Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-08-20
MEMPHIS MUD AND FILTH.
Our Streets, Alleys ana Back
yards a Fruitful Source OF
Deadly Disease. uW
Why Do We Invite the Presence
Of the Man with the
Black Valise2 rfrn
Shall We Bid Him Leave or, Shall
We Always Welcome Him9

y
happy if your city wasn't the dirtiest
place in creation2 l tell you what"
continued the monster, drawing his hat
over his right ear, and assuming leer'
ish expression, I've been to Cairo, and
there's dirt for you-ten thousand well
defined odors, and few wards to hear
from. I've been to Cologne, where it's
pure smell; but they all back down to
Memphis. Is it because you regard
cleanliness a hostile institution; or are
you like the Arkansas fiddler, who could
not mend his roof when it rained, and
whose roof didn't need mending in dry
weather ?" We gave the contemplate
fellow whitening look and passed on in
disgust
Memphis has been out of her swaddling
clothes a long time She pat on city airs
and commenced holding up her aristo-
cratic nose when the writer of this was
wee BARN" eating potatoes with a
spoon and tying cats tails together.
Has she arrived at her present eminence
only to be sneered at by a little fellow
who wears his hat on his Auricular and
INDUCES in skin.tight pants2 We are
monstrously afraid he didn't miss the
truth more than a mile, which is as close
an approximation to the undiluted arti-
Gle as can be reached in these degenerate
days Of Brownlowism and pretty waiter
girls.
We regret to confess that the majority
Of our streets are huge depots Of filth
cavernous Augean stables, with no Tiber
to flow through and clease them. While
hamlets have given place to iron fronts,
and retail booths to Wholesale marts, the
mountain of filth has been permitted to
grow until it poisons the once pure air of
Heaven, fills the sick room, and enables
coffin sellers to clothe themselves in pur-
pie and fine linen. We occasionally
catch thief to illustrate that setting him
free in the Criminal Court is as easy as
falling off a log we sometimes arrest
homicide to show that murder is unknown
to the court calendar as crime; we
build huge blocks and Gil them at fabu-
lous rents; we marry and are given In
marriage; our children are arrayed gor-
geously, and sport baby wagons pro-
PEELED by Gods image carved in ebony /;
our wives and daughters purchase tie
humpest of waterfalls at the hairdressers,
and the queerest of thingumbobs at the
variety stores the latest loves of hoops
at the milliners', and the darlingest shoes
with the sweetest rosettes at the foot
artists. We smoke the hugest, most
fragrant cigars; guzzle the mintiest,
iciest juleps, and handle the cue in
manner that would astonish Phelan or
Berger. We glance admiringly at the
pretty girls on the streets when our wives
are at the springs, and of course we blush
great deal and jam our hats over oNr
faces when an eye, deeply, darkly, des'
perately blue" flashes Cd us. That's
because we are modest But there's one
thing we fail to do.
We don't cause Tiber of rakes and
shovels and carts to inundaLe the Au.
gean stables of garbagesand Stops in
our backyards, alleys and cutters. The
vile fellow who has already been quoted
took this in at glance; and as he in
situated truth, we are compelled to
pocket our resentment.
Old Admiral Won Tromp always car
ried broom on the bow of his vessel to
indicate that he swept everything before
him. If some modern Won Tromp,
armed with like implement, were to
sweep, as with the bosom of destruction,
the oceans of filth which we sometimes
call Memphis streets, alleys and back
yards, we would favor his future canoni-
cation and elevation to dazzling pin
nacle in the saints gallery. He would
win the plaudits of nauseated thousands,
and his praises would be sounded in
Homeric verse by millions yet unborn.
Who will be our Won Tromp2 Who
will furnish basis for the inhalation of
pure air The dirt which stffens the
atmospheric and wells the sun is aecep-
table to Only one elass--the Tennessee
white Radical, anxious to become popu.
lar by possessing black face He can
luxuriate in the filth and stencil, and his
little children at play with, young black
amoors will not be irowned upon be
cause Of any distinction Of color. In
Memphis street or gutter all hues are
merged The pale Caucasian's face
is speedily begrimed to The consistency
of Topsey, with whom he is playing bo
peep. AS color fuses, clothing assimi-
lates; and the fond mother is compelled
to wash dozen dirty faces before recog
MIXING her own darling. Fayorite cats
and dogs, originally of as many hues as
Joseph's coat, become dingy, dirty,
brow q. black, and must be seraped with
curry combs before being presentable
At the close Of the day a foriy-horse
power microscope is requisite to distin-
guish white from black men-all because
-, IL ~. ;u,,,rat, n Radical halief in