The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-04-30
A CITY BYWAY.
Saturday Nights in the Hollow
of ShaWmut Street.
Busy Scenes Among Busy People Who
Speak a Foreign Tongue.

ME In every city OF Importance tnere
are certain streets that max an impress
sion on either the resident or the visitor
to 1t, there are also byways which ere not
lacking in interest to those who are maxi
ing note OF the varied Kaleidoscope OF
municipal life. The streets first referred
to, or rather their salient features,
long In the mind of him
who has travelled over them, and the
reader OF history sees as clearly in his own
mind certain roads of by gone centuries
as he does the main thoroughfare in tho
bailiwick in which be may reside. The
association of certain ideas with the name
of a street in one city is no in
dex to their appropriateness in re-
gard to one liz q different city.
Shawmut is a very excellent name
for the fine thoroughfare in Boston, that,
with a wisdom that has not always been
show min the naming o. streets, was given
ii a long time ago, bet the distance from
that avenue to its name5ake la Providence
is more than the 40 or odd miles between
the two cities.
Shawmut street in this city runs from
Gladstone avenue to Orms street, not a
great distance from the official h~eadquar-
ters of Captain Baker on the former high
WY ~ Adho AhlOhkh hhaN was OhGo
known as "Squaw Hollow" and which
some 80 years or SO ago had
a reputation neither as sweet nor
quiet as a place called In part such, which
N OF the most genial spirits of English
literature has made famous. The father
Of a now prominent official of this city
while returning with his weeks provis-
ions TO his family through it one Satur-
Aoxt .fIhe MANN 900 ma tr
dered. Men OF about ~thirty-five
was spent in the old First
Ward, used to dare each other
TO 90 through the locality, when they
were boys, though it was then a quiet
place and unless the window of a house
OF a colored gentleman, the latter we're
numerous there then. was broken with a
stone, thrown by one OF the aforemen-
toned boys, no harm was apt TO come to
them. There was then many an I'M
painted house there with its lilac bush in
front OF the door.
A change has of late years come over the
place, the colored brother has moved up
ward, or rather southwark, and many OF
those who once lived in this locality have
moved to another part of the city, where
the names OF the streets on which they
live tell Of the devotion of the children OF a
softer CLINE to Natures beauties. Now the
street has become a sort OF haven for that
race which the prosecutions of a Russian
forced TO the shores of q land of
FREEDOM. They nave come for relief for
themselves and they are to help decide
of the finest questions of political
policy any nation was ever confronted
with.
On five days of the week the street is a
quiet one. You might pass it by I'M
noticed, unless you were interested, par
ticularly, in clean streets; then the wish
come from the depths of your
heart that some genius might discover a
way to compress a Western cyclone,
convey it here and let it loose on the
of the road, for nothing else would
clean it of the paper and debris that, many
inches deep, cover it.
After shutdown on Saturday the street
to wear the appearance of a very
busy thoroughfare. In a few hours it
become one OF the busiest highways in
the town, one by one the carts with
their more or less tired looking
horses are driven into position. You
are reminded somewhat of Eighth
avenue in New York City, where
drawn up to the curbing on the west side
of the road are teams filled with ali kinds
meats, groceries and other articles
in the homes OF the residents.
While in this community an effort is being
made to pct obstacles in the path OF the
peddler, in the metropolis OF the nation
the matter is viewed In a different light
for the peddlers were induced by MGR
chants, who had stores on Eight avenue,
TO leave their former location, and go
there, as the merchants believed the more
people passing their stores the better
would be their chance for trade.
The bargains offered on Shawmut street
are not as tempting rs the ones offered in
Mayor Strong's town, MOI is tLere as
wit expended in trying 10 get GUS
by the merchants OF the night in this
street for the language used has
of the melting qualities that
was ascribed TO that of another
people by one who made his native
tongue melodious. There Is, h~~%~ever,
5 harp trading, cutting Of prices. and al
the tricks commonly ascribed TO a race
has fought a hard battle with It's
brothers, and generally managed 20 get
of those very desirable com
modities, gold and silver.
From many localities come persons with
baskets, women with shawls over their
heads, and leading, perhaps, a poorly olsd
child by the hand, trying to save q few
cents, the saving OF which may mean
much to them, and the quality OF food
almost starvation to themselves and those
who are forced to eat It. There arc other
thoroughfares where good food Is pro.
durable, and other streets where jewels
and fine linen are to be had, where we'll
groomed men and women buy, and think
OF their less fortunate brothers and
Hit rains on Saturday +aieAttAefe is-no
market, and the merchants either try to
the exterior and interior moist