The record-union., 1894-08-18

lONA eebAC tUOOGS lu6 QISbi lCbo VI
prim and tidy homes. past the doubtful
territory of mixed business structures
and habltationS, into the roaring thor
oughfareS OF Gotham, and then, more by
instinct than from knowledge, into one
, OF those down town quarters where great
palaces OF trade wall in vast areas of
squalor, vice and crime.
AT this hour of the day the crooked,
loathsome street through which her foot
steps led, was strangely still. Aunt MI
randy was Ignorant OF It's grewsome and
dreadful night life and the silence dis
tracted her.
Don't wonder they can't get along"
she observed with some asperlty, when
! they don't lnoseY out in the mornin' and
get TO work like other folks. Mercyl
Why they look like the dead!'
She had now turned into a bend of the
thoroughfare where doors, windows and
Railways of the crazy OLD structures were
all wiae open. The tottering buildings
were so close together that it was danl
and shadOwy between. fostering gar
bage covered the broken pavement.
Foul odors emanated from every nook
and Granny. The nauseous, appalling
presence Of putrid death Itself seemed to
tly at her with palpable and overpower-
ing savagery.
In shadowy easements were stretched
the revolving forms OF humans of strange
race and color, their features distorted
as if in frighttul dreams. Women and
children, half nude and hlthy. lay in gro
teSque heaps upon the floors, or We're
dimly visible among piles Of wretched
rags. At this window or that, a bare arm
or leg or head hung over the sill,
as though its owners body had been
dismembered and had fallen from sight
behind.
Every hallway and stairway was
: heaped with apparently lifeless bodies.
Males and females lay against steps, cop
lngs, area ratings, or were stretched
across sidewalks, doubled in cutters, or
still lay prone upon the noisome stones
of the street. A few of all these hideous
forms and faces were pinched aud thin
and drawn and pailid from pain and
want, but most were blowsy and bloated
and merry from endless drink.
There was horrible fascination in the
revolving scene which drew Aunt Mi
randy on and on. With her skirts in-
stinctiyely gathered about her and her
quaint ola vlnagrette clasped tightly
to her quivering nostrils, she picked her
way here and there, or leaped gingerly
over sodden bodies, muttering Mercy!
mercy! mercy" ali the dreadful way.
The recurring sounds of business life,
the clang and clamor of the great trade
thOrOughiareS beyond, finally recalled
her to her mission.
"Huhr' she startlingly exclaimed. IF
I amt doin' just like all the rest, lookin'
at these horrors like a play-show and
leavin' 'em horrors STILL Mercy me!
Where shall l begin?''
She retraced her steps, stood still for a
little, shook her vlniagrette ferOciOusly
and gazed distractedly up the winding
street, loathesome in It's siuuous trailing
as the discarded SKIN of a huge snake.
Just then horrible volley OF oaths,
oaths from women, too, with the unmis-
taxable sounds OF cuttings and thump-
ings, arrested her attention. They issued
from a dark basement stairway almost
beneath her.
Stepping TO the iron railing she peered
cautiously into the darkness below.
When her eyes had become accustomed
to the shadows of the nauseous pit, she
saw in the turn OF the passage way a
wriggIng mass OF heads and legs and
fists and heels.
When the oaths and the blows had
somewhat stilIed from exhaustion, she
dinIy discerned the forms and faces of
three girls; of those girls of the slums
with little chunky bodies; with strangely
symmeCric forms and marvelously agile
physical powers; with unconscious and
, exquisitely graceful movements, and
often with winsomely nodded feat
ures; of those girls who never knew q
girlhoOd, between whom and maiden
hood lies the impossible gulf, to whom
( womanhocd is forever barred; of those
girls altogether as cunning as imps of
dark ness and hard as the pavement
stones from which, for all they know, or
the world cares, they have been given
luckless birth.
Fright here's the place to beginp' said
Aunt Mirandy determinedly.
Without hesitation she descended the
slippery steps, hustled the girls upon
their feet in a corner, tidied their cloth
! = l. -.
faces with her handkerchief, and all with
such a rush OF aptitude and unconscious
kindly authority, that there was no fur-
iher show OF protest than a few animal
like gurgles and grants of curiosity and
surprise.
Come long to breakfast now, all of
you!" she commanded, herding the rum
pied and tousled lot before her. Need
some more myself" she continued as the
girls eyes opened wide III astonishment.
'Got rung away from mine this morning
by beggar; an audacious beggar, too!
Wouldn't like that would you. glrls?"
''Nopew they chorused, sIyly prod
ding each other with their nimble elbows
while snickering brazenly.
Here we are. Ehls'u do,' insisted
Aunt Mirandy, still herding her lot be-
fore her into an unpretentlous restau-
rant.
But few patrons were now at the Ia
bles and q waiter nOuclng the strange
party, stepped forward with quizzical
look in his face.
s'Now, no airs, waiter!n said Aunt Mi
randy sternly.
~ airs. waiter" echoed the trio, "er
tn bid un an us'l do yei-see?"
''Where's your washstandY' Aunt Mi
randy demanded unmoved.
''Yes, where's de hydran' plug, cork
ey?" mimicked the girls uproariously.
,
ness. led the way to a little alcove, turned
the water on with swish into four ba-
| sins and retreated to a respectful dis
tance.
Here, go an get me comb and brushp'
She gave him q bank note and an addi-
tional command: while you are at it
bring three big chip bats for these three
these three young friends of mine. Keep
the change"
Then, while the girls rolled up their
eyes, Aunt Mirandy rolled up her
sleeves.
"Washl" she said tersely. Here. wa
ter and soap. mind!''
She did not stand idly by. She lath-
cred her own hands, and, one by one,
soaped those girls' hands and arms and
necks and heads, and secured and soused
and rinsed and dried, and when the comb
and brush and package of hats had come,
after general directions to the waiter for
"a good breakfast for four" she worked
on those girls pretty but frowsy heads,
heroicaIIy braiding this ones locks, con-