The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-02-24

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Amusements and Entertainments-Lov
and Hate-A Specimen Judge, etc.
New YORK, February II, 1883.
EDITOR CHIEF:
New York Of to-day would scarcely b,
recognized by man who had been ava!
twenty years. Trinity Church stands
exactly where it did then, and looks dowl
Oh the villains of Wall street with all o
their gilded sins. St. Paul's Church ha!
not moved an inch from the spot where
it has stood for the last hundred years
and the City Hall looks very much the
same as it did fifty years ago, wher
Black Hawk and the Prophet, accompa
MED by General Jackson, received The
hospitality of New York. The Astol
House looks grimly down on the new
Post-office as though it regarded it as al
interlorer, and so it is, for it has cut of
a tremendous slice of the only apology
for park which New York has in that
quarter of the town. But as you stand
wondering at the changed aspect of most
of things, notwithstanding the old land
marks around you, you look up, and be-
fore you is the Post building piercing the
clouds; OH the right the Western Union
establishment towers to the sky, and up
Park Row the uugainly Tribune monstros-
| ity shocks the senses and offends the eye,
and yon mentally exclaim, "This is the
house that Jay-ck built"
The change is visible in the people rs
much as any thing else. I we'll recollect
I the time when / ran mile to get look
at a Chinaman, little thinking that l
would ever see the day when New York
would have a Chinese deputy Sheriff and
| tue regular issue in the vernacular of a
first-class Chinese newspaper; when Joss
would be worshlpped by thousands of
devotees in sight of hundred Christian
steeples, and the Vedas and the Koran
he defsnded hy large congregations as
the only fountains of pure religious faith.
Now, nobody runs after Chnaman, but
the Chinaman runs after everybody, es-
pecia!ly if he has any wasllee" to do.
But as l stand leaning against the corner
of the Astor House, looking at the crowd
surge by, among them I see half a dozen
men clad in loose, baggy breeches, reach
ing to the knee; from the knee down the
leg is encased in a sort of home made
stockings, ending i'll pointed shoe; the
jacket is tight-ftting and trimmed
with faded finery, and on the head is a
close skull cap which has evidently seen
better days. They are Albanians, and
no=doubt wcre3efirst or secontt-class rob-
bers at home, and if they don't find work
at their legitimate calling in this country,
it is because their American cousins have
monopolzed the business. Behind them
come four japanese, bright, clear and
intelligent; gentlemen by nature polite,
sweet hammered and low-spoken. These
gentlemen would make good American
citizens, but unfortunately they arc going
back to Japan. A crowd, dirty, ragged,
and Misunderstanding, follow them; all
bundles and babies, though the women
seem to be the most heavily laden. Soap
they have never heard of; water they do
not like, and the soil of Palermo and
Sicily, which clings to them, is likely to
stick to them till they die. These are
noble Romans, the descendants of Caesar
and Brutus. These are the sons of the
men who st"od by the side of Horatius
on the bridge, and the only regret now
have is that when the bridge went down
there were not more of them Oil it, and
that the rushing waves of old Tibcr did
not engulf the whole batch They are
an ,,nsavory crowd. They are ignorant
as it is possible for human beings to be-
Among people claiming to be civilized
doubt if there can be found such COM
pletc and thorough bruta}ization. They
are evil in their manners, foul in tlieir
persons, and altogether most undesra-
ble addition to our population. Now
come dozen dressed in the style which
you frequently see i'll quaint old Europe
an pictures. The men wear their baggy
breeches tucked in their boots, but most
Of the women wear wooden shoes. Their
clothing. is humble and coarse, but clean
the patches, which are abundant, are
sewed on with good strong thread, every
stitch of which is visible. They are not
ashamed of their pos erty, for they were
born to it; their faces are. Drowned by |
the summers sun and the winters storm;
their eyes are blue and their hair is fair;
their countenances are clear, open and |
honest. They are Danes, Norwesians
and Swedcs; hard workers every one |
just such men and women as America |
honors and wants. Russians, French,
English, Scotch, Irish, Germans and |
Turks follow in quick succession, and |
that reminds me that Germany has given |
us last year one third of our entire immi- |
grafton. Ireland, which used to be the
most prolific, has fallen to fourth place |
in the line. Then come the nlmes OH the |
signs along Broadway and through the
neighborng streets. To look at them |
you might imagine yourself at Vienna or
Berlin. Scwitywaldier & Unserfieldt,
Oopdyke & Dittenhoaer, Radatzky &
koonzelammer, with other names which