New Orleans Republican., 1875-01-24

, | description OF some OF them ls even per
missible for polite ears, Certainly 1t woulc
| not be credible.
Let me saw. then, in brief, that life and
death, honesty and filthy vice, health and
. disease, innocence desperation and brutal
ity come together very often in 4S, and
glare at each other as they rattle along
through the night
Now and theE 6elicately bred creature
goes over to Brooklyn to party with her
brother or husband and is compelled to
come home by the way of 4S. Ah, I've seen
| that often enough. She gets in with the
| self reliant air that always became her in
| daylight. The drowsy fellows, with their
| uninteresting, that's all, and she drops
her tired head on her companions
shoulder and is secure. But on the corner
of Pearl street there gets in gorilla,
vomited out of the night somewhere. A
powerful desperate, full of poisonous liquor.
He is not loquacious nor boisterous; he is
vicious. The conductor, who has a keen
eye TO measure the resisting force of pas
senger. treats him with a dogged Difference.
| The passengers make room for him, with
Just the least bit of obsequiousness. The
little old man in the corner understands all
this, believe me. Outlawry is slightly
| imperious at night. The grip on it's throat
is not so tight. Outlawry, disregarding all
other seats, chooses to sit down by the
tired and frightened lady, and to stare at
| her. She shudders little. Well she may.
| Never before had she come so close TO this
| thing, for always before the daylight sur
| rounded her with a charm that Kept it
away. She gets closer to the young man,
| and puts her veil down.
Let me tell you that this is not tanciful
example. l am telling you what l have
seen out OF my corner. The ruttian have
| described is a typical one. Three or four
times within ten years he has got into
| 4S, and there was bloodshed before he got
| out. Once he insulted the gentleman who
| was taking the lady home. 1t was delib-
crate, gross, and malicious insult The
| mere exercise of brute power-that cow
| ardiy self,assertiOn which discovers itself
| in such characters the moment the circum-
stances offer them the least immunity. He
| addressed to the young man vile remark,
which called forth a spiteful protest. He
chose to consider this protest an insult and
challenge. So he struck the young man
blow with his fist.
A mere night brawl, say you9 True
| enough. But consider it as l have from my
| corner. A sudden struggle. Right and duty
and inotfensive gentility on one side;
wrong, oppression, force, on the other-and
wrong having much the best oft. A fierce
| tussle, the car stopped, conductor and
! driver pulling at the hyeRa who is after the
young mans blood; a call for the police,
| flourish of clubs, innocent and guilty ar
rested together; fainting woman alone in
a car-then the joggle, joggle, as we go on
again through the night.
Do not all the brave citizens in 4S, in
cluding the little old man in the corner,
rise as one person in defense of q woman;
an indication Of law and order, in support
of that general princip,3 that no mans life
is safe if this rutiian has his own way.
l am sorry to say the brave citizens do
not. As a rule they get an inch or two
deeper down in their coat cellars, and pre-
tend not to understand the row, or to be
annoyed only at the detention. One of
them, am free to admit, has a hot tingle
in his aged fingers, and gnashes his two or
three teeth quietly for minute. Another,
/ learn afterward, writes a manly and cour-
ageOus letter to the morning papers about
it, but does not sign his name for fear he
viii be called as a witness.
Not one of them cares to imperil his per-
sonal comfort for the moment, and the
comfort of his family and friends for long
time afterward by becoming the champion
of innocence in night-car.
| can see that from my corner. Yes. |
can see something else. | can see that
rufianism knows it.
Don't you make the mistake of suppOsing
that am one Of those cowardly individuals
who look on when policeman is attacked
by two or three rutians and laugh at his
appeals for help. / never wrote valiant
letter 70 the press about ruttanism, and
vet | have been insulted, jostled and NAL
treated in as. / have seen women COM
PEELED to sit and listen to ribalry from mis-
creapt throats, which would raise Gordon
of chivalrOus arms round the victim if
uttered in daylight / have seen invalids
ADJ aged. people treated with a course
cruelty that would have shocked Korac.
l have heard mild protests uttered by moral
courage lacking physical courage to back
it up, and the whole ear laughing derisively
at the discontinue of deeency by foul
mOuthed brutes.
And every time, assure you, have had
the same tingle in my finger ends and the
same pressure on my gums.
Ten years were not needed to convince
me that the age of chivalry was past. /
have often wondered from my seat in the
corner whether if men wore swords as they
once did they would leap from their scab-
bards as of old when men were stung by
high handed outrage.
No, sir; am a knight at heart, though
you wouldn't suspect it TO look at me there
in the corner Of as with my basket on my
knees, and my uncertain, watery eyes that
hardly dare TO look you squarely in the
face. Manys the hyena that has turned
his lurid eye on me with contemptuous pity,
and asked with his leer what was going to
do about it.
I never told him.
But ] can tell you.
Ten years ago / was knocked down by an
enfranchised peasant who had not been in
the country three months. He had pack
of other wolves at his back, as you may
know.
There were only three things possible for
me TO do:
: Have them arrested on warrant.
Whale them all single-handed.
Submit quietly and thankfully.
/ tried the first.
They rallied with fresh pack. They
were fined IS a head, which their captain
the courtroom door and shook their lists in
my face. and promised to take it out Of me
the first time ] appeared in public.
Chivalry wasn't Of much account in this
case, unless ! was willing to undertake the
Job of depopulating my ward.
had boy. He was sixteen then. He
didn't take after me so much as after his
grandfather, who was q buteher-One of
those athletic, old time fellows, who schttled
round New York with spring carts, and put
on red shirts at night; q stalwart, vigorous,
valiant tribe. This boy Of mine was a fine
type Of physical beauty as you ever clapt
eyes on, If do say 1t. He wasn't big for
his age, nor heavy, but he was as strong as
an iron wire, az quick az the flashes that 90
over il nowadays.
resolved to make him the champion that
/ could not be.
And did. All ha! my gorilla; you never
suspected that the old man in the corner
could match You with training and intelli.
genee and skill, did yOul
Perbape, my friend. you don't believe
that 9 mans muscles can be brought to the