New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-02
SUNDAY IN BAXTER STREET.
SINGULAR PHASE OF CITY LIFE.
HOW THE DAY OF REST IS SPENT AMONG GARBAGT

moro TeglOIe
though the leafs ragged and dirty i affords abund
ant material for interesting study. The illustrations
suggest quaint old echlnPs with life infused int0
them and if not frightened by color or heightened
Inv grace their strange outlines and bre shadows
have an attraction OF their own. The walk Is not
particularly cheerful, but 1t IL walk mat gives
birth to reflection There nothing artificial about
life in Baxter-st. Original sin holds iull sway.
The street is narrow one, and being III one OF
the poorest portions OF the cit y where tae peope
are too careless and ignorant even 10 hhd fauit
with the condition of things, seems 10 De utterB
neglected by the authorities, and abandoned 10 tne
kingdom of dirt and NTH, OF when th9 people
themselves appear to be loyal subjects. Inc MD
die OF the street is almest choked no by piles OF de
cayng street-swcepings and garbage, Iaked To-
eether weeks ago and then forgotten. Barrels OF
reekIng refuse stand along the sidewalks steamlng
with malarial moisture as the sun shines upon
them. Here and there one of them ~ overturned,
and its loathsOme contents mlngle with the SHINY
ooze which fills the CUTTERS and collects IN pools
upon the il paved street. shaky-Iooking cart or
two and a number of junk wagons whose bells
inst now are silent. rest along the curb
Looking up Baxter-st from Chatham, the scene
is forbdding one. The parallel rows of buildings
of brick or wood, most OF them only 'W3 OF ,red
to the last degree The foundations OF many OF
them have sunk on one side or the other, ana thelr
fronts remind one of faces twisted by eAcrucatlng
main Occasionally tall tenement looms mp III
closing within its four walls more OF wretchedneHs
and misery and crime than It's ncIghbors, only pc
cause il is lotucr and has greater capacity. The
lower stories OF the buildings chiefly used as
stores They are all open, but there Is llttle Dus-
ness doing Most of them have wooden sheds-black
with age aud never partcd-bullt IN front TO take
the place of awnings. Stretched from the posts OF
these are ropes upon which hang hundred OF pairs
OF shoes, suits of sheep RlodlngS or wares
which may have possible sale among the denzlil
of the quarter Most of the keepers OF these stores
are Hebrews, and with their wives and children
they sit out on the pavement anXlOusIy aWaltlh9
customers When a passer-by hesltateS. he Is well
nigh lost. The whole family pOunces upon him, lie
il dragged in TO " look ut the bargains" and is
lucky indeed If he can escape without making use
Along the sidewalks. almost alternating with the
garbage barrels are the two-Wheeled STANDS OF
peripaetic vendors Of hard green apples, damaged
bananas, questionable pastry and uncertain look
ing lemonade, which Is sold from dirty glasses az
prices ranging from one cent upward, according TO
the depth OF the draught.
The incubation of BaXter-st represents variety
of races and natlOnaItlcs-German, EnRllsl, lrisG,
Italian and African. Cpby the corner stands WI
lanOus-lOokmg fellow, who sufficiently resemble
the pictures IN the Od-Ime biographies TO be
Malay, and coming down the street Is Chnaman
VINO has not yet discarded the queue but he proDa-
bly, belongs in MOt-st., nca by.
Sunday IN BaXteT-st is not a day OF rcllglouS OBJ
servance or q day for excursions or merry making.
Ii is simply a day Of rest for some OF the 1nhaDl-
tauts and right welcome rs its dawnlng 10 tue
weary workers. There Is no COHey Island or kOck'
away for Baxter-st. Its dwellers can only SIT upon
the pavement and dream OF tine seashoe or OF green
fields. In the evening they may go down TO the
Battery and get n breath OF sea breeze II they VIII,
but they do not seem 10 care for Frightening their
lives even SO cheapy so here they sit TIL the
sun goes down. The whole population of the
onarteT seems to he cmptied into the street this
afternoon. The men SIT smoking together IN groups
by themselves, and talk about-n0b0dy knows
what; but oaths are uppermost in the conversation.
