Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1848-12-27

scenes from which the victim pungeS into eternity
| WIN me nope that even in lis dirsst punishment
theTe can De nothing worse to encounteri Look n
the Golgo'ha of the Five Points-look at this plac,
oi skulls. these barracks OF Potters Fied-in Tn,
ight OF Day, and 1t would appear that the sun was
us uhWeicone and strange 10 the scene as 10 cav
eIn where bats and owls, and half torpid reptiles
had for ages occupied it in uninvaded darkness
ne dingy, grlmmed, and decrepid shan,ies, squeez
cd mo each ether by the COMPRISING walls, and
standing only because they stand toge:herthe dark
holes under ground--the wrecheG clusters Of mock
my misery tnat swarm in them to overfowiDg-ihe
brothels, the groceries, the old clo', the place for
drugs, and depot OF readv-made coflins, all in
ominous convenience to each otheT-the reeklng
pestience In the Streets and the constant brawls of
disappearing thieves that swell in chorus from the
cellars, depict the locality and its hideous society
and associations as things TO which the day is an
intruder, and the light of the sun an abstraction of
thus much time from the business Of the place.
For objects but little less despcabe Than the scenes
portrayed, the ''mysteries" Of New York have been
harped upon ill even The most morbid appeiites are
surleied. Yet the greatest mystery TO stranger,
IN passing through the Points, by daylight, is the
mystery Of their exemption from fire sweeping
them from the face of The EARTH Over space of
perhaps hundred acres, the buildings crowded to-
gether to suffocaton are combustible as powder
and filed with materials as nfammable, they
not unfrequently falling asleep in their straw, with
their pipes lighted, fire oft, ignite it by scat
tering their candles into ii in their nightly carou-
sails. Yet the inhabitants, in seeming defiance of
all the laws of safety, are exempt from coniagra-
ton, while whole squares Of tireproof edfices are
consumed in other quarters OF the city. Strange as
this exemption may appear, we think The reason is
obvious. portion of the Inhabitants of every Gel
lar, room garnet, The Points, are always awake
"a number of them always in the Streets
They thus iorm--not from organization, but from
the accidents OF necessity corps of sen,inels at
all hours and at all seasons and if some miserable
creature sells fire TO the straw she falls into her
forbid sleep, there are, from want of room to lie
down, several of the hybrid family yet awake to
exnguish it. Thus, the demoralizing excuses
which are the ruin of the deplorabe population of
this infected district are, in one respect at least,
the secret of their protection. A suggestion for the
public good is never out OF place. There is pro-
ject on foot for an enlargement of the Battery at
heavy expense 10 the Corporation. A far better ex-
pedient for the public benefit would be the purchase
of the sink of the Five Points, and its conversion
into public square of fifty hundred acres. A
margin on the four sides, sold in lots for stores
etc. might half redeem the costs of the enterprise
but the contribution to the health and character of
the city would compensate il for the outlay, beyond
any estimate OF expenditure.