The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1850-06-26
Y irgil'aisa and q: New n \ York. 81:

gion of Virginia, and alter describing the
mines :indulges himselfin tile following:
a,rhis should be a joyous, populous,
thrifty, wealthy region. 1t has the sun of
Greece, the sky OF Italy. Man has known no
healthier cline, no pnrer. atmosphere. The
5soilisspaturaliy fertile, and easily cu!tva-
tedi are watcr-powcr and timber in
abundance. and the gold mines must soon
create extensive and steady homo markets.
lovlier] land lies not beneathtllc summer
noon; nor one more inviting to effort; vet
you ride for miles and miles through for
ests of oak and pine which serve but MS
covers for game, though equal in beauty
and fertility to tue Ducal parks of England.
And nthe midst Of these nlerninablc for
ests you will frequently pass the falling
chimney, the scraggy apple tree, the wccdy
patch ofgrass and .briers, which tell where
the home of family once nestled. The
grave has claimed part of them; the sur
tvors are in Alabama, Texas, Illinois and
California--any whore so that they may
earn aliyelihood without humiliation in
the eyes of the companions Of their child
hood and the sharers of the fol'ies which
account downright labor of the hands the
roperyocation of slaves, and therefore dis
honoring tofreemen."
st%hbSi iiC uuNiScS TIC UCSl Con-
stitutional Convention Of Virginia 10 abol-
ish slavery in 1876.
Ii, they will we suppose they NAV ey
poet to elevate Virginia to the condition Of
New York. TO show something of ,cLol
that is, we subjoin description from tho
same Tribune, Of the cellar population of
New York, consisting Of about twenty
thousand people.
tk a rou,,1 fbn tI,or, or ,,,,,>,,
may see, at any time when the weather is
Iottoo cold, swarns Of children whose an.
pearance is the best argument that can be
found in favor Of public wash houses; Gov
cred in rags, encased in coat of dirt, that
from long hardening has become sort of
water and fire proof paint; their hair matted
INTO one mass Of grease and dust, their
limbs distorted by disease, or bruised and
dlsiigured by accident, constantly in con
tact with the more vicious Of the street
roaming vagabonds of larger growth, utter
ly Ignorant of such place as school.
perfectly oblIvious of the use of the al
phabct they, grow up in ignorance and
gWretchedncss to future Of Vice snd misc.
ry. 1t is from these subtcrrancan fountains
of poverty and infamy, in great measure,
that the great army of juvenile Migrants is
constantly recruited
"1'hese instances prcsupposc coscs
where at least a semblancc of virtue is
kept up. We may next turn to n class of
cellars far cleaner physically, but morally
the lowest of the low. Ii is beyond our
province to describe them, indeed. it is moi
neeessary to do SO, since they arc The sta.
pie text of all the Mystery literature Of
the day. Those who pandor TO the taste,
hardly laSS yJ1ra tl,a, tic.
be bankrupt, were they deprived of the
dance cellars and the classcs who dwell ~
them. These places are openly, indis-
guisedly dens OF prostitution from whose
jaws we now and then hear Of some mere
child being rescued by the police, but OF the
hnndredwho arc not rescued only the rrayc
dggers on pottcr's field or the kcepcrs of
theaLunatio Asylum can hear. From the
necessity ofkecping up an 'invfing' aspect,
these places are generally clean, but the
cupboard bedrooms and the badly ventla
ted 'parlor' arc crowded with drunken and
diseased occupants, from whom little health
and less morality can be expected.
~. Of course, all of these dance cellars
areirnm shops; hut there is large class of
Easements overwhelmingly to tho sale OF
liquor. We have frequently passed one
OF this kind in the eighth ward, where the
addition of gambling keeps crowd OF
( twenty men closely shut up in a hot sum
mer night, the room filled with smoke and
such air as only a drunken man could be
made to breathe. The rum cellars rropcr
are iavorItc haunts for the lowest class OF
sots, because OF their seclusion; the solid
board blinds and the closed doors screen
them from the eyes of policemen and ac-
qua!ntances, and give them the largest lib
erty TO drink their fill without nolestalou.
1t is not lmprobably that five hundred sub
terranean rum shops are in full blast, in
each oil which, during the first half of the
night there are constantly, say ten persons
breathing the air that is Insufficient for the
proper support Oft two. With the rum we
have at present nothing to DO.
s"Thc boarding and lodging cellars are
tnc iast we shall mention In several OF
these, there arc three classes of boar,lcrs
taken; the first class pay 81 II cents per
week Tor board and lodging, having straw
goose on The itoor) to sleep upon, and be-
ing entitled to the first table; the second
ciass pay - 3-4 cents per week, sleep on
the bare floor and cat at the second table.
the th'rd class pay nine cents per week,
are turned out when there is n lack of
~ iN'iiif Cdl tiln lll!Tt ana last
table. These cellars are generally bare of
furniture except ono or two benches and n
large table. The marketing is done by the
children, who are sent out to bep cold vic.
tua!s, except in some instances, where
there are too many boar!ers to risl; such a
hazardous source oi supply, ;lI,! then the
keeper OF the cellar makes special con.
tract with three or four professional bcgnar
women, who sell the product OF their an
pcais III behalf of starving children and
! SICK husbands, for mere trinc. nll the
baskets are got in at a certain hour when
the hoarders assemble, and at the time OF
feeding, the whole mass is emitted upon tic
table. The first class" or threc. .shil.
llngs-a-week boarders, have the first nick
ing. in trice the fingers of the frs,
table gonrmands are knucklc dccp in The
feast OF fat things, and for a quarter of an
hour they poke over The pile selecting the
choice bils--thc scraps Of chicken, chop,
ham, mullins, clean bread, &c. seasoning
the variety with pickle, salad, ana such
condiments as fancy and delicate appc.
titemay select. Having satisfied their
y.,t ft.a,, IL ~