The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1860-12-12
A glance at the N. York give
Points"

8 iducu ichdicS CoHSfegaI6, mere mODS
are engendered upon the shortest no.
tice and the slightest provocation !;
here drunkenness, murder and rioting
are indigenous here, in a word are
famous Five Points " of New York.
The visitor to this dim, dirty I'd
dismal region should first, by way of
precaution, put on his most thread
bare garments, lay aside his money,
watches and jewelry, if he have any
He must even then go at MONDAY,
when the bats and owls have SUNK to
rest, unless he can be assured of the
safe conduct of the police Fdcalis
decensus Auerni-from every side, in
literal as in fgurative sense, it is
down hill to the Fivs Points The
whole nighborhood is sort of ba-
sin, where once was a morass, and was
not as might very naturally be imag-
ined, sunk to its present level by the
accumulated weight Of the iniquities
there practiced.
But above this level, unwholesome
exhalations and noisome smells do not
easily rise, and the prevailing impress
sion on the olfactories of the visitor is
that Of going down the hold of an old
ship. Down Centre street the Fourt h
avenue cars will whirl you rapidly
along the outskirts, where you will
catch but Whit of the bilge water
stencil, and passing has.y glimpse,
on the one hand, of the Tombs, with
its squat Egyptian pillars begrimmed
with the dirty touch of multitudes who
daily throDg its portals; and on the
other of the vile groggeries and miser-
able dens whence those multitudes
have emerged.
Turning down Worth street for.
merly Anthony we plunge at once in
to the heart of the Five Points-the
very inner sanctuary of the city's pre-
serves Of criminals. Most of the build
ings around us are of wood, and all
OH and dilapidated Walls in "rak-
ing postures, doors and shutters awry,
and windows that seem to look cross
eyed at opposite squirting groggeries
are the prevailing features. Every
alternate doorway on either side upon
an average, is that Of grocery or
liquor store, where iercest of rum may
be had at three cents q glass Here
and there a few old clothes or pile Of
cabbage displayed along the sidewalk
show the feeble attempts of some Of
the denizens to live by legitimate trade
but at this daylight hour most of the
people we meet are utterly idle.
Droves of squalid, bare headed ur-
chins are padding iu the street mire,
with which they smirch each others
rags On the narrow sidewalk we
encounter bare-footed woman in a
dirty calico gown, devoid of hoops,
who in a semi rec umbent attitude, is
engaged in scrubbing rusty sauce
pan, and we ara obliged to make de-
tour into the street to pass her De-
cencs and cleanliness are here alike ig-
no-ed, and oaths and ribald remarks
greet our ears on every hand. Tnrn-
ing the corner we come upon an elder
" man leaniag against wall and
blinking stupidity at the sunlight.
What were the original texture and
color of bis garments we cannot tell !;
they are nov only bundle of filthy
rags, for he has just been down in the
muddy street.
At Mission Square, the exact local
ity of the old Five Points, Mr.. Please's
House oil Industry aud the Ladies'
Five Points Mission are situated
There are large brick buildings, on
the opposite sides of the square or
rather triangle, and we are toll that
that neighborhood has greatly improv-
ed since their erection. This piece of
information only leads one 70 wonder
W at the place could possibly have
been formerly. The square itself has
no railing, and is merely small patch
of uneaven ground, used principally
by boys engaged in pitching cents.
Whatwas formerly notorious as Cow
Bay has mildly been christened as
Mission Place. but certainly rose
by any other name would smell as
sweet. Weswere glad to hasten away
from it as fast as possible, and return
to where we can once more breathe
air above the suspicion of contagion
IN u Post. fs
"A YANKEE GIRL's .AsToNIsHMENT.
"A young lady from Vermont, teach
ing in town in Georgia, writes to
her parents thus:
B THE people here are very much
excited over the election Of Mr.. Lin
:oln. Yesterday they formed militia
ry company among the young men,
with a view TO the exigencies of the
hour, and to-day they came out to
drill. The most remarkable part Of