The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-11-10
descriptive Artitles.
WALK IN EAsT-END, LONDON.
From, tie London Daily Ne,cs.

fore me- | had passed through the district
a score of times by trains, but had never
sauntered through it on foot and with note
book in hand; and when man deliberately
sets out as an explorer he notices many
things which under any other circumstances
would not attract his attention in the slight.
est degree He is like painter wandering
in the country. To the casual observer
the grass appears green; but the artist who
as he is meditating a sketch, is in an ana
lytical frame of mind, sees that the herbage
is perchance not green at all, but yellow.
1t is, in fact, only when one is critical that
one receives really correct impressions
Although the East is full of hustle and
noise and color, it does not conceal its
wretchedness from the man who wishes
to study it, any more than the grass con-
ceals Its yellowness from the analytical ar
tist. At the window of nearly every cook
shop there is pair of wistful, hungry
looking eyes; at the breast of many wo-
man, although she seems to be strangely
old, is shrunken child, very different in
appearance from the chubby children of the
some age that may any morning be met
with by the score in Kensington Gardens,
[ walked along the north side of the Com
mercial Road, and saw dozens of spectacles
of this kind; but I did not see many happy,
CHEEKY, contented faces. In nearly all
there was a look Of pain and weariness, if
not of vice as we'll 1t was very hot, yet
the young girls who were hurrying to OF
from their dinner were almost without ex-
ception dressed in shabby ulsters or old
long cloaks that barely served to hide the
rags and tatters beneath. They evidently
knew nothing of summer garments; and the
aspect of the men was no better They
seemed to find no pleasure in the bright
sunshine, but rather to regard the fine
weather as studied insult to their misery.
[ got into conversation with young
fellow, who told me that he was employed
at small foundry in the neighborhood of
Limehouse Basin. He had a wife with
four children under five years of age, and
earned seventeen shillings a week. The
family had lived in two rooms, and managed
to get on fairly well when work was to be
had; but the man assured me that for
eleven months in succession he had been
unable to find anything to do, and that he
had only been in his present place for five
weeks. During the bad time he had been
obliged to sell everything he possessed save
coat anda a pair of trousers. At one period
his family Of six shared a room about four
teen feet by eleven, with another family of
three, paying sixteenpence week for the
accommodation, and spending not more
than threepence Or fourpence day on their
food; yet the young fellow informed me
that hundreds of others had been and still
were quite as badly off. 'Theres man
[ know in Caroline street" he continued,
"as is wuss off still, sir, for e as missus
and seven kids, three of which isn't able to
walk step yet, and one never will be,
either, COS it's crippled and as sores all
over its legs He offered to take me to
Caroline street and introduce me, but as he
told me that the unhappy family in ques-
ton lived in room which contained neither
chair, bed nor furniture of any kind, and
that another child was suffering from some
mysterious illness which, he suggested in
passing, "moight be collery,' did not take
advantage of his good nature. A few
yards further on [ met policeman, to
whom | related what | had heard 'Lor'
bless you," he said, 'there's lots of them
cases about We don't think nothing of
it, sir; and, as for the sanitary officers, they
can't be everywhere Give the people
money and they won't want to live like
pigs, no more than you do. 1t amt their
fault"
And so l strolled on eastward, penetrat-
ing deeper and deeper into the poorer dis
tricts, and finding in almost every street
new signs of misery and vice. Beyond
Stepney Station | turned sharp round to
the left into Salmon's Lane, in which, as
also in Chrisp street, mile or so further
on, an open air market was being held
Business seemed to be tolerably brisk, but
l soon found that little money was being
spent. Vegetables were haggled over, and
finally parted with at prices which would
have terrified Covent Garden salesman
and little scraps of worthless female fnery
gave rise to as much bargaining as could
be got out of bit of Peking enamel in a
Wardour street curiosity shop. In pool
neighborhoods it is noteworthy that people
always prefer to do their shopping in the
open air and under the full glare of all the
light that can be obtained They are SC
careful of their pence and their precious
sixpences, that it seems almost as if there
ought to be special fractional coinage is.
sued for their benefit | saw, for instance
woman who was cheapening vegetable
marrow. The costermonger wanted three
pence for it. She offered twopenee, but he
was immovable, and she went away, only
to return minute later and eye the Gov
eted gourd with greater eagerness thar
ever Would she give twopence-half
penny? She might have it for that, tn,
dealer informed her, as he leisurely trimmed
a cabbage and placed the outside leaves il
his hat. Well, yes. She wouldn't minC
twopence-halfpenny if the man woulC
throw in a couple of small onions and after
some further talk he actually did throw il
one onion, and the woman bought the mar
row and retired triumphant.
As [ turned toward Limehouse again
and came in sight of St. Annes Church, ]
was arrested by little crowd, in the mids
of which stood two working girls, with
arms akimbo, and hands doubled back ovel
the hips, in the favorite attitude, in fact
Of Nine. Angot They were loudly abus
ing each other. 'You did" said one
you're liar p cried the other; and fol
fully five minutes these assertions were re-
peated with wearisome reiteration, until al
last the stouter and stronger of the twair
sprang upon her opponent with the agility
of the cheetan, and savagely buried hel
nails in the other ones face. No one in
terfered. Such unseemly y combats appear
ed, indeed, from the comments [ overheard
to be very ordinary occurrences, and 1t was
not until the slighter girl was covered with
blood that the battle ceased; whereupor
most Of the spectators warmly congratulate
ed the victress, who, still trembling with
passion, was led off by an admiring dock
laborer forrefreshment at the nearest public
house. Such spectacles do not sugges
that common gallantry and poiteness are
paid much attention to by the inhabitant:
of Limehouse Religion of a certain kind
however, does not seem to be entirely ne
elected in the neighborhood; for, apart
from tho narochial nrOonizatIon OF st