The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1885-10-03
Bl0adlTin'S New York Letter.
Special to the Cannon ADVOCATE.

crosses Pearl street is a little space
called franklin Square. 1t is said that
Franklin when travelling "jour,"
wandered into Bradford's printing Of
fee, which stood near this spot 1t is
not a Square, as its name would indi-
cate, nor q circle, nor a triangle, nor a
hypothenuse, but one of those indel-
cribable figures for which geometry
finds no name but irregular. The
Franklin Square Of to-day is not the
Franklin Square of fifty years ago-or a
hundred years ago, for matter of that
when Franklin Square, which was then
embraced in ''The Maidens' Walk, was
one of the fashionable sauntering places
of the city. Here the lovers of hun
dred years ago met their sweethearts on
the banks Of the beautiful dock or lake,
and crossing the Lovers Bridge" they
never failed to claim lovers privilege,
to which the crossing of the Lovers
Bridge" entitled them; and they wan
dered into the green fields along the
Bowery Lane, picking the cowslips and
the daisies, and perchance fnding--after
anxious search--that omen of good luck
a four-leaved clover. Right under the
bridge was the house in which Thomas
Jefierson.liyed when he was Secretary
OF State, aud General Knox, the Secre-
taCy~of War, was near neighbor, and
aetoss the way were the lodgings of
NJ, % -, -
leyrand found quarters when driven an
exile from his native land. 1t was the
fashionable French quarter, and this in
all probability decided Mir. Jefferson in
selecting il for his abode. At that time
broad lawn stretched away to the
banks of the East River, and gardens
and orchards were to be seen as far as
the eye could reach,
All that is altered now. The gardens
and orchards disappeared many years
ago, and where the pink of our aristoc-
racy once dwelt is now to be found the
yilest dregs of our population. Only
block away lived John Allen--called the
wickedest man in New York-and it
was here that Jerry McAuley founded
his Water Street Mission, which from
annumble beginning grew and blossomed
into the Cremorne Mission, where Jerry
McAuley died An humble follower of
Christ was Jerry, who first saw his
Saviour's face through convict's prison
bars. He had been river thief, a
gambler and prize fighter; but when
he put his hand to the plough he never
looked back. Utterly friendless, with
crime deep-scarred in every lineament
of his face, who would trust him, who
would believe him? He had faith in
Jesus that might hare moved a noun
tain; it did nearly as much, for it moved
the hearts of men and woman-outcasts
seemingly of God forsaken. From
Wall street came rich bankers, and from
South street great merchants, and in
the humble Water street Mission, sur
rounded by drundards, harlots and
thieves, they knelt down and prayed !;
and their prayers have been answered,
and the harvest was great. Mr.. Hatch
and William L, Dodge had faith in the
convict, and in his work, and that faith
never wavered with Mr.. Dodge "till the
silver thread was loosed, and the golden
bowl was broken" After Mr.. Dodge
died, Jerry began to fail, and he, too,
passed the Golden Gate" These two
friends, whose lines were cast so far
apart-one wealthy merchant, and the
other convict-are to be rem smbcrel
by future generations. A statue is to
be erected to William L. Dodge, by the
Chamber Of Commerce, and a drinking
fountain to the memory of Jerry Nc
Auley.
But find have wandered away from
Franklin Square. On the west side is
the great publishing house of the Harp
ers, whose names are known wherever
civilization has obtained foothold.
One after another the Brothers pass
away, but the business goes on without
q perccptible jar, turning out its hun
dreds of millions of pages of history,
philosophy, travel, science, and all the
mulutudinous forms of human knowl-
edge. From here go forth Harpers'
Magazine, and Harpers' Weekly and
Harpers' Bazaar. On the opposite side
OF the street, and almost directly under
the Bridge, is the office of the Police
Gazette, a vile sheet devoted to prize
lighting and sensational reports of crime
in its various phases; its proprietor, an
lrishman by the name of Fox, by pand-
ering TO the criminal classes has ac-
cumulated large fortune. He has
been hunting the world over to find
some rutfian to slug the slugger Sullivan,
but up to this time the man has not
been found. To show the profits of this
nefarious business: Mr.. Fox was recent
ly defendant in divorce case, and
when it came to the question of alimony
Mrs. Fox testified that her husbands
income was 100000 year. The in
terror of the office is elegantly fitted up,
and in Mr.. FoX's private sanctum is a
magnificent case tull of champions
belts and other trophies for prize fights,
walking matches, running matches, and
sports OF like character. II is at this
Office that the Pugs generally meet TO
deposit stakes and make arrangements
for prize fights, and here the latest and
most reliable reports of such affairs are
TO be found. The proprietor of this
sheet recently married the widow of
Johnny Dwyer, the prize fighter, who
was made correspondent in his divorce
case with his first wife.
Immediately under the bridge is the
building formerly occupied by Firth q
Hall, the great music publishing house
OF fifty years ago. As late as forty years
ago 1t was the popular music publishing
house of the United States, and here
our mothers used to come for wood
man Spare that Tree" "The Moon on
the Lake is Beaming," and all those de-
lightful ballads that make up our child
hoods happicst memories. The New
York end of the great Bridge runs over
the Swamp which, for hundred and
fifty years, has been the home of the
tanners. This is the great leather mart
OF the United States, and here can be
found tanned all ready for use. every
kind Of pelt from a rat skin to an ele-
plants hide. Many of the staunchest
firms in the Swamp are Quakers, the
business having descended from father
TO son for more than century.
Speaking Of the Brooklyn Bridge, it is
one of the finest points for general
observation in the city. Under your
feet is the river, freighted with busy
Bfe, and on either side of you are the
rushing trains, bearing between the two
cities sixty or seventy thousand people
day. To the west are Governors Island,
and Bedloe's Island on which stands the
PEDESTAL for Liberty En-
the World, TO which the New
York World made such a splendid con-
frihufions a nj still for lat,rl 80 lo1l