The Dickinson press., 1888-04-21
ALOFT IN THE CLEARER AIR OF
GoTHAM'S SKY PARLoR.
What the Root of the Tall Tcnements L.
TO the DwclIcrs Witlin-A Yard TO,
Drying Misunderstanding Place During

The baby seemed to be making for tho
edge of the roof as fast as very rapid loco.
motion un its hands and knees could carry il
there.
NO. no! Come hero pet" said the mother
calmly, and the infant halted and tier
turned and sat down.
What Il place for n baby that was-on the
roof of n six story tenement house in Baxter
street. the tallcst house in the neighborhood.
with u view somewhat recalling a scene or
the Rhode Island coast, with here and there
Il black roof to represent the inky powders.
here and there u puff OF steam to suggest the
clouds of spray made by the conflict of the
waves and rocks, II all around the white
and pale blue eNpanse of the upper air.
Aren't You afraid to let your baby PLAY
arounl here l inquired of the mother, sh,
and THE infant and | being the only ones II,
there, and l not only feeling the polite nccos.
sity of saying something, but being really
curious to know how a mother could let a
baby out of her arms i'll such a place.
"Hhy should | he afraid she inquired:
II WAS us good us born and brought UP here
on this roof, and no harm came to Inc of it,
Roofs aren't to the poor what they are To
'ae rich,' she continued, seeing tho look OF
Inquiry in my face, in all probability. Il
was born in this house, and when l YVES Il
little VICE thing my mother, Coz rest her
soul. used to briig NE here for the fresh air
i'll fine weather and the cool breeze in the
summer. When | was o little girl twas here
that [ came after school to play at store and
house and with my doll and little ~playnaatcs.
When | got big enough To he allowed to sit
no q littlr late ut night here | still care, to
sec the lads and young girls at their rlerri-
me"s, dancing and counting and flirting md
singing and entertaining on" another. AMI
do You know it was Il feather in the zap of IL
boy or girl TO be here, and is yet for The mat
Ter OF that, for you'll never find the way
ward or the wild up here once they have
yielded to the life Of the streets.
LIFE ON THE ROOF.
And when | got TO be Il cash girl, am!
later yet. when l Went really to work to help
my widowed mother. taking Il place in q fac
tory. it was still here that | came for most
of my play and good company. All: that
may seem strange or very dull to you, but
that is tho best of my recoliections. for
everything good that ever came to me, out
side of money md the comforts of tn.
church, came to ME hero on this self same
roof.
Twas here that learned to dance, to the
music of the accordion that him who is now
my husband could play better than any boy
in the ward. Night after night, in all tho
fine weather, John would come up here and
play torthe girls of the house. and our friend,
OF the neighborhool. and when there wcro
boys enough we would dance with them, and
when there We're not each girl would take an
other and In 1nrt,ary II l.. inst t1, ~,
now. Any night, eight months in til" year.
You'll find some of them here, dancing and
sparkling, ami the old folks sitting about,
keeping half III eye on the young ones. whom
they pretend not to SEQ at all. til ugh fpr
that matter, when you have children they arc
seldom off your mind, insight or out. YOU'D
think, may be, they'd be afraid, dancing on
the edge OF the sky like this. Not q bit; l
don't suppose they do.
II wonder if you understand what a tenc.
mcnt roof really is. For instance. it's all III"
yard we have, and it's divided up so that it
rightly belongs to one iloor-that's two fami.
lirs-cach day in the week, excepting Sun,
day. for them to hang up their wash. Well.
some practically never uses it, for the good
reason that all they wash they can hang in
the open windows Of the kitchen. Some lis.
it only about once IL month. and some ham;
the whole air full Of linen each week. But u,
belongs to different loor every different
day. and no ono would think of using it for
clothes on any day but their own without
asking permission. Each family puts up and
takes away their own clotheslines each dav.
and, mind you, even then the soor of the city's
smoke gathers on them that fast that they
must he wiped before clothes are hung on
them.
q PLANTS IN
"Then. again. do you see those boxes Of
earth around the edge FOUNDER! They also
belong 10 the different tenants, and in .lc
summer one vics with The other to SEQ who'll
keep theirs the grcclcst. Some never bavc
any luck i'll growing things, and the best of
the boxes don't amount to much, owing to
the heat of the sun above and the tin below
drying up the little earth there is in them,
but it is pretty much all that many a tenc-
lnent child sees of the country the first few
years. 1 was II Years old before 1 ever saw
more than the City Hall park and the Bat
terry park, and then, when L Went up into
Westchester county to my uncle, who has a
farm, l had enough to doto tell all those who
wanted to know what tho country was really
like.
"Then here's where many of tho men in
the tenement sleep all through the hot
weather. Yes. it is the biggest mud the best
bedroom wa have when the swcltering heat
comes, and the women would be glad to make
use of it for the same purpose il it was con
sidered right for them to do so. On such
nights the windows arc thrown open bach
and front, and the women and children thai
are too young to be trusted make tho best OF
what draught there is, while the mon will
Il pillow and q blanket, or sometimes Will
nothing at all but their regular clothes ant
IN old coat rolled up under their heads, turn
in OH the roof, until it's that thick with me!
that an old soldier once told INC it remindc,
him Of the dead i'll the trenches on Il battle
field where he WIS in the war. But bcfor
there's any goes to bed at all, every one il
the house sits up there to cool off, and
really think in all the year those are the hap
picst hours We poor people cver spend.
"Tley even had a death on the roof a few
doors below, last summer. 1t was Il poor oil,
German gentleman, and he was very low an,
sinking when they brought him up, thinkin;
it would revive him, which it did, poor man
but it was in the other world he felt it
Nothing bad like that ever came to this root
and [ am glad OF it, for some would Away
be thinking Of it, and the place would not b
the same after. But we've had Il little @
everything else, I'm thinking, and to me it
the best place there is and the one where
have lived the best hours of my life. child
girl ami womun."-New York Cor. Prov
dcncc Journal.
Railway Under the Thames.
The new railway under the Thames is raj
idly approaching completion. 1t will tap
number of congc>tch t~horouyh:ares, an
though only three miles i'll length. will he {
immense service to the population of Lol
don. 1t extends from near the north end {
London bridge To Chaplain Comuon.-Cl,
ca.o Herald.