The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1888-03-31
Brnadlrins New YORK Letter.
Special to the Cannon ADVOCATE.

Aauob MfNh hNNNl ilNiAhAthNh AhN hNiAiAAN
storm which enwrapped this city like
winding sheet; Tor l lay on my bed while
the tempest ragged around my house, wrung
by agony almost insupportable. l knew,
however, that for the time being, storm
so terrible would absorb all the papers and
all the telegraphs left standing, and that
long before my letter could possibly reach
you, the whole country would be informed
of our suffering and disaster. So, from my
sick bed, devoted my letter mainly to
topics overlooked by the general press The
shock past, it looks now like a horrid night
mare, and if it were not for the mountains
OF snow that block the streets in all direc-
tions, one might suppose it frightful phan-
tasmagoria, like those that appal the Wis
ions of the night. The amount of suffer
ing entailed by this terrible visitation can
not be estimated
The lot of the poor, God knows, is hard
one at best, but one way and another they
all seem to get food and shelter, such as it
is; during the storm of last week thousands
of them had neither. The station-houses
of New York and Brooklyn afford shelter
every night to about six or seven thousand
homeless wanderers; every morning at six
o'clock they are turned out, rain or shine,
to find shelter and food as best they may,
till night comes agaiu. Think of seven
thousand poorly fed, poorly clad wretches
pitched out in the darkness and storm as
mercilessly as If they we're stone, 1t makes
me shudder when l think of the dreadful
experiences of these few days. Out of our
two millions and half, in New York,
Brooklyn and their environs, it is safe to
say that at least FIVE hundred thousand live
from hand to mouth; every days wages has
to pay the expenses of that particular day,
and the loss OF days wages, means no
food and no fire; or else running backward
in debt. For those whose work was out of
doors no labor was possible during the
storm; men and animals covered before it
as a child shIinks from the clutch of hun
cry lion. Plenty of bold, stout-hearted men
and women started out to battle against it,
but you might just as well have attempted
to stem the roaring torrent of Niagara
broken, dispirited and stunned, the boldest
and bravest finally sought shelter, content
| to let the storm king haYe his way without
further battle
Never before in my memory did we so
fully realize our dependence on the great
iron highways over which each day our
supply Of food comes never before was
the delusive fallacy so sothoroughly exploded,
that these two great cities were vast store
houses of plenty, that could withstand an
indefinite siege. Twenty-four hours after
the storm, hardly pound of coal could be
got for love or money. In few instances,
where the supply was imperative, and price
was of no consequence, the cost of carriage
was five or six times the price of the coal.
To understand this: the streets were piled
with mountainous drifts through which it
was utterly impossible to pass. The two
cities have appropriated one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars to cleaning few of
the principal thoroughfares, and private
citizens have expended double the sum
towards placing our streets in presentable
condition. Along the streets about the
wharves, and on every hand, are battered
witnesses of the fury of the tempest. In
Brooklyn during the most frightful portion
of the storm towering steeple was seen to
rock to and fro like pendulum. The de-
struction OF the surrounding houses seemed
almost certain, and nc one was able to tell
which way it was going to fall. When the
hurricane ceased it was toppled all on one
| side, and there was nothing left but to take
it down. Even for the greatest misfortunes
there is some compensation; and the three
or four hundred thousand dollars that it
required to clean our streets went into the
pockets of the people who most needed it,
and helped to furnish food and fire to thou
sands and thousands who otherwise would
have gone hungry and cold. All sorts of
provisions took fearful jump customers
crowded the grocery stores and butcher
shops, certain that weeks must elapse be-
fore we need expect any further supplies.
Eggs that were selling Monday, 1S for 25c.,
on Tuesday were so cts dozen; beef and
mutton rose to fancy prices, while chickens
and turkeys that had been drug on the
market, became luXuries only to be thought
of by the rich; but thank God it is pas,
and inasmuch as no similar storm is re-
mem bered by the present generation, let us
hope that those now alive may finG safety
across the Jordon before this part of the
world is visited by such another. Sunshine
once more and with it hope.
Any sane person would have supposed that
such a cyclone would have knocked the fight
out of bull-terrier, but the sons of st
Patrick came to time on the 18th, and al
though the streets were knee deep with
slushvand snow, and in places they marched
between snow banks as high as their heads,
they marched all the same, and they let
their American cousins understand that St.
Patrick was not going to be downed even
by such blizzard as knocked Brother
Jonathan into a cooked hat. As intimat-
ed in my last there was sort of armed
neutrality between the two opposing sec.
tions of the Ancient Order OF Hibernians.
They agreed to keep out of each others
way for that day at least, so the two divis-
ions passed the reviewing stand on Union
Square at different hours of the afternoon
and entered the Square by different routes
The day happily passed without any serious
collision - Mayor Hewitt being soundly
Missed at one of the st, Patrick's gather
ings as he entered the meeting, for refus
ing to hoist the Irish flag over the City Hall.
Senator Mike Murphy declared it an out
rage on the Irish race, and said no man
had eyer dared to do it before the present
Mayor. Mike is about right, and it is jlst
that sort of thing that has Brought disgrace
on this great city time and time again.
Our whole political system is made up of