Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-05
ON SATURDAY NIGHT.
How the Brightest Spot Of the Work.
a-Day Week Is Observed in
A CITY OF WEALTH AND WORKERS.
Thoroughfares Thronged With Happy,
Prosperous Thousands.
TIE PROPER APPRECIATION OF A PLAY

| everybody is on Ine sLreet, ana Iney stretcn
themselves, mentally and physically. after
the toll of the past six days, for everybody
works in Pittsburg. Saturday night is
! essentially holiday of the people, by the
people and for the people, and nowhere is it
better shown than in the twin cities at the
headwaters of the Ohio.
Saturday nlghtis not confined by the cold
limits of standard time. In families where
the head OF the household gets through work
| at midday it commences few minutes after
noon. With others it comes later, but after
6 o'clock it is Saturday night all over the
| city except for that small percentage whose
| duties keep them down to business, and even
| they, rubbing against the celebrators of the
Peoples Fete Day, become imbued with
some of the spirit and wear becoming hol-
| iday smile.
1t is nip and tuck between the barber
shop and saloon as to which first feels the
effect of the Saturday rush. The grocers
and butchers get in line first, for their busi-
ness commences to boom as soon as daylight
| appears. AS soon as noontide comes, retail
| dealers in other lines prepare to receive the
onslaught of customers calmly and even
smilingly. Time is money on Saturday.
WHEN THE NIGHT BEGINS.
But Saturday night does not reach the
| height of its glory until after supper, when
Pittsburg, with his wife and family or his
best girl, his brothers and sisters from
across the Allegheny and his cousins from
the country, turn out and take the heart OF
the city by storm. They all head for the in
tersection of Fifth avenue and they come
from the East End, Oakland, Soho, Law
renceville and Minersville by cable car;
from Pleasant Valley, the upper part of
Allegheny and Hazelwood by electric car;
from the Southside and some parts Of ALLIE
gheny by horse car; from the surrounding
towns by railroad, while thousands
and thousands charge down on foot.
That part of the city bounded
by Grant and Eleventh streets, and the two
rivers is soon solidly-packed mass of hu-
manity, the policemen on the corners pre-
pare to risk their lives a dozen times an
hour TO save pedestrians from being ground
up under the cable cars, and Officer Garrett
Crossan, who takes care of Fifth avenue be-
tween Smithfeld and Market streets, heaves
deep sigh, gives his mustache another
twist, takes fresh grip on his club, and re-
sumes his apparently hopeless task of keep
ing the crowds moving. He does it, too;
and seldom makes an arrest at that.
The first rush is to the theaters. Last
night Byron was playing "Across the Con-
tinent' at the Bijou. 1t is a good, old
fashioned Saturday night melodrama. The
pathetic scenes are calculated to draw tears
from the stoniest hearts; the villain is su-
perlatively villainous, and the opportunities
for laughter are literally scattered through
the acts. And how the audience did enjoy
it. In the parquet the,auditors smiled at
the jokes were decorously sad during the
affecting scenes and scorned the villain in
perfectly proper manner The occupants of
the balcony seats gave more leeway to their
feelings; but in the gallery, Oh, my; Oh
my! Everybody was hot, but they took off
their coats and vests and enjoyed it.
~ OPPOSITION TO THE VILLAIN.
They went into convulsions over the
funny man, shed real tears at the heroine's
distress, and the villains life would not
have been worth a moments purchase if he
had ventured up among the gallery gods.
Through it all they reveled in peanuts,
bananas and pop.
At the Filth Avenue Museum the audi
ence changes ottener. The performances
are short, and while the audiences were
mainly composed Of men, there were many
women with their children. They would stack
up baby buggies, market baskets and bundles
of every description on the first floor, until
it looked like section of storage ware
house, and would take the keenest interest
in everything in the show. At Harris
Theater the scenes were the same as at the
Bijou.
The Exposition was jammed and packed
last night with people from city and coun-
try They ate popcorn and candy, drank
lemonade. admired the electric fountain,
built up romances around the pictures in
the art gallery, watched the manufacture of
glass with wonder, and were generally
pleased with and interested in everything
they saw and heard.
The crowds in the theaters make no gaps
in the crowds on the street and it would defy
a lightning calculator to count them. On
the corners and on the edges of the side
walks stand knots of men. As rule they
are staIking shop" and what is more they
know what they are talking about Here
and there are groups discussing politics.
The stores are crowded Everybody has
money, and seems willing and even anxious
to spend it. Few and far between are the
representatives of extreme poverty, and
they are usually attached to fiery breath,
which furnishes an ample explanation. A
beggar is as rare as a Prince on the streets
of Pittsburg. Occasionally slouchily-
dressed but generally wealthy-looking man
will slip up and remark in an undertone,
"Say, young Teller; could yer give me
dime to get lodgin'?"
FROM BUsTLE TO SILENCE.
The market men are doing rushing busi-
ness, trying to wait on dozen customers at
once, and succeeding to surprising extent.
Ladies of comfortable size are inspecting
meat and green stuff with great earnestness,
and at the same time working problem in
mental arithmetic to determine how many
pounds of roast will go into a family of
eight Finally, with the aid of chunky.
rosy-cheeked boy, she bears away huge
basket which bids defiance to famine for
several DAYS in one family at least.
About 1890 the theaters pour out their
thousands, to which is added the multitude
frou the Exposition; the people who have
promenaders are still out in force, and the
man with corus and hot temper wishes he
was dead. 1t is impossible to force way
through the throng. All that can be done
is to fall into line at pace, which to an i'm
patient traveller hurrying to catch train,
resembles the dead march to the funeral of
hope
Slowly, very slowly, the crowd thins,
until suddenly the lights in stores and
saloons go out, the throng becomes little
more dense, a little more unsteady. and
then, the big bell in the City Hall tower
booms out with long, deep, rolling sound.
1t is the Sabbath. There is rush for the
last cars, the patrol wagons make few
rapid trips, silence settles down and the
of Soturdav Nioht is ovor