Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-09

mesticated ladies, not necessarily of doubtful
character, but ladies unattached, whose affec-
tions have been crossed, and whose aspirations
are biighted, and upon whose bleeding hearts
This floating population is swelled by many
female day dreamers, lounging women, or she.
ioafers, whose hopeless vacancy of mind calls
for the stimulant Of the noise, the sbons tbe
dust, the variety of faces, Of the Kissing seetb
ing street here is something there to lure
them away from the monotony of their aimless
NE, anu gradually they are fascinated by
Droaoway They cannot live without it,
Iney become part and parcel of Broadway
They dress for it, as if to firt with its pave.
ment: There are female faces which haunt
broadway for a whole generation. The stran-
ger VINO has seen such face, with a Broadway
flush, at the beginning of the nineteenth CEN
tury, may chance to meet the same face again,
with Broadway wrinkles, toward the middle of
the same century.
Towards midday Broadway has lost alto
gether its Ludgate hill and Cheapside charac-
ter In fine autumnal days it partakes Of the
dazzling features of the Bouleyards OF Paris
as the volcanic turmoil of the Strada Toledo
OF Naples, of the leisurely aspect of the Ham
burg Maiden lane and the Berlin Linden, of
the tornado rush of the London Strand, and of
the elegance OF Picadilly. But Broad way par
takes, on such occasions of all the elements
indicated, without coming specifically under
any class. While up town is rushing down
town, and In the afternoon, when the influx
toward home sets in, the street has q London
Fleet street and Cornhill look, while the side
walks resemble rather tho avenues of Paris
Brussels and Hamburg
AT times, the mixture Of races, of German,
Irish, French, English, Scotch, Scandinavian
Poles, Hungarians, Italians, Negroes, Jews and
Indians, with the hundred varieties of Yankees.
Nesterners, Pennsylvanians, Californians. and
Southerners, reminds one of great Babel of a
fair, like Nishnin, Novogorod, or Leipsis, or of
great Levantine port, like Constantinople and
Alexandria, where all languages are heard. all
races mingie tor time, and yet amid the va
rlety every one preserving its own individual
ity.
This, then, is another popularity of Broad
way, which makes il SO different from great
European thOroughfares. After sunset. when
business has ceased, and the shops are mostly
closed, the pleasure atmosphere begins. I'm
mense crowds gather at theatres and other
places of amusement and entertainment As
the evening advances the character of the
street assumes more Ominous appearance
Even after the pleasure-seekers have returned
home it remains full Of stragglers
Strange looking men, and still stranger look
Ing women, begin to come from the by.streets
and back alleys, forming small knots at promi.
nent corners, as If for a campaign. 0mnibuses
are ON the qai Uirs. Bearded foreigners and
natives, smoking and swearing, haunt the
street. Here and there the cry of murder is
heard, and then the club of the policeman For
a time all seems quiet again Broadway, at
last, seems to go to sleep. But, no there is a
band OF drunken sailors drifting in from some
side street. Wild songs shake the air. Here
and there plaintive voice is heard. A Door
little flower girl offers bouquet of faded fow-
ers to one of the drunken band Or the fire.
bell calls for engines, and the loungers ioin in
the frolic, and women who pass by change ter
rible salutations with the noisy gang.
The clock strikes one. Broadway ia still
awake. 1t looks like Vesuvius after an erup-
tion- The lava of the whole days life is still
trembling in its air. 1t strikes two and three
O'Clock, and Broadway has not vet retired TO
rest; some drunkards and still sadder creatures
linger on bare-footed children and women are
seen here and there. After three-perhaps
from four to fve-Broadway takes a sort of a
nap. At this hour when the night is clear, the
sleeping streets afford splendid vistas The
steep!e Of Trinity looms above the surrounding
buildings, and the gas ligbts-tb0se luminous
policemen of the Wall street money safes
blend their reflection with the lamps and in
the upper part of the street the air Of repose in
this early morning hour is full of solemnity.
But Broadway cannot afford to sleep long, and
soon after five the busy comedy again begins
The CT0yOn.