Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1891-08-21
BOSTON LETTER.
Hub Tenement Houses Fruit
and Filth.
Operations of the New Tariff
boston Theatres, Etc.

tained, he pitches into things right and
left. Ills theme, Sunday or two ago,
was the tenement house sweating sys-
tenn, and he handed the subject in such
way as to leave little doubt in the
minds of his large audience that
Boston has some very rotten spots in it.
In company with two or three others the
reverend gentleman visited the low
quarters of the city inhabited by foreign
crs, principally Italians, and his invcs-
legations brought to light state of
affairs not very crcditablc 10 the land
lords who let their tcncments to this
class of people, nor to those who have
the enforcement of our sanitary
laws in their charge. In several in
stances he found a single room, and not
very large one at that, occupied by
four or five persons, and which served
! rs kitchen, bedroom and storcroom for
fruit. Such state Of things cannot be
conducive to health, nor do they add
Il relish to the fruit sold
on our streets. This condi-
tion is brought about by the low class Of
foreigners constantly pouring in here,
and there seems to be no way to prevent
it. Our board of health is largely made
up of men selected for their political SER
vices to the party IN power; but since
the subject of our tenement houses has
been SO forciby illustrated by the Rev
Mr.. Banks, there has been
something done, be it said to
the credit of the board: they
have recently caused the sanitary rules
TO be printed in two or three foreign
languages! This ! suppose fills the re-
quircment of the law > far rs the board
is concerned, but there will be little else
done to abatc the tenement house
nuisance until some fatal epidemic
sweeps the city from one end to the
other
According to the confessions of the
English journals, the Mckinley bin has
had a bad effect on British trade and is
making the lot of her working men and
women anything but happy one. This
is n pitiable state of affairs, but | must
confess TO All inward feeling of satisfac-
ton that such is tLc fAct-not that the
poor are suilcring-but that England
can now get taste of the medicine she
has always been SO ready to administer
to others, In our colonial days she
made it a penal offence for
mechanics of any kind to leave her
shores for America, and in every way
sought to cripple our mechanical aud
industrial resources. in all the subsc-
quent years she has let no opportunity
slip to cmbarraSs us in every possible
ma lner, aud in the dark days of the
rebellion aided and Comfortcd those who
were seeking to destroy the Union. 1t
is to be regretted that those who were
responsible for such acts are
not the only ones TO suffer under
the new conditions brought about b, the
tariff; but the distress they are expert
encing may be the means of Fastening
the day when England will shake of her
monarchial crmnc and don the simple
dress of a republic. In such nm event
her people would find themselves in
sympathetic touch with our great re-
public and ultimately in the enjoyment
of reciprocal trade relations. If the
new tariff law is responsible for
the business depression in
England, there is yet another side to
this matter which should not be lost
sight Of. 1t is stated by the bureau OF
statistics that immigration to this coun-
uy has been greatly stimulated under
this law, and that it is greater
by 104, ,277 than it was last year. II
may be that what we have gained
IN tho shape of an increased de.
mand for our home product,
will he more than offset by
this increased immigration, Over a
year, and it is safe to say that nineteen
twanticth OF them are today in the
great manufacturing centres of the coun
try, where they will be forced to stay
Their presence at these points naturally
overstocks the labor market, ant
as they must be cared for
the tendency will be to cheaper wages
and am of the opinion that unless ire
strictve law in regard to immigration is
not enacted by the next Congress, ant
that at an early date, all that we have
gained or can hope to gain b. fostcrn!
home industries, will be wiped out, a
far as the laborer is concerned, by tn,
competition of foreign workmen.
The theatre season is fast approach
ing, and with the bid for patronag,
which the eight principal theatres herr
will be forced to make in order to exist
we may expect to see the best of every
thing this fall and winter. The nev
Columbian Theatre will be completed
in time to open with the rest o
the playhouses, from present appear
anccs, but have as yet seen no intma
ton Of what its attractions are to be
Manager Tompkins of the Boston ha
opened the preliminary season wit
"Evangelne," which is being playc
to fairly good houses, when tn
weather is taken into the account. A
the Globe they are laughing at that in
imitable play, ~ and l." and for tw
weeks Roland Reed is to present hi
new piece, The Club Friend, at tn
Museum. Mr.. Reed can force a smil
on the countenance of the most woebe
gone dyspeptic, and it is said that hi
new comedy is sldesplitter.
OZNoLA.
: Cleopatra yelling in zlg-zag form
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