The New York herald., 1879-08-31

quietly. "Mster. let's have two beers" Formerly
lie swore worse than the English did in Flanders
he may be heard warbling Moody and sankey's
hymns, and the "Sweet BY and By is of his
most cherished melodies. There is every hope that
the New York rowdy will yet entirely disappear and
his existence become memory of the past.
WHAT POLICE CAPTAIN SAYS ON THE SUBJECT,
Captain Gunner. OF the Twenty-eighth precinct.
recognized the fact that great improvement had
taken place IN the rowdy element of the city, esps
ciaiy IN the downtown quarters Street corner
loafng had almost wholly disappeared and the
watering places had been entirely transformed for
tho better "But, said the Captain '.,ke the poor.
Still. must say the best part of the city below
Forty street Is greatly relieved OF rowdyism
and most OF II @ has come up this way, The cheap
quit down town. and. ~ birds or leather
flock together soon the whole district around here.
from sixty-third street up to Eighty-fourth and
from Third to the East River began to
swarm with them. We make more arrests for assault
and battery in this precinct than they do in all the
Twelfth Nineteenth Twentythird. Thirty third and
Thirty-fourth precincts and the Fourth and Fifth
District courts. This accounts for the absenc. of
the rowdy element down town. All the rowdes
seem to have up here the east side, and the
citizens Of New York don't see as much OF them
.'what GLASS of fellows are theyr'
Young fellows. ranging all the way up from hf-
Sand their buslnessr' n4h ff
"vendors principally"
"what is their chief amusement of an eveningf'
IAN kinds of devilment. II they . respectable
lot OF people enjoying themselves over there at
Jones' Wood thoy climb across the fence and swing
in for night. Fighting. drinking and general Gus
sedness Is what they are known for" Htasi 81
"Are decent people safe in walking after dark
through the streets where these fellows liver
~ don't think 1t would be safe for man to pass
after dark through that part OF sixtythird street
called battle BAIT row. & That \ & at present about the
other sections Of town seem to have been drawn to-
gother there. The western portion Of this preclnc
however, Is tho best in the CITY,.
ssBut the whole the rOWdy Ia disaDpearinQ and
is being pushed to the wsllY'
''rhats how It looks, He certainly has been
pushed away up here and cuts up lively ever;
but must be great comfort to the rest Of the city
to have him corralled somewhere
RKCOLLEcTIoEs OF AN OLD OFFICER. sy
Sergeant Haggerty. Of the Seventeenth precinct
who was ten years in the Volunteer Fire Depart
ment and has been twenty years on the police force
in the most densely populated wards OF the east
side. sad;-''The Eighth. Eleventh. Thirteenth Fif-
teenth and Seventeenth wards not near bad ~
they used to De In times past the rOwdy element
recruited from the volunteer fire and target COM
panies. Now there are no volunteer fire and very
few target comPanies Corner loafng is pretty we'll
the rowdes would monopolize almost every corner.
They belonged to different gangs that have exist
Gang; in Thirteenth street, the Comrade Guards;
around avenue b. the Atlantic Blues; about Fif
teenth street. the Honeymoon Guards. and then
Gotham Guards. They'd congregate on o corner
and gang would likely stray of and get licked by
dangerous for man to notice any Of
them; but all that element has disappeared.
OF course they stu gather on corners but they hays
the corners clear. and they fly for their lives when
policeman makes his appearance; but In old times
only half populous as II is now the Of as
sault aud battery were twice as many as they are n
present"
..What has become of the former rowdiesY'
~ know lots OF former rowlies who are settled
down III business. married and living respectfully,
and some who are holding high positions in the city
government" NfI.
What their object in collecting on cornerss"
"Iheir object was lighting. and the great point
and sustain the greatest punishment. Men used to
take pride in allowing the scars they received and
These men would never tolerate thief IN their
ciety. One might do anything else. from pitch aud
toss to msnsaughter, but thief was something
THE FORMER RowDIKs WILDER THAN THE pREsENr.
Sergeant Ryan. Of the Fourth precinct. said:-
'sThe Fourth, Sixth and Fourteenth wards have
greatly improved within the past ten years. The
police have far less bother than formerly. There
was time when we used to have two men travel.
ling together in Mulberry and such streets for
tual protection. but that Is longer. The fact
appears to be that the young men who are growing
years ago. Their fathers and mothers know more
and there is more reading of books and newspapers
fuence for good. This ward mad always hard
name but its reputation is good any other,
considering the character of Its population"
WHAT HARRY THINKS.
Harry Hill, who comes in contact with every
imaginable class of society. SAID It had been con-
slant remark Of his of ao how altered for the better
New York was in the matter of rowdyism. "why,"
said he. this street hero (Houston) IL now quiet
at night as churchy ard and yet there was time.
not very long ago, when ell let loose.
You couldn't walk the street without being him
suited or hssssulted. These yere rowdies would
come along in gangs. There was Paddy Dufy's gang.
FitEgerald's. "Reddy the Blacksmith's," Joe Co.
burns. Peter and other tearaway gangs that
was constantly hghtn' and lickin' each other.
The new judges helped to break up these gangs. In
them times, II got of the fellers indicted
political influence would get him Off but the new
judges went for them like thousand Of brick aud
hood. This is Gittin' to be opeful an appy city
and the best thing that has 'sppened 'er II this
yere cleanin' out Of the rowdies" saying which
Harry. with . serene countenance. stepped Into his
wagon aud started for afternoon drive the Park
TuN DERTTVTAN NATTUES