Here are a dozen women discussing the everyday
duties of life. Further on Is another group quar-
relling about some trivial matter and using IAN
image that would disgrace a tsh-market Others
are nursing their children or sit idly gazing into the
street with an distracted, faI-away look that may
perchance regard past happier t1an tho present,
m another land where the skies were clearer. But
with all these people there is no apparent eiI0rt
made to better the condition or things. lhey lye
like animals in the dirty street. breathing its tOtid
odors aud enduring their wretched existence with
a stolidity that an observer might think content
ment though he could not twist it into even SEM
blance of happiness-the hard lines Ill the faces for
bid any such conclusion.
The saddes pictures in the street are in the faces
of the children, A careworn face is a melancholy
study at best but the careworn face of child is
sight to touch the hardest heart. Yet there are
many such faces here faces which belong to" old
little children, whose ears are unused to the KIND
words usually Iavlshed upon childhood, and for
whom the time OF innocent pleasure and careless
happiness IS lacking; children whose TOYS are the
street refuse whose enjovments are acts OF nfanle
atrocity old men and women in embryo before they
can talk tiny scouts of the starvation army forag-
ing for subsistence almost before they can walk.
There are a few among the very little ones who
really are beautiful. despite their surroundings and
the dirt which almost eclipses the small faces but
a year two works great change even IN TIM best
The features sharpen and lose all traces of freshness
and premature old age steals over early youth.
Across the way lies beggar, but he does not ask
his hand-organ Is mercfu to the people here; there
are no pennies to spare from Baxter-st.; so the
money-makng music Is reserved for the persecution
OF the uptown districts.
Further up the street between some of the houses
clothes-lines are stretched with clothes hanging
upon them. A little girl one day asked how the
people got up the street to hang the clothes on
those lines. Ii Is almost cause for surprise to see
the evidence of washing here, but there Is another
stranger sight across the way IN a window over
one Of the shabby stores there some pots of
flowers geranuns and pinks among them, so some
body must have heart, even herein BaXterst., and
possibly the flowers help to keep IT tender.
Peerng out of a RrewsOme cellar which exhaes
mephitc odors, is n low-browed, swarthy junk-man
Further back IN the den can be seen Il family OF
children huddled together. Each one is dressed III
single garment. apparently made OF a blt of old
sacking, and hey are the first happy looking chill
dren seen IN the street one or the oder ones mas
fished from a barrel by the father in the morning,
and she is explaining the pictures to the Others.
"A reporter reporter shouted a number of
ragged uTcbins the reporter writes sentence in
his book The people whose attention is attracted
look defiant and Sowing. They do not like lntru;
sion within their domains. Their life Is wretched
enough without the whole world knowing it. But
here comes little fellow who feels differently:
please, mister. put my name III the paper =
Put your name IN the paperi well, what Is your
name"
Tommy Finnegau, and sells papers; but there
il none printed on Sunday evening. But VII! you
put name In the paperf
Yes. Tommy your name shall be in the paper"
Tommy does not care 10 know what paper his
name will lie in, anything OF that kind his name
will be In paper and he feels covered all over with
glory i'll consequence.
Here is an old woman sitting in doorway smok-
ing a black pipe. Her mouth and chin are covered
with tobacco stains and so is her faded dress. Her
face shows that she is just emerging from pro-
tracted debauch. As one looks upon the loathsOme
creature from whom all of the woman seems to have
vanished leaving only the animal, he play well won
der if there longer soul in that body
or if the foul object there sister wife
or mother, or was a child. While one looks
the lips open and with frighttul oath the creature
orders half-clOtbed, wizened child to stop playing
in the gutter slime. The child is only smaller ei-
ton Of the wonan
"Oh yes thatll do for a beginnin'." says one
yonng man TO another who is standing III a group
near q street corner. That isn'6 30 bad but look
what | scooped last week" and the speaker pro-
duces at least dozen silk hendkerchefs from
his numerous pockets-some OF them new. others
LIZ, ri 1I er.