Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-03-06
MADE OR MARRIED.
CHAPTER I.
LAWRENCE STREET.
BY JESSIE FOTHERGILL,
author Of Zone of Three" "PrOb1tion," "Ths
"a Ueufe1s." Etc.

sasF BeusA<s,' kts.
CHAPTER I. =
LAWRENCE STREET.
In the northwest of England there is
= certain great city, which, to serve nv
purpose, 1 may call Irkford. Though
FAR from being a second London, it has
a cosmopolitan character, which some
how sets it apart from other provincial
towns and cities. 1t is pre-eminently a
great manufacturing center, but it's
numerous, other bran ;hes of commerce
have drawnsto it merchants of almost
every kind, and of all nations: and
''Jews, Turks, Infidels and Hcretics,
taking the words in their broadest
sense, may be daily encountered, either
IN the streets of the city itself. or in any
Of its large and numerous suburbs
Greeks also, French, and great abun-
dance of Germans-it would be difficult
to find the national ty which had not
contributed at least a few specimens to
the population of this great, dingy
city. Naturally, in so large a center of
wealth. and commerce, all sorts and
conditions of men, flourish, or the re-
verse, &C cOrding to their circumstances
or capacities; from the merchant prince,
with h s house like q palace down
through every grade of smaller cap tai
list. assistant, clerk, employe, till we
come to factory hands, artisans.
''rogues and vagabonds, miscellaneous
trades and professions, good, bad and
indifferent-in the great city there is
place for some of all. and they are all
to be found there; high and low jogging
elbows pretty often in the crowded
streets; but-and this is one of the
great character sites Of the Irkford
peof,le--one and all, from the merchant
prince at the top of the ladder to the
beggar at the bottom, so busy that il
seems as if hundred years would
scarce suffice in which for them to ac-
complish their purposes; too busy to
notice when they knock up againss one
another in the street; too busy, it al
most seems, to pause and speak to a
friend whom they may meet; for if you
VII take the trouble. and be so frivol-
-ously careless of your time as to watch
the meeting of two acquaintance in
Irkford, you viii generally find that
they dash against each other. recognize
each other with kind of shock: begin
to talk very rapidly, both at once, each
gradually edging away from the other,
until at last the slightly-clasped fingers
slowly separate; one man s fnger-tip
touches the tinger-tip of the other man,
and with short nod, they may be
heard severally muttering '.Morningr
in an absent manner, after which any
'one can see them tearing up and d ,wn
the throughout streets, with almost
impossible haste, as if grudging that
meager parley of q minute and "a half,
just concluded. Such things as these
take place during the hours of toil-the
business hours. After the factory
hands have ceased to work, when the
warehouses and offices are closed, and
the city streets were somewhat less
crowded, then, it would seem, Irkford,
young and old, rich and poor, has some
leisure to devote to amusement, relaxa-
ton. rest, of one kind or another.
1t is town surrounded on all sides
bv suburbs. There are certain regions
built over with handsome houses. stand
ing back from the road. where none but
the rich or very well-to-do live. There
is the second-class kind of suburb, the
inhabitants of which may be comfort
ably off, but whom no one would accuse
of having superfluity of wealth. There
are vet others, to walk or drive through
which gives one sense of melancholy
so endless are their long uniform
streets. so exactly alike the intermina-
BILE rows of small houses; so portent-
ously similar the organ-grinder and the
man with the street piano; the blind
beggar with the dog; the Every poor
but scrupulously honest" mendicants
who perambulate them, shining some
of their mournful hymns, or yet more
luonbrious come SONGS. There are so
many of these Streets; they are SO long.
SO monotonous, so dinghy hot in sum
mer: SO hopelessly bleak and gray in
winter; every. little house in every long
row Is SO Inevitably inhabited, and
brimming over with CHI ldren; the green
rrocers cart passes through them with
Such mechanical regularity. one Won
ders how the iniiab tants can bear it.
1t is into street of the second order
that would lead you-a street in whose
homes one would think there ought to
be happiness, since in it live, to quote
from the geographical primer of youth.
..no yeru rich, and no extremely poor"
hut chiefly those who. are neither one
nor the other-it is strictly middle |
class street. Lawrence street was its
name: it was rather long, and p possessed
the attraction of bend about midway
in its length. The houses below the