals in our +State prisons for smaller crimes. + +To such a disgusting degree of depravity do we see those stock +operations carried that members of the Church of high standing offer, +when 'cornered,' to betray their brother 'pals,' and, in their +forgetfulness of the morality to which they sanctimoniously listen +every Sunday, state that 'all they care about is to look out for number +one.' A manager of a great corporation is requested to issue bonds of +his company without authority, offering 'to buy the bonds if you are +caught, or buy the bonds with the understanding not to pay for them +unless you are caught.' This attempted fiscal operation, however, did +not work, and resulted in a good proof of the old adage that it +requires 'a rogue to catch a rogue.' + +A railroad treasurer boldly states that he has without authority over- +issued stock of the company to a large amount. He offers it to a broker +for sale, with the understanding that all received over a fixed value +is to go into his (the treasurer's) pocket. From the fact that this man +is not arrested for mal-administration of the company's property we +judge this to be a legitimate operation, and that this may hereafter +serve as a model or standard of morals to all presidents, directors, +treasurers and managers of railway and other great corporations. It is +evident that the world has made a great mistake on the question of +morals, and that as we progress in civilization with our modern Wall +street system of ethics we shall be able to have a new and more exact +translation of the Bible--Wall street edition--for the benefit of stock +gamblers and stock thieves of all descriptions. Upon the great banking +house facing Wall street we will have in letters of gold upon a green +back-ground the following commandments: + +1. Steal largely or not all; for is it not preached in Gotham that he +who steals largely and gives donations to the Church shall enter the +kingdom of heaven, while to him who confines his stealings to modest +peculations shall be opened the doors of Sing Sing? + +2. Steal largely! for in proportion to the magnitude of thy stealings +shalt thou prosper and wax respectable throughout Gotham. + +3. Steal largely! for as ye steal so shall ye show your fitness for the +high places in the land; so shall ye be invited to exercise your +talents in the numerous positions of trust and profit thereby; so shall +ye add honor and glory to the government of your fathers, and your days +shall be long in the land. + +4. Steal largely! for by thy stealings shalt thou create a new +morality; and so shalt thou build up a great people who shall prosper +beyond all other nations. + +This is the new code we offer--a code taught to us by the times and by +the facts that assail us. When we see an 'honest' Judge 'Iago' rise +from his bed at midnight to pander to the contemptible rascality of +stock thieves we have but little hope for even what we dignify by the +name of law. When we see our churches allowing a host of gamblers to +gather for false worship at their shrines and pander to them, that they +may share their plunder for the 'benefit of the Lord,' we have still +less hope in our future. When we see great criminals respected and +lesser criminals imprisoned we believe that the American mind is sadly +out of a proper moral pathway. + +"The operations now carried on in Wall street, be they of any stock, or +of gold, call for the interference of some power sufficient to crush +them. If the City or the State is powerless, let the general government +take the matter in hand for the general good. Take gold, for example. +There are not over two millions of the solid coin used as a basis for +the operations which in a single month represent a sum twice the amount +of our national debt. The harpies who gather around the Gold Rooms in +their mad shoutings are at the same time shouting 'Death to the +republic!' They unsettle all values, and are, as a mass, a public +calamity, and should be dealt with as such. As with gold, so with +stocks, and no nation can long afford to let its future hang upon the +will of a mass of unprincipled men who daily bleed its prosperity +beyond all calculation." + +These things are well known in New York, but no one heeds them. Each +one thinks he is shrewd enough to avoid the dangers which have ruined +others, and only discovers his mistake when it is too late to repair +it. Men of all classes, even ministers of the Gospel, and frequently +women, rush into Wall street in pursuit of sudden wealth, where, to use +an old adage, "if they are not gored to death by the Bulls, they are +sure to be devoured by the Bears." + +Persons who wish to succeed in New York, or elsewhere, should shun +speculation. Legitimate business offers brilliant rewards here, but +speculation means ruin. If you wish this assertion enforced, go into +Stewart's or Claflin's stores, and see how many salesmen on small +salaries you will find there who were once wealthy merchants doing +business on their own account. They succeeded in their legitimate +pursuits, but were not satisfied with their success. They wanted more, +commenced speculating, and lost every thing. Men to succeed here must +be energetic, cautious, enterprising, and economical. + + + BOGUS STOCK COMPANIES. + +On fine afternoons visitors to the Park do not fail to notice a +handsome equipage driven by a stylish young man, with rosy cheeks and +light curly hair. His face is the perfect picture of happy innocence. +He is very wealthy, and owns a great deal of real estate in the city. +The manner in which he made his money will show how other persons +enrich themselves. + +A few years ago he, in company with several others, organized a scheme +for working certain gold mines said to be located in a distant +territory. A company was made up, the country was flooded with flaming +descriptions of the valuable mine, and stock was issued which sold +readily. The bonds were soon taken up, and in a month or two the so- +called company commenced paying handsome dividends. A number of gold +bars, bearing the stamp of the mint, were on exhibition in the +company's office, and were triumphantly exhibited as amongst the first +yields of the valuable mine. For several months the dividends were paid +regularly, and the company's stock rose to a splendid premium. It could +hardly be bought at any price. No one doubted for an instant the +genuineness of the affair, and the lucky company was the envy of all +Wall street. + +In a few months, all the stock being disposed of, the company ceased +paying dividends. This excited the suspicion of some of the shrewdest +holders of the stock, and the affair was investigated. It was found +that the wonderful mine had no real existence. The gold bars were +simply gold coins melted into that form at the Mint, and stamped by the +Government as so much bullion. The dividends had been paid out of money +advanced by the company, who were simply half a dozen unprincipled +sharpers. The stockholders were ruined, but the company made a profit +of a clear half million of dollars out of the infamous transaction. +Legal proceedings are expensive and tedious when instituted against +such parties, and the stockholders, rather than increase their losses +by the outlay necessary for a lawsuit, suffered the swindlers to go +unmolested. + +A certain stockbroker, anxious to increase his wealth, purchased twenty +acres of land a few years ago in one of the Western States, and +commenced boring for oil. After a few weeks spent in this work, he +discovered to his dismay that there was not the slightest trace of oil +on his land. He kept his own counsel, however, and paid the workmen to +hold their tongues. About the same time it became rumored throughout +New York that he had struck oil. He at once organized a company, and +had a committee appointed to go West and examine the well. In a few +weeks the committee returned in high glee, and reported that the well +contained oil of the very best quality, and only needed capital and +improved machinery to develop its capacity. In support of this +assertion they brought home numerous bottles containing specimens of +the oil. This report settled the matter in Wall street, and the stock +issued by the company was all sold at a handsome premium. When the +sales ceased, it was rumored that the well had ceased flowing. This was +true. There was no oil anywhere on the land. That in the well had been +bought in Pennsylvania and poured into the well by the agents of the +owner, and the examining committee had been paid large sums for their +favorable report. The owner of the well was enriched, as were his +confederates of the bogus company, and the holders of the stock were +swindled, many of them being ruined. + + + A PETROLEUM PRINCE. + +We take the following from a work recently published in Paris. It +contains the observations of an intelligent French gentleman during a +residence in New York: + +An Irishman, thirty years ago, arrived in Philadelphia. He was a mason +by trade, industrious and sober, which is not often the case with +natives of the Emerald Isle. He managed to save a few hundred dollars, +and then married. + +He had enjoyed the blessings of matrimony over ten years, when, on +going to his work, early one morning, he found, a short distance from +his house, a basket covered with a linen cloth. He carried it home, +opened it, and a handsome baby appeared before his view. To the child's +clothes was pinned a paper bearing a few lines, asking, in the name of +the Almighty, the person into whose hands the basket might fall, to +take charge of the new-born infant, for the sake of a poor fellow- +creature. The Irishman and his wife, not having any children, at once +adopted the little one, regarding it as a gift sent by Providence. A +few years later, the Irishman, who had by his savings amassed quite a +handsome sum of money, purchased a small farm in a thinly settled +county of Pennsylvania, and there lived quietly and contentedly, until, +one day, in cutting down a tree, it fell upon him, and he was crushed +to death beneath its weight. After this sad occurrence, his widow, with +the help of the adopted child, carried on the business of the farm, +often regretting she could not give the boy an education; but they were +so far from any school, she could not think of sending her son such a +distance from home. + +One day a rumor circulated throughout Pennsylvania that, by boring into +the earth to a moderate depth, in some parts of the State, oil was +found to spring forth. Startling as this rumor was, many persons were +forced to believe it, when they saw, with their own eyes, a black +liquid, giving a bright light, issuing from certain holes bored for +experiment. After this, all persons began experimenting on their own +property. The Irish widow imitated her neighbors, and with the help of +her adopted son, bored a hole in her garden. After a few day's work, +they struck oil--a flowing well rewarded their enterprise! + +Meanwhile speculators, wild with the excitement of this discovery, +besieged Pennsylvania, and that State soon swarmed with them. The +desire to possess a portion of those marvellous lands took possession +of every mind. Throughout the States every one was affected with the +new disease, denominated 'oil on the brain;' and soon the value of the +oleaginous districts went up to wonderful figures. In many instances, +as much as fifty thousand dollars were paid for an acre of land. And, +availing herself of the general infatuation, the Irish widow sold her +farm, for two millions of dollars, to a Boston company, which thought +it was very cheap to give not quite seven thousand dollars per acre for +petroleum land. The three hundred acres of the widow's farm had cost +three hundred dollars a few years before, that is to say, one dollar an +acre! Besides the two millions of dollars, the Irish widow had +stipulated that one half of the flowing well in her garden should +belong to her. That well yielded from five to six hundred barrels of +oil per day. You may be sure the old lady doted on it. She visited it a +hundred times a day, always surveying it with amazement, and +ascertaining whether it was as productive as ever. Even at night she +left her bed to go and view the marvellous spring. During one of these +nocturnal excursions, she imprudently drew too near the well with a +light--the spring fired up with lightning-like rapidity, and the poor +woman, becoming wrapped in the flames, was burned to death. The coroner +was summoned to hold an inquest. When it was over, the widow's +neighbors, desiring to ascertain whether she had sold her farm for as +large an amount as was rumored, prevailed upon the coroner to open her +safe. It contained two hundred thousand dollars in gold, which, no +doubt, represented the widow's profits for her reserved rights in the +well; and also bonds of the United States to the amount of two millions +of dollars, the said bonds registered in the name of Peter Crazy, the +widow's adopted son, and only heir and legatee, according to her will, +that was also found in the strong-box. + +Now, the young man, whose large stakes a few minutes ago caused such a +sensation, is the same Peter Crazy, the widow's adopted son; and he +came here to-night to complete his ruin. But I must now relate what +became of him after becoming possessed of a princely fortune. + +At the time he came into possession of this fortune, Crazy did not know +the difference between one thousand and one hundred thousand dollars. +He could hardly write his name; and, unfortunately, he had nobody to +warn him against the dangers that beset the youth of this world, and to +make of him, instead of a spendthrift, a man useful to society. + +Suppose a philanthropist, a good-hearted, high-minded man, should +suddenly come into possession of two millions of dollars, what a +benefactor he might prove to his fellow-creatures! What useful and +benevolent institutions he might found! What improvement might every +branch of human labor receive if he chose to apply to it a portion of +his wealth. + +As soon as it became known that Crazy had inherited a large fortune, +many adventurers, with whom the new Eldorado swarmed, pounced upon him +like birds of prey upon a carcass; and then commenced for Crazy a life +of prodigality and vice, the end of which is near at hand. + +In Philadelphia, he stopped with his cronies at one of the most elegant +and spacious hotels of the city, stipulating for the exclusive use of +it during their stay. He bought fine horses, carriages of the most +approved pattern, and furnished a _maison de joie_, where he reveled +every night. Many Philadelphians will long remember his daily freaks of +extravagance. I will relate one as a sample of the others. One day, as +a regiment stopped in the city on its way to the West, he presented it +with one thousand baskets of champagne--one basket to each man--a piece +of liberality that cost him twenty-five thousand dollars. After +spending half a million dollars in the Quaker City, he came to New York +in search of new excitements. + +Here he met with persons who aroused a new feeling in his mind--that of +pride. Those capitalists and speculators who drive their fancy teams in +Central Park, who keep racehorses, who do their best to resuscitate the +fine old times of France under the Regency, were not, he was told, as +wealthy as himself. He was bound to live in style, lest he should be +taken for a shoddy contractor, who does not know how to spend his +money. Crazy, therefore, imitated the leaders of fashion--but in the +same way European wood-cutters are imitated by Australasian savages, +who, when they cut down a tree, wait for its fall until they are +crushed by its weight. He kept as many as forty horses; bet heavily at +the races, and lost every time; and hired a theatrical troupe, whom he +provided with costly costumes, and who played only for himself and a +few friends. One night he was so delighted with the saltatory skill and +_pirouettes_ of the dancing-girls of his troupe, that he presented each +of them, with a gracefulness of manner that Buckingham himself would +have envied, pearls and diamonds worth over one hundred thousand +dollars. In short, for a year, he indulged in all conceivable +dissipations. But Providence has in store for him one of those +visitations that, from time to time, startle and instruct the world. + +"Crazy believes his main income can never be impaired. Besides the one +hundred thousand dollars he has in his pocket--the last of the money +found in the Irish widow's strong-box--he fancies he possesses +inexhaustible means in the oil well. On returning, he will learn that +that source of wealth is dried up, and his only fortune consists of the +fifty-two coats he has purchased inside of the past month." + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + + BUSINESS IN NEW YORK. + +The legitimate business of New York is greater than that of any other +place in America. The city being the chief centre of our commerce, +offers the greatest advantages of any in the land to persons engaged in +trade. Merchants at a distance buy whatever they can here, because they +like to visit the place, and can thus unite business with pleasure. Two +or three millions of strangers annually visit New York, and while here +expend large amounts in purchases. People in other parts of the country +attach an additional value to an article because it was purchased in +the great city. Besides this, one is apt to find the best article in +the market here, as it is but natural that the chief centre of wealth +should draw to it the best talent in the arts and trades. + +Merchants from the provinces like the liberal and enterprising spirit +which characterizes the dealings of New York merchants. They can buy +here on better terms than elsewhere, and their relations with the +merchants of this city are generally satisfactory and pleasant. + +Every thing in New York gives way to business. Private neighborhoods +disappear every year, and long lines of magnificent warehouses take the +places of the comfortable old mansions of other days. There is now +scarcely a respectable neighborhood for residences below Fourth street. +The business of the community is steadily advancing up the island. The +lower part of the city is being taken up with wholesale and commission +houses and manufacturers. The retail men are constantly going up +higher. Broadway now has scarcely a residence along its entire length; +Washington Square, Waverley and Clinton Places, and even Fifth Avenue +below Twenty-third street, are being rapidly invaded by business +houses. + +Enterprise, energy, and talent, distinguish the business of this city. +A man capable of acquiring a fortune can acquire it here more readily +than elsewhere, but he must have patience. The world was not made in a +day, and fortune comes slowly, but it comes surely to the man who will +work faithfully and patiently for it. + + + EXAMPLES. + +The Harpers and Appletons, who stand at the head of the book trade in +New York, began as poor boys, and worked their way up to fortune slowly +and patiently. Cornelius Vanderbilt was a poor boatman. Daniel Drew was +a drover. A. T. Stewart an humble, struggling shop-keeper. One of the +most noted bank presidents of the city began by blacking a pair of +boots. He did his work well. These are noted instances, but there are +thousands of merchants in the city doing comfortable businesses, some +of whom will be millionaires, who began poor and friendless. They have +worked faithfully and patiently, and their lives are examples to all +beginners. + + + REAL ESTATE OPERATIONS. + +Many capitalists have made their fortunes by successful operations in +real estate. This must not be classed with speculations in bonds or +stocks. Of course, one may be cheated in buying real estate, as well as +in any other purchase; but as a general rule, he who invests his money +in houses or lands, gets the full value of it. The rapid growth of the +city has increased the value of property in the upper sections at an +amazing rate, and has made the fortune of every one who held land in +those sections. The Astors, A. T. Stewart, Claflin, Vanderbilt, Drew, +and hundreds of others who were wise enough to foresee and believe in +the future of New York, have made handsome fortunes on the investments +made by them a few years ago. + +In 1860 a gentleman purchased a handsome house in a fashionable +neighborhood. It was a corner house, and fronted on Fifth Avenue. He +paid fifty thousand dollars for it. He spent twenty-five thousand more +in furnishing and fitting up. His friends shook their heads at his +extravagance. Since then he has resided in the house, and each year his +property has increased in value. A few months ago he was offered nearly +three hundred thousand dollars for the house and furniture, and refused +it, declaring his belief, that in ten years more the property will be +worth over half a million. + +A farm near the Central Park that could not find a purchaser seven +years ago at a few thousands, sold six months since, in building lots, +for as many millions. + +We might multiply these instances, but the above are sufficient to +illustrate this branch of our subject. + +Rented property pays handsomely. As much as twenty per cent. on the +value, is often received as the rent of a dwelling, and some of the +best Broadway stores bring their owners one or two hundred thousand +dollars annually. As all rents are paid in advance, and security +required for the larger ones, the owner is comparatively safe in his +investment. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + + FASHIONABLE SHOPPING. + +The fashionable shopping points are along Broadway, from Canal street +to Twenty-third street, and in some of the cross streets between these +thoroughfares. The principal are Stewart's, Lord & Taylor's, and Arnold +& Constable's. + + + STEWART'S. + +The up-town or retail store of A. T. Stewart & Co., is located on +Broadway, between Ninth and Tenth streets. It extends back to Fourth +Avenue, and covers the entire block, with the exception of the corner +of Broadway and Ninth street, which is occupied by the famous picture +dealers, Groupil & Co. This break in the building of Mr. Stewart, gives +the whole edifice, as seen from Broadway, an awkward appearance. It is +said that the great merchant is anxious to buy the corner, but will not +pay the price asked, as he regards it as extortionate. The building is +a handsome iron structure, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and is +painted white, which causes some persons to call it a "marble palace." +It contains in its various departments everything pertaining to the dry +goods trade. It has also a department for ready-made clothing for +women and children, and persons can here purchase at a moment's warning +a complete outfit in any style their means will allow. The articles +range from simplicity to magnificence in style and quality. + +The rooms are always full of purchasers. The city trade proper is +immense, and the majority of the strangers coming to the city do their +shopping here. + +[Illustration: A. T. Stewart's Wholesale Store.] + +No one cares to come to New York without seeing Stewart's, and all go +away satisfied that the immense establishment is one of the sights of +the metropolis. + + + LORD & TAYLOR'S. + +The store of this well-known firm is located at the corner of Broadway +and Grand streets. It is one of the most beautiful in the city, is +built of white marble, and is handsomely ornamented. Its ample windows +contain the finest display of goods to be seen in America. The +interior, though not so large as Stewart's, is quite as handsome, and +the various departments are managed with as much skill and system. The +ready-made department is a feature worth examining. The establishment +has not so large a trade as Stewart's, but rivals it in the excellence +of its goods, and in the taste displayed in selecting them. Many +persons prefer this store to any in the city. + + + ARNOLD & CONSTABLE'S. + +Arnold & Constable are now located at the corner of Canal and Mercer +streets, but will soon move into their elegant marble store, now in +process of erection at the corner of Broadway and Nineteenth street. +This is one of the favorite houses of New York. Its trade is large and +fashionable, and it divides the honors of the city with those already +mentioned. + + + INTERIOR OF A FIRST-CLASS STORE. + +A stranger, in entering a first-class dry goods store in this city, is +at once struck with the order and system which prevail throughout the +establishment. The door is opened for him by a small boy in entering +and departing. As he enters, he is politely accosted by a gentleman, +who inquires what he wishes to purchase. Upon stating his business, he +is shown to the department where the article he is in search of is to +be found, and the eye of his conductor is never off of him until he is +safe under the observation of the clerk from whom he makes his +purchase. This is necessary to guard against robbery. So many small +articles lie exposed in the store that a thief might easily make off +with something of value but for this watchfulness. Private detectives +are employed by the principal houses, and as soon as a professional +shop-lifter enters, he or she is warned off the premises by the +detective, whose experience enables him to recognize such persons at a +glance. A refusal to take this warning is followed by a summary arrest. + +In paying for his goods, the purchaser notices that the salesman makes +a memorandum of the articles and sends it with the money to the cashier +by a small boy. If any change is due the purchaser, the boy brings it +back. The articles are also taken at the same time and are examined and +remeasured to see that the sale is correct. The purchase is then either +delivered to the buyer or sent to his residence, as he may desire. + +The boys to which we have referred are called "cash boys," and are now +a necessity in any well regulated establishment. Stewart employs nearly +three hundred of these boys in his upper store, and one hundred in his +lower store. Good, steady cash boys are in demand. Intelligence is at a +premium in this department. Let a boy take a proper recommendation from +his public school, or Sunday school teacher, and if he is intelligent, +healthy, and cleanly, he will be at once taken on trial. He starts out +with a salary of $3 per week. If he shows capacity he is promoted as +rapidly as possible. The highest salary paid is $8 per week, but he may +rise to be a salesman if he will work steadily and intelligently. These +boys generally have a lively and bright look. They act as cash boys, +carry parcels out to customers, attend the doors, and do sundry other +useful acts. They are strictly watched, and any improper conduct is +punished with an instantaneous dismissal. They generally belong to +respectable families, and live at home with their parents. Many of them +attend the night schools after business hours, and thus prepare for the +great life struggle which is before them. Such boys are apt to do well +in the world. Many however, after being released from the stores, +imitate the ways of the clerks and salesmen. They affect a fastness +which is painful to see in boys so young. They sport an abundance of +flashy jewelry, patronize the cheap places of amusement, and are seen +in the low concert saloons, and other vile dens of the city. It is not +difficult to predict the future of these boys. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + + IMPOSTORS. + +New York is the paradise of impostors. They thrive here. They practice +all manner of tricks upon the unwary, and are off before one can lay +hands on them. Sometimes they are caught, tried, and sentenced to the +penitentiary. + + + A FOREIGN SWINDLER. + +Several months ago, a foreigner, calling himself a Russian Count, and +pretending to be Colonel of Engineers in the Russian Imperial service, +made his appearance in this city, and announced himself as the agent of +his Government to make contracts with certain engineering firms in this +country. He hired an office down town, and would occasionally show, to +those whose acquaintance he had made, plans of the work that was being +executed under his supervision. He brought with him letters of +introduction from many of the leading men of Europe, and these, united +to an easy bearing and good address, sufficed to gain him admittance +into the most refined and exclusive society in this and neighboring +cities. At Washington, he was treated with marked consideration, was +shown through the public buildings, and was allowed to inspect the Navy +Yards at Washington and Brooklyn, and the fortifications in this city +and elsewhere. Unfortunately, the expected remittance from Russia +failed, from some unknown reason, to arrive, and the Baron was forced +to appeal to his American friends for loans, and he borrowed, from +various persons, sums ranging from $500 to $2,000, and amounting in the +aggregate to $25,000 or $30,000. To one gentleman, who had loaned him +at various times $1,500, the Baron said, recently, that his long- +expected remittance had arrived, and he made an appointment with his +creditor to meet him on a certain day and go with him to a broker's to +procure currency for his Russian gold. In calling at the office of the +Baron on the day named, the gentleman found him busily engaged in +explaining some of the plans to a stranger, and as it would be +impossible for him to go to the broker's on that day he begged the +indulgence of his friend and named another day. Before that day arrived +the Baron had disappeared, and the police, on being informed of the +circumstance, made inquiry, and ascertained that a man answering the +description of him sought for had taken passage in a steamer for +Europe. + + + CHARITABLE IMPOSTORS + +Men and women are always to be found in the City, seeking aid for some +charitable institution. They carry books and pencils, in which each +donor is requested to inscribe his name and the amount given. Small +favors are thankfully received, and they depart, assuring you in the +most humble and sanctified manner that "the Lord loveth a cheerful +giver." If you cannot give to-day, they are willing to call to-morrow, +next week--any time that may suit your convenience. You cannot insult +them, for like Uriah Heep, they are always "so 'umble." You find it +hard to suspect them, but in truth, they are the most genuine impostors +to be met with in the City. They are soliciting money for themselves +alone, and have no connection with any charitable institution whatever. + + + OTHER IMPOSTORS. + +One-armed, or one-legged beggars, whose missing member, sound as your +own, is strapped to their bodies so as to be safely out of sight, women +wishing to bury their husbands or children, women with borrowed or +hired babies, and sundry other objects calculated to excite your pity, +meet you at every step. They are vagabonds. God knows there is misery +enough in this great City, but nine out of ten of these people are +impostors. If you give them money it will go for drink. + + + A FASHIONABLE IMPOSTOR. + +A well known banker, who acted as agent for one of the numerous +charitable associations of this city, was called upon one day by a lady +of great elegance, who said she had come at the instance of Mrs.----, +naming one of the lady managers of the association, to ask for one +hundred dollars, for which she had immediate need. As the lady referred +to had never drawn on him for money, except by means of a regular +cheque, the banker suspected that something was wrong, and informed his +visitor that it would not be convenient for him to let her have the +amount just then, and asked her to call the next day. She departed, and +the next morning was punctual to her engagement. Meanwhile, the banker +had ascertained from the lady manager that the request made of him was +an imposture. He was not in when his visitor called the second time, +but his son met the lady, and, as he knew her, expressed his surprise +at seeing her there. Overwhelmed with confusion, she took her +departure, saying she would come back when the banker returned. She did +not make her appearance, and the son, in mentioning her visit to his +father, was informed of its object. It was agreed to pass the matter +over in silence, and a note to that effect was dispatched by the young +man to the lady--she replied, thanking him for his silence, she said +she was in need of money, and did not wish her husband to know it, and +hoped to raise it in such a manner, and return it before the imposture +should be discovered. She was a woman of good social position, and the +wife of a wealthy citizen. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + + SUNDAY IN NEW YORK. + +Strangers have observed with surprise the quietness which reigns within +the city limits on the Sabbath day. The streets have a cleaner, fresher +look, and with the exception of the Bowery and Chatham street, are +closed to trade. The wharves are hushed and still, and the river and +bay lie calm and subdued in the light of the Sabbath sun. Everybody +seems trying to look as neat and as clean as possible. The cars run on +Sunday, as in the week. This is necessary in so large a city, as +without them many persons would be unable to attend church, their +houses being miles away from their places of worship. + + + CHURCH GOING. + +In the morning, the various churches are well filled, for New Yorkers +consider it a matter of principle to attend morning service. The +streets are filled with persons hastening to church, the cars are +crowded, and handsome carriages dash by, conveying their wealthy owners +to their only hour of prayer. + +The churches are nearly all above Bleecker street. Trinity, St. Paul's, +the old Dutch Church in Fulton street, and a few seamen's bethels along +the river, are the only places of worship left to the dwellers in the +lower part of the city, who are chiefly the poor and needy. Little or +no care is taken of this part of the population, and yet it would seem +good missionary ground. Trinity tries hard to draw them into its fold, +but no one else seems to care for them. + +The up-town churches are well filled in the morning. The music, the +fame of the preacher, the rank of the church in the fashionable world, +all these things help to swell the congregation. They are generally +magnificent edifices, erected with great taste, and at a great cost. +They crowd into fashionable neighborhoods, being often located so close +to each other that the music of one will disturb the prayers of the +congregation of the other. The plea for this is that the old down town +locations were out of the way for the majority of the congregations. +Many of the new sites, however, are quite as hard to reach. The pews +rent for sums far beyond the purses of persons of moderate means, so +that the majority of New Yorkers are compelled to roam about, from +church to church, in order to hear the gospel at all. At the majority +of the churches, strangers are welcome, and are received with courtesy, +but at others they are treated with the utmost rudeness if they happen +to get into some upstart's pew, and are not unfrequently asked to give +up their seats. + +There are intellectual giants in the New York pulpit, but they are very +few. The majority of the clergy are men of little intellect, and less +oratorical power. They are popular, though, with their own cures, and +the most of them are well provided for. They doubtless understand how +to + + "Preach to please the sinners, + And fill the vacant pews." + + + SUNDAY AFTERNOON. + +Morning service over, an early dinner follows. Then everybody thinks of +enjoying himself if the weather is fine, or of sleeping the afternoon +away if the day is too wet to go out. The cars are filled with persons +_en route_ for the Park to pass a pleasant afternoon--the drives of +that beautiful resort are filled with the elegant equipages of the +fashionables, and the churches are comparatively deserted. Almost every +livery hack, buggy, or other vehicle in the city, is engaged for +Sunday, several days beforehand, and the poor horses have no mercy +shown them on that day. + +The low class theatres and places of amusement in the Bowery and +adjacent streets are opened toward sunset, and vice reigns there +triumphant. The Bowery beer gardens sell lemonade and soda water, and +such beverages as are not prohibited by the excise law, and the +orchestra and orchestrions play music from the ritual of the Roman +Catholic church. + +The excise law forbids the sale of spirituous or malt liquors on the +Sabbath, and the bar rooms are closed from midnight on Saturday until +Monday morning. The police have orders to arrest all persons violating +this law. There is no doubt, however, that liquor can be obtained by +those who are willing to incur the risk necessary to get it; but as the +majority do not care to take this trouble, the North river ferries are +thronged on Sunday, by persons going over to New Jersey for their beer, +wine, and stronger drinks. There is no Sunday law in that State, and +Jersey City and Hoboken are only five minutes distant from New York. + +At night the churches are better attended than in the afternoon, but +not so well as in the morning. Many ministers will not open their +churches for afternoon service, because they know they cannot fill a +dozen pews at that time. Their congregations are driving in the Park-- +the young men, perhaps, in Hoboken, after lager. + +Sunday concerts are now becoming a feature in New York life. These are +given at the principal halls of the city, and the music consists of +selections of sacred gems from the master pieces of the great +composers. The performers are known all over the land for their musical +skill, and the audiences are large and fashionable. No one seems to +think it sinful thus to desecrate God's holy day, and it must be +confessed that these concerts are the least objectionable Sunday +amusements known to our people. + +The reason of all this dissipation on the Sabbath is plain. People are +so much engrossed in the pursuit of wealth, that they take no time in +the week for rest or amusement. They wait for Sunday to do this, and +grudge the few hours in the morning that decency requires them to pass +in church. + + + THE EXCISE TRIALS. + +Scarcely a Sunday passes without numerous arrests being made for +violations of the excise law. These cases are tried before the Board of +Excise Commissioners, who, if the offence be sufficiently gross, take +away the license of the accused party, or punish him according to the +terms of the law. Some queer pictures of humanity are exhibited at +these trials. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + + THE DETECTIVES. + +The Detective Corps of New York consists of twenty-five men, in change +of Captain Young. They are men of experience, intelligence, and energy. +They are well skilled in the art of ferreting out crimes, and generally +succeed in the objects which engage their attention. They have a +distinct organization from the Metropolitan Police, though they are +subject to the orders of the Commissioners. + +It requires an unusual amount of intelligence to make a good detective. +The man must be honest, determined, brave, and complete master over +every feeling of his nature. He must also be capable of great +endurance, of great fertility of resource, and possessed of no little +ingenuity. He has to adopt all kinds of disguises, and is often subject +to temptations which only an honest man can resist. Any act, savoring +in the least of dishonesty, is punished by immediate expulsion from the +force. + + + BUSINESS OF THE FORCE. + +The men are always to be found at the police headquarters in Mulberry +street, where they have a separate apartment, when not on duty. They +are constantly engaged. Strangers coming to the city get drunk +overnight in places of bad repute and are robbed. Next morning they +come to ask the aid of the police in discovering their property. If +their statement of the circumstances of the case is true, they can +generally recover the lost articles through the aid of the detectives, +if they can be recovered at all. The force is in constant telegraphic +communication with other cities, and is always giving or receiving +intelligence of criminal matters and movements, so that if a crime is +committed in any city, the police force of the whole Union is on the +alert for the apprehension of the criminal. + +The individuality of crime is remarkable. Each burglar has a distinct +method of conducting his operations, and the experience of the +detective enables him to recognize these marks or characteristics, in +an instant. Thanks to this experience, which is the result of long and +patient study, he is rarely at a loss to name the perpetrator of a +crime, if that person is a "professional." Appearances which have no +significance for the mere outsider are pregnant with meaning to him. He +can determine with absolute certainty whether the mischief has been +done by skilled or unskilled hands; whether it has been done hurriedly +or leisurely; and can in a few minutes decide upon the course which +ought to be pursued for the apprehension of the thief and the recovery +of the property. + +"A man came into the Fourth Police Precinct, some time ago, and +complained that his house had been robbed. The thief had been pursued +without effect, but while running, he was observed to drop a chisel, +and to tear up a piece of paper, which he also threw away. Captain +Thorn, and a detective who was present, carefully examined the man +respecting the mode by which the entrance had been effected, the marks +left by the tools, the kind of property taken, and the action and +bearing of the thief while running away. After eliciting all the facts +that they could obtain, they both agreed that it had been done by a +certain gang. When this had been ascertained to their satisfaction, the +next thing to be done was to identify the individual or individuals +belonging to the said gang, who had committed the robbery. Captain +Thorn proceeded to gum over a piece of paper, on which he fitted +together the small bits of paper which the thief had thrown away. This +at once disclosed the name of the robber, who was well known to the +police as a member of the gang which Captain Thorn and the detective +had, from the indications afforded, judged to be the depredators. The +detective then said that the thief would certainly be found at one of +three places which he named. Three policemen were accordingly sent +after him, one to each of the places named; and the captain assured us +that the sun was not more certain to rise the next morning, than that +the man would be at the station-house. Now, how were the police enabled +to fix so readily on the depredators in this case? Simply by their +intimate knowledge of their style of working. They knew their marks +just as a man knows the handwriting of his correspondent. When they had +fixed upon the man who committed the robbery, their knowledge of all +his habits enabled them to predict with certainty where he would be +found, and to give such exact description of his person as would enable +any one who had never seen him to recognize him at a glance." + + + A COSTLY CASE. + +The necessary expenses of the detection of crime are often +considerable. Information must be obtained, even if it has to be paid +for liberally. Officers must be in concealment for weeks, and sometimes +for months. Long journeys must not unfrequently be made; and in a +hundred ways large expenditures will be called for. We were told of a +case where a treasury note of the government was counterfeited with +consummate skill, and it became a matter of vital importance to obtain +the plate from which the counterfeit was printed. One of the most +successful detectives was employed to work up the case, who soon found +that the cost of securing it would be so great that there was little +probability that the treasurer would audit his accounts. He therefore +told the government that the cost would be so great that he declined to +undertake it; but the possession of the plate, and the information that +its capture would give, were so exceedingly important, that the +detective was authorized to go on with it. He did so; the plate was +obtained; all the information sought for was procured, and the +counterfeiters and their abettors were captured. But it cost the +government one hundred and twenty thousand dollars to accomplish this +result. There were regular vouchers for every payment, and each was +carefully scrutinized and verified. There was no doubt whatever that +all the expenditures had been made in good faith, and with the utmost +economy. Doubtless the government felt that the possession of that +plate, and the knowledge gained, were worth all they had cost. + + + TRACKING A MURDERER. + +The following case, which occurred a few years ago, in a sister city, +will show how the detectives track and secure their game: + +A terrible murder had been committed. The sods were scarcely heaped +upon the coffin of the murdered man when one of his murderers was +securely confined in the cells of the central station. The arrest was +one of unusual difficulty. When the detectives visited the scene of the +murder, the only clue to the perpetrators was a blood stained +handkerchief and the gag used in strangling their victim. With these +faint traces there was little hope of ferreting out the murderer, but +Detective Joshua Taggart assumed the task. Returning to the store, he +reconnoitered the premises with new diligence. A new trace was then +discovered. A new mortise chisel, wrapped in a piece of brown paper, +lay on a shelf in the room. The chisel was not the property of the +proprietors of the dental depot. It had plainly been brought there by +the burglars. To trace it then became the task of the detective. Upon +it depended his only hope of tracing the murder from the dead porter to +the burglars who had killed the unoffending warden. + +There were none of the usual evidences of crime in the robbery of the +store. A skilled detective knows every thief within his jurisdiction, +and their operations are to him familiar and easily recognized. The +appearance of a forced door will indicate the man who burst it open. An +experienced detective will trace a burglar by the manner of opening a +door as readily as a bank teller will recognize the hand writing of one +of his depositors. The size of the jemmy used, the manner in which it +is applied, the place at which a house is entered, whether at the door, +the window, the roof, or the cellar grating, are all so many unerring +indications to the detectives of the burglars whose operations he +traces. But in this case there was no burglary committed. It was simply +murder and robbery. The murdered man had either opened the door of the +wareroom, or the murderers opened the door with the keys taken from the +gagged or insensible porter. The removal of the goods betokened the +robbery. Gold, silver and platina to the value of three thousand +dollars were taken away, but there were no traces or evidence of the +burglars. A murdered man lay dead in the entry, a number of shelves +stood empty against the wall, but neither clue nor trace, footprint nor +finger mark, existed to aid or direct the detective's sagacity in his +search. Detective Taggart knew this. He felt the difficulty of his +situation, and he preserved the chisel as the first link of the +evidence he was to forge and fasten into a chain of convicting proof. +He took the chisel home. The trade mark could not guide him. Hundreds +of the firm's chisels were weekly sold in the city, and the clue seemed +losing its power, when a few figures on the back of the wrapping paper +inclosing the chisel arrested Taggart's attention. These figures were +evidently a calculation by a hardware dealer of the price of the tool, +the reduction by a slow hand of the business trade mark into the simple +value of the digits. To find the man who had made the memorandum on the +back of the paper was the first step in detecting the murderer. + +Mr. Taggart visited the hardware dealers one by one until he despaired +of finding the one who sold the chisel. There was no evidence that the +tool had been purchased in Philadelphia. New York, Pittsburg, Baltimore +and Boston retail such chisels, and the probability of its purchase in +St. Louis was as strong as the idea of its purchase here. But Taggart +found the man who sold the chisel. A hardware dealer recognized the +calculation on the wrapper, and remembered the man who had bought it. +Two men, he said, came to the store. One was slender and tall, the +other was short and stout, with a heavy black moustache and black hair. +The latter bought the chisel. The pal stood in the background and said +nothing. + +This was the commencement of the case. Who the stout man was Taggart +could not surmise. It might be one of a score of thieves, and for four +days he could form no conception of the murderer's identity, until one +night, waking from a restless slumber, Huey Donnelly flashed like +thought across his mind, and running his memory back for the past few +weeks, he remembered that at the time the murder was committed Donnelly +was in the city. The great difficulty in tracing the case was passed. + +Donnelly was at once watched. Who the second man was Taggart well +surmised. He followed Huey to every quarter of the city to see if he +communicated with his pal, who was with him when the chisel was +purchased--who was with him when the porter was murdered. But the +second murderer had fled. Taggart himself followed Donnelly night after +night, dogged him into every rum-mill and thieves' brothel, where he +tarried briefly or long, watching him at night until he went to bed, +but never found his pal, who is the associate criminal in the tragedy. +A week after Donnelly was spotted, Taggart found his pal had left the +city, and unless Donnelly was arrested he would also leave. Following +up the trail, he met Huey in Washington Square. Donnelly was leisurely +crossing when a hand was laid heavily on his shoulder. He turned and +faced the detective, who simply said: + +'I want you, Donnelly.' + +'What for?' + +'Murder.' + +"When at the station, the salesman was sent for. Donnelly's black +moustache was gone. His face was shaved clean. He was placed in the +rogue's gallery. A number of men of similar build, both moustached and +clean face, were placed in the same room. The salesman was conducted to +the gallery. 'Point out the man who purchased the chisel,' was the +detective's command. Without hesitation or doubt, the salesman placed +his hand on Donnelly's shoulder. Then Taggart followed the second +murderer. He went to Baltimore, but he could get no further. All clue +was lost in that city, and the present lurking place of the confederate +of Donnelly is undiscovered. The necessity for keeping the arrest quiet +was removed, and now the detective calls to his aid the far reaching +influence of the press and the telegraph, that police authorities of +other cities may complete the work begun here, and render to justice +the other murderer, who is at liberty in spite of her laws." + +It would require a volume to narrate all of the exploits of the +detectives, and so we shall content ourselves with the incidents +already given. + +If, as we have said, persons seeking the aid of the police, would tell +the truth in their statements, the aid rendered them would be much more +efficacious and speedy; and, after all, it is useless to try to deceive +these keen students of human nature. The detective can tell from the +nature of the loss whether the statement of the circumstances is true +or false, for he knows that certain robberies take place only in +certain localities. + +Persons are often indignant that those who have robbed them are not +arrested and held for trial. Undoubtedly this would be a very desirable +thing, but it is not always possible. Frequently no evidence can be +obtained against the guilty party, whose arrest would be a useless +expense to the city, and the detective in such cases is compelled to +content himself with the recovery of the property. The stolen goods +thus recovered and restored to their owners is stated on good authority +at two millions annually. [Footnote: Prison Association Report. 1866.] + +In many cases the detective is very loth to arrest the culprit. It may +be the first offence of some youth, or the victim may have been forced +on by circumstances which an experienced officer can understand and +appreciate. In such cases he generally leans to the side of mercy, for +the men of the New York force are kind and humane. Their advice to the +party against whom the offence has been committed, is not to resort to +the law, but to try the offender again. In this way they have saved +many a soul from the ruin which an exposure and punishment would have +caused, and have brought back many an erring one to the paths of virtue +and integrity. There are men of tried honesty in this city to-day, men +holding responsible positions, whose lives, + + "Could their story but be told," + +would verify this assertion. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + + FIVE POINTS. + +Leave Broadway opposite the New York Hospital, and pass down Pearl +street in an easterly direction. Five minutes walking will bring you to +the abode of poverty and suffering, a locality which contrasts +strangely with the elegant thoroughfare we have just left. Cross Centre +street, and continue your eastward course, and a few minutes will bring +you to Park street. Turn short to the left, follow the line of Park +street, and in a few minutes you will see that blessed beacon light in +this great sea of human misery and sin, the "Five Points Mission." You +are now fairly in the heart of the Five Points district. It is a +horrible place, and you shudder as you look at it. The streets are dark +and narrow, the dwellings are foul and gloomy, and seem filled with +mystery and crime. It is the worst quarter of the city, and from here, +over to East River, you will scarcely find it any better. + +Yet, bad as it is, it is infinitely better than the Five Points of +fifteen or even ten years ago. Then the place was notorious for its +crimes. Murders, robberies, outrages of all kinds, were of daily +occurrence. The officers of the law dared not enter the district for +the purpose of suppressing crime, and fugitives from justice found a +safe refuge here. A man who entered the district carried his life in +his hand, and unless he was either in secret or open league with the +denizens of the quarter, was tolerably sure of losing it. Now there is +vice and crime enough there, Heaven knows, but the neighborhood has +vastly improved. The steady advance of business and trade up the island +has broken up many of the vilest dens of the quarter, and has made +travel through its streets more constant. Besides this, the new police +system has made the neighborhood safe, except at certain hours of the +night, by thoroughly patrolling it, and promptly punishing disorder and +violence. The character of the inhabitants has also improved, and the +district now contains thousands who are poor without being criminal. +The disreputable classes have been scattered, too, and no longer herd +together around the "Old Brewery," which was once the chosen +headquarters of crime. The Mission now occupies that locality, and the +work of the Lord is going on where the Devil once reigned supreme. + + + THE POPULATION. + +Still, as we have said, crime and want are plentiful at the Five +Points. The Fourth, and Sixth wards, which constitute this district, +are known as the most wretched and criminal in the City. They are also +the most densely populated--one of them containing more people than the +entire State of Delaware. + +The streets of this section of the city are generally narrow and +crooked, and the intense squalor and filth which disfigure them, cause +them to seem much darker than they really are. Every house is packed to +its utmost capacity. In some of these houses are to be found merely the +poor. In others the character of the inmates is such, that no policeman +will enter them alone, and not even in parties unless well armed. + +These buildings seem overflowing with human beings. Half a million of +people are crowded into this and the adjacent quarters of the City. One +block of this district is said to contain three hundred and eighty-two +families. Dirt and filth of all kinds prevail. + +[Illustration: A den in Baxter street.] + +Few of the people can read or write, and the only education the +children receive is in crime. The houses are almost all entirely out of +repair. The stairways are ricketty, and seem on the point of giving way +beneath one's feet. The entries are dark and foul. As many as a dozen +people are crowded into a single room. Morality and decency are never +heard of. The cellars, so dark that one unaccustomed to them cannot see +a foot before him, without a bright light, are filled with wretched +inmates. Some of these have secret passages connecting them with other +buildings, and are used for purposes of crime, or they have hiding +places known only to the initiated, where the offender against the law +may hide from the police, or where a ruffian may conceal or imprison +his victim, without fear of detection. Rum, gin, whisky, and other +liquors of the vilest kind, are used in profusion here. Some of these +wretches never leave their dens, but remain in them "the year round," +stupefied with liquor, to procure which their wives, children, or +husbands, will beg or steal. Thousands of children are born in these +foul places every year. They never see the light of day, until they are +able to crawl into the streets. They die at a fearful, but happy rate, +for they draw in with the air they breathe, disease of every +description. + +It is said that there are forty thousand vagrant and destitute children +in this section of the great city. These are chiefly of foreign +parentage. They do not attend the public schools, for they have not the +clothes necessary to enable them to do so, and are too dirty and full +of vermin to render them safe companions for the other children. The +poor little wretches have no friends, but the pious and hard-working +_attachés_ of the Missions which have been located in their midst. In +the morning those who have charge of them drive them out of their +dreadful homes to pick rags, bones, cinders, or any thing that can be +used or sold, or to beg, or steal, for they are carefully trained in +dishonesty. They are disgustingly dirty, and all but the missionaries +shrink from contact with them. Some of them have the fatal gift of +beauty, but the majority are old looking and ugly. From the time they +are capable of noticing any thing they are familiar with vice and crime, +for they see them all around them. They grow up surely and steadily to +acquire the ways of their elders. The boys recruit the ranks of the +pick-pockets, thieves, murderers, and "thugs" of the City; the girls +become waiters in the concert saloons, or street walkers, and sink +thence down to the lowest depths of infamy. Water street alone can show +a thousand proofs of this assertion. + + + THE LITTLE THIEF. + +A few years ago, there lived in the great city a little girl, so small +that no one would ever have thought her nine years old. Yet she had +passed nine sad years on earth. She lived with a couple who had a +cellar of their own at the Five Points. They were coarse, brutal +people, and spent the greater part of their time in drinking and +fighting. Little Nellie, for so we shall call her, went in rags, and +was frequently beaten with severity by those who called themselves her +parents, though no one knew whether she was their child or not. In the +long winters she almost perished with the cold, and was nearly half +famished with hunger. It was a wonder how she managed to live; for in +the coldest weather she was sent back and forth, through the freezing +streets, by her so-called parents, her only protection being a ragged +shawl, which she wrapped tightly around her head. Her little feet and +legs were bare and frost-bitten, and often left red tracks on the pure +white snow. At night her bed was a piece of old carpeting in a dark +corner of the cellar, where she cried herself to sleep, and wished she +could die. Young as she was, death was not terrible to her, for she +regarded it as a release from her sufferings. Had she known how to +pray, she would have prayed for it; but, in her ignorance she merely +wished to die. + +Do not be shocked, reader, when we say she never prayed. The truth is +that, with the exception of the constant blasphemy of the people with +whom she lived, and of this she heard too much, she rarely heard of +God. Once she went into a church, and heard a man talk about Him in a +way she could not understand. When she heard the organ it sounded so +sweet that she thought God must be up there, and tried to see him; but +a great rough man put her out of the church, and told her it was no +place for such as her, (alas! God's house no place for the poor!) and +that if she ever came there again he would hand her over to the police. +She went away feeling shocked and hurt, and fully convinced that God +did not like beggars. Then she remembered how nice and warm the church +was, and how fine the people were dressed, and she began to wonder why +she had been made so poor and helpless. + +"Ah! me," she sighed, "I'm not God's child. He wouldn't notice me, I'm +so poor, and dirty, and my feet are so frost-bitten." + +She had no one to tell her how much God cares for the poor, how he +watches over them, and notes every good and bad deed done to them. She +thought he was careless of her; and when some one told her he could do +every thing, she wondered why he did not make her more comfortable, and +give her nice warm clothes to wear. Finally, little Nellie began to +think him a cruel, harsh God, and at last she came to hate him. +Terribly depraved, you will say, dear reader; but, alack, was she to +blame? God help us! there are many more like her in the great city. + +When Nellie was eight years old, the husband of the woman with whom she +lived died, and the woman took to drinking harder than ever. This made +Nellie's lot worse than before the man's death. Then she had had some +brief respite from persecution; for, though the man had often beaten +her, he had sometimes saved her from the fury of his drunken wife. Now +there was no one to befriend her. The woman was rarely free from the +influence of liquor, and blows were showered upon the child more +frequently than ever. Poor little Nellie! her troubles increased every +day, and her desire to die became more eager. Sometimes she would go +down to the piers, and gaze on the dark waters that swept beneath them, +and would wonder if she would be at peace if she drowned herself. But, +though not afraid of death, the waters looked so fierce and angry that +they frightened her, and she would go away shuddering with a dread that +she could not understand. But for this, she would have sought in the +cool waves the rest for which she longed. + +Matters went on from bad to worse, but at last they came to an end, but +not in the way Nellie wished. The woman with whom she lived began to +think that the child was old enough to be of some use to her, for she +was now nine years old. Alas! the use she made of her. There was +nothing honest which so young a child could do, so she resolved to try +her at dishonesty. It was a fearfully cold winter, and the woman's +intemperate habits had prevented her from earning a living. To remedy +this, she sent Nellie out with a basket, and told her to go to a +certain street where she had seen a number of bales of cotton, partly +opened, lying before a store. She bade the child watch her opportunity, +and, when no one was looking, to fill the basket, and run away with it +to her as rapidly as possible. Nellie did not like the undertaking, and +begged that she might not be sent; but the woman brutally told her if +she did not go and return in an hour, she would kill her. + +Nellie started out with a heavy heart, for she had a vague foreboding +that something terrible was about to happen to her. She reached the +place, found the cotton, and, as no one was looking, soon filled her +basket. She was turning away, when a heavy hand was laid upon her +shoulder, and a rough voice exclaimed: + +"You little thief! I've caught you, have I?" + +Nellie glanced up in terror. A richly dressed man had hold of her, and +was shaking her roughly. + +"Please, sir, let me go, and I'll put the cotton back." + +"No you will not," he said coldly. "I'll teach you a lesson." + +As he spoke, he beckoned a policeman from across the street, and told +him to arrest the child for stealing a dollar's worth of cotton. Nellie +was taken before a magistrate, and, the theft being proved, was sent on +for trial at the next term of the Court, and the merchant went away +satisfied. There was no one to "go bail" for her, and she was remanded +to the Tombs until the session of the court. + +It made the jailer's heart ache to see that little child enter the cell +in which his duty compelled him to place her. He wondered why she had +not been sent to one of the numerous reformatory establishments, where +she might be saved from a life of crime. But no, the child had been +charged with theft, and the law required her to be tried for the crime, +and if convicted, to be sent to prison, to share the company of felons, +and sink, perhaps into infamy. God Help us, if this is always to be the +character of New York justice. + +Nellie's life in prison was both pleasant and terrible. It was +pleasant, inasmuch as it freed her from the brutal woman with whom she +had lived, and terrible, because it left her alone all night in a cold, +dark cell. + +At last, however, the end came. It was a terribly cold night, and the +prisoners in their cells suffered intensely. Some heard low sobs in +little Nellie's cell, but no attention was paid to them. The next +morning the turnkey went to visit her on his morning rounds, and he +found her lying stiff and cold. She had frozen to death during the +night, and her wish had been granted. The little thief had gone to the +bar of a judge who tempers justice with mercy, and who cares for those +who are helpless and oppressed. + +There are some in the great city who will remember this incident, as it +has not been very long since its occurrence. + + + THE HOME MISSION. + +Seventeen years ago the "Old Brewery," on Park street, was the centre +of crime in New York. The attention of the humane had been frequently +called to the amount of suffering and vice surrounding it, but all +seemed agreed that nothing could be done with the Five Points. Few had +the courage to venture there, and those who knew the place smiled +incredulously at the idea of reforming it. The "Old Brewery" was used +as a tenement house, and contained one thousand inmates, and a viler, +and more wretched set of people was not to be found in the great city. + +A number of Christian women of position and means, who knew the +locality only by reputation, determined, with a courage peculiar to +their sex, to break up this den, and make it a stronghold of religion +and virtue. Their plan was regarded as chimerical; but undismayed by +the difficulties against them, they went to work, trusting in the help +of Him in whose cause they were laboring. A school was opened in Park +street, immediately facing the "Old Brewery," and placed in charge of +the Rev. Mr. L. M. Pease, of the Methodist Church. This school at once +gathered in the ragged, dirty children of the neighborhood, and at +first it seemed up-hill work to do any thing with them. Patience and +energy triumphed at last, however. The school became a success. Then +the ladies who had projected it, resolved to enlarge it. They purchased +the "Old Brewery," pulled it down, and built the present "Mission," +which is now in charge of the Rev. Mr. Shaffer. + +The Mission is dependent upon voluntary contributions for its support. +Food, clothing, money, and every thing that can be useful in such an +establishment, are given to it. They come in from all parts of the +country, for the Mission is widely known, and thousands of Christians +are working for it. The railroad and express companies send all +packages for it over their lines without charge. + +Children are the chief care of the Mission. Those in charge of it +believe that first impressions are the strongest and most lasting. They +take young children away from the haunts of vice and crime, and clothe +and care for them. They are regularly and carefully instructed in the +rudiments of an English education, and are trained to serve the Lord, +who has raised up such kind friends to them. At a proper age they are +provided, with homes, or respectable employment, and placed in the way +to become Christian men and women. Hundreds, nay, thousands of good and +useful men and women have been reared by the institution since its +establishment. They were snatched from the haunts of crime when +children, and owe their present positions to the Mission. Year after +year the work goes on. Children are taken in every day as far as the +accommodations will permit, and are carefully trained in virtue and +intelligence, and every year the "Home," as its inmates love to call +it, sends out a band of bright, brave, useful young hearts into the +world, which but for its blessed aid would have been so many more +wretches added to the criminal class of the country. + +Reader, if you can do any thing for this noble institution, do not hold +back your hand, but do it. Your help is needed. + + + OTHER MISSIONS. + +Besides the "Home" to which we have referred, the "City Mission Home +for Little Wanderers," and the "Five Points House of Industry," are all +working hard for the purpose of bettering the condition of the poor and +wretched of the City. They are employing a band of energetic, hard- +working Christian men and women, and are doing good daily. There is no +doubt, however, that they succeed best with children. After the devil +has set his mark on men and women, it is very difficult to efface it; +but with children the case is different. They are too young to be +utterly abandoned or depraved, and they can, by care and patience, in +nine cases out of ten, be won over to the side of right. + +Not only are persons drawn away from crime and vice by the active +efforts of the missionaries, but the Missions themselves do good. They +are well known, and they are constant reminders to the fallen that they +have a chance to rise. Some few avail themselves of the chance. Men and +women, especially young ones, frequently come in and appeal to the +missionaries to help them to reform. They want advice, assistance, or +protection. Whatever is needed is given, if it be within the means of +the institution. If it is not, the missionary seeks it elsewhere, and +rarely fails to find it. Few who are ignorant of the workings of these +institutions, can rightly estimate the amount of good done by them. +They are indeed "Cities of Refuge," to which no one ever goes in vain. + +A part of the work of the "City Mission" is to distribute tracts and +simple religious instruction. These are simple little documents, but +they do a deal of good. They have reformed drunkards, converted the +irreligious, shut the mouth of the swearer, and have brought peace to +more than one heart. The work is done so silently and unpretendingly +that few but those engaged in it know how great are its effects. They +are encouraged by the evidences which they have, and continue their +work gladly. + +Again, these Missionaries are constantly going into sections of the +City, from which the "popular preachers" shrink in dismay, and but for +their devotion there are thousands of our poor who would never have the +Gospel preached to them. They watch beside the bedside of the sick and +dying, administer the last rites of religion to the repentant pauper, +and offer to the Great Judge the only appeal for mercy that is ever +made in behalf of many a soul that departs in its sins. They shrink +from no trouble, no sacrifice. They are a hard-working, self-denying, +noble band. + + + THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS. + +This institution is situated on the Bowery, near Pearl street, and is +in charge of the Rev. Mr. Van Meter. It is also called the "Howard +Mission." While striving to relieve all who call upon it for aid, its +care is chiefly given to children. Its object is to rescue the little +ones from want and suffering, and make them comfortable. They are +educated, and taught their duty as children of the Lord, and at a +certain age are provided with homes or trades. Little ones, starving or +freezing in the streets, are picked up constantly and brought in here. +The police often bring in such guests. All are welcomed and made as +comfortable as possible. You may see them warmly and neatly clad, or +tucked away in a snug bed, little children, even babies, who but the +night before were almost dying with cold in the streets. + +Like the "Ladies' Home," the "Little Wanderers' Home" is entirely +dependent on voluntary contributions for its support. + +[Illustration: Fifth Avenue Hotel.] + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + + HOTEL LIFE. + +As we have said before, the majority of the better classes of New York +prefer to board rather than keep house. Of these, a large number board +at the hotels, the rest in private boarding-houses. + +The principal hotels of the City are the Astor, St. Nicholas, +Metropolitan, New York, Fifth Avenue, and the Hoffman, Albemarle, +Clarendon, Everett, and Coleman Houses. These head the list, but there +are scores of first class houses, some of which are elegant in every +respect. The transient custom of the hotels of the City is enormous, +but the permanent boarders of these establishments are very profitable. +The rates are high, and the majority of these houses pay their +proprietors well. There are two classes known in the City--those which +are conducted on the old American style, or those known as "European +houses." The former provide the guests with lodgings and full board at +so much per day, or week, while the others furnish merely the room and +attendance, and are either without the means of supplying meals to +their guests, or charge for each article of food separately. It is hard +to say which system is the more popular, though it would seem that the +European is growing in favor. + + + THE GUESTS. + +The proprietors of the city hotels are very active in their efforts to +exclude improper characters from their houses, but with all their +vigilance do not succeed in doing so. One is ever certain as to the +respectability of his neighbor at the table, and it is well never to be +in a hurry to form acquaintanceships at such places. Fallen women of +the higher classes, and gamblers, abound at the hotels. The proprietor +cannot turn them out until they commit some overt act, for fear of +getting himself into trouble. As soon, however, as his attention is +called to any improper conduct on their part, they are turned into the +street, no matter at what hour of the day or night, and left to shift +for themselves. + + + HOTEL SWINDLERS. + +Quite a number of persons in this city make a regular business of +staying at hotels, and absconding without paying their board. This +class consists of both males and females, and is much larger than most +people suppose. We take the following descriptions of some of the best +known from the daily journals of the City. They will show also their +mode of operations: + +A man by the name of D----, or R----, purporting to hail from St. +Louis, has enjoyed many years' experience as a hotel 'beat.' He is a +tall, not ill-looking fellow, of tolerable address, and generally +travels accompanied by his wife and three children, and by a large +trunk; his wife sometimes contrives to smuggle in the third child +secretly, and to hide it in the room allotted to them, so that only two +children appear on the bill. At any rate the bill is never paid +whenever settlement is demanded. Mr. D--, or R--, is always found in +his apartment seated at the table, busy with an elaborate assortment of +manuscripts, and so busy that really at present he cannot be disturbed. +To-morrow he will attend to every thing. But to-morrow the birds have +flown, or walked out, one by one, from the hotel, and when the trunk, +is opened, there is a beggarly array of brickbats, old boxes, old rags, +and carpets, the former having served to render the trunk weighty, the +latter to prevent any noise or rolling that might excite suspicion. + +Another adventurer, a bachelor, by the name of M----, affects the +eccentric, and, as the day approaches for the handing in of his bill, +his eccentricity verges upon madness, till at last, when the document +is really tendered, he becomes absolutely crazy--shouts, sings, +performs in an antic manner, and declares himself to be the king of the +Jews, the President of the United States, or something of that sort. He +has sufficient method in his madness, however, to gain the advantage of +the hotel proprietors, having on one occasion beaten the Fifth Avenue +Hotel out of one hundred and seventy-one dollars in board and lodging. +He sometimes is to be seen on Broadway in the guise of a military +officer. + +One of the most cunning and successful of adventurers is known by the +name of W----, _alias_ Jones, _alias_ several other titles. This fellow +is an undersized man, blind of one eye, but of very genteel and +prepossessing address, and is generally accompanied by his wife. The +two practice the bundle game, which is a very adroit performance. Their +_modus operandi_ is as follows: They travel with a large Saratoga +trunk, which is really well stocked with linen and clothing. Of this +fact they contrive to render the detective and officials of the house +aware, so as to quiet any suspicion. Having thus tolerably opened the +ball they keep it rolling as long as possible, till within two days or +so of the period of final settlement. Suddenly Mrs. W----, or Jones, +appears to be seized with a mania for going up and down stairs, and in +and out of the hotel, carrying little parcels in her hand to and fro to +the milliners and dressmakers, etc. Her husband also discovers that his +clothes need revision, and sends them to tailors. Messengers also come +to their rooms for bundles, etc., and at last Mr. Jones, or W----, +announces at the office that he is about to leave the next day, and +would like his bill made out up 'till to-morrow night.' Meanwhile he +goes on to state as his trunk requires some repairs he has removed his +wardrobe into the bureau drawers, etc., and has sent for a trunkman to +convey it to the nearest establishment, will they allow him a servant +to assist the trunkman with it down stairs. The servant is sent to the +room, sees that nothing is taken away but the empty trunk, and all is +well. The adventurer and his female confederate eat with gusto, walk +out arm in arm from the hotel, and are seen no more, neither their +trunk, neither their wardrobe, which examination shows has not been +removed into the bureau drawers; in short, the clothes of the worthy +pair have been taken away bundle by bundle, parcel by parcel, and left +at convenient places in the neighborhood, to be called for, while the +trunk has been deposited at a friend's till further notice. + +By this system of operations the St. Nicholas, Lafarge New York, and +Howard Hotels were victimized. Their triumphant career was checked, +however, at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, by efforts of the special detective +of the house, who discovered one day a piece of paper containing W---- +Jones' private memorandum of the places at which he and his wife had +left their different bundles. By confronting Jones, accusing him of his +dishonesty, presenting the paper and accompanying him _nolens volens_ +to these various places, the detective contrived to recover the bill +due to his hotel. + +There are many adventurers hanging round a hotel, who are not enrolled, +however, among its regular lodgers. There are numerous 'beats' who +merely direct their energies to obtaining meals gratis, taking +advantage of the rush to the tables during meal hours. As many as +thirty-four of this class were detected at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in a +single month. These adventurers often practice the hat game, +depositing, when they enter the dining-room, a worthless chapeau, and +taking up, when they pass out, a valuable one--by inadvertence, of +course. The Metropolitan Hotel has a colored man in its employ +stationed at the door of the dining-rooms, who has proved thus far too +much for the efforts of any of these gentry, consequently this hotel +has been, in this respect, peculiarly fortunate. + +A man named W----, lately gained the advantage of a hotel detective in +a rather amusing manner. He was in the habit of stealing his meals, and +was detected so doing, but as he was one day also seen to draw from his +pocket a gold watch, attached to a heavy chain, it was determined to +give him a little longer indulgence. At last his time was up, and the +officer, advancing to him, told him that he had been waited for; that +he had taken just so many meals, and must just pay so much money. "But +I have no money." "Then I will seize your watch." When, lo! the watch +had disappeared, and all the detective could find, in its place was but +a bunch of keys--the watch itself having been originally borrowed for a +purpose which it had fulfilled. + + + HOTEL THIEVES. + +All the first-class hotels employ private detectives and watchmen. The +business of these men is to keep a watch over the upper part of the +house, to prevent thieves from entering and robbing the rooms of the +guests. Suspicious persons are at once apprehended, and required to +give account of themselves. + +A friend of the writer once called on an acquaintance at the St. +Nicholas, and, being on intimate terms with the gentleman, went +immediately to his room, without making the customary inquiries at the +office. Although he knew the house very well, he missed his way in the +long corridor, and failed to find the stairway. While endeavoring to +"get his bearing," he was accosted by a quiet-looking individual, who +told him he must go with him to the office and give an account of +himself. The man was the private detective of the house, and seeing +that the gentleman had lost his way, supposed at once that he was a +hotel thief who had become bewildered in trying to make off from the +house. Fortunately, the gentleman was well known at the office, where +the mistake was at once discovered and apologized for. + + + AN AGILE THIEF. + +Some time ago, a man entered the St. Nicholas and robbed the occupant +of one of the rooms, during his sleep, of a gold watch and chain, worth +about one hundred and fifty dollars, a small amount of money, and a +gold shirt-stud, with which he escaped to the hall-way. Succeeding so +well, he concluded to try again, and proceeded to room 175, occupied by +the cashier of the hotel, lifted that gentleman's clothing from a +table, and stole some money from the pockets. As the thief was in the +act of leaving the room, the cashier awoke, and, seeing a stranger, +asked, "Who's there?" To which the robber replied, "I beg your pardon, +sir; I have made a slight mistake." Upon which he hastily left, +followed by the cashier, who cried, "Stop thief!" At that moment, +detective Golden, employed in the hotel, appeared on the scene of +action, and pursued the fugitive. The latter, in his haste, leaped down +a whole flight of stairs, when detective Golden cried out to the men +below to stop him; and accordingly he was seized and held till the +detective ran down and took charge of the prisoner. On searching him, +the gold watch and chain were found in his possession; also five +different parcels of moneys, doubtless stolen from as many different +rooms. + +[Illustration: St. Nicholas Hotel.] + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + + RESTAURANTS. + +Thousands of persons, sometimes entire families, live in rooms, and +either take their meals at restaurants, or have them sent to them. This +has become so common now that it ceases to attract attention in the +city, but strangers are struck with it, and are quick to notice the bad +effects of it. + +Living at restaurants begets irregularity in the meal hours, and thus +promotes bad health; and the absence of the restraints which the table +of a family at home, or even the public board of a hotel, imposes, is +the beginning of a looseness of manners, which is generally sure to be +followed by a similar defect in morals. The cooking, at the majority of +restaurants, is unhealthy, and intoxicating liquors are sold, to an +extraordinary extent, as a part of the bill of fare. + +The principal up-town restaurants are largely patronized by the +disreputable classes. Women of the town go there to pick up custom, and +men to find such companions. Women of good social position do not +hesitate to meet their lovers at such places, for there is a great deal +of truth in the old adage which tells us "there's no place so private +as a crowded hall." A quiet, but close observer will frequently see a +nod, or a smile, or a meaning glance pass between most respectable- +looking persons of opposite sexes, and will sometimes see a note slyly +sent by a waiter, or dropped adroitly into the hand of the woman as the +man passes out. Some of these nominally respectable places are so +largely patronized by this class, that a virtuous woman is in constant +danger of being insulted should she chance to enter one of them. + + + THE BITER BITTEN. + +Restaurants, like hotels, are the object of the constant attention of +swindlers, though the operations are conducted on a smaller scale. Some +of these persons are nominally respectable. + +A bank clerk, with a fair salary and respectable connections, was in +the habit of patronizing a fashionable restaurant, partaking of +sumptuous lunches and dinners, and evading _full_ payment, under +pretence that he had forgotten his pocket-book, or had omitted, in the +hurry of business, to provide himself with small change, etc. Thus, if +his check called for one dollar he would pay sixty cents, but +invariably forgot upon the next, or any succeeding day, to 'settle' the +balance due of forty cents. This 'little game,' so profitable to +himself, was carried on for some time triumphantly, but retribution +came at last, and unexpectedly and very cleverly. The clerk, seeing how +matters stood, commenced to keep an account on a piece of paper of the +sums due and sums _paid_ on each successive day at his establishment by +this ingenious customer, and on one occasion, when the bank clerk had +deposited his check for one dollar and a quarter and a ten dollar note +in payment upon the counter (as he wished on this particular occasion +to procure some small change for his own purposes), the clerk quietly +took the note and then handed out two dollars and twenty cents in +change. 