The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-11-15

Correspondence of TIE SUNDAY HERALD.
New YORK, Nov. 14.--There will shortly
be inaugurated in this city the most unique,
journalistic enterprise In the United States. /
am not yet at liberty to divulge the names Of
the promoters, but ] can say that they are
among the brightest men in literary, dramatic
and club life. l understand that the name Of
the new publication will be The City, and it
will begin life as hebdomadal, with the
prospect of becoming daily IL 1t should re-
ceive the warm support which the projectors
firmly believe will be accorded to 1t. Its
uniqueness will lie in the fact that 1t viii con-
tain no news at all, and will base Its claim for
patronage upon this very shortcoming. The
City is to be sort Of American Figaro,
except that it will be even more of q free lance
than the Paris publication. 1t will deal only
with subjects which 1t can criticise, anything
above censure not being considered of sufficient
additional interest to persons already made
familiar with the facts by the daily papers to
warrant the attention of The City, One of
the most startling features will be an open
letter in each issue to some ''Public Humbug,n
in which the addressee will be scored unmerci-
fully, and held UP to the ridicule of the world.
understand that the subject of the first letter
will be well-known Brooklyn divine whose
methods fail to meet with the approval of
thousands of Christian ministers all over the
country. The City will be edited by some of
the most brilliant minds Of New York and
will have ample financial backing, but it is
grave question whether paper, which pub
fishes the names Of those only whom 1t critt-
cises, can succeed in New York. Newspaper
censors Of other newspapers have never been
conspicuously successful In this country.
QUEER CHARACTERS.
New York is essentially city of queer
characters. rno5 on1 hoS hut
more, 1 an inclined to believe of the former
than of the latter. There are three old fell
lows whom see almost every fine day in
Madison Square, who amuse me very much.
They are very much alike, too, in several
respects. All are apparently only fairly we'll
to-do; all are tall and slim; all dress In gray,
and all seem oblivious to everything else when
playing with the hundreds Of little boys and
girls who are daily sent to the Square for
their sun baths and ozone. One Of these old
men always has with him pieces of colored
paper, which, by means of pair of sharp
scissors, he rapidly converts into rows Of crude
dolls, all joined together like the Siamese
twins, by ligament passing from side to side.
These dolls he takes great pleasure In present
ing to the little tots who crowd about him
and eagerly watch the process OF manufacture
of the most primitive dolls in the world.
Another OF these old gentlemen always carries
pencil and pad, and amuses himself and
the children greatly by making rapid, but re-
markably accurate sketches of the odd-looking
personages, who, from time to time, drop
down upon the benches to snatch few mo-
ments' rest. The third old man Che Is 60 at
least) seems to derive the Seenest enjoyment
from racing around the circle in the middle of
Madison Square, with those Of the boys and
girls who are mounted on bicycles and tri-
cycles. The old fellow always contrives to
lose the rubber, and the gleeful shouts OF the
victorious children seem to make music In his
ears. These three old men may not be
philanthropists in the general acceptation OF
the term, but they have several hundred de-
voted little admirers, whose lives are made
brighter by them, and 1t is doubtful whether
they do not do as much real good in the world,
as many persons who give away large sums
of money with great flourish of trumpets.
A vANDERBILT-IAE BEGGAR.
There is bright-looking little fellow who
stands at the Brooklyn entrance of the bridge
and solicits aims of the passers-by. He al
ways specifies that he hasn't had anything to
eat for ever so many hours, and he wants
"just enough to get roll and cup of milk.n
few days ago thought I'd try the lad, and
l gave him few pennies He took them and
disappeared up the stl 9et. l crossed Fulton
street and watched. In less than minute by
the watch he was back on his old beat. /
walked back to the bridge, went halfway up
the stairs, then turned and came down. /
had scarcely got my feet upon the sidewalk,
when the little rascal, hurrying along by my
side, told me the same pitiful tale of woe that
he had poured into my ears only three min
utes before. / took the young scamp to one
side, and in as severe a tone as my desire TO
laugh would permit me to assume, l told him
of my little ruse and then offered to give him
ten cents moreif he would answer a few ques-
tions truthfully. Well, to make long story
short, this embryonic "Napoleon of Finance"
informed me that he seldom "earns" less than
81 day and on Saturdays his receipts almost
always foot up more than Sc.
"What do you do with all your money? ?" l
asked.
''Well, yer see,n he answered pertly, sits
dis way. Ne fadder amt no good. He's
lush See? Well, den, me mudder's wose'n
me fadder, cause she amt never sober. Ne
sister Maggies 16; she's older'n me and dere'E
three younger'n me, so dere's seven OF us in
de family. See 4? Me sister Maggie keeps de
house and / supports de family, md dere amt
no too much money left over, see F'
| saw.
''Me pardner," continued the Arab, ''works
de bridge when quit at O'Clock, but dere
amt much in dat He kin only ketch on wild
de '6ye-cents-ter-pay-f -fer-a-lodgn' racket and
dat's poOty wormy chestnut now" With
this my little vagabond acquaintance was
gone, and as 1 hailed a street car, saw him
walking by the side of gentleman, his face