The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-12-19
FRIsCOS LOW LIFE.
Boeneo In San Francisco's Cheap
Lodging-Housea
The Long Procession of Migrants whs
Avail Themselves OF the nIiser-
able Accommodation
Queer ChRracterA


[San Francisco Chronicle.
1t Is q trite saying that half the world does
not know how the other half lives and there
are many illustrations Of the fnct In San
Francisco. The mode of life Of the
Mob Hillite Is a mystery to the Tar Flatter,
while the former knows as little OF the do
nestle arrangements OF the poorer classes as
he does of the natives of Patagonia. The
brighter side of life without a home Is to be
seen in some OF our larger hotels and board
t~nR-houses, yet there are scenes and charac-
tiers to be Observed In our cheap lodging
houses OF San Francisco which are full of in
terest-often moving to laughter, but more
frequently TO pity. Most Of these abodes OF
the poor and unfortunate are situated in the
older portions of the city in buildings which
have been left vacant by the march OF bus
iness toward Market street.
Let us enter one of the most miserable of
these-and there are many not much better.
Up to the second or third story we ascend,
through a dirty, uncarpeted, in-smelling,
gloomy staircase, lighted only by the feeble
rays of a small smoking lamp. The space that
was originally divided up into several large
apartments has been cut up by thin board
partitions into innumerable small rooms,
each six feet by eight The partitions are
about seven feet high and reach barely
halfway to the ceiling. Space is consid-
cred so precious that the Railways are
scarcely three feet wide. The majority of the
cubby-holes are dark rooms" having
no Windows and only such ventilation as may
come through ike cracks OF tho doors or over
the partitions The furniture of a room con-
sists of a bed or cot, a couple of nails to hang
clothes on and possibly some mating on the
floor. Everywhere the reign of filth is SUI
preme. The floors look as IL they never had
been cleaned or even swept; Sle paint has
long since been turned black by the contact
of dirty hands or the deposit of dust, while
the bedclothes look as il they were perfect
strangers to soap and water. The air is heavy
with nauseating odors, the smoking of a dim
whale-oil lamp In the hall contributing its
full share. And into such a place hundreds
of human beings are packed every night, like
so many canned salmon, each in his ownbox,
with barely room to turn around In.
In each of these lodging-houses there Is a
dtting-room, with papers, checker-tables,
etc, as squalid and gloomy as the rest of the
place. Observing the figures seated here
and those constantly coming up the stairs,
one wonders il he is not In an asylum for the
blind. the halt and the inebriate. Here is
the omnipresent social philosopher, lean end
hungry, yet too unsettled In mind for regular
work.. who Is advocating a scheme for the d.
vision OF property every generation, while
opposite him Is a berry importation, who Is
sure he will become rich as soon as the
United States adopts q free-trade policy.
Yonder sits an old man, with unksmpt hair
and beard, eagerly d~evouring q tattered
book. With little breadth Of mind, yet with
a liking for study and a framss carosly fitted
for hard labor, be reads and starvex He Is
the book-woIm and his mind Is perhaps a lit
tie feeble.
Lying limp upon a bench at the side'is a
large. bloated fellow. more ragged and dirty
thai flxn ,~- n O.. Nlu ~--a---I l---I
who will do an odd Job now and then, but
will Immediately spend his earnings for drink.
Near him lounges a young hoodlum, with a
battered face, blAckened eye and bandaged
head; he did not come out well from his
Last encounter with a policeman. Mean,
while, slowly climbing his way up stairs,
comes ono whose clothes are ragged yet
neat, whose eye is dull, yet whose face 10
not hardened, and you know you behold
one whom sickness and misfortune have
tried In vain to bring down to the Lsvel of
the Others, yet you can easily see that he will
soon be released from his cares and troubles.
Following him come a motley crew-one
blind and assisted by another little better
than himself; another has but one leg; a third
Ia minus an arm, and after these comes a
long procession of Migrants in various de-
S-ees Of intorication-at least two-thirds of
those who live In such places are brought
there by drink. A few strong and healthy
men ara to be found here, most of them coos
or walters in cheap restaurants, and they are
the only ones who show any symptoms of
good spirits.
As the roomers file past and you see their
sickly faces and wrecked forms and consider
tho vile atmosphere they are to breathe all
night, you don't wonder at the largo number
who are found dead in these cheap lodging
houses; you are only surprised that any OF
them live through it. While the visitor Is
conversing with the night clerk a measured,
diguifed tread is heard on the stairs. He
turns inquiringly TO the clerk, who replies:
"Oh, that's the Major" In due time the
owner of the cognomen appears. With red
nose, alcoholic eyes and a slightly ~protruding
waistcoat he might be taken for the original
OF Bret Harte's Col Starbottle were 1t not
for the extreme shabbiness of his apparel. He
mods condescendingly to the clerk, PAYS no
attention to the assembled dodgers, but takes
his key and walks deliberately to his room
a fine example of the shabby genteel.
Who the Major is no one knows. He has
nothing to say to his plebeian acknowledges,
and they look uSon him with awe. His
manners are f~aultless and his dignity superb.
His bearing seems to imply hat only the
direst misfortune could have brought him
into such associations, but the more soothing
Migrants lay his fall 10 whisky. He is un-
doubtedly well educated and eau speak several
languages, besides a f~aultless English. Yet
he has been rooming in the same house for
six or eight years. What he does for a liy-
ing no one knows. He always has enough
money to barely pay his way, but never
seems to have enough for n new suit of
clothes. He is often seen under the infiu-
ence of liquor, but drunk or sober, his
dignity never leaves him. He minds his
own business and commands the considera-
ton Of the rabble with whom he is thrown
into contact Only once did a half-drunken
boodlum seek a quarrel with him, and then
the Major drew a hcrse-pistol and requested
his adversary to produce a similar weapon
and fight like a gentleman. Siuce that
time be has not bech molested. Such are
the characters to be seen in these places,
nearly all brought there by strong drink
and affording an excellent temperance leo
ture. Not ~infrequently an unfortunate,
crazed by drink, will arouse the neighbor-
hood with his rawlings, while many have put
an end to their sufferings and made their
last appearance In the world at tho morgua.
Any night clerk is full OF experiences md
can tell OF many a hard fight forced on him
by drunken roughs, in which clubs were
often used and sometimes more formidable
weapons When a man makes trouble in
The house the clerk must put him out, no
matter how powerful or desperate he may
be- and the clerks life Is at once a vsrv mn.