'There must be some mistake,' said the bank clerk. 'Oh! none at +all.' said the cashier. 'Did I not hand you a ten dollar note?' 'You +did, sir.' 'And did not my check call for one dollar and a quarter?' +'It did, sir.' 'Then where is my change?' asked the bank clerk. 'It is +_there_, sir' replied the cashier, pointing to a piece of paper which +he handed to the astonished bank clerk. 'What is this paper?' 'It is +your account.' '_My_ account!' 'Yes, sir, you will find it correct in +every particular,' said the cashier; 'I will go over the items with +you. On such and such a day your check called for such and such a sum; +you paid only so and so, leaving such and such balance. The next day +you ordered so and so, only paid so much, and left, of course, you see, +this balance. Altogether, sir, you owe the establishment, as back +balances due for food and liquors, up to date, just seven dollars and a +half. I have taken out this amount, and you will find the change +correct.' + +"Words were useless--the bank clerk was outwitted, and left in disgust, +and from that day to this has never set foot inside of that restaurant +again." + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + + BOARDING HOUSES. + +As we have said elsewhere, it has been remarked that New York is a vast +boarding-house. If any one doubts this, he has only to turn to the +columns of the _Herald_, and see the long rows of advertisements on the +subject. The better class houses of the city are equal to any in the +world, but there are scores here within the pale of respectability +which are a trial to the fortitude and philosophy of any man. A really +desirable house is a rarity here, as elsewhere, and very hard to find. +He who is so lucky as to be domesticated in one of these is wise if he +remains there. + + + FINDING A BOARDING HOUSE. + +Some years ago there appeared a work on the subject of boarding houses, +from which we extract the following description of the experience of a +person looking for board in New York. + +He either inserts in the _Herald_, _Tribune_, or _Times_, an +advertisement specifying his particular requirements, or consults those +addressed to humanity in general through the medium of their columns-- +perhaps adopts both measures. In the former case, the next morning puts +him in possession of a vast amount of correspondence, from the +daintily-penned and delicately-enveloped _billets_ of up-towndom to the +ill-spelled, pencil-scrawled, uncovered notes of Greenwich and Hudson +streets. It matters not that he has indicated any definite locality; +sanguine householders in remote Brooklyn districts clutch at him, +Hoboken residents yearn toward him, and the writer of a stray +Williamsburg epistle is 'confident that an arrangement can be made,' if +he will favor _her_ with a visit. After laying aside as ineligible as +many letters as there are _Smiths_ in a New York Directory, he devotes +a morning to the purposes of inspection and selection. + +He becomes acquainted with strange localities and bell-handles. He +scrutinizes informatory scraps of paper wafered up beside doorways. He +endures tedious waiting at thresholds--it being a curious fact in +connection with boarding-houses that a single application for +admission through the usual medium never procures it. And according as +his quest be high or low, so will his experience vary. + +If the former, he may expect to be ushered into spacious and +luxuriously-furnished parlors, where, seated in comfortably-padded +rocking-chairs, and contemplating marble tables, on which gorgeously- +bound volumes are artistically arranged; thousand-dollar piano-fortes, +and mirrors capable of abashing a modest man to utter speechlessness, +he will tarry the advent of stately dames, whose dresses rustle as with +conscious opulence. He will precede them--they being scrupulous as to +exposure of ankles--up broad staircases to handsome apartments, and +listen with bland satisfaction to the enumeration of 'all the modern +improvements' which their mansions comprise; nor, perhaps, be startled +at the 'figure' for which they may be enjoyed. If 'money be no object,' +he will not have to seek far, or fare badly. + +"But the researches of him whose aspirations are circumscribed by a +shallow purse will produce different results. By Irish girls, with +unkempt hair and uncleanly physiognomy, he will be inducted into +sitting-rooms where the Venetian blinds are kept scrupulously closed, +for the double purpose of excluding flies and preventing a too close +scrutiny of the upholstery. He will have interviews with landladies of +various appearances, ages and characteristics--landladies dubious and +dingy, landladies severe and suspicious, (inflexible as to 'references +or payments in advance,') landladies calm and confiding, landladies +chatty and conciliatory,--the majority being widows. He will survey +innumerable rooms--generally under that peculiarly cheerful aspect +attendant on unmade beds and unemptied washing-basins--and, if of +sanatory principles, examine the construction of windows in order to +ascertain whether they be asphyxiative or moveable. He will find +occasion to admire how apartments may be indifferently ventilated by +half-windows, and attics constructed so that standing erect within them +is only practicable in one spot. How a three-feet-by-sixteen inches +strip of threadbare carpet, a twelve-and-a-half-cents-Chatham-square +mirror, and a disjointed chair may, in the lively imagination of +boardinghouse proprietresses, be considered _furniture_. How double, +triple, and even quintuple beds in single rooms, and closets into which +he only succeeds in effecting entrance by dint of violent compression +between the 'cot' and wall, are esteemed highly eligible accommodations +for single gentlemen. How partitions (of a purely nominal character) +may in no wise prevent the occupants of adjoining rooms from holding +conversation one with the other, becoming cognizant of neighboring +snores, or turnings in bed. He will observe that lavatory arrangements +are mostly of an imperfect description, generally comprising a frail +and rickety washing-stand--which has apparently existed for ages in a +Niagara of soapsuds, a ewer and basin of limited capacity, and a +cottony, weblike towel, about as well calculated for its purpose as a +similar sized sheet of blotting paper would be. In rooms which have not +recently submitted to the purifying brush of the white-washer, he will +notice the mortal remains of mosquitoes (not to mention more +odoriferous and objectionable insects) ornamenting ceilings and walls, +where they have encountered Destiny in the shape of slippers or boot- +soles of former occupants." + + + EXPERIENCE. + +All boarding houses begin to fill up for the winter about the first of +October. Few of the proprietors have any trouble in filling their +establishments, as there is generally a rush of strangers to the City +during the winter season. A few of the best houses retain their guests +for years, but the occupants of the majority change their quarters +every fall. At the first, the table is bountifully supplied with the +best the markets afford, the attendance is excellent, and the +proprietor is as obliging and pleasant as one could wish. This +continues for a month or two until good board becomes scarcer in the +City. Then the attendance becomes inferior. The proprietor cannot +afford to keep so many servants, and the very best in the house are +discharged. The fare becomes poor and scanty, and the proprietor, sure +that few will care to change quarters so late in the season, answers +all complaints with a gruff intimation that you can leave the house if +you are dissatisfied. You feel like taking his advice, and would do so +but for the knowledge that you will fare as bad or worse if you do so. +You make up your mind to submit, and endure all the discomforts of the +house until May with her smiling face calls you into the country, or +offers you an opportunity to better your condition. + +All houses are more liberal to their boarders in the summer than in the +winter--the City is then comparatively deserted, and most of the +"highly respectable establishments" are very much in want of guests. +They then offer unusual inducements, and are forced by their +necessities to atone in some measure for their winter barbarity. + + + BOARDING-HOUSE CHARACTERS. + +Persons seeking board in New York frequently complain of being annoyed +by a demand on the part of the landlady (for the proprietor, is, in +most cases, a woman) for reference. This may not be pleasant to the +over-sensitive, but it is absolutely necessary. Nearly every boarder is +at first a stranger to his landlady. She does not know whether a man is +a gentleman or a thief, or whether a female is a saint or a fallen +woman. She naturally desires to keep her house free from improper +characters, and to secure as guests those who will pay her promptly and +regularly. + +In spite of these efforts, however, it may be safely affirmed that +there are not ten boarding houses in the city, which do not contain +improper characters. Observers have been struck with the number of +handsome young widows who frequent these places. Sometimes these women +claim to be the wives of men absent in the distant Territories, or in +Europe, and pretend to receive letters and remittances from them. In +nine cases out of ten such women make their living in a manner they do +not care to have known. They conduct themselves with the utmost +propriety towards all persons living in the house with them, and are +considered ladies by even acute judges. These same judges are sometimes +a little startled to meet these virtuous dames in places where _ladies_ +are never seen. Of course the secret is kept, and the woman continues +to deceive her other companions. + +Landladies are the object of the especial attentions of swindlers, and +suffer very much from them. All sorts of expedients are resorted to by +the unprincipled to live without paying their board. + + + A FASHIONABLE SWINDLER. + +Last winter a "gentleman" called upon a lady who presides over a +fashionable boarding-house in Lexington avenue, and introducing himself +as William Aspinwall, of the "Howland and Aspinwall branch," obtained a +room on the second floor. This apartment he occupied for three weeks, +constantly "promising" the lady of the house money, but as constantly +"being disappointed in his remittances from his friends, but if the +lady would wait but a day or two longer he would apply, if his +remittances did not arrive, in person to Mr. Aspinwall and obtain a +thousand or two." At last, one day this pretended scion of the +Aspinwalls vanished, leaving his trunk behind him, which, upon +examination, was found to be very full and very heavy indeed, but with +bricks and rags only. All Mr. Aspinwall's wardrobe being carried on his +precious person. A letter was found, however, which proved that his +real name was Charles H, or at least that he had been known at times by +that title. + + + A SHARP GAME. + +A man calling himself Doctor Thorne is frequently seen in the city +boarding houses. He is a married man, which fact, of course, makes him +all the more dangerous to his victims, as he contrives to support at +their expense not only himself, but his wife and children. The Doctor +is a burly, heavily-bearded gentleman (at least in manner); his wife, a +more accomplished Jeremy Diddler than himself, is one of the softest- +spoken and most amiably-seeming of her sex. The Doctor plays his little +game as follows: He obtains first-class rooms at first class prices, +pledging as security for the payment of these prices a large assortment +of really valuable baggage in the line of clothes and linens. Having +taken possession of his rooms he is, after a week's time, suddenly +called by business to Chicago or St. Louis; he will settle the little +balance due on his return. He accordingly departs, but not to St. +Louis, or Chicago--oh, dear, no. He understands a trick worth two of +that. He simply hires a little room in a retired street at the lowest +possible rent, and there resides. His wife and children--two boys, one +aged ten, the other twelve, and both very "smart"--take him his meals +daily, in a basket, in their pocket, or by other means, as the case may +be, the meals being furnished unwittingly by the victimized landlady +with whom his family are sojourning. But more than meals are taken from +the boarding house. The baggage is also taken away, piece after piece, +secretly, and conveyed to the little room where the "head and father" +of this interesting family resides. So one day, after an unaccountable +absence of Dr. Thorne from home, and after the receipt by his wife of +daily letters from her husband, but no money, though money is always +expected by the next mail, the whole family disappear, one by one, and +never return. The landlady congratulates herself upon the fact that she +retains at least the baggage--but alas, upon an examination she finds +that nothing is left her in lieu of the month's board for three people +and a week's board for the fourth, saving some empty trunks. For a few +days subsequent to this denouement, Dr. Thorne and family live in +retirement. Then they boldly emerge and repeat the same series of +operations in other localities of this much beswindled city. + + + A TRIO OF FEMALE SWINDLERS. + +About twelve-month since, an old widow lady opened a boarding-house on +University place, investing in the establishment and furniture all her +capital. She experienced no difficulty in obtaining boarders, and among +her guests she numbered a small-sized, full-faced, but keen-eyed woman +by the name of Agnes S. who rented a large room on the second floor. +This Mrs. S. exhausted all her wiles to gain the friendship of the +landlady, and succeeded in so doing. In a short time, she became the +inseparable companion and intimate of the old widow, who never took any +step of importance without first consulting her dear Agnes. The "dear +Agnes" improved her intimacy and played her cards so well, that +although she never paid her board, she was never requested to do so, +and thus enjoyed the unenviable advantage of being enabled to live rent +free. Having accomplished her first object, she now undertook to +achieve her second. One day she sought the widow, and in a fit of +gushingly-tender confidence revealed to her sympathizing friend her +heart history; she told the widow that although passing for a maiden, +she was in reality a married woman--but that her husband had been +obliged to conceal himself from the gaze of the public owing to some +'unfortunate' business transactions in which he had been involved, +solely for the sake of his brother out West. + +Would she (the widow) not receive that husband, for her sake into the +house? Would she not consent to harbor the poor unfortunate partner of +her bosom beneath her roof until the matter had blown over? The doting +widow agreed to this proposal, and thus Agnes S. and her 'husband' (who +was in reality no more her husband than any man who reads this) were +united, and lived for several weeks in luxury at the widow's expense; +although great scandal arose among her boarders concerning the matter, +and several of her 'best paying lodgers' left in consequence of these +'developments.' At last the widow was taken sick, and then 'having cast +her bread upon the waters, she found it after many days,' and found it +'toasted.' From the hour of her taking to her bed, 'Agnes S. and +husband' ruled the house. The worthy pair run the establishment, hired +and discharged the servants, acted as steward and stewardess, and not +only so, but absolutely made out the weekly bills and collected them; +and not only collected them, but put the money into their own pockets. + +"Last Thursday week the matter culminated by the sudden departure of +Agnes S. and husband from the house in University place to unknown +localities. Their 'little game' was effectually 'played out,' and the +landlady at last recovered her health and common sense. But the +adventurous birds had feathered their nests, and have only subsided for +a while, to resume, in all probability, their 'genteel swindles' in +some other city, or perhaps only in another portion of this very +metropolis." + +"The second of these worthies we shall call Mrs. Adelle Garnier. She is +a stout creature, but endowed with a large share of good looks and +dignity of manner. She has for years past resided in fashionable +hotels, and has contrived to live on her 'face' in more senses than +one. She is specially noticeable for three facts which have been +abundantly exemplified in her career. First, she is a remarkably well +educated woman, an accomplished linguist, speaking fluently, French, +German and Italian, a skilled performer on the piano, and thoroughly +versed in the literature of the day. Second, she has always exhibited a +dislike, amounting almost to horror, of matrimony; and although she +has, during her eventful history, received several advantageous offers +of marriage, has declined them all, objecting decidedly to having her +personal movements restrained in any degree by the will of any being on +earth, not even a husband. Third, and last, and most remarkable of all, +spite of her education and talent, spite of her matrimonial chances, +she has steadily persisted in a course of life which has subjected her +constantly to a long series of indignities, apparently preferring a +wild, careless, lawless and scandalous Bohemianism to the sober routine +and conventional demands of a modern lady's _ordinary_ existence. Her +last 'adventure' occurred some few weeks since at a Broadway hotel, +from which she was expelled at a very short notice by the proprietors +in presence of a number of the guests. It is presumed that at present +she is almost penniless, though no one can safely predicate at what +place or in what guise she may appear hereafter. For an adventurer, +like a cat, has nine lives." + +"The third, Miss Alice Mauley, is a petite blonde of fascinating +manners, with large blue eyes, and a luxuriant wealth of hair. Alice +has been a 'pilgrim and a stranger' in the cities of Philadelphia, +Boston, Baltimore and St. Louis, since her sixteenth year, and has +'enjoyed' the privilege of a large circle of acquaintance--the police +of these cities included. Her mode of life verges on the 'sentimental,' +and her peculiar _forte_ is entrapping the affections of 'young +bloods.' She cares not for 'love,' so-called, and is, in herself, +chaste and irreproachable in _morale_; but she devotes her energies to +procuring all the money, jewelry, diamonds and presents she can obtain +from her 'enamored ones' prior to their 'proposals for her hand.' She, +then, 'astonished at their mistaken presumption,' leaves them to regret +their folly, but never by any chance returns their presents. She +recently and seriously 'compromised' the prospects of the only son and +heir of a wealthy merchant of the metropolis, from whom she obtained +some ten thousand dollars worth of 'tokens' and 'souvenirs.' But, owing +to the exertions and worldly acumen of the young fool's papa, she has +been obliged to leave New York, and has within the last few days been +heard of from Cincinnati." + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + + TRINITY PARISH. + +Trinity Parish was laid off in 1697. The first church was a plain, +square edifice, with an ugly steeple, in which were conducted the first +services of the Church of England in New York. The site is now occupied +by a magnificent Cathedral, the most beautiful church edifice in the +city. + +The parish extends over a large part of New York. It includes the +following churches, or chapels, as they are called: St. Paul's, St. +John's, Trinity Chapel, and Trinity Church. It is in charge of a +Rector, who is a sort of small bishop in this little diocese. He has +eight assistants. Each church or chapel has its pastor, who is subject +to the supervision of the Rector. The Rev. Morgan Dix, D. D., a son of +the American Minister to France, is the present Rector. + +Trinity takes good care of its clergy. The salaries are amply +sufficient to insure a comfortable support, and a well-furnished house +is provided for each one who has a family. Should a clergyman become +superannuated in the service of the Parish, he is liberally maintained +during his life; and should he die in his ministry, provision is made +for his family. + +The wealth of the parish is immense. It is variously stated at from +sixty to one hundred millions of dollars. It is chiefly in real estate, +the leases of which yield an immense revenue. + + + TRINITY CHURCH. + + +[Illustration: Trinity Church.] + +Trinity Church, the Cathedral, is situated on Broadway, at +the head of Wall street. It is built of brown stone, and is the most +beautiful and magnificent church building in America. It is very large, +and is capable of containing an immense throng. Its services are very +beautiful and attractive. They resemble those of the Church of England, +as they are almost entirely choral. The music is the best in the city, +and hundreds are drawn into the church by it. At Christmas and Easter +it is grand. On Christmas Eve, at midnight, the chimes of the church +ring in the blessed morning, thus continuing an old custom which is +observed now only in some parts of Europe. + +The church is kept open from early morning until sunset. In the winter +season it is always well heated, and hundreds of the poor find warmth +and shelter within its holy walls. It is the only church in New York in +which there is no distinction made between the rich and the poor. The +writer has frequently seen beggars in tatters conducted, by the sexton +and his assistants, to the best seats in the church. + +The rector and his assistants are alive to the fact that this is one of +the few churches now left to the lower part of the city, and they +strive to make it a great missionary centre. Their best efforts are for +the poor. Those who sneer at the wealth of the parish, would do well to +trouble themselves to see what a good use is made of it. + +The ultra fashionable element of the congregation attend Trinity +Chapel, or "Up-town Trinity," in Twenty-fifth street, near Broadway. +This is a handsome church, and has a large and wealthy congregation. + + + THE CHURCHYARD. + +A long iron railing separates the churchyard of Old Trinity from +Broadway, and the thick rows of old gravestones, all crumbling and +stained with age, present a strange contrast to the bustle, vitality, +and splendor with, which, they are surrounded. They stare solemnly down +into Wall street, and offer a bitter commentary upon the struggles and +anxiety of the money kings. + +The place has an air of peace that is pleasant in the midst of so much +noise and confusion, and is well worth visiting. + +Near the south door of the church, you will see a plain brownstone +slab, bearing this inscription: _"The vault of Walter and Robert O. +Livingston, sons of Robert Livingston, of the Manor of Livingston"_ +This is one of the Meccas of the world of science, for the mortal part +of _Robert Fulton_ sleeps in the vault below, in sight of the mighty +steam fleets which his genius has called forth. A plain obelisk at the +extreme southern end of the church yard marks the grave of Alexander +Hamilton; and James Lawrence, the heroic commander of the Chesapeake, +sleeps by the south door, his sarcophagus being the most prominent +object in that part of the churchyard. + +At the northern extremity of the yard, and facing Pine street, is the +handsome monument erected to the memory of those patriotic men who died +from the effects of British cruelty in the "Old Sugar-house," and in +the prison ships in Wallabout Bay, the site of the present Brooklyn +Navy Yard. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + + THE HOLIDAYS IN THE CITY. + +New York is very careful to observe the holidays, of the year. The +mixture of the old Dutch, the orthodox English, and the Puritan +elements has tended to preserve, in all its purity, each of the +festivals which were so dear to our fathers. The New Yorker celebrates +his Thanksgiving with all the fervor of a New Englander, and at the +same time keeps his Christmas feast as heartily as his forefathers did, +while the New Year is honored by a special observance. + + + NEW YEAR'S DAY. + +New Year's day is one of the institutions of New York. Its observance +was instituted by the Dutch, who made it a point never to enter upon +the new season with any but the most cheerful spirits. They made it a +time for renewing old friendships, and for wishing each other well. +Each family was then sure to be at home, and social mirth and enjoyment +ruled the hour. Old feuds were forgotten, family breaches were healed, +and no one thought of harboring any but kindly feelings for his +relatives or friends. The jolly old Knickerbocker sat in the warm light +of his huge hearth, and smoked his long pipe in happiness and peace, +while his children and children's children made merry round about him. + +Subsequent generations have continued to observe the custom, and to-day +it is as vigorous and fresh as it was when New Amsterdam was in its +primitive glory. + + + GETTING READY. + +For weeks before the New Year dawns, nearly every house in the city is +in a state of confusion. The whole establishment is thoroughly +overhauled and cleaned, and neither mistress nor maid have any rest +from their labors. The men folks are nuisances at such times, and +gradually keep themselves out of the way, lest they should interfere +with the cleaning. Persons who contemplate refurnishing their houses, +generally wait until near the close of the year before doing so, in +order that everything may be new on the great day. Those who cannot +refurnish, endeavor to make their establishments look as fresh and new +as possible. A general baking, brewing, stewing, broiling, and frying +is begun, and the pantries are loaded with good things to eat and to +drink. + +All the family must have new outfits for the occasion, and tailors and +_modistes_ find this a profitable season. To be seen in a dress that +has ever been worn before, is considered the height of vulgarity. + +The table is set in magnificent style. Elegant china and glassware, and +splendid plate, adorn it. It is loaded down with dainties of every +description. Wines, lemonades, coffee, brandy, whiskey and punch, are +in abundance. Punch is seen in all its glory on this day, and each +householder strives to have the best of this article. There are regular +punch-makers in the city, who reap a harvest at this time. Their +services are engaged long beforehand, and they are kept busy all the +morning going from house to house, to make this beverage which is +nowhere so palatable as in this city. + +Hairdressers, or "artistes in hair," as they call themselves, are also +in demand at New Year, for each lady then wishes to have her _coiffure_ +as magnificent as possible. This is a day of hard work to these +_artistes_, and in order to meet all their engagements, they begin +their rounds at midnight. They are punctual to the moment, and from +that time until noon on New Year's day are busily engaged. Of course +those whose heads are dressed at such unseasonable hours cannot think +of lying down to sleep, as their "head gear" would be ruined by such a +procedure. They are compelled to rest sitting bolt upright, or with +their heads resting on a table or the back of a chair. + +Sometimes a family desiring to "shine" on such occasions find +themselves unable, after meeting the other expenses, to provide the +clothing and jewels necessary. These are then hired from _modistes_ and +jewelers, proper security being given for their return. + + + NEW YEAR'S CALLS. + +All New York is stirring by eight o'clock. By nine, the streets are +filled with gayly dressed persons on their way to make their annual +calls. Private carriages, hacks and other vehicles soon appear, filled +with persons bent upon similar expeditions. Business is entirely +suspended in the city, the day is a legal holiday, and is faithfully +observed by all classes. Hack hire is enormous--forty or fifty dollars +being the price of a carriage for the day. The cars are crowded, and, +if the weather is fine, everybody is in the highest spirits. A stranger +is struck with the fact that the crowd in the streets consists almost +entirely of men. Women rarely venture out on this day. It is not +considered respectable, and, the truth is, it is not safe to do so. + +The earliest hour at which a call can be paid, is ten o'clock. The +ultra fashionables do not begin to "receive" until twelve. At the +proper time, the lady of the house, attended by her daughters, if she +has any, takes her stand in the drawing room by the hospitable board. +In a little while, the door bell rings, and the first visitor is +introduced. He salutes his hostess, and after a few pleasant words, is +invited to partake of the refreshments. A few eatables are swallowed in +haste--the visitor talking away all the while with his mouth full--a +glass of wine or of punch is "gulped" down, and the gentleman bows +himself out. He has no time to lose, for he has dozens of similar calls +to make. This goes on until late at night. + +A gentleman in starting out, provides himself with a written list of +the calls he intends making, and "checks" each one off with his pencil, +when made. This list is necessary, as few sober men can remember all +their friends on such occasions, and after the first dozen visits are +over, such a list is greatly needed. Each man tries to make as many +calls as possible, so that he may boast of the feat afterwards. At the +outset, of course, everything is conducted with the utmost propriety, +but, as the day wears on, the generous liquors they have imbibed begin +to "tell" upon the callers, and many eccentricities, to use no harsher +term, are the result. Towards the close of the day, everything is in +confusion--the door bell is never silent. Crowds of young men in +various stages of intoxication rush into the lighted parlors, leer at +the hostess in the vain effort to offer their respects, call for +liquor, drink it, and stagger out, to repeat the scene at some other +house. Frequently, they are unable to recognize the residences of their +friends, and stagger into the wrong house. Some fall early in the day, +and are put to bed by their friends; others sink down helpless at the +feet of their hostess, and are sent home; and a few manage to get +through the day. Strange as it may seem, it is no disgrace to get drunk +on New Year's day. These indiscretions are expected at such times; and +it not unfrequently happens that the ladies, themselves, succumb to the +seductive influences of "punch" towards the close of the evening, and +are put to bed by the servants. Those who do retire sober, are +thoroughly worn out. + + + THE NEXT DAY. + +The next day one half of New York is sick. Doctors are in demand. +Headaches and various other ailments caused by "punch" are frequent. +Business men have a weary, sleepless look, and it requires one or two +nights' rest to restore mind and body to their proper condition. Should +you call on a lady friend, you will probably find her indisposed--the +cause of her sickness you can easily imagine. The Police Courts are +busy on the Second of January. Disorder, drunkenness, and fighting are +frequent on New Year's night. + + + INDEPENDENCE DAY. + +The Fourth of July is simply a nuisance in New York. The weather is +generally very warm. There is an early parade of the First Division of +the National Guard, and at night there are fine displays of fireworks +in various parts of the city. The greater part of the day, however, is +devoted to drinking and acts of lawlessness. Fire-crackers, Roman +candles, pin-wheels, and the like, abound. The police try to stop them, +but without success. The city resounds with the discharges, the air is +filled with sulphurous vapors, which irritate the throat and eyes, and +the ears are stunned with the explosions. Young America is in his +glory, and quiet, orderly people are driven nearly frantic. + + + EVACUATION DAY. + +On the 25th of November, 1783, the British troops evacuated the City of +New York, and embarked on board their ships, and the American army, +under the personal command of General Washington, occupied the city and +its defences. This was a proud day for the city, and the whole country, +and the people of New York have always commemorated it by a grand +military display. It is honored by a parade of the First Division, and +the troops are reviewed upon this occasion by the Governor of the +State. The parade is the finest to be seen in America, twelve or +thirteen thousand men, with cavalry and artillery, being under arms at +the time. + + + THANKSGIVING DAY. + +This is a "home festival," and the observance of it was introduced by +the New England element of the population. It is commemorated by +morning service in all the churches. The rest of the day is given to +rest and social enjoyment, and a bountiful dinner, for which all the +members of a family assemble at some particular house, affords the +occasion for many a friendly and domestic reunion. In the evening the +theatres and places of amusement offer additional attractions to +pleasure-seekers. + + + CHRISTMAS DAY. + +When the bell of old Trinity ceases to strike the hour of midnight, on +the 24th of December, there is a brief pause, and then the full, rich +chimes of the old church strike up a joyous peal. The sweet tones echo +and re-echo through the dark and silent streets, bidding the great city +rejoice, for the merry Christmas time has come. + +For weeks before the holiday you will see a brighter, smarter look +about the markets and the shops. The toy shops, especially, do a brisk +trade, as well as those in which articles intended for presents are +sold. Residents of the city are busy laying in dainties for the season, +and purchasing gifts for their children, relatives and friends. + +On Christmas day the festivities are much the same as those in other +places. They are hearty and merry here, as elsewhere, and the season is +one of happiness. The poor are not forgotten. Those who give nothing at +other times, will subscribe for dinners or clothing for the unfortunate +at Christmas. The various charitable institutions are kept busy +receiving and delivering the presents sent them. Their inmates are +provided with plentiful, substantial dinners, and have abundant means +of sharing in the happiness which seems to pervade the whole city. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + + THE CENTRAL PARK. + +For many years the rapid growth of the city has made it desirable that +the people should be provided with public grounds, within easy reach; +to which they could resort for rest and recreation. The natural +features of the island made it plain that such a place of resort would +have to be constructed by artificial means, and it was for some time +doubted whether any site within the city limits could be made to serve +the purpose. + +On the 5th of April, 1851, Mayor Kingsland, in a special message to the +Common Council, called attention to the importance of a public park, +sufficiently ample to meet the growing wants of the city population. +The message was referred to a select committee, who reported in favor +of purchasing a tract of one hundred and fifty acres, known as Jones' +Wood, lying between Sixty-sixth and Seventy-fifth streets, and Third +Avenue and East River. This location came near being decided upon and +purchased, but a quarrel with reference to it, between two members of +the Legislature from New York City, called the attention of the public +and the State authorities to it, and happily defeated the whole scheme. +On the 5th of August, 1851, a Committee was appointed to examine +whether another more suitable site for a park could not be found, and +the result of the inquiry was the selection of the site known as +Central Park. + + + A WONDERFUL WORK. + +The Central Park, so called because it is situated almost in the centre +of the island, is a parallelogram, and lies between Fifth and Eighth +Avenues, and Fifty-ninth and One-hundred-and-tenth streets. It covers +an area of eight hundred and forty three acres, and is about two and a +half miles long by half a mile in width. + +When the site was selected and the work commenced, the whole area, with +the exception of the Croton Reservoirs in the upper part, was a barren +waste. It was a succession of rocky elevations, stagnant pools, and +sandy plains. It was covered with a coarse undergrowth, which simply +disfigured it, and was occupied by the miserable shanties of a number +of Irish families, known as "squatters." By looking at the character of +the land surrounding it, the reader can easily form a correct idea of +the primitive character of the Park, and of the immense labor which has +been performed in transforming that barren waste into the magnificent +grounds of to-day. + +As it was morally certain that the authorities of the city of New York +would not carry on the work as honestly and as promptly as was +desirable, the Legislature placed the management of affairs in the +hands of a Commission, composed of prominent citizens of all parties. +Under the auspices of this Commission, the work was begun in 1858, and +pushed forward as rapidly as possible, to its present state. These +Commissioners still have charge of it, and conduct its affairs with the +same skill and vigor which have accomplished so much in the past. + +The Park now contains a parade ground of fifty acres, for the +manoeuvering of large bodies of troops, play grounds, base ball +grounds, rides, drives, walks, etc. There are nine miles of carriage +roads in it, four miles of bridle roads, and twenty-five miles of +walks. It is larger than any city park in the world, except the Bois de +Boulogne at Paris, the Prater at Vienna, and the Phenix Park at Dublin. +A rocky ridge, which traverses the whole island, passes through almost +the exact centre of the grounds; and has afforded a means of rendering +the scenery most beautiful and diversified. A part of the grounds form +a miniature Alpine region; another part is the perfection of water +scenery; and still another stretches away in one of the loveliest lawns +in the world. The soil will nurture almost any kind of tree, shrub, or +plant; and more than one hundred and sixty thousand trees and shrubs of +all kinds have been planted, and the work is still going on. Any of the +principal walks will conduct the visitor all over the grounds, and +afford him a fine view of the principal objects of interest. + +All the entrances on Fifty-ninth street lead to the handsome marble +arch near the eastern side. Passing through this archway, and ascending +a broad flight of stairs, the visitor finds himself in the great mall, +which, beginning near the principal entrance on Fifth Avenue, leads to +the terrace, which is one of the chief attractions. The terrace is +handsomely constructed of a soft yellow stone, carved elaborately and +tastefully. Three broad flights of stairs, one on each side, and one +covered stairway in the centre, lead to the esplanade below, in which +is the main fountain, and at the end of which is the lake. + + + THE LAKE. + +[Illustration: View in Central Park.] + +To our mind, this is the chief attraction of the Park. It covers an +area of one hundred acres, and serves as one of the receiving +reservoirs of the city. It was formerly an unsightly swamp, but it +would be hard to find now a lovelier sheet of water than this. It is +spanned by several handsome bridges, and the scenery along its banks is +both beautiful and varied. Here the eye ranges over a low shore, +covered with a rich greensward, which stretches away far in the +distance; there a bold waterfall leaps over its rocky barrier, and +plunges into the lake from a height of fifty or sixty feet. On one hand +the banks rise up bold and rugged, with an air of sternness, and on the +other the ascent is gradual and beautiful. Row-boats are constantly +plying on the lake in the mild season, and in these the visitor can +enjoy, for a small sum, the pleasure of a row over the lake. No one can +properly appreciate the beauty and variety of the scenery of this +beautiful sheet of water, without taking this little voyage. + +There is another and a smaller lake near the Fifth Avenue entrance. It +is near the wall on Fifty-ninth street, and lies down in a deep hollow, +formed by high, rocky sides, which give it a wild, mountainous +appearance. + + + PLEASURE SEEKERS. + +In fair weather the Park Commissioners cause free concerts to be given +on the mall every Saturday afternoon, by one of the best bands in the +city. The music is of a high character, and thousands flock there to +hear it. The Park is full of visitors on fine afternoons, and the boats +on the lake are crowded. The horses and equipages of the wealthier +classes form one of its greatest attractions on such occasions. They +come in great numbers. All the celebrities of the city, and many from +other parts of the world, are to be seen here, and the horses now +compare favorably with those of any other American city. Previous to +the opening of the Park, there were no drives around or in New York, +and the horse-flesh of the Metropolis was the laughing-stock of the +country. Now the case is different. + +In the winter season, when the lake and ponds are frozen over, the +skating is the great attraction. Large sheds are erected at the +principal points, containing private apartments for the sexes, +restaurants, cloak-rooms, and places for warming and putting on or +removing skates. The ice is carefully examined, and the dangerous +localities are plainly marked. Every precaution is taken to prevent +accidents, and means of assistance are always at hand. When the ice is +in good condition, a large ball is hoisted on the Arsenal, and little +flags are fastened to the various street cars running to the Park. In +this way the news is soon scattered through the city, and crowds of +persons flock to the Park to enjoy the sport. The scene is both +brilliant and exhilarating. The Commissioners prepare a code of liberal +rules for the government of skaters, and place them at conspicuous +points. All persons going on the ice are required to comply with them, +on pain of exclusion from the sport. + +Good sleighing is rare in the Metropolis, but when it is to be had, the +best is always in the Park. + + + THE ARSENAL. + +This building is situated on Fifth Avenue, just within the Park +enclosure. It was originally used for the purpose designated by the +name it bears, but is now a free museum of natural history and art. It +contains the nucleus of the Zoological Garden, which is now in course +of construction near the centre of the Park, on the line of Eighth +Avenue, and though the collection of animals, birds, etc., is small, it +is very interesting. In the upper part of the building are the models +of the sculptor Crawford, presented to the city by his widow, and many +other interesting specimens of art. + + + THE CROTON RESERVOIRS. + +These are located in the upper Park, and cover a considerable area. +From the hill on which they are situated, a fine view can be had of the +lower Park, stretching away in its beauty for over a mile. These +reservoirs receive the water direct from the aqueduct, which brings it +from Croton Lake, and pass it into the distributing reservoir on Forty- +second street. + +The scenery of this part of the Park is wild and romantic. It is said +that "the deep gorge, called McGowan's Pass, dividing this northern +portion, is the valley which, by means of its darkly wooded hillsides, +sheltered the secret messengers passing between the scattered parties +of the American troops who, during the few days intervening between +their disheartening rout on Long Island and the battle of Harlem +Plains, rallied about the range of hills extending from Fort Washington +to Bloomingdale." A small part of the "Old Boston Road" is still to be +seen in this portion of the Park, and in the distance a view is +obtained of the High Bridge and Westchester county, while Washington +Heights rise beautifully to the northward. To the eastward we see the +white sails of the vessels in Long Island Sound, and get a faint +glimpse of the town of Flushing on Long Island, and New Rochelle on the +mainland. + + + TRANSVERSE ROADS. + +It was foreseen when the Park was laid off, that as it would extend for +so long a distance right through the centre of the island, it would be +necessary to provide means of communication between the eastern and +western sides of the island, without forcing persons to pass around the +upper or lower ends of the enclosure. At the same time it was felt to +be desirable to make these roads as private as possible, so that the +beauty of the Park should not be marred by them, or by the long trains +of wagons, carts, and such other vehicles as would pass over them. The +genius of the constructing engineers soon settled this difficulty. A +system of _transverse roads_ was adopted and carried out. There are +four of them, and they cross the Park at Sixty-fifth, Seventy-ninth, +Eighty-fifth, and Ninety-seventh streets. They are sunken considerably +below the general level of the Park, and are securely walled in with +masonry. Vines, trees and shrubbery are planted and carefully trained +along the edges of these walls, which conceal the roads from view. The +visitors, by means of archways or bridges, pass over these roads, +catching but a momentary glimpse of them in some places, and in utter +ignorance of them in others. + + + THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN. + +This, when completed, will be one of the principal attractions of the +Park. It is located between the Lake and Eighth Avenue, and work is now +going forward upon it to prepare it for the reception of the animals. +It is very rocky and wild, and has many natural advantages for the +purpose to which it is to be applied. It lies just outside of the main +enclosure, and will be connected with it by means of a tunnel under the +avenue. + + + INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. + +The original cost of the Park was nearly five millions of dollars. The +total cost to the present time has been nearly nine millions. About +half a million of dollars are annually spent in improvements and in +keeping the grounds in order. + +The control of affairs is vested in a board of eight commissioners, but +the general administration is conducted by the Comptroller, Mr. Andrew +H. Green. + +The discipline is very rigid. A force of special policemen, who may be +recognized by their gray uniforms, has been placed on duty in the Park, +with the same powers and duties as the Metropolitan Police. One of +these is always on duty at each gateway, to direct visitors and furnish +information, as well as to prevent vehicles from entering the grounds +at too rapid a rate. Others of the force are scattered through the +grounds at such convenient distances, that one of them is always within +call. None of the employés are allowed to ask or to receive pay for +their services. Their wages are liberal. When an article is found by +any of the employés of the Park, it is his duty to carry it to the +property clerk at the Arsenal, where it can be identified and recovered +by the rightful owner. + +Improper conduct of all kinds is forbidden, and promptly checked. +Visitors are requested not to walk on the grass, except in those places +where the word _Common_ is posted; not to pick flowers, leaves, or +shrubs, or in any way deface the foliage; not to throw stones or other +missiles; not to scratch or deface the masonry or carving; and not harm +or feed the birds. No one is allowed to offer anything for sale within +the limits of the enclosure, without a special license from the +Commissioners. There are several hotels, or restaurants, in the +grounds. These are conducted in first-class style by persons of +responsibility and character. Private closets for men, which may be +distinguished by the sign, _"For Gentlemen only"_ are located at +convenient points throughout the Park, and cottages for ladies and +children are as numerous. These latter are in charge of a female +attendant, whose business it is to wait upon visitors, and care for +them in case of sudden illness, until medical aid can be procured. + +Carriages for hire will be found at all the principal entrances to the +Park. The Commissioners have no control over these vehicles, and the +visitor must make his own bargain with the driver; a matter to which he +had better attend before entering the vehicle, for these Jehus know how +to drive a hard bargain. + +The effect of this magnificent pleasure ground has been most salutary. +The thousands of poor persons in the great city have the means of +breathing the pure fresh air, and enjoying the beauties of nature, on +all their holiday occasions. The health of this part of the population +has improved very greatly, and the people of all classes have been +correspondingly benefited. Every inhabitant of the great city has an +especial pride in the Park, and, thanks to this feeling, the +Commissioners have little or no trouble in enforcing their regulations. +There have been no acts of rowdyism or lawlessness within the +enclosure, for even the most depraved feel themselves compelled to +respect the rules of the place. In a few years the streets facing the +walls will be occupied with magnificent residences and public +buildings, and the neighborhood will be the most delightful on the +island. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + + THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. + +New York stands at the head of all American cities in the excellence +and extent of its system of public education. It has one free college, +fifty-five ward or grammar schools, forty primary schools, and ten +colored schools. The ward schools are divided into three departments, +primary, male, and female, and the others into two, one for each sex. +The buildings are generally of brick, tastefully trimmed with freestone +or granite, and are amongst the handsomest in the city. They are +commodious, and in every respect equal to the demand upon them. The +rooms are large, airy, and neat. The building is well warmed and +ventilated, and every care is taken to render the teachers and pupils +as comfortable as possible. The number of teachers is between two +thousand five hundred and three thousand, and the number of children is +near three hundred thousand. A janitor resides in each building, and is +responsible for its cleanliness and healthfulness. + +The course of study is most thorough. Pupils enter the primary classes, +and pass through the various grades of the primary and grammar schools, +until the course is finished. Then the college of the City of New York +is opened to all who desire to enter it, who have passed regularly and +honorably through the lower schools. In this institution all the +branches of a thorough and complete collegiate course are taught. +Horace Webster, L. L. D., is the president of the college, and the +faculty embraces some of the most learned men in the city. The +institution grants diplomas, confers degrees, and is entitled to and +exercises all the privileges of a first-class college. + +The whole system is free to all the children of the city, whose parents +choose to avail themselves of it. Books and everything needed are +furnished without charge, and no pains are spared to render the course +as thorough and beneficial as possible. The pupil is put to no expense, +whatever, but is required to maintain habits of cleanliness and +neatness. The sexes are provided with separate apartments, and enter +the building by different doors. In some localities night schools are +provided, for those who cannot be present at the day sessions, and are +well attended. Many cash and errand boys and clerks, porters, drivers, +and others gladly avail themselves of this means of acquiring +knowledge. + +The cost to the city of this magnificent system, is between two and a +half and three millions of dollars annually. It is a heavy tax upon the +municipal treasury, but it is gladly borne, for it saves the metropolis +from those hordes of idle, ignorant men and women which are the curse +of all great cities. The very poorest men or women can thus give to +their children the priceless boon of knowledge, of which their youth +was deprived. Profiting by the advantage thus acquired, these little +ones, in after years, may rise to fame and fortune. Thus not only the +metropolis but the whole country reaps the blessings of this +magnificent system of free education. + +The best proof of its excellence lies in the fact that, a short time +since, a Committee, appointed by the authorities of the city of Boston, +for the purpose of inquiring into the public school systems of other +American cities, with a view to improving that of the "Hub," stated in +their report, that they regarded the system in practice in the city of +New York, as the best in the world, and recommended that the school +system of Boston be modeled upon the same plan. + +Ample as are our means of diffusing knowledge, however, they must still +be increased. They must be made to reach those lower portions of +humanity, in behalf of which the Mission Schools of the great city are +doing such noble work. Not until this is done, will the system be +perfect. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + + THE POOR OF NEW YORK. + +As we have said before, land for building purposes is very high and +scarce in New York. In consequence of this, dwellings rent here for +more than in other American cities. The laying off of the Central Park +was a decided benefit to the city and its inhabitants, but the blessing +had also its accompanying evil. It reduced the "house room" of the +island by eight hundred acres, which would have afforded comfortable +accommodations for seventy-two thousand persons, and naturally crowded +the lower quarters of the city to a still greater extent. A careful +estimate has been made by the Sanitary Association of New York, and +they report that with three fourths of the population there is an +average of six families to every house. + +The poorer classes are to be met with in all parts of the city, but +they are most numerous along the East and North rivers, and between +Fourteenth and Canal streets. The majority of them are, beyond a doubt, +honest, and willing to work, and in times of great commercial activity +nearly all can find some means of employment; but in dull seasons, when +merchants and manufacturers are forced to discharge their employés, +thousands are thrown out of work, and the greatest suffering and +distress prevail in the poor districts. Besides these there are +thousands of vagrants, drunkards, and disreputable persons, who would +rather steal, or beg, than work, and whose misery is frightful. + +We must not be understood as intimating that all who desire employment +can procure it in New York. Indeed the contrary is the case. Labor and +skill of almost every kind are in excess here. For every position of +regular labor there are at least five applicants, so that four fifths +of the poor have to resort to any and all means to maintain an honest +existence. Some of these means it is our purpose to notice separately. + + + THE LOWEST DEPTHS. + +You will see the extremes of poverty and want in and about the Five +Points district. In the day time half-clad, filthy, emaciated creatures +pass you on the gloomy streets, and startle you with the air of misery +which they carry about them. At night these poor creatures huddle into +cellars, so damp, foul, and pestilential that it seems impossible for a +human being to exist in them. The walls are lined with "bunks," or +"berths," and the woodwork and bedding is alive with vermin; the floors +are covered with wretched beds in a similar condition. The place is +either as dark as midnight, or dimly lighted with a tallow dip. +Sometimes a stove, which only helps to poison the atmosphere, is found +in the place, sometimes a pan of coals, and often there is no means of +warmth at hand. Men, women, and children crowd into these holes, as +many as thirty being found in some of them. They pay a small sum to the +wretch who acts as landlord, for the privilege of receiving this +shelter from the cold night. The sexes are mingled carelessly, and the +grossest indecency prevails. The air is loaded with blasphemy and +curses, and is heavy with such foul odors that one unaccustomed to it +cannot remain five minutes in the place. + +The attics of the lowest class of tenement houses are no better than +these cellars. They are colder, and more exposed to the elements, but +the suffering in them is no greater. + + + TENEMENT HOUSES. + +The scarcity of land in the city has led to the construction of numbers +of buildings known as "Tenement Houses." These are large edifices, +containing many rooms and, often, as many families. They abound chiefly +in the Tenth, Eleventh, and Seventeenth Wards. The majority of persons +living in these houses are foreigners. "It is not to be inferred, +however, that it is poverty only that causes such dense settlement, +since a spirit of economy and frugality manifests itself among these +people, which forbids too much expenditure for the high rents charged, +or for much riding on the railroads." Still, whatever may be the causes +which lead persons to herd together in such buildings, the effect is +the same in all cases. The neighborhood becomes dirty and unhealthy, +and the buildings themselves perfect pest-houses. Some of them are neat +and tasteful in their exteriors, others are vile and filthy all over. + +They are now generally built for this purpose. As pecuniary investments +they pay well, the rents sometimes yielding thirty-five per cent. on +the investment. The following description will convey a fair idea of +them to the reader. One of the houses stands on a lot with a front of +fifty feet, and a depth of two hundred and fifty feet. It has an alley +running the whole depth on each side of it. These alley-ways are +excavated to the depth of the cellars, arched over, and covered with +flag stones, in which, at intervals, are open gratings to give light +below; the whole length of which space is occupied by water closets, +without doors, and under which are open drains communicating with the +street sewers. The building is five stories high, and has a flat roof. +The only ventilation is by a window, which opens against a dead wall +eight feet distant, and to which rises the vapor from the vault below. +There is water on each floor, and gas pipes are laid through the +building, so that those who desire it can use gas. The building +contains one hundred and twenty-six families, or about seven hundred +inhabitants. Each family has a narrow sitting-room, which is used also +for working and eating, and a closet called a bed room. But few of the +rooms are properly ventilated. The sun never shines in at the windows, +and if the sky is overcast the rooms are so dark as to need artificial +light. The whole house is dirty, and is filled with the mingled odors +from the cooking-stoves and the sinks. In the winter the rooms are kept +too close by the stoves, and in the summer the natural heat is made +tenfold greater by the fires for cooking and washing. Pass these houses +on a hot night, and you will see the streets in front of them filled +with the occupants, and every window choked up with human heads, all +panting and praying for relief and fresh air. Sometimes the families +living in the close rooms we have described, take "boarders," who pay a +part of the expenses of the "establishment." Formerly the occupants of +these buildings emptied their filth and refuse matter into the public +streets, which in these quarters were simply horrible to behold; but of +late years, the police, by compelling a rigid observance of the +sanitary laws, have greatly improved the condition of the houses and +streets, and consequently the health of the people. The reader must not +suppose the house we have described is a solitary instance. There are +many single blocks of dwellings containing twice the number of families +residing on Fifth Avenue, on both sides of that street, from Washington +Square to the Park, or than a continuous row of dwellings similar to +those on Fifth Avenue, three or four miles in length. There is a +multitude of these squares, any of which contains a larger population +than the whole city of Hartford, Connecticut which covers an area of +seven miles. [Footnote: Annual Encyclopaedia, 1861] There is one single +house in the city which contains twelve hundred inhabitants. + + + FALLEN FORTUNES. + +You will see all classes of people in these tenement houses, and, +amongst others, persons who have known wealth and comfort. Alas! that +it should be so. You will see them stealing along quickly and +noiselessly, avoiding the other inmates with an aversion they cannot +conceal, and as if they fear to be recognized by some one who knew them +in their better days. They live entirely to themselves, suffering more +than those who have been used to poverty. If they can get work, they +take it gladly and labor faithfully. If unable to procure it, they +suffer, and often starve in silence. Only when driven by the direst +necessity do they seek aid from charitable persons or associations. +There are many of these men and women, persons of worth and refinement, +in the great city, whose poverty and sufferings are known only to the +eye that sees all things. + + + A ROMANCE OF A CHIGNON. + +Many a fine lady, as she pauses in her toilette to admire the effect of +the beautiful locks, for which she is indebted to her wealth rather +than to nature, would shrink in horror from the glittering coils, could +she know their whole story. We will tell it. + +A poor sewing girl, whose only riches consisted of a "wealth of hair," +died in a tenement house in one of the most wretched quarters of the +city. Her life had been a fearful struggle against want and temptation, +and death was a relief to her. She died alone, in her miserable home, +with no one to minister to her last wants. Her death became known to +the inmates of the house, who notified the city authorities. +Preparations were made to lay the body in the "Potter's field," and +until these were completed it was left in the silence and loneliness of +the chamber which had witnessed its mortal sufferings. While it lay +there, the door was noiselessly opened, and a man, roughly dressed, +with his face partly concealed, entered, glancing around carefully to +see if he was noticed. Then closing the door quickly, he approached the +body, and produced a pair of large shears; lifting the lifeless form +roughly with one hand, with the other he severed the long tresses +quickly from the cold head, and gathering them up, departed as +noiselessly as he had come, taking with him the only source of +happiness the dead woman had ever possessed. The braid was sold for a +mere trifle to a fashionable hair-dresser, who asked no questions +concerning it, and when it was seen next, it was worn by some fine +lady, who, in, her thoughtless vanity, never paused to consider its +history. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + + POOR GIRLS. + +We cannot hope to do justice to this branch of our subject. To treat it +properly would require a volume, for it is full of the saddest, +sternest, and most truthful romance. A writer in _Putnam's Magazine_ +for April, 1868, presented an able and authentic paper on this subject, +which is so full and interesting that we have decided to quote a few +extracts from it here, in place of any statement of our own. + +Where the Bowery runs into Chatham street, we pause, and from within +our close-buttoned overcoats look out over our mufflers at the passing +throng. There are many novel features in it, but let them pass. Note +these thinly-clad creatures who hurry shivering past, while the keen +wind searches, with icy fingers, through their scanty garments, and +whirls the blinding snow in their pitiful, wearied faces. We count them +by tens, by scores, by hundreds, as we stand patiently here--all +bearing the same general aspect of countenance, all hurrying anxiously +forward, as if this morning's journey were the most momentous one of +their whole lives. But they take the same journey every morning, year +in and year out, whether the sun shines or the rain falls, or the bleak +winds whistle and the snow sweeps in their faces, with a pain like the +cutting of knives. The same faces go past in this dreary procession +month after month. Occasionally one will be missing--she is dead. +Another: she is worse than dead--_her_ face had beauty in it. Thus one +by one I have seen them drop away--caught by disease, born of their +work and their want, bringing speedy end to the weary, empty life; +caught by temptation and drawn into the giddy maelstrom of sin, to come +out no more forever. + +To-morrow morning take your stand at Fulton or Catharine ferry, and +you shall see much such another procession go shivering by. The next +day station yourself somewhere on the west side, say in Canal street, a +few blocks from Broadway; here it is again. If Asmodeus-like, you could +hover in the air above the roofs of the town, and look down upon its +myriad streets at this hour, you would see such processions in every +quarter of the metropolis. The spectacle would help you to form some +idea of the vastness of the theme now on our hands. + +Let us define the poor girls as those who are forced to earn whatever +food they eat, whatever clothing they wear, by hard toil; girls who do +not receive one cent, one crumb, from the dead, helpless, or recreant +parents who brought them into the world. It is, of course, impossible +to give their number accurately; but there is a result attainable by +persistent observation, day by day and week by week, at all hours, and +in all sorts of places, which is quite as reliable and satisfactory as +any that is obtainable through blundering census-takers; and I know +this army of poor girls to be one of great magnitude. The sewing girls +alone I have heard estimated at thirty thousand, by one whose life is +in every day contact with them, and has been for years. This is but a +single class among the poor girls, reflect. The estimate may be deemed +an exaggerated one. Then we will disarm criticism by taking it at half +its word. If, accordingly, we say thirty thousand for _the whole_--for +all classes--it is still a vague figure.... Few persons ever saw thirty +thousand people gathered together. But we all comprehend distances. _If +this army of poor girls were to form in a procession together, it would +be more than ten miles long_. + + + THE SEWING GIRLS. + +There are two classes of sewing girls in New York. Those who work at +home, and those who go out to work at places provided by their +employers. Those who work at home are comparatively few. They stay +there not from choice, but from necessity. Bodily deformity, or +infirmity, or sickness, or invalid parents, or relatives, whom they are +unable to leave, keeps them there. + +The writer in _Putnam_, to whose deeply interesting statement we refer +the reader for further information on this point, found a poor girl of +this class, who was kept at home by the sickness of her consumptive +father, living and working in a miserable tenement house in the upper +part of Mulberry street. After a brief conversation with her, he asked: + +'What rent do you pay for this room, Mary?' + +'Four dollars a month, sir.' + +"That," he continues, "is little more than thirteen cents a day, you +will observe." + +'What do you get for making such a shirt as that?' + +'Six cents, sir.' + +'What! You make a shirt for six cents?' + +'Yes, sir, and furnish the thread.' + +If my reader is incredulous, I can assure him that Mary does not tell a +falsehood; for I know that this price is paid by some of the most +'respectable' firms in New York. 'Can't you get work to do at higher +prices?' + +'Sometimes, sir. But these folks are better than many others; they pay +regularly. Some who offer better prices will cheat, or they won't pay +when the work is carried home These folks give me plenty of work, and I +never have to wait; so I don't look around for better. I can't afford +to take the risk, sir; so many will cheat us.' + +Respectability is a good thing, you see. Let me whisper a few other +prices to you, which respectability pays its poor girls. Fifteen or +twenty cents for making a linen coat, complete; sixty-two cents _per +dozen_ for making men's heavy overalls; one dollar a dozen for making +flannel shirts. Figures are usually very humdrum affairs, but what a +story they tell here! These last prices I did not get from Mary. I got +them in the first place, from a benevolent lady who works with heart +and hand, day after day, all her time, in endeavoring to better the +condition of the poor girls of New York. But I got them, in the second +place, from the employers themselves. By going to them, pencil in hand, +and desiring the cheerful little particulars for publication? Hardly! I +sent my office-boy out in search of work for an imaginary 'sister,' and +to inquire what would be paid her. Having inquired, and got his answer, +it is needless to say that James concluded his sister could live +without taking in sewing. + +So, you see, that in order merely to pay her rent, Mary must make two +shirts a day. That being done, she must make more to meet her other +expenses. She has fuel to buy--and a pail of coal costs her fifteen +cents. She has food to buy--but she eats very little, her father still +less. She has not tasted meat of any kind for over a year, she tells +us. What then does she eat? Bread and potatoes, principally; she drinks +a cup of cheap tea, without milk or sugar, at night--provided she has +any, which she frequently has not. She has also to buy (I am not +painting fancy pictures, I am stating facts, which are not regulated by +any rules known to our experience) 'a trifle of whiskey.' Mary's father +was not reared a teetotaller, and though I was, and have no taste for +liquor, I am able to see how a little whiskey may be the last physical +solace possible to this miserable man, whose feet press the edge of a +consumptive's grave. + +"Perhaps you think it cannot be any of our first and wealthiest firms +that pay poor girls starvation prices for their work. But you are +mistaken. If my publishers did not deem it unwise to do so, I should +give the names of some of our best Broadway houses as among the +offenders against the poor girls." + + + A LIFE-STRUGGLE. + +"Let us follow one of these poor girls," says the writer we have +quoted, "as she comes out of the den of this beast of prey, and moves +off, wringing her hands in an agony of distress. Day and night, with +wearying industry, she had been working upon the dozen shirts he had +given her to make. She had been looking forward--with what eagerness +you can hardly realize--to the hour when she could carry him her work +and get her pay, and recover her deposit money or receive more shirts +to do. Now she is turned into the street with nothing! She dares not +return to her miserable boarding-place in Delancey street, for her +Irish landlady is clamorous for the two weeks' board now due. Six +dollars! The sum is enormous to her. She had expected that to-night she +could hand the Irish woman the money she had earned, and that it, with +a promise of more soon, might appease her. But now she has nothing for +her--nothing. Despair settles down upon her. Hunger is its companion, +for she has had no supper. Where shall she go?" + +Night has come down since she left Delancey street, carrying the heavy +bundle of new-made shirts. The streets are lighted up, and are alive +with bustle. Heedless what course she takes, unnoticed, uncared-for by +any in the great ocean of humanity whose waves surge about her, she +wanders on, and by-and-by turns into Broadway. Broadway, ever +brilliant--with shop windows where wealth gleams in a thousand rare +and beautiful shapes; Broadway, with its crowding omnibuses and +on-pouring current of life, its Niagara roar, its dazzle--is utter +loneliness to her. The fiery letters over the theatre entrances are +glowing in all the colors of the rainbow. Gayly-attired ladies, girls +of her own age, blest with lovers or brothers, are streaming in at the +portal, beyond which she imagines every delight--music, and beauty, and +perfume of flowers, and _warmth_. She looks in longingly, hugging her +shivering shoulders under her sleazy shawl, till a policeman bids her +'move on.' Out of the restaurants there float delicious odors of +cooking meats, making her hungrier still. Her eyes rest, with a look +half wild and desperate, on the painted women who pass, in rustling +silks, and wearing the _semblance_ of happiness. At least they are +fed--they are clothed--they can sit in bright parlors, though they sit +with sin. It is easy to yield to temptation. So many do! You little +know how many. In Paris, she might perhaps go and throw herself into +the Seine. In New York, such suicides are not common; but there is a +moral suicide, which is common. Thousands on thousands of poor girls +have thrown themselves into this stream, in the last agony of +desperation; sinking down in the dark current of sin, to be heard of no +more. + +But this poor wanderer has memories of a home, and a mother, under +whose protection she had been taught to shudder at sin. She cannot +plunge into this ghastly river with wide-open eyes--at least, not yet. +She walks on. + +Her ear is caught by sounds of music and laughter, songs and bursts of +applause, that come up out of these basement-haunting concert saloons. +She has heard of the 'pretty waiter girls'--the fine clothes they wear, +the gay lives they lead, their only labor to wait upon the patrons of +the saloon, and chat with them as they sit about the tables listening +to the music. 