The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-07-27

Will nobody take in hand the sorrows ofthe city,
and offer us some prospect of consolation? Does
the august body which takes counsel on our
collective welfare contain no jealous reformer,
whose bowels of compassion are moved by our
suferings, or are we to remain forever, like a
community of Micawbers. waiting for "sOme-
thing to turn up!' We are, we protest, very
patient most patient individuals. Job was. an
impostor beside us. For every plague which
afflicted the patriarch of w. dozen weigh on
our shoulders. Zeno would blush with shame
could he compare our stoicsm with his.
Those early Christians who sought to gain
heaven by dint of penance and sore modification
of the flesh, must think themselves accursed they
were not born here, where patient suffering is q
necessity, and discomfort law. An ascetic
would luxuriate in New York. And yet we
bear all with smiling face and pleasant words
consoling ourselves for some grievous annoy
ance with the proud rehexiou that !" this is
| great country"
Does any Kamstchatkian want to hear the de-
| tails Of the minor miseries Of New York lite ?
So manifold are they, that we know not how to
| begin their recital. They assail us bodily and
| mentally threaten our life and endanger our
| limbs /; jeopardize our health and poison our
morals; destroy our domestic peace and dis
turb our individual comfort attack us in the
street and worry us at home respect neither
age nor sex, and follow us from the cradle to
the tomb with unrelenting perseverance.
Are we seated comfortably in our home "A
cloud Of dust covers our papers, damages our
books, and destroys our furniture and damask
curtains. A heap of offal poisons the air oppo-
site our door. Complaints are useless-we
close the window and sufocate in peace. Hav-
| ing taken house with all the modern con-
veniences," we find the whole family, from
the baby to grandmamma, taken suddenly ill
one fine day; the doctor is called in, and we
discover that the "pure Croton" we have been
drinking is, in point of fact fine solution of
| lead. We purchase chemicals and filters. but
| they are quite su2erfuous as next day the
| pipes are empty, and we are forced to beg can
of the precious fluid from the grocer. We re-
side in very quiet, respectable locality; in
fact, the only store near us is the small grocer
| aforesaid, at the corner. On Sunday afternoon,
as we are bordering the mornings sermon, and
the children are reading the Young Christian"
noise is heard which is soon discovered to
proceed from the grocery Men are fighting.
A woman, in unwomanly Dress" is endeavor-
ing to drag away short, stout man in his shirt
| sleeves, whose face is scarlet and whose eyes
are CLASSY; he roughly pushes her from him,
and she falls, crying bitterly. We close the
| blinds for the sake of the children and pro-
| mise ourselves to write to the HERALD about
the same. At night as we are gently going off
| into our first Sleep q shout rises at distance,
swells, and at last rends the air under our win
dow. We protrude our head and discover a
| company Of firemen who are concentrating
their successful victory over chimney on fire,
by shouting at the top of their voices on their
way home.
We 60 out in the morning. Our way lies
along Broadway. At certain spot the rain
| or the water excavated from the foundation of a
building converts the carriage way into a
pond. The sidepath on one side is occupied by
a cart employed in carrying away earth; on
the other dry goods seller, or grocer, or
some other trader, has filled up the vacant
space with empty boxes, in order to persuade
people that he is doing large business. Be-
tween the boxes and the carter we choose the
latter. as the more intelligent. and civilly
request him to move his horse, so that the ladies
and ourselves may pass. He gazes for mo-
ment at us. with an expression Of mingled fe
rocity and scorn, then, shaking his whip, he
assails us with volley Of explosives which
show that he is a constant reader of the Tri-
| 6une. few moments are lost in vain search
for policeman, and we betake ourselves to the
pond with philosophic resignation 1t does
not much matter. in truth; for we are barely
| landed on dry land when an omnibus passes at
| smart trot and the mud, which is one of our
civic Institutions splashes us from head to foot.
Tired of complaining, we embark in one OF the
popular vehicles aforesaid The seat is wet,
but we don't mind it. We are twelve inside,
and try to look happy. The omnibus stops. A
| stout man, who boasts that he never carries an
umbrella, and drips like water god, forces
himself through the door. He is followed by
thin man in spectacles. who does carry an UNI
brella, invariably at right angles to his person;
| and washerwoman, who has both an umbrella
and large basket Of dirty linen. A faint cry
Full, driver!" is heard, but meets with no SYM
pathy. The new Corners are accommodating peo-
pie, and will put upwith seat on our knees ra-
Their than make fuss. You have the washerwo-
man for your share. with the corner of the basket
under your chin. At every jerk it makes your
teeth meet with a force which would terrify
your dentist. Out of patience, you stop the We
hiclc, pay your fare, and scramble into the open
air. You are at length free. In the midst Of a
reverie on the occurrences of the morning. you
hear peculiar sound behind you, huge body
flies past with whiz like cannon ball, and
you have just time to see small boy before
you whirled into the air on the horns Of an in
furiated bull. A crowd follows, but the bull