The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-07-30
SlGNSONTHE BOWERY
WHAT ONE MAY SEE ON NEW WORKS
FAMOUS THOROUGHFARE.

~
tion--An Avenue wherein Are Found
People Of All Naiionniitics.
To those students of human nature
who are quick to see the weak side of
every character save their own, trip
up the Bowery and Park row is always
fruitful Of good results. There are so
many sights, sounds and scenes novel
and interesting in the stirring comedy
drama, Struggle for Bread" that the
student cannot help feeling amused and
interested. Then, too, the fact that
nearly every one he meets is poorer than
himself iinparts the zest of complacency
TO his pilgrimage, and he steps among
the hungry and wretched and the happy
and careless, keeps his hand ON his pock
etbook and his eyes on the shifting pano-
rama Of life and makes notes.
The signs are the first things that take
the wanderers eye.
He notes "a Regular Dinner for thir-
teen Cents" and 1.-TWO Genuine Import
ed Havanas for Five Cents" with inter
est He feels that his barber charges
him too much when he sees that he can
receive tonsorial attention here for five
cents, with the added luxury Of bay rum
for ten cents, and that "A clean towel is
guaranteed with every shave.
A large AKA gaudy cartoon extolliug
the merits of the "Flor de Maggie Cline
Cigar" attracts his attention A small
footnote says that it is changed every
day, and that while the merits of the
cigar will be dwelt lovingly upon, yet
the cartoons will also deal with timely
topics.
A clothing store near by has big
black signboard stating that this is the
headquarters Of the Society for En-
couraging the Wearing of Clean Shirts, "
whereof the proprietor is president. He
cannot but feel that the society is at
once beneficial, salutary and situated in
its proper field, Park row,
The notice over a dingy doorway that
"black eyes will be made to look natural
for ten cents" causes him some vague
apprehension as it is silent witness
that he is in the land of fisticuffs and as
sault and battery.
But contemplation of the chalk writ
ten words that "a Delmonico lunch goes
with every glass of beer" gives rise to
more kindly feelings, and he soon for
gets his fears.
A red nosed man rapping with rat
tan at large and startling representa-
ton of "The Wonderful Monstrosity,
Jumbeto, the Elephant Boy, Half Ele-
phant, Half Human, Now to Be Seen
Alive Inside" holds him awhile. But
he feels sure it is fake and drifts on
to the "Auction Sale"
A sharp eyed person in his shirt
sleeves is extolling the merits of a solid
gold, full jeweled, stem winding, Amer
lean movement watch, cased, chased,
turned and beveled, going at the ridicu-
lously low price Of four dollars. Cap
pers are urging victims to buy, pullers
in are bawling the auction to all who
pass and the hurdy gurdy behind the
dime museum screen tries vainly to
drown their cries by its jerky render
ing of Comrades, comrades, ever since
we were boys while the man at the
door still raps the counterfeit visage of
the elephant boy and cries that the ad-
mission is but dime,
The crowd thickens; evening comes on.
The "oysters and CLAIMS one cent man
lights his torch, Cinnamon, bloused and
pigtailed, heading for Chinatown; Ital-
ians with pushcarts turning toward the
bend, Greeks bound for James street,
negroes for South Fifth avenue, Ger
mans for Avenue A, Hebrews for Ell
bridge street, all homeward bound, work
worn and weary, hurry past. Beef
steak Johns is crowded. The fifteen
cent lodging houses have each their
score Of loungers at their dingy portals.
1t is night. Now the shooting gal
leries light up and the ''pingn "pingr
of the 22-caliber bullets ring down
against the sheet iron targets Men lurli
in alleyways and stink out to demand
aims. A crowd Of roisterers come down
arm in arm. They are college boys,
down on the Bowery for fun.
A one eyed man has song sheets for
sale. Ho cries his wares and sells
several copies to the youths
The variety theaters open their doors
and the Bowery amusement seeker
surges in to see the Irish-American FouI
and McGihin and McGuffin, the king
pins of song and dance.
The German and Hebrew theaters are
open, too, and have their crowds also
The Elite Lady orchestra has tuned VI
in the concert halls, and the Bowery i.
at its best
The bell at the family resort is clang
ing for the first performance, and tht
ticket seller opens his little window and
gets his change ready.
The clothing store "barkers' redoublt
their efforts to catch trade by manua
force, and the Bowery roars with sound!
Of life and trade. Saloons are doing q
rushing business now. Sailors, long
shoremen, mechanics, all out for drinl
and recreation, make up the crowd
A new venture, the "two-and-a-half
cent-a-cue" poolroom, has done sucl
good business that rivals have sprung
up on every side. These places are al
crowded. The frequenters are for tn,
most part evil looking low browet
youths Of eighteen or twenty years oi
age. They crowd the tables and Bow
cry argot makes their conversation al
most unintelligible to the uninidated,
The notice that mo profane or vulgar
language is allowed seems sarcastic
1t is as funny in such a place as Bow
cry prices for Broadway goods is il
the Cheap John clothing store. And
the student Of human nature notes it IN
his memory along with the sign