'It is a life of Paradise,' she murmurs, 'to this life I +lead!' At least, she thinks, there is no actual sin in being a waiter +girl. She perceives a wide distance between the descent of these +basement stairs to solicit employment, and that other dreadful +resource. + +The poor girls who work in these underground hells do not get good pay, +and their work is not light. They are confined in these noisome places, +thick with tobacco smoke and foul with poisonous odors, till two +o'clock in the morning; in some places till five o'clock. Their pay is +four dollars to six dollars a week; higher figures, certainly, than +thousands of working-girls get, but, for two reasons, lower, in effect. +The first of these two reasons is, that the waiter girl must dress with +some degree of attractiveness. The second, and the most weighty, is, +that she must pay a high price for board. Going home long after +midnight, she must live somewhere in the vicinity of the saloon. Then +the woman who, having taken a girl to board, finds that she comes home +after two o'clock every night, draws her own conclusions at once. That +girl must pay _well_ for her board, if, indeed, she be not turned out +of the house without a word. It will scarcely help the matter, if the +girl explains that she is employed at a concert saloon. The woman knows +very well what 'pretty waiter girls' are. 'Those creatures' must pay +for what they have, and pay roundly. The result is, that the waiter +girl's occupation will not support her. The next result is, that there +are no virtuous girls in the concert saloons of Broadway--unless they +be such girls as this we are following tonight, as she wanders the +streets, pausing to look down into this fancied half-Paradise, only to +enter it at last, in search of 'good pay.' + +Let us go down with her. She pushes open the green-baize door, and +walks timidly to the bar. A girl who is passably pretty can almost +always get a situation here. The big-armed prize-fighter-looking brute +behind the bar reads our wanderer's history at once. 'Fresh' girls are +rare in that quarter. She is assisted to improve her dress a little-- +in some cases these girls are provided with a fancy costume, _à la +Turque_, which they don at coming, and doff at leaving each night--and +she commences her work. A crowd of half-drunk rowdies enter, and call +on her to serve them, attracted by her sweet face. The grossest insults +are put upon her, her character being taken for granted; infamous +liberties are taken with her person, and her confusion laughed at. She +would fly from the place at once, if she dared; but she does not dare-- +she is afraid of the man behind the bar. Her experience with men has +taught her to expect nothing but brutality from them, if she offend +them in any way. When the weary hours have dragged along to the end, +and the place is closed, she goes out into the street again, with a +bevy of other girls. The street is still and lonely; the long lines of +lamps twinkle in silence; the shop windows are all shrouded in +darkness; there are no rumbling wheels, save when an occasional hack +passes with slow-trotting horses. + +Now she must decide upon her course. This is the critical moment. Will +she adhere to her new-found employment? If she do, one of her +companions will volunteer to take her to a boarding-place--and from +that hour she is lost. But perhaps she breaks away: a policeman +saunters by, and she appeals to him, begging to be taken to a station- +house to sleep--a common resource with the homeless poor girl--and on +the morrow resumes her deathly struggle for existence. How long it will +last--how long she will fight her almost inevitable fate--no one can +tell. + +"But the poor girls who work in shops provided by their employers, fare +better, you think. At least, they find shelter and warmth in the cold +winter, while at work? At least, they are permitted to breathe and +live." + + + THE WORKSHOPS OF THE POOR GIRLS. + +There are hoop-skirt manufactories where, in the incessant din of +machinery, girls stand upon weary feet all day long for fifty cents. +There are photograph galleries--you pass them in Broadway admiringly-- +where girls 'mount' photographs in dark rooms, which are hot in summer +and cold in winter, for the same money. There are girls who make fans, +who work in feathers, who pick over and assort rags for paper +warehouses, who act as 'strippers' in tobacco shops, who make caps, and +paper boxes, and toys, and almost all imaginable things. There are +milliners' girls, and bindery girls, and printers' girls--press- +feeders, bookfolders, hat-trimmers. It is not to be supposed that all +these places are objectionable; it is not to be supposed that all the +places where sewing-girls work are objectionable; but among each class +there are very many--far _too_ many--where evils of the gravest +character exist, where the poor girls are wronged, the innocents +suffer. There are places where there are not sufficient fires kept, in +cold weather, and where the poor girl, coming in wet and shivering from +the storm, must go immediately to work, wet as she is, and so continue +all day. There are places where the 'silent system' of prisons is +rigidly enforced, where there are severe penalties for whispering to +one's neighbor, and where the windows are closely curtained, so that no +girl can look out upon the street; thus, in advance, inuring the girls +to the hardships of prison discipline, in view of the possibility that +they may some day become criminals! There are places where the employer +treats his girls like slaves, in every sense of the word. Pause a +moment, and reflect on _all_ that signifies. As in the South 'as it +was,' some of these girls are given curses, and even blows, and even +_kicks_; while others are special favorites either of 'the boss,' or of +some of his male subordinates, and dress well, pay four dollars a week +for board, and fare well generally--on a salary of three dollars a +week. + + + TEMPTATIONS. + +Until you have lived the life of the working girl, lady, reading this +page, you cannot know what their temptation is--how hard it is to keep +away sin and shame. By all the doors at which temptation can enter to +you, it enters to them; and by many other doors of which you know +nothing by experience. It comes in the guise of friendship to them, who +are utterly friendless in the world. It comes in the guise of love--and +do you think the poor girl never yearns for the caressing touch of +love's palm on her aching brow? never longs to be folded in the +comforting embrace of love's strong arms? Ah, _she_ knows the worth of +love! It comes, too, through womanly vanity, as it does to her happier +sisters, who sit higher in the social scale. But in addition to these, +temptation comes to the poor girl through the tortures of a hunger +which gnaws upon the vitals--of a cold which chills the young blood +with its ice--of a weariness under which the limbs tremble, the head +reels, the whole frame sinks prostrate. + +"If you were starving, and could not otherwise get food, possibly you +would steal it. I would. If hunger will rouse strong men to active +crime, how easy must it be for it to lead the poor girl to a merely +passive sin! Yet she struggles with a bravery which few would give her +credit for--with this, as with all her temptations. There was Agnes--, +a beautiful girl of seventeen, who resisted the temptation that came +to her through her own employer. He discharged her. Unable to pay her +board, she was turned into the streets. It was a bitter day in January. +For _four days_ she wandered the streets, looking for work--only for +work. 'I envied the boys who shoveled snow from the sidewalks. I would +gladly have done their work for half they got.' Hungry, she pawned her +shawl. When that was gone, she went twenty-four hours without a crumb, +shivering through the streets. At night, she slept in the station- +house--without a bed, thankful for mere shelter. Again and again she +was tempted; but she did not yield. She found work at last, and leads +her cruel life still, patiently and uncomplaining. There was Caroline +G---, who came from the West to New York, fancying the great city would +have plenty of work to give her. She, too, wandered the streets, and +slept at night in the station-house. On the third day--which was the +Christian Sabbath--mercy seemed to have found her. A gentlemanly +appearing person spoke to her, and learning her want, offered to give +her a place as seamstress in his family. He lived a short distance in +the country, he said, and took her to a hotel to stay till next day, +when they would take the cars for his home. The hotel was an elegant +one; the room given her was hung with silk and lace; but she preferred +the hard floor of the station-house, that night, to its luxurious +state--for her 'protector' was a wolf in sheep's clothing." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + + THE STREET BOYS. + +You can scarcely walk a single block without your attention being drawn +to one or more of the class called "street boys." We have already +devoted a separate chapter to the musicians, and we must now endeavor +to give the reader an idea of the rest of this class. + + + THE NEWSBOYS. + +Every morning, by times, and every afternoon between one o'clock and +dark, if you chance to be in the neighborhood of Printing House Square, +you will see throngs of boys rushing frantically out of the cellars of +the printing houses of the daily journals. They have barely passed the +portals, when they set up their morning cry, in a shrill, sharp tone, +"'Ere's your ''Erald,' 'Mornin' Times,' 'Buy a Tribune?'" etc. In the +afternoon, they scream into your ears the names of the "News," "Mail," +"Express," "Telegram," "Post," and other evening journals, flavoring +their announcements with shouts such as these: "'Nuther murder!" +"Tremendous sensation!" "Orful shootin' scrape!" "'Orrible haccident!" +and so on. They climb up on the steps of the stage, thrust their grim +little faces in the windows, and almost bring nervous passengers to +their feet by their yells; or, scrambling into a street car, they will +offer you their papers in such an earnest, appealing way, that, nine +times out of ten, you will buy them out of sheer pity for the boys. + +The boys who sell the morning papers are very few in number. The +newspaper stands seem to have the whole monopoly of this branch of the +trade, and the efforts of the newsboys are confined to the afternoon +journals--especially the cheap ones--some of which, however, are dear +bargains at a penny. They swarm around the City Hall, and in the +eastern section of the city, below Canal street; and in the former +locality, half a dozen will sometimes surround a luckless pedestrian, +thrusting their wares in his face, and literally forcing him to buy one +to get rid of them. The moment he shows the least disposition to yield, +they commence fighting amongst themselves for the "honor" of serving +him. They are ragged and dirty. Some have no coats, no shoes, and no +hat. Some are simply stupid, others are bright, intelligent little +fellows, who would make good and useful men if they could have a +chance. + +The majority of these boys live at home, but many of them are wanderers +in the streets, selling papers at times, and begging at others. Some +pay their earnings, which rarely amount to more than thirty cents per +day, to their mothers--others spend them in tobacco, strong drink, and +in visiting the low-class theatres and concert halls. + +Formerly, these little fellows suffered very much from exposure and +hunger. In the cold nights of winter, they slept on the stairways of +the newspaper offices, in old boxes or barrels, under door steps, and +sometimes sought a "warm bed" on the street gratings of the printing +offices, where the warm steam from the vaults below could pass over +them. The attention of the "Children's Aid Association" was called to +their hardships in 1854, and an effort was made to relieve them by +establishing a newsboys' lodging house. + + + NEWSBOYS' LODGING HOUSE. + +This is now situated in Park Place, near Broadway, and is richly worth +visiting. It is always full at night. The boys pay five cents for +supper, and five cents for bed. The whole of the arrangements are under +the superintendence of Mr. and Mrs. O'Conner, who have been most +efficient in their management of the house. It requires a great deal of +tact to keep these boys under proper discipline, without, at the same +time, letting them feel that the restrictions are too severe. Supper is +served for them between six and seven o'clock, and is of plain, +substantial materials. The boys then adjourn to the lecture-room, where +they are supplied with books, and where, in the course of the evening, +they unite in singing various hymns. Occasionally, gentlemen come in +and give lectures. Some of the boys are eager to learn to write, and +are supplied with writing materials. The sitting generally terminates +about nine o'clock, with the recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the +singing of the Doxology. The singing is marked with force, rather than +great accuracy; it sometimes partakes very much of the character of a +bawl. But the lads are amused, and perhaps a little instructed, so +something is gained. After these exercises, the tired ones go to bed, +the lively blades to the gymnasium, the philosophic apply themselves to +draughts or dominoes. The gymnasium is a most amusing place. There is +one little boy, named 'Chris,' a newsboy, aged eleven, who lost his leg +by being rode over by a coal cart, about four years ago, whose agility +is perfectly wonderful. He throws aside the crutch with disdain, hops +across the room with incredible swiftness, seizes the rings of the +swing, and flies through the air like a bird. Some of the newsboys have +considerable savings, and are very well-conducted lads. Last month, one +of them picked up a roll of bills amounting to two hundred dollars. He +brought it immediately to Mr. O'Conner, and asked his advice. It was +decided that the finding should be advertised; but as the owner was not +forthcoming, the boy placed his savings in a bank; and has added +considerably to the original amount. + + + THE BOOTBLACKS. + +The bootblacks form a peculiar feature of New York life. They are boys +from ten to sixteen years of age. A few are older, and there are some +men following this avocation on the street. The boys, however, are +always meant when this class is referred to. Some of them are newsboys +early in the morning, and bootblacks for the rest of the day. + +They provide themselves with a box, with a sliding lid and a rest for +the feet of their customers, a box of blacking, and a pair of good +brushes. All the articles are kept in the box, when not in use, and the +owner carries this receptacle by means of a leather strap fastened to +it. This he slings across his shoulder, and trudges on with his box on +his back. The headquarters of this class are in or near the Five Points +district. They form a regular confraternity, and have their own laws or +customs. They are generally sharp, shrewd lads, with any number of bad +habits, and little or no principle. They are averse to giving much +information with respect to themselves or their society, admission into +which requires a payment of two dollars. To what purpose the money thus +obtained is devoted, it is hard to say, but the object of the +association seems to be mutual protection. The "Order" establishes a +fixed price for labor, and takes care to protect its members against +the competition of irregular intruders. The established price, for +blacking a pair of boots or shoes, is ten cents. When it is known to a +member that an outsider is blacking for a less sum, the fact is +reported to the society, which appoints a delegation to look after the +presumptuous individual. He is promptly warned that he must work for +the regular price, or "quit work." If he declines to do either, his +head, in the elegant language of the society, is "punched," and he is +driven from the street. The affairs of the society are managed by a +"Captain of the bootblacks," whose word is supreme, and who wields his +power as all arbitrary rulers do. + +The price of a new outfit, or "kit," such as we have described, is from +two to three dollars. Second-hand outfits can be bought of the junk- +dealers for much less. When asked how much they earn, the boys give +evasive answers, and it has been said that their society does not +permit them to tell the truth upon this subject. One dollar is supposed +to be the average daily earning of an industrious boy. The writer was +once much amused by a little fellow telling him, with an air of great +importance, that he was going that night to attend the trial of Bill +Simpson, a recreant bootblack, who was to be "brought afore the s'ciety +for blacking boots for five cents." The trial must have been edifying. +Where and when the society meets, and what is the nature of its +transactions, are secrets known only to the initiated. + +A large part of the earnings of the bootblacks is spent for tobacco and +drink. They are patrons of the Bowery theatres and concert halls, and +their criticisms of the performances are frequently worth hearing. The +"Children's Aid Society" makes them objects of its especial care, its +great end and aim being "to induce the boys to emigrate to the West." +The course of life which they pursue leads to miserable results. When a +bootblack gets to be seventeen, he finds that his career is at an end-- +it does not produce money enough--and he has acquired lazy, listless +habits, which totally unfit him for any kind of work. He becomes a +loafer, a vagrant, and perhaps worse. To save boys from this fate, the +society labors most earnestly to induce them to go to the West; and it +is stated that the desire of the boys to secure western homes increases +year by year. Up to the present time about seven hundred have been sent +out, and many of them are now filling respectable positions in society. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + + BEGGARS. + +After living in New York for a few months, you cannot resist the +conclusion that it is a City of Beggars. You meet them at every step, +and they follow you into your residence and place of business. A few +you know to be genuine, and you give them gladly, but cannot resist the +conviction that the majority of those who accost you are simply +impostors, as, indeed, they are. Begging is not allowed on the street- +cars, in the stages, the ferry-boats, or at any place of amusement, but +there is no law against the practice of it on the streets. Broadway is +the favorite resort of this class, as it is the principal promenade of +the city people, and Fourteenth, and Twenty-third streets, and Fifth +Avenue are being made disagreeable in this way. + +Besides these street beggars, there are numbers of genteel, and +doubtless well-meaning persons who make it their business to beg for +others. They intrude upon you at the most inconvenient times, and +venture into your private apartments with a freedom and assurance which +positively amaze you. Refuse them, and they are insulting. + +Then there are those who approach you by means of letters. They send +you the most pitiful appeals for aid, and assure you that nothing but +the direst necessity induces them to send you such a letter, and that +they would not do so under any circumstances, were not they aware of +your well-known charitable disposition. Some persons of known wealth +receive as many as a dozen letters of this kind each day. They are, in +ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, from impostors, and are properly +consigned to the waste-basket. + +Housekeepers have frequent applications every day for food. These are +generally complied with, as, in all families of moderate size, there is +much that must either be given or thrown away. Children and old people +generally do this kind of begging. They come with long faces and +pitiful voices, and ask for food in the most doleful tones. Grant their +requests, and you will be amused at the cool manner in which they will +produce large baskets, filled with provisions, and deposit your gift +therein. Many Irish families find all their provisions in this way. + +A lady desirous of helping a little child who was in the habit of +coming to her on such errands, once asked her what her mother's +occupation was? + +"She keeps a boardin' house," was the innocent reply. + +"A boarding house!" exclaimed the lady in surprise, "then why does she +send you out to beg?" + +"Oh!" said the child naively, "she takes care of the house, and I do +the marketing. She doesn't call it begging." + +The cool impudence of street beggars is often amusing. The writer was +sitting a short while since in the office of a friend, when a man +entered and began a most pitiful story. The gentleman gave him a penny +or two, then looking at him for the first time, said: + +"How is this, my friend? This is the second time you have been here to- +day. I gave you something this morning." + +The man had evidently blundered into the office this time, and he now +glanced at the gentleman and about the room, searchingly. He recognized +them, and bursting into a laugh at his mistake, left the room without +replying. + +The majority of the beggars of the City, we are glad to say, are +foreigners and their children. An American mendicant is rarely seen. +Our people will suffer in silence rather than beg, but the foreigners +do not seem to be influenced by any such feelings. They are used to it, +no doubt, in their own country, and bring their pauper habits over here +with them. We make an exception in favor of the Germans. They are a +hard-working people and rarely beg. + +The City makes a liberal provision for the poor, and the charitable +associations do much more, but still it is impossible to relieve all +the suffering. The reader will find in one of the engravings of this +work, an instance of the manner in which the poor are provided with +food at the Tombs. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + + EMIGRANTS. + +Nine tenths of the emigration from Europe to the United States is +through the port of New York. So large is the number of emigrants +arriving here, that the authorities have been compelled to establish a +depot for the especial accommodation of this class. This depot is +located at the Battery. + + + THE BATTERY. + +The Battery was formerly one of the most delightful spots in New York. +It occupies the extreme lower end of the island, and commands a fine +view of the bay and harbor. It had formerly a granite sea-wall, along +which was the favorite promenade of the city, and was shaded by a grove +of fine oaks which the Dutch settlers had been wise enough to spare. It +was almost triangular in form, and on two sides was built up with +stately mansions of the old style, which were occupied by the _elite_ +of the metropolis. It had an elegant and aristocratic air, which made +it very attractive to both native and visitor. + +The houses and trees are still standing, but the dwellers who made the +place so gay, twenty years ago, have flown up the island, and the +buildings are occupied with the offices of the various shipping lines, +that ply between this and other ports; and by cheap hotels, bar-rooms, +and sailors' boarding houses, the grass in the enclosure is trodden +down, and the place is both dirty and repulsive. The railing is lined +with long rows of street-venders' stalls, and the gates have been taken +away. Crowds of emigrants, drunken men, slovenly women and dirty +children are to be seen at all hours of the day in the old park, and +the only beauty still clinging to the scene is in the expanse of blue +water which stretches away from it seaward. At night the Battery is not +a safe place to visit, for its frequenters respect neither life nor +property, and the bay is close at hand to hide all traces of crime. + + + CASTLE GARDEN. + +The emigrant ships, both sail vessels and steamers, anchor in the river +after entering the port. They generally lie off their own piers, and +wait for the Custom-House boat to board them. As soon as this is done, +and the necessary forms are gone through with, preparations are made to +land the emigrants, as the ship cannot enter her berth at the pier till +this duty is accomplished. The emigrants and their baggage are placed +on board the Custom-House steamer, and are at once conveyed to Castle +Garden, a round building which juts out into the water at the extreme +end of the Battery. + +In the year 1807 work was commenced on this building by the General +Government, the site having been ceded by the city. It was intended to +erect a strong fortification, to be called Castle Clinton, but, in +1820, it was discovered that the foundations were not strong enough to +bear heavy ordnance, and Congress reconveyed the site to the city. The +building was then completed as an opera house, and used for operatic +and theatrical performances, concerts, and public receptions. It was +the largest and most elegant hall of its kind in the country, and was a +favorite resort of pleasure seekers. Jenny Lind sang there, during her +visit to the United States. It was used for this purpose until the year +1855, when, the fashion and wealth of the city having removed too high +up town to make it profitable, it was leased to the Commissioners of +Emigration, as a landing-place for emigrants. + +This Commission has the exclusive charge of the Landing Depot and its +inmates. It is composed of six Commissioners, appointed by the Governor +of the State. The Mayors of New York and Brooklyn, and the Presidents +of the Irish and German Emigrant Societies, are members _ex-officio_. +They are responsible to the Legislature for their acts. + +The Landing Depot is fitted up with quarters for the emigrants and +their baggage, and with various stores at which they can procure +articles of necessity at moderate prices. As most of them come provided +with some money, there is an exchange office in the enclosure, at which +they can procure American currency for their foreign money. Many of +them come furnished with railroad tickets to their destinations in the +West, which they have purchased in Europe, but the majority buy their +tickets in this city. There is an office for this purpose in the +building, at which the agents of the various lines leading from the +city to the Great West are prepared to sell tickets. No one is +compelled to transact his business in the building, but all are advised +to do so, as they will then be fairly treated; while they are in danger +of falling into the hands of swindlers outside. Attached to the +establishment is an official, whose duty it is to furnish any +information desired by the emigrants, and to advise them as to the +boarding houses of the city which are worthy of their patronage. The +keepers of these houses are held to a strict account of their treatment +of their guests. + +The majority of the emigrants go West in a few days after their +arrival. Some have already decided on their place of future abode +before leaving Europe, and others are influenced by the information +they receive after reaching this country. Should they desire to remain +in this city they are frequently able to obtain employment, through the +Labor Exchange connected with the Landing Depot, and by the same means +many obtain work in other parts of the country--the Commissioners +taking care that the contracts thus made are lawful and fair to both +parties. + +As we have said, the greater number of the emigrants arriving here have +money when they come. Others, who have been able to raise only enough +to reach this, to them, "land of promise," or who have been swindled +out of their funds by sharpers in European ports, arrive here in the +most destitute condition. These are a burden to the city and, State at +first, and are at once sent to the Emigrant Refuge and Hospital. + + + EMIGRANT REFUGE AND HOSPITAL. + +This establishment is located on Ward's Island, in the Harlem River, +and consists of several large buildings for hospitals, nurseries, and +other purposes. It has a farm of one hundred and six acres attached to +it. The destitute emigrants are sent to this establishment, as soon as +their condition is ascertained, and cared for until they either obtain +employment, or are provided for by their friends in this country, or +are sent to their original destinations in the West at the expense of +the Commissioners. Medical attendance is provided at the Landing Depot, +and is free to all needing it. Serious cases are sent to the hospital +on Ward's Island, where good medical skill and attendance are +furnished. + +The number of emigrants at the Refuge sometimes amounts to several +hundred of all nationalities. The Irish and German elements +predominate, and these being bitterly hostile to each other, the +authorities are frequently compelled to adopt severe measures to +prevent an open collision between them. In the winter of 1867-68, the +Irish and German residents on the island came to blows, and a bloody +riot immediately began between them, which was only quelled by the +prompt arrival of a strong force of the City Police. + + + PERILS OF EMIGRANTS. + +The Commissioners adopt every means in their power to prevent the +inmates of the Landing Depot from falling into the hands of sharpers. +Each emigrant in passing out of the enclosure for any purpose is +required to apply for a permit, without which he cannot return, and no +one is allowed, by the policeman on duty at the gate, to enter without +permission from the proper authorities. In this way sharpers and +swindlers are kept out of the enclosure, inside of which the emigrant +is perfectly safe; and when he ventures out he is warned of the dangers +he will have to encounter the moment he passes the gateway. + +The majority of the emigrants are unable to speak our language, and all +are ignorant of the country, its laws, and customs. This makes them an +easy prey to the villains who throng the Battery in wait for them. + +Approaching these poor creatures, as they are gazing about them with +the timidity and loneliness of strangers in a strange land, the +scoundrels will accost them in their own language. Glad to hear the +mother-tongue once more, the emigrant readily enters into conversation +with the fellow, and reveals to him his destination, his plans, and the +amount of money he has with him. The sharper, after some pleasantries +meant to lull the suspicions of his victim, offers to show him where he +can purchase his railroad tickets at a lower rate than at the office in +the Landing Depot, and, if the emigrant is willing, conducts him to a +house in Washington, Greenwich, West, or some neighboring street, where +a confederate sells him the so-called railroad tickets and receives his +money. He is then conducted back to the Battery by a different route, +and the sharper leaves him. Upon inquiring at the office, he learns +that his cheap tickets are so much worthless paper, and that he has +been swindled out of his money, which may be his all. Of course he is +unable to find the place where he was robbed, and has no redress for +his loss. + +[Illustration: Castle Garden, the place the emigrants land--Sharpers +trying to swindle them.] + +Others again are led off, by persons who pretend to be friends, to take +a friendly drink in a neighboring saloon. Their liquor is drugged, and +they are soon rendered unconscious, when they are robbed of their +money, valuables, and even their clothes, and turned out into the +street in this condition, to be picked up by the police. + +All sorts of worthless wares are palmed off upon them by unscrupulous +wretches. They are drawn into gaming and are fleeced out of their +money. Dozens of sharpers are on the watch for them, and woe to them if +they fall into the hands of these wretches. + +Women are prominent amongst the enemies of the emigrants. The +proprietors of the dance-houses and brothels of the city send their +agents to the Battery, to watch their opportunity to entice the fresh, +healthy emigrant girls to their hells. They draw them away by promises +of profitable employment, and other shams, and carry them off to the +houses of their heartless masters and mistresses. There they are +drugged and ruined, or in other ways literally forced into lives of +shame. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + + THE BUMMERS. + +From a recent number of the _New York Times_, we take the following +excellent description of this class, which is peculiar to the +Metropolis:-- + +Like the Western Army and Army of the Potomac during the war, the City +of New York possesses its troop of bummers--men who hate the discipline +of life, detest marching in the ranks of workers, and hold industry in +abomination. They consist of two classes, the temporary, made so by +misfortune, or their own fault, and the permanent, who are so from +their own deliberate choice. The first deserve what they seldom +receive--our pity and sympathy, while the second equally rarely obtain +their just deserts of contempt and disgust. The regular bummer is a +mixture of the thief and beggar, usually possessing more of the +characteristics of the latter than the former, as his cowardice and +indolence prevent him from rising high in the ranks of criminals. His +strongest feeling is a horror of all regular employment; his chief +happiness is to lie with a well-filled stomach on the Battery, in the +sun, and sleep; his hell, or 'infinite dread,' is to be arrested by the +police and be sent to the Island as a vagrant. + +All that a man, whether rich or poor, can require, is food, clothing, +lodging, and money for amusement or luxury. More than this the +wealthiest can never obtain--less than this the bummer seldom +possesses. His first principle is never to pay for food, even if he has +the money. In a city like this, where plenty of good food is thrown +away every day, it is a shame for any man to go hungry,' remarked one +of this tribe, 'and I won't go with an empty belly; I ask until I have +enough.' This is the feeling of all, and is acted upon by all. He begs +bread from the bakers, and broken victuals from restaurants and private +houses. In summer he strolls around the market to pick up or steal what +he can find. His money he will spend for liquor for himself and +friends, but considers it wasted if used to buy food. He will treat a +brother in distress to five-cent whiskey as long as his money holds +out, but his comrade might starve before he would buy him a loaf of +bread. He has his regular routes and customers whom he visits, and some +of these _chevaliers d'industrie_ keep regular lists of the charitable, +their residences, what is the proper time to call, and the probable +result of such visit. 'Mr.----, No.--street, coffee and bread, 7 and 8 +A.M.; Mr.----, No.--street, 9 A.M., bread, cold meat, or cheese; brown +stone house corner of----street, 8 P.M., Irish girl, dinner; bakery,-- +street, bread; cracker bakery,----, street; house four doors from---- +street, lady, lots to eat and money; sisters in----street, soup; +hotel,----street, soup meat, 12.30 P.M.,' etc., etc. This is a partial +copy of a list seen by the writer. As a rule he does not go to the same +place two days in succession, but having a number, can levy toll at +intervals and still keep supplied. Woe to the charitable restaurant- +keeper who expresses sympathy--he will be overrun. The keeper of a +certain eating-house not far from the City Hall, in reply to the thanks +for the meal that he had given to our cormorant, said: 'You are +heartily welcome. I never send any man hungry from my door.' This +expression was spread, and he was almost overwhelmed. On one day, in +less than a week from this unfortunate remark, he had thirty-two +callers within twenty-four hours, and was compelled to refuse all in +order to obtain peace. + +The clothing of a bummer, while, of course, rarely of the latest +fashion, is still generally sound and whole, except when on an +expedition in pursuit of a wardrobe. This he obtains by 'asking,' +though sometimes he will buy cast-off garments in Baxter street, but in +general he prefers to beg for it. Some keep dilapidated clothing +expressly to wear when begging, and even lend it to others to use for +the purpose. Some also make a list of the places where they will be apt +to procure what they require. This list they obtain from the daily +papers. Every morning they examine the obituary notices, and enter the +date of the deaths, of persons of about their own age, on paper; about +a week or two thereafter, they call on the afflicted family, and very +frequently obtain a supply. What they cannot use they exchange at some +of the numerous second-hand dealers for what they can, or sell it +outright. + +Their lodging-place is vast, consisting of the whole city. They are +regular nomads, having no fixed abiding place, driven by the police or +weather from one spot to the other. The City Hall Park is their usual +headquarters by day. Many also visit the criminal courts to pass away +the time, but the neighborhood of the City Hall appears to be their +favorite resort. Whenever the sky is clear they can be seen sitting on +the benches, vainly endeavoring to keep awake. If their gyrations +become too violent, or they tumble from their seats, the watchful +police are upon them, and, with sundry pokes of the club, compel them +to banish Morpheus by walking--outside of the Park. Those who have not +rested well during the night, at early dawn wend their way thither, +and, stretching themselves on the benches, endeavor to snatch a nap, +but, if seen, are always bastinadoed; for the only method our +Metropolitans understand of arousing a man is by beating a reveille on +his feet with a club. On the Battery, near the water's edge during the +summer, was a large pile of gravel. This, in dry weather, was a +favorite resort. Here, every night from nine o'clock, eighteen or +twenty figures could be seen stretched out in every shape. Most had old +newspapers under them; some had a brick or stone for a pillow, but all +were hatless. Hats were dangerous pieces of property to possess, as if +one was ever left exposed it was sure to be stolen. The police rarely +disturbed them; their greatest enemies were the mosquitoes. Many of +these night birds sleep in hallways, or on stoops. Some creep into +empty wagons, while others visit the hay barges in the North River. The +farmers who bring their produce to the Washington Market, arrive there +early in the morning, and they and the carriers who assist them to +unload, generally sleep in the doorways opposite their teams. Among +these the bummers frequently creep to rest, and as the police have +neither the time nor inclination to pick them out, the black sheep +remain with the white until the morning breaks, when they crawl away or +skulk around the huckster-stalls to gather refuse fruit. When the +weather is cold or rainy, the station-house is taken as a last resort. +A description of the lodgings there would lead us away from our +subject; it is sufficient to say that only a regular bummer can enjoy a +rest in such a place. The life of such a creature is, necessarily, +merely an animal existence, and, as a rule, he does not care for any +amusement beyond listening to trials in the criminal courts. If with a +full stomach he can doze away his time, he is satisfied, and asks +nothing more. When, however, he desires any recreation, he patronizes +Tony Pastor's Bowery Theatre. At the latter place he is often seen +standing near the door, with the hope of having a check given to him by +some one who leaves early. Some money he requires to try his luck in +policy shops, and especially to pay for his drinks. His methods of +'raising the wind' are only limited by his ingenuity. Simple begging, +without an excuse, he seldom tries, as, being able-bodied, his requests +would be roughly refused. He frequently sells hats, boots, and articles +of clothing that he has begged. When on such a collecting tour, he +carefully hides his hat or gives it to a comrade, and then calls in +some wholesale hat-store. There he tells a pitiable story of having +been compelled to sleep in the street and of having his hat stolen. He +goes from place to place and frequently succeeds in collecting quite a +number. One of these gentry has been heard to brag that he obtained +fifteen different hats, all good, in one day. Boots and shoes he +collects by showing his feet bursting out of the covering he has put on +them for the occasion. The most singular manner of making money is +practiced by a German, who told of it with great pride. Every morning +he examines the obituary notices in the German newspapers. He then +writes a few lines of something he calls poetry concerning each +deceased. This he takes to the afflicted family, and tells them that +seeing the death of a 'dear one' in the paper, the following thoughts +were suggested, and then gives them his manuscript. On being asked if +there is anything to pay, he replies that he is poor and will take +anything they choose to give. Most give ten cents, some twenty-five, +and he has even received a dollar, probably where the sorrow was very +deep. When all other means fail, our subject visits the different +ferries, and there asks the persons about to cross for enough to pay +his ferriage. In this way he collects a small amount during the day, +but as it is tedious and slow work he never undertakes it except as a +last resort. With half the trouble that he takes to beg he could earn a +decent livelihood, but detesting regularity he never undertakes it. One +sense of shame, however, yet remains to him. He hides his begging under +a euphemism; he never says he "begs," but always "asks." The Germans +call it _fechten_, to fight. They are the most successful, for two +reasons--first, because the German nation is peculiarly hospitable and +charitable to their own countrymen. Those speaking the same language +and coming from the same country are always received kindly and are +assisted. A Prussian helps a Prussian, a Saxon a Saxon, etc., etc.; +secondly, they have less hesitancy in asking for what they need, being +accustomed to it from their own country. There, when a mechanic has +learned his trade he goes on his travels, and seldom having money, must +beg his way. He is seldom refused his _reisepfennig_, travelling penny, +and never his food and lodging. When he arrives at a place where there +is a boss in his trade, if there is no work for him, each journeyman +gives him something, and the boss twice as much. This is the custom, +and when he obtains work he must do the same to those who come after +him. Here he has little shame in asking for money, victuals or clothes. +The German druggists have a singular custom of giving two cents to all +beggars of their own nationality. Why they give that exact sum is a +mystery, but it seems to be their habit. + +Such are the bummers of New York, hastily sketched. Much more could be +told did the space allow, but it is enough to show the nature of those +excrescences on the body politic; men who, by their indolence and +impudence, curdle the milk of human kindness and dishearten the +charitable, taking the help that would make happy more deserving +objects. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + + THE SOCIAL EVIL. + +In January, 1866, Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist Church, startled the +country with the declaration, made at a public meeting at Cooper +Institute, that the prostitutes of New York City were as numerous as +the members of the Methodist Church. The following letter of Mr. John +A. Kennedy, Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, furnishes the +most authentic statement of the facts of the case: + + + OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF METROPOLITAN POLICE, + 300 MULBERRY STREET. + NEW YORK, _January_ 22, 1866. + +'MY DEAR SIR.--Your note of to-day is before me, with the printed sheet +of the '_Great Metropolis Condsened_,' inquiring whether the figures in +the paragraph marked 'Licentiousness' can be verified. I have to say +that I have nothing in my possession to sustain such monstrous +statements. During the past fall I had a careful examination made of +the concert saloons in this city, for the purpose of using the result +in our annual report; which you will find in the leading dailies of +Friday, January 5th, instant. At that time we found eleven hundred and +ninety-one waiter girls employed in two hundred and twenty-three +concert and drinking saloons. Although the greater part of these girls +are already prostitutes, yet we have evidence that they are not all +such; but continuation at the employment is sure to make them all +alike. Previous to that I had not made any census of persons of that +character since January 24th, 1864, when the footing was as follows: + +Houses of prostitution, five hundred and ninety-nine. Public +prostitutes, two thousand one hundred and twenty three. Concert saloons +of ill repute, seventy-two. The number of waiting girls was not then +taken. + +The newspapers of last week, in reporting Bishop Simpson's speech, +delivered in St. Paul's Church, made him say that there are twenty +thousand prostitutes in New York. I felt it about time to correct the +impressions of such well-meaning men as he, and on Thursday last I sent +out an order, instructing a new census to be made. I have nearly all +the returns in, and I find a much less increase than I expected. A +large number who have been following the army during the war, very +naturally have gravitated to this city. Where else would they go? But +with all that, the increase is below my estimate. On the 22d day of +January, 1866, the report is as follows: + +Houses of prostitution, six hundred and twenty-one. Houses of +assignation, ninety-nine. Concert saloons of ill repute, seventy-five. +Public prostitutes, two thousand six hundred and seventy. Waiter girls +in concert and drinking saloons, seven hundred and forty-seven. + +You will see that houses of prostitution have increased twenty-two in +two years, and houses of assignation have decreased thirteen. Concert +saloons have increased four. Prostitutes have increased five hundred +and forty-seven. The waiter girls will be increased by the figures to +come in. + +As it regards 'other women,' we have no means of knowing anything of +their number. That there are many of them cannot be disputed; the +number of houses for their accommodation tells us that; but there is no +such number as two thousand five hundred, you may depend on it, visit +those places, and of those who do, the waiter girls furnish the larger +portion. + +So that, taking all the public prostitutes, and all the waiter girls in +music saloons (and these we have to a unit), there are but three +thousand three hundred. + +Medical estimates are humbugs, from Dr. D. M. Reeves down to Dr. +Sanger. According to Dr. Reeves, every female in the city, over +thirteen years of age, was required to fill up his estimate of lewd +women, and Dr. Sanger is but little more reasonable. +Very respectfully, yours, JOHN A. KENNEDY. + +Nearly three years have elapsed since the above letter was written, and +there can be no doubt that the interval has witnessed a very decided +increase of this species of vice. The greatest increase is, perhaps, in +the class termed by Mr. Kennedy "other women," in which are included +the women of nominal respectability, whose crime is known only to +themselves and their lovers. They are the last persons in the world one +would think of accusing, for they are not even suspected of wrong +doing. Many of them seem to be innocent young girls, others wives and +mothers of undoubted purity. Society is corrupt to its very heart in +the great city, and there are thousands of nominally virtuous women who +lead, in secret, lives of shame. The authorities cannot include this +class in their statistics, as they know nothing of them. + + + FIRST-CLASS HOUSES. + +There are very few first-class houses of ill-fame in the city, and they +are located in the best neighborhoods. They are generally hired fully +furnished, the annual rent in some cases amounting to ten and twelve +thousand dollars. The neighbors have little or no suspicion as to their +character, which is, in such cases, known only to the police and their +frequenters. The establishment is palatial in its appointments, and is +conducted with the utmost outward propriety. + +The proprietress is generally a middle-aged woman of fine personal +appearance. She has a man living with her, who passes as her husband, +in order that she may be able to show a legal protector in case of +trouble with the authorities. This couple usually assume some foreign +name, and pass themselves off upon the unsuspecting as persons of the +highest respectability. + +The inmates are usually young women, or women in the prime of life. +They are carefully chosen for their beauty and charms, and are +frequently persons of education and refinement. They are required to +observe the utmost decorum in the parlors of the house, and their +toilettes are exquisite and modest. They never make acquaintances on +the street, and, indeed, have no need to do so. The women who fill +these houses are generally of respectable origin. They are the +daughters, often the wives or widows, of persons of the best social +position. Some have been drawn astray by villains; some have been +drugged and ruined, and have fled to these places to hide their shame +from their friends; some have adopted the life in order to avoid +poverty, their means having been suddenly swept away; some have entered +from motives of extravagance and vanity; some are married women, who +have been unfaithful to their husbands, and who have been deserted in +consequence; some have been ruined by the cruelty and neglect of their +husbands; some, horrible as it may seem, have been forced into such a +life by their parents; and, others, who constitute the smallest class, +have adopted the life from motives of pure licentiousness. But, +whatever may be the cause, the fact is evident to all--these places are +always full of women competent to grace the best circles of social +life. + +The visitors to these places are men of means. No others can afford to +patronize them. Besides the money paid to his companion, each man is +expected to spend a considerable amount in wine. The liquors are owned +and sold by the proprietress, her prices being generally double those +of the best Broadway wine stores. Her profits are enormous. The "first +men" of the city and country visit these places. The proportion of +married men amongst the guests is very large. Governors, Congressmen, +lawyers, judges, physicians, and, alas that it should be said, even +ministers of the Gospel, are to be seen there. Men coming to New York +from other parts of the country, seem to think themselves free from all +the restraints of morality and religion, and while here commit acts of +sin and dissipation, such as they would not dream of indulging in, in +their own communities. They fully equal and often surpass the city +population in this respect. + +Great care is taken by the proprietors of these houses that the visits +of their guests shall be as private as possible. Upon ringing the bell +the visitor is admitted by a finely dressed servant, and shown into the +parlor. If he desires an interview with any particular person he is +quickly admitted to her presence. If his visit is "general," he awaits +in the parlor the entrance of the inmates of the house, who drop in at +intervals. No other gentleman is admitted to the parlor while he is +there, and in leaving the house no one is allowed to enter or look into +the parlors. If two men enter together they are thrown into the parlor +at the same time. + +The earnings of the inmates are very large. They pay an extravagant +rate of board, and are expected to dress handsomely. They rarely save +any thing. They are well cared for by the proprietress as long as they +are profitable to her, but in case of sickness, or the loss of their +beauty, they are turned out of doors without the slightest hesitation. +Generally they are in debt to the proprietress at such times, and their +property is seized by her to satisfy her claims. + +In entering these houses, women believe they will always be able to +keep themselves amongst the best classes of such females. They are soon +undeceived, however. The rule is so rigid that there is not more than +one exception in a thousand cases. They rarely remain in first-class +houses more than a few months, or a year at the longest. In leaving +them, they begin to go down the ladder, until they reach the dance- +houses and purlieus of the city, where disease and death in their most +horrible forms await them. All this in a few years, for the life which +such women, even the best of them, lead, is so fearfully destructive of +body and soul that a very few survive it more than five years at the +longest. The police authorities say that the first-class houses change +their inmates every few months. + +Let no woman deceive herself, "_The wages of sin is death._" Once +entered upon a life of shame, however glittering it may be in the +outset, her fate is certain--unless she anticipates her final doom by +suicide. She cannot reform if she would. No one will help her back to +the paths of right. Even those who loved her best, in her virtue, will +turn from her in horror in her sin. She will be driven on by an +avenging fate, which she cannot resist if she would, until she is one +of those wretched, lost creatures, whose dens are in the purlieus of +the Five Points and Water street. There is only one means of safety. +Avoid the first step. Once place your foot in the downward path, and +you are lost. "_The Wages of sin is death_" + + + SECOND-CLASS HOUSES. + +These establishments are better known to the general public than those +we have just described, as they are open to all persons of moderate +means. They are located in all parts of the town, many of them being in +respectable neighborhoods. They are handsomely furnished, and are +conducted in a flashy style. The inmates are those who, for various +causes, have been turned out of first-class houses, or who have never +been able to enter those establishments. They do not hesitate to +solicit custom on the streets and in the public places, though they are +not, as a general rule, obliged to do so. + +This is the second step in the downward career of fallen women. From +this step the descent is rapid. The third and fourth-class houses, and +then the streets, are reached quickly, after which the dance-houses and +the Five Points hells claim their victims. + + + WHERE THE UNFORTUNATES COME FROM. + +It is generally very hard to learn the true history of the lost women +of New York, for nearly all wish to make their past lot appear better +than it really was, with the melancholy hope of elevating themselves in +the estimation of their present acquaintances. It may be safely +asserted, however, that the majority of them come from the humbler +walks of life. Women of former position and refinement are the +exceptions. Poverty, and a desire to be able to gratify a love for fine +clothes, are among the chief causes of prostitution in this city. At +the same time the proprietors of houses of all classes spare no pains +to draw into their nets all the victims who will listen to them. They +have their agents scattered all over the country, who use every means +to tempt young girls to come to the great city to engage in this life +of shame. They promise them money, fine clothes, ease, and an elegant +home. The seminaries and rural districts of the land furnish a large +proportion of this class. The hotels in this city are closely watched +by the agents of these infamous establishments, especially hotels of +the plainer and less expensive kind. These harpies watch their chance, +and when they lay siege to a blooming young girl surround her with +every species of enticement. She is taken to church, to places of +amusement, or to the Park, and, in returning, a visit is paid to the +house of a friend of the harpy. Refreshments are offered, and a glass +of drugged wine plunges the victim into a stupor, from which she awakes +a ruined woman. + + + A CASE IN POINT. + +Some months ago, two girls, daughters of a respectable man, engaged as +foreman on Prospect Park, Brooklyn, met with an advertisement calling +for girls to learn the trade of dressmaking, in West Broadway, New +York. The two sisters in question, applied for and obtained the +situation. After being engaged there for a few days, at a salary of +three dollars a week, the woman, by whom they were employed, proposed +that during the week they should board with her. In the furtherance of +this idea, the woman visited the parents of the girls in this city, and +made the same proposition to them. Highly pleased with her agreeable +manner, and kind interest in the welfare of their daughters, the +parents acceded to her request, with the understanding that they should +return home every Saturday evening. Saturday night came, and with it +rain, but not with it the daughters. On Monday morning the woman +appeared before the anxious parents, offering as an excuse for the non- +appearance of the girls on Saturday night, that she did not deem it +prudent for them to venture out, owing to the inclemency of the +weather, and assuring the old folks that they should visit them on +Thursday night, which assurance was not fulfilled. Next morning the +father, becoming alarmed for their safety, went over to New York, and +searched for the dressmaker's residence in West Broadway, but was +unable to find it, or indeed to learn any thing of the woman. Now +becoming thoroughly aroused to the danger of their position, he +instituted a thorough search, securing the services of the New York +detective force. After a lapse of five weeks, the younger girl was +discovered in a low house in Baltic street, Brooklyn. The story was +then told the unfortunate father by his wretched daughter. After +entering the service of the woman, the sisters were held against their +will, and were subjected to the most inhuman and debasing treatment. +Finally they were separated from each other's society, and became the +inmates of dens. The woman's whereabouts is unknown to the police, and +the elder sister is still missing. The above facts are vouched for on +the most undoubted authority. + + + RECRUITS FROM NEW ENGLAND. + +A very large number of the women engaged in this infamous business are +from New England. That section of the country is so overcrowded, and +the females are so numerous therein, that there is no room for all at +home. As a consequence hundreds come to the city every year. They come +with high hopes, but soon find it as hard, if not harder, to obtain +employment here. The runners for the houses of ill fame are always on +the watch for them, and from various causes, these girls fall victims +to them, and join the lost sisterhood. They are generally the daughters +of farmers, or working men, and when they come are fresh in +constitution and blooming in their young beauty. God pity them! These +blessings soon vanish. They dare not escape from their slavery, for +they have no means of earning a living in the great city, and they know +they would not be received at home, were their story known. Their very +mothers would turn from them with loathing. Without hope, they cling to +their shame, and sink lower and lower, until death mercifully ends +their human sufferings. As long as they are prosperous, they represent +in their letters home that they are engaged in a steady, honest +business, and the parents' fears are lulled. After awhile these letters +are rarer. Finally they cease altogether. Would a father find his child +after this, he must seek her in the foulest hells of the city. + + + SAVED IN TIME. + +The police are frequently called upon by persons from other parts of +the country, for aid in seeking a lost daughter, or a sister, or some +female relative. Sometimes these searches, which are always promptly +made, are rewarded with success. Some unfortunates are, in this way, +saved before they have fallen so low as to make efforts in their behalf +vain. Others, overwhelmed with despair, will refuse to leave their +shame. They cannot bear the pity or silent scorn of their former +relatives and friends, and prefer to cling to their present homes. It +is very hard for a fallen woman to retrace her steps, even if her +friends or relatives are willing to help her do so. + +Last winter an old gray haired man came to the city from his farm in +New England, accompanied by his son, a manly youth, in search of his +lost daughter. His description enabled the police to recognize the girl +as one who had but recently made her appearance on the streets, and +they at once led the father and brother to the door of the house she +was living in. As they entered the well-filled parlor, the girl +recognized her father. With a cry of joy she sprang into his arms. +Lifting her tenderly, the old man carried her into the street, +exclaiming through, his tears; + +"We've saved her, thank God! We've saved our Lizzie." + +That night all three left the city for their distant home. + +Another instance occurs to us: + +A gentleman once found his daughter in one of the first-class houses of +the city, to which she had been tracked by the police. He sought her +there, and she received him with every demonstration of joy and +affection. He urged her to return home with him, promising that all +should be forgiven and forgotten, but she refused to do so, and was +deaf to all his entreaties. He brought her mother to see her, and +though the girl clung to her and wept bitterly in parting, she would +not go home. She felt that it was too late. She was lost. + +Many of these poor creatures treasure sacredly the memories of their +childhood and home. They will speak of them with a calmness which shows +how deep and real is their despair. They would flee from their horrible +lives if they could, but they are so enslaved that they are not able to +do so. Their sin crushes them to the earth, and they cannot rise above +it. + + + THE SISTERS' ROW. + +This is the name given to a row of first-class houses in West Twenty- +fifth street, all fashionable houses of prostitution. A woman came to +this city from a New England village, and was enticed into one of the +fashionable dens. She paid a visit to her home, dressed up in all her +finery. Her parents believed her a Broadway saleswoman, but to her +sisters, one by one, she confided the life of gayety and pleasure she +led, and one by one the sisters left the peaceful village, until, at +last, the whole seven sisters were domiciled in the crime-gilt palaces +in West Twenty-fifth street. Thus, one sister ruined six in her own +family; how many others in the same place is unknown. + +Another instance: A woman, named----, is from Binghamton, in this +State. As a matter of course, she has correspondents in that place; she +knows all the giddy-headed girls of the town; she knows the +dissatisfied wives. The result is her house is a small Binghamton. +Thus, one girl from a village may ruin a dozen; and it is in this way +they so readily find the home they are in search of in a strange city. + + + THE ALBUM BUSINESS. + +A peculiarity of the Twenty-ninth Police Precinct of the city, in which +the majority of the better class of houses are located, "is the large +number of lady boarders, who do nothing, apparently, for a living. They +live in furnished rooms, or they may board in respectable families. +They leave their cards with the madame of the house, together with +their photograph. They live within a few minutes' call, and when a +gentleman enters the parlor he has a few minutes' chat with the madame, +who hands him the album. He runs his eye over the pictures, makes his +choice, and a messenger is dispatched for No. 12 or 24. These are what +may be termed the day ladies, or outside boarders. Some of them are +married, living with their husbands, who know nothing of what is going +on, and it may be some of them have shown the readers of the _Sun_ how +cheap they can keep house, dress well, and put money in the bank +beside, on a given weekly income of their husband. Those ladies who +hire furnished rooms all dine at the restaurants, but they are never +found soliciting men in the street. True, in the restaurant they may +accept a recognition, but a man has to be careful what he is about." + + + EFFORTS TO BREAK UP THESE HOUSES. + +"Twenty years ago, when Matsell was Chief of Police, he used to try and +break up the most notorious houses by stationing a policeman at the +door, and when any one went in or out, the light from a bull's eye +lantern was thrown in the face of the passer out or in. That has never +been effective. Captain Speight tried it in the case of Mrs.----, who +keeps the most splendidly furnished house in West Twenty-fifth street. +She owns the house, and has a few boarders who pay her fifty dollars a +week for board, and ten dollars a bottle for their wine, and twenty- +five per cent, on the profits of her boarders. The attempt was made to +oust this woman, but she very politely told the captain that he might +honor her as long as he pleased with the policeman and his lantern, but +she could stand it as long as he could; she owned the house, and she +meant to live in it; nothing could be proven against it, and they dare +not arrest her. The consequence was that after a time the bull's eye +was withdrawn." + + + A NEW RUSE ADOPTED. + +The latest ruse adopted to obtain fresh country or city girls is to +publish an advertisement in the papers, for 'a young lady of some +accomplishments to act as a companion for a lady about to travel +abroad. The applicant must have some knowledge of French, be a good +reader, have a knowledge and taste for music, and be of a lively +disposition.' Such an advertisement brought a young lady from Newark to +a certain house in Twenty-fifth street. She had not been long in the +parlor until she saw at a glance the character of the house. Both then +spoke in pretty plain terms. The applicant was given a week to think +over it. She returned at the end of a week and voluntarily entered the +house. She remained in it six months. Disgusted with the business, she +returned to her parents--who believe to this day that she was all this +time abroad--and afterwards married a highly respectable gentleman, and +she is now supposed to be a virtuous woman. + +"A beautiful young girl of seventeen, from Danbury, Connecticut when +taken from one of these houses by her father, told him, in the station- +house, that he might take her home, but she would run away the first +chance. Her only excuse was: 'Mother is cross, and home is an old, +dull, dead place.'" + + + A SOILED DOVE. + +On the 1st of December, 1857, a funeral wended its slow passage along +the crowded Broadway--for a few blocks, at least--challenging a certain +share of the attention of the promenaders of that fashionable +thoroughfare. There were but two carriages following the hearse, and +the hearse itself contained all that remained of a young woman--a girl +who had died in her eighteenth year, and whose name on earth had been +Mary R----. + +Mary R----, was the daughter of a poor couple in the interior of the +State of New York. She was a girl of exquisite grace and beauty, but +her life had been one of toil until her sixteenth year, when she +attracted the attention of the son of a city millionaire, whose country +seat was in the neighborhood. He was pleased with her beauty, and she +simple and confiding, gave her heart to him without a struggle. She +trusted him, and fell a victim to his arts. He took her to New York +with him, and placed her in a neat little room in Sixth Avenue. + +She was a 'soiled dove,' indeed, but the gentlest and dearest, and most +devoted of 'doves,' 'soiled,' not by herself, but by others--soiled +externally, but not impure within. There are many such doves as she-- +poor creatures to be pitied, not to be commended, not at all to be +imitated, but not to be harshly or wholly condemned--more sinned +against than sinning. + +For a while Mary R----'s life in New York was a paradise--at least it +was a paradise to her. She lived all day in her cosy little apartment, +did her own little housework, cooked her own little dinner, sung her +own little songs, and was as happy as a bird, thinking all the while of +him, the man she loved--the man whose smile was all in all to her of +earth. At night she would receive her beloved in her best dress and +sweetest smile; and if he deigned to walk with her around the block, or +take her with him to the Central Park, she would be supremely blessed, +and dance around him with delight. She cost nothing, or next to +nothing; her wants were simple, her vanity and love of amusement were +vastly below the average of her sex, she only needed love, and there is +an old saying that 'love is cheap.' But, alas! there is no more +expensive luxury than love--for love requires what few men really +possess, a heart--and this article of a heart was precisely what the +merchant's son did not possess. In time, he wearied of this young girl +and her affection; her tenderness became commonplace; besides he had +discovered attractions elsewhere. And so he determined 'to end with +Mary,' and he ended indeed. Though he knew that she worshipped the very +ground that he trod on, though he knew that every unkind word he +uttered went through her heart as would a stab though he knew that the +very idea of his leaving her would blast her happiness like a lightning +stroke; yet he boldly announced to her that their intimacy must cease, +that 'he must leave her. True, he would see her comfortably provided +for, during a while at least, until she could find another protector,' +etc., etc. + +"The agonized Mary could listen to naught more. For the first time in +her life, out of the anguish and true love of her heart, she reproached +the man to whom her every thought had been devoted--she reminded him of +all his promises of affection, all his pledges of passion, she clung to +him, and avowed by all that she considered holy, _himself_, that she +would not let him go. In brief, she raised what 'fast men' style a +scene, and a scene was just one of those things which irritated the +merchant's son beyond his powers of control. + +"The scoundrel, for such he was, though by birth, education, and +position a gentleman, irritated at her entreaties, vexed with himself, +despising the meanness of his own soul, and hating her for revealing it +to him, raised his arm, and despite her look of love and sorrow, +absolutely struck her to the earth. The poor girl never shrieked, never +resisted, she even kissed, with an almost divinely tender forgiveness, +his hand--his hand who struck her--and then fell to the floor of her +pleasant, though humble little room, insensible. + +"With a curse, half levelled at her and half at himself, the false +'lover' departed. The young millionaire never looked upon Mary R----'s +face again. In three days there was no Mary R----'s face to look at; +for the 'soiled dove' within that time had died--not from the blow, oh, +no--_that_ was a trifle; but from the _unkindness_ of it; not from a +fractured limb, or from a ruptured bloodvessel, but from a broken +heart. She was buried at the expense of the woman of whom her destroyer +had rented the little apartment on Sixth Avenue, where she had passed +her happiest days and her last. The rich merchant's son heard of her +death with a half sigh and then a shrug; but if ever the blood of a +human being lay upon the head of another, that of poor Mary R--lies +upon the head of the rich merchant's son, and will be required of him." + +There are several associations in the city, whose object is to rescue +lost women from their lives of shame. Prominent amongst these is the +Midnight Mission. + + + THE MIDNIGHT MISSION. + +This institution is located on Amity street, and is open at all hours, +to all who seek its doors voluntarily, or are directed thither. The +managers in a recent report, speak of their success as follows: + +"That the managers have reason to believe that more than sixty women +have been benefited through their endeavors recently, many of whom have +abandoned their life of shame, and a large proportion are already +restored to their friends, or have been placed in respectable +situations, where they are earning an honest living. Twenty are now in +charge, in process of industrial, moral, and religious training, +preparatory to taking positions of usefulness and respectability. Could +they be seen by the public, as we see them, after the work of the day +is ended, grouped together in conversation, in innocent recreation, or +in devotion, their faces already beaming with the light of hope for +this life and the life to come, surely we should need no other argument +to induce Christian people, with kind words and abounding gifts, to +speed us in our work of love." + +We would not upon any consideration weaken one single effort in behalf +of these poor creatures, but we cannot disguise the fact that but few +of this class are saved. Women who enter the downward path rarely +retrace their steps. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + + ASSIGNATION HOUSES. + +There are over one hundred houses of assignation in New York, known to +the police. Besides these, there are places, used as such, which the +officials of the law do not and cannot embrace in the general term. +These are cheap hotels, where women hire rooms without meals, and +receive visitors, with whom they make appointments on the streets, or +in the places of amusement. Some really good houses have been ruined in +this way. By tolerating one or two women of this kind, they have drawn +to them others, and have finally become overrun with them to such an +extent that respectable people have avoided them. Even the first-class +hotels are kept busy in purging themselves of the evil. + +The best houses are located in respectable, and a few in fashionable +neighborhoods. In various ways they soon acquire a notoriety amongst +persons having use for them. In the majority of them, the proprietress +resides alone. Her visitors are persons of all classes in society. +Married women meet their lovers here, and young girls pass in these +polluted chambers the hours their parents suppose them to be devoting +to healthful and innocent amusements. Hundreds of nominally virtuous +women visit these places one or more times each week. They come +sometimes in the day, but generally at night. A visit to the theatre, +opera, or concert, is too often followed by a visit to one of these +places, to which some women of high, social position possess pass-keys. +Some visit these places because they love other men better than their +husbands; others from mercenary motives. Married women, whose means are +limited, too often adopt such a course to enable them to dress +handsomely. + +The rooms are hired from the proprietor at so much per hour, the price +being generally very high. If refreshments are desired, they are +furnished at an enormous rate. + +In other houses, women rent rooms and take their meals outside. They +bring their male friends to their rooms at any hour, as they have pass- +keys to the house. These establishments pass in the neighborhood for +reputable lodging-houses. + +Men of "respectable" position frequently furnish houses for this +purpose, and either engage women to manage them, or rent them, out at +enormous sums. They live in style, and support their families on the +proceeds of these dens of infamy. + +The city papers are full of advertisements of these places. They are +represented as "Rooms to let to quiet persons," or "Rooms in a strictly +private family, where boarders are not annoyed with impertinent +questions," or "A handsome room to let, with board for the lady only," +or "Handsome apartments to gentlemen, by a widow lady living alone." +These advertisements are at once recognized by those in search of them. +Families from the country frequently stumble across these places by +accident. If the female members are young and handsome, they are +received, and the mistake is not found out, perhaps, until it is too +late. + +Respectable families are frequently victimized by having dwellings sold +or rented to them which have been formerly used as houses of this kind. +A Mexican Minister to the United States was once caught in this way +rather curiously. Being a stranger in the city, he saw in print the +notice of a splendid house, with the furniture for sale, in West +Twenty-seventh street. He went up and saw it, and was pleased with the +location, the house, the furniture, and even the price. He bought it, +and moved in with his family. He was not located there twenty-four +hours until he found that the house he had bought had been a notorious +house of assignation, and that he was sandwiched in between two equally +notorious houses. Many an oath came from his mouth, when a young or an +old grayheaded Hotspur rang the bell; and many an old patron of the +house has been astonished at being most abruptly told to go further +than the next door for what he wanted. The old Mexican managed to stand +it out six months, and a real estate agent, who had an eye to business, +knowing that he could be tempted to sell out, advertised for a house in +Twenty-seventh street, in the Spanish paper. The bait took--the +diplomatist was happy to sell it for the half of what it was worth; +thinking somebody would get burned, he was glad to get rid of it at any +price. In a few weeks afterward, the house was re-sold for double the +money paid for it, and converted back to its old purposes. