Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1882-12-30
GOTHAM GOSSIP.
Special Correspondence Independent.
New YORK, Dec. 81, 1882.

The streets of the city are
thronged with shoppers, ana the
thoroughfares ia front of the great
stores in Broadway, Sixth Ave-
nue., Eighth Avenue. Fourteenth
Street, Twenty-third Street and
Grand Street, are fairly blocked
with males and females young
and old, rich aud poor. And yet
the proprieiors Of nearly ai the
stores complain of bad business.
The crowds rush in, look on and
go away, and this is the same
story everywhere. A fair bust
ness has been done in the toy and
doll departments, but outside of
these the income scarcely covers
expenses. The other afternoon /
had 10 accompany lady to an
immense establishment in Four
tenth Street. We we're nearly
half an hour at one stand, the lady
of course taking the usual female
allowance of time To make her Sc
lection. During that half hour
the girl that waited upon us was
asked fully one hundred questions
by people passing by, and not one
of these questions led to pur-
chase Of even the veriest trifle.
The anxiety Of the owners and
managers, and the fatigue and
strain on the employees in these
stores is really enormous The
latter have been required 10 work
from fourteen to fifteen hours a
day during the past week and the
result of the bot sitting air and
restless worry is telling on the
girls. Poor things they have
seemingly not spirit enough left
in them to insisi on their title OF
"salesladie-," but are content to
remain plain saleswomen.
The cause Of this uuIlness may
be traced back directly to the
tiehtness of the money market,
and to the sharp decline of some
of the leading securities on the
Stock Exchange. Wall Street is
the pulse of metropolitan lite
When it makes money, every
body seems prosperous, when 1t
loses everybody is short. The
bears are having things pretty
generally their own way, but a
feeling of hopefulness is manifest
ing itself on the bull side of the
street, and after the first of JaDu-
airy settling has been gone through
with affairs will again have an
upward tendency.
The virtuous spell which Dis
trict Attorney McKeon forced on
New York for few weeks before
election is over, and now Gotham
is as wicked as she ever was. Last
Saturday all of the gambling
houses reopened, and are run
ming" almost night and day to a
vast patronage. The roulette
wheel whirrs and the chips click
a fandaDgo of wild excitement,
which to the philosophical locker
on makes it seven days wonder,
when he thinks of the bitter fight
made by Mr.. McKeon against the
fraternity, and his manifestos
that he was going TO root Them
out of New York and vicinity.
but | suppose they cannot be
stopped. 1t is hard enough TO put
an end 10 gambling in the inland
towns, but in city like this where
the floating population equals in
numbers the resident inhabitants,
games of chance will be INDUCED
in, if not publicly, certainly pri-
vately.
Mrs. General Hancock has COM
posed a tie De,m which was
sung in the chapel of Governors
Island on Christmas morning
Those who heard it say that
the work shows much depth of
feeling, skill in composition and
beauty of conception. 1t will
probably be rendered later on at
one of the many concerts during
the holidays in Brooklyn, organ
lied by smaleurs for the bent fit Of
the poor
The Chris mas musical programs
of the various churches showed
much ekili Of arrangement. / no.
tice tendency 80 return to sacred
music pure and simple, which is
faithful d, parture from the in
roads into the operate field which
the Organists of a number Of lash
i0nahle cnutci,ee were ~ foId Of
making ie~ sra~ol's ago.