The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-12-15

immutable as the laws of the Medes and the
Persians, and poor Jack himself helps his
destroyers. II works in this wise:-In all the
sailor clearinghouse there Is located ship.
ping agent, who attends to getting ships
crews together. He is generally in partnership
with thelkeeper OF the house himself, If he be
not the actual proprietor. When a shipmaster
wishes hts crew, he goes TO one of these places
and ships them. Suppose he gets all his crew
together, and just before sailing he appoints his
second mate outside the ring. The sailors will
have meeting and appoint a spokesman.
They wait upon the second mate and ask him
where he came from, or, rather, where he
was boarding when he was shipped! Did
he board at one of these houses? No. Did
he board with his father or mother, or
any of his relatives? No. Well, who did
he board within A friend, comrade
of many years. friendship. That settled his
case. He did not board with the ring, and his
doom is sealed. They say nothing more to the
mate, but go straight to the captain. Their
spokesman will say to the captain:-''You have
appointed man outside of our ring and must
either discharge him, or we Will leave" What
can he do? His ship is ready for sea, and if he
discharges his crew, where will he get another,
for all would be against him? The mate has to
go. That is how the land-sharks work their
sharp game. -
Sailors BOarding-Houses.
But we will go TO some of these boarding
houses. The greatest number of them is in
Penn street. There are some better than others;
but the best is, at best but very sorry specimen
of a civilizedihome. We start in the morning,
to see what it looks like in the broad light of
day. We stop before two-and-a- -half-storied
brick house that has evidently seen better days.
There is sign above the door that is sugges-
tive of what is constantly going on within;-
SAILORS TAKEN IN AND DONE FoR.n The pro-
prietor evidently was not sufficiently versed in
scholastic lore to see the unconscious truism he
had perpetrated. But it is terribly suggestive
The poor sailor, as he staggers in with his heavy
sea-chest, containing his worldly possessions
does not think, as he reads that sign, that
its meaning is very much like the inscription
over the gates of hell, "Leave hope behind"
With his hardearned dollars, he is received with
an affected show of hospitality. The bar is
open to him Qor necessary appendage to the
house is barr, and a siren is at hand to ply
him with whisky. Jacks entrance into that
door is like the fly's entrance into the spiders
paIlor. If he has a hard-earned pile of cash. it
soon disappears. No matter how long or short
his stay is, 1t is long enough to allow the
keeper of the place to fleece him of every cent,
and after that to run him in debt sufficiently to
gain lien upon his two months advance.
Then he is a slave, and is as much owned by the
boarding house keeper as if he Lad bought him
at auction.
Daily Scenes In a Sailors Bar-Room.
ha rdi inn II ol luo hos 70 hor Row
of black bottles, with the strongest and most
Itiery spirits, are interspersed with trophies of
foreign voyages, gathered by poor Jack with an
eye to enrich the parlor or cabinet of some
valued friend or relative, only to be gathered in
by the graspng hand of his keeper. 1t is day
now, however, and life is not in its full flow in
the den. blowsy, red faced wench stands be-
hind the bar, with her sleeves rolled up, and in
a shocking state of deshabiRe We wonder how
she could, with her ill-natured stupid face, ever
have been selected to attract custom. The men
themselves, with aching head and bloodshot
eyes, are lounging around in listless fashion, or
are trying to drown the effects of last nights
debauch, by renewed applications of the poison
that has Frustrated their energies, on the prin-
ciple of sinailiG SinUibuS Curdntuy. The dirty
walls themselves are covered with prints that
would naturally attract sailors eye. Black
eyed Susans with most impossible figures and
expressions, and scenes of shipwrecks, with a
print or two of some favorltc ship. Scattered
over the house are also to be seen foul and
filthy pictures, that, by their obscenity and las
civiousness, serve to point out the fearful i'm
morality that prevailsi in these places.
Night I'm a Sailors Bar-ROOm.
But day is not a good time to see it in its
glory. We will visit it about the hour of 10 in
the evening. AS we approach it, strong light
from the interior shows us that life is in full
activity within. We open the door and enter. A
foul mixture of bad liquor and bad breath, and
the fumes of strong tobacco, are almost too
much for any one with moderately weak head.
We, however, conquer our weakness and go in.
The room is crowded with old, hardened Vota-
ries of vice and young beginners in the do wn-
ward career. Women add their charms ~, and
such women! Bad as the men are in their
wandering life on shore, there are still some
remnants of the noblest traits of humanity
stirring within their bosOms. There is still that
noble generosity of purpose that, even in their
degradation, would spur them to the execution
OF noble action were occasion to call it forth.
But what shall we say OF the women we see
there 1t makes one shudder and feel heartfelt
pity for poor Jack, with his impressible, easily
led heart that he should be exposed 10 their
hellish arts. Painted and powdered and decked
out with gewgaws, they present to his untutored
eyes visions of beauty. Their hard faces, which
have forgotten the blush of shame, are full ol
greed, as they ply their poor dupe with liquor,
until he no longer can, even If he would, resist
their efforts to swindle and rob him. Here and
there are groups seated around tables, with
nacLs oF well.ihumhed cards eaOerIu enoogad