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + + STREET-WALKERS. + +As soon as the sun sets over the Great City, Broadway, and the streets +running parallel with it, become infested with numbers of young girls +and women, who pass up and down the thoroughfares with a quick, +mysterious air, which rarely fails to draw attention to them. These are +known as street-walkers, and it would seem from outward indications +that their number is steadily increasing. The best looking and the best +dressed are seen on Broadway, and in parts of Fifth and Fourth Avenues. +The others correspond to the localities they frequent. They are chiefly +young girls, seventeen being the average age, but you will see children +of twelve and thirteen amongst them. Very few promenade Broadway below +Canal street. The neighborhoods of the hotels and places of amusement +are the most frequented. Some of the girls are pretty and modest, but +the majority are ugly and brazen. New faces are constantly appearing on +Broadway, to take the places of the old ones which have gone down to +the depths. + +The majority of the girls have some regular employment at which they +work in the day. Their regular earnings are small, and they take this +means of increasing them. Some, however, sleep all day, and ply their +infamous trade at night. There are cases in which the girls are driven +to such a life by their parents, who either wish to rid themselves of +their child's support, or to profit by her earnings. We have known +cases where the girls have voluntarily supported their parents by the +wages of their shame. We once heard of two sisters, well known on +Broadway, who devoted their earnings to paying off a heavy debt of +their father, which he was unable to meet. Sometimes these girls +deserve more pity than blame; but a very large proportion of them, +perhaps the majority, act as decoys for garroters and thieves. Hundreds +of strangers, coming to the city, follow them to their rooms only to +find themselves in the power of thieves, who compel them on pain of +instant death to surrender all their valuables. The room taken by the +decoy is vacated immediately after the robbery, the girl and her +confederate disappear, and it is impossible to find them. + +The police do not allow these girls to stop and converse with men on +Broadway. If a girl succeeds in finding a companion, she beckons him +into one of the side streets, where the police will not interfere with +her. If he is willing to go with her, she conducts him to her room +which is in one of the numerous bed-houses of the city. + + + BED-HOUSES + +These bed-houses are simply large or small dwellings containing many +furnished rooms, which are let to street-walkers by the week, or which +are hired to applicants of any class by the night. They are very +profitable, and are frequently owned by men of good social position, +who rent them out to others, or who retain the ownership, and employ a +manager. The rent, whether weekly or nightly, is invariably paid in +advance, so that the landlord loses nothing. + +[Illustration: Robbed by a Friend.] + +The girl leads her companion to one of these houses, and if she has a +room already engaged, proceeds directly to it; if not, one is engaged +from a domestic on the spot, the price is paid, and the parties are +shown up stairs. The place is kept dark and quiet, in order to avoid +the attention of the police. The houses are more or less comfortable +and handsome, according to the class by which they are patronized. They +are sometimes preferred by guilty parties in high life, as the risk of +being seen and recognized is less there than in more aristocratic +houses. These houses have a constant run of visitors from, about eight +o'clock until long after midnight. + + + TRAVELLING STREET-WALKERS. + +The various night lines of steamers running from New York city, are +literally overrun with abandoned women, seeking companions. The Albany +and the Boston lines are made intensely disagreeable by such persons. A +correspondent of one of the New Jersey papers, thus relates his +experience on board of one of the magnificent vessels of a Boston line. + +The grand saloon is filled with a throng of travellers listening to +the sweet music discoursed by a band in the upper gallery, employed for +the season by the company. One cannot but remark, with mingled pain and +indignation, the large number of brazen-faced prostitutes and +professional gamblers who saunter up and down the saloon and galleries, +seeking their prey among the unsuspecting passengers. + + * * * * * + +If a gentleman is seated alone, along comes one of these painted +wretches, boldly addressing him, and to escape her horrible proffers, +he must seek some other part of the boat, or follow the example of +every respectable lady, by occupying his stateroom at an early hour in +the evening. It is really getting to be exceedingly unpleasant and +disagreeable for a lady to travel by this line, even if accompanied by +a gentleman; and let no one permit a female relative or friend to take +this route alone, if they have the slightest regard for the decencies +and proprieties of life. While the band was discoursing sweet strains +of music, shrill screams were heard proceeding from the forward saloon. +The passengers rushed to the scene. A young woman was being carried by +main force, exerted by the servants, below. She struggled fiercely, +biting, striking and cursing! What a horrible sight. One observer, at +least, earnestly trusts he may never behold such an one again. She was +one of the courtesans who had been parading up and down the saloons all +the evening. She had inveigled an unsophisticated countryman into a +stateroom and robbed him. He reported her to the captain, and +threatened public exposure of the transaction before he could procure +assistance! And now her screams can be plainly heard, resounding +through, the gilded saloons, above the run of the machinery and strains +of the musicians. + + + PANEL THIEVING. + +This method of robbery is closely connected with street-walking. The +girl in this case acts in concert with a confederate, who is generally +a man. She takes her victim to her room, and directs him to deposit his +clothing on a chair, which is placed but a few inches from the wall at +the end of the room. This wall is false, and generally of wood. It is +built some three or four feet from the real wall of the room, thus +forming a closet. As the whole room is papered and but dimly lighted, a +visitor cannot detect the fact that it is a sham. A panel, which slides +noiselessly and rapidly, is arranged in the false wall, and the chair +with the visitor's clothing upon it is placed just in front of it. +While the visitor's attention is engaged in another quarter, the girl's +confederate, who is concealed in the closet, slides back the panel, and +rifles the pockets of the clothes on the chair. The panel is then +noiselessly closed. When the visitor is about to depart, or sometimes +not until long after his departure, he discovers his loss. He is sure +the girl did not rob him, and he is completely bewildered in his +efforts to account for the robbery. Of course the police could tell him +how his money was taken, and could recover it, too, but in nine cases +out of ten the man is ashamed to seek their assistance, as he does not +wish his visit to such a place to be made public. + + + THE "HUSBAND GAME." + +The street-walkers are adepts in deceit. Their chief object is to +procure money, and they do not hesitate to plunder their victims in +order to obtain it. One of their favorite "dodges" is called the +"husband game." This is played as follows. A man is picked up on the +street, after nine o'clock, and carried to the girl's room. He is asked +to pay his money in advance, which he does. The girl then turns the +lights down, and seems about to prepare to retire for the night, when a +loud knocking is heard. The girl, in alarm, informs him that she is a +married woman, and that her husband has returned. She begs him to +escape, or he will be killed. The visitor, terribly frightened, is glad +to get off through a side door. His money is not returned, but the +woman promises to meet him the next night, which engagement, of course, +is never kept. In ten minutes more she is on Broadway in search of a +fresh, victim. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + + + CONCERT SALOONS. + +There are seventy-five concert saloons in New York, which employ seven +hundred and forty-seven waiter girls. The brothels usually termed +dance-halls, are included in this estimate, but, as we design referring +especially to them in another chapter, we shall pass them by, for the +present, and devote this chapter to the concert saloons proper. + +Eight years ago, a Philadelphia manager opened a concert mall which he +called the "Melodeon," at the old Chinese Assembly Rooms on Broadway. +This was the first institution of the kind ever seen in New York, and +imitations of it soon became common. + +We find the following faithful description of one of these saloons in +one of the popular-prints of the day. + +"On Broadway, near--street, we notice, just above the entrance to a +cellar, a flaming transparency, with the inscription, 'Madame X--'s +Arcade.' Going down a few steps, we find our view of the interior +obstructed by a large screen, painted white, with the almost nude +figure of a dancing Venus coarsely painted thereon. The screen is +placed across the entrance, a few feet from the door, obliging us to +flank it, _a la Sherman_, and enter the hall by going around it. We +find the floor handsomely covered with matting and oil cloth. On the +right-hand side, nearest the door, is the bar, over which presides a +genius of the male sex, whose chief attractions consists of a decided +red head, and an immense paste breastpin, stuck into the bosom of a +ruffled shirt. The bar is well furnished, and any drink called for, +from beer to champagne, can be instantly obtained. A significant +feature, and one that easily arrests the attention, is a formidable +Colt's revolver, a foot in length, suspended immediately over the +sideboard. This weapon, it may be observed, is not placed there as an +ornament; it is in itself a _monitor_, warning those inclined to be +disorderly, of the danger of carrying their boisterousness or +ruffianism too far. On the walls are black engravings of the French +school, fit ornaments for the place. But, while we are taking this +casual survey, one of the attendant nymphs, with great scantiness of +clothing, affording display for bare shoulders and not unhandsome +ankles, appears, and in a voice of affected sweetness wholly at +variance with her brazen countenance and impertinent air, requests us +to be seated, and asks what we'll have. We modestly ask for 'Two ales,' +which are soon placed before us, and paid for. While quietly sipping +the beverage, we will glance at our surroundings. Back of the hall--we +are sitting at a table near the centre of the apartment--on a raised +platform, is an asthmatic pianoforte, upon which an individual with +threadbare coat, colorless vest and faded nankeen pantaloons, is +thrumming away for dear life. Out of tune himself, he tortures the poor +instrument in a way that threatens its instant dissolution, rending its +heartstrings, and causing it to shriek with agony, wailing out the tune +that the old cow died to! This is the only piece of music the performer +is acquainted with, judging from the persistent manner in which he +clings to it. What he lacks in musical knowledge, however, he makes up +with intention, and _thumps_ away quite manfully, only stopping, now +and then to call for a drink, with which to recruit his exhausted +energies. + +"But we have come to behold the chief attraction of the +establishment?--the 'pretty waiter girls.'" + + + THE WAITER GIRLS. + +"Looking around, we see, perhaps, twenty females, in various styles of +dress--some in Turkish costume (supposed to be _houris_ no doubt); +others attired as Spanish peasants; and others still in plain evening +attire. The latter are for the most part far from possessing charms, +and, from their looks, have long since outlived their beauty; but what +they lack in this respect they make up in others. The girl that waited +upon us on our entrance, again approaches, and seeing our glasses +empty, takes them away to be replenished. She soon reappears, and in +response to our invitation, takes a seat beside us, while we enter into +conversation with her. She is a fair sample (excuse the mercantile +term) of her class, and her history is a history of a majority of her +associates. Not unprepossessing in appearance, by any means, Ellen-- +that, she tells us, is her name--is twenty-two years of age; was born +in the village of Tarrytown; resided with her parents until she was +eighteen, when her father died. Leaving her mother with her youngest +brother, she came to New York to seek employment. On arriving in the +city, she obtained a situation in a millinery store. Remained there but +a short time; was out of work; had no friends, no money. Would not go +back to her mother, who was poor. Saw an advertisement of Madame--for +'Pretty waiter girls.' Answered it. Was engaged in the saloon; seduced +(partly by promises, and partly by threats), by one of the frequenters +of the establishment--and has since led the life of a prostitute! Ellen +told her story without the least emotion, and when asked about her +mother, carelessly replied, 'She supposed the old woman was dead by +this time.' + +"Such are the effects of vice, and a life of infamy, upon the noble +feelings and natural impulses of the female heart. With an exclamation +of, 'Oh, there's my man!' our attendant suddenly left us, and joined an +individual who had just entered the apartment, and we did not see her +again. + +"At a table nearly opposite to our own, are seated a couple, one, at +least, of whom, to even a casual observer, is a stranger to the place +and its surroundings; there is no doubt of it. Wholly enwrapped in the +beauty and grace of his female companion, he is totally oblivious to +all passing around. She is exerting all her arts to entice 'greeny' +into her net, and before long will be counting the amount of his cash-- +while he, her dupe, will be, too late, reflecting upon the depravity of +pretty waiter girls. By this time the saloon is crowded with men and +women, of all degrees of social standing. Here is the man about-town, +the hanger-round of the hotels, in clothes of unexceptionable cut and +make, talking earnestly with a female, whose drawn veil conceals her +face--perhaps some unfortunate victim of his lust, or probably his +mistress, come to plead for justice, or for her week's allowance of +money. Yonder is a youth, of, as Sylvanus Cobb, Jr., would say, 'some +eighteen summers,' young in years, but old in sin, who supports on his +knee a _nymph du pave_, with whom he has entered from the street, and +upon whom he is spending his last quarter's salary, or the proceeds of +an investigation into the till of his employer. In that corner, is the +returned soldier, who has just been paid off, and who is now expending +the hard-earned pittance of the government upon some bepainted and +bedizened courtesan, while perhaps his wife and family are suffering +for want of the common necessaries of life. A cry of pain, followed by +a burst of brutal laughter, causes us to turn our eyes to the corner, +just in time to witness a woman fall to the ground, felled by a blow +from the clenched fist of the brute with whom she has been quarrelling. +A moment, there is silence in the hall; but only for a moment. The girl +is picked up by one of her companions--a few rough jokes at her +expense--and all goes on as before. Such scenes are of too frequent +occurrence to provoke comment. Observe that couple descending the +steps; a handsome, almost noble-looking man, but upon whose countenance +is stamped the mark of a dissolute life--upon his arm, a female, her +face hidden from view by a dark veil. They advance to the bar. The +gentleman whispers a word in the ear of one of the girls, a meaning +smile flickers over her face as she hands him a key, with which he +opens a door in the end of the room, and disappears with the female. +Reader, you have seen half a dozen similar couples arrive and vanish +through the same door. Do you know the why and wherefore of this +proceeding? This saloon is one of the most _notorious assignation +houses_ in New York. We might go on and notice more fully the various +personages and scenes, constantly varying, in this house; but we have +neither space or time at present--besides, the task is not an agreeable +one. So, let us leave the murky atmosphere of the 'crib,' and once more +breathe the pure air of heaven." + +Bad as they are, the concert saloons of Broadway are the best in the +city. Those of the Bowery, and Chatham street, are mere brothels, in +which no man's life is safe. + +Persons entering these places run a fearful risk. They voluntarily +place themselves in the midst of a number of abandoned wretches, who +are ready for any deed of violence or crime. They care for nothing but +money, and will rob or kill for it. Respectable people have no business +in such places. They are sure to have their pockets picked, and are in +danger of violence. Many men, who leave their happy homes in the +morning, visit these places, for amusement or through curiosity, at +night. They are drugged, robbed, murdered, and then the harbor police +may find their lifeless forms floating in the river at daybreak. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV. + + + DANCE-HOUSES. + +THESE houses differ from the saloons in two things--they are lower and +viler, and their guests assemble for the purpose of dancing as well as +drinking. They are owned chiefly by men, though there are some which +are the property of and are managed by women. They are located in the +worst quarters of the city, generally in the streets near the East and +North Rivers, in order to be easy of access to the sailors. + +The buildings are greatly out of repair, and have a rickety, dirty +appearance. The main entrance leads to a long, narrow hall, the floor +of which is well sanded. The walls ornamented with flashy prints, and +the ceiling with colored tissue paper cut in various fantastic shapes. +There is a bar at the farther end of the room, which is well stocked +with the meanest liquors, and chairs and benches are scattered about. + +From five to a dozen women, so bloated and horrible to look upon, that +a decent man shudders with disgust as he beholds them, are lounging +about the room. They have reached the last step in the downward career +of fallen women, and will never leave this place until they are carried +from it to their graves, which are not far distant. They are miserably +clad, and are nearly always half crazy with liquor. They are cursed and +kicked about by the brutal owner of the place, and suffer still greater +violence, at times, in the drunken brawls for which these houses are +famous. Their sleeping rooms are above. They are sought by sailors and +by the lowest and most degraded of the city population. They are the +slaves of their masters. They have no money of their own. He claims a +part of their infamous earnings, and demands the rest for board and +clothes. Few have the courage to fly from these hells, and if they make +the attempt, they are forced back by the proprietor, who is frequently +aided in this unholy act by the law of the land. They can not go into +the streets naked, and he claims the clothes on their backs as his +property. If they leave the premises with these clothes on, he charges +them with theft. + + + HOW THE LAW AIDS VICE. + +In _Packard's Monthly,_ for September, 1868, the reader will find a +deeply interesting article on this subject, by Mr. Oliver Dyer, from +which we take the following illustration of our remarks. + +There is, probably, not a police reporter in the city, of much +experience, who has not seen one of these girls arraigned at the Tombs, +or at some other police court, on a charge of theft; because in fleeing +from the intolerable servitude of some den of vice, she had had to wear +clothes belonging to the keeper--not having any of her own wherewith to +hide her nakedness. + +"We will give a scene of this kind. Place, the Tombs, time, six o'clock +in the morning; present, police justice, officers of court, about +thirty prisoners, policemen attending as witnesses, and parties +preferring charges against prisoners. The name of the girl against whom +complaint has been made having been called, the following examination +took place: + +"_Justice_.--'What is the charge against this girl?' + +"_Policeman_.--'Felony-stealing wearing apparel.' + +"_Justice_.--'Who is the complainant?' + +"_Policeman_.--'This woman here,' pointing out the keeper of the den +from which the girl had fled--a most villainous old hag. + +"_Justice_ (to the keeper).--'What did the girl steal?' + +"_Keeper._--'Every rag she's got on; bad luck to her.' + +"_Justice_ (to the girl).--'Mary, who owns that shawl you have on?' + +"_Mary._--'_She_ does, sir;' pointing to the woman. + +"_Justice._--'Who owns that hat and dress you have on?' + +"_Mary._--'_She_ does.' + +"_Justice._--'Havn't, you any thing of your own to wear?' + +"_Mary._--'Nothing, sir.' + +"_Justice._--'This woman owns them all--all the clothes you have on, +does she?' + +"_Mary._--'Yes, sir.' + +"_Justice._--'If they are hers you should not have taken them.' + +"_Mary._--'Please, sir, I couldn't stay in her house any longer, and I +couldn't go naked into the street.' + +"_Justice._--'It is a hard case, Mary, but stealing is stealing, and I +shall have to send you up for twenty days.' + +"And so Mary is sent to the Penitentiary on Blackwell's Island for +twenty days (and sometimes for a longer period), wearing the 'stolen' +clothes; and the hag of a keeper goes back to her den and tells the +other girls of Mary's fate, satisfied to give the shabby garment, in +which the victim was attired, in exchange for the 'moral effect' of the +girl's conviction and imprisonment on those who are still in her +clutches. + +"Justice Dowling, we believe, never convicts a girl of theft under such +circumstances, but gives her accuser such a scoring down in open court +as sends her back to her den in rage and shame." + + + WHERE THE WOMEN COME FROM. + +Let no one suppose that these women entered upon such wretched lives +voluntarily. Many were drugged and forced into them, but the majority +are lost women who have come regularly down the ladder to this depth. +You can find in these hells women who, but a few years ago, were +ornaments of society. No woman who enters upon a life of shame can hope +to avoid coming to these places in the end. As sure as she takes the +first step in sin, she will take this last one also, struggle against +it as she may. This is the last depth. It has but one bright ray in all +its darkness--it does not last over a few months, for death soon ends +it. But, oh! the horrors of such a death. No human being who has not +looked on such a death-bed can imagine the horrible form in which the +Great Destroyer comes. There is no hope. The poor wretch passes from +untold misery in this life to the doom which awaits those who die in +their sins. + +O, parents, look well to your children. Guard them as you have never +guarded them before. Make home happy and bright to them. Encircle them +with love and tenderness. Weigh well your every act and word, for you +may learn some day, when it is too late, that your criminal +carelessness has been the cause of your child entering the path which +leads inevitably down to hell. + +The keepers of these dens use every means to decoy emigrant girls into +their dens. As we have shown in another chapter, they frequently +succeed. Mr. Oliver Dyer, in the article from which we have just +quoted, relates the following, which will show how this is done. We +merely remark that this is perhaps the only case in which the helpless +victim has been rescued: + +"In the month of February, 1852, Isaac W. England, Esq., formerly the +city editor of the _New York Tribune_, subsequently the managing editor +of the _Chicago Republican_, afterwards editor-in-chief of the _Jersey +City Times_, and now the managing editor of the _New York Sun_, was +returning to this city from Liverpool in the emigrant packet ship _New +York_, in which he had taken a second cabin passage, for the purpose of +learning practically how emigrants fared in such vessels. + +"Mr. England did this with a view to exposing the atrocities then +practiced upon emigrants, and which he afterwards did expose, in the +columns of the _Tribune_, with such effect as to be largely +instrumental in the fundamental regeneration of the whole emigrant +business, and the creation of the Castle Garden Commission. + +"Among the passengers in the second cabin of the packet ship was a +handsome English girl, some nineteen years of age, from near Mr. +England's native town. The fact that the girl came from near his native +town led Mr. England to feel an interest in her, and he learned that +she was coming to America to join her brother, then living near +Pottsville, in Pennsylvania. + +"On landing in New York, the girl went to a boarding-house in Greenwich +street, there to await her brother's arrival--it having been arranged +that he should come to New York for her. + +"Mary (for that was her name) had not been at the boarding-house many +days when a German woman called there in search of a bar-maid, and +seeing Mary, she at once sought to induce her to accept the situation. +It is not uncommon for English girls, of the class to which Mary +belonged, to act as bar-maids in England, that being there a +respectable employment. + +"Deceived by the complaisant manners, and lured by the liberal promises +of the German woman, the unsuspecting English girl accepted her offer +and went with her to her saloon--basement in William street, near +Pearl. + +"After one day's service as bar-maid, Mary was bluntly informed by her +employer that she had been brought thither to serve in a capacity which +we will, not name, and was ordered to make ready for at once entering +upon a life of shame. + +"The horror-stricken girl, frantic with, terror, set about immediately +leaving the premises. But she was too valuable a prize to be allowed to +escape. The hag into whose clutches she had fallen locked her up in a +back basement room, extending under a grate in the yard, and open to +the inclemency of the weather, and there she kept her for two days and +two nights--the girl not daring to eat or drink any thing during all +that time, for fear of being drugged to insensibility and ruin. + +"The only sustenance that passed that girl's lips for eight and forty +hours was the snow that she scraped from the area grating. Nor did she +dare to close her eyes in sleep for an instant. + +"And while thus imprisoned, constant efforts were made to intimidate or +force her to the fate to which the keeper of the place was determined +to drive her. For this purpose man after man was sent to her prison. +With some of them a simple statement of the case was sufficient to turn +them from their purpose; but against others she had to fight as if for +life for that which was to her dearer than life. + +"But lack of food and lack of sleep began to tell upon her. Her +strength failed, her mind weakened, and it seemed as though her doom +was sealed. + +"On the third day of Mary's imprisonment Mr. England, who was about to +start for Rhode Island, bethought himself of his young countrywoman, +and determined to call at the boarding-house in Greenwich street, to +see what had become of her. He did so, and was informed that she had +engaged as bar-maid in the William street saloon. + +"Having knowledge of such places, Mr. England was troubled at this +news, and though pressed for time, he determined to call at the saloon +and see what kind of hands Mary had fallen into. He went thither, and +the moment he entered the place he discovered its character. + +"On inquiring of the landlady for Mary, he was told that she had gone +to Pennsylvania with her brother, who had come for her two days before. +Something in the woman's manner excited Mr. England's suspicions, and +he told her that he thought she was deceiving him, and that Mary was +still in the house. + +"At this the woman flew into a passion, and swore volubly at Mr. +England in several languages. This strengthened his suspicions of foul +play, and he grew more peremptory in his manner of speech. While he was +contesting the matter with the landlady, one of the girls in waiting +passed near him, and muttered something which he understood to be a +statement that Mary was actually in the house. + +"Upon this Mr. England took decided ground, and told the woman that +unless she immediately produced the girl, he would go for an officer +and have her arrested. This brought her to terms. She gave one of the +waitresses a key, and an order in German, in pursuance of which the +girl went and unlocked the room in which Mary was confined. As soon as +the door was opened Mary came rushing out, and seeing Mr. England, she +flew to him sobbing hysterically, and clinging to his arm--and cried: + +"'Take me from this place, Mr. England; take me from this place!' + +"After demanding Mary's trunk, which was delivered to him, with all her +things, Mr. England immediately took the rescued girl to a place of +safety. + +"Mary's brother had died, as she soon learned, while she was on her +voyage to meet him. But a young New York lawyer saw her and loved her, +and wooed her, and won her, and married her, and she is now living, +happy and prosperous, in Brooklyn. + +"But suppose there had been no Mr. England in the case. Or, suppose Mr. +England had gone to Rhode Island, without stopping to look after this +homeless young stranger! + +"Why, then, she would have met her wretched doom in that William street +den, and been one of the class about, whom this article is written." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + + + THE WICKEDEST MAN IN NEW YORK + +In the July number of _Packard's Monthly_, an able and sprightly +magazine, published in this city, there appeared an article by Mr. +Oliver Dyer, entitled "The Wickedest Man in New York." It was a lengthy +and interesting account of a dance-house, carried on at No. 304 Water +street--one of the vilest sections of the city--by one John Allen, and +of the proprietor himself. As many of our readers may not have seen +this article, we give portions of it, referring them to the magazine +for the rest. + +The Wickedest Man in New York goes by the name of John Allen. He lives +at No. 304 Water street. He keeps a dance-house there. He is about +forty-five years old. He is _reputed_ to be worth one hundred thousand +dollars, more or less, and is _known_ to be worth over seventy thousand +dollars. He has three brothers, who are clergymen--two of them being +Presbyterians, and the other a Baptist--and is reported to have once +been a minister of the Gospel himself. He is known formerly to have +been a school teacher, and is a man of education and fine natural +powers; was originally a good man; and is yet a 'good fellow' in many +respects. Were it not for his good qualities he never could have +attained unto the bad eminence of being the Wickedest Man in New York. + +The best bad is always the worst. + +Take him for all in all, our Wickedest Man is a phenomenon. He reads +the Bible to his dance-house girls, and his favorite papers are the New +York _Observer_ and the _Independent_. He takes them regularly, and +_reads_ them. We have repeatedly seen them lying on the counter of his +bar-room, amid decanters and glasses, along with the daily _Herald_ and +the _Sun_. We have also seen a dozen copies of the _Little Wanderer's +Friend_ at a time scattered about his place, for he takes an interest +in mission work, and 'goes in' generally for progress for other people. + +This Wickedest Man is the only entity appertaining to the shady side +of New York life which we have been unable to fathom, analyze, and +account for. But he is too much for us. Why a human being of his +education, natural tastes, force of character, and wealth, should +continue to live in a Water street dance-house, and bring up his +children in a soul-destroying atmosphere of sin and degradation, is +more than we can comprehend. + +For the Wickedest Man loves his children. His little five-year-old boy +is the apple of his eye, the core of his heart, and the chief object of +his worship. He never misses an opportunity to sound the child's +praises, and to show off his accomplishments. And all things +considered, the little fellow is truly a wonder. He is crammed full of +information on all manner of topics, and is ever ready to respond to +his doting father's attempts to make his smartness visible to the naked +eye. + +We have never visited the Wickedest Man's dance-house without having +our attention called afresh to his little son's abilities, except once, +and then he took us round to the school which the child attends, to let +us see that he ranks with the best, and is a favorite with his teacher. +That was on the 28th day of May last, at about a quarter to twelve in +the day time, when we went to No. 304 Water street, to tell Mr. Allen +that the fated time had come for serving him up in a magazine article. + +For be it known to the reader, we have had our pen couched at John +Allen for nearly two years. In the year 1865, the Sabbath after +President Lincoln was assassinated, we began an exploration and sub- +soiling of New York city, as to its crime, poverty, want, woe, +wretchedness, and degradation, which we have pursued ever since, as +other engagements would permit. Of course, it was not long before we +found out John Allen. We at once recognized his genius for wickedness, +and made him an especial study. But, as we have said, he baffles us. We +have told him so, and have frequently asked him to help us out of our +dilemma, but he always comes short of the complete thing. + +We _think_ we know why this Wickedest Man persists in living in his +Water street den--that we have, in fact, penetrated his secret; but as +we are not absolutely certain as to the matter, we will not set our +suspicion down in print, lest we should do him injustice. + +We have said that our Wickedest Man is a phenomenon. We meant this in +its application to the deepest springs of his character; but it is +also, and perhaps equally, applicable to the external manifestations of +those deepest springs. + +Has the reader any notion of a Water street dance-house? Concretely +stated, it is a breathing hole of hell--trap-door of the bottomless +pit. You step from the street into a bar-room, wherein lousy loafers +lurk, and which is, in some cases, on a level with the sidewalk, and in +others far below it; and there you are in the general midst of things, +if it happens to be a dance-house of the very lowest class. But usually +there is a 'saloon' in the rear of the bar-room. + +Passing out of the bar-room by a door opening in a partition across +its rear, you enter the dancing-saloon, which varies in size from a +room fifteen feet square to a room twenty-five to fifty feet in extent. +Along the wall of this room a bench extends, usually on three sides. In +the farther end of the room is an orchestra, proportioned in numbers +and skill to the prosperity of the establishment. The number of +musicians is sometimes as high as six, but the average is not more than +three. In one of the rear corners of the saloon there is a small bar, +where the girls can drink with their victims without exposing their +fascinations to the unthriftful gaze of a non-paying and censorious +outside public. + +Sitting upon the benches, or grouped upon the floor, or whirling in +the dance, are the girls, varying in number from four to twenty, but +averaging about ten. + +These girls are not often comely to the fastidious eye. But to a +sailor, just from a long cruise where nothing lovelier than his +weather-beaten shipmates has for years been seen, they are not without +attractions. So, too, do certain landsmen, of a degraded type, pay +homage to their strenuous charms. But a decent man, in the full +possession and equipoise of his faculties, can only regard them with +sorrow unspeakable, and pity too deep for tears. + +The only girl we ever saw in a dance-house, in whom we could detect +the slightest vestige of comeliness or refinement, had been there but a +few hours, and was reputed to be the daughter of a former Lieutenant- +Governor of a New England State. + +The first time we entered John Alien's dance-house we found it in full +blast. The hour was eleven in the evening. There were thirteen girls in +the saloon, three musicians in the orchestra, and seven customers +submitting to the blandishments of an equal number of the ballet- +dressed syrens who pervaded the room. Our party consisted of the +policeman who accompanied us, three clergymen on the look out for the +"elephant," Mr. Albert C. Arnold, of the Howard Mission, and the +writer. + +The Wickedest Man was in his glory. Things were moving briskly. He +gave us all a hearty welcome, ordered the orchestra to do their best, +and told the girls to 'break our hearts.' A vigorous dance followed, +after which the proprietor called out: + +'Hartford, go up stairs and get my baby.' Hartford turned out to be +one of the girls, who immediately disappeared and soon returned, +bearing in her arms an undressed sleepy child, wrapped in a shawl. This +was the juvenile prodigy. His father took him in his arms, with a glow +of pride and affection. + +'Now, gentlemen, you are writers, philosophers, and preachers; but +I'll show that my baby knows as much as any of you. He's hell on +reading, writing, praying and fighting.' + +And without more ado, he stood the sleepy little fellow upon the floor +and began to catechize him in ancient history, both sacred and profane, +and then in modern history, geography, the political history of the +United States, etc., etc., with a result which astounded all. Suddenly +he exclaimed: + +'Chester, give me a song.' + +And Chester, for that is the child's name, gave us a song. + +'Now, Chester, give us a break-down.' The orchestra played a 'break- +down,' and Chester danced it with precision and vigor, his mother +looking on with delight. + +"'Now, Chester, give us a prayer." + +And the child recited, first the Lord's Prayer, and then others in +succession mixed with which were so much ribaldry and profanity on the +father's part as cut us to the heart. And here it was that we got a +glimpse of the pre-eminent wickedness of the man-wickedness to him +unknown, and all the worse because of his unconsciousness of it; +wickedness which is leading him to train up that idolized boy in a way +and in an atmosphere which will yet make him an object of loathing, +even to his own heart. + +For that dance-house child there seems to be no spiritual hope. The +sacred and the profane are so intermingled in his childish +understanding, that he will never be able to tell which is sacred and +which is profane; and his nature being dogged and combative, he will +grow up into the highest possible type of wickedness, if he grows up at +all. Of the thousand of painful cases wherewith we have met in this +city, that of little Chester Allen gives us about the keenest pang. + +After the infant phenomenon had been sent back to bed, his father +asked our party if we wouldn't 'mix in' and have a dance with the +girls. + +'It'll do you good,' said he, 'to trip it a little on the light +fantastic. Besides, I like to do the fair thing by distinguished +visitors. I'm fond of literary people, and especially of clergymen. +I've three brothers myself who adorn the sacred calling; and grit and +grace run through our family, like the Tigris and the Jordan through +the Holy Land. Go in, gentlemen; the girls shan't hurt you. I'll watch +over you like a hen over her chickens, and you shall leave my premises +as virtuous as--_you came in!_ Ha, ha! Come, what shall it be?' + +On being assured that we would not 'trip it on the light fantastic,' +he asked us if _we_ (that is, our party) would not favor the girls with +a song, whereupon Mr. Arnold suggested that we should all sing +together, and asked the girls what they would like best. Several of +them immediately responded in favor of 'There is Rest for the Weary.' + +'Do _you_ know _that?_ one of the clergymen asked. + +'Yes;' answered at least half-a-dozen of the girls. + +'Where did you learn it?' asked another of the clergymen. + +"'At Sabbath-school," was the reply. + +We all looked at one another. Here was a revelation. These girls had +been brought up to attend Sabbath-school! Perhaps they were the +daughters of Christian parents! But we had not time to pursue this +painful speculation, for the girls began to sing-- + + 'In the Christian's home in Glory + There is a land of rest; + And my Saviour's gone before me, + To fulfil my soul's request. + + 'CHORUS: There is rest for the weary, + There is rest for you, + On the other side of Jordan, + In the sweet fields of Eden, + Where the Tree of Life is blooming, + There is rest for you.' + +And oh, with what fervor and pathos they sang--especially the chorus-- +which, at the end of each verse they sang three times over; some of +them, at last, weeping as they sang. What girlish memories, those +sweet, simple strains evoked! Memories, perhaps, of once happy homes, +and affectionate Sabbath-school teachers, and beloved companions, so +sweetly contrasting with their dance-house condition. And so, those +soul-weary creatures lingered fondly upon, and repeated over and over +again, the lines: + + 'On the other side of Jordan, + In the sweet fields of Eden, + Where the Tree of Life is blooming, + There is rest for you.' + + +Since that occasion we have repeatedly visited the abode of the +Wickedest Man in New York, for the purpose of 'studying him up,' and of +trying to hit upon some means of inducing him to abandon his course of +life, and of saving his boy. For in truth we not only feel an interest +in, but also rather like him, wicked as he is. And so does nearly +everybody whom we have taken to see him; and we have taken scores--most +of them clergymen. + +But all our efforts to get any vital hold upon him have been in vain. +He is always cordial; always ready to let the girls 'have a spiritual +sing;' will even permit a little exhortation to them in his dancing +saloon; and is free with his _Observer_ and _Independent_. But he keeps +on his way with unyielding pertinacity. + +On one occasion a party of us suggested that he should let us hold a +prayer-meeting in his saloon. After a little reflection, he replied: + +'Well, no, gentlemen, I can't go _that_. You know that every man must +have regard to his profession and the opinion of his neighbors. What +with my _Observer_ and _Independent_, and you fellows coming here and +singing camp-meeting hymns, I am already looked upon in the +neighborhood as being rather loose and unsound; _and if, a-top of all +that, I should let you hold a prayer-meeting here, I should lose what +little character I've left.'_ + +But our friend Arnold, of the Howard Mission, was determined to +achieve the prayer-meeting. And during the fourth week in May last, +when there were many of his clerical friends in the city, Mr. Arnold +thought he'd bring a heavy spiritual cannonade to bear on Allen, and +see what would come of it. So, on Monday night, May 25th, after a +carefully conducted preliminary season of prayer, an assaulting party +was formed, including six clergymen from different parts of the +country, to march upon the citadel of the enemy. When we arrived, it +was half past twelve; the window-shutters were closed, and we feared we +were too late. But a light shone through the window over the door, and +on application we were admitted, and received a hearty welcome. Allen +was just then undergoing a shampooing process; for the purpose, as he +frankly stated, of enabling him to go to bed sober. He added: + +'You see, gentlemen, it won't do for a business man to go to bed +drunk, nor for a literary man either. So now, you just take my advice, +and whenever you find yourself drunk about bedtime, you just take a +good shampoo, and you'll find the investment will pay a big dividend in +the morning. But walk into the saloon, gentlemen; walk in. The girls +are in there taking a rest and a smoke, after the arduous duties of the +evening. Walk in.' + +We walked in, and found the girls smoking pipes, and sitting and +lounging about the room. In a few minutes Allen came in and proposed to +have the girls dance for us, but we declined. + +'Well then, Arnold, let's have a song,' he exclaimed. + +Mr. Arnold, as usual, asked the girls what they would like to hear, +and they at once asked for their favorite--'There is Rest for the +Weary.' + +'Here, mother, give me my fiddle,' said Allen to his wife, 'and bring +out the books,' meaning the _Little Wanderer's Friend_, of which he +keeps a supply. + +The books were got out by one of the girls, the fiddle was handed him +by his wife, and Allen led off on the treble, all hands joining in. +There were eleven girls in the room, and they sang in the chorus with +unusual fervor, even for them. As soon as this song was finished, a +couple of the girls, simultaneously, asked for 'There's a Light in the +Window for Thee, Brother,' which was sung with emphasis and feeling. + +At the conclusion of the last-mentioned song, Mr. Arnold believed that +the appointed hour had come, and, tapping Allen on the shoulder, he +said: + +'Well, John, old boy, give us your hand: I feel just like praying here +with you!' + +Allen took the extended hand and gruffly said, 'What, _pray?_ Do you +mean pray? No, sir, never!' + +'Well, John, responded Mr. Arnold, 'I am going to pray here, anyhow. +If I don't pray loud I'll pray soft. You shan't lose the prayer, at any +rate.' + +'Well, Arnold, mind, now, if you pray _I won't hear you;_ mind that. I +don't know any thing about it. I won't hear you.' + +And backing slowly out of the room, and repeating, 'I won't hear you,' +over and over again, Allen went through the door leading to the bar, +and closed it after him. + +Mr. Arnold then invited the girls to join in prayer with him, which +they did, some of them kneeling on the floor, as did the visitors, and +others bowing their heads upon their hands, while Allen peered through +the window of the partition door upon the singular scene. + +Mr. Arnold's heart was almost too full for utterance, but his fervor +soon unloosed his tongue, and he poured out a simple, direct, and +heartfelt prayer, which told powerfully upon the hearers. Many of the +girls arose, sobbing, to their feet, and several of them crowded around +Mr. Arnold, and begged him, in the name of God, to take them from that +place. They would work their hands off, if honest work could be got for +them; they would submit to any hardship if they could only be restored +to opportunities for virtue and a Christian life. + +Poor Arnold! He was the picture of despair. It came upon him, all at +once, that there is no help for such, this side the grave. He had at +last conquered his opportunity, and prayed with these children of sin +and shame, and now that they were calling upon him to answer his own +prayer--to give them a chance to eat the bread of life--he had to put +them off with the stone of evasion. + +Take them from that place! Where could he take them? In all this +Christian land there is not a Christian home that would open its doors +to a repentant female sinner, except to turn her out of the house. + +On calling upon Mr. Arnold the next day, we found him in the room at +the Mission, with his head bowed upon the table, as though in prayer. +Looking up at us with blazing eyes, exclaimed: + +'Sir, what is to be done about this?' + +'About what?' we asked. + +'These poor girls,' he replied. 'I have been thinking and praying, and +praying and thinking over it all night, but I can see no light. Sir, +(pressing his head between his hands,) I shall go mad.' + +There are about forty dance-houses in Mr. Allen's neighborhood; that +is to say, within a half mile square, of which No. 304 Water street is +the centre. The average number of girls in each of these houses, the +season through, is ten, making four hundred in them all. So that, to +feed this half mile square of infamy requires eighty fresh girls per +annum. To feed the entire city, requires an average of two thousand one +hundred and ninety-four a year, _which is a trifle over six a day, +Sunday included!_ Six fresh girls a day from the Sabbath-schools and +virtuous homes of the land, to feed the licentious maw of this +metropolis of the western world. + + + THE WATER STREET REVIVAL. + +The result of the publication of Mr. Dyer's article, was to centre upon +John Allen an unusual share of public attention. Certain clergymen in +the city, thinking the occasion a proper one for endeavoring to create +a religious awakening amongst the worst classes of the city, determined +to endeavor to induce John Allen to abandon his wicked ways, and lead a +better life, hoping that his conversion would have a powerful influence +upon his class. They went to work. On the 30th of August, 1868, John +Allen's house was closed for the first time in seventeen years. A +handbill posted on the door, contained the following announcement: + + + THIS DANCE-HOUSE IS CLOSED. + +"No gentlemen admitted unless accompanied by their wives, who wish to +employ Magdalenes as servants." On the next day it was announced that +Allen had abandoned his infamous vocation, never to resume it. + +In order to do justice to all parties, we give the following, which +states the case of the originators of the revivals in their own words. +The paper is signed by J. M. Ward, M.D.; Rev. H. C. Fish, D.D.; Rev. W. +C. Van Meter; A. C. Arnold; Rev. W. H. Boole; Rev. F. Browne; Oliver +Dyer; Rev. Isaac M. Lee; Rev. Mr. Huntington. + +The facts are as follows: + +_First_.--At midnight on Saturday, the 29th day of August, 1868, JOHN +ALLEN closed his dance-house, No. 304 Water Street, where he had for +nearly seventeen years kept a rum shop and house of prostitution. As +soon after such closing of the dance-house as the rooms could be +arranged for the purpose, a prayer-meeting was held in the dancing +saloon, with the concurrence of Mr. ALLEN and his wife. This meeting +was begun at about half an hour after midnight, and continued until one +o'clock in the morning. It was conducted and participated in by Messrs. +ALBERT C. ARNOLD, Rev. H. C. BEACH and OLIVER DYER; and there were +present Mr. and Mrs. ALLEN, the girls of the establishment, and a +couple of ALLEN's neighbors, one of whom had been a liquor seller in +the Fourth Ward for twenty years. + +_Second_.--On the next day, the Sabbath, Mr. ALLEN attended worship, +in the afternoon, at the Howard Mission, and then and there publicly +announced that he had closed his dance-house, never to open it again +for any evil purpose. On the evening of the same day, a public prayer- +meeting was for the first time held in ALLEN's house, hundreds of +persons of all classes crowding the premises, among whom were some of +the most abandoned characters of the neighborhood. + +_Third_.--Since these meetings were begun, they have been continued +daily from noon till one o'clock, P. M., in Mr. ALLEN'S house; and on +Sabbath, there have been large outdoor meetings in front of the +premises. On the 11th of September, the house of THOMAS HADDEN, No. 374 +Water street, kept as a low groggery and sailor's boarding-house, was +also opened for religious services, at the hour of 12 o'clock; the +rooms being filled to overflowing, multitudes being unable to enter. At +the same hour a prayer-meeting was in progress at Allen's, and another +upon the sidewalk opposite, to accommodate those who could not get +within the doors at either Allen's or Hadden's. + +[Illustration: Noon-Day Prayer Meeting at "The Wickedest Man's" Dance- +House.] + +_Fourth_.--These meetings have been attended and sustained by +Christians of all denominations, and have uniformly been characterized +by extraordinary fervency and power. The congregations have been, to a +considerable extent, composed of sailors and residents of the Ward, +(the Fourth,) which is known as the worst ward in the city. Some of the +most wretched outcasts of this infamous locality have been present, and +have, in several instances, requested prayer and private religious +instruction; some cases resulting, as it is hoped, in their permanent +reformation and conversion. + + + THE OTHER SIDE. + +It is hardly possible that such religious demonstrations as the prayer- +meetings which were held in Water street in September, 1868, could fail +to do good to some one. The friends of the movement, however, made a +grave mistake in announcing and spreading the report of John Allen's +conversion, and even in allowing him to take part in their meetings, +when it was known to them that he was not even a repentant, much less a +converted man. The announcement of his conversion set on foot an +inquiry, on the part of the press of the city, the results of which are +thus stated by the _New York Times_, of September 19th. + +The highly sensational stories concerning the 'wickedest man in New +York,' with which the eyes and ears of the public have been regaled of +late, have awakened an interest in John (Van) Allen such as has not +been felt since the ever memorable reformation of 'Awful' (Orville) +Gardner, the notorious pugilist and gambler, who, nearly eleven years +ago, suddenly forsook the prize ring and the card table, with their +vile associations, and began to live like an honest man, and a +respectable member of society. Gardner was for several years a +companion of Allen's in a line of open, shameless sinning, and was +classed with the very lowest strata of humanity. When his 'conversion' +was announced there were few that believed in the man's sincerity, +while fewer still had any faith in the thoroughness or probable +perpetuity of the reformation. Gardner deceived the masses of his +fellows, however, by adhering strictly to his solemn pledge to 'serve +God in the future as zealously as he had served Satan in the past,' and +to this day he has indorsed that oath with a life of the most +irreproachable character. + +The same depth of popular interest that was born with the reformation +of the prize-fighter and gambler, in 1857, was brought forth recently, +when the community was startled with the strange news that the King of +Water street dance-house keepers had abandoned his wicked business, +and, like his associate of old, had promised to devote the remainder of +his days to serving the highest interests of mankind. That Gardner was +sincere and earnest, and that his motives were pure and unselfish, when +he promised to be a better man, time has fully vindicated; but that +Allen deserves the same commendation is, to say the least of it, very +questionable, as is shown by the inconsistencies of his brief +probationary career. To speak plainly, it is no more a matter of doubt +that the religious community has been grossly imposed upon, with +reference to the Water street 'revival,' as will be seen by glancing at +a few stubborn facts that cannot be reconciled to a more favorable +theory. Upon whose shoulders the guilt of this deception rests, may not +have been discovered, but, most assuredly, the righteous indignation of +the public will fall, unsparingly, upon whoever may deserve its +infliction. + +The facts, negatively stated, are briefly and plainly these: There is +not a religious revival in progress among the wretched dwellers in +Water street dance-halls, and sailors' boarding-houses, nor has there +been of late, as represented to the public. Neither Allen, Tommy +Hadden, Slocum, nor 'Kit' Burns are 'converted' or reformed men, all +accounts to the contrary notwithstanding. The whole movement originated +several months ago, in the efforts of the colporteurs of a certain +mission, to ameliorate the condition of sailors and fallen women of the +Fourth Ward. House-to-house visits were made by the missionaries for a +considerable length of time, but without accomplishing all that was +desired. At length it was decided that an unusual and sensational +method should be taken to arouse Water street, and Water street was +accordingly aroused. Allen was selected as the victim against whom the +shafts of religion should be specially levelled, and they were, +therefore, directed toward him. Two articles appeared in a certain +magazine, calling attention to Allen as the 'wickedest man in New York' +and in a short time he was the most notorious character in the country. +The aim of the article in question was evidently to shame John Allen +into a change of life, and thus to obtain a foothold among his vile +neighbors and companions in sin. The stroke was a bold one, but it +utterly failed in its purpose to soften John's heart. The result, +however, was that thousands of religious persons--clergymen and +others--thronged his house daily, either from a motive of curiosity, or +of inducing John to abandon his wicked life and become a religious man. +This he sternly refused to do, threatening to throw any preaching or +praying people, who might come there, out of doors. The rush of +visitors of the better classes to his house entirely destroyed his +business, and for weeks he did not make a dollar of profit in his usual +way. Finding that Allen could not be coerced into a reformation, and +fearing that the game would be lost, his religious shepherds made a +proposition to him to hire his house for one month, to October 1, for +daily prayer meetings, and such arrangement was, after some discussion, +perfected. For the use of the rooms it is known that a check for three +hundred and fifty dollars was passed to Allen, last week, by a party +controlling the movement, and the house is now in legal possession of +the drawer of the check. Allen's prayers, songs, and exhortations, with +which he interested the praying dupes who gathered to his house, were +assuredly bogus, and, after being continued for two or three days, they +were abandoned, and thereafter, in drunken obliviousness or cunning +reticence, the 'wickedest man' passed his time, avoiding visitors, and +talking only when compelled to do so. What he purposes to do hereafter +will be learned in the course of this article. So much for Alien's +falsely reputed conversion! + +As for the other men's reformation, that is as absolutely a piece of +humbuggery as Allen's. Tommy Hadden is playing the pious with the hope +of being secured from trial before the Court of General Sessions for +having recently 'shanghaed' a Brooklynite, and also in consideration of +a handsome moneyed arrangement with his employers--similar to that with +Allen. 'Kit' Burn's rat-pit will also be opened for religious services +on Monday next; but the public need not be deceived in the matter of +his reformation. His motive, like that of the others, is to make money, +and, be it known, that he is to receive at the rate of one hundred and +fifty dollars per month, for the use of his pit an hour every day. +Slocum desired prayers at the Howard Mission, on Sunday last, but it is +understood that he is not to be lionized, because the missionaries are +not willing to pay him a high enough rental for his hall. As for the +general movement carried on in Water street, under the false pretence +that these men have voluntarily, and from purely religious motives, +offered their saloons for public worship, and have, themselves, +determined to reform, very little more need be said. The daily prayer- +meetings are nothing more than assemblages of religious people from +among the higher grades of society, in what were once low dance-halls. +There is an unusual amount of interest displayed at these meetings, and +much good has, doubtless, been accomplished thereby, but it is also a +fact, that there are but a few, and sometimes none, of the wretched +women, or ruffianly, vicious men, of that neighborhood, present. Those +classes are not reached at all, and it is false to say that a revival +is going on among them. The character of the audiences and the +exercises are similar to that of the noon meeting at the Fulton street +Church. + +With a view of sounding Allen on various points of public interest, +connected with this exciting affair, the writer, on Thursday, paid a +visit to the devildom of which Allen is monarch, and there saw and +heard some things that are worth the reader's attention. The house, 304 +Water street, was easily found. Opening the door that leads from the +Street into the apartment that once served as a bar-room, he (the +writer) asked if Mr. Allen was at home, and he was informed by a lad to +whom the inquiry was addressed, that he was not--he was across the +street talking to Slocum, (the proprietor of a neighboring dance-hall,) +and if the business upon which the visitor had called was important he +would be summoned. Allen was accordingly sent for, and with evident +reluctance he accompanied the lad to the room of which we have spoken. + +The moment he entered, it was easily seen that he was grossly +intoxicated. His step was steady, but the wandering expression of his +bloodshot eyes, the silly grin that played about his lips, and the +unmistakable rum-odor of his breath, as he approached, made it certain +that he was a drunken man. He did not wait for the formalities of an +introduction, but at once opened with: 'Well, who are you? What's your +name? Where do you live? What's your business--salvation, sinners, +eh?'--all at a single breath, and with a rapidity that would defy the +pencil of the most skilful stenographer. There was an air of +imperiousness, too, in his tone of voice, that seemed to say, 'Come, +talk quickly now, and then go about your business; I have no time to +waste.' The inquiries, in the main, having been answered, Allen closed +the door of the saloon, dragged a small table and two chairs into the +middle of the floor, and, having done this, and dismissed the boy and a +hideous-looking girl, who was preparing to scrub the apartment, he bade +us be seated, and then resumed the conversation, which was carried on +in something like the following manner: + +'Well, Mr. Allen, what do you desire to say to the public about this +reform work?' + +'Don't know what to say about it--it's all right, I guess. You can +tell 'em that those prayin' "fellers" have broken all my cane chairs, +and I've had to get wooden ones--guess they can't break them. Broke my +glass there, too, smashed it in, and they smash everything they touch. +Somebody stole my coat, too--I'd like to catch him. I don't much like +them prayin' folks, anyhow,' he said. + +'Why?' was the rejoinder, in evident surprise, 'the public has been +led to believe that you were "converted," John, and that you loved +Christian people--there will be great surprise when it is made known +that such is not the case.' + +'Oh!' he returned, interrupting the visitor, 'I'm reformed, and I've +made up my mind to serve my great Redeemer as long as he lets me live. +I'll never go back on Him, true as you live. I'm just a goin' to let +the world know that I'm a second Apostle Paul--there ain't a goin' to +be anybody beat me in this line of business, sure's my name is John +Allen.' + +'What do you mean by "a second Apostle Paul?"' we ventured to ask. + +'What do I mean?' was the reply. 'Why, I mean just what I say; I'm +goin' to study for a preacher, and I'm goin' to sweep everything in +this street. If one church won't have me, another will; and I'll tell +these wicked sinners in the world that they'd better look out for +themselves, or they'll wake up some fine morning in hell fire.' + +'You say that you are going to preach, John. Do you suppose that +people will hear you from the pulpit, unless you stop drinking rum?' + +'Who told you I drank rum?' he asked, fiercely--and without waiting +for a reply, continued: 'I never was drunk in my life. I take a glass +now and again, when I feel the need of it; and lately I've been +tapering off. I am going to stop it, by-and-by, when I get ready.' + + + THE LAST OF THE WICKEDEST MAN. + +The last appearance of the "wickedest man" in public, was a short while +ago, when he and his wife, and several of his girls, were arraigned +before Justice Dowling, at the Tombs Police Court, on the charge of +robbing a sailor of fifteen dollars. The trial, as reported in the +daily journals, was a severe commentary upon the revivals, and those +who had been conducting them. The following is the account of it: + +John Allen and wife, and several girls, who have made that saintly +personage's house their home, were before Justice Dowling yesterday +morning, to answer a number of damaging charges--among them, keeping a +resort for thieves, gamblers, and prostitutes, and robbing Benjamin +Swan, a seaman. The story may be best told by the victim, who was +examined by Justice Dowling, as follows. + +_Justice_.--'Tell me, Swan, how this robbery occurred.' + +_Swan_.--'Well, your Honor, I was going along Water street, on Friday +night, and was picked up by the girl, and taken to a private room in +the house of Allen. I gave Mrs. Allen five dollars, to pay for drinks, +etc.; and during the night, my bedfellow, Margaret Ware, took from my +pantaloons pocket fifteen dollars, which she said she gave to Mrs. +Allen to keep. When I asked it back, they would not give it to me. I am +sure it was John Allen's house.' + +The testimony of this witness having been taken, Captain Thorne made a +formal complaint against John Allen for keeping a disorderly house. + +_Justice_.--'How do you know that he keeps a disorderly house, +captain?' + +_Captain_.--'I take it on the testimony of this man, who has been +robbed there.' + +_Justice_.--'Yes, but you must have stronger testimony than that. The +law says that it requires more than one act to constitute a disorderly +place.' + +_Captain_.--'I have policemen here to prove that it is disorderly.' + +_Justice_.--'Allen, what do you say to this charge?' + +_Allen_.--'Your Honor, during the past six weeks I have done no +business. My house has been used all the time for prayer-meetings.' + +_Justice_.---'What about the robbery of this man?' + +_Allen_.--'I have nothing to say about it, for I was not at home last +night. I know very well that the captain does not want to have me +locked up. We have always been good friends, haven't we, captain?' + +_Captain_.--'I have nothing to say about it.' + +_Allen_.--'If no charge is made, I promise to have nothing to do with +politics.' + +_Justice_.--'Do you mean to say that politics had any thing to do with +your arrest?' + +_Allen_.--'I don't say anything at all about it, your Honor.' + +_Justice_.--'Then why do you hint at it?' + +_Allen_.--'I will promise not to interfere one way or the other, if I +am allowed to go.' + +The court loungers, who know something of the peculiar politics of the +Fourth Ward, here laughed immoderately. + +_Justice_.--'You go to the captain, and tell him all about it.' + +_Allen_.--'I won't vote at all if I am let go. I always keep in with +the police.' (Laughter.) + +_Justice_.--'That's right.' + +_Allen_.--'Only for the kindness of the police, I never could have +kept my place so many years. They have always been my friends.' +(Laughter.) + +_Justice_.--'How long is it since you have had any prayer meetings in +your house?' + +_Allen_.--'About eight days.' + +_Justice_.--'You have got through with them, then, have you?' + +_Allen_.--'Well, yes, they are not held in my house any more, but they +do be held at Jim Miller's, next door, all the same.' + +_Justice_.--'I believe those praying fellows are the most disorderly +persons in Water street. Captain, if you would arrest them, some time, +and charge them with disorderly conduct, I think you would be doing +good service to the community, for their religious gatherings have been +a farce.' + +Margaret Ware was committed for trial, and John Allen was held on +three hundred dollars bail to answer at the Special Sessions. Daniel +Creedon, lodging-house keeper, who represents ten thousand dollars in +real estate, became John Allen's bondsman. John says that Oliver Dyer +caused his arrest and that the whole thing was a 'put up job.' + + + THE RESULT. + +We grant, without hesitation, that those who originated and carried on +the Water street revivals, were influenced by worthy motives; but, +having given both sides of the case, we maintain that the whole affair +was a grave mistake. There was no genuine conversion of the principal +characters, and this fact was soon made evident. The public became +disgusted with the sham. The class for whose benefit the movement was +designed, has been morally injured by it. Good people are made chary of +engaging in schemes for the conversion of bad characters, lest they +should be drawn into another "John Allen affair," and the wretches who +were to have been saved, having been quick to detect the deceit +practiced in the matter, denounce all the efforts and declarations of +the actors in this affair as hypocrisy and cant, and will for a long +time hold aloof from them. On the whole, therefore, we can but regard +the cause of religion as more injured than benefited by the mistaken +zeal of those who conducted the Water street revivals. The men +themselves are above reproach. Their motives, no candid person will +impugn, but their wisdom and good sense are open to the gravest +criticism. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII. + + + CHEAP LODGING HOUSES. + +The Bowery and eastern section of the city are full of cheap lodging +houses, which form a peculiar feature of city life. "There is a very +large and increasing class of vagrants who live from hand to mouth, and +who, beneath the dignity of the lowest grade of boarding houses, find a +nightly abode in cheap lodgings. These establishments are planned so as +to afford the greatest accommodation in point of numbers with the least +in point of comfort. The halls or rather passages are narrow, and the +rooms are small, dark, dirty and infested with vermin. The bedding +consists of a straw pallet and coarse sheets, and a coverlet of a +quality too poor to be an object of luxury. In some houses no sheets or +coverlet are afforded, but even with the best of these accommodations +the lodger suffers from cold in the winter, while in the summer he is +devoured with bed-bugs. For such accommodations in a room which half a +dozen may share, the lodger pays ten cents, though it is said there is +a lower depth where they sleep on the floor and pay half the above- +mentioned price. The profit of this business may be inferred from the +fact that one hundred and fifty lodgings, and in some cases a much +larger number, are sold by each house, making a net receipt of $15 per +night, to which is to be added the profits of a bar, where the vilest +whiskey is retailed in 'dime nips.' The business of a lodging house +seldom commences before ten o'clock, and its greatest rush is just +after the closing of the theatres; but all through the night, till +three o'clock in the morning, they are receiving such of the outcast +population as can offer the price of a bed. To any one interested in +the misery of the city, the array presented on such an occasion is very +striking. One sees every variety of character, runaway boys, truant +apprentices, drunken mechanics and broken-down mankind generally. Among +these are men who have seen better days. They are decayed gentlemen who +appear regularly in Wall street, and eke out the day by such petty +business as they may get hold of, and are lucky if they can make enough +to carry them through the night. In all lodging houses the rule holds +good 'first come, first served,' and the last man in the room gets the +worst spot. Each one sleeps with his clothes on and his hat under his +head to keep it from being stolen. At eight o'clock in the morning all +oversleepers are awakened and the rooms got ready for the coming night. +No one is allowed to take anything away, and if the lodger has a parcel +he is required to leave it at the bar. This prevents the theft of bed- +clothes. As the expenses connected with lodging houses are very light, +they are generally profitable, and in some instances large fortunes +have been made at the business. The one recently burned was a correct +illustration of the vices and miseries of the poor; a lodging house up +stairs and in the basement a concert-saloon, so that the poverty +engendered by the one could be sheltered by the other." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + + BLACK-MAILING. + +The detectives are constantly at work in attempts, which are generally +successful, to protect persons of respectability from the clutches of +that unscrupulous class known as black-mailers. These individuals are +very numerous in the city, and are generally to be found amongst the +most desperate and wicked of the disreputable classes. Street-walkers +and fast women of all classes are most commonly engaged in it. The +woman is the visible actor, but she is generally sustained by a rough, +or professional thief, or pickpocket. They are not content with making +victims of those who have really committed indiscretions which have +come to their knowledge, but they fasten upon the innocent and really +virtuous, well knowing that nine persons out of ten, though really +guiltless of any fault, will rather comply with their demands than have +their names connected with a scandal. Such persons think that the +wretch will not dare to charge them with the offence, or endeavor to +extort money a second time, and do not regret the first outlay. They +ought never to yield, whether innocent or guilty, for the wretches are +sure to make repeated demands upon those who are weak enough to comply +with them. The law makes it a crime for any one to endeavor to extort +money in this way, and no one so threatened should hesitate for one +moment in applying to the police. + + + A MINISTER BLACK-MAILED. + +A minister, who shall be nameless, was coming out of his robing-room +one Sabbath night, after service, and was passing down the aisle on his +way out of the building, when he was accosted by a well-dressed and +rather handsome woman, who asked him to allow her a few moments' +conversation with a him. He granted her request, and she said she had +come to ask him to go with her to see her sister, who was lying at the +point of death at a boarding-house in------street. She seemed very much +distressed, and declared she would "go deranged" if her sister should +die without seeing a clergyman. She added that her sister and herself +were both strangers in the city, and that as they had never been to any +other church but that in charge of the gentleman she was addressing, +they would prefer his ministrations to those of any other person. The +woman's story was so simple and straightforward that the minister did +not hesitate to believe her, and accompanied her to a plain but +respectable-looking house in------street. He noticed, while in the +cars--for they took this means of conveyance in order to save time-- +that a number of persons looked at his companion and himself rather +strangely, but still he suspected nothing. + +On reaching the house, the woman rang the bell, and they were admitted. +She asked him to wait a moment in the parlor. The room was flashy, and +the appearance of the men and women, who were grouped about in it, was +far from being respectable, though there was nothing improper in their +conduct. The minister's suspicions were aroused at once by the general +appearance of things, and were increased as he saw the whispered +conversation going on between the other occupants of the room, and of +which he was evidently the subject. In a few minutes his companion +returned, and asking him to follow her, led the way up to her room. He +went with her, still thinking that his suspicions might have been +misplaced. Several women passed him on the stairway each of whom +greeted him with an impudent laugh. Upon reaching the room, the +minister found that he had been deceived. There was no sick woman +present, and he was alone with his infamous companion. As she closed +the door, she came up to him, and put her arm around him. He threw her +off sternly. + +"What does this mean," he asked. + +"I wanted to have the pleasure of your society," said the woman, +laughing. "Now that you are here, you had better stay." + +Without a word, the clergyman turned towards the door, but the woman +sprang before him. + +"You don't leave me in this way," she said. "I want money, and I must +have it." + +"I have none for you," said the minister. "Let me pass." + +"Listen to me," said the woman: "I want two hundred dollars. Pay the +money, and I will never tell of your visit here. If you refuse me, I'll +tell the story all over town." + +"Do so," was the reply. "I will tell how I was led here, how I was +deceived, and I will have you arrested." + +"My tale's the best," said the woman, defiantly. "I can prove your +presence in the parlor by every girl in the house, and those who saw +you in the hall will swear you came to my room with me. They will swear +to no lie, either, and nine people out of ten will believe my story +against yours. To say the least," she added, "it will fasten such a +suspicion on you as will ruin you with your congregation; so you'd +better pay me my money." + +The minister was silent for a moment. He felt that his presence in that +place would give rise to a terrible suspicion, and he knew that a man +in his position could not afford to be suspected. However innocent he +might be, the faintest breath of scandal would injure him greatly. He +thought over the matter rapidly, and at last said: + +"The sum you name is a very large one to me, and I could not pay you +to-night, were I inclined to do so. Give me until to-morrow to think of +it." + +The woman's eyes sparkled, for she thought her victim would surely +yield. + +"Where can I see you to-morrow?" she asked. + +"At my residence, No.--W----street, at twelve o'clock," he said. "Send +in your name as Mrs. White, and I will see you at once." + +"You had better do so," said the woman, emphatically. "Now you can go." + +She led the minister down the stairs, and allowed him to leave the +house. Instead of going home, he went straight to the Police +Headquarters, and made his statement to the officer in charge, and was +advised as to the course he should pursue. Then he went home, and told +his wife of the whole affair, and of the course of action he had marked +out. + +The next day, precisely at noon, the so-called Mrs. White, accompanied +by a villainous-looking man, arrived at the minister's residence, and +the two were shown into his study. He received them calmly, and the +woman introduced the man, as "her friend, who had come to see fair +play." This announcement did not in the least disconcert the minister, +who proceeded to state in plain terms the events connected with the +affair of the previous night. + +"You acknowledge this to be a true statement," he said to the woman. + +"Yes, it is the truth," she said, "but your innocence will not keep +people from suspecting you." + +"You demand the sum of two hundred dollars as the price of your silence +on the subject," he continued. + +"That's my price." + +"If I make it three hundred will you sign a paper acknowledging your +deceit and my innocence?" he asked, producing a roll of notes. + +"Yes," she replied, after consulting with her companion. + +"Then sign that," he said, handing her a written paper and a pen. + +The man read it, and nodded his head, and she signed it. + +"Now, gentlemen," said the minister, raising his voice, and drawing the +paper to him, "you can enter, and witness the signature." + +As he spoke the door of an adjoining room opened, and a detective and +one of the wardens of the minister's church entered. They had been +concealed in the next room, and had heard and witnessed the whole +transaction. + +"Who are these men?" asked the woman, springing up. + +"Why, don't you know me, Eliza?" asked the detective, coolly. "This +isn't the first time I've put a stop to your villainy. I guess you'll +go in for a few years this time." + +"Give me my money, and let me go," said the woman, fiercely, turning +her back on the detective and facing the minister. + +"Eliza," said the detective, "you'll not get one cent. This gentleman +wants the matter dropped here, and if you are not a fool you'll go +about your business. You have signed a paper clearing Mr.