The Red Cloud chief., 1893-10-27
LONDON By GASLIGHT
SATURDAY NIGHT STREET SCENES IN
THE CITY OF THE COOKERS.

THE CITY OF THE COOKERS.
A Break n the Fearful Dresfiness That
MARKS the Life Of the Toiiins Thousands
Of the East Side Of the Great Metropolis.
Music. Songs and Dances.
The memory Of q Saturday night In
the City Of the Dockers Is like the rscol- |
lection OF . troubled dream, for on this
last night Of the week the great, hot
streets are filled with the pentup life Of
100000 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 OF Saturday night, the maxi
mum Of his liberality being shown
most often in the public house and on
the catch penny street c~onjurer, while
the minimum is apparent at the stalls Of
the grocer and butcher. But men, WON
On and children are out on the streets,
and, whatever else IL be. Saturday night
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 band that
parades In q labor demonstration Of .
Sunday gets terribly punished before the
day Is over, but 1t commands q great fol-
lowing, and On Saturday night the street
musicians end singers easily gather their
crowds ana reap an abundant harvest.
The barrel organ Is found everywhere,
and wherever 1t Is rafting out the popu-
lar Daisy" or ''The Man Who Broke
the Bank at Monte Carlo" the sidewalks
viii be crowded, while two or three
couples Of little girls dance on the flag
stones.
Nearly every girl Of 8 can dance, many
Of them have already appeared In public
at the cheap concert halls, and as one
watches them, hatless. dirty, but with
faces beaming with delight, he does not
know whether to be glad Of their Joy or
to pity their hollow present and hopeless
future the more. Often q part in these
, street dances will be taken by the older
girls, factory girls. a. they are all called
In east london, who are out in crowds
on Saturday night. They are an un.
tanned, fantastic lot. All wear enormous
hats. adorned with feathers, and train
/, their hair about the forehead by curling
It forward quite fiercely. They are in.
l tensely loyal to the customs and tradi.
@ tions of their own 'set," and forced AZ
they are to subsist on an income Of 9 to
n 8 shillings per week they are a vexing
problem TO the east London philanthro-
U pist and reformer.
q Besides the barrel organs, there are
Q v~iolins, accordions and any number OF
Q s~0loists unaccompanied by an instru-
g ment. Blind women, old men and the
poor wrecks Of this awful struggle for
existence here stand at the curbstone
and In weak, thin voices sing their songs.
The restless crowd moves on, save when
some one more curious or more kindly
\ than the rest stands near to look or lis
ten. A bent woman, whose thin shawl
h was thrown over her shoulders, was
feebly singing some old song in the
midst Of the jostling throng around q
4 public house. / saw strong young CIR
Of IA come kindly toward her, drop q
y penny in the little box held by the feeble
y hand and then hurry away out Of sight
Happy will the strong young lass be /
the swirl Of the turbid stream Of eas
70 London life does not bring her some tim,
d to the place Of the curbstone singer. In
h deed there Is no place that l have evel
seen where mirth and pathos, vice ant
virtue, meet and mingle as on thes,
!" streets in a night like this.
n One sees very little begging. There
not much street begging anyway
10 there's no use begging; the people ar,
[e too poor. The mendicant fees Canning
town for the weather. residential quar-
tiers. OF curse the children beset ono
The sidewalk artist is sometimes found
Is but tho most common form Of appeal il
r. from the ragged little fellows who turf
handsprings or stand on their heads TO,
err you. They really do their athletics
Of very nicely, and there is something q
n appealing and ''old mannish' in theil
:, looks that 1t is hard to resist them.
" was h%urrying through the crowds IL
Victoria docks one night about 10 wher
Is q boy Of Z came ont and ran beside me
he relating some sort Of verse, I thought
ty Three repetitions made it clear:
NJ Ha'p'ny won't wit yer,
Penny won't break yer.
" Iup'nce won't send yer T. the work'us.
IN He was evidently working on q grad
m mated scale Of benevolence adapted Il
ia the abilities Of the donor" ! believe BY
the emphasis laid on the last item tina
~ he estimated me from my gold bowet
T. spectacles ut tu'pence.
Us The barrows Of east London delicacie
%. abound in the streets where marketin,
IN goes on. The woman who sells COLI
n. picked pigs feet is in fair demand. Thu
be man who retails shrimps at a penny
"a bag gets a good trade, but the coupl
So who preside at the barrow filled witt
cookies and wrinkles" have their hand
W. full. The delectable mollusks are dis
played on little dishes as large as ''indi
us vidual buffers" with a bit Of garnishin,
ed of parsley, and are eaten with vinegar OF
the spot.
These barrows are found especially q
the entrance of Victoria Docks road,
vi great marketing place in Canning tow,