The Coconino weekly sun., 1895-07-11

side came a park watchman who grabbed at the uplifted arm. The old man shouted: ''Let mo alone, and take that thief"
 The watchman graspcd the burly fel- low just as he rose to run away; and then the old man said: "Take his re- volver. He dropped it there where l was standing. l am clerk in Blanks store. 1 bought this new hatchet, and was walking along home with my hands behind my back when this fellow stopped me with demand for my mon- ey. swung my hatchet aloft, and no dropped his pistol. There it is.
 It was true. The highwayman of the park had assailed an apparently help less old man, and was surprised with the suddenness of his capture. He will probably spend term of years in the penitentiary. But that will produce no reformation. He will come forth as he entered the jail, natural-born Ish- maelite, to resume n life of lavlessness. Before he undertakes to assault anoth- CT old man, however, he will warily watch him and ascertain whether or not he has tomahawk concealed about his person.
 Nobody would expect to find Pata- gonia or Abyssinia in the vicinity of the center of learning, statesmanship, sci ence and progress of the western hem isphere. The most vivid imagination would not be likely to conjure up vi- sions of Fiji islanders in all their crud- ity and nudity within sight of her majesty, the Goddess of Liberty, on the dome; but here, beneath the blue can opy of heaven, with the light of the stars for tapers, and the moon for Q lantern, in by-path leading from the park to Maine avenue, which is near by toward the south, haw-haws and gulf | flaws of loud and discordant laughter attracted attention, and there, like un- kempt denizens of the Pacific wilds, a | group of men and women were found dancing and bowling in aboriginal glee.
 The women were from a contiguous | quarter known as Louse alley, and the men were from everywhere. They were blacl1er than the night, shamefully | indifferent to their conditions. They were black women of sin and black men of wickedness. Iniquity is their portion and crime their pastime. They were apparently not disturbing the peace of the neighborhood. and police interference was not thought of by any of them nor by me. For our Washing ton police force is composed of humani- tarian philanthropists who never inter- rupt orgies of any sort, unless some tragedy results, and then they make arrests as matter of necessity. These people were hilariously full of five-cent whisky, or three-cent gin; but there seemed to be no law violated, and no reason on the statute books for the pre- vention of their degradation, nor of the contamination of their influence. You will not wonder that 1 said above that women and children cannot enjoy these parks of the Mall after the shadows O! nature fall, because then the shadows of crime stalk forth and permeate ever the atmosphere.
 The only man in the crowd of half civilized savages who was decently clad were the blue uniform of sailor in tho navy of the United States. He wa: dancing with the others, out in th' night within a mile of the navy yard as wildly and frantically as any of tht foul and wretched beings about him No man can doubt the stories of dem oniacal possession which the Scrip lures narrate after having witnessed such a scene. All of these creatures were bereft of true reason, and were entirely under the influence of th' demon of the still. Through the tree could see the gleaming spire of tn, Metropolitan Methodist church, wher' Bishop Newman preached so long, ant beneath whose eloquent ministration tens of thousands of dollars had beer contributed to send abroad for the sup port of the missionaries in foreigl lands.
 Within five minutes walk, in tn direction of any point of the compass, . man might come to the door of som Christian sanctuary where other ten of thousands of dollars have been raise for similar purpose, and yet, we hay heathen so near home. Why is it tha the eyes of sanctity so often look owe the heads of these creatures of God an stretch and strain their visual power t see necessity for proselyting in cour tries far away, while in our midst is lower order of civilization, q thrivin commune of crime which never hear the story of Calvary, nor ever dreame that they have Father who is tn same Father to whom the white me and women clad in purple and fine line pray, and for whose worship they bull houses of worship too fine for our hom heather to enter?
 Still the stars were shining, and tn moon was beaming, and me souther breezes were rustling the leaves ove, head as I continued ramble which d. veloped other scenes which dcepene and emphasized the reflections whic have been written above. All alon the Mall there were groups of men wit , bottles of liquid damnation which the passed from lip to lip until stupidity ( , quarrelsome dispositions resulted. Prt fanity polluted the pure air of the sy