Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-01-15
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.

| OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
| The Helpless Poor-7Ae Carnival Of
Crime-1he Dillon Murger-A MI
ionairc IN Tr0nbie-1Ae Last Fraud.
THE HELPLEss POOR.
Vigorous efforts are made by the
Benevolent Societies to provide for
the helpless poor, before the cold,
which We are taught will strengthen
a. days begin to lengthen. Soup
houses ore set up In different parts
| Of the city, where . hot, n0urishin G
meal il given for about six cents
aud several decent free lodging
houses afford shelter for the home
less, deserving poor: leaving the
station houses TO keep the profess.
sional tramps aud beggars. Two
things are wanting tn make the life
of the poor in New York aud else.
where anything but intolerable
wretchedness. The first is decent
lodgings, and provisions at . low
rate. 1t is true that rents and OK,
penses In general are three times al
high here rs they are in London: q
fact which weighs heavily on the
rich, and Is all but extinction to the
poor. High rents force the price OF
everything up to correspond in order
to pay them. Nor need any Of your
readers think this is y matter which
does not concern them for the ten
dency of prices, of work and pro-
duce, in other towns, tends to that
of the great centres. Servants meas
ure their wages, aud merchants
their gains, by the prices in New
York. There isn't u village where
this is read, that people do no,
charge as near the regular rates OF
the cities, as they dare. There is
not o town in the states, that is not
interested, for its own sake, in the
condition Of things here because it
must feel their influence sooner Or
later. The only comfort OF hard
{ mes, is, that they must bring
living down for rich and poor. Tie
exlOrtion of rents charged in tens-
ment houses is frightful. 1t is a
fact that the swarming. squalid ten.
euients OH filthy streets bring in
more rent than uptown dwellings.
Not an attic closet, with half the
glass out OF the panes, grimy aud
decayed, but brings its four dollars
q month to the owner. And there
will be forty rooms in building,
the decentest ones calling for ten
dollars or fifteen dollars month ;
this, is the poorest class OF tene'
mentS.
THE CARNIVAL. OF CRIME.
Is crime, like cholera, epidemic
1t would seem so. One murder
breeds another. The pistol, knife
and bludgeon have been very busy
from the day before New Years till
now, and the police reports show nc
abatement even yet. One frenzied
man shoots his wife, CUES the thr0ats
of his four children, and then kills
ipself, which last murder was the
Oily ono that the world need be
thankful for. The number OF grOg-
shop homicides New Years eve
aud the night following was fright.
full. And what is singular, it keeps
up steadily. But the most
TERRIBLE MURDER
on record was that at the West.
minister Hotel, Saturday night.
Romano Dillon, q wealthy and first
family bachelor of fifty shot gent.
ieman named DAleber in the corri-
I26r OF the hotel, after moments
gvercation, the victim dying in a
few hours. The singular thing
abont il Is, that the parties had no
quarrel-indeed they scarcely knew
each other, Dillon was offended
with DiIliber for walking in the cor
ridor-understand, they were both
boardsrs-and had shown his dis.
pleasure all day. Meeting Dilliber
that eveniD g, he ordered him to get
out of the corridor, which Dilliber
refused to do, whereupon Dillon
drew his Derringer and shot him.
Now the facts come out. 1t appears
that Dillon has been insane for
ytars.-that when he was boarding
at the Brevoort House he was in
the ha bit of quarreling with the
boarders on the most absurd pre-
texts, which created such a fear of
him that the managers were com.
PEELED to get rid of him. He showed
murderous propensities then, but
never word was said about it, and
he went to the Westminster. Since
he has killed a man the proprietor
states that this lunatic has been for
IA year in the habit of ordering peO.
pie away from the house that if
any one walked in the corridor in
front of his room he would peremp-
uorily order him away, and if he de-
clined to obey, he would shoot at
him as coolly as though he were a
dog, But never word of all this
was said to any one by the proprie-
tor. The Dillon family are pro-
fOundly grieved that poor Dilliber
was killed, but they were always
afraid that something of the sort
would happen. They always knew
that poor Romano was crazy, and
they kept away from him, but they
never said anything about it, for
the subject was painful to them
OF course, Dillon will be put in an
asylum, but had l the making OF
the laws, l should provide for the
of several other parties.
The propristors of the Brevoort and
Westminster hotels would go up
for not putting this murderOus lu-
natic where he could harm no one.
Then l would send up the entire
Dillon family for not letting the
world know that their brother was
crazy, and always had been, and
that it was dangerous to have him
running loose.