-----from all +suspicion, and you can't do him any further harm. The case is in my +hands. If you will leave New York for Boston or Philadelphia to-night, +I'll be quiet--I shall watch you, and if you're in town to-morrow, +you'll be in Sing Sing before two months are out. Now go home and pack +your trunk." + +"I've been a fool," said the woman, bitterly. + +"So you have, my dear," said the detective. "Now go home, and take this +interesting young man with you." + +The guilty pair departed in silence, and the minister was not troubled +with them again. The courage and prudence of an innocent man enabled +him to defeat this deep laid scheme for his ruin. Had he yielded and +paid the money, the demand would have been renewed, and he would in the +end have been ruined and disgraced without ever having committed a +crime. + +We recently heard of a case of an opposite character. A minister, +settled over a large and wealthy congregation, was approached by one of +these women, and charged with a crime of which he was entirely +innocent. The woman professed to have an abundance of proof against +him. He was a weak, vain man, proud of his reputation, and afraid of +the slightest whisper of scandal, and he was terrified by the woman's +bold assertions. In order to get rid of her, he paid her the sum she +demanded, and received her promise not to trouble him again. In a few +weeks she returned, and demanded a larger sum, which was paid. These +demands then became so frequent and heavy that the minister could +hardly support his family on what was left of his salary. He resigned +his charge, and accepted a call to a distant city, hoping to escape his +persecutors, for he could not doubt that the woman was urged on by +others; but they followed him to his new home, and so harassed and +plundered him that he was forced to ask the aid of the police, who +discovered and arrested his tormentors. This ended the demands upon his +purse, but he had been plundered of over eight thousand dollars, which +was entirely lost to him. Had he acted as a sensible man at first, he +would have been saved his losses and his sufferings. + + + A BRIDE IN THE TOILS. + +Not long since a young lady of fashion, about to be married to a +wealthy gentleman of this city, was called on by a woman who was +unknown to her. The stranger stated her business without delay. She had +heard that the young lady, whom we will call Miss R----, was about to +marry Mr. F----. + +"I have come to say," she added, "that I am in need of money. I want +five hundred dollars, which is a small sum to a woman as rich as you. I +intend to make this marriage the means of raising it. If you do not pay +me the money, I shall go to Mr. F----, and tell him that you are not a +virtuous woman. He will not believe me, at first, but I shall set a +rumor afloat which will soon be known amongst all your fashionable +friends." + +"But, by your own story, there will be no truth in it," said Miss +R----, amazed at the woman's effrontery. + +"That is true," said the woman, "but you know that a false rumor will +accomplish as much as a true one. I will take care that the rumor is +well spread, and if you refuse me the money, it will be said all over +New York that your virtue is a matter of doubt. Your character will be +stained, and your marriage will be broken off." + +Miss R----was astounded at such cool villainy, but fortunately her +courage and self-possession did not desert her. Bidding the woman await +her return, she left the room, and went straight to her lover, who was +fortunately in the house at the time. She told him all that had +occurred, and they at once sought her father, and laid the matter +before him. The old gentleman advised them to go to the parlor and +confront the woman, and at the same time sent for the policeman on that +"beat." The woman seemed surprised, when she saw the lovers enter the +room, and she rose to her feet in alarm. "This is Mr. F----," said Miss +R----, calmly, "and I have just told him of your infamous proposition." + +"You have beaten me," said the woman, "but I'll take care that you +suffer for it." + +She was about to leave the room, when Mr. F----placed himself before +the door. + +"You cannot leave this house," he said, sternly. "We have sent for a +policeman, and you must wait till he comes." + +The woman sat down without a word, and in a few minutes the policeman +arrived. He recognized her as an old offender, and after congratulating +Miss R----upon her coolness and good sense, led the woman away. The +black-mailer was sent to prison, and the wedding proceeded without +interruption. + + + DESPERATE CHARACTERS. + +The incidents already given, will show how this system is conducted. As +a general rule, the wretches are easily disposed of with the aid of the +police, but sometimes it requires all the ingenuity of the most +experienced detective to ferret out and foil the plot. These wretches +know that respectable people dread scandal, and they profit by this +knowledge. They are sometimes bold and unscrupulous in their way of +conducting their business, and at other times endeavor to palm +themselves off as injured innocents. They rarely meddle with women, for +the difficulties in their way are greater; but, as they know that +almost any story about a man will be believed, they fasten themselves +like leeches upon the male sex. Young men about to make rich marriages +are bled freely, for few will care to risk a scandal which might break +off the whole affair. If a young man refuses one of them on such +occasions, she goes boldly to the lady he is to marry, and declares +herself the innocent and wronged victim of the aforesaid young man. +This is her revenge, and the majority of young men, knowing them to be +capable of such a course, comply with their demands on the spot. There +is nothing these wretches will not do, no place they will not invade, +in order to extort money from their victims. + +Persons from the country, stopping at the hotels of the city, are +frequently the objects of the attacks of the black-mailers. A man's +name is learned from the hotel register, and he is boldly approached +and charged with conduct he never dreamed of being guilty of. The +scoundrel professes to know him and his whole family, and names the +price of his silence. Too often the demand is complied with, and the +money paid. The proper course to pursue when accosted in such a manner, +is to call upon the nearest policeman for assistance in shaking off the +wretch. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIX. + + + CHATHAM STREET. + +Chatham street begins at City Hall Place and ends at Chatham square. It +is not over a fourth of a mile in length, and is narrow and dirty. It +is taken up, principally, with Jews and low class foreigners. There are +also some cheap hotels and lodging houses, several pawnbroker's shops, +and half a dozen concert saloons in the street. The lowest class Jews +abound in this quarter, and vile, filthy wretches they are. They deal +in imitation jewelry, old clothes, and cheap clothing. There is little, +if any, honesty in the street, and any one buying an article within its +limits must expect to be cheated. The streets running off to the right +and left, lead to the Five Points and kindred districts, and it is this +wretched part of the city which furnishes the greatest number of +customers to Chatham street. The buildings are generally constructed in +the old style, a new house being a rarity in this locality, and are +foul and dingy. The shops are low and dark, and smell horribly. The men +and women who frequent them look like convicts, and as they sit in +their doorways watching for custom, they seem more like wild beasts +waiting for their prey, than like human beings. They have no +respectable customers, except the poor, who come into the neighborhood +hoping to save money in their purchases. They fall victims to the +sharpers who line the street, and the articles they buy are dear at +whatever price they may pay for them. It is said that stolen goods +frequently find their way to Chatham street, and that a very large part +of the traffic of that locality is carried on in violation of the law. +However this may be, we have but one simple warning for all persons +visiting the great city. _Buy nothing in Chatham street, and keep out +of it after dark_. + + + FORCED SALES. + +When business is dull in this locality, the "merchants" resort to many +artifices to fill their coffers. One of their manoeuvres is called a +"forced sale." A man walking along the street, will be seized and +dragged into a clothing shop. He may protest that he does not wish to +buy anything, but the "merchant" and his clerks will insist that he +does, and before he can well help himself, they will haul off his coat, +clap one of the store coats on his back, and declare it a "perfect +fit." The new coat will then be removed and replaced by the old one, +and the victim will be allowed to leave the shop. As he passes out of +the door, the new coat is thrust under his arm, and he is seized by the +proprietor and his assistants, who shout "stop thief!" and charge him +with stealing the coat. Their noise, and the dread of being arrested +upon a charge of theft, will frequently so confuse and frighten the +victim that he will comply with their demand, which is that he shall +buy the coat. This done, he is suffered to depart. A refusal to yield +would not injure him, for the scoundrels would seldom dare to call in +the police, for fear of getting themselves into trouble, as their +tricks are well known to the officers of the law. + + + + + CHAPTER XL. + + + THIEVES. + +Thieves are numerous in New York. As a general rule, they herd together +in the worst quarters of the city--in the Five Points and along East +River--where they can rapidly and easily communicate with each other, +and where they can hide from the police without fear of discovery. +There are many blunderers in the fraternity, but there are also many +experienced hands, who do a great deal of damage, and give a world of +trouble to the authorities. These are generally well known to the +police. + + + THE THIEF LANGUAGE. + +The thieves of the city have a language, or _argot_, peculiar to +themselves. Those who have been raised to the business use this _argot_ +to such an extent, that a stranger finds it as impossible to understand +them as he would if they were speaking in a foreign tongue. _The +Detectives' Manual_ gives a glossary of this language, from which we +take the following specimens, to be found in that work, under the head +of the letter B.: + +_Badger_.--A panel-thief. + +_Bagged_.--Imprisoned. + +_Bag of nails_.--All in confusion. + +_Balram_.--Money. + +_Bandog_.--A civil officer. + +_Barking irons_.--Pistols. + +_Bene_.--Good, first-rate. + +_Benjamin_.--A coat. + +_Bilk_.--To cheat. + +_Bill of sale_.--A widow's weeds. + +_Bingo_.--Liquor. + +_Bingo boy_.--A drunken man. + +_Bingo mort_.--A drunken woman. + +_Blue-billy_.--A strange handkerchief. + +_Blue ruin_.--Bad gin. + +_Boarding-school_.--The penitentiary. + +_Bone box_.--The mouth. + +_Bowsprit in parenthesis_.--A pulled nose. + +_Brother of the blade_.--A soldier. + +_Brother of the bolus_.--A doctor. + +_Brush_.--To flatter, to humbug. + +_Bug_.--A breast-pin. + +_Bugger_.--A pickpocket. + +_Bull_.--A locomotive. + +_Bull-traps_.--Rogues who personate officials to extort money. + +We could multiply these examples, but the above are sufficient to +illustrate this branch of our subject. + + + PROFESSIONAL THIEVES. + +The poor wretches who steal a few dollars' worth in open day, from +stores and stands, are not considered by professional thieves as +amongst the "fraternity," which embraces house-breakers, pick-pockets, +and burglars. These persons are carefully trained by "old hands," and +are by practice made as perfect as possible in their arts. Indeed, to +be an accomplished burglar requires a very great degree of +intelligence, courage, strength, and ingenuity. These men all have +certain distinct methods of performing their work, so that after they +have been operating a short while, a detective can, by examining the +traces, tell, with absolute certainty, the name of the burglar. Besides +this, the life which these persons lead stamps their countenances and +general bearing with marks which an experienced officer will recognize +at a glance. The sneak-thief, the pickpocket, and the burglar, have +certain habits, attitudes, haunts; they act in certain ways when placed +in certain positions, which reveal them and their occupations to a +practiced eye, with almost as much certainty as the form and aspect of +a blade of grass reveals its genus and species to the eye of a +practiced botanist. A skilled detective will stand at the corner of a +street, in a strange city, that he has never entered before, and will +pick out, almost unerringly, the passers-by who belong to this criminal +class. He will say, "This is a sneak-thief;" "This is a pickpocket;" +"This man has just been released from the State prison;" "This one is a +gambler, stool-pigeon," etc., etc.; being guided in his judgments by +certain indications which the criminal involuntarily displays by the +sheer force of habit. + +A sneak-thief will pass along with that rapid, rolling glance of the +eyes which distinguishes the tribe; now he checks himself in his +career; it is but for an instant; no unprofessional eye directed +towards him would notice it; but the sudden pause would speak volumes +to an experienced police officer. He knows that the thief's eye has +caught the sight of silver lying exposed in the basement. In an hour +after he hears that the basement has been entered, and the silver in it +carried off. He knows who has taken it, as well as if he had seen the +man take it with his own eyes; but if the thief has had time to run to +the nearest receiver's den, the silver is already in the melting-pot, +beyond the reach of identification. + + + HOW FINE HOUSES ARE ROBBED. + +Families living in the city cannot, of course, know who they are taking +into their midst as servants, and it frequently happens that these +girls are the confederates of burglars. They come for the purpose of +spying out the premises, and from time to time report the internal +arrangements to their "men." At the proper moment, the burglar, who has +thus acquired a sufficient familiarity with the house, is admitted by +the girl. He performs his work sometimes without detection, but +sometimes adds murder, or attempts at murder, to his crime. These men +are well known to the police, but as they are to be deemed innocent +until _proved_ guilty, it is hard, if not impossible, to prevent their +crimes. A servant girl is seen in the area, towards evening, with a +broom in her hand; by her side is a man who is conversing earnestly +with her. The policeman, as he passes along, recognizes him as a +notorious burglar. That night the house is broken open and robbed, and +perhaps some of the family murdered. The officer knows perfectly well +who did it, but this knowledge goes for nothing in law. The man must be +regularly tried, and proved guilty. Although the officer feels sure the +man and woman are planning a burglary, when he sees them in the area, +he cannot prevent it by arresting the man. + +An incident in point has transpired of late, in illustration of this +familiar danger. A gentleman's house, situate on Fifth Avenue, near +Thirty-second street, was entered on the night of March 24th, by a +brace of burglars, who were, as subsequent investigation proved, +admitted at the basement, or servant's entrance, by one of the +chambermaids. + +The burglars succeeded in obtaining a considerable amount of plunder, +but were alarmed by the unexpected awakening of some of the inmates of +the house, and hastily departed. Suspicion fell upon the delinquent +maid, who was examined, confessed her guilt, stated that the principal +burglar was her sweetheart, and promised that if she was permitted to +escape the deserved public punishment of her crime, she would see that +the missing property was restored to its rightful owners. This +'arrangement' was accepted, the girl fulfilled her part of the +contract, and every article that had been stolen was promptly restored. +The chambermaid was dismissed, and any further prosecution of the +affair was summarily closed. In this particular instance, it will be +seen that matters terminated favorably, but it would be well if wealthy +citizens would be warned against the 'family' risk to which their +property is exposed, and led to adopt the most stringent precautions +against these dangers, especially when summer pleasures will entice the +majority of the votaries of gayety and fashion 'out of town,' leaving +their dwellings almost wholly to the 'care' of not always reliable +domestics. + + + A HAIR THIEF. + +During the summer of 1868, a young lady residing in a respectable part +of the city, was decoyed by an elderly woman, (under the pretence of +being able to introduce the young lady to a cheap dressmaker,) into a +low neighborhood, where she was seized by two men, dragged into a +hovel, and there held by the ruffians, while the old hag who had +decoyed her thither, with a pair of shears cut off the larger portion +of her luxuriant hair--to fill, as she coolly informed her victim, 'an +order from a wig-maker.' The screams and struggles of the poor dupe +were of no avail, and when finally thrust out of doors by her +tormentors, she was so frightened that she wandered mechanically along, +up and down streets, until she met a policeman, who, on hearing her +story, called a carriage and had her conveyed home, but was not able +from her incoherent and inaccurate description, either to identify the +place where the outrage was committed, nor the people by whom it was +perpetrated. + +[Illustration: The thieves' exchange--a drinking saloon where +pawnbrokers go to buy stolen goods.] + + + THE THIEVES' EXCHANGE. + +There is, in the Eighth Ward of the City, an "Exchange," where the +light-fingered gentry congregate and interchange confidential +intelligence, the news of their profession, and exchange the stolen +goods temporarily in their possession. Attached to this is the wareroom +of the proprietor, who is simply a receiver of stolen goods. There are +many of these places in the city. + +The agent of the New York Prison Association, in one of his reports, +says: + +When a burglar has successfully entered a store, and carried off a +large amount of property, in the form of fine goods, this property +itself is of no more use to him than the dust of the street. He does +not want to wear lace or jewelry. He does not need watches or pencil- +cases. He cannot eat cameos or vases. He, therefore, at once takes his +plunder to his 'fence,' and receives from him, in money, such a price +as is usually agreed upon. It is very difficult to ascertain, with any +degree of exactness, what proportion of the value of the plunder is +realized on the average by the thief; but from the best information we +could obtain, we feel confident it does not exceed one sixth. + +A man whom we met in one of the jails, told us he was unsuccessful at +first, because he had received no instructions in the art. We asked him +what he deemed the most important information to be obtained by a tyro +in the business. He answered promptly: 'To know the names and +characters of all the "fences" within a circle of thirty miles.' He +could do little or nothing without this knowledge. + +In the rural districts, these receivers of stolen goods are quite +unknown, except among the thieves themselves, unless some unusually +active deputy sheriff makes the discovery; but in the cities, +especially in New York and Brooklyn, they are as well known to the +police officers as the city halls of those places. These officers are +sure that everything they have in their warehouses is stolen; they are +acquainted with their ways of doing business; and they know what +thieves resort to each, and where they dispose of their ill-gotten +property. Yet this knowledge avails but little in promoting the ends of +justice. It is but rarely that any of this class are convicted of their +offences. The reason is that strict legal proof of their guilt can very +seldom be procured. + +The study of the means of rapidly and effectually removing the marks +by which the property in their hands can be identified, is the main +business of their lives, and they acquire a degree of skill and +dexterity in altering or effacing these marks, which is truly +surprising. A melting-pot is always over the fire, to which all silver +ware is consigned the instant it is received. The marks on linen, +towels, and handkerchiefs, are removed, sometimes by chemicals, +sometimes by fine scissors made expressly for the purpose. Jewelry is +at once removed from its settings, and the gold is either melted or the +engraving is burnished out, so as in either case to make identification +impossible. Rich velvet and silk garments are transmogrified by the +removal and re-arrangement of the buttons and trimmings. Pointed edges +are rounded, and rounded edges are pointed, entirely changing the whole +aspect of the garment, with such celerity that the lady who had worn +the dress in the morning would not have the slightest suspicion that it +was the same in the evening. Cotton, wool, rags, and old ropes, require +no manipulation. When once thrown upon the heap, they defy the closest +scrutiny of the owners. There is scarcely an article which can be the +subject of theft, which the resources of these men do not enable them, +in a very short time, to disguise beyond the power of recognition. +Their premises are skilfully arranged for concealment. They are +abundantly provided with secret doors and sliding panels, communicating +with dark recesses. Apertures are cut in the partitions, so that a +person coming in from the front can be distinctly seen before he enters +the apartment. The 'fence' is as well skilled as any lawyer in the +nature of evidence. He knows the difference between probability and +proof as well as Sir William Hamilton himself. He does not trouble +himself about any amount of _probabilities_ that the detectives may +accumulate against him; but the said detective must be remarkably acute +if he is ever able to get anything against him which will amount to +strictly legal proof. + + + + + CHAPTER XLI. + + + PICKPOCKETS. + +Strangers coming to New York should always be on the watch for +pickpockets, and even natives are not careful enough in this respect. +Picking pockets has been reduced to a science here, and is followed by +many persons as a profession. It requires long practice and great +skill, but these, when once acquired, make their possessor a dangerous +member of the community. Women, by their lightness of touch and great +facility in manipulating their victims, make the most dangerous +operators in the city. The ferry boats, cars, stages, crowded halls, +and public places afford the best opportunities to pickpockets for the +exercise of their skill. + +A lady, riding in an omnibus, discovers that she has lost her purse, +which she knows was in her possession when she entered the stage. A +well-dressed gentleman sits by her, whose arms are quietly crossed +before him, and his fingers, encased in spotless kid gloves, are +entwined in his lap, in plain sight of all the passengers, who are sure +that he has not moved them since he entered the stage. Several persons +have entered and left the vehicle, and the lady, naturally supposing +one of them to be the thief, gets out to consult a policeman as to her +best course. The officer could tell her, after a glance at the +faultless gentleman who was her neighbor, that the arms so +conspicuously crossed in his lap, are false, his real arms all the time +being free to operate under the folds of his talma. The officer would +rightly point him out as the thief. + +On all the street cars, you will see the sign, "_Beware of +pickpockets!_" posted conspicuously, for the purpose of warning +passengers. These wretches work in gangs of two, or three, or four. +They make their way into crowded cars, and rarely leave them without +bringing away something of value. An officer will recognize them at +once. He sees a well-known pickpocket obstructing the car entrance; +another pickpocket is abusing him in the sharpest terms for doing so, +while, at the same time, he is eagerly assisting a respectable +gentleman, or a well-dressed lady, to pass the obstruction. One or two +other pickpockets stand near. All this is as intelligible to a police +officer as the letters on a street sign. He knows that the man, who is +assisting the gentleman or lady, is picking his or her pocket; he knows +that the man who obstructs the entrance is his confederate; he knows +that the others, who are hanging about, will receive the contents of +the pocketbook as soon as their principal has abstracted the same. He +cannot arrest them, however, unless he, or some one else, sees the act +committed; but they will not remain long after they see him--they will +take the alarm, as they know his eye is on them, and leave the car as +soon as possible. + +A detective one day noticed a pickpocket riding in a crowded stage on +Broadway. Stopping the vehicle, he mounted the step, and said, + +"Gentlemen, there is a notorious pickpocket in this stage. It must +stand still until he leaves it." + +This announcement created no little consternation amongst the +passengers, and each one commenced to feel for his valuables. +Fortunately, no one missed anything, but all began to feel +uncomfortable, as it was plain each man suspected everybody else in the +vehicle. Five minutes of painful silence elapsed, the officer keeping +the stage at a halt; and, at length, a venerable, highly respectable- +looking old gentleman got up, and made for the door, exclaiming, + +"I have a large sum of money on my person, gentlemen, and I can't +consent to remain in such company." + +He left the vehicle, the detective making way for him. As he did so, +the officer closed the door, and called to the driver, "Go ahead, he's +out now!" + +The relief of the passengers was equalled only by their surprise. + +The ferry-boats, which reach or leave the city late at night, or early +in the morning, with loads of sleepy and tired travellers, are much +frequented by pickpockets. The passengers are more off their guard at +such times than at others, and the results are greater. + +Persons with prominent shirt pins, or watch chains, are amongst the +principal victims of the fraternity. Those who are foolish enough to +show their money in public places, suffer in the same way. The best +plan is never to take money or valuables into public places. + +Female pickpockets, in stages, often rob gentlemen while the latter are +raising or lowering a window for them. A watch, or pocketbook, or a +valuable pin, is easily taken then, as the attention of the victim is +entirely given to the act of courtesy he is performing. + +Women even carry their thieving into the churches. The Catholic +churches, where the aisles are generally filled, and where the devout +worshipper can easily be approached, are usually chosen for such +exploits. The city papers frequently contain notices of such robberies. + +[Illustration: A pious thief.] + +A woman will approach a man on the street at night, and, accosting him +by a familiar name, will seize his arm and walk on with him. As most +men are fond of adventures, the chances are that no effort will be made +to throw off the woman, who, after walking and chatting for several +squares, will suddenly turn to him, and exclaim, with a start. + +"Why! you are not Harry after all; I have made a mistake!" + +And, with the most profuse apologies, she will make her escape. An +immediate search will show the man that she has carried his wallet or +his watch with her. + +Young boys, termed "Kids," are very dangerous operators. They work in +gangs of three or four, and by pushing against their victim, seize what +they can and make off. Sometimes one of this gang is arrested, but as +he has transferred the plunder to his confederates, who have escaped, +there is no evidence against him. + +The members of the fraternity are well known to each other, and they +arrange their scenes of operations, or "beats," with great care. No one +will intrude upon the "beat" of another, for "there is honor even among +thieves." + + + + + CHAPTER XLII. + + + DRUNKENNESS. + +Drunkenness is very common in New York. About eighteen thousand arrests +are made annually for drunkenness alone, and nearly ten thousand more +for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Besides these there are +thousands of cases of which the police never hear. The vice is not +confined to any class. It is to be seen in all conditions of life, and +in both sexes. Day after day you will see men under the influence of +liquor, reeling through the streets, or lying under the trees in the +public parks. The police soon rid the streets of such cases, which are +comparatively few during the day. + +At night the number of intoxicated persons increases. You will then see +all classes of drunkards. There goes a young man, handsomely dressed, +evidently the son of a rich family, unable to stand by himself, and +piloted by a friend whose chief care is to avoid the police. There is a +clerk, whose habits will soon lose him his situation. Here is a woman, +well dressed, too, reeling along at a rate which will soon carry her +into the arms of the policeman. The high and the low are represented on +the streets. + +The bar-rooms and beer-gardens are in full blast, and will not close +until midnight. The better class establishments are quiet and orderly, +but the noise and confusion increases as we descend the scale of the +so-called respectability of these places. The sale of liquors is +enormous, and the work of destruction of body and soul that is going on +is fearful. The bar-rooms, beer-gardens, restaurants, clubs, hotels, +houses of ill-fame, concert-halls and dance-houses, are doing an +enormous trade, and thousands are engaged in the work of poisoning +themselves with drink. + +[Illustration: A fashionable New Yorker--too much wine.] + +Respectable men patronize the better class bar-rooms, and respectable +women the ladies' restaurants. At the latter places a very large amount +of money is spent by women for drink. Wives and mothers, and even young +girls, who are ashamed to drink at home, go to these fashionable +restaurants for their liquor. Some will drink it openly, others will +disguise it as much as possible. Absinthe has been introduced at these +places of late years, and it is said to be very popular with the +gentler sex. Those who know its effects will shudder at this. We have +seen many drunken women in New York, and the majority have been well +dressed and of respectable appearance. + +A lady recently went into a confectionery store to purchase some +_bonbons_. She was handsomely dressed, and was quite pretty. As the +proprietor was making up her parcel he saw her stagger and fall. +Hastening round to the front of the counter, he found her lying +helpless on the floor, dead drunk. + +Standing at our window one day last winter, we noticed two ladies, +evidently a mother and daughter, come out of one of the most +fashionable private residences in the city, where they had been +visiting. They waited on the corner for a car, which was seen coming +around the park, and to our astonishment we saw the elder lady sit down +flat in the street. She was instantly jerked up by the younger woman, +whose expression of intense disgust we shall not soon forget. As the +old lady got on her feet again, her unsteadiness revealed the cause of +her singular conduct--she was drunk. + +There is a depth of misery in New York which those who have not seen +it, cannot conceive of. It exists among the poorer classes, who spend +their earnings in drink. They are always half stupefied with liquor, +and are brutal and filthy. They get the poison from low shops, called +Bucket Houses. + + + BUCKET HOUSES. + +These shops sell the vilest and most poisonous liquors, and derive +their name from the fact that their customers usually bring buckets, +bowls, or pitchers for the stuff, instead of bottles or jugs. They are +confined to the worst quarters of the city, and are foul and wretched +beyond description. The proprietors are brutal wretches, who are +capable of any crime. They do all in their power to encourage +drunkenness, in order to increase their gains. They knowingly sell +actual poisons for drink--liquors which nothing would induce them to +use. On Saturday nights the rush to these places is very great. Liquor +cannot be procured the next day, and so the poor victims of the rum- +seller lay in a double quantity, and spend the Sabbath in a state of +beastly intoxication. + + + + + CHAPTER XLIII. + + + GAMBLING HOUSES + +Games of chance of all kinds are forbidden in all the States by laws +which prescribe various severe penalties for the offence; but in spite +of this prohibition, there is no country in the world where gambling is +more common than in our own, and no city in the whole Union where it is +carried on, to such an extent, as in New York. + +There are several classes of gambling houses in the city, which we +shall endeavor to describe in their order. + + + FIRST-CLASS HOUSES. + +There are very few of these houses in New York--perhaps not more than a +dozen in all. They are located in fashionable neighborhoods, and +outwardly differ in nothing from the elegant private residences which +surround them, except that the blinds are closed all day long, and the +house has a silent, deserted air. In its internal arrangements it is +magnificent. The furniture, carpets, and all its appointments are +superb. Choice paintings and works of art are scattered through the +rooms, in truly regal profusion. All that money can do to make the +place attractive and luxurious has been done, and as money can always +command taste, the work has been well done. + +The servants attached to the place are generally negroes of the better +class. They are well trained, many of them having been brought up as +the _valets_, or butlers of the Southern gentry, and answer better for +such places than whites, inasmuch as they are quiet, uncommunicative, +attentive and respectful. One of these men is always in charge of the +front door, and visitors are admitted with caution, it being highly +desirable to admit only the so-called respectable. + +It is said on good authority that it requires an annual outlay of one +million of dollars to keep up the first-class gaming houses of the +city. This is a large sum, but the profits of the establishments are +enormous. + +A work recently published in Paris, gives the following description of +the establishment of a famous gentleman whose history is more like a +romance than a reality. + + + JOHN MORRISSEY'S HOUSE. + +"My companion nodded to a servant standing in the hall," says the +writer referred to, "and we were allowed to enter. We went through an +elegantly furnished parlor, in which were many frequenters of the +house, either conversing or reading newspapers. We next entered a large +room lighted by numerous gas-jets. In the centre of this apartment was +a long table covered with green cloth. The room was crowded with +persons busily engaged in gambling. Different games of chance are in +vogue in the United States; but the favorite game of European gamblers, +roulette, was not tolerated in the establishment we were then visiting. +In almost all the States, games of chance, for money, no matter what +its amount, are prohibited, and gambling houses, being considered as +contrary to good morals, are forbidden. Gambling for money was not, +therefore, ostensibly carried on. The stakes consisted of counters or +checks provided by the establishment. The gamblers settled their losses +by means of these checks or counters, representing an understood value. +In this manner, it appears, the letter, if not the spirit of the law +was satisfied. In case of a sudden descent from the police, it was +impossible to prove that the persons engaged in the games were playing +for money, as no money, in fact, was apparent. + +"'There is no people,' said Asmodeus, in the course of his +explanations, 'that exhibits more respect for the law than the +Americans; but none understands so well how to eschew it when it +interferes with its own interests.' + +"My companion also informed me that no one can recover money lost in +gambling, because gambling itself is illegal. But debts of that nature +are as secure as any other, especially among professional gamblers, and +they are seldom repudiated. + +"'All those counters and checks,' said he, 'are as good as gold, and, +in this respect, no difficulty can arise. But there are, in two or +three adjoining rooms, games of different kinds conducted in private; +and the house, of course, is not responsible for the stakes. Money may +be lost on parole there; but the loser who will not or can not make +good his promise, generally finds himself in a dangerous predicament. +For though there be a few men here who came attracted either by +curiosity or because they have nothing else to do, the majority are +professional gamblers, whose revolvers are always kept ready for great +emergencies.' + +"Besides the table in the centre of the room, there were half a dozen +others in remote corners, and also in adjoining rooms, and which, as +Asmodeus had observed, were occupied by persons engaged in some +favorite game. Around the large table stood an anxious crowd. There was +evidently an exciting game in operation. Near the centre of the table +was seated a banker or dealer, with a large quantity of checks at his +right hand, of the denomination of five, ten, twenty dollars, and +upward. Thirteen cards, representing a complete pack, were affixed to +the table, at convenient distances from each other, to mark distinctly +the bets placed on each. Those who wished to play placed the amount +they intended to stake on any particular card on the table. The dealer +then producing and shuffling a pack of cards, placed them in a box, +from which he caused them to slide one by one. He lost when the card +equal in points to that on which the stake was set turned up on his +right hand; but he won when it was on the left. He faithfully and +gravely fulfilled his part, as though he were a public notary or any +other officer of the law. Every one seemed satisfied with his dealings +and decisions; for, during our stay in this 'hell,' (a name commonly +given in America to all gambling houses,) no exclamation of any sort +was made by the gamblers. + +"I took him, at first, for the proprietor of the establishment. 'You +are mistaken,' said Asmodeus; 'the host is that stout man whose necktie +is pinned with a large diamond, and who is playing a game of _écarté_ +near yonder window, with a constant frequenter of his house. A few +years ago, he was one of the most renowned pugilists in the United +States. With the profits derived from his victims in the manly art, he +purchased a fine house, in which congregated the patrons and amateurs +of that art, which is more in vogue to-day in America than in England. +Shortly after, he found himself, perhaps unexpectedly, the manager of a +faro bank. The game of faro is now in progress at the green table. He +gradually withdrew himself from the noisy companions of his younger +years, and soon had the gratification to behold bankers, brokers, +merchants, and men belonging to the wealthy classes flock to his +establishment. As his business rapidly increased, he purchased this +handsome house, situated in one of the most fashionable streets of New +York. It has become a favorite resort for many persons of good standing +in society, and for 'the fancy' of New York. All transactions are above +suspicion, for deception would be a dangerous experiment. The landlord +is married, and very careful that everything is carried on in an +orderly manner. Women are not admitted into the gaming-rooms, or even +into the parlors of the house. An elegant supper is served up, every +evening, to frequenters and visitors. + +"At this very moment a footman came and announced supper. Most of the +gamblers did not heed the invitation, so deeply engrossed were they in +the game. A few spectators, Asmodeus and myself amongst them, went down +into the dining-room, which was, like all the others in the +establishment, handsomely furnished. Several ornamental sideboards were +loaded with luxuries. Champagne of the best brands was freely passed +around; and when supper was over, the landlord treated his guests to +the best Havana segars. I expected we would have to face a pretty heavy +bill for this entertainment, and was on the point of pulling out my +porte-monnaie, when Asmodeus whispered me to do nothing of the sort. +'Such a proceeding,' said he, 'would be resented as an outrage by the +proprietor.' Everybody, whether known to him or not, may come here, and +either take part in or look at the game; as often as may suit his +fancy, and enjoy a good supper besides. The proprietor hardly notices +those visitors who come solely for the purpose of partaking of the good +things served up at his suppers, and drinking his champagne.'" + + + HOW THE VICTIMS ARE PROCURED. + +"Those who keep gambling houses," continues the writer from whom we +have just quoted, "take care to be regularly informed of everything +transpiring in the city that maybe of interest to their business. You +may have noticed, lounging around the most fashionable hotels, many +well-dressed young men, who spend their money freely, though they have +no known means of support. They are agents for gambling-houses: their +business is to track the footsteps of travellers visiting New York, for +business or pleasure. They worm themselves into the confidence of +strangers; show them everything worth seeing in the city; and finally +introduce them to their employers, the gambling-house proprietors. This +hunting after wealthy strangers is systematically carried on--it is a +science. These agents leave nothing to chance; they never hurry up the +conclusion of the transaction. When the unwary stranger is in a fit +condition for the sacrifice, they take him to the gaming table with as +much indifference and coolness as butchers drive sheep to the slaughter +house. These agents have a commission on the profits realized from all +the customers they lead to the gaming table, and they display such +ability that they seldom fail to entrap those they single out for their +victims." + +It is a safe rule to suspect every one who approaches you with offers +of friendship without being properly introduced. Shun all such society, +for the hope of ruining you is all that induces the men to seek you. + + + GAMING A NATIONAL PASSION. + +"There are in New York one hundred and fifty hells or gambling houses, +all well known to the police, in which several millions of dollars are +lost every year, by unwary persons. From time to time, police officers +make a descent on the most dangerous among them, or (which is too often +the case) on those whose owners have little political influence. +Twenty-four hours after the descent has taken place, new gambling +implements are procured in lieu of those taken away, and business is +resumed as before. + +"Games of chance are now in vogue all over the States, and rapidly +multiplying, because the thirst for sudden fortunes is everywhere on +the increase. Gambling is even practised on board of those splendid +steamers, that ply up and down the rivers of the country; and more than +one passenger, driven distracted by his losses at the gaming table, has +thrown himself overboard. + +"As I have before remarked, no cheating is to be apprehended here, as +the percentage, taken beforehand out of the stakes, secures handsome +profits to the proprietor of the house. But fraud is frequently +resorted to in many hells; and in some of them, whether he loses or +wins, the visitor is sure to be plundered of his valuables before he is +allowed to depart. Blood is often shed in these places, their +frequenters providing themselves, against emergency, with weapons of +every description. Some gambling houses hire handsome females, and the +allurements of these sirens are added to the dangers of the gaming +table. New York keeps pace, in all these respects, with the large +cities of Europe; and in many _maisons de joie_, unsuspecting persons +run the risk, at any moment of the day or night, of losing their +fortunes, their health, and their honor." + + + THE GUESTS. + +"The persons who frequent gambling houses may be divided into two +classes: occasional gamblers and professional gamblers. Among the first +may be placed those attracted by curiosity, and those strangers I have +alluded to who are brought in by salaried intermediaries. The second is +composed of men who gamble to retrieve their losses, or those who try +to deceive and lull their grief through the exciting diversions that +pervade these places. + +"I see, for instance, to the right of the dealer, a tall man, with a +well-trimmed beard. He is a general in the United States army, and +married a young girl belonging to one of our best families. A few years +after his marriage his wife disappeared. As she seemed much attached to +her husband, and a model of chastity, the general belief was that she +had been the victim of some foul outrage. The friends of her family, +and the police, made active but fruitless search for her; and the +lady's disappearance remained enveloped in mystery, until she was +recognized by an American traveller, an acquaintance, in an Italian +city. It appears she had removed there, after her mysterious +disappearance from her native land, and lived quite comfortably with a +comrade-in-arms of her husband. The general has been unable, up to this +day, to forget his unfaithful wife, and he comes here, every night, to +endeavor, by gambling, to divert his mind from grief. + +"Near him, that man, whose fingers are loaded with showy rings, and who +affects womanish manners, is the owner of a newspaper which delights in +praising the aristocratic institutions of the Old World--a harmless +pastime, in which and one can safely indulge, in a country where there +is no law against the press, and where everybody may relieve his mind +of any foolish idea or fancy without injury to anything but his +reputation. Gambling is more than a passion to that personage--it is +his very life, as necessary to him as the air he breathes. He has +organized lotteries throughout the States, and though they are +prohibited by severe laws, he has found the means to evade them all, +and build up a large fortune. He often plays very high, and recently +very nearly broke the bank. The latter met with a loss of two hundred +thousand dollars. + +"The gambler who is now leaving the gaming-table, is a teller in one of +our city banks. He long enjoyed the confidence of the directors; but, a +few days ago, they decided to have him watched, after office hours--a +measure now resorted to by many financial institutions, on account of +frequent defalcations. To-morrow morning, that teller will be requested +by the board of directors to show his books, and give an account of the +situation and prospects of the bank. But, in spite of his proficiency +in book-keeping, he will be unable to figure up and represent the +seventy-five thousand dollars he has squandered away in gambling houses +since he commenced, six months ago, to frequent them. + +"I also recognize at the table a lawyer, who, a few years ago, married +a courtesan, in whom covetousness for wealth had become, during the +last years of her life, a ruling passion. A few weeks after their +marriage, the courtesan died, bequeathing the lawyer all her fortune. +It was surmised, at the time, that she had been poisoned; and perhaps +her husband comes here to drown his remorse. + +"That black-haired, rather corpulent man, whose visage is spoiled by a +dishonest glance, and demeanor tarnished by an innate vulgarity, is a +teacher of foreign languages. He assumes important airs, as teachers +generally do and though affecting, in his discourse, a Puritan +austerity, few men are more intensely devoted to the pursuit of gain. +An adventurer, he had but one purpose in view when he settled in the +United States and commenced teaching--to find an heiress. After a +fruitless search among his young pupils of the fair sex, he finally +fascinated and married a spinster. Her savings are nightly dwindling +away at the gaming table." + + + A CARD-TABLE ROMANCE. + +One of the city journals recently published the following account of an +affair, which occurred some time since, at one of the best-known gaming +hells of Broadway. The parties referred to are members of one of the +wealthiest and most fashionable families in the city: + +For some weeks past, one of the most fashionable Broadway gambling +houses had been honored with the presence of a dashing young man, +apparently not more than nineteen or twenty years of age. The gentleman +gave his name as Dick Harley, and professed to hail from New Orleans. +As he displayed a well-filled pocketbook, he was welcomed, of course. + +In play he was remarkably lucky, for a time, at least. This attracted +additional attention, and not only made him an object of envy, but of +jealousy. Many of the most expert resorted to all the known arts of the +game in order to pluck the youngster, but were themselves sold. + +During all these visits, young Harley appeared to feel an especial +interest in one of the visitors, who was known to hold a responsible +position in a down-town banking house. This person was nearly always a +loser, and his manner plainly told the fact that those losses greatly +affected him. He was always uneasy, his eyes inflamed, and his hand +trembling, while he would often start to his feet, and walk up and down +the apartment, in a manner bordering on frenzy. It soon began to be +whispered around that the man was utterly ruined--that there would soon +be another bank defalcation sensation, and perhaps a suicide. + +[Illustration: Scene in a gambling saloon.] + +For some time, young Harley had made efforts to gain the exclusive +attention of the bank officer, but had failed to do so. At length, +however, he was successful, and the New Orleans buck and the ruined +gamester sat down together. + +Fortune now appeared to change. Harley had fifty thousand dollars in +his possession, which he had won. But he began to lose now, and the +bank officer was the winner. The game continued, and still Harley lost. +He remained perfectly calm in the mean time, while the winner became +even more excited than while he was unfortunate. + +At length the fifty thousand dollars changed hands, and the banker +asked, + +'Shall we continue the game, sir? + +'No,' replied Harley. + +'But you want a chance for revenge? + +'No, I will play no more with you. However, I would like to make one +condition.' + +'What is it?' + +'Step aside with me, and you shall know.' + +Harley and the winner stepped a little apart, when the former +whispered. + +'Sir, your manner has spoken only too plainly that your losses were +about to involve you in trouble. Those losses have but just commenced; +but if you continue your play, they will soon be very great, and +yourself and family will be crushed. You have won sufficient to-night +to save your honor, have you not? + +'Thank God, yes,' was the earnest reply. + +'Then the condition I would make is this: leave this place and never +enter it again.' + +'I'll do it,' was the almost frantic response, and the banker turned +to leave the room. + +At the same time, those around had no idea of losing such, an +opportunity as now presented itself. That fifty thousand dollars must +again change hands. One of the men present advanced, and, laying his +hands upon the shoulder of Harley, said: + +'Look you, youngster, you are going a little too far. You have won +from us largely.' + +'Aye, and lost again,' was the calm reply. + +'So have we; and you must not stand in the way of our making good that +loss.' + +'How can I possibly do so?' + +'By persuading the winner of your money to play no more.' + +'Have I not a right to do it?' + +'No.' + +'Then I shall assume that right.' + +As Harley said this he caught the bank officer by the arm, and led him +toward the door. But the little fellow was instantly seized, and hurled +to the opposite side of the room, where he fell with considerable +violence. + +Instantly he sprang to his feet, while his eyes flashed fire. At the +same time, he drew a revolver, and exclaimed: + +'Stand from that door, or there will be blood shed here.' + +On occasions of this kind, revolver generally answers revolver. It was +so on this occasion; and Harley received two shots, which sent him +reeling upon the carpet. A crimson spot appeared near his temple, and +he clutched his breast with his hands. + +Of course, there were those present who did not like the idea of +murder, and such sprang forward to the aid of the wounded lad. A black +wig fell from his head, and then long golden locks were exposed to +view. The vest was opened, and the bosom palpitating beneath the +spotless linen was that of a woman. + +The surprise of all was very great, and none more so than that of the +young bank officer, when he discovered in Dick Harley no other than his +own sister. She had learned of the gaming, and had followed him in +order to save him from ruin. She had succeeded, for no person now +attempted to molest her. The wound upon the head was but slight, +although it stunned her for a few moments. + +She left the house with her brother, and it is not likely that either +of them will ever enter it again. + + + SECOND-CLASS HOUSES. + +There are many establishments of this description in the city. They are +neither so elegantly furnished nor so exclusive as to their guests as +the first-class houses. There is also another important difference. In +a first-class house, the visitor is sure to meet men who will deal +fairly with him; and if he loses, as he is almost sure to do, it is +because he is playing against more expert hands than himself. This is +what is called a "square game." Everything is open and fair, and the +bank relies on the fickleness of the cards and the superior skill of +its dealer. In the second-class houses, however, the visitor is +literally fleeced. Every advantage is taken of him, and it is morally +certain that he will lose every cent he risks. In first-class houses, +one can play or look on, as he pleases. In second-class houses, the +visitor who declines to risk something is in danger of personal +violence. He will be insulted by the proprietor or one of his +myrmidons; and if he resents the insult, his life hangs by a very +slender thread. The "runner" system is practiced very extensively in +connection with these houses. The visitor is plied with liquor +unceasingly during his stay in the rooms, and the losses of the +unfortunate man during this period of semi-unconsciousness are +frightful. + +Many persons coming to the city yield to the temptation to visit these +places, merely to see them. They intend to lose only a dollar or two as +the price of the exhibition. Such men voluntarily seek the danger which +threatens them. Nine out of ten who go there merely through curiosity, +lose all their money. The men who conduct the "hell" understand how to +deal with such cases, and are rarely unsuccessful. + +It is in these places that clerks and other young men are ruined. They +lose, and play again, hoping to make good their losses. In this way +they squander their own means; and too frequently commence to steal +from their employers, in the vain hope of regaining all they have lost. + +There is only one means of safety for all classes--_Keep away from the +gaming table altogether._ + + + DAY GAMBLING HOUSES + +At first gambling was carried on only at night. The fascination of the +game, however, has now become so great, that day gambling houses have +been opened in the lower part of the city. These are located in +Broadway, below Fulton street, and in one or two other streets within +the immediate neighborhood of Wall street. + +These "houses," as they are called, are really nothing more than rooms. +They are located on the top floor of a building, the rest of which is +taken up with stores, offices, etc. They are managed on a plan similar +to the night gambling houses, and the windows are all carefully closed +with wooden shutters, to prevent any sound being heard without. The +rooms are elegantly furnished, brilliantly lighted with gas, and +liquors and refreshments are in abundance. As the stairway is thronged +with persons passing up and down, at all hours of the day, no one is +noticed in entering the building for the purpose of play. The +establishment has its "runners" and "ropers in," like the night houses, +who are paid a percentage on the winnings from their victims, and the +proprietor of the day-house is generally the owner of a night-house +higher up town. + +Square games are rarely played in these houses. The victim is generally +fleeced. Men who gamble in stocks, curbstone brokers, and others, +vainly endeavor to make good a part of their losses at these places. +They are simply unsuccessful. Clerks, office-boys, and others, who can +spend but a few minutes and lose only a few dollars at a time, are +constantly seen in these hells. The aggregate of these slight winnings +by the bank is very great in the course of the day. Pickpockets and +thieves are also seen here in considerable numbers. They do not come to +practice their arts, for they would be shown no mercy if they should do +so, but come to gamble away their plunder, or its proceeds. + + + + + CHAPTER XLIV. + + + KIT BURNS'S. + +Having given the reader a description of the "Wickedest Man in New +York," we must now introduce him to Mr. Christopher Burns, or, as he is +familiarly called, Kit Burns, the compeer of the noted John Allen. + +In walking through Water street, you will notice a plain brick +building, rather neater in appearance than those surrounding it. The +lower part is painted green, and there is a small gas lamp before the +door. The number, 273, is very conspicuous, and you will also notice +the words over the door, rather the worse for exposure to the weather, +"_Kit Burns_" "_Sportsman's Sail_". + +The ostensible business of Kit Burns, is that of a tavern keeper, and +it is said that his house is well kept for one of its class. The bar +does a thriving business, and is well stocked with the kind of liquor +used in Water street. + +Attached to the tavern, however, are the principal attractions of the +place to those who frequent it. These are the rat and dog pits. + + + THE RAT PIT. + +Rats are plentiful along the East River, and Burns has no difficulty in +procuring as many as he desires. These and his dogs furnish the +entertainment, in which he delights. The principal room of the house is +arranged as an amphitheatre. The seats are rough wooden benches, and in +the centre is a ring or pit, enclosed by a circular wooden fence, +several feet high. A number of rats are turned into this pit, and a dog +of the best ferret stock is thrown in amongst them. The little creature +at once falls to work to kill the rats, bets being made that she will +destroy so many rats in a given time. The time is generally "made" by +the little animal, who is well known to, and a great favorite with, the +yelling blasphemous wretches who line the benches. The performance is +greeted with shouts, oaths, and other frantic demonstrations of +delight. Some of the men will catch up the dog in their arms, and press +it to their bosom in a frenzy of joy, or kiss it as if it were a human +being, unmindful or careless of the fact that all this while the animal +is smeared with the blood of its victims. The scene is disgusting +beyond description. + +[Illustration: A Dog Fight at Kit Burn's] + + + THE DOG FIGHTS. + +Kit Burns is very proud of his dogs, and his cellar contains a +collection of the fiercest and most frightfully hideous animals to be +found in America. They are very docile with their owner, and seem +really fond of him. They are well fed and carefully tended, for they +are a source of great profit to their owner. + +Notice is given that at such a time there will be a dog fight at +"Sportsman's Hall," and when that time arrives the roughs and bullies +of the neighborhood crowd the benches of the amphitheatre. A more +brutal, villainous-looking set it would be hard to find. They are more +inhuman in appearance than the dogs. + +Two huge bull-dogs, whose keepers can hardly restrain them, are placed +in the pit, and the keeper or backer of each dog crouches in his place, +one on the right hand, the other on the left, and the dogs in the +middle. At a given signal, the animals are released, and the next +moment the combat begins. It is simply sickening. Most of our readers +have witnessed a dog fight in the streets. Let them imagine the animals +surrounded by a crowd of brutal wretches whose conduct stamps them as +beneath the struggling beasts, and they will have a fair idea of the +scene at Kit Burns's. + + + THE REVIVAL AT KIT BURN'S. + +During the summer of 1868, while the Water street revival was going on +at John Allen's, the parties conducting the movement endeavored to +induce Kit Burns to join them. He refused all their offers, and at last +they hired his rat pit at a high price, for the purpose of using it for +religious services for one hour in each day. This was done, and the +meetings held therein were sadly disgraceful to the cause of +Christianity. We take the following account of one of these meetings +from the _New York World_, our apology for intruding it, being our +desire to present a truthful picture. + +The Water street prayer-meetings are still continued. Yesterday at +noon a large crowd assembled in Kit Burns's liquor shop, very few of +whom were roughs. The majority seemed to be business men and clerks, +who stopped in to see what was going on, in a casual manner. In a few +minutes after twelve o'clock the pit was filled up very comfortably, +and Mr. Van Meter made his appearance and took up a position here he +could address the crowd from the centre of the pit, inside the +barriers. The roughs and dry goods clerks piled themselves up as high +as the roof, tier after tier, and a sickening odor came from the dogs +and debris of rats' bones under the seats. + +Kit stood outside, cursing and damning the eyes of the missionaries +for not hurrying up. + +Kit said, 'I'm d----d if some of the people that come here oughtn't to +be clubbed. A fellow 'u'd think that they had niver seen a dog-pit +afore. I must be d----d good-looking to have so many fellows looking at +me.' + +Inside, the exhortations were kept up to fever heat. In a little +gallery above the pit, not more than four feet from the dirty ceiling, +there were half a dozen faded and antiquated women, who kept chorus to +the music of the Heavenly Jerusalem, as follows: + + 'To God, the mighty Lord + Your joyful thanks repeat; + To him due praise afford, + As good as he is great. + For God does prove + Our constant friend; + His boundless love + Shall never end-a-a-h.' + +'That's what I call singing the bloody gospil. The man that wrote that +ballad was no slouch,' cried out George Leese, alias 'Snatchem,' one of +the worst scoundrels in New York, who is now in the saving path of +grace. As a beastly, obscene ruffian, 'Snatchem' never had his equal in +America, according to his own account. The writer has seen this fellow +at prize fights, with a couple of revolvers in his belt, engaged in the +disgusting office of sucking blood from the wild beasts who had ceased +to pummel each other for a few seconds. This man, with his bulging, +bulbous, watery-blue eyes, bloated red face, and coarse swaggering +gait, has been notorious for years in New York. The police are well +acquainted with him, and he is proud of his notoriety. + +'Snatchem' asked our reporter if he ever saw such 'a-rough and-tumble- +stand-up-to-be knocked-down son of a gun as he in his life.' + +Did you ever see such a kicking-in-the-head-knife-in-a dark-room fellow +as I am, eh?' + +Our reporter meekly answered 'no.' + +I want a quarter-stretch ticket to go to glory, I do. I can go in +harness preaching the bloody gospil against any minister in New York. I +know all Watts' Hymns and Fistiana, and I'd like to be an angel and +bite Gabriel's ear off.' + +A man got upon one of the benches in the pit and commenced to preach in +a frenzy to the crowd. He related his experience as a gambler at +several gambling houses in Ann street and on Broadway. He told very +affecting stories about young men who bought stacks of chips and were +afterwards reduced to their bottom dollar and misery. + +The minister asked 'if any one present was in need of his prayer, or of +water from the Jordan to wash out his sins, to let him hold up his +hand.' + +George Leese did so. 'He wanted all the water he could get from the +Jordan or any other river.' + +A man who announced that his name was Sam Irving, and had been a great +scoundrel and dog-fighter, said he used to go to Harry Jenning's; to +Butler's, in Ninth Avenue; to McLaughlin's, in First Avenue; and to Kit +Burns's, to see dogs fight and snarl at each other; he went to Ireland +once to bring over a fighting-dog; the man who gave him that dog came +to a terrible end by his own hand. The speaker had been reared in sin +and shame; he had known the life of the streets; but now Jesus had +grabbed him where he lived, and he was going to do better. He wanted +every one to take warning by him. They could get Christ as well as him. +The prayer-meeting ended by the singing of the Doxology. + + + + + CHAPTER XLV. + + + SAILORS' BOARDING HOUSES. + +In walking along the streets in the vicinity of the water, you will +notice many buildings with the sign "Sailors' Boarding House." One +would suppose that poor Jack needed a snug resting place after his long +and stormy voyages, but it is about the last thing he finds in New +York. The houses for his accommodation are low, filthy, vile places, +where every effort is made to swindle him out of his money; the +proprietors are merciless sharks, and they keep the sailors who come to +this port in a state of the most abject slavery. + +A ship comes in from a long voyage. Her men are discharged and paid +off. The runners for the boarding houses lie in wait for them, and, as +soon as they get their money, take them to the establishments which +prove so fatal to them. There they are made drunk, robbed of their +money and valuables, and of all their good clothing, and brought in +debt to their landlord. A captain in want of a crew applies to one of +these landlords for men. In order to secure them, he has to advance a +part of their wages, which the landlord claims for debts which Jack +never contracted. The men are made drunk, and in this state they sign +the shipping articles, and are sent to sea. When they recover their +senses, they are on the blue water, and prefer their present condition +to being at the mercy of the landlords. In this way, it frequently +happens that poor Jack never gets the benefit of a single penny of his +hard earnings. + +Efforts have been made by conscientious shipowners to put a stop to the +outrages of the landlords, but each one has failed. The wretches have +banded together, and have prevented sailors from shipping, and in the +end the ship owners have been compelled to abandon the sailor to the +mercy of his tyrants. Only a law of Congress, regulating sailors' +boarding houses, according to the system now in use in England, will +remedy the evil. + +Hon. W. F. G. Shanks, who has given much time and research to this +matter, in a recent communication to a city journal, thus sums up his +experience and discoveries: + +Among the things which I learned and the points on which I satisfied +myself thoroughly, I may mention, as of possible interest to the +public, the following: + +1. I have carefully calculated that not less than one thousand +destitute women, and five hundred men, are supported by the one hundred +and seventy boarding-houses and thirty shipping offices in New York. + +2. At least fifteen thousand sailors of all nations are annually +robbed, by these people, of not less than two millions of dollars. I +name this amount to be within bounds; I believe it to be at least half +as much more. + +3. Only two of these houses have a legal existence; all the rest are +kept open in defiance of a State law, enacted in 1866, 'for the better +protection of the seamen,' whom these landsharks prey upon. A grand +jury was obtained which indicted the delinquents, who refused to take +out a license according to this law, but the _State_ Commissioners have +in vain urged the _City_ attorney to prosecute the offenders. + +4. The landlords laugh at the authority of the State Commissioners for +licensing boarding houses for seamen, of which Mr. E. W. Chester is +President, and rely on the license to vend liquor issued by the Police +Board, of which Mr. Acton is President, as their ample protection. + +5. The landlords have congregated mainly in the Fourth and Sixth Wards +of the city, in order to influence, if not control them politically. +The combination existing between boarding-house keepers and shipping- +masters enables them to cast, in any election in the City, at least one +thousand votes, and probably more. + +6. Much of the smuggling in this port is done by the runners of these +houses. + +7. Numbers of criminals flying from justice are aided to get to sea by +these men; and during the war hundreds of deserters from the army, who +had never been out of sight of land, and knew nothing of an ordinary +seaman's duty, were shipped by them as good seamen. + +8. No inquiry is made by owners, captains, or shipping agents, into +the moral character or seamanship of the men employed by these agents. + +9. Seamen are allowed to ship only when penniless, and often without +sufficient clothing to protect them from the inclement weather. + +10. They are discharged from ships without the wages due them, and +have no alternative but to go to the men whom they know will rob them; +and the United States laws authorize the owners of vessels to deny them +their pay until ten days after the cargo is discharged--much longer +than the owners usually withhold it. It is these laws which throw the +sailor under the control of the 'land sharks.' + +11. Foreign sailors are induced to desert their ships and go in other +vessels by landlords who aim to rob them of the advance pay which +custom exacts. The sailors thus not only lose by desertion the pay due +them by the ship they abandon, as well as the advance which, they get +from their new commander, but also forfeit their nationality and the +protection of their former flag. + +12. Foreign captains frequently force their men to desert them, in +order to save their keep and back pay. This they accomplish either by +bad treatment of the men or collusion with the landlords. + +13. Large ships are often detained in port, after having their cargo on +board, because of the refusal of landlords to allow the seamen to ship +while their money lasts. + +14. The owners submit to this indirect control of their great interests +for fear of giving offence to the men who furnish and control the +crews. The United States has not a law which would protect owners in an +effort to change the system of shipping seamen, improving their +condition, or protecting them in their rights, or in increasing the +number and the utility of seamen. + +15. There is not a single training or school ship in this port, +although Boston boasts two in successful operation. The United States +laws do not require, as they should, that every ship leaving an +American port, under the United States flag, should carry its +complement of apprentices. Neither of these practical means of building +up the merchant marine service is generally adopted in the United +States, though the experience of England, and other great maritime +powers, has shown the benefit and the necessity of both systems. + +16. Generally speaking, the very worst enemies of the sailor in all +ports are the consuls who are sent to protect them. Practically, they +are the aiders and abettors of landlords. There may be exceptional +cases, but I cannot venture to name them. A special investigation of +consulate abuses would reveal the sailor as the most frequent victim. + +I could mention other important points, if space permitted. To be +brief, I have seen that the sailor is without protection from +Government laws, Government agents, or the owners whose interest he +serves. He is systematically robbed, imprisoned and sold into the +hardest of servitude, as openly as negroes were sold a few years ago in +the South. If he complains of the robbery, judges, who hold their +positions by the favor of the landlords who commit the robbery, release +the culprit on bail, and send the sailor to the House of Detention as a +witness, where he is forgotten, or finally turned penniless into the +street, to wander back to the man who robbed him, to beg for assistance +and work. If he refuses to ship as landlords direct, he is forcibly put +on board by legal process, or through the agency of the whiskey bottle, +and in either case is sent penniless and almost naked to sea. They +never complain of the terms of sale. After Jack has been on a packet +ship for two months, he is glad to escape, by any means, to the ills of +the boarding houses, and after enduring that slavery for a fortnight, +he is only too glad to rush back to the hardships of the ocean life he +lately thought so terrible. His life is one desperate effort to escape +the ills he has and fly to others that he knows well enough. The sailor +has no respect for Hamlet's philosophy. + + + + + CHAPTER XLVI. + + + THE CHURCHES AND THE CLERGY. + +The churches of New York are models of architectural beauty. Trinity, +Grace, the Temple EMANUEL, and the new Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, are +the handsomest religious edifices in America. Catholics and +Episcopalians no longer have all the magnificent churches, for the +other denominations are following hard in their footsteps. + +Nearly all the churches of the city are above Fourth street, and in +some localities they crowd each other too greatly. A few are very +wealthy and are well supported, but the majority are poor and +struggling. Pew-rent is very high in New York, and only those who are +well off can afford to have seats in a thriving church. Besides this, +people seem to care little for churches in New York. There are +thousands of respectable people in the great city who never see the +inside of a church, unless some special attraction draws them there. +The entire support of the churches, therefore, falls on a few. + +The fashionable churches, with the exception of Grace Church, are now +located high up town. They are large and handsome, and the +congregations are wealthy and exclusive. Forms are rigidly insisted +upon, and the reputation of the church for exclusiveness is so well +known that those in the humbler walks of life never dream of entering +its doors. They feel they would be unwelcomed, that nine tenths of the +congregation would consider them unfit to address their prayers to the +Great White Throne from so exclusive a place. The widow's mite would +cause the warden's face to glimmer with a well-bred smile of +contemptuous amazement, if laid in the midst of the crisp bank bills of +the collection; and Lazarus would lay a long time at the doors of these +churches, unless the police should remove him. + +Riches and magnificence are seen on every side. The music is divine, +the service is performed to perfection, and the minister satisfies his +flock that they are all in the "narrow way," which his Master once +declared to be so difficult to the feet of the rich man. But that was +eighteen hundred years ago, and things have changed since then. + + + SAINT ALBAN'S. + +St. Alban's Episcopal Chapel, in Forty-seventh street, near Lexington +Avenue, has of late attracted much attention as being the most advanced +in the ritualistic character of its services. A writer in Putnam's +Magazine, thus describes the manner in which the service is +"celebrated" in this Chapel. + +One bright Sunday morning, not long ago, I visited the 'Church of St. +Alban.' It is situated in Forty-seventh street, near Lexington Avenue, +quite beyond the business portion of the city, and is rather a plain- +looking brick building, with a peaked roof, low, stained glass windows, +and a bell on the gable in front, surmounted by a cross. I arrived some +little time before the commencement of the services, and had an +opportunity to look about a little, and note the interior arrangements. +I found the church to be capable of holding about two hundred and fifty +worshippers, with plain wooden benches for seats on each side of a +central aisle, and every bench having an announcement posted upon it, +as follows. + +The seats of this church are all FREE, on the following conditions, a +compliance with which is an obligation binding on each person occupying +a sitting: + +'I. To behave as in the presence of ALMIGHTY GOD. + +'II. Not to leave the church during service; remaining until the +clergy and choristers have retired. + +'III. That each worshipper shall contribute, according to his ability, +to the collections, which are the only means of supporting the church. +The poor can give little, and are always welcome; but those who are +able to give should not be willing to occupy seats (which might be +availed of by others), without contributing their just share to the +expenses.' + +The pulpit, which is elevated only three or four steps, stands on the +left-hand of the congregation, close to and in front of the vestry-room +door or passage. The stalls adjoin the organ in a recess on the vestry- +room side, with others facing them on the opposite side for antiphonal +chanting or singing. The lectern, or stand on which the Bible is +placed, for reading the lessons, is on the right side opposite the +pulpit. There is no reading-desk for other parts of the service, as in +most of the Episcopal churches. + +The arrangements of the chancel occupy considerable space for a +building no larger than this, and everything is very elaborate and +ornamental. It is elevated by several steps, and inside the rails is +still further raised, so as to bring the communion-table, or altar, +prominently into view. This altar is very large, built against the rear +wall of the church, with a super-altar, having a tall gilded cross in +its centre. The decorations on the wall, and about the chancel-window, +are of the most approved pattern, drawn from the highest authorities in +ritualism and church decoration. These words, in beautiful old English +letter, crown, as it were, the altar in St. Alban's: 'He that eateth +ME, even he shall live by ME.' (John vi. 57.) + +On either side of the large gilded cross, on the super-altar, is a +lofty candlestick, with a candle in it, about seven feet high, or +perhaps more. Four other candlesticks, not quite so tall, and four +others, less lofty than these, again, are on each side of the altar by +the wall; and, standing in the chancel, some little distance from the +wall, on the right and left hand, are candelabras, with branches, +holding some twenty candles each. None of these were lighted when I +entered. Soon after, the bell having stopped ringing, the organ began a +voluntary, on a low note, introductory to the opening of the service. + +Presently, the introcessional hymn was begun, and then, emerging from +the vestry-room door or passage, the first thing visible was a large +wooden cross, which had to be lowered to get it through the passage, +and which, when elevated, reached some six feet above the head of the +small boy who carried it, and was, of course, in full view of the +congregation. This boy, and others following, had on white robes, or +surplices. Two of the boys carried banners, with devices, and all, with +a number of adult choristers, advanced slowly towards the chancel, +singing the introcessional. Last of all came the three officiating +priests, or ministers, with purple-velvet, crown-shaped caps on their +heads, and white garments, made like sacks, and ornamented with various +colors and symbols. Profound obeisances were made towards the altar; +the hymn was ended; the choristers took their places; and one of the +priests, on arriving in front of the chancel-rail, began the intoning +of the Litany. Morning Prayer had been said at an earlier hour. + +The Litany was said as in the Episcopal Prayer Book, directly after +which, notice was given that there would be a meeting of 'The Sodality +of'--exactly what and whom I did not catch at the time. The priests +then retired for a space, during which the two candles on the altar, +and the branch candles on each side in the chancel, were lighted by a +boy having a long stick, or pole, with a light on the end for the +purpose. This boy passed half a dozen or more times in front of the +altar, and every time made, or attempted to make, an obeisance--but it +was not with any great success. The frequent repetition seemed to +reduce it to little more than the 'fashionable nod.' + +The introit was one of the psalms of the Psalter. While it was being +chanted, the priests returned, and with lowly bowings, even to the +knee, passed within the chancel and advanced to the front of the altar. +The Ante-Communion was then said, the Epistle and Gospel being read by +different persons. After which, notice was given of the communion, and +'a high celebration' to occur during the week. The people