Daily Republican., 1883-08-23
PHILADELPHIA LETTER. n
Life Among the LsWly-A0w sesns
People Live IN thls Greas C1sy.
Correspondence of the RsPUDLICAN.

Life Among the Lswly-Aow sssn
People Live IN this Greos Clty.
Correspondence of the REPUBLicAS.
PHILADELPHIA, August 22, 1888. =
Any person who visits Philadelphia
for but few hours during the glare o
the burning sun can form but q very
superficial Idea of what life II In q grea
city. Those who wak slong Msrke
or Chestn ut street during the business
hours and see the hurry and hustle o1
trade, cannot have any correct cOncep
tiOn Of how thousands of the lower
classes live. By lower classes | do moi
mean those who frequent the gambling
houses and make their thousands by
entrapping the unwary, neither do |
refer 10 the inmates Of gildesl dens OF
infainy, where extravagance keeps pace
with RIGHTEOUSNESS and debaucherv
! have no reference TO the places
where thieves make their hOmesOr dis
pose Of their plnDder, but do mean the
small sire, Is, the lanes, and alleys,
where the humble poor, many OF them
, of the great army OF toilers, reside. In
some Of these courts and small back
| scarcely be called live, in houses with.
out yards, three small rooms. one above
the other, where the light of the sun
never reaches III such places thou
sands live in this great city, overhead.
s,l, overcrowled and steeped in pow
erty and despair
This is honest poverty, sickened with
the heat, rising in the morning from
overheatel beds In poorly ventilated
rooms, unrefreshed anil 0verburlened
BY the toilings of hours too long, for the
purpose of providing the bare necesSi.
ties OF life for the loved ones at home
Frequently, when the bread winner falls
sick, there il no money to employ a
doctor or purchase the needed medi
cines. A trip to the seashore, or day
in the country Is beyond the widest
dreams Ot the imagination Of these
poor creatures, and the nearest approach
they ever have to such luxuries is to
fly from their overheated dwellings and
spend their evenings along the river
front.
Almost every fine evening during the
heated term the wharves are lined with
these people, the men smoking their
pipes and talking of the homes many of
them have left beyond the sea, and the
women fondling and almiring each
others babies, for be 1t understood that
whatever else they may lack, there is
always superiuity of little ones.
Sometimes when the head of the family
Is thrown out Of work they undergo the
direst distress, and are pinched by the
pangs of hunger. The scanty furniture
will then piece by piece find its way to
the pawnhrokrrs TO get the needfll to
purchase bread. One piece after anoth-
er goes and still no hope for the better,
and nothing but starvation stares them
In the face, when perhaps some human
itarian is directed to their humble |
abode, and finds them huddled together
like ants in n hill, with pale, wan faces,
that tell but too truly the story Of their
Some persons may think this picture
is overdrawn, but it they do let them
revert to the case of the man few years
ago who took his own life rather than
live and see his family starve, or to the
ease last winter, where family was
tOund with TWO dead children In q room,
and the others starving. Not very long
ago a poor woman in the upper part OF
The city left her babe asleep, and locked
up her house, while she went with some
,ther neighbors, ~ poor as herself, to
pick coal on the railroad, and when she
returned, found her little one 10 badly
saten by the rats that it died In short
lime afterwards.
Within the last two weeks David
Brinton, a brave soldier during the re-
|ellion, was found alone, sick and dy-
ng without the necessaries of life, in an
Did carpenter shop. His case was made
snOwn, and through the exertions of
of the Grand Army he was re-
moved to the University Hospital, where
he died in few days. There are
plenty OF charitable institutions in this
arge city bnt their doors are so complete
y tied with red tape that it frequently ;
$ disheartning job to obtain assis-
ance from them. Another thing is the
OF the class such as |
nave endeavored TO describe to make
heir wants known, and it sometimes
Gems that they would rather starve ,
han become pensioners on others bOun-
y. 8
Yet there are thousands Of people in !
his city who live in luxury that do not t
ven know Of these things that are TAX |
ng place III some instances at their !
cry back gates Thousands of our .
itizens, upon the first approach of hot
Weather, fly rs fast rs steam can carry {
hem to the seaside resorts, but the poor t
emain ao home, and toll on, and are ,
My too glad to find the work to do.
Such Is life among the lOwly !, those a
Who toll day by day at laboring work, I
many Of whom have large families aud v
carcely earn enough to provide the &
'are necessities of life. During the b
ummer, when work is plenty, these
'eOple manage to live and make both I
nds meet, but when winter approaches
heir work becomes slack, their wants :,
Increase, and that which is to others a y
eason of gayety and joy, is looked h
onward to by them as time freighted ;, :,
With privation, suffering and want. ""
There is Of course another class of !,
nen who toll for their daily bread =
whose LOT is u paradise compared with =
his lower class, but they are skilled :,
men who can demand fair 1,
wages. Some of these have steady en- :.
loyment all the year, and having ex- q
rcistd judicious economy, own little %
pot they call their home, and can truly :, y
u called blessed. But the others, of ',
ghom have written, and who seem u
oomed to suffer, may God have mercy ,
n them. OBSERVER.
FLORENCE, Ga.-Dr. W. b. Prather,
ays: "BrOwn's Iron Bitters have :,