The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1869-01-20
from Every Saturday. ..-..,
New UncOmmercial Samples.
ny cHA.,LEs plcKESs.
A SMALL STAR IN TIE EAST.

A SMALL STAR IN THE EAST.
had been looking, yesterday night,
through the famous Dance Of Death,
and to-day tho grim old woodcuts
arose In my mind with tho now signit-
cameo Of the Shastly monot0ny not to
be found In tho original. The weird
skeleton ratified along tho streets 6e.
fore mo, and struck hercely, built was
mover ut tho pains OF assuming n dis
guisc. ItplaYod on no dulcimer here,
was crowned 3with. no showora. waved
plasne,. isaistocth hiR-M6S SAao~tn9 rotseefI
or train, lifted no winc.cup, Sat at no
feast, cast no dice, counted no goId:
1t was simply bare, gaunt, furnished
skeleton. Staying its way along.
The borders Of Ratclitfe and Stcpney,
eastward Of London, and giving on the
impure river, were tho scene OF this
uncompromising Dance oC Death, up
on tlrizzling November day. y
spualiu maze of streets. courts, ana
alleys OF miserable honscs let out IN
single rooms. A wilderness OF dirt.
rags. aud hunger. y mud-deScrt
chiefly Inhabited by II tribe from whom
employment has departed. or TO whom
! 1t comes but fttully and rarely. Thcy
nrc not skilled mechanics In any wise.
They are but laborrrs. Dock lnborcrS.
watrr-sidc lnborGr>. coal.pOrtcrs, ball
last -hcavcrs. such like hcwcrS Of wood
and drawers OF water. But they have
come into existence, aud they propn-
gate their wrctched race.
One grisly joke alone, mcthon@ht,
! the Skeleton seemed TO play OIL here.
; Ii had stuck Election Bills on the
walls. which the wind and rain had de-
! Perforated into suitable rags. 1t had
even summed up the state of the poll.
in chalk, on the shutters OF one ruined
house. 1t adiurcd the. !rcc and lndc-
pendent starrrrS to vote for Thi>man
and vote for Tlmtman: not 10 plump.
Is they valued the state Of parties aud
The national prosperity (b0th of great
, importance to them, think y. but. by
rrturmin. ThiSman and Thatuan, each
nau.hI without the other. 10 compound
4 glorious aud immortal whole. Sure
| lvthr skeleton i, nowhere more cruelty
| irunical in the original mUnki-h idea
/ Pondcring in my mind the iar.SccilT
schemes OF Thsman and Thainan, anh
OF the public blessing called partr't"r
>layin. the dcgcncacy, physical and
moral. OF many thousands (wh0 shall
say how manyD OF the English race: :
for dcvising employment useful TO the
community. for those who want but 10
work and live; for rqualizin@ rates.
cultivatjnS waste lands. facilitating
emigration. and. above all things. saw.
in" and utilizing the oncnmin@ gene
ra,ionS. and thereby changing ever
growing national weakness into
strength; bordering in mind. ] say.
these hopeful cArrtiunS. turned down
Il narrow street to look into Il house or
i two.
!, was dark street with a dead wall
ON one side. Nearly all the outer doors
OF the houses stood open. took the
first entry and knocked at Il pArlor
door. Might come in: might, il |
,paScl. SUR.
The woman Of the room (lrisl) had
picked up some long strips OF woU1l,
about some wharf or barge, and they
had Just now been thrust into the
otherwise empty CRATE TO make two
iron pots boil. There was some fish in
one, and there wcro some potatoes in
the other. The fare OF the burning
wood enabled me to sec table and 4
broken chair or SO. and some old cheap
crockery ornaments about the CHM
nevpiccc. 1t was not until had spo-
ken to tho woman few minutes that
! | saw horrible brown heap OH the
! floor in the corner, which, but for pre-
vious experience in this dismal wise, ]
! might not have suspected to be ":hc
bed" There was something thrown
upon ii, and asked what TINT was.
"Tis the poor craythur that stays
here, Sur, aud It's very bad she is, and
It's very bad she's been this long time,
and 'tis better she'll never be. nnd It's
slapc she doos all day, and It's wake
she docs all night, and tits tho lead,
Sur
"Thc WHAT"
"The lead, Sur. Sure 'tis the lead
mills, where the women get took OH ut
eighteen pence day, Sur, when they
makes application early enough and
is lucky and wanted, and 'tis lead
pisoned she is, Sur, and some Of them
2ltS lCuU-plSOuCO SOOu uuN SoiIC VI
them gets lcad-pisoncd later, and some
but not many nivcr, and It's all accord
Ing to the constitooshun, Sur, and some
constitooshuns is strong and some is
weak, and her constitooshun is lead
pisoncd bad Us can be, Sur, and her
brain is comm. out at her ear, and it
hurts her dreadful, and that's what 1t
is and nivcr no more and nivcr no less,
Sur"
The sick young woman moaning
here, the speaker bent over her, took
baudagc from her head. and threw open
back door to let in the daylight npon
It, from the smallest and most miscra-
bic backyard over saw. -.
"That's what cooms from her, Sur,
being lcad-pisoncd, and it cooms from
her night aud day the poor sick cray
thur, and the pain of it is dreadful, aud
God he knows that my husband has
walked the sthreets these four days
being laborcr and is walking them
now and is ready to work and no work
for him and no fire and no food but
the bit in the pot, and no more than
ten shillinSs in q fortnight God be
good to us, aud it is poor We arc and
dark it is md could II is indeed" =.