stood up, and +remained standing, while one of the priests left the chancel, proceeded +to the pulpit, and, after crossing himself, said, 'In the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.' + +The congregation being seated again, a discourse followed, about +twenty minutes long, earnest in tone and manner, and with much good +exhortation in it. Some of the preacher's figures were rather +startling, especially when speaking of the Lord's Supper. He told his +hearers of 'the bleeding hands of the Almighty,' offering them Christ's +flesh to eat, and Christ's blood to drink. The homily ended with the +priest's turning to the altar, and saying, 'Glory be to the Father, and +to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.' He then went back to the chancel, +where the others had been sitting, caps on, to listen to the discourse. + +The plates were next passed around, and the alms, being collected, were +placed on the altar. Then, from a side-table on the right, the two boys +on duty in the chancel handed to the priest, the vessels containing the +bread and wine, which were placed on the altar. The remaining candles +were then lighted. After this, the communion service proceeded; and +when the officiating priest faced the congregation, to say the +exhortation, etc., one of the others, a step below him, held the book +open for him to read from--thus serving, as it were, for a reading- +stand. Wherever possible, the priests studiously preserved a position +with their backs to the congregation. In the part of the communion +service where the bread and wine are consecrated, the officiating +priest said the words in silence. In like manner, when he partook of +the sacrament himself, it was done in entire silence, with crossings, +and the lowliest of kneeling, and postures of adoration. Without +professing to be at all learned in the meaning of the rubrics in the +Prayer Book, I venture to think the language in regard to this part of +the service to be plain enough, and to require that the officiating +minister shall say it all openly, and in the presence of the people, so +that they can see or witness what is done by him, on every such solemn +occasion. But, at St. Alban's, the priests had their faces to the +altar, and backs to the congregation, and thus it was hardly possible +to see anything, and be sure of what was done or left undone. + +A large portion of the congregation now went forward to the chancel- +rails, along, or on top of which, were napkins, or cloths, placed so as +to prevent a single crumb, or a single drop, falling to the floor. +While the people were engaged in kneeling at the rails, the priests +remained standing, and holding aloft the paten and chalice, with their +contents, for reverent and profound admiration. The administration of +the sacrament was as is usual in the Episcopal Church, save that the +first part of the words ('The body of our Lord Jesus Christ,' 'The +blood of our Lord Jesus Christ'), was said when the bread or wine was +given to each communicant, and the latter ('Take and eat this,' 'drink +this,') was said to three or four together. The cup, too, was retained +in the hands of the priest, and not 'delivered' into the hands of the +communicant. + +When all had gone forward who wished to partake of the Lord's Supper, +the vessels were replaced on the altar and carefully covered, the +concluding prayers were intoned, the _Gloria in Excelsis_ was chanted, +and the parting blessing was given. After a few moments, the whole +congregation stood up, and remained standing, while the priests, having +received water from the boys, with napkins, carefully cleansed and +wiped the vessels, giving them to the boys to place on the side-table. +The little fellow took up the big cross again, the others gathered in +line, with the older choristers, and slowly moving, with music, to the +passage at the side, the priests finally disappeared in the vestry. + +The service, on this occasion, occupied exactly two hours; after +which, the people were allowed to go their way, and profit by what they +had seen and heard. + + + THE CLERGY. + +Talent, backed by experience and industry, will succeed in the long run +in New York, but talent is not essential to success here. We have often +wondered what _does_ make the success of some men in this city. They +have done well, and they have no merit as pulpit orators. In other +cities a good pastor need not of necessity be a good preacher. He may +endear himself to his congregation in a thousand ways, and they may +make his other good qualities atone for his oratorical deficiencies. In +New York, however, pastoral duties are almost entirely confined to the +ministrations in the church. The city is so immense, the flock so +widely scattered, that few clergymen can visit all their people. The +result is, that pastoral visiting is but little practiced here. The +clergyman is generally "at home," to all who choose to call, on a +certain evening in each week. A few civil words pass between the +shepherd and the sheep, but that is all. The mass of the people of this +city are neglected by the clergy. Possibly the people are at fault. +Indeed this is not only possible, but probable, for New York shows +little regard for the Sabbath and the Gospel. + +A man of real talent will always, if he has a church conveniently and +fashionably located, draw a large congregation to hear him; but the +location and the prestige of the church often do more than the +minister, for some of our poor churches have men of genius in their +pulpits, while some of the wealthiest and most fashionable are called +on every Sunday to listen to the merest platitudes. + +Let us not be misunderstood. There are able men in the New York +pulpits. We have Vinton, Chapin, Frothingham, Adams, Osgood, and many +others, but we have some weak-headed brethren also. + +A few clergymen get rich in this city, the wealthy members of their +flocks no doubt aiding them. Some marry fortunes. As a general rule, +however, they have no chance of saving any money. Salaries are large +here, but expenses are heavy, and it requires a large income to live +respectably. A minister settled over a prosperous congregation cannot +maintain his social position, or uphold the dignity of his parish, on +less than from eight to ten thousand dollars per annum, if he has a +moderate sized family. Very little of this will go in extravagances, if +any. Many have to live on much smaller salaries, but they do it "by the +skin of their teeth." + +Having seen much of clergymen, we believe that, whether wise men or +simpletons, they are, as a class, honest, sincere self-denying, and +God-fearing. There are, however, black sheep amongst them. These are +blackest in New York. There are not many of these, however. + +The speculative mania (in financial, not theological, matters) to which +we have referred in the chapter on Wall street, invades even the ranks +of the clergy, and there are several well-known gentlemen of the cloth +who operate boldly and skilfully in the stock and gold markets, through +their brokers. One of these gentlemen was once sharply rebuked by the +broker, for his unclerical conduct, and advised, if he wished to carry +on his speculations, to go into the market openly himself, as the +broker declined being any longer the representative of a man who was +ashamed of his business. + +There are still others who are not ashamed to mingle openly with the +throng of curbstone brokers, and carry on their operations behind the +sanctity of their white cravats. + + + + + CHAPTER XLVII. + + + CEMETERIES. + +The old graveyards of New York were located in what is now the heart of +the city; and, with the exception of the churchyards, have all passed +away. There are now, with the exception of the cemetery of Trinity +Church, which is located near Washington Heights, no graveyards in use +on the island. Interments are made either on the main land, or on Long +Island. The principal, and best known cemetery, is Greenwood. + + + GREENWOOD. + +These beautiful grounds are situated in the extreme south-eastern part +of Brooklyn, on Gowanus Heights. The entrance gate is about two and a +half miles from the South Ferry, and three from the Fulton Ferry, with +lines of horse-cars from both ferries. The cemetery is beautifully laid +out, and from its heights a view of the bay and the surrounding country +is obtained. The situation is naturally attractive, and large sums of +money have been expended in ornamenting the grounds, until they are now +second to none of the famous cemeteries of the Old World. The monuments +are numerous and many of them are of the most costly and elegant +nature. The contrast between these pure white shafts, and the dark +green of the sward and foliage, is both striking and beautiful, while, +in the far distance, the gazer, turning from this scene of silence and +death, lovely as it is, may behold the bright waters of the Bay or +Sound, covered with the life and activity of the commerce of this great +country, and the Metropolis itself lies almost at his feet. + +Admission to the cemetery can be obtained during any week-day, by means +of tickets, which may be procured from any undertaker. On Sunday the +grounds are opened only to the proprietors, their families, or those +who come with them. + + + THE EVERGREENS. + +Four or five miles east of Brooklyn is the cemetery of the Evergreens. +It is very beautiful, but does not compare with Greenwood, in either +its natural or artificial attractions. + + + CYPRESS HILLS. + +These grounds lie near the Evergreens, and are very handsome. Great +care has been bestowed upon them, and they are amongst the most +attractive in the neighborhood of the city. + + + WOODLAWN. + +This cemetery is only a few years old. It is in Westchester county, +immediately on the Harlem railway. It is about seven miles from the +city, and several trains stop at the main entrance during the day. The +company also run funeral trains when desired. The main avenue, or +boulevard, from the Central Park to White Plains, will run through +these grounds; and in a few years, when the upper part of the island is +more thickly settled, Woodlawn will be one of the principal cemeteries +of the city. In ten years more it will rival Greenwood. + + + + + CHAPTER XLVIII. + + + THE BAR. + +There are three thousand lawyers practicing at the New York bar. A few +of these have large incomes, two or three making as much as fifty +thousand dollars per annum; but the average income of the majority is +limited. An income of ten or fifteen thousand dollars is considered +large in the profession, and the number of those earning such a sum is +small. + +In most cities the members of the legal profession form a clique, and +are very clannish. Each one knows everybody else, and if one member of +the bar is assailed, the rest are prompt to defend him. In New York, +however, there is no such thing as a legal "fraternity." Each man is +wrapped in his own affairs, and knows little and cares less about other +members of the profession. We have been surprised to find how little +these men know about each other. Some have never even heard of others +who are really prosperous and talented. + +The courts of the city are very numerous; and each man, in entering +upon his practice, makes a specialty of some one or more of them, and +confines himself to them. His chances of success are better for doing +this, than they would be by adopting a general practice. Indeed, it +would be simply impossible for one man to practice in all. + +Many of the best lawyers rarely go into the courts. They prefer chamber +practice, and will not try a case in court if they can help it. The +process in the courts is slow and vexatious, and consumes too much of +their time. Their chamber practice is profitable to them, and +beneficial to the community, as it prevents much tedious litigation. + +Many lawyers with fair prospects and comfortable incomes, who are +succeeding in their profession in other places, come to New York, +expecting to rise to fame and fortune more rapidly here. They are +mistaken. The most accomplished city barrister finds success a slow and +uncertain thing. It takes some unusually fortunate circumstance to +introduce a new lawyer favorably to a New York public. + +The profession in this city can boast of some eminent names in its list +of members, amongst which are those of Charles O'Conor, William M. +Evarts, the present Attorney-General of the United States, James F. +Brady, David Dudley Field, and William J. A. Fuller. These, or any of +them, are men of the first ability in their profession, and are amongst +the most honored citizens of the metropolis. + + + + + CHAPTER XLIX. + + + THE METROPOLITAN FIRE DEPARTMENT. + +Previous to the year 1865, New York suffered from all the evils of a +volunteer fire department. It had three thousand eight hundred and ten +firemen, with a proper force of engines. The various companies were +jealous of each other, and there was scarcely a fire at which this +jealousy did not lead to blows. Frequently the fire would be left to +burn while the rival companies adjusted their difficulties. The firemen +seemed to take a delight in the most disgraceful and lawless acts, and +were more of an annoyance than a benefit to the city. + + + THE NEW SYSTEM. + +The bill for the organization of a Metropolitan Department became a +law, by the action of the Legislature, in March, 1865. As the +inauguration of the new system would be the downfall of the old, the +friends of the latter resolved to resist it. A case was brought before +the Court of Appeals, involving the constitutionality of the bill, and +the law was sustained. Measures were set on foot to get the new system +to work as soon as possible, but, in the meantime, the leaders of the +opposition to it endeavored to be revenged, by disbanding the old +force, and leaving the city without any means of extinguishing fires. +The danger was averted, however, by promptly detailing a force from the +police to act as firemen in case of necessity. By November, 1865, the +new system was thoroughly organized, and fairly at work. + + + THE FORCE. + +The department is under the charge of five commissioners, appointed by +the Governor. They make rules and regulations by which the force is +governed, exercise a general supervision over its affairs, and are +responsible to the Legislature for their acts. There is a chief +engineer, an assistant engineer, and ten district engineers. There are +thirty-four steam engines, four hand engines, and twelve hook-and- +ladder companies in the department, the hand engines being located in +the extreme upper part of the island. Each steam engine has a force of +twelve men attached to it, viz., a foreman, assistant foreman, an +engineer of steamer, a driver, a stoker, and seven firemen. All the +engines and carriages are drawn by horses. There are five hundred and +four men, and one hundred and forty-six horses in the department. Each +man is paid by the city for his services. The chief engineer receives +four thousand five hundred dollars per annum, foremen of companies +thirteen hundred dollars, the engineers of steamers twelve hundred +dollars, assistant engineers eleven hundred dollars, and firemen one +thousand dollars. The steamers were built by the Amoskeag Manufacturing +Company at Manchester, New Hampshire, and are amongst the very best of +the kind in use. They cost four thousand dollars apiece. + +The engine houses are all connected with the Central Station by +telegraph. They are models of neatness and convenience. The lower floor +is taken up with the apparatus and the horses. The basement is used for +storing the fuel for the steamers, and also contains a furnace, by +means of which the water in the engine boilers is always kept hot. The +upper floor is the dormitory. The twelve men composing the company +sleep here. A watch is always kept below, so that the men above, who +are allowed to go to bed after ten o'clock, may be awakened without +delay. Everything is neat and ready for use. It requires but fifteen +seconds in the day, and one minute at night to be ready for action, and +on the way to the fire. + +[Illustration: Fireman on duty.] + +The men are not allowed to have any other employment to occupy their +time. The department claims their whole duty. A certain number are +required to be always at the engine house. In case of an alarm being +sounded during the absence of a fireman from the engine house, he runs +directly to the fire, where he is sure to find his company. Everything +is in readiness to leave the house at a moment's notice. The horses +stand ready harnessed, and are so well trained that but a few seconds +suffices to attach them to the steamer. The fire needs only to be +lighted in the furnace, and in a few minutes the steam gauge shows a +sufficiency of power for the work to be done. Great care is taken of +the horses. They are groomed every day, and carefully fed at six +o'clock in the morning and at six in the evening. If not used on duty, +they are exercised every day by being led to and fro through the +streets in the vicinity of the engine house. They are fiery, splendid +animals, and are so well trained that they will stand with perfect +steadiness immediately in front of a burning building. + + + AT WORK. + +When an alarm of fire is given, it is at once telegraphed from the +nearest station to the central office, and repeated. The central office +immediately strikes a gong, by telegraph, in the house of every engine +which is to attend the fire. The locality, and often the precise spot +of the fire can be ascertained by these signals. For instance, the bell +strikes 157, thus: _one_--a pause--_five_--another pause,--and then +_seven_. The indicator will show that this signal or alarm is given +from the corner of the Bowery and Grand street. The fire is either at +this point, or within its immediate neighborhood. + +There is a gong in each engine house on which the alarm is struck from +the central station. As soon as the sharp strokes give the signal of +danger and point out the locality, every man springs to his post. The +horses are hitched in a few seconds, the fire is lighted in the +furnace, and the steamer and hose carriage start for the scene of the +conflagration. The foreman runs, on foot, ahead of his steamer to clear +the way, and the driver may keep up with him, but is not allowed to +pass him. Only the engineer, his assistant, and the stoker, are allowed +to ride on the engine. The rest of the company go on foot. Fast driving +is severely punished, and racing is absolutely prohibited. The men are +required to be quiet and orderly in their deportment. + +Upon reaching the fire communication is made between the engine and the +plug or hydrant, and the work begins. The chief engineer is required to +attend all fires, and all orders proceed from him. The most rigid +discipline is preserved, and the work goes on with a rapidity and +precision which are in striking contrast to the inefficiency of the old +system. + +A force of policemen is at once sent to every fire. These stretch ropes +across the street at proper distances, and no one but the members of +the Fire Department, who may be known by their uniforms and badges are +allowed to pass these barriers. In this way the firemen have plenty of +room to work, lookers on are kept at a safe distance, and the movable +property in the burning building is saved from thieves. + +The life of a fireman is very arduous and dangerous, and applicants for +admission into the department are required to be persons of good health +and good character. The men are often called upon not only to face +great personal danger, but they are also subjected to a severe physical +strain from loss of rest and fatigue. For a week at a time they will be +called out and worked hard every night, but all the while are required +to be as prompt and active as though they had never lost a night's +rest. They are constantly performing acts of personal heroism, which +pass unnoticed, in the bustle and whirl of busy life around them, but +which are treasured up in the heart of some grateful mother, father, +wife, or husband, whose loved one has been rescued from death by the +fireman's gallantry. + +Nor is the gallantry all on the side of the fireman. During the past +year there have been numerous instances where an intrepid policeman has +nobly risked his life to save some threatened fellow creature from +death by fire or by drowning. + + + + + CHAPTER L. + + + HARRY HILL'S. + +In passing the corner of Broadway and Houston street, you will see, to +the east of the great thoroughfare, an immense red and blue lantern +attached to a low, dingy frame building. This is the sign of Harry +Hill's dance-house. It is one of the sights, and one of the saddest +sights, too, of New York. As you approach the place from Broadway, you +notice a narrow door at the side of the main entrance, opening upon a +flight of stairs which lead to the dancing hall. This is the private +entrance for women. They are admitted free of charge as their presence +is the chief attraction to the men who visit the place. Passing through +the main door you enter a room used as a bar room and eating saloon. It +differs in nothing from the average low class bar rooms of the city. A +narrow passage-way between the counters, leads to the entrance of the +dancing hall, which apartment is situated on the floor above the bar +room and in the rear of it. Visitors to this hall are charged an +admittance fee of twenty-five cents, and are expected to order liquor +or refreshments as soon as they enter. + + + THE PROPRIETOR. + +Harry Hill is generally to be seen moving amongst his guests while the +entertainment is going on. He is a short, thickset man, with a +resolute, self-possessed air, and is about fifty years old. He is very +decided in his manner, and is fully equal to the task of enforcing his +orders. The "fancy" stand in awe of him, as they know he will follow up +any command with a blow or a summary ejection from his premises. He has +been in the business for twelve years, and his profits are estimated at +over fifty thousand dollars a year now, clear of all expenses. He is +said to be a kind, humane man, and is reputed to give largely to +charitable purposes. He manages every department himself, although he +has a manager to conduct affairs for him. His eye is on everybody and +everything. + + + THE DANCE HALL. + +It is Harry Hill's boast that he keeps a "respectable house." Unlike +the other dance-houses of the city, there are no girls attached to this +establishment. All the company, both male and female, consists of +outsiders, who merely come here to spend an evening. The rules of the +house are printed in rhyme, and are hung conspicuously in various parts +of the hall. They are rigid, and prohibit any profane, indecent, or +boisterous conduct. The most disreputable characters are to be seen in +the audience, but no thieving or violence ever occurs within the hall. +Whatever happens after persons leave the hall, the proprietor allows no +violation of the law within his doors. + +The hall, itself, consists simply of a series of rooms, which have been +"knocked into one" by the removal of the partition walls. As all of +these rooms were not of the same height, the ceiling of the hall +presents a curious patchwork appearance. A long counter occupies one +end of the hall, at which liquors and refreshments are served. There is +a stage at another side, on which low farces are performed, and a tall +Punch and Judy box occupies a conspicuous position. Benches and chairs +are scattered about, and a raised platform is provided for the +"orchestra," which consists of a piano, violin, and a bass viol. The +centre of the room is a clear space, and is used for dancing. If you do +not dance you must leave, unless you atone for your deficiency by a +liberal expenditure of money. The amusements are coarse and low. The +songs are broad, and are full of blasphemous outbursts, which are +received with shouts of delight. + + + THE DANCERS. + +You will see all sorts of people at Harry Hill's. The women are, of +course, women of the town; but they are either just entering upon their +career, or still in its most prosperous phase. They are all handsomely +dressed, and some of them are very pretty. Some of them have come from +the better classes of society, and have an elegance and refinement of +manner and conversation, which win them many admirers in the crowd. +They drink deep and constantly during the evening. Indeed, one is +surprised to see how much liquor they imbibe. The majority come here +early in the evening alone, but few go away without company for the +night. You do not see the same face here very long. The women cannot +escape the inevitable doom of the lost sisterhood. They go down the +ladder; and Harry Hill keeps his place clear of them after the first +flush of their beauty and success is past. You will then find them in +the Five Points and Water street hells. + +As for the men, they represent all kinds of people and professions. You +may see here men high in public life, side by side with the Five Points +ruffian. Judges, lawyers, policemen off duty and in plain clothes, +officers of the army and navy, merchants, bankers, editors, soldiers, +sailors, clerks, and even boys, mingle here in friendly confusion. As +the profits of the establishment are derived from the bar, drinking is +of course encouraged, and the majority of the men are more or less +drunk all the time. They spend their money freely in such a condition. +Harry Hill watches the course of affairs closely during the evening. If +he knows a guest and likes him, he will take care that he is not +exposed to danger, after he is too far gone in liquor to protect +himself. He will either send him home, or send for his friends. If the +man is a stranger, he does not interfere--only, no crime must be +committed in his house. Thieves, pickpockets, burglars, roughs, and +pugilists are plentifully scattered through the audience. These men are +constantly on the watch for victims. It is easy for them to drug the +liquor of a man they are endeavoring to secure, without the knowledge +of the proprietor of the house; or, if they do not tamper with his +liquor, they can persuade him to drink to excess. In either case, they +lead him from the hall, under pretence of taking him home. He never +sees home until they have stripped him of all his valuables. Sometimes +he finds his long home, in less than an hour after leaving the hall; +and the harbor police find his body floating on the tide at sunrise. +Women frequently decoy men to places where they are robbed. No crime is +committed in the dance hall, but plans are laid there, victims are +marked, and tracked to loss or death, and, frequently, an idle, +thoughtless visit there, has been the beginning of a life of ruin. The +company to be met with, is that which ought to be shunned. Visits from +curiosity are dangerous. Stay away. To be found on the Devil's ground +is voluntarily to surrender yourself a willing captive to him. Stay +away. It is a place in which no virtuous woman is ever seen, and in +which an honest man ought to be ashamed to show his face. + + + + + CHAPTER LI. + + + THE WICKEDEST WOMAN IN NEW YORK + +We have already quoted at some length from an interesting work entitled +"_Asmodeus in New York_," recently published in Paris, and we now ask +the reader's attention to the following sketch of an entertainment +given at the mansion of a female, whose infamous exploits as an +abortionist have earned her the title of "the wickedest woman in New +York." + + + A BALL AT THE WICKEDEST WOMAN'S. + +We entered. The lady of the house, richly attired in a silver-brocaded +dress and wearing a crown of diamonds, very kindly welcomed us, +thanking Asmodeus for bringing in a distinguished stranger. The +introduction over, we mingled with the crowd, and went through the +rooms opened to the guests, while the lady led to an adjacent room a +few female friends, to show them her necklaces, rings, bracelets, and +other jewels. + +'American ladies,' said Asmodeus, 'avail themselves of every +opportunity to exhibit their treasures, down to their silver, china, +and linen. They are fond of jewels, the most showy being especially in +favor. But I would not warrant that all those gems that flash in the +gaslight are genuine stones. There is such a demand now for California +diamonds that, very likely, many sets now adorning the wives of lucky +speculators are mingled with worthless imitations. Time is necessary to +learn how to distinguish precious stones from spurious ones, and few +persons can devote as much leisure as did yonder Jew banker in +collecting pearls, the smallest of which in his possession is worth +twenty thousand dollars. He recently gave to his wife a necklace made +up of twenty of such pearls, and their number increases every year.' + +In the meanwhile, dancing had commenced in several spacious rooms; in +others, card-playing was being indulged in. Servants, wearing black +garments and white neckties, were busy carrying refreshments around. +Many persons, preferring the pleasure of eating to those of playing or +dancing, were seated in another room at a table loaded with meats and +delicacies. Next to this, another room, elegantly furnished, was +crowded with young and old men, indulging in smoking. Boxes of cigars +were piled up on elegant _étagères_; and I noticed that many a smoker, +besides the cigar he was smoking, filled his pockets with that luxury. +While going through the several rooms opened to the public, Asmodeus +called my attention to their costly furniture. Some of these rooms were +lined with fine _brocatelle_, imported from France, Italy, China, and +Japan, the latter conspicuous for their fantastical drawing and +patterns; others with Persian and Indian cloths; and the several pieces +of furniture were of unexceptionable taste. Some were inlaid with gold, +bronze, or china; some were made up of rosewood, artistically carved. +Gems of art and curiosities of every description were displayed upon +_étagères_; and through the house, made bright as day by hundreds of +gaslights, one walked on soft, smooth carpets of the best manufactures +of Europe. They alone were worth a fortune. + +Amazed at such luxury, exceeding that of many a patrician family in +Europe, I thought our Amphitryon was either one of those wealthy +merchants whose ships carry the American flag over the broad ocean, or +those manufacturers who build up enormous fortunes at the expense of +the public. + +'You are mistaken,' said Asmodeus. 'We will call, by and by, on one of +those merchant-princes you allude to. For the present we are in the +house of one of Juno's priestesses. You are aware, Juno was called +Lucina when she superintended the birth of children. But the lady who +has welcomed us so kindly is far from assisting in the birth of +children; her calling, on the contrary, is to prevent it; she practices +infanticide every day, and it is by carrying on this business she has +obtained the wealth she is making so great a display of. Every one of +those window-shades, so nicely arranged to ward off the rays of the +sun, cost one thousand dollars. They were painted by our best artists, +none of them having declined to display his talents for the benefit of +Madame Killer--such is the name of the owner of this splendid +residence. As there are thirty windows, you may easily figure up the +cost of those gorgeous shades. That of all the furniture is in the same +proportion: every piece of it, I dare say, has been purchased with the +money received for the murder of a child.' + +Bewildered at these revelations, I thought Asmodeus was deceiving me. +He quietly continued: + +'That stout gentleman, going from one to another, and making himself +affable with everybody, who looks like a good-natured person, and whose +unctuous manners remind one of a clergyman, is the husband of Madame +Killer. He is an accomplished scholar, and has obtained his diploma +from one of our best medical colleges. He might have obtained a +competency by honest practice. But when Madame Killer, already enriched +through her nefarious business, hinted that she was disposed to marry +him, Bungling eagerly took the hint, and espoused this abortionist. + +'Of course, after the marriage, Madame Killer retained her own name, as +it was already a notorious one. Love, you may be sure, had nothing to +do with this matrimonial transaction. Madame Killer married Bungling +because his science might be of some service in many delicate +circumstances--in about the same way a merchant takes in a partner +when he has too much to do. The couple have been uniformly prosperous +since they married, about ten years ago. True, they had two or three +unpleasant misunderstandings with the police, on account of a few poor +creatures dying of ill-treatment at their hands; but they came out of +all of them triumphantly.' + +'Must I infer from this that the laws of America do not punish +infanticide?' said I, 'that fearful crime of getting rid of children +before or after their natural birth. Even the unfortunate who stakes +her life to conceal the consequences of a fault, is amenable to law; +she is punished for child-murder, as well as her accomplice, in every +civilized country.' + +'By and by,' answered Asmodeus, 'I will explain that subject to you. I +will content myself, for the present, by saying that the laws of +America are no less severe than those of Europe, as regards the crimes +of infanticide and abortion. But in such cases, as well as in many +others, the law often remains a dead letter.' + +I longed to depart from the house. I fancied, after Asmodeus's +frightful revelations, the very air we breathed was impregnated with +deadly miasma. Dancing had been interrupted for awhile; and in a hall, +connected with a conservatory, filled with rare and odoriferous plants, +a concert was beginning. Every note from a sonorous piano sounded in my +ear like the wailing of one of those poor little beings the Amphitryons +had brought to an untimely death. And then, of what character were +those women, crowding the rooms, in spite of the crumpling of their +splendid dresses? Who were those men, who had either accompanied or +were courting them? + +'You are quite mistaken,' said Asmodeus, 'if you believe we are in the +midst of a mixed crowd, such as that denominated the _demi-monde_ in +the French capital, and not tolerated, as yet, at private receptions +here, or at places of public resort. To be sure, what is called the +social evil unfortunately exists in New York, as in the large cities of +Europe; but it keeps aloof from decent society. It is true, that such +is the discretion of corrupt females, it is often impossible to +distinguish an honest woman from one who has lost her chastity. Of +course I do not speak of those creatures so deeply fallen into habits +of corruption, that they shrink no longer from exhibiting their +degradation. Perhaps we shall have an opportunity of visiting the +backgrounds of our civilization, where those wretched creatures live. +For the present, I must set you right concerning the standing in +society of the guests of this house. + +'Most of those men, who so often appreciate the good things served +around by the waiters, are wealthy merchants, lawyers, and physicians. +I even recognize among them a few magistrates and legislators. They +have accompanied their wives; and some, even, have brought their +daughters to this dreadful house, where some unfortunate woman is, +perhaps, dying in the upper story, and paying with her life the +violation of nature's laws. Some guests have come through curiosity, +attracted by the splendors of a residence opened for the first time to +the gaze of strangers. Others have availed themselves of the +opportunity of gayly spending here a few idle hours, and do not trouble +themselves with the Amphitryons' respectability. Lastly, many guests +did not deem it safe to decline Madame Killer's invitation; for that +Thug of society holds in her hands the honor of hundreds of families, +and it would be dangerous to arouse her resentment. A single word from +her lips, some well-concocted story, would bring on awful scandals. She +could, for instance, apprise yonder husband, so attentive to his wife, +that the latter, during the two years he has served his country abroad, +has applied to Madame Killer's art to remove the consequences of an +adulterous intrigue. That young man, who has just inherited a large +estate, and seems so much enamoured of that light-haired young lady, +might learn, tomorrow morning, through an anonymous letter, that the +fair beauty, instead of spending, as he believes she did, the summer +months in the country, had secreted herself in Madame Killer's +hospitable house. + +'Undoubtedly, the dread of some awful revelation has brought here many +persons, as out of five hundred invited guests only a few do not attend +Madame Killer's _soiree_. But I am far from believing that they would +not have come, under any circumstances, even had they been free from +fear of personal consequences. Madame Killer is wealthy, and nobody +cares about the way she has obtained her wealth. Whoever is worth one +million dollars, no matter how acquired, honestly or dishonestly, is +welcome everywhere, and his _soirees_ and receptions are attended by +the best society. I see, for instance, talking with Madame Killer, a +merchandise broker, whose name was given to a ship launched this very +morning, and who would be shut out of decent society in any other +country. Three years ago, he failed to the amount of two or three +millions of dollars. According to his balance-sheet, he could pay +fifty cents on the dollar. But, when his book-keeper joyfully informed +his employer of such an unexpected result, "Change it, by all means," +exclaimed the broker, "my creditors do not expect even fifteen cents on +the dollar, and were I to give them fifty, what benefit would I derive +from my failure?" And he paid ten cents only on the dollar. + +'Near that honest broker--who has become wealthy in consequence of that +transaction, and at the same time a man of importance, being now a +director of a trust company, and other concerns--see that young man, +wearing side-whiskers, after the English fashion. His light hair and +blue eyes denote his German origin. He is an exchange broker, and made +two hundred thousand dollars last year in this quick way: Pretending to +have realized large profits in stock gambling, he succeeded in +inspiring such confidence in the president of one of our most +respectable banks, where he kept his account, that his checks were +indiscriminately certified by that officer. One check for two hundred +thousand dollars was in that way certified, and the money had just been +paid out to a compeer, when the directors of the bank discovered that +the adventurer had but a small deposit in their hands. He failed the +next day, and the president, who had rashly caused a heavy loss to the +bank, blew out his own brains. + +'The guest who is making his bow to the lady of the house, was formerly +secretary of one of our railroad companies. The stock had gone up one +hundred per cent. above par, on the strength of the manager's report, +exhibiting the prosperous condition of the company's affairs, when an +over-issue of stock, to the amount of two millions of dollars, was +detected. To satisfy the public clamor, the secretary and another +officer of the company were discharged. But all inquiry respecting this +stupendous fraud was indefinitely postponed. The discharged employés of +the company now live in high style, and give parties, which their +former employers, the directors of the railroad concern, do not fail to +attend. + +Next to him, that dandy, who is talking with a gentleman whose beard, +though he is a judge of the Supreme Court, might grace the chin of a +musketeer, is a wealthy banker's son. He is fresh from the State's +prison; and, strange indeed, the magistrate he is speaking to, is the +very one who sentenced him--perhaps, because of the pressure of public +opinion, which must, after all, be taken into consideration. Our dandy, +when his father retired, became sole manager of a banking house, and +attempted to double, in a few weeks, the wealth his father had toiled +thirty years to accumulate. + +Discarding legitimate speculation, he gambled at the Stock Exchange, +which soon swallowed up the money and other deposits confided to his +keeping. Then he became almost crazy. To keep up his credit with our +banks and procure resources--and led astray by the hope of realizing +profits large enough to make up his losses--he became a forger. He +imitated the signatures of his correspondents, his own friends, in +fact, of everybody in town; and, one morning, the people were startled +in reading in the newspapers that forged notes, amounting to several +millions of dollars, were flooding the street. The young man was +sentenced to prison for a term of five years--one for each forged +million! as remarked the wag who is now talking with him.' + +'How is it he is out of prison?' + +'That is precisely a point of American law which deserves a passing +notice. Most of the State governors are vested with the pardoning +power. When the exercise of such a prerogative devolves upon State +legislatures, corrupting influences are less to be apprehended. A +single individual may be coaxed to pardon by his political friends, or +even bribed. But money, and political connections, are of little avail +when one has to deal with one hundred legislators. In New York State, +the legislature has no control over the pardoning power, which is +vested exclusively in the governor. The family and friends of that +youth represented his crime, stupendous as it was, as the first he had +ever committed. Its enormity was represented as a proof of temporary +insanity--the great argument, now-a-days, of our lawyers--and he was +set free by the governor, after remaining a few months in prison. He +shows himself again among the wealthy classes, and is as kindly +received by them as he would have been had he never forged notes to the +amount of several millions of dollars--so deeply-rooted in the American +people is the feeling of tolerance, and especially when those who are +the objects of it are millionaires, or in a fair way to become so.' + + * * * * * + +At this moment, we noticed some excitement among a few young ladies +standing near a songstress who had just been rapturously applauded. A +gentleman of commanding appearance, but deadly pale, was speaking to +her, in a tone loud enough to be heard by those standing by. 'You are +certainly much indebted to Madame Killer,' said the gentleman, 'but I +wonder how you can sing in a house where you brought to death an +innocent being!' And, bowing low to Madame Killer, he disappeared among +the bewildered assembly. + +"'Ah!' said Asmodeus, with a sarcastic smile, 'the wronged husband +tells his false wife some bitter truths.'" + +[Illustration: Scene at the "Wickedest Woman's"] + + + HOW SHE CONDUCTS HER BUSINESS. + +The wickedest woman lives in a magnificent house, in a fashionable +street. A part of her fortune was made as a female physician. She made +money rapidly. The police were frequently called on to arrest her for +child murder, but she always managed to escape conviction and +punishment. After several years of profitable practice, she opened a +home for unfortunate women. She advertised her business extensively, +and soon became well known. Women who wished to conceal the results of +their shame, sought her out, and found a tender and thoughtful friend +during their period of trial. Such conduct, on her part, brought her a +constant run of custom, and paid well. + +Her present business is conducted upon the same system. Her rooms are +elegant, and perfectly secluded. Her patients have every comfort, every +care, bestowed upon them. The doctress is gentle and considerate in +everything, and her patients soon learn to love her as a friend. She +charges heavily for all this, and her fees are usually paid, in full, +in advance. Sometimes the party engaging the rooms gives no name, +sometimes an assumed name is given. The wickedest woman asks no +questions. + +Honest wives, in the comfort of their own homes, surrounded by love and +respect, shrink from that hour of trial and anguish, which is at once a +woman's cross and crown. How sad, then, is the trial of the erring +creature in this splendid mansion. Terror, anguish, despair, remorse, +and shame, struggle at her heart, and deprive her of courage, prudence, +and almost of reason. At such times, few can resist the appeal of the +wickedest woman, to confide in everything to her. The poor sufferer +reveals her whole history, her name, and that of the father of her +child. The wickedest woman, while soothing her, listens attentively, +and carefully records the whole story, with all the names. If the child +is born alive, it is faithfully attended to, and every precaution is +taken by the doctress to have it reared in health. The mother knows +nothing of its fate, and, with recovered health, goes back to her +position in society, carrying with her the assurance of the wickedest +woman that her secret is safe. + +The wickedest woman never loses sight of either patient. As those who +seek her assistance are apt to be persons of means, she has a motive in +doing so. It may be one or ten years after her services were rendered, +but, at what she considers the proper time, she renews her acquaintance +with them. She will startle them by a call, or a note, recalling to +them the events they would gladly forget, and soliciting a loan for a +short time. The appeal is generally made to the man, and is sustained +by such strong proofs that he dares not refuse to comply with the +demand. Of course he knows that the wickedest woman will never return +his money, but he is forced to send whatever sum she pleases. The +child, which has been carefully reared, is a living witness against +him, and the wickedest woman threatens to produce it if her demands are +refused. Every year the demand is renewed. Men have been driven to +bankruptcy, to ruin, and to death, by these heartless extortions. +Still, the wickedest woman continues her course. She boasts that +society in New York cannot do without her, and the facts seem to +justify this boast. + + + + + CHAPTER LII. + + + BABY FARMING. + +A recent number of a city journal, contained the following account of +the system of bringing up and adopting out illegitimate children in New +York. We present it in place of any description of our own. + + + FEMALE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENTS. + [Footnote: The writer of this article is a woman.] + +Having read in the English and Scottish journals of the day a great +deal of curious and startling matter in reference to the practice of +'baby-farming,' as it is called, and having constantly accumulating +proof submitted to our eyes and understandings of the existence of +similar practices in our midst, here, in this great Christian city of +New York--having also read with mingled shame and wonder, and with +suspended judgment (as to the vital question whether, as the world goes +and must go, they were criminally injurious or socially beneficial) +concerning the numerous private establishments where wounded love and +brazen immorality alike find refuge and concealment, and where the true +orphans of life, those innocents who know not and who can never know, +their fathers or their mothers, find a temporary home, prior to their +entrance upon life and their struggle with the world--a married lady +friend of mine and myself determined recently to personally inquire +into these subjects and to investigate their condition and practical +workings, so far as possible, and to make public our investigations for +the benefit of the world at large and of all whom it may concern. + +Having arrived at this determination, the next morning we glanced over +the advertising columns of the papers, and having read and reread the +subjoined advertisement-- + +'Important to females. Dr. and Mrs.----(20 years' practice) guarantee +certain relief to married ladies. Patients from a distance provided +with board, nursing, etc. Private advice letter free. Office,----. New +York'-- + +We resolved to visit this establishment that very day. + +We found it located upon Third Avenue, near----street, over a shop, and +situated in the neighborhood of a number of little stores, sandwiched, +as it were, between all varieties of trades. A sign on the exterior of +the building directed us to pull the bell and walk up stairs. This +injunction was probably designed to give the parties notice of the +approach of persons desirous to see them, and to put them, and whoever +might chance to be with them at the time, on their guard. The +correctness of this view was proved by the fact, that, as we entered, +we saw a woman peering at us from the floor above, who immediately +withdrew on seeing us. We were shown into what had evidently been +intended for a hall bed-room but now served the purpose of a reception +room or office. Here we were, in a few moments, waited upon, by the +very lady or woman who had just peered down upon us, but who, of +course, assumed to be totally unconscious of this fact. She was neatly +dressed, and of quiet manner; and bowing, awaited our introduction of +the object of our visit. We made a poor enough show, doubtless, in our +pretended statement of our design in calling, but between us we gave +her to understand, as we had previously arranged, that we acted in +behalf of a lady friend of ours who had been 'unfortunate,' and who +desired nursing, medical attention, and above all, secrecy. Mrs.---- +listened to our statement in a matter of fact way, as though our story +was 'as familiar as household words,' and then, it must be confessed, +kindly enough, with more delicacy and feeling (or show of it) than we +would have, _à priori_, given her credit for, explained to us the +_modus operandi_ to be pursued. No patients were received at the office +in Third Avenue; they were all sent to another branch of the +establishment in----street, presided over by a Dr.----. + +The terms were in all cases strictly the same. Twenty five dollars per +week were charged for board and lodging, or one hundred dollars for the +month, 'payable invariably in advance.' The fee for nursing and medical +attendance was one hundred dollars; while the charge made for receiving +and taking care of the child reached the same figure--making in all the +considerable sum of three hundred dollars, for which amount it was +guaranteed to furnish the most comfortable lodging, the best +professional skill, and the most inviolate seclusion--certainly a +convenient arrangement on both sides of the transaction. + +"It must be here mentioned that no pay whatever, not even in the shape +of presents or equivalents, is received from the parties who 'adopt' +the children thus confided to the care of Mrs.----and Dr.----. On the +contrary, this amiable couple are only too glad to get rid of the +'infant darlings' in some lawful way, and thus to avoid any further +expense or delay upon their account. Those to whom the children are +really indebted for their birth are required to bear the expense, +which, as just stated, is fixed at one hundred dollars. And the only +fear entertained by the madame and the doctor is, that 'people will not +apply fast enough for the babies,' who are, from the day of their +birth, sent at once to wet-nurses dispersed over the city, who, if the +regular methods fail, are themselves allowed to adopt the children, or +to dispose of them, by 'adoption,' to other parties." + +But few of these "private establishments" are well managed. The +majority are conducted by ignorant, avaricious quacks, who have no +knowledge of surgery or medicine, and who either kill or injure their +victims for life. Frequent arrests of these people are made every year, +but the punishment is seldom inflicted as it should be. It is, as a +general rule, only in such first-class establishments as that of the +wickedest woman that patients are well treated or skilfully served. In +the majority of them the most horrible suffering and certain death +await the poor creatures who enter them. There are very few exceptions +to this rule. The newspapers are full of the advertisements of the +wretches who conduct these establishments, and there are always an +abundance of applications from unfortunate women. They come here from +all parts of the country. In the best establishments nature is allowed +to take its course. In the others, the ignorant quacks attempt to +hasten the result by artificial means. The end in such cases is death. + + + A JUVENILE ESTABLISHMENT. + +You will see in almost any city paper a number of such advertisements +as this: + +"ADOPTION.--Two beautiful infants, male and female, five and six months +old. Call upon Mrs.----, No. 25 E.----th street." + +The following will show the meaning of such advertisements: + +There is located on 19th street, New York city, a large establishment +devoted to the obtaining and preparing of infants for 'adoption.' This +Temple of the Innocents is presided over by a Madam P----, and combines +with the features common to the establishments elsewhere referred to, +the new and novel feature of a 'nursery' in which the innocents are +kept, nursed, and clothed, after a fashion, until they are 'adopted.' +The babies are housed in a large and airy room, plainly but neatly +furnished, and are attended by a corps of nice-looking nurses. Each +babe has its own cradle, and a rattle or toy or two, and the little +creatures are really well attended to, as it is evidently and directly +the interest of Madam P----to have her stock in trade as healthy- +looking as possible, in order to dispose of them rapidly and to +advantage. Madam P----is a stout brunette, gaily dressed, and has made +a great deal of money by the practice of her peculiar 'profession.' + +She possesses a large wardrobe of baby-dresses, in which the infants +are attired when 'presented,' in order to look as captivating as +possible; and the lady is a thorough 'artist' in her way. She has been +'assaulted' by the papers, and 'interfered with' by the police, but, +nevertheless, the facts are stated as we have found them. + +"Another institution, located near that portion of the metropolis +denominated Yorkville, is of a much more nefarious description. Here +children are left by their unnatural parents to be 'disposed of,' and +'disposed of' they are--not killed outright, but neglected--given to +suspicious characters, to mere strangers, and never heard from or +thought of afterwards. A pensive-seeming, expressively-faced young +woman clad in black, with a shawl thrown over her person, is engaged +occasionally to appear as 'the mother'--'the poor, heart-broken mother' +of the babies. By her appearance and well-feigned tears, she excites +the sympathies of such ladies (few in number) as visit the +establishment in good faith for the purpose of 'adopting' infants, and +her bursts of maternal tenderness and grief when imprinting a 'farewell +kiss, forever' upon the lips and cheeks of her departing darling, +seldom fail to draw an extra fee from the benevolent pocket of the +'adopting' patron." + +Many mothers offer their children for adoption, simply to get rid of +the trouble and expense of supporting them. Others part with them with +tears and heart pangs, in the hope that the little one's future will be +bettered by the change. Various causes are assigned for such acts. + + + AN INCIDENT. + +"A French schoolmistress, a pretty young woman, who taught her native +language to the younger scions of several of our 'first families,' +having been brought to Dr.----'s establishment, expressed her +willingness to allow her child to be adopted, and it was accordingly +placed at the disposal of a fashionable lady and her husband, who +visited the establishment, and were about to bear the child away, when, +suddenly, the poor young mother rushed down stairs, and, seeing her own +flesh and blood, her own baby, clasped in another's arms, and about to +be torn from her heart and her grasp forever, fell at the feet of the +lady of fashion, and plead piteously, passionately, desperately, for +permission to retain her child. In vain the lady of fashion +remonstrated; in vain she argued the matter; in vain she offered the +girl-mother money; in vain, too, were the upbraidings of the astonished +housekeeper and her assistant; nature would have its way, and the +mother would have her child, and the contest of Gold _versus_ God +terminated, as all such struggles should, in the victory of God and +Heart, and the French mother kept her child." + + + A FASHIONABLE "INNOCENT." + +Some strange, almost romantic incidents have occurred in the history of +the 'patients' of the establishment of Dr.----. + +"A lady of the highest fashion, residing in Madison Avenue, accompanied +by her husband, (not like the poor girl, who, seeking a refuge, must +come secretly and alone,) called, one day, in reference to the +receiving within the accommodating shelter of the asylum, her own +sister, who had been 'unfortunate,' as women go. The 'sister'--a fair- +haired brunette, with exquisite eyes--was accordingly admitted, (it +being announced to her circle, the curled darlings of society, that the +young lady would be 'out of town, visiting some of her friends in the +country' for a limited period.) In three months, the young lady +returned to her admirers, and a delicious cherub (given out to nurse) +is at the present writing almost daily visited by a beautiful young +lady, 'who has conceived a great liking for it,' and by an older and +more matronly lady, who speaks of, at some future time, 'adopting' the +little darling (who, _apropos_, bears a strong resemblance to the +younger lady) for her own." + + + FACTS. + +Some years ago, a handsome young woman, of respectable parentage, +sought the shelter of the convenient establishment of Dr.----. The lady +subsequently married a well-to-do farmer, from the West, and in the +full confidence of the marriage state, trusting to the passionate +devotion of her husband, she revealed the secret of her early +misdemeanor to her liege lord, who proved himself well worthy of her +confidence. The wife, who resided in Illinois, came to New York; +visited Mrs.----, (the lady who acted as Dr.----'s agent, and a call +upon whom has already been described,) and begged Mrs.----to restore +the child, who had been separated from her and 'adopted' by other +parties, years before. With this request Mrs.----refused to comply. She +knew the whereabouts of the child well enough, but she also knew that +it was now the _protegé_, the pet, the heir of a wealthy old couple, +who were devotedly attached to it, and whose hearts would be almost +broken by parting with it, while the worldly interests of the child +would also be materially injured by the removal. Above all, the +revealing of the child's _locale_ would be a violation of a +'professional obligation,' and would be initiating a very dangerous +precedent in matters of this kind; and so Mrs.----'s lips were sealed, +and to this day the real mother knows naught of her own child; would +not even be able to recognize her offspring, if they were to meet face +to face in the streets of New York. + +"A rising young politician of this city has recently married a lady, +whose early history resembles that of the mother just mentioned. But +the politician is of a different mould from the Western husband, and +having ascertained the 'little episode' in his wife's history, is now +negotiating with her for a separation. Unlike the mother just alluded +to, however, the politician's wife has recovered her child, and finds +consolation in the fact, even in view of the contemplated separation. + +"A terrible scandal, which was on the verge of becoming the property of +the greedy public of New York, compromising a young Jewess of great +wealth and high social position, has been recently, and let us trust, +finally 'hushed' through the invaluable aid of Dr.----'s establishment. +A horrible revelation of domestic depravity has thus escaped +publication, and a woman who would otherwise have been an outcast from +her circle, and a blot upon the religion of her people, is now, thanks +to skill, secresy, and money, the admired wife of a leading Hebrew +merchant." + + + + + CHAPTER LIII. + + + THE FIRST DIVISION, NEW YORK NATIONAL GUARD. + +The City is very proud of its military organization, and both the +municipal and State governments contribute liberally to its support. +The law organizing the First Division was passed in 1862, when the old +volunteer system was entirely reorganized. Previous to this, the +volunteers had borne their entire expenses, and had controlled their +affairs themselves. By the new law, important changes were introduced. + +The division consists of four brigades, and numbers thirteen thousand +men. This includes a proper force of field artillery and cavalry. The +United States provides the arms and uniforms, which are, when furnished +by the General Government, those prescribed by the army regulations. +The best regiments, however, prefer a handsomer dress, and provide +their own uniforms. The city makes an appropriation of five hundred +dollars per annum for each regiment, for an armory. The cost of +parades, music, etc., is paid by the regiments themselves. Each +regiment has its armory, in which are deposited the arms and valuable +property. An armorer is in charge of the building, and it is his duty +to keep the guns in good order. A reading room and library are attached +to some of these armories, and are used as places of social reunion for +the members of the command. Drills are held at stated times, and a +rigid discipline is maintained. The men are, as a general rule, proud +of their organizations, and enthusiastic in military matters. They are +well drilled, and will compare favorably with any troops in the world, +in both appearance and efficiency. Nearly all saw service during the +late war, and there is not a regiment, we believe, that does not +treasure some smoke-begrimed, bullet-rent flag, as its most precious +possession. Out of the thirteen thousand men comprising the force, nine +thousand were in the field, in active service, at one time during the +war, and the division gave the country three thousand seven hundred and +eighty officers for the struggle. + +These troops are always ready for duty. They are scattered all over the +city, pursuing various useful callings, but at a certain signal, +sounded by the City Hall bell, they will rally at their armories, and +in an hour, there will be thirteen thousand disciplined troops ready to +enforce the laws in any emergency. The past services of the division +prove that it can always be relied upon. + +[Illustration: Old Bowery Theatre.] + + + + + CHAPTER LIV. + + + PLACES OF AMUSEMENT. + +The peculiar character of the population of New York, together with the +immense throng of strangers always in town, makes it possible to +sustain a great many places of amusement in the city. + +THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC, on fourteenth street and Irving Place, comes +first on the list. It is generally occupied by the Italian Opera, but +lately has been used for various purposes. It is one of the largest +public halls in the world, and is handsomely fitted up. + +PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE, on Twenty-third street and Eighth Avenue, rivals +the Academy in the beauty and taste of its internal arrangements. The +entrance is through a magnificent marble building, also the property of +Mr. Pike, which is one of the ornaments of the city. + +BOOTH'S THEATRE, on Twenty-third street and Sixth Avenue, is a handsome +freestone edifice. It is the property of Mr. Edwin Booth, the famous +tragedian. It is devoted exclusively to the legitimate drama, and will +be conducted in a style worthy of the fame of its distinguished +proprietor. + +BROUGHAM'S THEATRE, in the rear of the Fifth Avenue Hotel, was used +during the war for the night sessions of the Gold Board. It is a +handsome little building, elegantly arranged internally, and is +conducted by Mr. John Brougham, the famous comedian and author. + +WALLACE'S, on the corner of Broadway and Twelfth street, is one of the +coziest and best conducted places of amusement in the city. It is the +property of Mr. Lester Wallack, and is devoted to the legitimate drama. +It has the best company in the city, and the two Wallacks are to be +seen here alone. + +THE OLYMPIC was built for Laura Keene, but has now passed into other +hands. It is a well arranged, pleasant hall, and for the last year has +been famous as the headquarters of that eccentric individual called +"Humpty Dumpty." It is in Broadway below Bleecker street. + +NIBLO'S, is in the rear of the Metropolitan Hotel. It is a large +comfortable hall, handsomely fitted up. It is devoted entirely to the +sensational drama. It was here that those splendid spectacles, the +"Black Crook" and the "White Fawn," were produced in such magnificent +style. + +THE BROADWAY, in Broadway below Broome street, is the property of +Barney Williams. The Irish drama is its specialty. It is well +patronized. + +THE OLD BOWERY, in the Bowery below Canal street, is the only old style +theatre in the city. Its audiences come from the east side. The place +occupied in modern theatres by the parquette, is here devoted to an old +fashioned pit, into which the juveniles of the Bowery region are packed +like sheep. One has a fine chance to study humanity in this place. It +is managed well, and is devoted to the sensational drama. + +THE STADT THEATRE, nearly opposite the OLD BOWERY THEATRE, is the +largest in the city. It is the property of Germans, and its +performances are in that language. It is well supported. + +WOOD'S THEATRE, corner of Broadway and Thirtieth street, is a popular +establishment. It is very high up town, but the manager has made it so +attractive that it has drawn excellent houses. It has a museum, the +successor of Barnum's American Museum, attached to it, and is very +popular with the young folks. + +Besides these there are several second and third class theatres, many +negro minstrel halls, concert rooms, and other places of amusement for +all grades and classes. The majority advertise in the daily journals, +and by consulting these monitors, one can always find the means of +passing a pleasant evening in the Great City. + + + + + CHAPTER LV. + + + FORTUNE TELLERS AND CLAIRVOYANTS. + +The city journals frequently contain such advertisements as the +following: + +"A TEST MEDIUM.--THE ORIGINAL MADAME F----tells everything, traces +absent friends, losses, causes speedy marriages, gives lucky numbers. +Ladies fifty cents; gentlemen, one dollar. 464----th Avenue." + +"A FACT--NO IMPOSITION. The Great European Clairvoyant. She consults +you on all affairs of life. Born with a natural gift, she tells past, +present, and future; she brings together those long separated; causes +speedy marriages; shows you a correct likeness of your future husband +or friends in love affairs. She was never known to fail. She tells his +name; also lucky numbers free of charge. She succeeds when all others +fail. Two thousand dollars reward for any one that can equal her in +professional skill. Ladies fifty cents to one dollar. Positively no +gents admitted. No. 40----Avenue." + +It seems strange that, in this boasted age of enlightenment, the +persons who make such announcements as the above, can find any one +simple enough to believe them. Yet, it is a fact, that these persons, +who are generally women, frequently make large sums of money out of the +credulity of their fellow creatures. Every mail brings them letters +from persons in various parts of the country. These letters are +generally answered, and the contents have disgusted more than one +simpleton. The information furnished is such as any casual acquaintance +could give, and just as trustworthy as the reports of the "reliable +gentleman just from the front," used to prove during the late war. The +city custom of these impostors is about equal to that brought to them +from the country by means of their advertisements. Some of them make as +much as one hundred dollars per day, all of which is a clear profit. +The majority earn from three to six dollars per day. Servant girls are +profitable customers. Indeed, but for female credulity the business +would go down. + +Still, there are many male visitors. Speculators, victims of the gaming +table and the lottery, come to ask for advice, which is given at +random. The woman knows but little of her visitors, and has no means of +learning anything about them. Sometimes her statements are found to be +true; but it is by the merest accident. The clairvoyants do not +hesitate to confess to their friends, in a confidential way, of course, +that their pretensions are mere humbuggery, and they laugh at the +credulity of their victims, whilst they encourage it. It seems absurd +to discuss this subject seriously. We can only say to those who shall +read this chapter, that there is not in the city of New York an honest +fortune-teller or clairvoyant. They knowingly deceive persons as to +their powers. It is not given to human beings to read the future-- +certainly not to such wretched specimens as the persons who compose the +class of which we are writing. The only sensible plan is to keep your +money, dear reader. You know more than these impostors can possibly +tell you. + +Many of these fortune-tellers and clairvoyants are simply procuresses. +They draw women into their houses and ply them so with temptations, +that they frequently ruin them. This is the real business of most of +them. They are leagued with the keepers of houses of ill-fame. No woman +is safe who enters their doors. + + + LOVE-CHARMS. + +These parties will also offer for sale "amulets," "charms," or +"recipes," which they say will enable a person to win the love of any +one of the opposite sex, and excite the admiration of friends; or "to +give you an influence over your enemies or rivals, moulding them to +your own will or purpose;" or to "enable you to discover lost, stolen, +or hidden treasure," etc., etc. For each or any of these charms the +modest sum of from three dollars to five dollars is demanded, with +"return postage." All these, as well as "love powders," "love elixirs," +etc., are either worthless articles, or compounds consisting of +dangerous and poisonous chemical substances. Many of the men who deal +in them have grown rich, and the trade still goes on. The world is full +of fools, and these impostors are constantly on the watch for them. + + + + + CHAPTER LVI. + + + THE HARBOR. + +The harbor of New York comprises the Hudson or North River on the west +side of the island, the East River on the east side, and the inner bay +lying between the mouth of the Hudson and the Narrows. Beyond the +Narrows is the lower bay, which is little more than an arm of the sea, +though the anchorage is good and secure. + +The harbor contains the shipping of all civilized nations, and the +flags of some of the barbaric powers are often to be seen at our piers. +The North River piers are devoted to the great ocean steamship lines, +and the steamers to domestic ports, while the East River is occupied by +the old sail-vessels almost entirely. Each river has its peculiar +characteristics, so that in leaving the water on one side of the +island, and passing over to it again on the other side, one might +easily imagine himself in a different port from that he has just left. +The harbor is always full of vessels, and sometimes as many as fifteen +first-class steamships will sail from the bay in a single day, bound +for foreign and domestic ports. This is exclusive of the large number +of river and sound steamboats, and sail-vessels, that arrive and depart +daily. + + + THE HARBOR POLICE. + +The peace and safety of the harbor are watched over by a police force, +whose head-quarters are on a steamer. The force is composed of resolute +and daring men, as the persons they have to deal with are mostly +hardened characters, reckless sailors and the like. There are twenty- +five men in the whole force, under the orders of a Captain and two +Sergeants. They have charge of the two rivers and the upper and lower +bay, and are constantly moving to and fro in their steamer and row- +boats. The headquarters steamer is a gloomy looking black craft, called +the "Metropolitan," which may be seen at all hours of the day and night +moving swiftly around the city. The harbor police render efficient +service during fires in the shipping, and are often called upon to +suppress crime and violence, which are attempted beyond the reach of +the patrolmen on shore. + + + THE RESCUE STATIONS. + +Accidents are common in every large port, but the peculiar construction +of the New York ferry houses renders the number of cases of drowning +doubly great. In order to guard against this, and to afford timely +assistance to persons in danger of drowning, "rescue stations" have +been established along the water front of the city. There is one at +each ferry house, and the others are located at the points where +accidents are most likely to occur. These stations are each provided +with a ladder of sufficient length to reach from the pier to the water +at low tide, with hooks at one end, by means of which it is attached +firmly to the pier; a boat hook fastened to a long pole; a life +preserver or float, and a coil of rope. These are merely deposited in a +conspicuous place. In case of accident any one may use them for the +purpose of rescuing a person in danger of drowning, but at other times +it is punishable by law to interfere with them, or to remove them. The +station is in charge of the policeman attached to the "beat" in which +it is located, and he has the exclusive right in the absence of one of +his superior officers to direct all proceedings. At the same time he is +required to comply strictly with the law regulating such service on his +part, and to render every assistance in his power. The law for the +government of those using the "rescue apparatus" is posted +conspicuously by the side of the implements, as are also concise and +simple directions as to the best method of attempting to resuscitate +drowned persons. These stations have been of the greatest service since +their establishment, and reflect the highest credit on those who +originated and introduced them. + + + + + CHAPTER LVII. + + + QUACK DOCTORS. + +Many years ago a sharp-witted scamp appeared in one of the European +countries, and offered for sale a pill, which he declared to be a sure +protection _against earthquakes_. Absurd as was the assertion, he sold +large quantities of his nostrum, and grew rich on the proceeds. The +credulity which enriched this man, is still a marked characteristic of +the human race, and often strikingly exhibits itself in this country. +The quack doctors, or medical impostors, to whom we shall devote this +chapter, live upon it and do all in their power to encourage it. + +There are quite a number of such men in New York, and they offer to +cure all manner of diseases. Some offer their wares for a small sum, +others charge enormous prices. Frequently one of these men will +personate half a dozen different characters. The newspapers are full of +their advertisements, some of which are really unfit for the columns of +a respectable journal. Besides these, they send thousands of circulars, +through the mails, to persons in various parts of the country, setting +forth the horrors of certain diseases, and offering to cure them for a +fixed sum. The circular contains an elaborate description of the +symptoms or premonitory signs of these diseases. A very large number of +persons, reading these descriptions, really come to the conclusion that +they are affected in the manner stated by the quack. So great is the +power of the imagination in these cases, that sound healthy men are, +sometimes, absolutely led to fancy themselves in need of medical +attention. A short conversation with their regular physicians, would +soon undeceive them, but they foolishly send their money to the author +of the circular in question, and request a quantity of his medicine for +the purpose of trying it. The nostrum is received in due time, and is +accompanied by a second circular, in which the patient is coolly +informed that he must not expect to be cured by one bottle, box, or +package, as the case may be, but that five or six, or sometimes a dozen +will be necessary to complete the cure, especially if the case is as +desperate and stubborn as the letter applying for the medicine seems to +indicate. Many are foolish enough to take the whole half dozen bottles +or packages, and in the end are no better in health than they were at +first. Indeed they are fortunate if they are not seriously injured by +the doses they have taken. They are disheartened in nine cases out of +ten, and are, at length, really in need of good medical advice. They +have paid the quack more money than a good practitioner would demand +for his services, and have only been injured by their folly. + +It may be safely said that no honest and competent physician will +undertake to treat cases by letter. _No one worthy of patronage will +guarantee a cure in any case_, for an educated practitioner understands +that cases are many and frequent where the best human skill may be +exerted in vain. Further than this, a physician of merit will not +advertise himself in the newspapers, except to announce the location of +his office or residence. Such physicians are jealous of their personal +and professional reputations, and are proud of their calling, which is +justly esteemed one of the noblest on earth. They are men of humanity +and learning, and they take, perhaps, more pleasure in relieving +suffering than in making money. If a patient cannot pay for their +services, they give them free in the name of the Great Healer of all +ills. They have no such things as private remedies. They use their +knowledge for the good of mankind, and are prompt to make known their +discoveries, so that all the world may enjoy the benefit, they +themselves being rewarded with the fame of their inventions. + +Not so with the quacks. A few have some medical knowledge, and are even +graduates of regular colleges, but the majority have neither medical +knowledge nor skill. They know their remedies are worthless, and they +offer them only to make money. They know in many cases that their +nostrums will inflict positive injury upon their victims; but they are +careless of the harm they do. They live upon human misery. + +We may safely assure the reader that not one single physician, so +called, who conducts his business by means of advertisements or +circulars, is really competent to treat the cases he professes to cure, +and that no one knows this better than himself. Do not answer any +advertisement you may see in the newspapers. They are worthless. Above +all do not take the medicines sent you by the advertisers. Some of them +are poisonous substances. If you doubt this assertion, take the +compound to any druggist of your acquaintance, and ask him to analyze +it, and tell you what it is worth as a healing agent. If you need +medical advice, go to some physician that you know and have confidence +in. Don't put yourself in the hands of a man you know nothing of, who +would just as soon poison you as heal you, and who pursues his calling, +in most cases, in violation of the laws of the land. Let quack doctors, +or, in other words, advertising doctors, alone_. + + + PATENT MEDICINES. + +As a general rule, the various medicines advertised as "specifics," or +"panaceas," for various ills, are humbugs. They are worthless. Many of +them are made up of harmless drugs, which can do no harm, if, as is +very certain, they do no good; but others are composed of very +dangerous substances. The remedies advertised for "private diseases" +rarely fail to make the patient worse, either by aggravating the +disease itself, or by permanently injuring the constitution. The +"Elixirs of Life," "Life Rejuvenators," "Vital Fluids," etc., are +either dangerous poisons, or worthless draughts. They contain mercury +to a very large extent; and anyone acquainted with the properties of +this substance can easily understand how great is the danger of using +them. The certificates accompanying them, as testimonials of their +merits, are simply forgeries. Some rascally proprietors have not +hesitated to use the names of prominent public men, without either +their knowledge or consent, in this way. Some of these forgeries have +been discovered and exposed, but the majority pass unnoticed. Rest +assured, dear reader, that men of character are very chary of such use +of their names. + +The various bitters which flood the country are only cheap whiskey, or +rum and water, made nauseous with drugs. They have no virtue whatever, +as medicinal agents, and merely injure the tone of the stomach. Their +chief result is to establish the habit of intemperance. They are more +fiery than ordinary liquors, and more destructive in their effects. + +The various medicinal wines which are offered for sale, are decoctions +of elderberry juice and kindred substances, and are more hurtful than +beneficial. + +The "washes," "lotions," "toilet fluids," etc., are generally apt to +produce skin diseases. They contain, in almost every instance, +substances which are either directly or indirectly poisonous to the +skin. + +The "tooth washes," "powders," and "dentrifices," are hurtful. They +crack or wear away the enamel of the teeth, leave the nerve exposed, +and cause the teeth to decay. If you are wise, dear reader, you will +never use a dentrifice, unless you know what it is made of. The +principal constituent of these dentrifices is a powerful acid, and +there are some which contain large quantities of sulphuric acid, one +single application of which will destroy the best teeth in the world. + +The "hair dyes," advertised under so many different names, contain such +poisons as nitrate of silver, oxide of lead, acetate of lead, and +sulphate of copper. These are fatal to the hair, and generally injure +the scalp. + +The "ointments" and "onguents," for promoting the growth of whiskers +and moustaches, are either perfumed and colored lard, or poisonous +compounds, which contain quick lime, or corrosive sublimate, or some +kindred substance. If you have any acquaintance who has ever used this +means of covering his face with a manly down, ask him which came first, +the beard, or a troublesome eruption on the face. + + + RETIRED PHYSICIANS. + +One of the popular "dodges" of the rogues who sell such compounds as we +have been describing, is to insert such an advertisement as the +following in the newspapers of the country. + +"A RETIRED PHYSICIAN, of forty years' practice, discovered, while in +India, a sure remedy for consumption, bronchitis, colds, etc. Having +relinquished his practice, he has no further use for the remedy, and +will send it free on receipt of a three cent stamp to pay return +postage." + +Sometimes the advertisement is that of a "retired clergyman," and +sometimes it is in the following form: + +"A lady who has been cured of great nervous debility, after many years +of misery, desires to make known to all fellow sufferers, the sure +means of relief. Address, enclosing a stamp, Mrs.