, 1885-12-20

IT. fitftiis for unwary yisitors-seenef
After o O'Clock at Night.
The sunday family visitation il not
observable rs n rule during week days.
Not that there are not thousands of chill
dren and women there, but the sight OF
groups OF laborcrs with their families,
mechanics with their families, and well
to-do citizens smoking the fragrant cigar
attended by wife and children, Is not Sc
frequently met during the week as on day
OF rest. In the afternoon of every day in
the week, except Sundays, when n totally
different class of people drive, the park Il
alive from , until o with carriages. The
panorama Is odd indeed, the picture T.
morn like u Kaleidoscope than n panorama.
Fortunates are followed by u~nfortunates,
old families by the nouveaux riches, the
noble and the humble, the good and the
bad, those who go for fresh air, those who
go for display, those who seek pleasure In
that kin OF society, those who find 1t In
the excitement OF Il crowd, men who go
for relief from the turmoil of business. and
those who 90 to see life after y O'Clock at
night.
AFTER NINE O'CLOCK AT NIGHT.
But, after all, the odd phase of the park
IL 10 be found after the curtains OF night
cnyelop the earth. There is a great deal
OF human nature even in park policemen,
and uniforms do not always entirely kill
tho passion that rage In ordinary human
brensis. There are good policemen and
bad policemen, and both sorts find ample
opportunity to exercise their caprice in
the dark after o O'Clock at night.
Pedestrianism il not encouraged in
Central park after dark; nevertheless, IL
may be doubted If there Is even an hour
during the long months of the pleasant
portions OF the year when there are not
several hundreds Of people somewhere In
the park enclosure.
There are scores of retired places there,
known only to the officials and the ~favorite
few who have sought and found them.
There the loafers sleep, the tramps congre-
gate, there the stealthy p~ickpocket awaits
his victim, there the dirty Matchmaking
wretch, spider-like, listens for the coming
Of a couple upon whom he can spring in
an opportune moment. All manner of
dirt, indecency and deyiltry is developed
in Central park, but, as a general rule,
order dominates the situation, and pub
Lefty isn't given to the unquestioned
traverses of morality which nightly occur.
Now n then when n brutal policeman
assaults an unoffending visitor, or a sur
prissd and outraged couple have that
sturdy self-respect which prompts them to
demand the good offices OF the law to
punish their insulter, the public press
catch a whisper of the outrage, but, as a
rule, what is done there has its light hid
wen under the bushel.
Precisely how many suicides nave taken
place in Central park it would be difficult
to r%ecite, but rarely does a month go by
without its contribution to that list. The
placid waters OF the reservoir, the tempt
fp.r Ir. pnhaa Of afprIvr t-.., Al. ~.
seclusion Of shady dells have one and all
been violated by the steady hand OF the
suicide. Water, the rope, the pistol nave
done their fatal work hundreds of times,
and doubtless will, like history, repeat
themselves many n time and oft.
WHEN THE CITY Is IN ned.
Could the sudden glare OF electric
lights be turned Unexpectedly upon the
quiet places of the park what extraordi-
nary pictures would be revealed. Honest
men discussing politics; rascals bordering
possible crime; officials illicitly engaged;
poor devils seeking rest from the troubles
Of life by n plunge into the waters of the
lake and oblivion at the same time, runa
ways safe for the night, wondering which
way their steps will tend on the morrow;
drunkards sleeping away the fumes of
debauch, poverty-stricken tramps shiver-
luB Win cOlu anu ulSlTeSSeu Win munger,
the rough and scum, the ~offscouring
indeed Of the metropolis engaged in rough
n%nd-tumble horseplay; wretched drabs,
half-dressed, half drunk, the sport and
plaything of brutes even lower han them
selves; young men on a lark, young women
who might much better be elsewhere; de-
t~ectives providing about in search OF game;
game eluding the search of the police;
tired out day laborers, overcome with
fatigue, seeking rest and falling asleep
all this when the city is in bed and tho
watchmen patrol its thoroughfares.
Belated parties from up the road, drive
recklessly along the comparatively empty
roadway, shouting, laughing, singing,
hilarious and utterly thoughtless of the
groups hid in darkness on the sidewalks.
Sedate family coaches trundle along,
carrying their burdens from scenes Of
festivity to the calmness of domesticity.
Supper parties from the Casino, the
Mount st. Vincent and the houses along
the boulevards, with more or less vivacity,
hurry their horses toward the town, a
strange contrast and n marked one to the
pedestrian visitants, eight-tenths Of
whom are there because they have
nowhere else to go and nothing else to do.
Joe Howard in Philadelphia Press.