New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-07-08

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=, any mot on the globe can be found where
xvsn suring has lost the sweet trick OF making her
self charming a cynio In search of an opportunity
for some such morose discovery might thank ms
baloful stars were chance to drift him upon Green
po,nt. Whoever named the place IN past days must
have done so with double satire; for Greenpoint Is
not point nor IL 1t ever green Years ago II
hsgan by being the slaegish suburb Of thriftier
and smarter suburb, Brooklyn. By degrees the
j.ttnr broadeued into hugo city. and soon its
ne,phpor village stretched out to 1t arms OF stray
cling buts and svampy river-line. In doleful well
come To-day the utilization is complete Man
has said let 1t al be Brooklyn and 1t is all Brook
Avn. Bur the sovereign dreariuess OF Greenpoiut,
like IN appropriated god, still remains Its mesn-
holy its uglness its torpor, its neglect, all pre-
/ nerve an unimpaired novelty. 1t is very near
| New York, and yet In atmosphere, suggestion,
vitality, it IL leagues away. Our noble city, with
St magnificent maritime approaches. its mast
shrongod dovks its lordly encircng rivers. its
majesty Of traffic. its gallant avenues Of edifces
its Iona assertion Of life. and its line promise OF
ripper culture fades into @ dim memory when you
have toncbed after only brief voyage, upon this
forlorn opposite shore.
4 No Charcn rows you across though your short trip
has too often the most funereal associations. You
kako passage in squat lttls steamboat at either Of
two eastern ferries and are lucky II hearse with
its satellite coaches should fail to embark in your
company; for, curousy, the one enIivening fact as
nociable with (reenpont is its close nearness to
famed Roman Catholic cemetery. II is doubtful IL
the unkempt child wadIng In the muddy gutter
turns its frowzy head when these dismal ret
| inues cam past him. They are always stream
Hng past him. they are ~ much part Of this lazy
Anviron as the big. ghostly geese that saunter
- lee. dad p,,afS
- that nibble ut the placards on its many diney
| fences, Jr the dullfacsd Germans that plod lite
seui-paven streets Death. that Is always so bitter
. commonplace. has hero become glarng trite-
moss. Watched, along the main rhoronghfsre.
from porches of liquor shops and windows of tens
ment houses, death has perhaps gained sombre
popularity With not few shabby gazers It rides
In state. at dignifed pace it has followers too.
riding deferentially behind 1t. Sometimes IL has
martisl music, and the pomp of military escort.
Life seldom has any of this. In Greeupoint. 1T
csnnot ride rarely. 1t must walk. and strain to
keep its strength even for that. One part Of =
drudgss with the needle, fumes over the smoky
stove, signs at the unappeasabe baby another
part takes by dawn the little dwarish ferry-boat
and hies the great metropolis the river.
returning iaded from labor by niehtfsll No
wonder. here. if death should seem to possess not
merely monrnful Importance but gloomy advan-
tsge we'll or II for these toilful townsfolk phil
csophy had reserved ITSELF and instead Of the paths
sf glory leading to the grave. 1t should look il the
grave we're forever leading to sort Of peculiar
and comfortable glory.
Bus Greenpoint, like = hardened conscience still
has her repentant surprises. She Is not quite o
Thing Of sloth and perjury. True. the broad street
that sads from steamboat to cemetery Is lined with
equaIid homes. and the mourners who are so inces-
bsntlF borne along 10 Calvary must little else
than becr-sellers standing slippered and coatless
beside their doorways. or thin, pnched women
pasgiing with the vendors OF nckly groceries But
elsewhere one may lind by streets lined with low
wooden dwellings that hint Of nextness and sug-
ssss better grade of living. yellowish drab
prevails 40 the hue Of these houses; they seem all
70 pArtake OF one period, like certain homogeneous
iossiis But they do not breathe of antiquity they
srs faneIful with tresed pizzzas and other modern
Embellishments Of carpentry sometimes they DOS
ssss miniature Corinthian pillars, faded by the
sFicxls Of rain between their tawny fiutngs Al IL
ssiIrsd with the dumb desire 10 be white and
classic. scant gardens front them, edged with
Few yards of ornamental fence. Their high base
mont windows stare vt you from foundation Of
Dnck' They are very prosa,c, chiefly from their
iame effort 70 DO picturesque; and when you look
cowh toward the river, expecting to feel refreshed
oy its CLEAN, you are dishsartsnsd at tbs way In
which lumber yards and sloop wharyes have quite
nhus any glimpse Of 1t from your eyes,
In one Of these two-storied woodsa hous.s mt
many years ago. dwsit family Of thres peon,s .
Ar. Francis TwinIng. his wife. and their ONLY cbd
girl. named Claire. Mr.. Twining was an n slIsh,
man By BIRTH thirty years hsd passed since he frat
landed on those shores He had come hsre nearly
pennilet& but with proud hopes. He was then only
thrss-and twenty. He had sprung from 9 good
eosrtry family, had been 6tted at Elton for Oxford.
ana had seen ono year at the famed Unversity.
1heu sharp financial disaster had evertaken his
1ssaof, whose death soon followed Francis was
younger sou. but even to tbs heir had fsien Q
s'a'ssrod pstrnlony and to himself merely
sseeosr legacy. With this. confdont and I'M
Ssansed ~ though IL were the purse Of Fortunio,
,aes had taken voyage for Now-York. At first
s nag shown sreaIly splendid energy. Slim Of
s@ With pale. womsnish face. lit by
80 49, ~ bloc eyes, he gave slight physical
~. nscs or even viii. But though possssscd Of
= proved one Of those ili-fatsd beings whom
.o sevsr sirss Of rebufing. His mental ability
49,, ea'ss'onsd be shrank with senstivs disgust
t.s..n "a slcs; BIO hsd plenty Of ambition, and the
nc' Of solid industry. Yet. q years passed ON.
~ 'seui'd him but nsssre rscompense for strug-
-. ne nad began HE career with q clerkship:
~. = my thres, he was clerk still All hip
- iss.. 20 nca b. bad undergone bitter bssrt.burn
-, = sao shtven 70 solve tbs problem OF bic !
siS.-sa Meanwhile it, explanation WAS MOI |
s,-.s.@ He hsd beyish trust n ~. s- ~
- .-.. no anoant Of stern sxpsrIencs