Smyrna times., 1859-08-25
From the Philadelphia U. S. Gazette.
The Five Points of PHILADELPHIA.

d made a tour through that part of Philadelphia
which unfortunately corresponds but too closel,
to the Five Points in New York. We refeI
to the locality of Bedford, Spafford and B lkeI
| streets, between Sixth aud Eighth streets. will
f the network of courts aud alleys that branch OF
1 tIom these streets at almost every step.
few doors from the corner Of Seventh nd
Bedford streets we made our first pause. The
f very atmos Phere of this locality gives a fore
taste Of what afterwards greets the eye of the
visitor. The building in question is a grog-
gerry, where whskey is sold al cent drink,
and at SIX cents a pint. About its portals
, clustered in lazy attitudes, were a dozen or
more of people, black and white, male and fe-
male. Al the first glance our eye was met by
spectacle that more than repaid us for the
trouble OF our visit. A bin for holding coal
which is retaiIed by the halt-peck to the people
ot the neIghhorhOOd, occupies place in front
of the door. Upon it sal three colored men, one
of whom is a character that Dickens would
have immortalzed. There he sat, baskinr in
the sun, clad in a suit OF faded black, with
white felt castor surmountng his poll. Thou
sands OF people have paid quarIer-dolIar each
Tor The privilege OF staring ut hun, yet though
now neglected. he is as great curiosity day
as ne ever was. THIS singular persnnaTe is
coIored man. His age Is nunrIy.twO years
! parts of his body are u pure lChite. His fore.
head, which is high and bald. parts of his face,
and his entire neck, are bleached as white, geu-
tie reader, as your own, no matter how taIr may
be your skin. Ruling out the exception uf some
spots upon his hands and face, he is literally
white negro. HIS lower limbs are black as iet
while his beard and hair are white aud heecY
as merlno WOOL lie is native Of Westchester,
and was born al q time when all The colured
people in the State were slaves HIS parents
were the property of Mr. John Brinion, at
whose death he passed into the possession of
brother, named Joseph Brinton. He lived a. a
slave OF the latter uutl slavery was aboilshed
We tested his recollecllOns ot the war Of the
revolution, and found them historically accur-
ate. Washington he remembers very well, aud
also Lafayette. The former he describes as a
every nice man, that looked like a Methodist
preacher" Until he once heard him swear,
our colored friend informed us he had taken
Washington for a military chaplarn-"he he
looked SO solemn like
Shortly after gaining his freedom, our colored
friend found, to his dlsmay,-fnr he prided him.
self upon undlluted congo Origin-that parts of
his body were turning white, transformation
that continued to increase until he suddenly
found himself famous and scores of people came
to see him from all quarters. His fame as Lu.
SuS nature ultimately reached the ears of
Snowman, who went from New York to see
him, and after some negotiations engaged him
to travel with him. As great natural curI.
osity which puzzled the heads of the med ical
world, our "spolty" friend made the Tour of
the United States and was everywhere pro-
nounced piebald phenomenon. He lived while |
he lived, and having laid by little or nothing
for a rainy day, lives now as he best can
Sh0uld OF for
that particle of exaggeration is blended in
this narrative, they need only 20 to the above |
named locality, and ask for MIR. Curtis" 10 |
verify our statement.
Reluctantly cutting short the anecdotes of
the time that tried mems souls" as given by .
our volu6le friend, we passed to an establish.
ment across the street, that evidently made
some pretensions as to style. We arrived at an
opportune period. The house is a hotel, on a
small scale. 1t contains ten rooms, cellar in
cluded, whose average dimensions are eight by
ten feet. The cellar is rented to an organ
grinder, who, with his family, eat, sleep, and
live in this subterranean apartment. The floor
is simply the earth trodden into solidity, while
the furniture comprised a three-legged table.
two chairs, and bundle of straw in one Cor.
ner, upon which the man, his wife, two chill.
dren, and an old woman, all slept. The room
above the cellar is q restaurant. We arrived
just in time to see the purveyors returning from
Z" market" The purveyOrs aforesaid were four
little girls, who deposited tOlerably well flied
baskets upon the boards that constituted the
counter The vlands are begged from door to
door, and given by tender r-hearled servaut girls.
who suppose them to be intended for the suffer-
ing parents of The children.
Bless the innocence of some good people =
The contents of these baskets are devoted to a
very different purpose. The bones having meat
upon them are sorted out, pieces o. bread dItto.
upon different plates, which are sold To Gus.
toners at from three to six cents each, while
the bones aud inseparabe masses of cold
vIctuals " are jumbled together in tin boiler.
and converted into soup, which is sold at three
cents a bowl. Rooms overhead are rented to
families and transient guests, eight cents a
night being the price per room, or three cents
for single person. The sleeping accommoda.
tions, in the latter instance, consist of niece
of carpet laid over some straw; in the former
case, persons are expected to furnish" for
themselves. The passport to these accommo.
dations is the three or eight cents. No 4" refer.
ences" are required, nor a candle held to The
faces of applicants to ascertain their color or
nationality. The sWarmng occupants of the
house are about evenly divided into black and
white, and nearly oil of them are in the "rar
aud bone business"
The next place we entered was also crammed
with human beings. The proprietor is Ger
man. His house comprises seven rooms, and
boasts side yard. We entered the yard first.
1t contained cart, with a windlass in front of
it, by which to raise dead horses and CATTLE
The proprietor is in the employ Of the party
having the contract for removing offal. His |
house Is also filled with families who pay for
single rooms from sixty to seventy-fi five cents
per week, according to location. A door or
Two from this we found another building, in |
which we beheld scenes to make ones heart
heavy tor a week to come. We descended the
cellar from fight of steps outside. The only
furniture it contained was a table, two broken
chairs. and clay furnace. Upon scanty mat
Iress, made frem an old carpet stuffed with