Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-11-14


ing stars that shine benignantly at our side Next
the ball room. Not bad copy of other saloons with
more pretensions At the extreme end is balcony
or box, in which violin, a clarionet and FIFE
each with bloated face behind it. and the trio are
producing sort Of drunken cOtOn. The set is
being formed. The women are first in position
each with her partner, generally invited by herself
The men generally heavily begrimed and be-
| whiskered; and among them two who do not look
to be over eighteen. Most of these said our guide
ARE known to be burglars and that fellow at full
length the side bench, is supposed to have been
| guilty of at least three murders. That woman has
had five husbands-the last is at sea-asid she will
soon have another and that young fellow, with the
light cap, who dances gracefully and is dressed
so WELL is one of the most expert pickpockets in the
country. We left the usual fee; but were informed
that the girls could not get gin till the ball
The tgress at the bar kept them sober light pota-
tions till this part of their slavery performed.
These frail sisters are mostly attached to these
| houses as so many fixtures, paying much a week
for their board, tat least S5 which they earn
| by the double sacrifice of body and soul. heard
some stories OF the way they treated by their
overseers-who are too often nends IN the shape Of
men-how they are driven out when they Weld to
the temptations around them-how they are forced
to submit to the most inhuman brutalities-and how
| in utter desperation more than one finds peace in
an early grave, willing victim TO the vice she Ia
bored to resist or to the longing death which is
gratiied by poison or the knife. But will not re-
peat these details; for sooth to say if they were hit
to tell, they would not be believed Familiarity noto-
rIous as they are here In one of these dens where
gin was not prohibited saw a child, of not more
than six years stupid with rum-its eyes half closed
| in drunkenness, and its little face bloated For
Gods sake give me some air., said one of our party
| | cannot stand this moment longer
'Stoop here and take care of your Watches
This said kind policeman is the resort of
those who get gin at a cent glass! Enterr Ora
| ciOus GOd and are these thy creatures! Ranged on
| benches IN narrow cave, are the victims of this
! internal traffic. They are all worse than idiots
There is not one of them who has intelligence
enough to contend for equality with a monkey.
They glare at you with meaningless eve they glb
Der through trembling and quverng lips and try
to arrest you with weak hands as you pass If they
converse with each other, it is like a conversation
| between balloons.
| This said our guide touching the shoulder of
man who. with hands in his pockets vacantly gazed
upon u.s. lis 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 Benz he
said, turning to the man, to see 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
neighbOrhOOd. With lantern in hand, which served
to make his star visible. and to show the way to
ricketty stairs, we descended into deep cellar On
opening the door, there steamed up such stencil as
made us recOil as before blow, creating ndescrlb-
able sensations, breathing it might be- infectious
disease
The first sight that met our eyes was a baby.
calmly asleep in It's cradle watched over by blear-
eyed and drunken mother who greeted us with a
laugh. and pointed to the inner chamber, where a
sight that only the pen of Dickens, the pen of
Wilkie, could describe.
The evening was not cold. but the keeper of this
airless hole had lit fire in delapidated stove
which seemed to increase the stencil that filed the
place with cloud. Piled on benches, packed
upon shelves lay human bengs-happlly, up to this
time all men some asleep, some gIarng upon US
like wild beasts, and all apparently miserable. The
proprietor sat between the hunks, smoking his pipe
and answering questions.
In acother of these catacOmbs flor so the may
well be called the living bodies exhaling an
odor putrid if the bodies were as deadas the
sensIblites they feebly surrounded) there was a
still more hideous sight. Her husband and wives
for so let US believe them Il lay together 4
sick dog whined in the cOrnC~. keeping up an un.
earthly yell, and making US shudder before the
superstition that greets such sound the fOrerun-
ner OF death: and between his agonizing wall and
the curses OF the men and women around me,
thought for a moment that in a lesser Pande-
monum. At a single rap the door opened.
and there stood before a negro more hdeous in
his ugliness and more terrible in his appearance
than | can describe A mingling of what one reads
of Fagin and Bill Sykes; a combination of craft and
of sensuality; brutalized idea of a vulgar Shylock
and inhuman bully.
wei. Tobe,' said our guide, how are you tonight
and how are your wIvesp
y
and pointing to a corner, where, on a single pallet
with unoccupied space between, lay :loO lohie |
females who had once been women, and now were |
brutes.
