The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-27

| the best society on an equal II not superior
| footing, for every one makes way when ne sp
pears, and the haughHest give him the wall II
/ be prefer II. He is great philosopher and
| seldom moved unless by the dogs before men
toned. Sometimes, indeed, you may see hls
| small eye twiDkling on slaughtered trieno,
/ whose Carcass garnishes a butchers door-post;
| but he Rrunts out, "Such Is life; all hesh is
| pork !" buIes his nose in the mire again, ana
| waddes down the gutter, comforting hlmseH
| with the reflection that there is one snout tue
less 10 anticipate stray cabbage'staike, at any
| rate.
| Ugly brutes they are; bavrng for the most
/ part scanty, brown backs, like the IDS OF olu
| horsehair trunks, spotted with unWholesome
black bIotehes' They nave long, hg gSunS one reg
| then could be persuaded to sit for his profile,
nobody would recognize it for pigs likeness.
They are never attended upon, or fed or driven,
| or caught, but thrown upon their own
resources IN early life, and become preternatu-'
| rally knowing IN consequence. Every pig
| bodv could tell him. AT this hour, lust as
evening is closing in, you viii see them roaming
towards bedeby scores, eating their way to the
last Occasionally some youth among them
who has oYereaten himself, or has been much
worried by dogs, rOts shrinkingly homeWard,
| like prodigal son; but this is rare case,
perfect selEpossession and self-reliance and i'm.
movable composure being their foremost attrl-
| butes.
The streets and shops are lighted now; and as
| the eye travels down the long thoroughfare,
| Oxford street or Piccadilly. Here and there
| flight OF broad stone cellar steps appears and
painted lamp directs you to the bowling
saloon, or tenpin alley; teupins beng the game
| OF mingled chance and skill invented when the
| Legislature passed an act foTbidding ninepins.
| At other do inward fights of steps are other
| lamps marking the whereabouts of oyster
| cellars pleasant retreats, say |; not only by
reason of their wonderful cookery of oysters,
pretty nigh as large as cheese plates (or for
| thy dear sake, heartiest of Greek professors y
4 N.,,N 1F all l. -sr1e 1E .E Eak
| or flesh, or fowl, in these latitudes, the
/ swallowers of oysters alone are not grega-
| rious, but subduing themselves, as 1t were, to
| the nature Of what they work in, and copying
| the coyness of the thing they eat, do sit apart
| in cu1taIned boxes, and consort by twos, not by
| two hundreds.
Bat how quiet the streets arel. Are there no
| itinerant bands, no wind or striuged insru-
| ments? No, not one. By day are there no
Punches, Fantocini, Dancing-dogs Juggers,
| CoDjurers, 0rchestrians, or even BArrel-oTgans
| No, not one. Yes, | remember one. One bar
| rel-orsan, and dancing monkey-sportve by
nature but fast fading into a dun, lumpsh
| monkey Of the Utilitarian school. Beyond that,
| nothing lively; no, not so much as a white mouse
Are there no amusements? Yes, there is
| a lecure-room across the way, from which
| that glare of light proceeds, and there may be
evening service for the ladies thrice week, or
| oftener. For the young gentlemen there is the
| counting-house, the store, the bar-Toom; the
| latter, as you may see through these windows,
| pretty full. Hdrk 10 tne CnnKlng SOunQ OF
| lammcrs breaking Jumps of ice, and to the cool
| gurgling OF the pounded bits, as, in process of
mixing, they a. poured from glass to glass
No amusen ents? What are these suckers of
| cigars and swallowers of strong drinks, whose
twist, dong but amusing t6emseiyesV What
cious urcbins are baWling down the street,
and which are kept filed wIthin--What are
they but amusements! Not vapid, watersh
amusements, but good strong stuff, dealing
in round abuse and blackguard names, pulling
of the roofs of private houses, as the Hating
Devil did in Spain; pimping and pandering Tor
all degrees of vicious taste, and goJgiIg with
coined lies the most voracious nav; imputing
TO every man IN public lifethc coarsest and
| ViIest motives; soaring away from the stabbed
and prostIate Dody-politic every Samaritan of
clear conscience and good deeds; and setting
on, with yell and whistle, and the clapping of
foul hands, the vilest yermin and worst birds Of
prey.-No Gmusements!
Let us go on again, and passing this wilder
ness Of an hotel with stores about its base, like
some Continental theatre or tue London Opera
House shorn OF its colonnade, plunge into the
Five Points. But 1t is needlul, first, that we
take as our escort these two heads of the police
whom you would know for sharp and we'll
trained officers If you met them IN the Great
| Desert. So true il is that certain pursuits
same character. These two might have been
begotten, born, and bred in Bow street.
We have seen no beggars in the streets by
night or day, but of other kinds of Btrollers
plenty. Poverty, wretchedness, and vice are
rite enough where we are going now.
This is the place - these narrow ways,
diveTging to the right and left, and reekug
everywhere with dirt and filth. Such lives
as are led here bear the same fruits here as
elsewhere. The coarse aud bloated faces al
the doors have counterparts at home and all
the wide world over. Debauchery has made
the very houses prematurely old. See how
the rotten beams are tumbling down, and
how the patched and broken windows seem
to scowl dlmly, like eyes that have been hurt in
drunken Iays. Many OF those pigs live here
Do they ever wonder why their masters walk
upright in lieu OF going on all-fours and why
they talk instead of gruntingg
So far nearly every houses low tavern, and
on the baT-IOom walls are colored prints OF
and the American Eagle. Among the pigeon
holes that hold the bottles are pieces OF plate
glass and colored paper for there is, IN some
soft, a taste for decoration, even here. And as
seamen frequent these haunts, there are mari
tine pictures, by the dozen, OF partings between
| William, of the balRO, and his Black-E Eyed
Susan; of WIZ Watch, the Bold Smugger; of
Paul Jones The Pirate, aud the like; on which
the painted eyes of Queen Victoria, and OF
| Washington to boot, rest In rs strange COM
panionsnip as on most OF the scenes that are
| enacted IN their wondering pre- eDce.
| What place Is this 10 winch the squalld street
conducts us kind OF square of lepTous
houses, some of which are attainable only by
crazy wooden stairs without. What lies beyond
this tOttering flight OF steps, that creak beneath
our tread? miserable room, lighted by one
dim candle, and destitute OF all comfort, save
mat which may be hidden in wretched bed
Beside II sits a man, his elbows on his knees, his
| forehead on his hands. "What ails that
man ~ asks the foremost officer. "Fever," he
| tulenly replies, without looking up. Conceive
L this