Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-10-29
METROPOLITAN LOAFERS.
The Well-Dressed Loungers
OF Broadway.
Gamblers and Oonflo Men on the Daily
Lookout for Human Prey

While the police are pouring hot
shot into the gangs whJ infcst the
west and east sides Of the city, says a
recent New York letter, the loaters
along Broadway pass unreproved'
Very often the gangs in the lower sec
lions of the city are composed of men
who have worked hard during the day
and enjoy the lounge and chat on the
street corner at night good deal as
the wealthy citizen enjoys his evening
at the club. These gangs are often
composed of rutlians and scoundrels,
and it is good thing to break them
up, but they are certainly no worse
than the crowds Of well-dressed loafers
who infest the west side of Broadway
from Twenty-third to Thirty-fourth
streets.
was talking about this the other
day with man with whom | was
walking up town, and we agreed 70
count the number of men whom we
recognized as habitual loalers in this
particular section of the town. In
front Of the Fifth Avenue hotel there
were perhaps a dozen of the statues
posted in their customary attitudes
around the pillars. They are men
who have stood there three or four
hours day for years, and who are as
familiar to the average New Yorker
as the city hall. They are gamblers
and confidence men. They are neatly
dressed, but their faces are hard, deep
ly'lined and dissipated in appearance
They leer at the women continually,
but they seldom attempt any fam liar
ity with the passers by. Once in a
while a particularly pretty and usual
~ young girl will attract their atten-
tion, and then one or two of these pro-
fessional Washers will swagger off af-
ter her
On the next two blocks are the
Hoffman house, the Albermarle, the
St. James hotel and Gallaghers beer
saloon. In front of all four of these
places were groups of loudly dressed
and tough looking citizens, who spat
tobacco juice all over the sidewalks,
made the air blue with profanity,
guyed men Of unusual appearance. and
lnsulted women who were in any way
attractive. They were all sporting
men from Al. Smiths, the former
hacker Of John Sullivan, the organizer
of walking matches and former keep
er of gambling hell, down to thin
faced, wiry lit lie card sharpers who
would do anything from dealing faro
topicking pocket. OF counsel don't
mean that these men were loudly dis
orderly, that they yelled at people, or
that their manners was so pronounced
as to call for arrest. | do know that
they make that particular section of
Broadway so repulsive that women
frequently 60 up Fifth Avenue to es-
cape them, and l know that men are
often insulted as they pass
Two blocks further on was the Cole
man house with its gangs of gamblers
There are about twenty of them who
stand on that particular corner every
afternoon and devote their time to the
ladies. The ticket Spectator gang
stood in front of the Fifth Avenue
theatre entrance, and the prize-fght-
ing and sporting men are about Dick
Darling's place where man was MUIR
dered a year or so ago. Beyond this
came the sporting house known as the
White Elephant, land numerous saloons
and gambling houses. We counted
220 odd men, none of whom have Wis
ible means of support, and all of whom
commit outrages in the course of an
afternoon to call for their instant dis
persion by the police.