The lieutenant at this staff on kindly threw open
the doors of the lodging rooms and of the cells for
prisoners taken up during the night In of these
rooms counted fourteen wOmen-homeless and /
friendess creatures who had there sought shelter |
Some were asleep and those who walked drew their
shawls over their bare heads to avoid the gaze of
their visitors. One held in her arms child about
two years old whose little pale face and atenuated
limbs indicated that the sands of its life were fast
running out and that Providence intended to rescue
il from the fate of the poor wretches around It.
Outside of this small and close CELL on benches
were streached other women Not few of their
countenances showed past beauty of no ordinary
character The black glossy hair Of one. her white
teeth and her finely chiselled features were evidence
that young as she was, she had Haunted her brief
day queen among her class But she, too, was
not long for this life.
Al The end of the corridor was a room somewhat
larger, occupied by the men dodgers Here the deg
bOted faces, the shoeless feet the filth and the nois
some smell that exhaed from their bodies created
a sensation of Undesirable nausa. They were pack
ed In like herring, all, without exception, the victims
of drink and its attendant vices and crimes.
Down stairs were the cells in which the prisoners
Of the night were cOnfned-sentenced on various
charges; fer drunkenness and others for theft
lndburgary On one ofthe hard pallets woman was
reposing. She reused up at our approach and be-
gin to weep and moan in the most heartrendng man.
ler.
The majority of the guilty and the poor seemed
% be males but the proportion of females was frghtS
ully large.
The adventures of these unfortuneates would fur
lish startling commentary upon the scarcity of
emale employment, and the nadequencey of female
wages. Attracted 10 New York, they run brief {
areer after so brief resistance to the allurement
# vice. and die an early death
The history young girl from an adjacent village
was told us She was extremely lovely; but fond of
lress and admiration. was induced on one occasion
o pay a visit to New York, by who represent
d himself as a merchant and proved to be gam t
,ler. She never returned to her happy home, but t
became an inmate of of the Mercer street u
,ouses where she remained for some two years. At
he end of this time she cOntrived to some ff-
cen hundred dollars, and then resolved to change
Ter course in life, and to live upon her little for
une At this moment the tempter again appeared '
n the person of her seducer. She loved him +
ently and with, awOman's confidence, surrender d
d to his keeping her money on the promise that 1t
houd be repaid five fold. She never Saw him !
more and new said the officer, she is almost
lightly occupant Of one of our cells
When we left our hotel early in the evening Broad :
way, in a bright moonlight crowded with foot q
passengers The street was covered with carriages ?
md vehicles of all descriptions. Streams of light q
poured from gay stores and JOY and comfort SEEM =
ID to abound When we returned that vast thor Il
)ughtare was deserted and quiet. The contrast be-
ween the close and sitting alleys we had left, and
his splendid avenue, stretching for miles through :
he heart of this great metropolis. was strangely y
suggestive. How few of those who iOunted on .
Broadway cared for their human brothers and sis
crs perishng within five Minutes walk! Beyond II
IND N the arstocratc portion of the CITY, in the =
'ifth avenue-where, for some miles stretch ordly
palaces crowded with luxurious adornments and
occupied by those whose wants are anticipated and II
whose tastes vitiated by of wealth there n
a criminal Indifference to the suffering poor u
Ii
In 1917 it was proposed to amend the Constitu- eC
ion of New York so that negroes could vote with
,ut a property qualification. The proposition re- NJ
.eived 249 votes in the City of New York. Last
week the same amendment received in the city al
MY l,64O votes.