The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-12-30
SISTER zILLAH.7
A GLIMPSE OF LIFE IN A HIDEoUs
LONDON SLUM.


An Angel In the Midst of an Assmbiage
OF Evil 0nes-Life Work of Sister ziI-
lab" = Her Strange Influence = Refuge
for she Homeless.
You pass through hideous London slum;
the oil lamps flare and flicker in the wind, the
boarse hawkers shrek, the ragged children
cry shrilly, and from the public houses come
the confused babble OF laughter and cursing
and the rank watts of acrid smoke. Blowzy
women, dragged women, brazen women,
drunken women pass you; ugly male night
birds scowl at you with savage eyes; foul
mounted young girls--mere children, alasl--
salute you with impudent confidence and the
night is full Of rank odors and bleared lights.
You enter a narrow alley, watching carefully
the maneuvers Of the skulking creatures who
SLOUGH around with bumped shoulders and
evil gaze.
STRANGE AssEMBLAGE.
A door opens and you are in the midst of a
strange asSemblage A bevy of women
gather around some long tables and watch
you with dull curiosity. Here is one who is
pinched with hunger; her thin fingers are
knotty at the joints, her hair is woefully
scanty and she looks beaten, bloodless, sor-
| rowful. Here is a bold creature who meets
your look with hard, brutal stare; she has
heard the chimes of midnight Here is
specimen of the ordinary dirty, garrulous
trollop so freely produced in the wilderness
of London. Here is mere female animal, a
creature without soul, who sits callously
glowering at vacancy A coarse laugh
sounds out harshly and then quiet voice,
with the tone Of mellow bell, scars along
Che low room and instantly the disorder is
stiled.
You move to the head of the room and you
are greeted by white haired woman dressed
in black. Her eye is like steel, her lips are
composed, her forehead is very placid and her
manners are. the manners of a great lady.
She is fit to move in any assembly in the
world and her dignity would draw the eyes
of men and women wherever she went.
Beautiful she has been, and the exquisite re-
mains of her fairness remind you Of some
splendid buildings grown gray with stress Of
years. When she speaks, you hear that in
detinable accent which is attained only by
those who live among ultra refined people
from their earliest years. A lady this of the
highest breeding. You feel as il you were in
the presence of a queen, yet she puts you at
ease instantly and falls into conversation with
polished grace. Witty she is in subtle way
and her wit is so strangely blended with
pathos as to present unique product of in
tellectual chemistry.
ONE woMAN's LIFEwoRK.
She knows the world and can flash out an
occasional speech worthy of the salon rather
than of this dingy shed; but the ruling
aspect of her face and the essential tones Of
her voice are those Of one to whom the affairs
of the world are Of small moment. She
masters the evil assemblage in front of her,
and the boldest slut that ever disgraced her
sex is reverential toward the grave, kind
lady, whose will dominates ALL AS you talk
she tells you Of her work This refuge is
open every night for the homeless, and her
duty is to help those who are poor, TO heal
those who are sick, to raise with loving, mer
| ciful words and deeds those who are fallen.
None are too base for this lovely, all en-
bracing charity. Romances in plenty she can
tell, and she does so with soft, matter Of
fact sweetness. Every form Of human
wretchedness is known to her, and her eyes
are fixed day by day on sights Of woe. Does
she ever leave that fearful quarterl Neverl
Think of that, o Disconnected, pulling folkl
This lady, who was once beautiful, rich,
courted, has given up all for the sake Of
working benefcently in the weary world,
and she passes her days in an appalling Lon
don slum. Lords and ladies of her own class
see her, but they remain only for little
time she stays at her post with still con-
stancy, and bears the squalor, the ennui, the
loathsome sights and sounds, the recital OF
wringing records of misery. She is content
even to forego her name, and her very iden-
tity has persisted from the brilliant world
that once knew her. II am Sister Zillah,n
she says, with her courtly smile, and that is
all. Here is one who is an honor to London,
to England, to the human race, toiling OBJ
scurely in place where even men Of the
better class hardly dare venture.-London
Family Herald.