New-York tribune., 1885-01-25
ONE SIDE OF ITALIAN LIFE.
CRIMES AMONG THE DIVES IN THIS CITY
THE USE OF sTILETTOs AND KNIVEs-FEEQUENT
ERs OF THE DENs.


Frs OF THE DENs.
The nolice saw that few arrests are made among the
Italians in this city for drunkenness When fights
occur there is usually woman at the bottom CT the
trouble. and knives are drawn and used at short
notice. Ordinary quarrcls are hushed up. Habits
of drinking are bred by poverty. An English
sayant who has made pedestrian trips through
italy from the Alps to Naples says that during
a season of great abundance he never a drunken
Italian. A few years after. when the potato and
grape diseases and the silk worm fungus had
brought general privation, he found that the
monotonous poenta, to which the contemptuous
name of miserable is given. was the general food
Potato spirit. and coarse beer had taken the
place of WINE. and much drunkenness was the
natural consequences. Doubtless like explanation
NAV be offered for the stale beer dives and their
patrons in tho Italian quarter All of the disorder
and stabbing cases among the Italians are confined
to the low grade of men who resort to these dives
The majority Of this class of immigrants are
peaceable, and rarely get into trouble unless
through the intermeddling of iothers. But the
class who frequent the stale beer dives are
ferocious set CAPTAIN McCullagh of the Elizabeth
ST. station, says that "they constitute very
dangerous element and that they reviving the
old reputaton of the bloody Sixth Ward. They
carry all kinds of concealed weapons, from tiny
stietto to butcher knife foot long and as keen
rs a razor which they at the slightest provoca-
tion. They are usually arsenals Of concealed
weapons" Recently Recorder Smyth, IN sentencing
an ex-Italan soldier who had stabbed fellow
countryman with bayOnct. spoke severely OF the
number of Italians brought before him charged
with every crime from murder down. and OF tho
necessity of putting an end to such deadly practices
1t is but natural that the young Italians who
thn city shn i'm tat fha la
less habits of other youths who belong to the
different gangs and who tcrrorzc the community.
MANY Italians have recently retnrned home to
their native country, but the number is not rs
large rs has been stated. Altogether during the
present year the returning emigrants nearly equal
the arrivals. The cause of this exodus is said
to be the lack OF profitable work. and also the Ill
treatment and swinlliug to which the Italians
have been subjected by contractors and Others, and
from persons of other nationalities IN this city.
A bronzcl and weather beaten son of Italy. when
arraiyncd in the Yorkville Police Court Tor some
offence, gave his name as Murphy; though admitting
that he was not lrsh because, he said ltaliano
gcta no show" After row in Mulberry St. in
which the Irish had been the assn ants, nine ltal-
iaus were brought into the lombs Police Court.
Their faces Scared aud gashcd hy the miss les
thrown at thcm. Justice Power. after listenlngt to
the complaints of the policemen. said; " How was
it you arrested only Italians There must have
been some lrshmen at hand" One of tie i'm
prlsOned Italians spoke up anu sald Win shrug'
Iutti Polce. lrishlncn.'
A dive is simply an ordinary living room fur
nisbcd with small cooking stove and few
chairs, and with rough board benches ranged
along the sides, where any one can stay so long as
he or she paw FOR an occasional drink OF stale
beer, the drcgs taken from tho cmpty Kegs piIcd
each morning III front of lager beer saloons all over
the city. and kept in old tomato cans until 1t Is
sour and stupefyins. The wrctched stan ~ sold for
cents a pint. These dives are usually III base
mcuts and are kept by thrifty Italians. They are
frcuuentcd only by the most drgTadcd class al pros
titIitcs thieves, FOUNDERS" tramps aud " buns
who are glad t. got out of the street, and hnd a
warm plac. to sit in during bad weather. or ut night
when the police lodging houses are Gvcriiowing
The Italians themel, 80 do not 80 largely patronze
these dens. Sometimes dances Will bc gotten mp IN
them aud drni ken Tevery will prevail. bat as "a
rule the inmates kept m restraint and no out
ward improperly Is permitted. There ~ no limit
to their accommodation and thirty or forty persons
NAV bc found in a single room. The word ave
strictly means place that Is low down. beneath the
street level and Is devoted To drinking OF dancing
but il l. used In the strict Tor lodgings.
Italian dives not confined 10 bIsemcnts RHd
il also a different class OF habltatlons which may
be called dcn-." These occupied by families
VINO take in dodgers. or by companies OF men who
club together aud live on the 80 operative plan,
one of the number attending % the cooking ana
marketing while the others pay their pro rata
share of the expenses. In such cases one or more
rooms will bc occupied hy from vc To ten persons,
who are usually absent during the day time. There
il no furniture but stove and table. possibly one
or two chairs or rough benches, and the most
primitive kinds of beds trunks. Often they sleep
on the floor sacks filled with rags aud placed
on tho tops of barrels packing boxes. No regard
IL paid to cleanliness or 20 sanitary combinations
Men. women and children will DO found thus
hcrdng together anl gambling and drinking are
the occupations OF their leisure.