The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-15
INTO THE GATES OF HE'LL.
A Baptist Minister of New York Goes
Down, and Tells What He Saw.
The Unutterable Horrors of the Neither Side
of the MetrOpolis-The Opium Dens
of Mott Street Outdone.
New York Herald.

brand street. For thirteen years past he has
been the minister of this congregation. The
neighborhood is one swarming with popula-
ton, and beer-shops face each other at almost
every corner. Grand street is the nightly
promenade OF thousands of shop girls and
young clerks who live in the lodging-houses
and tenements of the adjacent streets. In
the midst of this community Rev. Mr. Altman
has been working, but very often he found
his best efforts set at naught by the allure
ments of the surrounding dens of vice. Girls
from the large Sunday school of the parish
suddenly dropped from membership, and
only rumors reached the ears of the pastor
that they had fallen into evil ways. Some
of his most promising young men. too. lost
interest in their church work and became
dissipated
II wished" said Rev. Mr. Altman to Her
aid reporter yesterday, Ito see just what it
was that was exerting such damnng nflu-
ence upon the young people in my part of
the city, and so l descended to the very gates
of hell and looked the death demon in the
face. ] was amazed to find that vice in its
most bestial form had taken absolute posses
ssn of block after block, and that large in
terests of real estate and money were given
up to pandering to the worst possible forms
Saturday evening last and went along Hester
street, from the Bowery to Center street, and
on both sides of the street; for | retraced my
steps, hardly daring to believe that what l
had heard and seen on my first passing
through was more than horrid dream The
street seemed given up to abandoned women.
They were paradlng up and down on both
sides of the street. at places making some
thing of a jam on the sidewalk. 1t was
a rainy evening, and it is not unlikely
that there was a comparative clearance of the
thoroughfares on that account, but it did
not appear that there could have been many
more of the wrecks there. They were, in
deed, wretched to look upon. Frowsy and
dingy, they presented anything but an at
traetive picture. 1t was not so much their
appearance as their actions which compelled
the attention of the passer-by. Their breath
carried with it the sckening odors of some
recent debauch. They were persistent in
their efforts to attract attention, which often
took on the form of positive assaults-seiz-
ing the arm of the passer-by and clinging to
him until they were shaken off with more
vigor than courtesy, There were many
young men passing along, and these often
addressed the women by their names, gener-
ally coupled with some obscene remark. The
language which the pssser-bv was forced to
hear beggars description. [ will not pollute
my tongue by its repetition but the most
shameless bargaining could be heard going
on between these wretches and their equally
shameless male companions
This public bargaining and soliciting is
carried on with an utter disregard TO the feel
ings OF decent passers-by. These streets,
leading from the great workshops and stores
along Broadway to the modest houses of the
working people on the east side, or the Will
liamsbnrg and Brooklyn ferries, are much
used by shop girls and workwomen. These
young women are often detained at their
places of business until after nlghtfall, and
in hurryng along to their homes are COM
PEELED to run this gauntlet of sin. No won
der that many of them are ensnared in the
meshes which are ever spread for fresh vic
Tins. They cannot close their eyes and ears
to what OCCURS on the public street and from
what have already told you it is easy to pic
ture the danger and the risk which these peo-
pie are exposed to from want of action by
the strong arm of the law. These girls and
young men are entitled to a clean thorough
fare by which they can reach their homes,
and this by night as we'll as by day. The
stencil of dirty streets and filthy cutters is
bad enough, but this moral rottenness is in
finitely worse. The one may choke the lungs,
the other blackens and damns the soul. This
is not mere possibility, for 1 saw two girls
hurrying along, arm in arm their faces hid
den in cheap hoods and with water
proof coaks, evidently belated shop
girls. They we're stopped in their way upon
the public street by one of these male scoun-
drels. He made some remark but they
shrunk from him, and as he stepped forward
as if to lay his hand upon them they we're
compelled to cross the street to avoid him,
and increasing their gait to a run they fled
as if for their lives But he followed them
with a coarse, brutal laugh in which he was
joined by several of the besotted female
providers who noticed the incident
II noticed the lights Of a police station on
Elizabeth street, so | turned down into that
street and patrolled it as far as Bayard street
from Canal. Here, if possible, the scenes
were even worse. On the block in Elizabeth
street where the police station was located
counted up to thirty-two OF these abandoned
women, and they seemed to cluster up to-
ward the station for within fifty feet of it,
as stood and looked sadly at this shameful
sight, l counted sixteen of the women, whose
character could not be mistaken. Under the
very green light over the stoop of the station
l overheard a remark so shocking that even
now it makes my blood run cold as 1 recall
1t. 1t was a most open, fragrant, disgust
ing carnival of vice, and the most vivid pen
picture cannot do more than give a faint
shadow outline of the original"
"Were there no policemen about"
eyes, passed several on my pilgrimage
through this region. There was a policeman
at the corner of Canal and Elizabeth, another
at the corner of Hester and Mott, and a third
at Mulberry street and Chatham. These are
all that l can now remember meeting. | did
not go into the station house to complain to
Captain Petty. l was only going through
this dreadful experience in order that when
] speak on the dangers of city life / may do
so with some faint conception of what dan
gers the youth of my congregation are ex-
posed to-
81 wished to make my investigation as
complete as ! consistently could, so | entered
several of the saloons which seemed to be
most frnuuented Men and woman old aud
young, crowded up to the bars and called for
the strongest potons. l cannot now recall
which particular saloon ! went into but
they were all of the same general class, and
they were equally bad. ! do not know
whether they are licensed or not l almost
wish for the credit of the city that they are
not for l should hardly like to see the pub