Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-07-02
The Wickedest Man in New Work
Who He Is-where He Iives--All About
Him.
Qrntten for faekard's Mouhly, by Oliver Dyer.)

He goes by the name of John Allen. He |
lives at No. 3O4 Water street. He keeps a
dance-house there. He is about forty-tive
years old. He is reputed to be worth one
hundred thousand dollars, more or less, and
is kno,Un to be worth over seventy thousand
lie has three brothers who are clergymen-
two Of them being Presbyterians, and the
other Baptst-and is reported TO have
once been minister of the Gospel himself.
| He is known formerly to have been school
teacher, and is a man of education and fine
natural powers; was originally good man,
and is yet ''good fellow in many respects.
Were it not for his good qualities he never
could have attained unto the bad eminence
of being the Wickedcst Man in New York.
The best bad is always the worst.
Take him for all i'll all, our Wickedcst Man
is phenomenon. Hereadsthe Bible to his
dance house girls, and his favoritc papers are
the New York Observer and the Lndepcn-
dent. He takes them regularly and reads
them. We have repeatedly seen them lying
on the counter of his bar-room, amid decan-
tiers and glasses, along with the daily Herald
and the San. We have also seen dozen
copies of the Little Wanderers Friend at
a time scattered about his place, for he takes
an interest in mission work, and "goes in"
generally for progress for other people.
This Wickedcst Man is the only entity
appertaining to the shady side of New York
life which VIC have been unable to fathom,
analyzc and account for But he is too much
for us. Why a human being of his educa-
tion, natural tastes, force of character, and
wealth, should continue to live in Water
street dancc-house, and bring up his children
in soul-destroying atmosphere of sin and
degradation, IL more than we can compre-
hend.
For this Wickedest Man loves his chill
dren. His little five-year-od boy is the ap-
Pile of his eye, the core of his heart, and the
chief object of his worship. He never
misses an opportunity to sound the childs
!, praise and to show off his accomplishments.
,, And, all things considered, the little fellow
is truly wonder. lie is crammed full OF
information on all manner of topics, and is
ever ready to respond to his doting fathers
attempts to make his smartness visible to
, the naked eye
We have never visited the Wickedcsi
Mans dance-house without having our at
tentions called afresh to his little sons abili-
i ties, except once, and then he took us round
8 to tho school which the child attends, to lei
Z us see that he ranks with the best, and is ,
& favoritc with the teacher. That was on thu
: 18th day of May last, at about quarter Il
= twelve in the daytime, when we went t.
No. 3Oi Water street to tell Mr.. Allen tha
> the fated time had come for serving him NJ
: in magazine article.
Il For, be it known to the reader, We hayt
, had our pen couched at John Allen 70
d nearly two years. In the year 1865, TIL
q Sabbath after President Lincoln was assassi
" mated, we began an exploration and sub
IL soiling of New York City, as to its crime
poverty, want, wo, wretchedncss and degra
u dation, which we have pursued ever since
'y as other engagements would permit. @
ic course. il was not long before we found ou
IN John Allen. We at once recognized hi
ID genius for Wickedness and made him a
lie especial study But, as we have said, h
ar battles us. We have told him so, and hay
IN frequently asked him to help us out of on
IL dilemma, but he always comes short OF til
~ complete thing.
We think we know why this Wickedes
u man persists in living in his Water stree
~ den-that we have, in fact, penetrated hi
|
~ AS to the matter, we will not set our susp
n cion down in print, lest we should do hil
us injustice.
is We have said that our Wickedest Man
r. a phenomenon. We cmcant this in its appl
, /: Gallon to the deepest springs of his chara,
is ter; but it is also, and perhaps equally al
'@s - plcablc to the external manifestations
:, those deepest springs.
TIC Has the reader any notion of Wat,
street dance house? Concrctely stated, it
,r. II brcathing-holc of heil-a trap door Of Il
nj bottomless pitt You step from the street il
~ to n bnr-room, wherein lousy loaters lurl
~ Wv and which is in some cases ON q level wi
i'e the side walk and in others far below it al
py there you are in the general midst of thing
oil il il happens to be a dancc-house of the vc
lowest class. But usually there is a s's
ain loon" in the rear of the barroom.
c. Passing out of the bar-room by do
ion opening in apartition across its rear, you G
nd ter the dancing saloon, which varies in 81
my from fifteen feet square to room twenty-fi
Ves to fifty feet in extent. Along the wall of tl
hi room bench extends, usually on three sidt
the In the farther end of the room is an orch.
ger ira, proportional in numbers and skill to I
ore prosperity of the establishment. The nul
,ha ber of musicians is sometimes as high as 81
md but the average is not more than three.
'io one of the rare corners of the saloon there
a small bar, where the girls can drink w
ied their victims without exposing their fasclI
her tions to the unthriftfnl gaze of a -payi
the and censorious outside public.
inc Sitting ON the benches, or grouped up
,nts inc iioor, or whi'liliS an .ie s''n.e, alo
'"' but averaging about ten.
These girls are not often comely to the 1
the tidious eye. But to a sailor, just from lo
and cruise, where nothing lovclier than
one weather beaten ship-mates has for years bt
!, :, seen, they are not without attractions
80 ,r,o too, do certain landsmen, of degraded tl
's' pay homage to their strenuous charms.
nac- decent man, in the full possession and co
ven. poise of his faculties, can only regard tll
has. with sorrow unspeakable and pity too d.
cr," for tears
lica- The only girl we ever saw in dan
m ,,f house in whom we could detect the sligh
,,r- vestige of comeiness or refinement,
~, been there but few hours, and was repu
orh, to be the daughter of former Lieuten
enus' Governor Of New England State.
fully The first time we entered John All
and dance-house we found it in full blast
,,ra- hour was eleven in the evening. There "
ctry .nI.eei sl,is M 'nu sa,uu, ',ee ,nas,e
n'e' hitting to the Establishments of an e'
number of the balet-dressed syrcns
alton peryaded the room. Our party consiste
The policeman who accompanied us, I
ongh clergymen on the lookout for the
Mics phant, Mr.. Albert G. Arnold of the HOY
azlne Mission, and the writer.
d by The Wickcdest Man was in his 81
' that Things were moving briskly. He gave us
Q Tor hearty welcome, ordered the orchestra t
their best, and told the girls to ''break
pub hearts" A vigorous dance followed,
II the which the proprietor called out
ire. at ''lIarttord, go up stairs and get my ba
Hartford turned out to be one of the .
=, IA who Immediately disappeared and sool
"nu turned bearing in her arms an undrt
'n' M sleepy child, wrapped in shawl. Thi.
pro- the Juvenile prodigy. His father took
snt in in his arms, with q glow of pride and
tion
n,nor SNOW, gentlemen, you are writers,
p'f +, osophers and preachers but Ill show
>. ~ that my baby knows as much as any Of
fresl- He's hell on reading, writing, praying
siden'. fighting"
n phil And without more ado, he stood the s
onauct little fellow upon the floor and beg;
a.. asa catechisc him in ancient history, both S