The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-10-23
A QUIET STREET in NEW YoRk.
There Is Ono Short Alley which IL
Remarkably Free from Noisa

There IL Ono Short Alley which Ia
Remarkably FREQ from Noise.
A queer place Is Extra place, the little
out OF tho way street from which Louis
Weinhagen was taken rs n cholera SUSPECT.
IL Is only one block long. 1t opens ON First
street, the rear end stopping abruptly at
the back yards of the Second street houses.
1t IS the oldest and quietest block in the
lower east side. Green trees are rare in
That section of the city. but glance over
the board fence ut the end of Extra place
reveals the tops of half a dozen oaks in the
rear yards of the Second street houses, and
their green foliage forms pleasant con-
trast to the dull colored double tenements
on either side
The side walls of the buildings ut 10 and
IL First street run back some distance
from the corners, aud then comes, Oh the
lett hand side, the rear walls of the rear
tenements behind buildings facing the
Bowcry. On the right hand SIDE how
ever, Immediately adjoining the side wall
OF IL First street, are two five story tene-
ments numbered 4 and 5. Behind them is
a courtyard in front of II rear tenement of
the Kind known rs double decker An
alley between Ia and IL First street leads
TO the open court and the rear tenement.
These three tenements are probably tho
best known living houses on tho east side,
ana their owner, Mrs. Gunther, who runs
them us Il gigantic boarding house, is well
known by the workingmen of the CITY,
Mrs. Gunther hns n large heart, as many
laborers who have been down with hard
luck can testify. Her dodgers number
generally between 200 and 300. They range
from the hod carrier to the poor mechanic
and arc treated alike. The houses are full
almost always. Mrs. Gunther provides nc
concentrations for all honest workingmen
whether they have money or not. Her big
dining rooms in the basement of the Extra
place houses are Il sight to be seen mt meal
hours, although all of her dodgers do not
eat ut her table; some eat outside
Without Mrs. Gunther's establishments
Extra place would be in danger of sinking
to the ordinary level. Peddlers rarely
venture into the street. Mrs. Gunther
doesn't like them and her dodgers will not
tolerate them near by. The dodgers evil
IDENTIFY appreciate this fact that theirs is
the quietest spot for miles around, and
woe betide the loud voiced pcltller who
darcs to venture around the corner Dur
ing the summer Extra place is pictur-
esque locality. Mrs. Gunthcr's dodgers
in their shirt sleeves, sit on the sidewalk
during the evenings, smoke their pipes
and swap stories. All is quiet and pence
full there, yet n walk of only half
minute brings one into the din and confu-
sion of the Bowery. Everything is clean
in the street and the tenements.
For years back Extra place has been as
it is today. Before Mrs. Gunther's big
venture drove the former occupants out of
the double deckcrs it was the quietest lit
tie block in the neighborhood Crooked
lampposts and ugly fire escapes are in
sight, but the east side eye has been edu-
Gated up to that sort of thing and the
straight and dignified lamppost is regarded
with rs much suspicion as the bare walls
of a tenement. The truck stands beyond
the curb of the sidewalk at night. The
rest of the street is clear. The truck is
driven by one of Mrs. Gunther's dodgers.
and 1T is by her special permission that il
stands there. One word from her and n
hundred men would hustle it into First
street.-New York Sun.