The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-07-26
Tho Salvation Army.

favorable conditions, and has almost
invariably suffered defeat. Hero, or
the contrary, it has found a congenia
| atmosphere, has met with much Ell
c0uragcmcnt, and has won for itself q
very prominent position. Nor has this
been done by abrogating or toning down
any OF its pcculiaritiCs, but rather by
diligently working these and thrusting
them into the foreground. 1t was
thOughtrin America that /, slight lower
ing Of thesHndard in this respect wC,llC
add greatly to the chance of success
But what was deemed its weakness in
our country has proven, in the altered
! conditions of the lower classes in this
land, to be its chief source of strength.
The Army numbers now over 10000
"fighting men and women :" has accll-
mulatcd property to the value Of about
| three quarters of Il million dollars is
| adding new stations ut the rate of four
week, and increasing its stalr Of paid
| officers in the same ratio; has $50 brass
bands 10 paid band masters, and has
expended Il total Of $4,000 in band
Instruments. These figures give an
idea of the rapidity with which this
strange movement is winning its way
here.
What gives special Importance to
movements of this description in London
Is that there are found here Il larger
number OF lmuperS, criminals, and men
and women generally of the most brutal
and degraded type, than are huddlcd
together in any other city ON earth.
Not only is the number of these larger
absolutely than anywhere else, but ii IS
larger relatively. 1t may be truthfully
said of this great metropolis with its
four millions Of population that il is at
once the best place this side of heaven.
and the worst place this side the country
where, as a faStidouS young man once
| expressed it, "our friend below nrcsdcs
the best in the virtues and charities
| which abound i'm it, and the worst i'm
the miScricS and iniquilics to which il
gives shelter.
Nowhere under the sun will You fnI
vilcr specimens of humanity or localities
III which the atmosphere is SO imprcg-
mated with moral peStilcncc. TO be
convinced Of this one has only to Day a
visit to the neighborllood famous in
romance and history as the Seven Di;lis
Not that this quarter of the city is what
it was when Dickens described its
horrors, or that it will equal in sheer
degradation some other parts Of Lon
don, but it is bad enough yet to make
an honest man blush for his rncc, and
to give fair idea, one would think, OF
what hell must be. The most interest
ing visit made to this place by your
| correspondent occurred one Sunday
| morning, when the perniciouS English
| habit OF retiring late at night and rising
ut late hour next day had caused him
| to miss Il coveted opportunity of hear
| ing Spurgcon.
The omnibus lands you right in the
centre OF this plagucSput and for Il
! city that makes specially Of Sabbath
| observance, having all its saloons her
metically sealed until / o'clock, and
open then only till 3, and from 6 to half
past !! in the evening, ii strange sight
meets You. In some of the seven mar
row streets which diverge from this
| centre, public market is in progress,
with all the stores in the vicinity open
ami doing business. Here you have Il
chance to see the women Of Seven Dials :;
and what creatures they are Faces
unwaShcd, hair uncombcd, eyes blood
shot and luStful, and their whole ap-
pcalancc bearing unmiStakable Signs of
the previous nights debauch at the ale
house and elsewhere, how little of the
human survives the wreck and ruin
that has 0vcrtakcn these unhappy crca-
lures
Other streets around are filled with
groups Of brutal-looliing men. The first
impression of the stranger would be
that there had just been Il fire ora fight,
and that these loungcrS, drawn hastily
from their lodgings with only time to
throw Il few articles Of So-callcd CLOTH
ing on their backs, had now divided
into companies to discuss the result.
The men, however, do look little
better than the women, and suppose,
by the way, that one reason why human
degradation reaches such low depths IN
this land is that the woman sinks with
the man, and frequently goes lower.
H;ppily, in olT own land the women OF
the lower classes retain their sclf-re-
spcct, for the most part, and exercise in
consequence a restraining influence over
their husbands and brothers. Hence
the level Of social violence is not so low
there as here.
But returning to the Seven Dals, we
| learn that the reason why the Corpora
ton allows Il Sunday market in this
| locality is because the wrctchcd beings
who have their abode here have posi-
| lively no way Of Keeping anything over
| night, even in moderate weather, owing
| to the close and putrid atmosphere Of
the rooms in which they live; an cxpla-
nation which does not appear at all
| incredible when one glancGs again at
| those around him who have just emerged
from those hot-bcds Of impurity. |
spoke OF fire. The only fire is that
burning in the StOmachS of these poor
wrctchcS us they wait with manifest
impaticncc for the public houses to
| open. AS the hour of approaches,
they gather around these places, like
| Singcd bats around II candle, and when
| finally the church clock strikes and The
doors fly open, there is il stampede for
the bar, followed bya clinking of glasses
and mugs.
But is there no relief to this dark pic
turc, no bright basis in the midst of
this rccking desert of sin Z? TO the
credit Of mankind, be il said, there is.
On the occasion Of my visit found,
intermngicd with the groups of aban-
d0ncd men and women of which ] have
| spoken, other groups, the inner circles
Of which presented an appearance of
purity and responsibility such as con-
trastcd most delightfully."- with the sur
rOundingS beyond. They were stationed