Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-04-23
A LONDON MIDNIGHT.
The Mob of Women who Swarm I'm Hay
mark ct and PiccadilIy.

London Letter to the New York Times.
1t is night in the Haymarket now The
| last carriage has rolled away, and though
| the relocated soldier still PAGES on guard in
| front of "Her Majesty's," the lights have
been put ont, the street as we'll as the the
ter is almost in darkness, and it seems as
though the latter, at least is to be given up
to the shadows and the police. But this is a
| mistake. You are. within the confines of
what should be called the modern slave mart
of London, the precinct where human beings
place themselves on show for sale and loudly
solicit custom. The streets all about you,
from the Haymarket over toward Piccadilly
then to Long Acre and the Strand, are fl led
with women. They are to be counted not by
hundreds, but by thousands. Women
of the same unhappy class are to be found
in all large cities of Europe and America,
and in ali such cities they walk on the
streets at night. But except, perhaps. in the
case of Berlin, where they are scattered so
unfortunately and promiscuously all over
the town as to attract but little attention,
they are confined to a district which is
frequented only by them and their
kind. They must be sought for to
be found. In London, on the contrary, it is
hardly possible to avoid them. The dis
rrict about the Haymarket, toward Picca-
dilly, the Strand and Clearinghouse is one of
the most rsquented in London. In it are,
besides tie grand terminus of the continental
railway systems, all the most popular grand
hotels, particularly those patronized by
strangers and tourists, many OF the most
fashionable theaters, the aristocratic clubs
and 1me of the finest residences in the city
And in this district, from the time the gas is
lighted almost until the dawn of day, the
streets are filed, some of them literally filled
to OVERLOOKING, with women. They are Of
all ages and dressed in all styles and quality
Of dress. Some of them are old and gray,
blear-eyed, hideous, horrible to look upon in
their dirt and tawdry 6nery; others are
sc ircely in their teens, children in years,
while between the two are girls and women
of every age and size. Many of them are
very beautiful, richly dressed, and, after
their fashion, most attractive. But they are
all. the old and the young, the children and
the blear-eyed, engaged In the same terrible
pursuit. They stand in crowds in front of
the club-houses very much as young men in
America stand in fEer. nj ch,,ros ,aoo-s o.;
railway stations all through the night;
they thropg the sidewalks, swarm
about the drinking places and in
the Strand and Charing-cross in front of the
five largest and most frequented hotels in
the metropolis, they are so thick that at
midnight it Is sometimes difficult for people
coming on foot from the theat'r or other
through them. There is apparently but
slight effort made by the authorities to sup
press their traffic or to confne them to some
obscure quarter. So long as they keep in
motion they cannot be arrested, and all night
long the hard worked policemen about "The
Gross" and the Strand can be heard shouting
to them to "Move on, move on" There is
no more terrible sight in all terrible London,
yet year after year, season after season, it
presents itself. 1t is simply not possible to
avoid it. And still year after year, season
after season, the unfortunates continue to
"move on"-not only through the damp
streets of the cruel city, but to death, the
grave, and that which comes after. Men
have no mercy upon them, and the fine
ladies, who have never known want, hunger
and temptation, have for them no pity, no
no kind words, no help. no love.
In their dire need they can look alone to
God. May God help them.