The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-02-23

Us ana n NflttIlNta W " WIZ ll'N 'tAA'iNA 81
rest. and the presence of the law In the |
shape Of a big. blur man in shaggy over
roat. a slouchcd hat and mittens had no
saddening effect upon us We were IN his I.
charge only for the evening-he was taking I.
US stunning
One of us was an artist seeking types, au- I.
other was stranger In New York and so /
far only acquainted with the fashionable
nucleus of the town The other two-well
they were women. and I'm afraid the curse
of Eve had descended upon them. They
were morbidly curious. They wanted to
see. They had delightful consciousness
ofdoinu something they should not, and
emunitiou-alsod eliciuus-that they were
going to he horribly shocked.
In Historic Locality.
The dingy car went zigzaggiug through
portions of the town never seen ut night be
fore 1t was Blocker street, that neigh
borhood Of ruins, once the rallying ground
of New Nork's geutility Peering through
the cluuded paues at the vile sidewalks, the
old mansions transformed into cheap fish
markets. what was once a church ringing
with shouts of ribald laughter and the
banging Of a cheap piano, one wondered if
the spirits of dead Kuickerbockers ever
came back TO wander sadly amid this desc
Grafton of sacred familiar scenes.
But-farewel fancy We We're at the
Poyyprv. and "by the same token" as the
Irisbman says, here was newsboy at our
elbow singing the hackneyed refrain that
sets forth the temptations of that gaudy
thoroughfare and assuring us he would
never 20 there any more.
And uow-whereN asked Miss Eve,
named after her mother.
Don't ask any questions" said the de-
tectfve pompously. and we followed him
trustngly, feeling very much like sheep
after q shepherd
A Trip to Chinatown.
Down the Bowery we went. We looked
into gin palaces and saw lines of hungry
tramps waiting with marvellous patience
for free meal, went through dark, mys-
FERROUS side streets lined by most offensive
alleyways. We heard words that taught
US how cramped is the vocabulary of the
polite. We saw faces more animal than
human. We were surrounded by vice. 1t
was not pleasurable, however, even as a
forbidden sight. We began to feel n little
heartsick, and we saw how quickly sin is
robbed of poetry when there is no gliding.
We turned corner Was this New York?
Or had we in some inexplicable way sent
our astral bodies on an airy journey to Hong
Kongy Yellow skinned Celestials, who
from tea caddies, surrounded us. We
heard queer, tinpanny music from some of
the dimly lit, red curtained shops. We saw
strange names on windows and doors, and
we heard language that was uncanny in
its unusualness.
Chinatown
"Are we going to an opium joint" queried
Miss Eve in a breathless tone. "Oh, that
would be positively divine"
Think so, young woman Rather like
the other place, it seems to me. But I'm
not going t. show you lot of miserable be
ings hitting the pipe You'd never forget
it. Stay here and I'll give you just an idea
of what it's like
He left us at the entrance to narrow
alleyway that might fifty have led to In
ferno, so dark was it, so full of eerie oath
and wailing.
An Opium Layout.
For few moments we shivered there er
the detective appeared carrying somethin
in his hands and followed by girl
about a.
This is a layout. It's worth looking a
Smell it."
We handled the little tray, the filler an
shifted at the oddly shaped, dark pipe. I'll
odor was flat and sickly. There was nothin
seductive about that, at any rate.
Take a good look at the girl, our guiC
whispered.
The light from the laundry next do,
showed us a thin, round shouldered, heaN
eyed creature, her skin yellow, her ha
short and fuzzy.
Got froo2" she asked. "Huh" as 81
received some money. Thanks sar!' al
with a broad grin she caught up the la
out and disappeared.
"She might be labeled as queer spec
men and one peculiar to this strange
mixed city of ours l doubt if you cou