----, P. O. box--, New +York, and the prescription will be sent free by return mail." + +A single moment's reflection ought to convince any sensible person that +the parties thus advertising are humbugs. It costs a great deal to +advertise, and as the announcements we refer to can be seen in every +paper in the land, it is safe to say that the "retired physician" and +"clergyman," or the "nervous lady," expend each from five to ten +thousand dollars per annum in advertising. The reader will see at a +glance, that, however benevolent such parties may be, they cannot +afford to give away so much money every year. The manner in which the +business is managed is as follows: + +The "retired physician" and "clergyman," and the "nervous lady," are +one and the same individual. The man personating them is an ignorant +knave. He scatters his advertisements broadcast over the land. Letters +come, asking for his valuable recipe. He sends the prescription, and +notifies the party asking for it, that if the articles named in it +cannot be procured by him at any drug store convenient to him, he, the +"retired physician," "clergyman," or "nervous lady," will furnish them, +upon application, at a certain sum, (generally averaging five dollars,) +which he assures him is very cheap, as the drugs are rare and +expensive. The articles named in the prescription are utterly unknown +to any druggist in the world, and the names are the production of the +quack's own brains, and, as a matter of course, the patient is unable +to procure them at home, and sends an order for them with the price, to +the "retired physician," "clergyman," or "nervous lady," and in return +receives a nostrum compounded of drugs, which any apothecary could have +furnished at one half the expense. In this way the "benevolence" of the +quack is very profitable. Men have grown rich in this business, and it +is carried on to an amazing extent in this city. It is done in +violation of the law, and the benevolent individual not unfrequently +falls into the hands of the police, but, as soon as released, he opens +his business under a new name. As long as there are fools and dupes in +the world, so long will the "retired physician" find an extensive +practice. + +Any one who chooses to do so, can verify our statement by a simple +application at the police headquarters of this city. The accomplished +and energetic Superintendent of the Metropolitan force is a stern foe +to swindlers of all kinds, and he can furnish any one who desires it +with more interesting details on this subject than we can possibly +give. One proof of our assertions is the fact that these quack doctors +and patent medicine proprietors rarely use their own names in their +business. They operate under a variety of _aliases_. + + + + + CHAPTER LVIII. + + + THE RACES. + +The old "Fashion Course," on Long Island, which was formerly the scene +of the triumphs of the monarchs of the turf, has of late been eclipsed +by the course at "Jerome Park," in West Chester county. This course is +situated near Fordham, and is the private property of Mr. Leonard W. +Jerome. The grounds are large, and handsomely ornamented, and the race- +course has been prepared with great care and skill. The meetings of the +American Jockey Club are held here. They attract vast crowds. The best +points of view, and the most beautiful parts of the grounds, are +reserved exclusively for the use of the members of the club and their +friends, and the remainder of the enclosure has been thrown open to the +public. Mr. Jerome's liberality is appreciated by the outside throng, +and the races are not marred with any act of rowdyism or lawlessness. + +The races are the occasion of a great deal of money changing hands. +Bets are freely offered and taken on the various horses, and the +struggle of the noble beasts is watched by thousands of anxious eyes. +The greatest excitement prevails amongst the _elite_ in the private +stands, as well as throughout the common herd below. Every eye is +strained to watch the swift coursers as they whirl down the track, and +when the quarter-stretch is gained, the excitement is beyond all +control. The victor steed flashes with lightning speed by the judges' +stand amidst a storm of cheers and yells of delight. Bayonet, Bonnie +Lass, and Stonewall Jackson, are the favorites, and the winning horses +during the present season. + +The course is still new, but the system which it has inaugurated is +becoming more thorough every year. The management is in the hands of +gentlemen of character, who are seeking to make at least one place in +the country where the blackguards and reckless gamblers who disgrace +the American turf shall be powerless to control affairs. The benefits +of this management will be very great. The stock of the State will be +vastly improved, and the metropolis, especially, will be able to boast +some of the finest blooded racers in the world. + +During the meetings, the road from the city to the course, which lies +through the Central Park, presents a scene richly worth witnessing. It +is thronged with brilliant equipages, and some of the finest and most +dashing horses to be seen in America. All classes are represented. You +will see Commodore Vanderbilt, with his fine buggy and splendid +trotters, while, behind him, follows hard a butcher's cart and its +merry occupants, the fiery little cob throwing the dirt in the eyes of +many a Fifth Avenue team. The greatest good humor is manifested on all +sides, and all press forward eagerly to witness the sport in store for +them at "Jerome Park." + + + + + CHAPTER LIX. + + + MATRIMONIAL ADVERTISEMENTS. + +In almost any New York journal you will find such advertisements as the +following: + +"An honorable gentleman, established in business, desires for a wife a +lady of means and respectability. Address M. J. P., Station D, New +York." + +"A gentleman of the highest respectability, who has lately come into +possession of a large fortune, desires to make the acquaintance of a +lady with a view to matrimony. Must be handsome, accomplished, amiable, +healthy, and pious, and not over twenty-five. Address Husband, Herald +office." + +It is probable that some of the parties thus advertising may be in +earnest, but it is very certain that matrimony is the last intention of +the majority of them. There are not many persons who will care to marry +a woman won through the columns of a newspaper. Such simpletons would +deserve whatever trouble or shame such an alliance would bring about. + +Many young men and women insert these advertisements for the sake of +"having a little sport," though, as we shall show, the sport thus +produced is of a very dangerous character. + + + A DANGEROUS PLEASURE. + +A young man, not long since, advertised for a wife through the columns +of a city paper, merely designing the affair as a piece of sport. His +communication was answered by a woman, whose handwriting was that of an +educated person. Several letters passed between the parties, and the +young man, wishing to see his unknown correspondent, asked an interview +with her. She demanded to know if he really meant to marry her. She +would not see him without a positive answer on this point. She enclosed +him her photograph. The picture was that of a young and beautiful +woman, and of course inflamed the young man's desire to see the +original. It would have been well for him if he had dropped the +correspondence at once, but he foolishly allowed himself to be led on +farther, and wrote to the woman, declaring that he was serious in his +intentions, and would marry her if she would have him. He consoled +himself with the thought that he had signed a fictitious name to the +letter. The next day he received a communication from the woman, asking +him to call upon her at her residence, which was given. He did so. He +found that her picture had not deceived him--that she was both young +and beautiful. + +She received him graciously, and in the course of the conversation +asked him if the letters she held in her hand, were his. He glanced at +them, and assured her that they were. After a short interview, he took +his departure, promising to visit her the next day. Judge his surprise +when she saluted him, upon his return, by his proper name. In great +confusion, he denied his name, but she quietly told him that he had +been followed from her house by friends of hers on the previous night. +She had taken good care to establish his identity. Besides that, she +had had two witnesses concealed behind the heavy window curtains during +the previous day, who had overheard his acknowledgment of his written +offer of marriage. She told him frankly that she had no wish to marry +him, and would surrender to him his letters, and leave him in peace, if +he would pay her five thousand dollars. If he refused, she would bring +suit against him for ten thousand dollars damages for a breach of +promise. He refused her demand, and left the house. He went immediately +to a lawyer and laid his case before him. The lawyer consented to see +the woman, and report the result of his interview. He did so, and the +result was that, finding the woman to be one with whom no man's name +ought to be associated in such a matter, and seeing that her case was +so strong, he advised his client to comply with her demand, and receive +back his letters. This advice was taken, and the young man, who was, +fortunately for him, quite wealthy, and able to pay the money, secured +his letters and lost his money. He has not advertised for a wife since +then. + +Men, however, are not often caught in this way. The victims are chiefly +young girls, who think it a fine thing to answer an advertisement. One +of these foolish girls, living in a neighboring State, once answered an +advertisement for a wife, thinking it would be fine fun to carry on +such a correspondence. She received and replied to several letters, but +as she signed her true name to none of her own, considered herself +safe. She was surprised one day by being summoned into the parlor by +her father. She there found a villainous looking fellow, who announced +himself as her correspondent. He had come from New York with his last +letter, and had watched the post-office, until he heard the young girl +call for it, and had followed her home. He had all her letters with +him, and demanded five hundred dollars as the price of them, +threatening, in case he was refused, to make the matter public in the +town. The girl was overwhelmed with shame and confusion at her folly, +and her father was very angry with her. He threatened to have the man +arrested for endeavoring to extort money in such a manner, but the +fellow reminded him that such a course would only make the scandal +greater. There was no help for it. The girl had been foolish, but had +done nothing to merit the scandal which would ensue if the matter were +made public, so the father bought back the letters at the scoundrel's +price, and the affair was hushed up. The girl was cured of her folly, +and will never again commit so thoughtless and foolish a blunder. + +By far the greatest number of advertisements of this kind are inserted +by persons who wish to levy black mail upon those who are foolish +enough to reply to them. Persons unaccustomed to these wretches cannot +imagine how patiently and persistently they will work to discover the +names of their correspondents. Distance is no obstacle to them, for +they can follow a letter anywhere. The best plan is not to notice +matrimonial advertisements at all. + + + MATRIMONIAL BROKERS. + +There are several women in the city who advertise to introduce +strangers into the best society, and to procure wives and husbands from +the same element for their customers. As a general rule, these women +are simply procuresses. If, however, a man desiring to marry a woman in +this city, seeks their aid, they will always find some means of +assisting him. The charge for their services is either a percentage on +the lady's fortune, or a certain specified sum. The woman, or broker, +will devise some means of making the acquaintance of the lady against +whom her arts are to be directed, and will proceed cautiously, step by +step, until she has caused her victim to meet the man for whom she is +working. The arts used vary according to circumstances, but they rarely +fail of success. Men who wish to accomplish the ruin of some innocent +girl, also seek the aid of these brokers, and frequently, through their +assistance, effect their purpose. If it is necessary, the victim, after +being allured to the broker's house, is drugged. These women are the +vampires of society. It is very difficult for the authorities to make a +case against them, and they generally go unpunished. + + + + + CHAPTER LX. + + + PERSONALS. + +The first column of the _Herald_, and a prominent column of nearly all +the city papers, bears the above heading. The advertisements in these +columns are curiosities in their way. The most confidential +communications are inserted here without fear of detection. Where +meetings are desirable, and letters would be read by parties interested +in preventing such meetings, these personals accomplish the object +quickly and without danger. The vilest and most infamous transactions +are thus arranged. Roués make appointments with their victims, thieves +announce to each other some plan of action for a daring robbery, and +false wives notify their lovers of the time and place of a future +meeting. All classes use the personal column for all purposes. Some of +the advertisements are utterly unintelligible to any but those for whom +they are intended. Others are easily deciphered. + + + "SERVED HIM RIGHT." + +The following, which we clip from a city paper, will explain one use to +which the personal column is put. We need hardly say that all such +affairs do not end so harmlessly: + +A few months ago, the following personal advertisement appeared in one +of our morning papers: + +'SWEET FACE AT THE WINDOW.--Will the beautiful young lady who smiles +nearly every morning upon the gent who rides past her house on the +Eighth Avenue cars, have the kindness to address a note to "Admirer," +Station "E," stating when and how an interview may be had?' + +Chancing to know the smitten youth, who inserted this amorous +'personal,' we resolved to see what came of it. He was what is +generally termed a quiet man, and the last person in the world to +engage in a flirtation. It seemed even strange that he should venture +to such an extreme in order to make the acquaintance of any lady, and +that he must have been desperately in love with that 'sweet face at the +window' was the only conclusion that we could arrive at. + +The next day he received nine different letters in answer to this +advertisement, showing beyond a doubt that there was more than one +'sweet face at the window' that smiled on some fortunate passenger or +other, every morning, and who undoubtedly imagined that her face was +the one alluded to by this advertiser. + +Our friend was in a quandary. Some natures would have embraced them +all, but his heart only sought the one 'sweet face' that had haunted +him so long, and in his perplexity he sought our counsel. It was +finally arranged that he should answer the entire lot, and appoint a +meeting with each at a well-known restaurant, where, unknown to all +save the one he sought, he could not only have an opportunity of +viewing the other 'sweet faces,' but see and recognize the one he +sought for without disturbing the expectations of the others. + +The evening came, and our friend entered the saloon and took a position +at a table where he could observe all who entered. As the hour +approached, quite a number of ladies came in, and took seats at various +tables. They each bore on their 'sweet faces' looks of expectancy, and +after taking a good observation of each gentleman present, they placed +themselves in such positions as to be able to see whoever entered after +them. There might have been a question about the peculiar 'sweetness' +of all of them, but there could be none relative to their matrimonial +desires. They all, or a majority of them, had passed that bewitching +period when woman's charms are the most enticing, and seemed anxious +not to pass into the sere and yellow leaf without some one on whom they +could lean for support. + +Finally his eye fell upon the object of his search. He left the table +and his refreshments, and approached her as she came toward him. The +meeting was as cordial as might have been expected, and even more so. +He led her back to the table he had just left, and, ordering more +refreshments, he fell to talking in the most cordial manner, while the +other 'waiting ones' looked on in wonderment. To a few of them the +truth was plain, but a majority still lingered in hopes of being made +as happy as the other young lady now appeared to be. But our friend +soon sought the open air with his fair companion, leaving the others to +whatever fate might be in store for them. + +She was really a fine looking woman, and those qualities, taken in +connection with a good education and a quaint brilliancy of +conversation, would have made her really attractive to any man of +taste, and, on this occasion, completely carried our poor friend's +heart by storm. The hours glided by, like the silvery chime of bells, +and before ten o'clock, the hour mentioned as the one bordering her +furthest stay, she had completely won our bachelor friend, and counted +him among her jewels new. + +So sincere and true is he that he is too apt to look for the same +qualities in others, and, in this instance, he bared his whole heart +and confessed his love. But she had such a delightful way of laughing +off a serious proposition, and of disserting that the lover was only +trying to make himself agreeable, (which, under such circumstances, was +perfect justifiable, she thought,) and that he would probably forget +her when out of sight, and in the presence of a handsomer face; that, +to say nothing of their short acquaintance, it could not be that he +really meant anything of the kind, so that by the time he had arrived +at the location of where they were to part, she had completely dazed +the poor lover, and leaving him with a kind good-night, he stood +riveted to the spot, gazing after her as one gazes on the track of a +meteor. + +No sleep for him that night. The next morning, as he rode down to +business, that 'sweet face at the window' greeted him, more radiant +than ever, but at the same time more puzzling; for mingling with the +ripple of her smile, there was something that looked like triumph on +her face. At all events, from the first hour of their meeting a capital +flirtation was kept up on her part, although her victim was in +downright earnest, and deeply in love. + +With all the ardor of Romeo, he sought to win her love; to turn her +from the lightness and frivolity of coquetting, to the more womanly +aspirations of home and marriage, and to penetrate the veil of mystery +and doubt in which she seemed enfolded, and into which she plunged +herself the more closely if followed. But all to no purpose. Weeks and +months passed away, and she seemed to be enjoying her new sensation +hugely. Drives through the park, excursions to the suburbs, balls, +operas, theatres, all, all in the same mode, and all seemingly looked +upon as the adjuncts of a splendid flirtation. + +At last he awoke from the spell she had cast so bewitchingly around +him, and openly accused her of trifling with his affections, and of +caring nothing whatever for him beyond the part he acted as beau and +cavalier, which part he had become tired of acting. To this she plead +not guilty in such eloquent terms, bringing to her aid a woman's most +powerful auxiliaries, her tears, that the poor dupe repented of his +accusations, and was ready to fall upon his knees and crave her pardon. + +She loved him, she said, but why should either of them rush madly and +blindly into matrimony, without considering or knowing each other? How +could either of them be sure that their present love would continue +beyond a honeymoon? In this way she paved the road for another six +months' flirtation, during the continuation of which she managed to +conceal her identity as effectively as ever. + +But there came a time when the mask fell, and the veil was rent in +twain. A gentleman waited upon him one evening, an entire stranger, +having in his hand a small box, which he placed upon the table, and +accepted a seat with coldness and importance. He was, he said, and +perhaps unfortunately, the husband of the young woman to whom our +friend had been paying his attentions for quite a time, and, as he had +been convinced that he was acting innocently and in the dark, he had +come to make an explanation. + +The poor fellow attempted to speak, but some emotion choked his +utterance; and he reseated himself in the chair from which he had +arisen. The man went on to state that he had become acquainted with his +wife in a similar way to the one which had brought them together; that +he had married her, and had been compelled to witness the continuation +of her flirtations, and acknowledged that our friend was not the only +one with whom she was maintaining such relations even then. He then +coolly opened the box and handed him back the various presents he had +bestowed upon his wife, after which he retired as politely as possible. + +"The lover was cured. He patronizes another line of horse cars, and to +this day never allows himself to be led into another flirtation, +however attractive may be a 'sweet face at the window.'" + + + + + CHAPTER LXI. + + + SOLDIER MINSTRELS. + +You may see at certain points on Broadway, maimed and battered +veterans, sitting through the whole day grinding a hand-organ for a +living. These men have heard sterner music than that by which they earn +their scanty subsistence, and have participated in a nobler struggle +for life. + + + THE STORY OF A PATRIOT. + +In the spring of 1861, there went through the States of the Union a cry +that had never been heard in them before. It was the thrilling appeal +of the Union for aid against its foes. How it was answered, how +thousands of warriors started forth at the call, all men know. + +Among those who responded to this call, was a young man just entering +upon the great drama of life. He had worked hard during his boyhood, +and was at this time one of the most promising and skilful mechanics in +one of our eastern cities. It was a great sacrifice for him to abandon +all the bright prospects before him; but the love of country was warm +in his breast, and he made the sacrifice cheerfully. + +John Williams saw his first active service in the numerous outpost and +picket encounters, which marked the autumn and winter of 1861, while +the army under General McClellan was organizing on the banks of the +Potomac. There he distinguished himself by his firmness and vigilance, +as well as by his unfaltering courage. + +[Illustration: The Soldier Minstrel.] + +When the campaign of the Peninsula began, he was with the advance of +the army, and participated in the great reconnoisance of the 5th and +6th of April, 1862. At Williamsburg he was wounded in the arm, and did +not return to the army until the great battles of 'the seven days' had +commenced. He bore himself bravely through the whole of this trying +time, and came out of the fights unhurt. + +During the retreat through White Oak Swamp, it was necessary to destroy +a small foot-bridge over a little watercourse. The enemy were pressing +on behind, and the task of demolishing the bridge was one of great +danger. General Sumner, seeing the condition of affairs, called for one +volunteer to cut away the log that still supported the structure. John +Williams sprang forward, and, seizing the axe which was held out to +him, dashed towards the bridge. In another instant his heavy blows were +falling on the log, sending its chips right and left. He had scarcely +begun when the enemy's skirmishers appeared on the other side of the +stream. Seeing him thus engaged, they opened a rapid fire upon him. The +balls flew all around him, two went through his hat, and his comrades +looked every moment for his death. But he did not shrink from his post. +He only brought the axe down heavier and faster upon the log. A minute +of painful suspense to his friends went by, and then the bridge fell, +with a crash, into the stream. Waving his cap triumphantly, the brave +fellow rejoined his company. For this gallant deed Private Williams +was, at General Sumner's special request, made a corporal. + +From Harrison's Landing he went with the army to the Potomac again, and +followed McClellan to South Mountain and Antietam. Here his conduct +again drew upon him the notice of his officers; and when the army lay +at Harper's Ferry, preparatory to its advance into Virginia, he +received his sergeant's warrant, and a flattering note from General +Sumner, who, although wounded himself, had not forgotten him. + +He was at Fredericksburg, and there lost his left arm. It was a severe +trial to him, for in the trade to which he had been trained, and to +which he hoped to return at the close of the war, both arms were +necessary. Nevertheless, he bore up against everything, and submitted +to his long and painful suffering as only a brave man can. When the +wound was healed, he went back to his command. He had no idea of +claiming his discharge for the loss of only one arm. He said, +cheerfully, he would only leave the service when the other arm, or a +leg, went from him. + +He was well enough to participate in the battle of Chancellorsville, +but not sufficiently restored to health to meet the fate which there +befell him, for, toward the close of the second day's engagement, he +was taken prisoner. A few days later he was marched to Richmond, and +there became an inmate of the famous 'Libby prison.' A dreary attack of +sickness followed his arrival there, and lasted several months. + +Hospital life, even among one's own friends, is not pleasant. To a +prisoner, among his enemies, even though they be kind and humane, it is +horrible. He is constantly haunted by the fear that he will die there, +and that his fate will never be known to his friends at home. So, in +spite of the bravery of Sergeant Williams, this feeling constantly +preyed upon him and retarded his recovery. + +The weeks and months went by slowly, and at last the long imprisonment +came to an end. The sick man was sent back to the North, among a number +of others, who were exchanged under a special arrangement. A furlough +was granted him to go home and recruit his health. He was so weak and +thin when he went back to his old home, that his friends scarcely knew +him. But his native air, and the cheerful home scenes, soon brought him +up again, and when he returned to his regiment, he was as well and as +hearty as ever. He reached the army just after Grant had taken command +of it, and was reorganizing it for the last grand campaign against +Richmond. + +He began the march with a light heart and happy anticipations. They +were cut short at Cold Harbor, where he lost his right leg. His days of +service were now over, and he went into the hospital to await his +recovery, when he would have to go back to the world unfitted for +almost any avocation. Still he consoled himself with the hope that the +people for whom he had fought and suffered, would not let him lack for +some means of employment. + +When he was able to leave the hospital, the war had been decided, and +the great struggle was over. He received his honorable discharge from +the government, and transportation to the city where he had enlisted. +After a brief rest, he set about looking for employment. + +It was a harder task than he had anticipated. No one had anything for +him to do, 'Times were so dull,' 'there was so little to do,' that no +one could think of employing him. In vain he urged his services to the +country and for them. They were very sorry for him. They would help him +if they could; but really it was impossible. + +Every day his small stock of money grew smaller, and with it his hopes +grew fainter. At last he disappeared from the notice of his friends, to +re-appear again in a short time under different circumstances. + +One day his friends were attracted by the sight of a crowd collected +around a cracked and ricketty hand-organ. Approaching it they found +that the organ-grinder was no less a person than Sergeant Williams. He +was clad in his suit of faded blue, with his sergeant's chevrons and +all. He was grinding away at his old hand-organ as the last means left +him for support. Every day he may be seen along the principal streets +of the city, patiently and sadly earning his pittance in this way--a +mode so very repugnant to one's manhood. + +This is the end and reward of his services and sufferings. In a land so +prosperous, so favored as our own, a soldier of the Union, in his garb +of honor, who has given for his country everything but his life, is +forced to resort to an avocation formerly considered only fit for +vagrants. It is no discredit to him, for he bears himself there as +proudly as he did when following the old flag; but there is a bitter, +burning sense of wrong in his heart. Perhaps you may know, dear reader, +who is responsible for it. + + + + + CHAPTER LXII. + + + THE ABATTOIRS. + +Formerly the city was much injured and rendered unhealthy, by the +practice of killing animals for market in the crowded sections. In the +summer these slaughtering establishments were perfect pesthouses. Now +the slaughtering is done almost entirely at the abattoirs, or slaughter +houses, at Communipaw, New Jersey. The buildings used for this purpose +are large, and are fitted up with every convenience. The cost of +killing is slight, and the butchers are well repaid by having their +meat sent to them in excellent condition. The abattoirs are situated on +the shore of the bay, where the pure sea breezes keep them fresh and +healthful, and the refuse matter and filth are thrown into the water +and carried off by the tide. + +The mode of slaughtering is by machinery, as far as possible, and is a +great improvement on the old method. Any one who has witnessed the +slaughtering of animals in our small butcher shops could not fail +noticing that more brutality was used upon the creatures than was +necessary to secure death. According to methods which were formerly +general in their application, and now are by no means exceptions to the +practice, beeves were killed with heavy hammers, the butcher pegging +away upon their heads until insensibility ensued; and sheep and hogs +were either pounded to death or see-sawed across the throat until their +heads were nearly severed from their bodies. When the bodies were +shipped for market, much, difficulty was found in effecting a ready +sale, on account of their bruised and bloodless appearance. The system +by which the work is performed at the abattoirs is as humane and +painless to the animal as the taking of life can be; and as a large +portion of the business is done by machinery, the bodies are not +subject to contusions, and, consequently, present a fresh, healthy +appearance after death. To show the superiority of the new system over +the old method of slaughtering was the object of our former +illustrations. Upon recent observation, we found that where the average +weekly number of cattle killed, dressed, and shipped was about fifteen +hundred, that of hogs was nearly ten times as great, and we now give a +faithful representation of this portion of the work. + +"The apartment in which hogs are slaughtered is upon the second floor +of the building, and our first scene is that of the pen into which the +animals are driven from their quarters. A chain clasp, patented by Mr. +P.W. Dalton, who superintends this department, is fastened to one of +the hind legs, and this being attached to a rope connected with a huge +wheel, the hog is raised from the floor and swung to a stand, where a +ring of the clasp is caught on a large hook descending from the axle of +a sheave or wheel, which runs along a railway, and the hog is pushed +through a small passage-way into a second pen. + +"By the time it has reached this place, its excitement has subsided, +and it hangs in a comparatively quiet manner. The butcher watches a +fitting opportunity, and cuts the hog's throat with a sharp knife, and +swings it further along on the railway. + +"As soon as each sheave is used the hogs are lowered into the scalding- +tub, which is about fourteen feet long, four feet wide, and three and a +half feet deep. They are allowed to remain in boiling water one minute, +and are then turned out upon the scraping-bench by an instrument +extending across the tub, and furnished with several long teeth. At +this bench are about fourteen men, each of whom has something to do on +every hog that is sent down. The first two on each side, technically +known as scuddlers, scrape the bristles from the head and shoulders; +the next four shave, with long knives, the remainder of the body, and +roll it to the end of the bench, where a final scraping takes place; a +gambrel is inserted in the hind legs, and the hog is forwarded on a +sheave to the dressers' table. + +"For this work there are several men, each one having a special portion +assigned to him. As soon as the entrails have been removed, and the +body properly cleansed, it is removed to the drying apartment, where it +remains suspended on parallel 'runs' until the following day, when it +is weighed, and then delivered to the wagons from windows, by means of +shoots. The entrails, and other portions removed from the bodies, are +taken to another part of the building, where a most extensive and +complete lard manufactory is in constant operation. + +"Here are eight monster iron caldrons, into which the raw material is +thrown; a powerful current of steam is introduced from beneath, and the +fat is rapidly reduced to a liquid state. It is then run off into +smaller vats, where it remains to settle and cool sufficiently to be +packed for shipping. During the busy season one hundred and twenty +tierces of pure lard and forty tierces of soap grease are drawn off +daily. The sediment at the bottom of the vats is removed, and assists +in filling up the Hackensack river. + +"With all the hurry and confusion incident to the immense amount of +work done, it is remarkable how the building can be kept in so +inoffensive a condition, and all the labor performed in such a quiet +and orderly manner. The most scrupulous cleanliness is observed in +every department, and the ventilation is perfect." + + + + + CHAPTER LXIII. + + + THE MORGUE. + +There is located on the East river side of the great city, an +establishment which has been but lately introduced. It is the Morgue, +or Dead House, and is modelled after the famous place of the same name +in Paris. Bodies found in the streets, or in the harbor, are brought +here and left a certain time for identification. Each article of +clothing found upon them, or any trinket, or other property, which +might lead to the discovery of the name and friends of the dead, is +carefully preserved. Bodies properly identified are surrendered to the +friends of the deceased. Those unclaimed are interred at the expense of +the city, and their effects are preserved a much longer time for +purposes of identification. + +It is a gloomy looking building, this Morgue, and it is rarely empty. +In a dark, cheerless room, with a stone floor, there are rows of marble +slabs supported by iron frames. Over each one of these is a water jet. +Stretched on these cold beds, are lifeless forms, entirely covered with +a sheet except as to their faces, which stare blankly at the dark +ceiling. A constant stream of fresh water falls on the lifeless +breasts, and trickles over the senseless forms, warding off decay to +the latest moment, in the vain hope that some one to whom the dead man +or woman was dear in life may come and claim the body. It is a vain +hope, for but a few bodies are claimed. Nearly all go to the potter's +field, where they sleep well in their nameless graves. + +The dark waters of the rivers and bay send many an inmate to this +gloomy room. The harbor police, making their early morning rounds, find +some dark object floating in the waters. It is scarcely light enough to +distinguish it, but the men know well what it is. They are accustomed +to such things. They grapple it and tow it in silent horror past the +long lines of shipping, and pause only when the Morgue looms up coldly +before them in the uncertain light of the breaking day. The still form +is lifted out of the water, and carried swiftly into the gloomy +building. It is laid on the marble slab, stripped, covered with a +sheet, the water is turned on, and the room is deserted and silent +again. Shall we tell you the story, reader, of this unfortunate man. + +Step back with us, and look at the face lying so cold and white under +the trickling water. It is that of a young man; there is a deep gash in +the forehead, and the sheet over the breast is stained with blood. + +Only two days ago this young man, in high health, and full of life and +spirits, left his home in a neighboring State for a visit to the great +city. A mother's blessing and a sister's kiss hallowed his departure, +and even his faithful dog seemed loth to part from him. He laughed at +the fears of his dear ones, and gayly promised a speedy and safe +return. [Footnote: The reader will find this story told with inimitable +fidelity in our illuminated title page, the scenes embodied in that +engraving explain themselves, and convey no uncertain warning.] He +reached the city, and his business was soon transacted. He had heard +much in his country home of the dangers to which unsophisticated +strangers were apt to fall in the Metropolis, but he had laughed at the +idea of his being so silly as to allow himself to be treated so. He +would take just one glance at the shady side of city life, to satisfy +his curiosity, and have something to talk about at home, and would then +start on his return. He would merely be a looker on. + +A gaudy transparency in front of a cellar caught his eye, and invited +him to come and enjoy the hospitalities of Madame X----'s Varieties. An +inward voice bade him shun the place, but as he was only going for +curiosity, he silenced the faithful monitor, and boldly entered. He +would not have liked to have any friend see him there, and he entered +the hall timidly. Not knowing what else to do, he seated himself at a +neighboring table. The room was full of girls, whose very appearance +made him blush for shame, and with men who eyed him with no friendly +looks. In a moment, two girls came and seated themselves beside him, +and bade him "be sociable." Not wishing to appear "verdant," the young +man, whose rusticity was evident to every one in the room, threw off +his timidity, and boldly ordered liquor. He drank deeply, to keep up +his courage, and, determining to "have his fun out," commenced a lively +conversation with the girls. A man and a woman soon sought the same +table, and the party became the very merriest in the room. The young +man, who had come only through curiosity, was determined to enjoy +himself. At a late hour, he left the hall, with just enough of reason +remaining to know what he was doing. As he reached the street he was +joined by two men, who had followed him from the saloon. Accosting him, +they told him they were glad he had left the hall. + +"Why?" he asked in surprise. + +"Because," he answered, "those girls you were with had laid a plan to +make you drunk, and rob you. They know you are a stranger in the city, +and they are after your money." + +The young man's liquor had robbed him of his discretion, and he +answered, thickly, that he had over two hundred dollars with him, that +he had collected that day. A look of intelligence passed between the +two men. One of them asked the young man if he would not go into a +neighboring barroom and drink with them. He muttered something about +wanting to go to his hotel, but they assured him that, after a friendly +drink, they would take him there. He went with them. Glasses were +filled and drained, and the young man was in high spirits with his new +friends. If the bar-keeper suspected anything, he held his peace. + +The three men then left the "Gin palace" together, and the young man, +relying upon their promise to conduct him to his hotel, went with them +without suspicion. They led him down dark, crooked streets, assuring +him that he was almost at his lodgings. The air grew fresher and +fresher, and at last the low ripple of the waves was heard as they +dashed in upon the shore. A momentary ray of prudence flashed through +the drunken helplessness of the doomed man, and, alarmed by the +strangeness of the scene and the sight of the river, he stopped short, +and declared he would go no further. + +His prudence came too late. In an instant, he was felled to the ground +by a heavy blow from one of his companions. At the same moment, they +were joined by two other men, who came up so suddenly that they almost +seemed to spring out of the darkness. A handkerchief was tied tightly +over the victim's mouth, and, catching him up in their arms, the four +men bore him rapidly out to the end of one of the most deserted piers. +The sense of his danger roused the poor fellow from his drunken stupor, +and almost sobered him. He struggled violently to free himself from his +assassins, but they held him down with grips of iron. A heavy blow on +the forehead from a "billy," rendered him senseless, and a well-aimed +knife-thrust sent him into eternity. The murderers, accustomed to such +work, quickly rifled his pockets of money, watch, and other valuables. +Then there was a heavy splash in the dark water, and the secret was +confided to the keeping of the silent stars. + +The harbor police found the body, as we have described, and conveyed it +to the Morgue. + +Weary with waiting and watching, the friends of the young man will come +hurriedly to the city, and the police authorities, who know well where +to look for such missing ones, will take them to the Morgue, where +their lost darling lies waiting for them. + +Young man, if curiosity tempts you to seek to penetrate the secrets of +the great city, remember that you may learn them only to your cost. + + + + + CHAPTER LXIV. + + + THE OLDEST MAN IN NEW YORK. + +Strangers visiting the Church of the Ascension, in New York, cannot +fail to notice the presence of an old gentleman, who occupies an arm- +chair immediately in front of the chancel, in the middle aisle, and who +gives the responses to the service in a very loud and distinct manner. +This is, perhaps, the oldest man of the entire million of New York city +inhabitants. It is Captain Lahrbush, formerly of the British army, but +for the last twenty years a New York resident. He was born in London, +on the 9th of March, 1765. It is not extravagant to say, that his life +has been more remarkable, embracing more various and extraordinary +experiences, than that of any one now living, in any quarter of the +globe. He entered the military service of Great Britain, October 17, +1789, and fought, under the Duke of York, with the Sixtieth Rifles, in +Holland, in the campaign of 1793. Five years later, he was present when +Humbert surrendered to Lord Cornwallis, at Pallinauck, in Ireland. In +1801, he was with Lord Nelson at the taking of Copenhagen. In 1806-7, +he was an attaché of the suite of Lord Castlereagh, at Vienna; and on +the 22d of June, of the latter year, he witnessed the memorable +interview between Napoleon and Alexander, at Tilsit. During the next +two years, he was with the Duke of Wellington, in the Spanish +peninsula, and was knighted at Talavera, having received promotion for +distinguished gallantry at Busaco. In the year 1811, he was sent to the +Cape of Good Hope, and bore a prominent part in the Caffre war of 1813. +When Napoleon was imprisoned at St. Helena, Captain Lahrbush was +charged with his personal custody, as commander of the guard, a +delicate and responsible duty, which he performed for the greater part +of 1816-17. The following year, wearying of the military profession, he +sold his commission in the Sixtieth Rifles, and retired to private +life, but subsequently went to Australia, in the capacity of +superintendent of a convict station at Cathure; and in 1837, at the age +of seventy-one, removed to Tahiti. From this point he made many +voyages, to the East Indies, to China, and to different parts of South +America. In 1842, in consequence of having taken sides with the +Protestant missionaries against the Roman Catholic propaganda, he was +forcibly removed from Tahiti to France, and took occasion of this +removal to travel on the continent. In 1847, when eighty-one years of +age, he undertook the management of Lord Howard de Welden's estate, in +the Island of Jamaica; and, in 1848, came with his widowed daughter and +grandson to New York. Both mother and child died soon after their +arrival, leaving him, at his advanced age, lonely indeed. But the old +man has lived on, to the present moment, in the enjoyment of +unimpaired, and a truly wonderful degree of bodily health. In 1867, he +celebrated his one hundred and first birthday, at a breakfast in the +house of an eminent gentleman of New York, where many officers and +citizens were invited to meet him. His appearance is that of a hale +man, and, as seen in church, he looks the junior of many others in the +congregation. The most surprising fact connected with the old +gentleman's prolonged life, is, that for many years he was in the habit +of taking seventy-five grains of opium--and, on one occasion, he took +one hundred and fifty grains in a dose. Though he has long abandoned +the use of the drug, he feels certain he could drink half a pint of +laudanum with impunity. Captain Lahrbush is said to retain, with +surprising freshness, the scenes and events of some of the grandest and +most imposing of modern history of which he has been the eye-witness. +He speaks of Blucher as having been very good company, but a heavy +drinker, who swore terribly at Napoleon. Louisa, the Queen of Prussia, +he thought the handsomest woman of her time, and Alexander, of Russia, +the most elegant-looking man in Europe. As for Napoleon, whose face he +had an abundant opportunity to study, he declares that no likeness that +was ever taken of him, conveys the proper idea of his features and +their expression. The closest resemblance, he says, is that of the +coins of the empire, especially the profile upon the five franc pieces. + + + + + CHAPTER LXV. + + + DIVORCE LAWYERS. + +In any issue of certain city newspapers, you will see such +advertisements as the following: + +"Absolute divorces legally obtained, in New York, and States where +desertion, drunkenness, etc., etc., are sufficient cause. No publicity; +no charge until divorce obtained; advice free. M----B----, attorney, +56----street." + +The persons so advertising are called divorce lawyers. They make a +specialty of putting asunder "those whom God hath joined together." + +The laws of New York specify but one ground for a complete divorce, +adultery; but in spite of this these lawyers encourage persons to apply +for a sundering of their matrimonial bonds. + +A man or woman, wishing to get rid of his or her partner, applies to +one of these lawyers, and a bargain is drawn up, signed and sealed, +pledging the payment of a good round fee in case a divorce is obtained. +The first step on the part of the lawyer is to obtain a thorough +knowledge of the habits and movements of the person against whom the +proceedings are directed. Private detectives, who also make a specialty +of this kind of business, are set to watch the wife or husband. Every +movement is observed, and every act tortured into meaning something +unlawful. Sometimes a trap is laid in which the person is led and +caught. Or, if evidence of a truthful nature cannot be procured; it is +manufactured for a given price. + +When everything is ready, a suit is brought in the proper Court. +Charges are made against the fidelity of the party from whom the +separation is desired. These charges may be true or false. If true, +they are the result of the system of espionage carried on by the +private detectives. If false, they are sustained by the testimony of +suborned witnesses. It is the custom of the Courts not to try these +applications openly, but to refer them to some lawyer of ability, who +hears the evidence in chambers, and reports the result to the Court, +with a recommendation either in favor of or against the divorce. + +Lawyers of ability are not always men of integrity. It is owing to this +fact, doubtless, that the referee generally reports in favor of the +divorce, which the Court grants upon the strength of this report. +However this may be, there is no doubt of the fact that divorces may be +easily obtained by those who are willing to pay for them. There are +many secret methods of procedure known only to the initiated, but there +can be no doubt of the fact that justice has become so corrupt, in both +this city and State, that its acts have lost that moral force which is +so necessary to the national prosperity. Men of wealth can accomplish +anything, and are sure of success from the moment their causes are +presented in the Courts, while those who have not the means to pay for +their freedom must remain yoked to their partners until death parts +them. + + + + + CHAPTER LXVI. + + + PAWNBROKERS. + +The sign of the three gilt balls is very common in the Great City, and +where the ancient badge of the pawnbroker is not seen, the words +"Exchange Office" answer the same purpose. The law recognizes the fact +that in all large communities, these dealers are a necessary evil, and +while tolerating them as such, endeavors to interpose a safeguard in +behalf of the community, by requiring that none but persons of good +character and integrity shall exercise the calling. In New York, the +Mayor alone has the power of licensing them, and revoking their +licenses, and none but those so licensed can conduct their business in +the city. "But Mayors of all cliques and parties have exercised this +power with, apparently, little sense of the responsibility which rests +upon them. They have not, ordinarily at least, required clear proof of +the integrity of the applicants; but have usually licensed every +applicant possessed of political influence. There is scarcely any +instance where they have revoked a license thus granted, even when they +have been furnished, with proofs of the dishonesty of the holders." +[footnote: Report of the Prison Association.] + +As a consequence, the pawnbrokers of the city are, with a few +exceptions, a most rascally set. They are little more than receivers of +stolen goods. The police frequently trace stolen property to them. Upon +one occasion a whole basket of watches was found in one of these +establishments. Another possessed a diamond worth over seven hundred +dollars, which had been pawned for two dollars and a half. It had been +stolen by a servant girl. + +Goods taken to these men are received by them without question. They +advance a fraction of the value of the article which is to be redeemed +at a certain time at a high rate of interest. If not redeemed, the +article is sold. Some of these dealers do not wait for the expiration +of the time when an article of value is concerned, but sell it at once, +and flatly deny ever having received it. The rate at which all articles +are taken is sufficiently low to render it certain that the sale of it +will more than cover the advance. + +The principal customers of these men are the poor. Persons of former +respectability or wealth, widows and orphans, are always sure to carry +with them into their poverty some of the trinkets that were theirs in +the heyday of prosperity. These articles go one by one to buy bread. +The pawnbroker advances not more than a twentieth part of their value, +and haggles over that. He knows full well that the pledges will never +be redeemed, that these unhappy creatures must grow less able every day +to recover them. Jewelry, clothing, ornaments of all kinds, and even +the wedding ring of the wife and mother, come to him one by one, never +to be regained by their owners. He takes them at a mere pittance, and +sells them at a profit of several hundred per cent. + +You may see the poor pass into the doors of these shops every day. The +saddest faces we ever saw were those of women coming away from them. +Want leaves its victims no choice, but drives them mercilessly into the +clutches of the pawnbroker. + +The majority of the articles pawned are forced there by want, +undoubtedly, but very many of them go to buy drink. Women are driven by +brutal husbands to this course, and there are wretches who will +absolutely steal the clothing from their shivering wives and little +ones, and with them procure the means of buying gin. God help them all, +the sinner and the sinned against. + + + DIAMOND BROKERS. + +The best class of pawnbrokers lend money only on such securities as +jewels. These are known as diamond brokers, and of course are +patronized only by the upper classes, both respectable and +disreputable. + +'The tricks in trade,' practiced in connection with gems and precious +stones, are almost infinite in variety, and the shifts of individuals, +who are as extravagant personally as they are needy pecuniarily, to +obtain them, are really wonderful in ingenuity and impudence. + +To illustrate by a case in point: A diamond broker, whose office is +located on the central portion of Broadway, was recently visited by a +remarkably handsome and elegantly attired young lady, who at once +entered upon business in a straightforward style, which greatly +impressed the broker in her favor, he being a thorough business man +himself. She wished to negotiate for a loan upon some diamonds in the +possession, at that moment, of 'a Safe Deposit Co.,' where he could +obtain a view of them, if the 'preliminaries' to this step were +satisfactorily arranged. These 'preliminaries' consisted in information +as to the amount of money the broker could at once advance, what rate +of interest he would charge, how and when payments were to be made, +etc., etc. These matters were pleasantly and precisely settled by a +conversation of some ten minutes, during which the lady looked at and +examined, merely with a natural feminine curiosity, a number of +precious stones, pearls, etc., which were displayed in the broker's +cases for sale or show purposes. At last the lady rose to depart, +appointing the hour of eleven the next morning as the time for their +next meeting, when the lady would exhibit to the broker her diamonds, +upon which, if they were as valuable as she represented, she was to +obtain the agreed upon amount of money, on the terms already arranged. + +As she rose to leave, however, the quick eye of the broker noticed that +a valuable pearl was missing, and at once he 'made up his mind' as to +the true character of his fair visitor, and the whereabouts of the +missing pearl. He rushed to the door, barred the 'lady's' exit, and +said, quietly but firmly, 'You have a pearl about your person which +does not belong to you--restore it.' The lady assumed the looks and +attitudes of the most virtuous and violent indignation, but in vain. +The broker was inexorable and still barred the door of departure. 'You +have been too light-fingered for me, I confess, madam. You are an +accomplished woman, and have thrown me off my guard, but I must have my +pearl, nevertheless.' + +The lady still protested; the broker still persisted; finally the +former, with a mingled aspect of wounded modesty and triumphant +innocence, said: 'Sir, you may search my person if you like, and +convince yourself of your gross mistake, but remember that you shall +bitterly atone this outrage to which I am now forced to submit.' +Without further parley the broker took the lady at her word, and +searched her person--delicately or indelicately as you are disposed to +regard it--but thoroughly, certainly. No pearl was found, and the +lady, imagining her innocence to be hereby established, expected to +find the broker overwhelmed with confusion; but, on the contrary, the +gentleman referred to simply handed the woman a bottle, and coolly and +firmly commanded her to drink therefrom. 'And wherefore should I +drink?' asked the astonished woman. 'Because it is an emetic,' was the +broker's reply. 'And what has the fact of this bottle containing an +emetic to do with my swallowing its contents?' inquired the lady. 'Why, +everything, answered her involuntary host, quietly; 'you have +_swallowed_ my pearl, and _this_, being a powerful emetic, will compel +you to disgorge it. Come now, no nonsense, madam,' (still more quietly +and _still_ more firmly,) 'or you will compel me to communicate with +the police.' The word police, that magically terrible word to the evil- +doer, terminated the dialogue. The woman (who proved to be an +adventuress of the most 'fashionable' order, whose very professional +existence depended upon the 'secresy' in which she 'operated,') was +alarmed by the threat of publicity, and the criminal court, swallowed +the emetic, and--need we say more than that the broker recovered his +pearl, and the 'lady' left New York for a period. + + + + + CHAPTER LXVII. + + + THE MARKETS. + +Two thirds of the people of New York deal with "corner groceries" and +"provision stores," consequently there are very few markets in the +city. The principal are the Fulton Market on East River, at the foot of +Fulton street; the Washington, at the end of Fulton street, on North +River; the Jefferson, at the corner of Sixth and Greenwich Avenues; and +the Tompkins Market, opposite the Cooper Institute. The Washington +Market is more of a wholesale than a retail establishment, as is also +the Fulton Market. The supplies of meat, fish, and vegetables brought +to the city, are originally sent to the wholesale dealers at these +markets, to be sold on commission. The dealers will frequently go into +the country and engage a truckman's entire crop of vegetables or +fruits, and then retail them out to the city dealers at their own +prices. + +The streets in the vicinity of the markets on the two rivers are always +dirty and crowded. The buildings themselves are outwardly dirty and +uninviting. The interior, however, presents a sight worth witnessing. +In the spring and summer it is filled with the most tempting displays +of fruit and vegetables. One can hardly imagine that all this immense +quantity will be eaten, but it does not require more than a day to get +rid of the whole display. Fruits are high in the city and sell readily. +The market is never overstocked. The same may be said of vegetables. +Good vegetables are always in demand. All such things have to be +brought so far to market, that by the time they reach the consumer's +kitchen they are almost half-decayed. Those who can furnish pure fresh +vegetables, or animal food, are always sure of doing a profitable +business in the city. + +Almost anything can be found in the Fulton Market. There are all kinds +of provisions, eating-stands abound, bar-rooms are located in the +cellars, cheap finery is to be seen in the stalls, books, newspapers, +and periodicals are to be had at prices lower than those of the regular +stores, ice creams, confections, and even hardware and dry goods are +sold in the booths. The oysters sold here have a world-wide reputation. +_Dorlan's_ oyster-house is the most popular. It is a plain, rough- +looking room, but it is patronized by the best people in the city, for +the wares sold here are famous. Ladies in full street dress, and young +bloods in all their finery, come here to eat one of the proprietor's +splendid stews. + +Dorlan began business in New York more than thirty years ago; and has +made a handsome fortune. He has done so by keeping the very best goods +in the market. He is one of the best-known men in the city, and is +deservedly popular. He is conscientious and upright in the minutest +particular, and gives his personal attention to every detail of his +business. Although wealthy to-day, he may be seen at his stand, in his +shirt-sleeves, superintending the operations of his establishment, +setting an excellent example to younger men who are seeking to rise in +the world. + + + + + CHAPTER LXVIII. + + + PUBLIC BUILDINGS. + +The public buildings of New York are many, and, as a general rule, +handsome. They are widely scattered over the island, and our limits +forbid more than a notice of the principal structures. + + + THE CITY HALL. + +This building is located in the Park, and is nearly opposite Murray +street. It faces the south, and the ground line is perpendicular to +Broadway. It is too small for the present uses of the city, having been +built between the years 1803 and 1810. The front and ends are of +marble, but the rear is of brown stone. It is said that the city +fathers, at the time of its erection, thinking that the town would +never extend beyond the lower line of the park, were anxious to save +the additional cost of the marble at this side. + +The clock-tower, and upper portions of the building, were set on fire +by the pyrotechnical display in honor of the Atlantic Telegraph of +1859. They were rebuilt soon afterwards, in much better style. + +[Illustration: The Bible House.] + +Previous to the completion of the new cupola, our city fathers +contracted with Messrs. Sperry & Co., the celebrated tower-clock makers +of Broadway, to build a clock for it, at a cost not exceeding four +thousand dollars, that our citizens might place the utmost reliance +upon, as a time-keeper of unvarying correctness. During the month of +April the clock was completed, and the busy thousands who were daily +wont to look up to the silent monitor, above which the figure of +Justice was enthroned, hailed its appearance with the utmost +satisfaction. It is undoubtedly the finest specimen of a tower-clock on +this side of the Atlantic, and, as an accurate time-keeper, competent +judges pronounce it to be unsurpassed in the world. The main wheels are +thirty inches in diameter, the escapement is jewelled, and the +pendulum, which is in itself a curiosity, is over fourteen feet in +length. It is a curious fact that the pendulum bob weighs over three +hundred pounds; but so finely finished is every wheel, pinion, and +pivot in the clock, and so little power is required to drive them, that +a weight of only one hundred pounds is all that is necessary to keep +this ponderous mass of metal vibrating, and turn four pairs of hands on +the dials of the cupola. The clock does not stand, as many suppose, +directly behind the dials, but in the story below, and a perpendicular +iron rod, twenty-five feet in length, connects it with the dial-works +above. + +The building contains the offices of the Mayor and city officials. + +In the rear of the City Hall is the new County Court House, which, when +completed, will front on Chambers street, and constitute one of the +handsomest edifices in the city. It is built of white marble. + + + THE PARK BANK, + +Situated on Broadway, below Ann street, is a magnificent white marble +edifice, ornamented with a profusion of statuary and carving. The bank- +room is a model of beauty. The vaults are the most perfect and secure +in the city. + + + THE ASTOR LIBRARY, + +In Lafayette Place, is a substantial building of red brick. The +property, and the library, are the gift of John Jacob Astor to the +trustees, for the benefit of the cause of education throughout the +land. The interior is in keeping with the exterior. It is simple and +elegant, and contains a collection of over one hundred thousand +volumes, carefully and judiciously selected. It is free to all persons, +on condition of good behavior and careful usage of the books. The +officers are courteous and obliging, and every care is taken to make +the institution meet the wishes of its founder. + + + THE COOPER INSTITUTE, + +In Astor Place, is a handsome freestone building, devoted to science +and art. It occupies an entire block, and is the gift of Peter Cooper, +Esq., to the public. It contains lecture rooms, rooms for experiments, +free schools of science and art for the working classes, a reading +room, and a library. The street floor and that, above are rented out +for stores and offices, and yield an annual income of from twenty-five +to thirty thousand dollars. + + + THE BIBLE HOUSE, + +Faces the Cooper Institute, and occupies a whole block, being bounded +by Third and Fourth Avenues, and Eighth and Ninth streets. It is an +immense structure, nearly triangular in form. It is the property of the +American Bible Society, and was erected at a cost of three hundred +thousand dollars. The revenue of the society is about five millions of +dollars annually. Thousands of copies of the Bible are printed here +annually, and sold or distributed in all parts of the world. The Bible +has been printed here in twenty-four different dialects, and parts of +it have been issued in others still. + +[Illustration: Cooper Institute.] + +About six hundred persons find employment in this gigantic +establishment. Of these about three hundred are girls, and twenty or +thirty boys. The girls feed the presses, sew the books, apply gold-leaf +to the covers ready for tooling, etc. About a dozen little girls are +employed in the press-room in laying the sheets, of the best description +of Bibles, between glazed boards, and so preparing them for +being placed in the hydraulic presses. Every day there are six thousand +Bibles printed in this establishment, and three hundred and fifty +turned out of hand completely bound and finished. The sheets of the +Arabic Bible, which has been so long in preparation, are now exhibited +to visitors, and elicit universal admiration, both on account of the +peculiarity of the character, and the striking neatness and elegance +which the work exhibits. A large edition of this translation has just +been forwarded to Constantinople. Much of the mechanical portions of +this admirable work has been executed by children. They are fairly paid +by the Society, and appear to be very happy and comfortable at their +work. + + + THE ACADEMY OF DESIGN, + +At the corner of Twenty-third street and Fourth Avenue, is one of the +most beautiful edifices in the city. It is built in the pure Gothic +style of the thirteenth century, and the external walls are composed of +variegated marble. It has an air of lightness and elegance, that at +once elicit the admiration of the gazer. The interior is finished with +white pine, ash, mahogany, oak, and black walnut in their natural +colors; no paint being used in the building. Schools of art, a library, +reading room, lecture room, and the necessary rooms for the business of +the institution, occupy the first and second stories. The third floor +is devoted to the gallery of paintings and the sculpture room. + +An annual exhibition is held during the winter months, when the public +are admitted at a small charge. Only the works of living artists are +exhibited. + +The hospitals and benevolent institutions of the city are numerous, and +are conducted in a liberal manner. Visitors are admitted to all of them +at stated times, and much instruction and profit may be gained from an +examination of the system upon which they are managed. + + + + + CHAPTER LXIX. + + + THE POST-OFFICE. + +The General Post-office of the city is located on Nassau street, +between Cedar and Liberty streets. It was formerly the Middle Dutch +Church, and was built long before the Revolution. It was in the old +wooden steeple of this building that Benjamin Franklin practiced those +experiments in electricity, which have made his name immortal. When the +British occupied the city, during the War for Independence, they +occupied this church for military purposes. The building was very +greatly injured by the rough usage to which it was put, by its +sacrilegious occupants. The pews and pulpit were broken up for +firewood, and the building was used first as a prison, and then as a +riding school. It was repaired in 1790, and again used for religious +services. Some years later, it was purchased by the Government, and +fitted up as a post-office. The growing business of the office has made +it necessary to make so many additions to the structure, that it is +hard at present to distinguish the original plan of the edifice. The +building is much too small to accommodate the business required to be +transacted within its walls, and efforts are being made to secure the +erection of a larger and handsomer building, at the lower end of the +City Hall Park. It is supposed that the movement in this direction will +be successful, though the Government would seem, by its delay in the +matter, not to consider it a matter of much importance to accommodate +the citizens of the metropolis in this respect. + +The Post-office being situated so low down in the city, it has been +found necessary to establish branches, called "Stations," in the upper +part of the island. They are distinguished by the letters "A," "B," +"C," etc. Many persons receive and mail their correspondence here. The +drop letter system places an immense amount of business in the hands of +these stations. + +Street boxes, for letters, are scattered through the city. They are +never more than a block or two apart, in any of the streets below +Fifty-ninth street, and the distances are not very great in the other +portions of the island. Letters dropped in these boxes are collected +seven or eight times during the day, and there is a delivery of letters +and papers by the postman every hour. These are left at the houses of +the parties to whom they are addressed, without additional charge. The +system is excellent, and is a great convenience to all classes of the +population. + + + + + CHAPTER LXX. + + + THE PATTERERS. + +By this term we refer to the street vendors of the city, who hawk their +wares through the public thoroughfares. A recent number of the +_Cornhill Magazine_, of London, contains the following interesting +description of this class: + +As New York is the largest city in America, we naturally find more of +this class there than anywhere else. It takes a long residence in the +city to become familiar with them, for they vary with the season, and +their occupations change according to circumstances. In many respects +New York city resembles London or Paris. And so would any other town +with a million of inhabitants, surrounded by a cluster of cities, which +swell the united population to almost two millions. It may well be +doubted if there is a city in Europe which presents so many strong +characteristics as the American metropolis. The population of Manhattan +Island is a mixture of all the peoples under the sun, fearfully and +wonderfully jumbled together. About one thousand foreigners a day +arrive in New York from all parts of the world the year round. The +resident American is always coming in contact with Spaniards, Germans, +Irishmen, Frenchmen, Africans, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Mexicans, +Scotchmen, Canadians, Englishmen, Arabs, Prussians, Swedes, and +Italians. The Frenchman is as much at home as in his native Paris; the +Scotchman hears the bagpipes in the City Hall Park, and sees the +shepherd's dog at the Central Park; the Chinaman can find a whole +street devoted to the selling of his teas, his native idols stare him +in the face as advertisements before a Yankee shop door, and all the +ladies on Broadway are toying with his fans; the Irishman rules the +city, and hoists his green flag upon the public buildings; the African +is the most important man in the crowd, and expects soon to colonize +the whites in British America, or somewhere else, while the German has +his sangerbunds and his schutzenfests and lager bier, and runs a +_halle_ and a boarding _haus_. Great is the mystery of New York. + +But to the patterers. These are that large class of people who hawk +their wares upon the street, or get a living at a stand. Some of them +do a thriving trade, others barely eke out a miserable existence. Take +them all in all, and they are a very curious class of people, +interesting to study. A large number of them are women, from the oldest +gray-haired grandmother, tottering on her cane, down to the young woman +of sixteen. There are numerous little girls struggling to get a living, +too, from three years old upwards. The women always excite our pity, +and we patronize them in preference to the men. + +The women patterers are usually a very ugly-looking set. That is, they +are not handsome. Most of them are Irishwomen, although we now and then +see an Italian or German woman. We never saw more than two American +women patterers in New York, and have no recollection of ever seeing a +Jewess, a Scotch woman, or a Spanish woman. The women and girls sell +flowers, newspapers, candy, toothpicks, fruit, various kinds of food, +turn hand-organs, sell songs, and beg. A woman never sells cigars or +tobacco, and we have never seen one crying gentlemen's neckties. There +is an old woman on Nassau street, not far from the General Post-office, +who sits behind a stocking stall, covered with ladies' hose and +gentlemen's socks, suspenders, mittens (the women always were fond of +dealing in mittens) list slippers, yarns, and such stuff. So far as we +know, this woman is an exception to her sex. + +Very few women patterers in New York cry their wares. There is one +ancient dame in the vicinity of St. John's Park, who screeches '_straw- +ab-berries_' in the spring time, following it up in the summer with +'_blackberrie-e-e-s_.' She seldom gets above Canal street, and always +stays upon the west side of Broadway. Her voice has been familiar in +that section of the city for the past five years, at least, and would +be sadly missed if some day she should happen to get choked with one of +her own _berries_, and, turning _black_ in the face, be laid out on a +bier of _straw_ ready for _burial_. + +There is a very stout old lady who always sits by the City Hospital +gate, on Broadway. She has been in that selfsame spot, ever since +before 'the late war,' and how much longer we know not. She is +immensely stout, and must weigh at least two hundred pounds. Rain or +shine, hot or cold, there she sits, with a little stand of newspapers +before her--the _Tribune_, _World_, _Herald_, _Times_, and _Sun_. She +only sells morning papers, and leaves when they are all sold. She +always has her knitting-work, or sewing with her, and can often be seen +making her own garments. Now and then she grows weary, the eyes close, +the head falls forward, the mouth opens, the fingers stop, (still +holding on to the knitting work,) and she dreams! What are her dreams? +Possibly of a happy home in a distant land, a long time ago, when she +was a little girl, and had a father to bless her, and a mother to love. +A brace of omnibuses come thundering down the pavement, and she awakes. +If people purchase papers of her while she is asleep they drop the +pennies upon her stand, and pass on. This old body has a daughter who +sells newspapers at a stand directly opposite, upon the other side of +the street. The daughter is not as dutiful as she ought to be, and +sometimes there is a family jar upon the street, not at all to the +edification of those who witness it. + +One of the saddest sights in New York is that of a pale-faced, light- +haired woman, middle-aged, who can frequently be seen sitting on a +Broadway curbstone behind a small hand-organ, from which she grinds a +plaintive tune, the notes of which are seldom heard above the thunder +of the street. She always appears bareheaded, and with a small child in +her lap. The little straw hat of the babe is put upon the top of the +organ to catch the pennies and bits of scrip. We are glad to notice +that many men remember her in passing. + +City Hall Park, Printing-House Square, Bowery, and Nassau street, are +the great centres for all kinds of patterers. Here women sell ice +cream, lemonade, doughnuts, buns, tropical fruits, and sweetmeats. +Bananas and pineapples are favorite fruits and all forms of chocolate +candies are in great demand. Most of the women who attend stalls grow +very stout, as they get little or no exercise. It is noticed that very +few of them ever partake of the fruits or other edibles which they deal +in. They always bring a lunch with them of bread and butter, cold +soups, and cold tea or coffee, with occasionally a bit of meat. One +evening, opposite the Fifth Avenue Hotel, we saw a young woman, +evidently nineteen or twenty, playing upon a violin. She was blind, +and, as it was a warm, bright moonlight night, her head was bare. The +countenance had a very sad, sweet expression, and the air she played +was a far-away dreamy romance. We never saw her but once. + +The poor little girls of New York do a wonderful number of things to +get a living. They sell matches, toothpicks, cigars, songs, newspapers, +flowers, etc. There is a good deal of romance published in the +newspapers, about the flower-girls, which does not exist. The _Evening +Post_ once said they were as handsome as the flower-girls of Paris. If +they are, the Paris flower-girls must be frightful little wretches. The +flower-girls of New York cluster about St. Paul's churchyard and the +Astor House, and can be found scattered up Broadway as high as Twenty- +third street. They sell magnolias, hand bouquets and button-hole +bouquets for gentlemen's coats. They appear on the streets with the +earliest spring violets, and only disappear with 'the last rose of +summer.' A rainy day is a very good one for the flowers, and they sell +better than in fair weather. When the skies are lowering, man wants +something to cheer him, and so he takes a tuberose and a geranium leaf, +and puts it in the button-hole of his coat. The girls buy their flowers +of the gardeners out in the suburbs of the city, and then manufacture +their own bouquets. + +Some of the little girls who patter upon the street make a tolerably +good living, if they are industrious and stick to their business. +Oranges and sponges sell well, and often from two to four dollars' +worth are disposed of between the rising and the setting of the sun. +Pattering is only profitable during business hours, which, in New York, +do not commence much before 9 o'clock, and close by 5 P. M. So the +patterer is a gentleman with the rest of them, and shuts up shop at the +same time A. T. Stewart and H. B. Claflin do their marble and sandstone +palaces. There are exceptions to this rule, as there are to all rules. +Those who patter at the Battery, and in the vicinity of South Ferry, +where a constant stream of people is passing back and forth far into +the night, stick by their stands as long as there is any one upon the +street. At midnight, when the thunder of the streets is hushed, and the +moon is rolling beneath a dark cloud, the heads of old men and women +can be seen nid, nid, nodding, from Bowling Green to the Battery wall. +Where they go to when they close up their stalls and crawl away in the +darkness, it is impossible to say. + +The most interesting sights in connection with pattering may be seen in +the vicinity of Castle Garden, and on the east side of City Hall Park, +opposite Park Row. At Castle Garden the patterers meet with a constant +stream of freshly arrived emigrants. They have just landed in 'free +America,' and the first thing which greets their eyes after they have +left the officials, and passed the portals of the Garden, is a long row +of patterers behind stalls filled with ginger-cakes, lemonade, tropical +fruits, apples, etc. Many of the poor peasants from the interior of +Europe never saw a bunch of red or golden bananas, they know nothing of +the mysteries of a pineapple, and are unacquainted with cocoa-nuts. +They look with no little astonishment upon these products of the soil, +but hesitate to purchase them. They are shy of the new-fangled American +drinks, but being very thirsty, occasionally indulge in a glass of +lemonade. How their eyes sparkle as the delicious nectar runs down +their throats. Such _wasser_ is unknown to the springs of Germany. +Bread, cakes and apples are readily bought by them, but as they deal in +hard cash, and talk German, and as the old woman they are trading with +speaks Irish-English, and has nothing but scrip, it takes some little +time to conclude a bargain. A great deal of talking is done on the +fingers, and the emigrant goes away satisfied, nay, pleased, at the +great amount of something to eat he is able to buy in America with a +small lot of silver. Besides this, the old woman behind the stall gives +him a variety of paper money, curiously printed. He looks at it, then +doubles it up, and puts it carefully away. + +The men patterers are a much larger class in New York than the women. +They are engaged in all imaginable occupations and dog your steps at +every corner. Some of these men are middle-aged, able-bodied fellows, +quite strong and healthy enough to be clearing up land in the West or +laying bricks at five dollars a day. For some unaccountable reason they +prefer to remain in New York, living from hand to mouth, and doing +nothing to improve themselves, mentally, worldly, or financially. We +have one of these in mind now. Sitting on the west side of Broadway, +not far from White street, a young man of about thirty-two or three, +healthy, stout, and quite intelligent looking, employs his time in +tending a small stand, upon which a few gum-drops and chocolates are +displayed for sale. Here is enterprise and ambition for you. We have +passed his stand several times a day for the last year, and we never +saw him selling anything to a man. They are ashamed of his presence on +the street in such an occupation. A girl, or a poor woman, would get +some sympathy, but for an able-bodied man in America, none! The fellow +has a wife, and sometimes she takes place. There is a sad, disconsolate +look upon her face, and well there may be, since she is united to such +a lazy dolt of a husband. + +It has been noticed that dwarfs and deformed people often resort to +pattering. Like Gloster, in King Richard III., they are + + ------'curtailed thus of fair proportion, + Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, + Deform'd, unfinished, sent before their time + Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, + And that so lamely and unfashionable, + That dogs bark at them.' + +Through these misfortunes they hope to tell upon the feelings of the +public, and thereby secure a larger share of patronage. One of these 4 +unfashionable human beings stands on Broadway, with a bunch of carpet +dusters in his hand-leather thongs fastened to a handle. Another poor +fellow in front of the _Times_ office has no arms, and therefore +supports himself by whittling kindling-wood for the benefit of the +public. A dwarf on the sidewalk, not far from the St. Nicholas Hotel, +has an immense head, with ugly and snubbish features, a short body, and +ungainly limbs. He peddles apples. + +The other men and boy patterers of New York sell cigars, whips, +neckties, sleeve-buttons, dogs, young bears, watch-chains, resurrection +plants, sponge-cakes, and all the articles sold by women. A man does a +thriving business at the foot of one of the large marble columns of the +Sub-Treasury on Wall street. He keeps fresh home-made sponge cakes, +which sell for five or ten cents each. One of these is enough for a +man's lunch. + +The dog and bear men lurk in the vicinity of the Astor House. They +always have a basket in which they carry their animals, and during +business hours spend the most of their time scratching their backs with +a comb. These men seem to be a little unsound in the upper regions. +They wear long hair, loose fitting clothes, broad-brimmed hats, and are +perfectly happy whether they sell a dog or not. No one has yet been +seen offering cats for sale. Maps, pictures, and songs are frequently +indulged in by the street patterers. Most of them are horrible prints, +highly colored, representing favorite priests, the Presidents, naval +conflicts, battles, and fires. The maps have the Irish harp in one +corner and the United States flag in the other. The favorite maps are +those of Ireland and New York City. + +Since the police have banished the banner-men from the side-walks, the +various trades have taken to representing themselves in odd costumes on +the backs of ambitious patterers. Just now walking awnings, barber's +poles, whalebones, etc., are the rage. Like everything else in a city, +this will be tolerated until it becomes a nuisance, when the police +will take them off to the station-house and they will be among the +things that were. + +"The patterers of New York could well be dispensed with. Most of them +deserve none of our sympathy, and should be taken in charge by the +government, and set to work at some useful occupation. This would clear +the streets of a great many disgusting sights, and give the town an air +of thrift and respectability, which it is not likely to have as long as +such a horde of spendthrifts hang about all the corners." + + + + + CHAPTER LXXI. + + + LOTTERIES. + +The New York correspondent of a provincial journal, recently published +the following excellent sketch of the lottery business as practiced in +this city. + +Few persons realize to what an extent American lotteries are patronized +in this city, and in a great many other cities of the country. A +lottery business has been built up within a few years, secret and +silent from general public inspection, which draws thousands of dollars +yearly from the pockets of credulous fools, into the coffers of the +designing men who manage these traps for the fortune-seekers. New York +is the general headquarters for these Southern lotteries, though they +are not drawn here; and in this sketch we will take a look at them. + +The regular authorized American lotteries are the 'Kentucky' and +'Missouri.' There are several other branches of these concerns--two or +three off-shoots growing out of a feud between the managers of the old +Kentucky lottery, last winter, but as the side-establishments are not +recognized as legitimate, either by patrons or the lottery board, I +will pass them by in silence. + +The two lotteries above named are drawn daily at noon and night. The +'Kentucky' is drawn at Covington and the 'Missouri' at Lexington. The +drawings are made in public. Immediately after the numbers are taken +from the wheel, the telegraph sends them over the country to the +various lottery offices, those for the East coming to the general +headquarters in this city, where they are forwarded to every lottery +dealer in New England and the Middle States. + +The lottery schemes are what is known as the ternary combination of +seventy-eight numbers, being one to seventy eight, inclusive; or, in +other words, 'three number' schemes. The numbers vary with the day. To- +day seventy-eight numbers may be placed in the wheel and fourteen of +them drawn out. Any ticket having on it three of the drawn numbers +takes a prize, ranging from fifty thousand dollars to three hundred +dollars, as the scheme may indicate for the day. Tickets with two of +the drawn numbers on them pay an advance of about a hundred per cent. +of their cost. Tickets with only one of the drawn numbers on them get +back first cost. On another day only seventy-five numbers will be put +in the wheel, and only twelve or thirteen drawn out. And so it goes. + +The owners or managers of these concerns are prominent sporting men and +gamblers of New York and elsewhere. Considerable capital is invested. +It is said that it takes nearly two million dollars to work this +business, and that the profits average five hundred thousand dollars or +more a year. The ticket sellers get a commission of twelve per cent. on +all sales. The tickets are issued to them in lots, one set of +combinations going to one section of the country this week, another +next; and all tickets unsold up to the hour for the drawing at +Covington, are sent back to headquarters. In this way many prizes are +drawn by tickets which remain unsold in dealers' hands after they have +reported to the agents; and the lottery makes it clear. + +Together with the sale of tickets is carried on an extensive game of +gambling known as 'policy.' To 'policy' is to bet on certain numbers +coming out in the drawing, for either morning or evening. Thus, if I +believe 4, 11, 44 will be drawn, I stake a dollar at the lottery +office, or any sum I see fit, up to five hundred dollars, and if all +three of the numbers make their appearance on the drawing, the liberal +managers will give me two hundred dollars for my one. You can take any +three numbers of the seventy eight and policy them. The three numbers +taken are called a 'gig;' two numbers a 'saddle;' four numbers a +'horse'--either of which pays its own rate, which is from two to six +hundred dollars for one; a 'saddle,' however, only giving a small +advance on your stake. + +Now, perhaps you will say that is simple enough, and a fine chance to +make money. It must be possible to strike three numbers often. Try it. +The lottery, by its large advance on the amount you stake, tells a +different story. A man might play three numbers every day for a year, +and not have the satisfaction of seeing all three come out at one time +on the drawing. Two will come out with a number just ahead or below the +third; and you will pay more money and try again. Why there are men who +are veterans at policy-playing, using all their spare funds, going +without everything which makes life pleasant, and yet it is rarely they +hit the 'gig.' + +In this city, where all kinds of gambling flourishes, from the Stock +Exchange to a Fifth Avenue faro 'hell,' a 'sweat' board in Baxter +street, or greasy marked cards in a cellar drinking den--these American +lotteries are sold in no less than six hundred places over and across +the town. They are known by the dignified name of 'Exchange.' Go where +you will, their signs will meet your eye. On Broadway, down town, there +are several large lottery offices, well known, frequented by merchants +and well-to-do business men, where policy is played with high stakes, +where hundreds of tickets are sold daily. There is one near John +street, on Broadway. The front office is a money broker's counter; but +passing through, you come into a long, well-furnished room, all parts +of the day filled with policy players. Here they do a great business in +lottery tickets. There are five clerks employed. Across the wall hangs +a large slate, upon which the drawn numbers are chalked. A little sign +over the ticket desk gives notice that 'plays will not be taken for +over ten thousand dollars.' This is the great office of the city. The +proprietor has an interest in the lotteries, besides making his +commission as seller. + +A good many stories are told of this 'Exchange.' A man came in one day +and laid a dollar on the counter before the clerk, and said: 'Here, +give me a ticket that will draw a prize! That dollar is all I have got; +but I dreamed last night that I would draw something big!' The clerk +laughed, and carelessly passed him a ticket taken at random from the +bunch. It was numbered 16, 42, 51. Did it draw the prize, you ask? No, +not that drawing. The man came in at night, read the list of drawn +numbers, turned away without a word, and went out into the street. He +had been gone but a moment before the report of a pistol rang out +clear, sharp, alarming. The people in the policy office hurried to the +door. The unfortunate man had shot himself dead! The next morning what +should come rolling out of the lottery wheel but his numbers--16, 42, +51--a prize of twenty thousand dollars! Tricked by fortune, the man lay +cold and stark at the Morgue. + +Another story. A boy came into the office not long since. 'Father wants +to policy two dollars on this gig,' he said, giving the three numbers +to a clerk. That was for the noon drawing. About two o'clock the father +came to inspect the list. He cast his eye down the big slate, and found +his 'gig' there. He had won four hundred dollars! 'I have spent five +thousand dollars on this accursed thing, and this is the first money +that has come back,' he said, as the greenbacks were placed in his +hand. 'Try it again,' said the affable clerk, as an historical affable +spider once said, 'walk into my parlor!' to a foolish policy-playing +fly. The man who was five thousand less four hundred dollars out, did +try it again. He kept trying it. He kept winning as if a good angel +stood behind him dictating the plays. He struck two thousand dollars +one day. He followed it up by bagging thirty-two hundred soon after. +The lottery folks were afraid of him. Before two months was out the man +was 'in' to the tune of twenty-seven thousand dollars. Every third or +fourth play seemed to hit. Did he stop and carry his large gains away +from the fascination of gaming? He became intensely nervous, wild over +his rare fortune. No day but to play. At last the office refused to +receive plays from him. This excited him so much that in raving over it +he fell down in a fit in the very 'Exchange' where he had made his +pile. He was taken to the City Hospital; from there, hopelessly insane, +he was taken to the mad-house, on Blackwell's Island. And the best part +of the story is that a loving wife and mother, who had vainly attempted +to check the husband in his dangerous course, received the money, and, +for the first of several years, is enabled to live comfortably, caring +for the hapless victim on the Island, part of the time, and devoting +the rest to the training of a young son. + +Some of the lottery gamblers have a regular system. Their dreams give +them numbers to play. If one dreams of a house on fire, a horse running +away, a ship sinking at sea, a bald-headed man, or a monkey going up a +cocoa-nut tree, straightway he rushes to play the numbers indicated. +You would think they were destitute of brains, if in all other things +they didn't show plenty of sense. When a man or woman gets lottery-mad, +nothing is too absurd for them to do in getting 'numbers.' + +The negroes of the city are great policy-players. In every district +where they live you will find dingy little lottery offices, patronized +mostly by them. Some of them make as much as forty or fifty dollars a +week. A negro must play his policy even if bread is lacking at home. +Now and then they make a lucky 'gig,' and win a few dollars. Some are +born with a policy luck, I do believe. One old darkey woman, a kind, +motherly sort of a body, who used to attend to the linen of the house +where I resided, has had a wonderful streak of luck in policy. Out of +four or five years playing she has obtained money enough to set up a +pretty cottage in Harlem, and furnish it well. She says she dreams her +numbers! The sale of lottery dream-books is really immense. One firm on +Ann street sell several thousand a month of these books, wherein every +possible dream is described, and the proper 'policy' attached to it.' + +The poverty, the evil, the utter and abominable waste that results from +these lotteries, cannot be realized, save by those who have +investigated the subject. Hard working, sober men, good citizens, +respectable and worthy in every other way, are bound down to this mean +gambling, which always keeps them poor, which continually keeps the +wolf at their doors. And all for what? That a set of rascals may wear +fine linen, and walk Broadway with lofty airs. A man who becomes +infatuated in lotteries, becomes lost almost beyond chance. I can count +up in passing no less than six men who are mad on policy, who save from +food, from clothes, from the family, money, to spend in these lottery +hells. They never draw anything. The next time it is hoped better luck +will come. So they have gone on for years, and are no nearer the prize. +Strange human blindness! They haven't strength enough to dash away from +it all; and drop by drop the very life-blood is sucked out of them. + +If you want to see anxious faces, drop into one of these 'exchanges' +about the time the drawings come in. The office will be full. All +classes of men are represented. There is the day-laborer with his tin +pail, the merchant with an unmistakable business air, the gambler +glittering with diamonds, clerks with inky fingers, men of leisure, +cool and vacant looking, and I have even seen very ministerial looking +men, who might have been divines, or dealers in a faro bank; it is hard +to tell one from the other in New York, where, if a man has a very +respectable appearance, he is put down as belonging to one of the two +professions. But there is a marked look of concern on all faces, +'waiting for the verdict' on their plays. + +The numbers come in from headquarters. One by one they are called off +and chalked on the slate, so that he who runs may read. One man has +struck something, and his face lights up with joy. It is only a small +amount, and instead of blessing his stars that he has been so +fortunate, he is bewailing his prudence in staking so little. Another +turns away with a dreary sigh, for the slate tells him the same old +story of no luck. Another has just hit it--all but one figure! if he +had played 'seven' instead of 'six,' what a pile he would have taken +in! Yes; but the good managers knew you would play seven, and so were +perfectly willing to offer you two hundred dollars for one. A woman +crowds her way into the throng. Does she invest in lottery tickets or +policy? She has a slip of paper with numbers on, and compares them with +the slate. Now she turns away, and there is no light of victory in her +eyes. + +"Poor fools, waiting, hoping, longing for a prize! The flaring printed +poster on the wall tells of fifty thousand dollars to be drawn to-day. +A fortune to be paid to the lucky holder of the right ticket. Of course +you will all go in for it, lottery maniacs, as you have done many times +before. You will lay out hard-earned money--I pity you, but no urging +can stop you; and all the while the lottery is laughing in contempt at +you; and the radiant managers are flashing costly diamonds in your +faces, and enjoying themselves in splendid mansions up town, living on +the fat of the land--airing themselves in the Park behind blood horses +with famous names--all bought with the dollars you have given them so +freely! Work for more and give them! Starve your family to add to the +spoils! Go ragged yourselves that they may dress richly! Who knows but +that you may draw that tempting prize in time!" + + + + + CHAPTER LXXII. + + + GIFT ENTERPRISES. + +There are more than two thousand persons in the city of New York, who +make their living by conducting gift enterprises. These schemes have +various names, but are conducted substantially on the same plan. + + + THE SYSTEM. + +The parties engaged in the swindle open an office in some conspicuous +place in the city, and announce a grand distribution of prizes for the +benefit of some charitable association, such as "The Gettysburg Asylum +for Invalid Soldiers and Sailors," "Southern Orphans' Aid Association," +etc., etc.; or they announce a grand gift concert, to take place at +some public hall at a given time. The tickets to this concert are sold +at prices ranging from one to five dollars, the former being the usual +price. Directions of other cities are procured, mailing clerks of +newspapers are paid for copies of the list of subscribers to their +journals, and country newspapers are procured for a similar purpose. A +large number of names is thus obtained, and a circular issued, setting +forth the scheme, the list of prizes, and the manner of procuring +tickets. There is scarcely a place in the United States to which these +circulars are not sent. Each of the persons so addressed is requested +to act as an agent; and is promised a prize in the distribution if he +will use his influence to sell tickets and say nothing of the +inducements offered to him, as such knowledge would make others +dissatisfied. The prize is said to be worth a great deal, and the party +requested to act as agent sets to work promptly, and generally succeeds +in getting a number of names and dollars, which he forwards to the +managers of the grand concert. No concert is ever held, and no drawing +takes place. The money is lost to the senders and pocketed by the +swindlers who receive it. + + + THE BANKERS' AND BROKERS' GIFT ENTERPRISE. + +During the winter of 1867-68, a swindler or set of swindlers opened an +office in the lower part of Broadway, under the title of "The Bankers' +and Brokers' Gift Enterprise." The affair was ostensibly managed by the +firm of Clark, Webster & Co. As many thousand persons were victimized +by these villains, it is possible that some of our readers may be able +to vouch for the statements contained in the following extract +concerning the affair, from the _Missouri Republican_, published in St. +Louis. + +For some months, certain papers, both in the East and West, have been +displaying an enormously large advertisement, of the Bankers' and +Merchants' First Grand Presentation Enterprise, to be commenced on +Thursday, October 24th, and continued for 'one hundred and fifty days +from the date of commencement, at the rate of ten thousand tickets per +day.' The scheme was a magnificent one; every ticket holder was +entitled to such a premium as would fully insure him against loss--that +is, he would draw a prize equal to the money invested, minus five per +cent., and would run a risk of winning an enormous prize, of which +there were several 'on the bills.' + +Of course this spread like wild-fire, the cholera, or yellow fever; +hundreds, who should have possessed some discretion, sent their dollars +to Clark, Webster & Co., 62 Broadway, New York, expecting to realize +handsome fortunes. How they supposed that the proprietors could ever +give such premiums, we cannot say; but certain it is they did, and +hundreds and thousands have been most fearfully victimized; how, will +be easily explained. + +The enormous prizes were not in money; they were stocks, and the like, +in fancy companies, somewhere--where, we do not know; where a nominal +half a million would not be worth half a dollar. + +But it was not in the dollar paid for the original ticket that the +chief swindle lay. Nearly every man drew a 'prize' and was at once +notified, on receiving the sum of five per cent. of the value, it would +be forwarded; and as the nature of the prize was not stated, but only +its nominal value in money, thousands of persons have, doubtless, sent +the five per cent., and will continue to send it, and receive in +exchange some worthless oil stock, or a similar valueless piece of +paper. + +Even in this city, where the people should read the daily papers, and +be posted in such swindles, a large number have been victimized, two of +whom have furnished us with their experiences, which we give below: + +The first is a young man, the son of a well-known politician in this +city, but who requests us to suppress his name. A few days since he +received the following note: + +'You are hereby notified that one of your tickets has drawn a prize +valued at two hundred dollars. Five per cent. on this amount will be +ten dollars. This amount of assessed per centage must, in all cases, be +sent on receipt of this notice, with directions by what express you +wish the prize sent. Yours, very respectfully, + 'CLARK, WEBSTER & CO.' + +The young man, 'green' as he must have been to invest a dollar in the +swindling concern of the fictitious Clark, Webster & Co., was yet too +sharp to send the ten dollars without an investigation, and accordingly +went to a friend, a well-known banker of this city, and requested him +to correspond with reliable parties in New York, and ascertain the +responsibility of the parties, and, on doing so, Mr. Davis received the +following reply: + + 'Office of Gwynne & Day, No. 7 New Street, + 'New York, _Nov_. 12, 1867. + +'Messrs.----& Co., Cincinnati, Ohio: + +'Gentlemen: We have received your favor of the 9th, with enclosure as +stated. + +'In regard to the prize drawn by--------, we went to Clark, Webster & +Co., to see about it. The prize consists of two hundred shares in the +Sand River Petroleum Company. We did not get it, as we do not know the +market value of the stock (and probably never will). We enclose it to +you, as we do not think it is worth ten dollars. + + 'Yours respectfully, + "'GWYNNE & DAY.'" + +Another correspondent tells his story as follows: + + CINCINNATI, _November_ 15. + +Messrs. Editors: Last summer I was foolish enough to place sufficient +confidence in an advertisement of a "Grand Presentation Enterprise of +Merchants and Bankers of New York," that appeared in a Cincinnati paper +a number of times, as to invest one dollar in a ticket. The prizes +consisted of greenbacks, diamonds, watches, sewing machines, etc., to +be drawn October 24. A few weeks afterward I received a letter in which +I was requested to act as their agent in this city, for the sale of +their tickets, promising, in consideration thereof--in case my ticket +drew a blank--they would insure me a handsome present. But I did not +bite this time. Two or three other circulars were sent me after this; +one announcing the postponement of the drawing, to enable them to +dispose of all their tickets; another postponement was announced in +September, because their 'agents had sold more tickets than were +issued, so that now they were compelled to increase the number of +tickets from 1,300,000 to 1,500,000.' All this was announced in staring +capitals. + +In the latter part of October another circular was received, announcing +the commencement of a drawing on October 24th, and that it would take +two or three months to complete it, as they could draw and register but +10,000 per day; and also informing the 'lucky' ones, that upon being +notified that their ticket had drawn a prize, they were to remit +immediately five per cent. of the value of the prize, if under $500, +and ten per cent. if over $500; the money obtained in this way was to +be used to meet the extra expense incurred in printing the additional +tickets and in their distribution. + +Soon after this I was notified my ticket had drawn a prize, valued at +$200, and I must remit them five per cent. of this within ten days, or +forfeit the prize. I wrote to a friend of mine in New York, to call at +62 Broadway, and ascertain if such a firm as Clark, Webster & Co.--the +firm name signed to the circular--held forth there, and, if so, to +present my ticket, and claim the prize. + +He called, as requested, and writes me that there is no such firm +there. The 'Merchants' and Bankers' Grand Presentation Enterprise' is a +grand swindle, carried on by one Hill, who has been arrested a number +of times for swindling the public in this manner, but has, so far, by +the aid of money, freely used, managed to keep out of the Penitentiary. +When my friend presented the ticket, and demanded the two hundred +dollar prize, they offered him stock in an oil well out West, which +(well) is all a myth. So I concluded to retain the percentage, and +forfeit the 'prize.' In one of the circulars it is announced that a +second 'grand distribution' will take place this winter, and I make +this matter public that none of your readers may be deceived. + "ALMOST A VICTIM." + +Complaints from the victims of this infamous swindle, became so +numerous, that the police authorities seized the premises of Clark, +Webster & Co., and all their books and papers. These last comprised six +truck loads, and contained printed or written directories of every city +and town in the Union. No such persons as Clark, Webster & Co., could +be found. A man calling himself William M. Elias, claimed to be the +owner of the books and papers, and endeavored to regain possession of +them by legal process. The Police Commissioners, knowing what use he +intended to make of them, refused to surrender them, and gave bonds. +Elias was arraigned before the Tombs Police Court, on a charge of +swindling, by some of his victims. The Court room was full of those +who had suffered by the grand lottery. The proceedings amounted to +nothing, and as the man left the Court room, he was followed by the +excited crowd, and severely pelted with snow balls, until the police +came to his assistance. + +[Illustration: A Gift Enterprise Swindler Snowballed by his Victims.] + +Messrs. Reade & Co., who profess to do business at No. 6 Clinton Hall, +Astor Place, are extensive swindlers. The police have made rigid +searches for them several times. They have arrested the clerks and +managers, but have failed to discover the principals, who, doubtless, +have no real existence. + + + A CLEVER SWINDLE. + +Many of these swindlers adopt the following system. They send a +circular to some one in the country, notifying him that he has drawn a +prize in their lottery. The circular used by one of these firms is as +follows: + +MR.----, + ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. + +DEAR SIR: You are hereby notified that ticket No. 5,114, has drawn a +gold watch, valued at two hundred dollars. Five per cent. on the +valuation is ten dollars. The percentage must be paid or forwarded +within twelve days from the date of this notice. + +Those receiving prizes, in the preliminary drawing, receive them with +this understanding, that they will either buy tickets in our grand +distribution that takes place in November, or use their influence in +every possible way to sell tickets. Any parties receiving this notice, +who are not willing to assist in our grand enterprise, will please +return the ticket and notice as soon as received. + + HALLETT, MOORE & Co., + Bankers and Financial Managers, + 575 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. + +By Order of the + NEW YORK JEWELLERS' CO-OPERATIVE UNION. + + +N. B.--No prizes will be shipped until the percentage is received. + + +We shall be ready in fifteen days to fill orders for tickets in the +grand distribution of five millions of dollars' worth of goods, the +drawing of which is to take place in the building of the New York +Jewellers' Cooperative Union, November 16, 1868. + By order of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS. + +The person receiving this circular well knows that he has purchased no +ticket in the above concern, and at once supposes that he has received +through mistake the notification intended for some other man. Still, as +the parties offer to send him, for ten dollars, a watch worth two +hundred dollars, he cannot resist the temptation to close with the +bargain at once. He sends his ten dollars, and never hears of it again. + +Another plan is to notify every one who has bought a ticket that he has +drawn a prize, and demand five per cent. on it. The value is always +stated at two hundred dollars, and the amount asked is ten dollars. +Strange as it may seem, this ruse succeeds in a majority of instances. +The luckless ticket holders are delighted with their good fortune, and +send the assessment at once. They never see their money or their prize. + +The scoundrels who carry on these enterprises feel perfectly safe. They +know that their victims dare not prosecute them, as by purchasing a +ticket a man becomes a party to the transaction, and violates the laws +of the State of New York. No one cares to avow himself a party to any +such transaction, and consequently the swindlers are safe from +prosecution. + +The post-office authorities of the city state that over five hundred +letters per day are received in this city from various parts of the +country, addressed to the principal gift establishments of the city. +Nearly all of these letters contain various sums of money. Last winter +these mails were seized and opened, by the Post-office Department, and +some of the letters were found to contain as much as three hundred +dollars. + +The profits of these swindlers are enormous. Those which are well +conducted realize half a million of dollars in three or four months. +Instead of resting satisfied with this amount, the rogues close up +their business, and start a fresh enterprise. + +From this description the reader will see how the various gift +enterprises, under whatever name they are presented, are managed, and +how certain he is to lose every cent he invests in them. The +description applies also to the various Manufacturing and Co-operative +Jewelry Associations, and all schemes of a kindred nature. + + + JEWELRY ASSOCIATIONS OR UNIONS. + +A recent publication contains the following clever description of the +way in which these associations are managed. + +No doubt these enterprises are of the purest benevolence--at least such +is the impression their projectors seek to convey. That everybody who +wants a gold watch for a dollar may know how to get it, we copy the +following extract from the advertisement--without charge, on this +occasion: + +'One million certificates, bearing upon their face the names of the +articles as above enumerated, are each inclosed in plain envelopes, and +sealed, undistinguishable one from another, mixed and placed in a +repository, without choice, and they are drawn as ordered. The sealed +envelopes, containing certificates marked with the name of the article, +description, and marked price it entitles the holder to, will be sent +by mail to any address at twenty-five cents each; on receipt of the +certificates, the purchaser ascertains the exact article he is entitled +to, which he can obtain upon the return of the certificate and one +dollar to the office of the Association.' + +Not wishing, however, to encourage too sanguine hopes, we would add an +account of the success of an experiment made last year by an +incredulous individual, who was so curious as to find out how it was +these people made money by selling gold watches for a dollar. He spent +a hundred dollars for the 'certificates' above referred to, and found +himself the lucky possessor of a lot of paper tickets purporting to +represent property to the value of two thousand one hundred and fifty- +three dollars, and this property he was entitled to receive on the +further payment of four hundred and fifty-eight dollars. Not wishing, +however, to impoverish these rashly-benevolent Samaritans, and +reflecting, perhaps, that he had already spent one hundred dollars, for +which he had as yet received nothing but 'certificates,' he selected a +hundred of those that promised the most valuable articles, and sent +them for redemption--paying another one hundred dollars for the +articles. He received a lot of watches, jewelry, gold pens, etc., of +which the nominal value was five hundred and ninety-nine dollars. + +Very good investment of two hundred dollars, was it not? But stop a +minute. We said _nominal_ value. As the articles were all gold and +silver--at any rate, professed to be--it was easy to ascertain their +actual value; so they were sent to the United States Assay Office, +melted up, and a certificate of the net proceeds returned. And how much +does the ingenious reader suppose this five hundred and ninety-nine +dollars of gold and silver proved to be worth? _Just nine dollars and +sixty-two cents_ ($9.62)! That was what our friend got for the two +hundred dollars cash he had invested. And that is about what anybody +will get who chooses to invest money in enterprises of this kind. + +The certificate jewelry business is, in fact, under whatever name +carried on, nothing but a gigantic fraud, extending far and wide over +the country, and causing many innocent but rather green people losses +they can ill afford. During the war, the soldiers were cheated +enormously by it. Millions of dollars have been paid for utterly +worthless stuff. + +But it is not only in bogus jewelry that prizes are warranted. Gold +pens are held out as an inducement. What village poetaster or scribbler +for the weekly journal--enjoying a reputation among his acquaintances +for 'smart writing'--imagining himself a second Byron or another +Sylvanus Cobb, Jr., but what likes to sport a gold pen with 'silver +case' before the admiring eyes of friends or the envious glances of +rivals, as the instrument with which the flow of melody or pathetic +romance in the 'Trumpetown Blower' is produced. By such the circular of +the '-----Gold Pen Co.' sent through the post-office, is warmly +welcomed. A careful perusal, a comparison of the different styles and +prices, and then, of course, a remittance. The pen arrives in a +handsome velvet-lined box. A glance and the possessor is entranced; he +tries it, it writes smoothly, and forthwith it is cleaned, placed in +the pocket and carelessly shown by accident' to friends. Another +trial--alas! the ink sticks; the pen corrodes; the gold comes off; the +silver holder turns black; polishing fails to produce a shine, and +eventually it is apparent that a swindle has been perpetrated and that +the 'cheap gold pen' is, after all, but copper or brass; thousands of +these pens are sent in a week by express to all parts of the country +and as many dupes made to pay fifty times their value to the adroit +swindlers who manufacture them. + +"The postmaster at Wakeman, Huron county, Ohio, having heard of this-- +Pen Co., sent for a circular, which was at once forwarded. Selecting a +certain pen he remitted the money for it; in reply he received an old +copper pen not worth three cents; he immediately remonstrated in a +second letter, and a third, of which no notice was taken, and the +unfortunate United States official was obliged to consider himself +swindled. This is but an instance of many." + +Remember, dear reader, there is no royal road to fortune. Keep your +money, or invest it more sensibly, for there is not one single gift +association in the world in which you will meet with anything but the +vilest deceit and dishonesty. You will be robbed in any and all of +them. + + + DOLLAR STORES. + +The Dollar Stores of the land are mere humbugs. The articles sold are +dear at the prices asked. The watches are worthless, the diamonds and +other jewels are paste, and the gold is pinchbeck or Dutch metal. An +article for which they ask one dollar is worth in reality about ten +cents. On higher priced articles their profit is in proportion. A few +weeks' use will show the real value of a purchase made at one of these +places. + + + + + CHAPTER LXXIII. + + + SITUATION AGENCIES. + +Those employment agencies whose advertisements may be daily seen in our +city papers, are well exposed in the following experience of a young +man in want of a situation. + +I have no trade or profession. My parents were well off in the world, +and; without thinking that their riches might take to themselves wings +and fly away, they considered it of no importance that I should become +master of anything but the graces of society. But misfortune did come +and left them without a dollar in the world, although neither of them +lived long to contend with poverty. I found myself illy adapted to +anything, and was, as you may well suppose, at a loss which way to +turn. + +I applied to one or two acquaintances; but they could make no use of a +man who knew nothing at all of the ways of trade, or of the arts and +sciences; and so I was treated to not a few very gloomy forebodings. +While glancing over the columns of a daily newspaper, my eye rested on +the following advertisement. + +'WANTED, clerks, copyists, collectors, timekeepers, watchmen, potters, +bartenders, coachmen, grooms, two valets to travel. Immediate +employment.' + +It was such a spontaneous affair; so general and so pliable that I +resolved to avail myself of some of its many chances. So I entered the +'office' with great expectations. + +I am a good penman and at once resolved to take up the situation as +copyist, and using that as a foundation for future superstructure, to +do my best, early and late. I entered the room. There didn't seem to be +such a rush of applicants there as I had anticipated; in fact, the room +was entirely unoccupied, save by a flashy youth who seemed to be doing +his best to smoke himself out with a very bad segar. I mentioned my +errand to him and he instantly became very polite. + +The proprietor was not in just then but would probably be in sometime +during the day. The first thing, however, for me to do, was to register +my name and pay a fee of two dollars, which would entitle me to the +situation I coveted. What was two dollars with a prospect of business +before me? I paid it and was told that I had better call in the +afternoon and see the proprietor. + +I called again as he requested. The proprietor had been in, but a man +whose name was down ahead of mine had taken the place of copyist that +had kept my heart up so eagerly, and I should be obliged to wait until +a similar situation presented itself, when, of course, I should stand +first of all, or take up with something else. I asked about clerkships, +but a hasty glance at his book convinced him that everything had been +taken up, and that I had better call to-morrow. + +Unwilling to lose my money without some attempt at securing a place, I +called again the next day. The flashy fellow of the day before was not +there, but in his place a black-whiskered man, with keen black eyes, so +small and retiring that you would scarcely be aware of his possessing +such assistants until he turned them fully upon you. This proved to be +the proprietor. To him I made known my wants. He nodded, placed the +book before me, and handed me a pen. + +I explained my transactions of the day before, but he said that the fee +for each day encompassed only the chances for that day; that if I +desired to take my chances for this day I must again favor him with my +name and two dollars. This I refused to do, unless he would guarantee +me a situation similar to the ones he had advertised openings for, at +the same time expressing my disgust in warm, if not eloquent language. + +But his assurances were so strong that, with his promise to give me a +note to a man who was then desirous of a copyist, I again enriched him +from my scanty stock of money. Taking the letter, I followed the +directions upon it until I was led into the fourth story of a building +on Nassau street. I found a man seated at a desk, whose voice and +general manner was strongly like the flashy individual whom I had met +at the 'agency' the day before. But his whole exterior was changed, and +as he seemed to be very busy over some writing, I did not have a good +chance to verify my suspicions. + +He did not wish a copyist, but his friend Brown did, and was willing to +pay handsomely for such services. Unfortunately, however, Brown had +been called out of town on some important business, and would not be in +until the next day; but if I would have the kindness to leave my +address, there was no doubt but he would send for me there at once. I +wrote my address, but told him that I would call myself. + +While I was allowing him to bow me out, I made some inquiries relative +to the responsibility of the 'agency,' and he gave it an unqualified +recommendation, speaking in such high terms of Mr. Bucker, the +proprietor, that I almost repented the few hard feelings I had indulged +in toward him. If Mr. Bucker enjoyed the confidence of the leading +merchants, he certainly was a man for me to trust. + +I called the next day, and Mr. Brown was poising his feet upon his +desk, smoking, and soothing his heart in the columns of a newspaper. I +mentioned my name and business. He looked up, and in reply to my +question as to whether or not he was Mr. Brown who desired a copyist, +he said that he had the honor of being a Mr. Brown, but I must be +laboring under some misapprehension, if I supposed that he was in want +of a copyist. The Brown to whom I alluded, in all probability, had gone +to New Jersey, and owing to sundry unsettled accounts he would not be +likely to return so suddenly as he had departed. I explained my +position, but he disclaimed all knowledge of the affair, and would give +me no satisfaction whatever. I went back to the 'agency,' but on +inquiry I found that Mr. Bucker had sold out, and another swindler had +taken up the business of robbing the unwary poor. + +I made my case known to the police, but a shrug of the shoulders was +all the consolation I received. Such swindlers do exist, they say, but +owing to the artful manner in which they conduct their business, it is +next to impossible to convict them. + +"My object in sending you this for publication is to warn others. I +have since learned that the majority of these 'agencies' are +established on the same principle, and that not one in a hundred who +apply and pay their money ever receive a situation; that the merchants +and those whom they profess to represent have no faith and no +connection with them whatever." + + + + + CHAPTER LXXIV. + + + THE PATENT SAFE GAME. + +One of the most barefaced swindles ever practiced in New York has now +almost gone out of existence. It is called the "patent safe game," and +was much practiced during the late war, as many of our soldiers can +testify. It was carried on principally in the neighborhood of the +Hudson River Depot, and the complaints of the victims, to the police, +were loud and numerous. The mode of operation was as follows: + +A stranger in the city would be accosted by a well-dressed individual, +who would immediately begin a careless, friendly conversation. If the +overtures of this individual are not repulsed in the first instance, he +is soon joined by his accomplice, who professes to be a stranger to +swindler number one. + +The accomplice has in his possession a small brass ball or sphere, +which he says is the model of a patent safe, much used by merchants in +China and India. He is trying to introduce it in this country, and +would like to show the gentleman his model. This brass ball is, to all +appearance, solid, but to the initiated it is soon made hollow, by +pressing on a certain inner circle, when the centre of the ball, which +is in the shape of a small cone, drops out. The bottom of the cone may +be unscrewed, when a little chamber is revealed, in which is a long +piece of white paper, carefully folded and secreted. The other end of +the cone, the top of it, can be unscrewed, and a second chamber is +revealed, in which is a second piece of paper, exactly like the first. + +Swindler number one takes the ball, examines it, and declares that it +must be solid. The accomplice then presses the spring, and the centre +drops out. He then unscrews one of the chambers, and reveals the paper +to the admiring stranger and swindler number one. The accomplice's +attention is here called away for a moment, and swindler number one, +quietly winking at the stranger, abstracts the paper from the chamber, +screws the lid on, and replaces the centre in the ball. Handing it back +to the accomplice, he whispers to the stranger that he is about to win +some money. He then bets the accomplice a sum which he thinks +proportioned to the means of the stranger, that there is no paper in +the ball. The bet is promptly taken by the accomplice. Swindler number +one finds that he has no money, and asks the stranger to lend him the +amount, offering to divide the winning with him. The stranger, who has +seen the paper abstracted from the ball, is sure his new-found friend +will win, and not being averse to making a little money on the spot, +produces the desired amount, and hands it to his friend. The accomplice +then opens the second chamber, reveals the duplicate piece of paper, +and claims the stakes. The stranger loses his money, and is taught a +useful lesson. He may apply to the police, if he wishes to do so, but +the probabilities are that he will never see either his "friends" of +the safe, or his money, again. + + + POCKET-BOOK DROPPING. + +This is a common occurrence in New York, and it is well for strangers +to be on their guard against it. + +A gentleman was once standing in front of a handsome show window on +Broadway, gazing at the wares it contained, when he felt himself tapped +on the shoulder. Looking around, he saw a well-dressed man standing by +him, holding in his hand a well-filled pocket-book. + +"Did you drop this, sir?" asked the stranger. "I have just picked it up +at your feet." + +"It is not mine," said the gentleman, feeling for his own wallet, and +finding it safe. + +"Strange," said the man. "It was lying at your feet." As he spoke he +opened it, and revealed several heavy rolls of bills. "There must be +several thousand dollars here," he said. + +"What are you going to do with it?" asked the gentleman. + +"I don't know," said the man. "I'm a stranger in the city, and I am +compelled to leave town in a couple of hours. This pocket-book will +undoubtedly be advertised to-morrow, and as the amount it contains is +heavy, the reward will be large. Do you stay in town to-day, sir?" he +asked, suddenly. + +"Yes," said the gentleman, "I shall be here several days." + +"Then I will turn the pocket-book over to you," said the man, after +thinking a moment. "You can advertise it. Give me twenty dollars, and +take the wallet." + +"What do you suppose will be the reward offered?" asked the gentleman. + +"Not less than fifty dollars. In that case you will make thirty dollars +clear." + +"Why don't you keep the money?" + +"Sir," said the man, sharply, "do you take me for a thief?" + +"Not at all," was the reply. "I meant no offence." The gentleman was +thoughtful or a moment, and then drew out his wallet. The fellow, he +reasoned, was evidently an honest man. The owner of the wallet would +certainly reimburse him for the amount he paid the finder, and might +offer more and the contents of the wallet would insure him against +loss. He hesitated a moment longer, and then handed the man two ten +dollar bills. The stranger gave him the pocketbook, and after a few +words more, walked off. + +At the first opportunity, the gentleman examined the notes in the +wallet carefully. They were all of the denomination of ten dollars, and +amounted in all to five thousand dollars, _but were each and every one +counterfeits of the very grossest character_. He had paid twenty +dollars for a lot of worthless trash, and the game was now plain to +him. + +This method of swindling is still very popular with the rogues of the +city. + + + THIMBLE RIGGING. + +The headquarters of this game are in the neighborhood of the City Hall +and Printing-house Square. + +"The 'little joker' is a very simple trick, and yet, from its very +simplicity, all the more successful in entrapping the unwary. The +apparatus is (occasionally) a small stand, three brass thimbles and a +little ball, resembling, in size and appearance, a green pea. Often the +former is dispensed with, and the crown of a hat or the knees used +instead. The 'rigger,' in the most _nonchalant_ manner imaginable, +places the ball apparently under one of the thimbles, in plain view of +the spectators, and offers to bet any sum that 'it isn't there.' Our +friend from the country who is looking on, an interested spectator--is +astonished at such a proposition, and looks upon the individual making +it as little better than a fool; for didn't he see the ball placed +under the thimble, and therefore must it not be there still? His idea +on this point is soon confirmed--a bystander takes up the bet, the +thimble is raised, and there sure enough is the ball--just where _he_ +knew it was! + +"Again the ball is covered, and once more the bet is offered. Eager to +prove his sagacity, our friend produces a 'V' or 'X spot' and covers +the sharper's money. The thimble is raised, a moment of expectation, a +single glance, and _the ball is gone_! A shout of laughter from the +swindler and his confederates standing around, announces the fact that +the gentleman from the rural districts has been 'sold.' Pocketing, not +his money, but his loss, the victim walks away disconsolate, painfully +conscious that he has been 'done,' not only out of his cash, but has +had the wool pulled over his eyes in a (to him) most incomprehensible +manner." + + + SEWING MACHINE SWINDLES. + +The country newspapers are filled with advertisements of cheap sewing +machines. From one to ten dollars is the price asked. The men who +insert these advertisements are amongst the most unprincipled swindlers +in New York. The machines they offer for sale are worthless. + +A lady living in a neighboring State once sent five dollars to one of +these fellows for his machine, and received in return a flimsy little +instrument, so small that she could put it in her pocket. The needle +could not be used at all, and after turning the handle a few times the +cranks and wheels became bent, and twisted into one confused and +useless mass. The machine was not worth twenty-five cents. + +A fellow, some time ago, advertised a machine for fifty cents, and +proclaimed it to the world as "the most perfect ever invented." It was +simply a brass instrument in the shape of a fly, and the only use to +which it could be put was to fasten work to a table. It was so flimsy +that it did not last more than two or three days in this way. + + + THE POCKET TIME KEEPER. + +Almost every reader of this book has seen in some newspaper the +advertisements of the various "Pocket Time-Keepers," manufactured and +offered for sale in this city. The price is usually one dollar. The +article is merely a _pasteboard sun-dial_. The purchaser can make +little or no use of it, and is swindled out of his money. + + + MOCK AUCTION'S. + +The day of mock auctions has gone by, but there are still one or two of +these establishments lingering in the city. These are managed in +various ways. + +At some of these establishments a lot of pencil cases, watches, or +other goods, is offered for-sale. The lot generally contains a dozen or +a gross of articles. Bids are started by the "decoys" of the +proprietor, who are scattered through the crowd, and strangers are thus +induced to make offers for them. Each man supposes he is bidding for a +single lot, and is greatly astonished to find the whole lot knocked +down to him. He is told he must take the entire lot, that his bid was +for all. Some are weak enough to comply with the demand, but others +resist it. + +Admiral Farragut, during the war, made a bid for a penknife at one of +these places, and was astonished at being told he must take the whole +gross of the article. The old hero was not to be caught in this way, +however, and he quietly called in a policeman, and gave the auctioneer +in charge for attempting to swindle him. + +[Illustration: A Mock Auction--Kicked Out After Being Fleeced.] + +A well-known Broadway auctioneer was brought before the Mayor, some +time ago, on the following complaint. A gentleman, who appeared against +the auctioneer, stated that he had attended his last sale. The +auctioneer put up a box containing twelve silver pencil-cases, and the +gentleman, supposing from his manner and language, that he was selling +them fairly, bid two dollars and fifty cents for the lot. To his +surprise, he was told that he had bid two dollars and fifty cents for +_each_ pencil-case, and that he must pay thirty dollars for the whole +lot. The money had been paid and the auctioneer refused to return it, +insisting that the gentleman should take one pencil-case or nothing. +The Mayor compelled the scamp to refund the money, and warned him that +he would revoke his license if a similar complaint were again made +against him. + +In some of these establishments, a stranger who attempts to remonstrate +against the swindle fares badly. He is hustled out by the confederates +of the proprietor, and if he attempts to defend himself, is handed over +to the police on a charge of attempting to create a disturbance. + +Other establishments sell watches and cheap jewelry. A really good +article is put up, and passed around through the crowd as a sample. It +draws bids rapidly, and is knocked down to the highest bidder. It has +by this time been handed back to the auctioneer, and when the purchaser +demands it, he is given some worthless article, which the dealer and +his assistants swear was the one exhibited to the crowd. Remonstrances +are useless. The bogus article must be taken or the money lost, unless +the victim calls in the police. The city authorities have recently +stationed a policeman at the door of one of these establishments, to +warn strangers of its true character. + +A friend of the writer--a "verdant countryman," too--once attended one +of these auctions. A magnificent hunting-case watch was put up, and +knocked down to John, as we shall call him, at the low price of ten +dollars. As the announcement of the sale was made, John, who had his +money in his hand, stepped briskly to the desk. + +"Will you let me see that watch a minute?" he asked. + +"Certainly, sir," said the auctioneer, handing him the watch. + +"That's a magnificent watch," said John, admiringly, "and I think I got +it pretty cheap!" + +"Yes," replied the man, "that's the cheapest watch I ever sold." + +"Well," said John, putting the watch in his pocket, and laying his ten +dollars on the desk, "I'm very well satisfied with my bargain." + +The auctioneer, alarmed for the repeater, which was his own, exclaimed +quickly, + +"We generally give a case with our watches, sir; let us fit one on +that." + +"No," said John, quietly, as he turned away, "I'm satisfied with the +watch--I don't want a case!" + +He walked leisurely away, but the auctioneer sprang after him. + +"That watch is not for sale," said the man, angrily. + +"It's bought and paid for," said John, coolly, buttoning his coat +across his breast. + +"I don't want your money, I want my watch!" shouted the man. + +"It was a fair sale!" said John. "Gentlemen," he exclaimed, turning to +the crowd, "I appeal to you. Was not it a fair sale?" + +"Yes!" "Yes!" "Keep the watch!" cried the spectators, delighted that, +for once, the sharper had met his match. + +[Illustration: How a Countryman "Bought a Watch."] + +A policeman now approached, and John, stating the circumstances of the +case to him, placed himself under his protection. The officer and the +crowd accompanied him to his hotel, which he reached in safety. He left +for home the next morning, taking his prize with him, and to this day +boasts that he was "rather too much for New York, if he was from the +country!" + + + + + CHAPTER LXXV. + + + LOST IN THE GREAT CITY. + +In a side-room of the main hall of the Central Police Headquarters, on +the second story, in Mulberry street, is a desk at which sits an old +rosy-cheeked, white-headed police officer, named McWaters. McWaters is +famous in New York. He is the theatrical critic of the Police +Department. His opinions on music and the drama are of weighty +authority among members of the force, and, like most critics, he is +dogmatic and forcible. + +But, McWaters is at present known to fame as being the officer +detailed, by Inspector George Dilks, to take charge of a department +organized in November, 1867, to supply a great want, and which is now +in successful operation. This department is known as the "Bureau for +the Recovery of Lost Persons." Officer McWaters was formerly in the +City Hall Precinct, under Captains Thorne and Brackett, and is very +well acquainted with the city, so his services have been made available +in this new bureau. + + + MISSING MEN AND WOMEN. + +The manner of investigation in regard to a missing relative or friend, +is as follows: As soon as a person disappears from home, the nearest +relative, on learning of the missing person, goes to police +headquarters, and makes application to the 'Missing Bureau' for +information. The age, height, build--whiskers, if any--color of eyes, +dress, hair, the place where last seen--the habits and disposition of +the person?--are given to the inspectors, and officer McWaters makes +proper entries on his register, which he keeps for that purpose, of all +these facts. The personal description of the missing person is compared +with the returns made by the Morgue every twenty-four hours to the +police inspectors. Should the description answer to the person and +clothing of any person found at the Morgue, word is at once sent to the +relatives of the joyful news. Besides this, another very necessary +precaution is taken to find the person or persons missing. Cards are +printed, five or six hundred in number, and sent to all the police +officers on special duty in the different metropolitan precincts, with +instructions to the captains to have his men make active and energetic +search for the person. + + + THEORIES ABOUT LOST PEOPLE. + +Over seven hundred people have been reported as missing to police +headquarters during the past twelve months. Of this number, a majority +have been found, it is believed, as no record can be kept of those who +are not reported when found, by their relatives or friends, to +headquarters. Occasionally, a person who reports some one missing, +belonging to them, will give all the details about him--but, if found, +will fail to notify the authorities, from a sense of shame, where +domestic difficulties have occurred in families, or from laziness, or a +sense of forgetfulness. Thus, all track is lost of those who have been +found, unknown to the police, and accurate statistics are baffled in +the matter of inquiry. + + + WHERE AND HOW PEOPLE ARE LOST. + +The manner in which missing men are advertised is as follows. A card, +of which the following are fair examples, is circulated among the +police: + + OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF + METROPOLITAN POLICE, 300 MULBERRY STREET + NEW YORK, _January_ 11,1868. + +MISSING.--Since Thursday evening last--Mary Agnes Walsh; twenty-three +years of age, residing at 281-1/2 Elizabeth street, five feet high, +medium size, slim built, dark complexion, dark brown hair, dark eyes, +had on a black alpaca dress, black plush coat (or cloak), black velvet +hat. It is supposed she is wandering about the city in a temporary +state of insanity, as she has just returned from the Lunatic Asylum, +where she has been temporarily confined for the last three weeks. Any +information of the above to be sent to her brother, Andrew Walsh, +2811/2 Elizabeth street, or to Inspector Dilks, 300 Mulberry street. + +MISSING.--Morton D. Gifford, about twenty-five years of age, light +hazel eyes, brown hair, full beard and moustache same color, height +five feet six and three quarter inches, has lost the two first joints +off the middle fingers of right hand. Had on a light brown cloth suit +bound with black, the vest cut without a collar, a black cloth overcoat +made sack fashion, with black velvet buttons. Was last seen on board +the steamer City of Norfolk, running between Norfolk and Crisfield, in +connection with the Crisfield, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Railroad, +Annamesic line, on the 3d of February, 1868. Had with him a black +leather satchel, containing a full suit of black clothes, hat, linen, +etc. Was a soldier in the Union army, and has recently been in business +in Plymouth, North Carolina. Any person having any information +regarding him will please communicate with Inspector Dilks, 300 +Mulberry street, New York. + +MISSING--Since Thursday, November 14--John F. McCormack; when last +seen he was on board the steam-tug Yankee, at the foot of Charlton +street; age twenty-four years, eyes and hair dark brown, height five +feet four inches, heavy eyebrows. He was dressed in a brown sack coat +and brown vest, black pants, flat-crowned black hat. Any person knowing +his whereabouts, or having seen him since the above date, will please +call at the residence of his uncle, Robert McCormack, No. 12 Talman +street, Brooklyn, or on Inspector Dilks, police headquarters, 300 +Mulberry street. November 30, 1867. + +FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.--Missing from Bay street, Stapleton, Staten +Island, since Wednesday, November 25, 1868, Willy Hard grove, a boy +eight years of age, medium size, dark hair, dark, clear complexion, +blue eyes; has a recent scar on his cheek, made by the scratch of a +pin; dressed in a dark striped jacket and pants; the pants button on +the jacket with light bone buttons; old, strong boots, no hat. He is +rather an attractive boy and very familiar with strangers. It is feared +he has been abducted, from the fact of his musical abilities. He can +sing in a good tenor voice any tune he may hear once played, but can't +speak plain. The above reward will be paid by his father, Terence M. +Hardgrove, Stapleton, for such information as will lead to his +recovery. Information may be sent to Inspector Dilks, police +headquarters, 300 Mulberry street. + +MISSING.--Annie Hearn left her home on Monday last. She is ten years of +age, dark blue eyes, black hair cut short, has a slight scar on her +left temple. Was dressed in a dark alpaca frock, black woollen sontag +with white border, black velvet hat, no-trimming, high laced boots, +striped stockings. Any information relative to her will be gratefully +received by Richard Burk, 217 Madison street, or Inspector Dilks, 300 +Mulberry street. + +LEFT HER HOME, at Hyde Park, Scranton City, Pa., on Monday June 14, +Sarah Hannaghan, aged fifteen, tall for her age, short brown hair, +light eyes and fair complexion. Had on a tan-colored dress, light cape, +drab hat, trimmed with ribbon of the same color. Had with her a dress +with a yellow stripe, made short. Information to be sent to Inspector +Dilks, 300 Mulberry street, New York, or to James Hannaghan, 152 +Leonard street. + +TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS REWARD, will be paid for information that will lead +to the arrest or recovery of Henrietta Voss, aged sixteen years. She +left Seacusus, Hudson county, New Jersey, Tuesday, July 21, about 7 A. +M. She is tall, slim built, and a little stooped; brown hair, blue +eyes, long thin pale face. Dressed in a full suit of black. The +gratitude of a father, who desires to save his daughter, will be added +to the above reward. JOHN Voss. + +TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS REWARD.--Missing, an insane man, named Frederick +Liebrich, native of Germany, speaks English, German, and French. +Supposed to lodge at night in the police station houses about the lower +part of the city, is very stupid looking, and clothed in rags. Was last +seen in Washington market, about the middle of last November. He is +about thirty-eight years of age, eyes and hair black, large regular +features, and very dark complexion, about five feet ten inches high, +stout built, straight and well made. The above reward will be paid for +his recovery, or direct evidence of his death; by Frederick Cummick, 82 +Washington street, Brooklyn. Information to be sent to Inspector Dilks, +police headquarters, 300 Mulberry street. + + + LOST CHILDREN. + +"Hundreds of 'Lost Children' bear testimony to the carelessness of +mothers and nurses who are more intent on other business, when their +charges stray off to be found afterwards in out of the way places by +stray policemen. Quite often a pedestrian will notice, on going along +one of our side streets, a young child, its eyes bubbling over with +tears, and red from irritation and inflammation, who has strayed from +its parents' residence. Sometimes it will have a stick of candy in its +infantile fists, or else an apple, or a slice of bread, butter, and +molasses to console it in its wanderings. It is very seldom, however, +that these children do not find their way back to their parents, unless +that there is foul play, as in such instances where a child may be +kidnapped by people who are childless, or through their agency, for the +purpose of adoption in barren families. The practice of baby-farming +has not as yet attained, in America, the height that it has reached in +England, and therefore the lives of children are not yet so endangered +as they are across the water. It is calculated that at least one +thousand children are missing every year in this city, but they are +nearly all returned before the close of the day on which they are first +missed." + + + THE DENS OF MIDNIGHT. + +"If the thousand and one noisome crannies, nooks, and dens of this +great city could be exposed to view, day after day, the bodies of many +a missing man and woman might be found festering and rotting, or their +bones bleaching for want of decent burial. Where do the bodies come +from that are fished up, bloated and disfigured, night after night, by +the harbor police, in haunts of the docks and from the slime of the +Hudson? It is fearful to think of men influenced by liquor, who, with +their gold watches, pocket-books, and other valuables exposed in the +most foolish manner, are to be seen, night after night, in the dens and +hells of this great, sinful city. Many of these men are from far off +country villages and happy homes, and when thrown into our streets at +night under the flare of the gas lamps, and among crowds of showily +dressed women, whose feet are ever downward into the abyss, it becomes +almost impossible for them to resist the thousand and one meretricious +temptations that are placed before them." + + + THE HORROR OF A BREAKING DAWN. + +"Instances may be related of how men disappear and are never heard of +to be recognized. A well-to-do person from Ohio, who had never visited +New York before, pays a visit to this city, and, stopping at a down- +town hotel, sallies out in the evening in search of what he has been +taught by his limited course of reading to call 'adventures.' He +believes, in his Ohio simplicity, that he will meet with a beautiful +and rich young lady in New York who, struck with his rural graces and +charms, will at once accept his hand and farm. Well, he takes a look at +the 'Black Crook,' or 'White Fawn,' or 'Genevieve de Brabant,' and +returning late to his down-town hotel is struck by the beauty and grace +of a female form that glides before him on his way down town. Pretty +soon she makes a signal to him that cannot be mistaken, and our Ohio +friend, rather astonished at the freedom of the aristocratic and well- +bred ladies of the metropolis, but nothing loth, hastens to her side, +and accompanies her to her richly voluptuous mansion in Bleecker, +Green, Mercer, or Crosby streets. In the watches of the night he +awakens to find the aristocratic lady fastened on his throat, and a +male friend of hers, with a villainous countenance, poising a knife for +a plunge in his neck. The work is done quickly, a barrel well packed, +or a furniture chest, placed in a carriage at night, can be taken up +the Hudson River road and there dropped in the river, and after a day +or so the head of another dead man will be found eddying and floating +around the rolling piers near the Battery, his face a pulp, and no +longer recognizable. The sun shines down on the plashing water, but the +eyes are sightless, and never another sun can dim their brilliancy or +splendor. It is only another missing man without watch, pocket-book, or +money on his person." + + + MISERY, SHAME, AND DEATH. + +Another missing instance. A beautiful maiden, born in a village on the +Sound, where the waters of that inland sea beat and play around the +sandy pebbles of a land-locked inlet, is reared in innocence and virtue +until she reaches her seventeenth year. She is as lovely as the dawn, +and her life, peaceful and happy, with no greater excitement than the +Sunday prayer-meeting, has never been tainted by the novelty of desire. +At seventeen, she visits New York for the first eventful time in her +life. She is dazzled with its theatres, its balls, its Central Park, +the Broadway confuses and intoxicates her, but opera has divine charms +for her musical ear, and she is escorted night after night by a man +with a pleasing face and a ready tongue. She is yet pure as the +undriven snow. One night she takes a midnight sleigh ride on the road, +and they stop at a fashionable-looking restaurant in Harlem Lane or on +the road. She is persuaded to take a glass of champagne. She is finally +persuaded to drink an entire bottle of champagne. That night the world +is torn from under her feet. She has tasted of the apples of death. She +returns to her peaceful home by the silken waves of the Sound a +dishonored woman. To hide her shame she returns to New York, but her +destroyer has gone--she knows not whither. Then the struggle begins for +existence and bread. She is a seamstress, a dry-goods clerk, but her +shame finds her out when an infant is born to her, unnamed. One night, +hungry, and torn with the struggle of a lost hope, she rushes into the +streets and seeks the river. On a lone pier she seeks refuge from her +'lost life.' The night-watchman, anxious about the cotton and rosin +confided to his charge, does not hear the cry of 'Mother' from a +despairing girl, or the plunge into the gloomy, silent river below. She +is not found for days after, and then her once fair face is gnawed +threadbare with the incisors of crabs, and the once white neck, rounded +as a pillar of glory, is a mere greenish mass of festering corruption +She is not recognized, and thus fills the page devoted to missing +people. [Footnote: New York World.] + + + + + CHAPTER LXXVI. + + + CONCLUSION. + +Our task is done. We have told, as far as we are capable of telling, +the secrets of this great and growing city. Our purpose has been two- +fold, to satisfy a reasonable curiosity on the part of those who never +have seen, and probably never will see New York, and to warn those who +design visiting the city, of the dangers and temptations which await +them here. We warn them earnestly to confine their visits to the +numerous harmless and innocent attractions of the Metropolis, and to +shun those other, darker quarters of the city, which are but so many +gateways to the paths that lead down to ruin and death. + + + + + THE + + BLUE-COATS + + + And How they Lived, Fought and Died for the Union, + + + WITH SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN THE GREAT REBELLION + + + _Comprising Narratives of Personal Adventure, Thrilling + Incidents, Daring Exploits, Heroic Deeds, Wonderful + Escapes, Life in the Camp, Field and Hospital, + Adventures of Spies and Scouts. Together with + the songs, Ballads, Anecdotes, and Humorous + Incidents of the War._ + + Embellished with over 100 Fine Portraits and Engravings. + + * * * * * + +There is a certain portion of the War that will never go into the +regular histories, nor be embodied in romance or poetry, which is a +very real part of it, and will, if preserved, convey to succeeding +generations a better idea of the spirit of the conflict than many dry +reports or careful narratives of events; and this part may be called +the Gossip, the Fun, the Pathos of the War. This illustrates the +character of the leaders, the humor of the soldiers, the devotion of +women, the bravery of men, the pluck of our heroes, the romance and +hardships of the service. + +From the beginning of the war the author has been engaged in collecting +all the anecdotes connected with or illustrative of it, and has grouped +and classified them under appropriate heads, and in a very attractive +form. + +Prominent among the sparkling contents of this work, and which give to +its four departments their peculiar attractiveness, may be named:-- +Striking Instances of loyalty to the flag, and valor in its defence; +Bravery on the Battle-Field and Quarter-Deck; Examples of Youthful +Courage in the storm of Combat; Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry in line +of action--the tramp and onset; extraordinary fortitude under +suffering; undaunted heroism in death; the roll of fame and story. +Reminiscences of victory and disaster of Camp Picket, Spy, Scout, +Bivouac and Siege, with feats of Daring, Bold and Brilliant Marches, +Remarkable Cases of Sharp-Shooting, Hand-to-Hand Encounters, Startling +Surprises, Ingenious Strategy, Celebrated Tactics, Wonderful Escapes, +Comical and Ludicrous Adventures on Land and Sea; Wit, Drollery and +Repartee, Famous Words and Deeds of Women, Sanitary and Hospital +Scenes, Prison Experiences, Partings and Re-unions, Last Words of the +Dying, with affecting illustrations of the home affections and +mementoes of the tender passion; final scenes and events in the great +Drama, and all those momentous hours, acts and movements, the memory of +which will live in letters of blood before the eyes, and burn like fire +in the hearts of those who participated in them. These, sifted like +gold, are here presented in all their attractions. Thus the rank and +file, as well as the superior officers, both North and South, are made +illustrious in these pages by whatever of valor, skill or achievement +personally distinguished them. + +Amusement as well as instruction may be found in every page, as graphic +detail, brilliant wit and authentic history are skilfully interwoven in +this work of literary art. + + + AGENTS WANTED. + +The intense desire everywhere manifested to obtain this work, its very +low price, (only $2.50 per copy,) combined with an increased +commission, make it the best subscription book ever published, and +offers to Agents the finest opportunity to make money ever heard of in +the history of books. + +Times are dull, and people won't buy books unless they can get Standard +Works, and get them cheap. 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