Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1876-01-17

Another framed notice / commend most
heartily. 1t reads: Lovers not appreciaIeoi
and therefore not wanted" .h;s
Harry is q business man, and looks on tnls
particular profession with q practical eye. Losels
don't drink. don't eat, don't dance. don't speno
money. don't in tact do anything for the enter.
tainment of the company; they merely SIT qu,es
and see heaven in each others eyes, ana So
please moody but themselves. .ho
Also q large printed map stares you ~ sne
face entitled "seripsursni, }u and = ew .ys uusns
ana he has other instructions to bis disciples,
fnII of the most horrible blssphemy, and 1t is q
wonder that a miracle don't happen, and the
nublic scofer and daring atheist suffer some
dreadful punishment as a direct Visitation from
Nc1t we went to q French saloon, where the
pnrosr, albeit not understood, was desfening-
the isreon in q foreign tongue, the shrugs, Inc
animated gestures, made q scene Le" 70 our
| American eyes. :-u
in here, dropping in there, stopping only for q
| few moments to hear and then IN another to see
| ali that was worth witnessing. And as the night
passed AWAY and we descended slowly the scale OF
| saloons of the city about morning we touched
bottom on Water street, near where the WharVes
| and shipping are. This is the st. Giles and
Fauboue St. Antoine of New York The streets
are yery narrow, and tall, crazy tenement
| houses line either side, and bend over, looking
every moment like they would tumble on the
| incautious passer by. old windows stu1eo Win
old hats AID rags, old doors hanging by one
| hinge, old shutters with all the shuts gone, and
| old garbsge boxes in the streets, made one
shudder and wish himself away. Through the
| broken windows shone the dim lights ana came
| the sound Of hideous revelry-drunken sailor;
staggered along the broken sidewalks ana
crouching figures in rags shut1ed by. All TINS
maze a horrible picture, but it was paradise to
the scenes enacted below. We went down in
one of these underground saloons: The low.
ceilinged room was dimly lighted by lamps
hat could hardly be seen through the murky
gloom 8 rough board shelf answered the place
of bar room, behind which stood inc proprietor
in his shirt sleeves, and q few bottles OF Vllialn.
Gus whiskey and gin completed the STOCK. a
couple of fddles, played by two black. proved
Italians, furnished the music to the delects0le
company; and such company Dickens Dill
Sykes, Fagin the Jew, the Arttul Dodger, ana
vice and crime imprinted in their faces. There
are two murderers," said the detectives, anu
every man is q criminal" Anything on the
Law tonight ?' asked the proprietor, obsequl.
ously Offering US q drink Of his vic gin. no.
said UBrien-"only showing the gentleman
~sround'-and then we stood off and watched;
Whiskey flowed like water, and men dead
drunk were pitched remorselessly out into the
Hreet; the quarrels2me were knocked down ana
left to pick themselves up; young thieves and
pickpockets, with all the vices or full grown
men, drank deep Of the fiery liquor; and even
women, Gods greatest gift to man, whose name
is synonymous with all that is pure and sweet,
can fall so low that it makes one sick at heart.
They sang and screamed, and would drink with
any that would ask them and the horrible
oaths, curses and profanity were appalling. l
do not mean to be p~rofsne, but 1t was simply 8
hell. Milton tells US that Satan says that Eell
is in his own heart, and l saw it here-despair,
ruin and death could only be the portion or all
the miserable ~outcasts, and yet they stood with
no hand stretched out to save thom. 1t was
horrible, and such a scene as only Dante could
describe in his Inferno. We at list reached the
streets and breathsd with thsnkfulness Cod
own pure air, and rs we left the maudlin shouts,
bacchanslisn SONG s and drunken shrieks followed
US. The stars shone out bright, the moon looked
through the hoecy clouds benignly down, the
roar had died out on Broadway, the rafting on
the streets had ceased, only the blue.costed po-
lice gIided silently by on their beats, and New
York was lost for q time in perfect quiet
(u ASSEnR