Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-11-22

VII Vhio Hhl' VI th0i' olaSolJ was p0Ilorueu'
These frail sister are mostly attached to these
houses as so many fixtures, paying so much
week for their board lat least five dollars,
which they must earn by the double sacrifice Of
body and soul | heard some stories of the way
they were treated by their ovcrseerS-who are
too often fends in the shape Of men,-how they
are driven out when they yield to the tempta-
tons around them-how they are forced to sub
NIT to the most inhuman brutalities and how, in
utter desperation, more than one finds peace in
an carly grave, a willing victim to the vice she
has labored to resist or TO that longing for death
which is gratifod by poison or the knife. But
| will not repeat these details for, sooth to
say, il they were fit to tell, they would not be
believed famlliarly notorious as they are here.
In one of these dens where gin was not prohib-
tied, | saw child, Of not more than six years,
stupid with rum--its eyes half closed in drunk
onnes3, and its little face bloatod g For Gods
sake, give me some cir" slid one Of our party,
" cannot stand this moment longer"
Wait, oh, over delicate and squcamiyh friend
You will cry for air' presently with u sin
colcF zeal. We arc asyet only in the vestibule
Of these mysteries, What we have to sec lies
farther on in the night. BE patient, and do rot
let thy gorge rise too soon.
"Stoop here, and take care your watches
" This, said our kind policeman, is the resort
Of those who get gin at q cert glass Enter !"
Gracious God and are these thy creatures?
! Ranged on benches, in q narrow cave, are the
victims of this infrnAl traffic They are all
worse than idiots. There is not one OF them
who las intelligence enough to contend for
equality with monkey. They glare at YOU
with meaningless eye; they gibbcr through
troubling and quigoring lips, and try to arrest
you with weak hands as you pass If they con-
verse with each other, it is Ike conversation
between balloons.
g This, said cur guide, touching theShould
er Of man who, with hands in his pockets
vacantly gazod upon ua,) " is q good mechanic
who can earn good wages if he chooses, but
every now and then he breaks out into frolic,
and here is the place he comes to spend his
leisure in. | am sorry, Ben" he said, turning
to the man, 4" to sec you here again The
poor fellow bowed his head and left the den.
As it was growing late, we were invited by
our escort to look at some Of the lodging rooms
in the noighborhood. With lantern in hand,
which served to make his - STAR visible, and
to show the way to ricketty stairs, we descend
ed into deep cellar On opening the door,
there steamed up such q stencil as made us re-
coil as before blow, creating indescribable
notwithstanding, it might be, infectious
disease.
The first sight Tint met our eyes WAS baby,
calmly asleep in its cradle, watched over by Il
blear-eyed and drunken mother, who greeted Us
with laugh, and pointed to the inner chamber
where WAS sight that only the pen Of Dick
ems, Or the pencil of a Wilkie, could describe.
The evening was not cold, but the keeper of
this airlG8s hole had lit q fro in diiapdatCd
stovo, which seemed to increase the etench that
filled the place as with cloud. Piled on bench
es, packed upon shelves, lay human beings
happily, up to this time all men-somo asleep,
some glazing upon US like wild beasts, and all
apparently miserable. The proprietor sat be-
tween the hunks, m2king his pipe and answer
ing queetions
In another Of these catac3mbs (for 30 they
may well be called the living bodies oxhalin9
an odor as putrid as if the bodies were as the
sensibilties they ieebly surrounded,) there wa;
still moro hdeous sight, Here husbands ant
wives for 80 let us believe them to bo-lay to
gether. A sick dog whined in corner, keep
ing up an unearthly yell, and making US sh'd
der before the supers tition that greets such {
sound as tho forerunnor Of death and between
his agonizng wall and tie curses Of the mar
and women around me, I thought for a mo
ment that was in Il lesser PAndemonlum.
9" Gentleman, are You satisdel?' said GU
kind guardian.
" Yes more chan satisfied, sad & PhiladeI
phia friend by my side, who only stuck to IN
because sAoud have upbraidel him for hi
+ deserton
t Following Cur " star, in single file We bega'
r to ascend building Of some three or lour sto
< ries, along dark entries, W 2rsahia5 stair, an,
. through gloomy passages, until We came to
o room at which Che officer knocked loudly. 70