The Newtown bee., 1892-08-12

shabbily clad and who sat on the cobble stone pavement chatting together or sleeping against the heated brick walls. Children were everywhere fairly swarm ing on sidewalks and in doorways, rag ged and filthy. The grog shop doors were crowded with as hard looking lot of wretches as ever breathed. An old wrinkled hag scratched her dirty limbs before hard looking set of men. The cellars are crowded with old junk, old clothes, or used as fish markets, depots for old rags and for living. Garbage barrels lined the walk. Everywhere filth, rubbish and garbage crowded hu- manity. Past block after block of like description, pursued my way until the centre of the Polish Hebrew district was reached on the corner of Ludlow and Hester street.
 Here is sight such as no other city in the world can surpass, if equal I stood at the door of a gin mill and, at midday, in burning, broiling sun, counted 200 foreigners, of the poorest and most ignorant description, trading on the four corners. Along the curb stone, push carts filled with decaying fruit and vegetables, half rotten peaches bananas, green apples, stale eggs, on- ions, potatoes, and other refuse of the markets; and these alongside of other carts exposing oil cloths, dry goods, and hosiery. Along the walks, as ugly and | dirty O 1nf nf .l~1 shone on, selling spotted lemons, stale eggs, cheese, bread, both rye and wheat, and moulded into curiously shaped loaves-round, oblong, some of the loaves two feet in length. The rye bread, brown as parched coffee beans, was sprinkled with carroway seed. These portable bread shops abound, and are located on the sidewalk, on door steps or stands
 noticed many dealers in worm eaten and dusty dried fruits. These along side of dealers in odd crockery. old clothes, with here and there a peddler of ice. Fish markets abound, and in some a large business is done. In one noted a large turtle weighing 269 pounds, con- fined on it's back in crate. The walks were crowded with a throng of Russian, Polish and German Jews, a few Irish, and now and then a Chinaman. As I said before, children of all ages every where; six of them squatted in front of cellar store, on the sidewalk playing jacks.
 One will not fail to remark the great number of Shylocks--no representation such as Irving, Booth or Barrett gives,
 but the veritable squeezer of human life. One stood in q doorway wrangling with q woman. He wore long waisted long skirted, greasy, black Prince AL bert coat. His long dark shaggy locks were covered by a shiny black silk hat of ancient style. His sharp devilish eyes peered from face covered with long, curling whiskers. His shoulders were round, his head bowed, perfect picture of Fagin the Jew as depicted by Crukshank.
 l Soda water fountains on the corners,
 or backed against the buildings, were surrounded by panting set intent on a
 'schooner" of soda. Ice cold soda, , cents; chocola te and cream soda, , is sold from dirty wooden pails, and
 served by filthy, coatless vendors. who stand here, there, everywhere.
 The poultry shop is enough to destroy the strongest appetite. Geese, stale tur- keys and chickens hang by the neck l from cellarways and about shop doors, filtered with feathers.
 Throughout this densely populated district there hung from windows, doors, , balconies and fire escapes, great qusnti- . ties of bedding. It seemed as if the thousands had chosen this particular day , for airing bed clothes.
 l Crowded against box, an Italian boot , black slept, stretched full length on the sidewalk, his box for a pillow. A babe stark naked sat on a window sill. In all that great crowd, it was hard to find an attractive face. Almost without excep- tion, the countenances were hard and re- puisive, sullen, sad and all dirty. My appearance arrested attention and was l. closely watched. as with pencil and pa- per noted the incidents of the hour. What think you of life at 9s degrees in the shade, in the foreign quarter of New York, where the signs are in Hebrew characters, where thousands live in
 place none too large for few hundred: l And amidst this crowd of poverty strick- en, poorly fed, poorly housed foreigners, I noted few signs of discontent. The
 women, the men, the children gathered in groups and gossiped. Others dozed or lounged on walks and against walls and thousands moved to and fro, as mixed crowd as human eye ever rested upon, trading in what to us seems the cast off goods, the refuse food of great city. Go and see tor yourself how the other half live, about Mulberry street bend, along Baxter, Essex, Norfolk,
 Hester, Ludlow and adjoining streets. If you have never been, it will be reve-
 lation and one that you will never for get.-( LouDger in American Grocer.