The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1893-10-27
LONDON BY GASLIGTi7
SATURDAY NIGHT STREET SCENES ~
THE CITY or THE DOCkERS.

A Break Ip the Fearful D~reariness That
Marks the Life of the ToilinG ThunsS..:.
of the Eass Sid of The Great Metropolis
Music. sot.g s and Dances.
The memory Of a Saturday night In
the City OF the Dockers il like the recol-
lection of a troubled dream, for on tN'5
last night of the week the great. hot
streets are filled with the pentup life Of
SOC, 600 houses Zone cannot call them
homes). and all the varied phases of this
hand to hand struggle for existence ap-
pear. The decker is prodigal of his few
shillings on Saturday night, the maxi
mum of his liberality being shown
most often in the public house and On
the catch penny street conjurer. whi,a
the minimum is apparent at the stalls OF
the grocer and butcher. Butmen, WON
EN- and children are out on the atryt
and, whatever else it be, Saturdl n ni-4t
is something Of a break in the fearful
dreariness that marks the life of the east
London toiling thousands.
The people love music. Their inter-
probation of music is rather rough and
loud. The bass drum of every bandt that
parades in a labor demonstration of a
Sunday gets terribly punished before Jls
day is over, but it commands u gre d. fol-
lowing, and on Saturday night tie street
musicians and singers easily gather then
crowds and reap an abundant harvest
The barrel organ is found e~ver;who"a,
and wherever it is rafting out the popu-
lar Daisy" or The Man Who Broke
the Bank ut Monte Carlo the sidewalks
will be crowded, while two or tnree
couples of lIDtle girls dance on the i4s.
stones.
Nearly every girl of 8 candance, many
of them have already appeared il pune
at the cheap concert halls, and NJ oaa
watches them, hatless, dirty, baC win
faces beaming with delight, he does not
know whether to be glad Of their Joy az
to pity their hollow present and hopeless
future the more. Often a part III JIcse
street dances will be taken by tAc o.ltr
girls, factory girls, as they are all called
in east London. who are out i'll crowds
on Saturday night. They are al -
tanned, fantastic lot. Al wear enormous
hats, adorned win feather, ana train
their hair about the forehead by earring
it forward quite ficrceiy. They are III
tensely loyal to the customs anil tradi-
tons Of their own set" and fuTctu ~
they are to subsi.t on an income or 6 20
8 shillings per week they are = veXin3
problem to the caSG London p!ilauTuro~
pist and reforlner.
Besides the barrel organs, there are
%violins, accordions and Il number OF
~soloists unaccompanie8 by an inStr:-
ment. Blind women, Old men ami The
poor wrecks of this awful struggle for
existence here stand at the cnrbstone
and in weak, thin voices sing their nnrs-
The restless crowd moves on, save Wis
some one more curious or more kindly
than the rest stands neal to look OK III
ten. A bent woman, whose thin shawl
was thrown over her shoulders. was
feebly singing some old song in Tie
midst of the jostling throng around j
public house. | saws strong young girl
of IA come kindly toward her, drop &
penny in the little box held By the f-e}'o
hand and then hurry away out Of F'~'+.
Happy will the strong young lass De #
the swirl of the turbid stream of cast
London life does not bring her soma time
to the place CT the curbstone singer. In
deed there is no place that | have cvtr
seen where mirth and pathos, vice @n1
virtue, meet and mingle as on these
streets in a night like this.
One sees very little begging. THERE'S
not much street begging anyway
there's no use begging; the people are
too poor. The mendicant fees Can~;Dg
town for the weather. residential quar-
tiers. Of course the children beset one.
The sidewalk artist is sometimes found,
but the most common form of appeal il
from the ragged little fellows who tnrn
h~andsprings or stand on their heads for
you. They really do their athletics
very nicely, and there is something St
appealing and ''old mannish" in their
looks that it is hard to resist then. I
was hurrying through the croWUs u
Victoria docks one night about 10 when
a boy of Z came out and ran beside r"",
relating some sort of verse, | thought.
Three repetitions made it clear:
Ha'p'ny won't wit yer,
Penny went break yer,
Tu'p'nce went send yer { the wor!;'us.
He was evidently working On c grad
uated scale of benevolerce ada: D
the abilities Of the donor" I believe by
the emphasis laid on the last item t4at
he estimated me from my gold !
spectacles at tu'pence.
! The barrows OF east London delicacies
abound in the streets where mar:ct.ng
goes on. The woman who sells cold
picked pigs feet IS in fair demand. The
man who retails snrimps at a pen: j
bag gets a good trade. but tic couple
who preside at the barrow filed VIII
cookies and wrinkles" have their lands
full. The delectable mollusks aIe dis
played on little dishes as large - nt..;-
vidual butters."with a bit OF garni=L:D5
of parsley, and are eaten with VINEGAR ~
the spot.
These barrows are found espot.a-y q.
the entrance of Victoria DCcfS road. 2