Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-09-17
SCENES IN THE BOWERY.
SATURDAY NIGHT STROLL THROUGH
THIRSTY THOROUGHFARE.

GIimpses of Saloons. Shooting Galleries,
Concert Halls and Dives "A Street
Full o. Hocdlums-In the Gallery of q
Theatre.
Under the stars, tho elevated railway
and the electric lights. Colors look brighter
than by daylight There are 10 neutral tints
OH the Bowery The violet would shrink and
die here unnoticcd in the blaze of the peony
and the hollyhock. From the hues which
adorn the body of the "tattooed lady" in tho
dime museum to those which are Haunted
upon her morally tattooed sister without, all
are of glaring reds blues, greens and yellows!
A smile blossoms into q broad grin on this
high pressure street, a whisper takes on thtln-
der tones and friendly greeting often ap-
pears as an aggravated assault.
An undertaker's shop, with the grandest
and gloomiest scasketn violently starred in
the window The proprietor has stepped
next door to hobnob with the florist over a
| glass of beer, and under the shadow of an
enormous floral trophy appropriately marked
"Rest," which is calculated to cause a modest
and sensitive corpse to SILVER with shameful
surprise
ON THE ROAD TO RUIN
Hcodlunls.- female hoodlums, from Is to
Is years of age, short Of dress, long Of tongue.
with bangs, bold eyes, tremendous hats and
"Alikado tuck ups TO their hair. The street
swarms with them and they seem to "llnow
it ALL" Not wholly bad, perhaps, but on the
road to being So Looking for excitement,
aching for attention, dying for dance, any
thing for admiration, any length for COM
pliment. Vanity ruins more women than
vice. The phianthropist who would seek to
save these girls might be met by startling
question, Do they wish to be saved:
Beer and free lunch galore, attacked by
perspiring and not particular throng. Ten
men to one fork! The red herring, so con-
ducivc to thirst, is not popular, the tripe
having evidently borne the brunt Of attack.
The cheese has suffered greatly, too. and
looks as though it wished itself dead, which
it isn't
A ''lung tester!'
Try your lungs, gents"
What's that. A woman struck by the
proprietor Evidently his wife, for she sinks
down on a door STEP rubs her arm and makes
no complaint.
"You WON'T
NO John WON'T
Another blow \ knot Of people block up
the sidewalk and cry Shame" No one steps
between them, however Probably if any
one did the couple would combine against
him. The man turns to his lung tester and
polishes it fiercely, trying to appear as If it
were not conspicuous, which, as Dickens has
remarked, NO one has ever yet succeeded ii
doing!n go on about your business"
The growl seems to come from the niclal-
tipped machine The crowd slowly dissoives,
wondering, perhaps, why the woman doesn't
test her lungs by calling the policel
A shooting gallery, six shots for ten,
cents One man is received coolly here, but
two, if they are acquaintance, make the
proprietor joyful. For the two are sure to
compete in craftsmanship, and in the excite
ment of emulation take little heed of the
number of shots fired 1t is an easy matter
to allow in" dollar in shooting gallery.
"roP-HEAvYr HOUSE.
The theatre. Last night Of Jack Shesp-
pard.' Cast of Bowery favorites.' Come in.
A handsome theatre, a ''top-heavy' house. a
bad performance. Let Us go up into the gal
lery. Phew. II is hacked Jack Shep-
pard," Saturday night, the gallery and the
Bowery, What else could be expected of
such conjunction. Many of the boys are
stripped to undershirts. They want action,
these gamins. and care little for consistency.
1t is nothing to them that Jack is escorted II
the gallows by a detachment of local militia
in the uniform Of the n. G.. s. n. Y, or that an
''oak chamber" is used as q prison. as long as
the cunpowder can be depended upon the
n,anac.es are the real thing, and the red fire
holds out to the bitter end. Sharp fellows,
these gallery boys, too One Of them, sent by
three friends to secure seats in the front OF
the gallery, achieved his purpose b. lying at
full length on the benches until his friends ar
rived,
Out into the air again. charged with cleo
tricity and beer. An old-tine gambler, with
his rlustache died a deadly black, \ relic.
Such as be have stopped dyeias. or have died
altogether Dives by the dozen, down steps
from which arise language and music equally
offensive Huge posters OF popular and
respectable actresses adcrn the fronts Of these
places, with the names carefully covered up.
Through the swinging screen doors 1fushn