Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-09-08
1To BIZ coNrIsuRD.l
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.


and Its Neighborhood.
Especial Correspondence
NEW York, Sept. 5. There are queer 10
calities in New York city which many Of
the oldest residents have never seen, but the
visitor from the country is apt to find them
He wants to see the "fashn resorts, the dark
quarters, the crowded alleys where queer
people from Tar away countries ive-the
Poles and the Italians, the Slavic jews and
the Hungarians, the Chinese, the Russians
and the Bohemians. And he can find colo
nies OF all these and many more nationali-
ties-little cities In tbs heart Of the big city,
but completely isolated socially, where the
pure English language is unheard and where
ruddy and farmer like visitor is as much OF
a curiosity as a Turk Oh Lascar would be
in an interior village.
The city Is more moral, specifically at
least, than it was. There is no longer "Cre-
mornen or Harry Hill" concert saloons
and dancing halls are things Of the past, and
the cellar lodging house is very rare. But
the localization of certain races is more
thorough than ever, and one such district as
Hester street is unique Let the visitor go
out Park row eastward TO Canal street, out
Canal to Forsyth, and along Forsyth north
ward to Hester, and he is suddenly introduced
to the center of the "Jews ,iuartern-as COM
pletely such as any ''Ghetton in an Italian
city of the last century. There is no law to
compel these Oriental Hebrews to live to-
gether, as there was in Italy, Servia, Turkey.
etc, whence they came, but the habit has be-
come second nature, and by choice they
crowd as closely as they can live and breathe.
Scatter them over a rural township not more
than 500 to the square mile and they would
die of loneliness
The observing visitor on the route toward
Forsyth and Hester streets will note a con-
tinuous decline in the local "tone" Perhaps
the restaurants give the best index Of it. On
Park row he will see no bill of fare outside
for the first three blocks; it is assumed that
the patron is able to pay well for good SER
vice. On the next block he will see long lists
placarded by the door: 'Broiled chicken, 80
cents; beefsteak, 20: coffee. with milk, 10. !"
A little further is one of the "Jim Fisk" res
taurants, with "Beefsteak Is cents"-all
other articles 8 and 10 cents. On the next
block the signs tell US of lodgings l5 cents,
"Beefsteak cents" and thereafter twenty
dishes for cents each, with .'corned beef
hashn at the head of the list. Last Of all, a
very few places offer lodging for 10 cents
and three dishes for the same sum- The
hash at such places is indeed mystery
scarcely to be contemplated without a shud-
der
Once on Hest r street and the restaurant
proper disappears, but on the street stalls
are great piles of black bread, odd looking
sausages-'three for ten cents"-ancient
oranges, badly specked apples, boiled eggs,
not to be questioned as to age, tomatoes that
have sc-ved their term in more pretentious
places and occasionally peaches, suspiciously
spotted and like the planet Mars in that they
are supposed to be inhabited" But the
sausages are not of pork, there is nothing on
any list that means sham and eggs" the
beef hes been drained y the animal has been
slaughtered according to rabbinical rules and
all the signs are repeated in Hebrew.
Here we are in new world. For twenty
five blocks it is solid "Jewry.n Not the IN
telligent and progressive Israelites from
France or Germany, but from every corner
of far eastern Europe and the adjacent sec
tions Of Asia In all the district one viii
not see an English name on any sign, but in
Greek, Russian, Roumanian and other char
acters are such names as Ezedzoff, Lech-
z;nst; Cenn.tze, BornIawski Panadonolis
Tro;,,.n5orfP arteui P,aagoras MOS.
cb;sLi and Kroneiovich Freauently the
go and b,,s;,,oss aro hr;af,v raneated in
En-i;st hr. aIvoys the nature of ths good,
Iii i -'e for,b Il, Hebrav
And a., these srarmino crovdinp. svarthy
Thousands are educated, in a way. Bool
stalls abour 4 covered with Hebrew books OF
an FINDS and comics of The Jewish yolks
1.;t,,no and otber Hahrav journals This
or5in.1v res;den, there NAV understand
rona Of Tho Eastern tonores hnt his own buj
.II ,,,,5arstond Hahravr end tba. is their com
,oon y,eb;cIs of conversation-an very ouee,
Eshra,v II ;s Tive ,angnape of Palestine ir
ths time Of David and solomon. modernized
20 emit Tho society and traffic of New York
and with words for ali the things invented il
2 s0-o wears made nm banbazarf from modern
toncnes and then Hebraized. Such is the *
called vernacular Hebrew of Hester street
Vet tbev have some pretty ballads in this
tonp,e. and at their theatre. ssThe Oriental,
some very interesting plays are given. Sim
larlv many of the Ronmanians and some oil
the Hnnrarians sneak az attn as thew cal
II. hut no COLLEGE professor could tell IL from
Pott. wottouia II il at least seven times a,
far renoved from Cicero's Latin MS tn,
..Dacon and ..Kaiian,, of Louisiana is from
P.ris;,n French.
Hester street should certainly have on,
word in common for DIRT for thew hsys tb,
thing in common. 1t is no exaggerasion I,
SOW that in dirt thew live in dirt tbey NOV,
and in dirt they have their being. Dirt,
b,h;ao clad in n single garment crawl owe
| dirty street and dirty men walk into house
with yery dirty shoes All the people ar