Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-12-18

cdlieu sacred concerts" sunday nights.
The value of the SACRED Concerts'' may
be inferred from the following programme {:
BOTH SACRED CONCERT-BOwERY THEA
TIRE.
The concert this evening will commence
with the romantic drama entitled
The French Spy,
with Miss Louise Sylvester as the Arab boy.
To be followed by the drama, in three acts,
entitled
Jonathan Bradford.
or the
Murder in the Roadside Inn.
To conclude with
Jack Sheppard.
In all the minor theatres dramatic per
formances, the same as on the week day
nights, have been given Sunday nights, un-
der the name ef sacred concerts, and the
opera trOupes have been quite as unbush-
ing in the evasion of the law.
Finally the managers of the better class
OF theatres entered their protest against it
in conjunction with leading citizens, and
a raid on the places was inaugurated. Last
Sunday night a number of them were
closed, but the majority Of them went
through with their performances.
THE SUNDAY QUESTION
is a very difficult one to manage here.
There is an enormous German and French
population, who will not yield one iota Of
of their notions on this subject They re-
gard Sunday as day not only of rest, but
recreation, and crowd into it all the amuse-
ment of the week. They want their gar
dens in the summer, and halls in the even
ing their theatres and concerts. They eau
not understand why, in a free" country
they should be debarred from doing as they
please on any day in the week, so that they
do not interfere with others. They want
to observe the day in this country as they
observed it in the land they come from, and
they make a vigorous fight for it. 1t goes
into politics and has its effect upon all the
elections. The German Of New York
knows Of no question of public policy that
is SO important to him, and his vote is inhu-
enced more by this question than by any
other. He does not believe in religious OBJ
servances on Sunday, he has no s; s;-npathy
with the Puritan idea-in short, ne is in
antagonism with it all. And to him it is
a vital matter, and he fights it in every pos
sible way. 1t counts on election days, and
from this time out it will count more.
BUILDING AND REAL ESTATE.
The real estate people are disturbed.
Under the stimulus of the war and war in
fation, real estate went up fearfully.
Building lots in the vicinity Of the Park
were few years ago counted fairly cheap
at SO, 900, and S25, 900 was not an unusual
price. They are not so high now, indeed
they couldn't be sold to-day for the half
what was paid for them. They lay dead
property. There is no use in building on
them, for there are a thousand or more
empty houses above AID street and three
times that number below, not going lower
down than 18th. l mentioned last week
the fact that there are thousands OF empty
stores and offices. This condition of things
is easily accounted for. New York has
built houses and stores without providing
the business to fill them. She has permit
ed Baltimore TO take on part of her trade,
and Boston another part. She has allowed
the dangerous classes TO take possession OF
the government of the city, and has done
everything possible to check her growth
and limit her prosperity. The Legislature,
instead of selling or filling up the lateral
canals, which never did any business and
makes heavy draft ON the Erie, foolishly
keeps them up and drive away the trade
which otherwise would find the city by that
channel, and her merchants sit down on
natural advan .ages" and allow Cartmen,
niddlemen and leeches generally, to suck
the substance out of the grain trade.
In the meantime, Baltimore and Boston
are building elevators and reaching their
long railroad arms out over the country !;
and Canada is arranging to improve her
river and canal system so as to get better
connection with the great " est and clip the
metrop oils still more.
New York is the great commercial GEN.
ter Of the continent, and always ought to
he !; but there has got TO be a change of
tactics or she will lose her place, sure.
AMUsEMENTS AND LUXURIEs.
AS dull as are the times and as hard as
money is to get, it is singular thing that
the places Of amusement are better PATRON
lied than ever. The opera, with seats at
81, is crowded the theatres are full night
ly, and the drinking houses and the more
fashionable restaurants, where a dinner
costs 81 to Sc, have lost none Of their pa
tronage. And the retail store are doing
exceedingly well.
There has never been 4 time when the
fashionable retailers sold more costly goods
than they have this season. The jewellers
are selling enormous quantities of expen-
sive goods, and the importer of silks and
laces and that class, never sold more. And
the question is, who buys them? New
Workers, as q rule, are economizing. but
nevertheless the goods 90. One standing
an hour at the bars of any of the great
hotels, and seeing the amount of brandy
consumed at 40 cents 4 drink. wouldn't
suppose the country was suffering from
stagnation in business, and that there was
universal distress in the city. Nor would
they suppose that 30, 600 men were out of
work on the island and that their wives
and children were actually suffering for
bread. The two extreme come very close
to each other.
continues unsettled and unsatisfactory. The
employers are discharging vast numbers
of men and reducing not only the time but
the wages of those they retain. The poor
fellows, driven to madness, strike-the fac
tories close, and then comes hunger, cold
and desperation. This will be the worst
winter New York has ever seen. Labor