The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1895-05-15
HOW THE OTHER HALF Die,
A SKETCH OF SOME REAL TENE-
1iENT DISTRICT TRAGEDIES.

= W wnsend, in New York Sun

Il
ooIv Am srican ladies in the tenement,
cod tno woman who had given Tommy
niece of crust with sugar on it.
Tommy could not eat the crust and did
not seem to care even for the sugar, for
after he had held it to his pale lips a
moment he let it drop from his little
weak fingers to the floor. where two
.7aroer children fought for it until one of
rbe Italian women raped them over
their heads and drove them out of the
room. still snarlingand fighting.
Pietro. the old italian boarder, who
held Tommy in his arms, crooned, "Poor
Towmy. Poor Towmyr and tried to
place the baby's arms about his own
brown and wrinkled neck, but Tommy's
hands dropped to his side, too weak to
do anything else.
"Her name was Maggie" continued
the American to the stranger. "She come
here from Cherry Hill and took up with
Guinpy here in Mulberry Bend. He
abused her terrible, and the chair is too
GOOD for him.
Some of the Italian men scowled at the
word ''Guinny." They could not under
stand all the American woman said, but
thew caught that word and showed their
resen tment. The Italian women,
who could understand less
English than the men, moaned, ooh,
4esu! Oh, Gesu! On, Santa Mara"' their
feelings moved more by the excitement
than by horror at the crime or sorrow for
the murdered woman. Maggie had MOI
been popular in that back tenement, nor
in the court in front of it, where nearly
all the life they knew went on.
poor Towmy Poor Towmyw crooned
old Pieto, patting the child's thin dirty
little hands with one of his big hard
palms.
Tommy turned his pale, pinched face
and big, beautiful, hopeless eyes toward
Pietro, sighed YEARLY. and then his eye
lids dropped and closed; not in sleep. in
languor.
81 wonder will the society agent be
here first, or the wagoA," yoang woman
they called Lena said, with an air of
important anticipation.
The wagon, sure" answered Lizzie,
the American woman, as one understand
ing the governmental affairs of Mulberry
Bend better than any one else, not born
there, could.
Lena had come from the other side of
the Bowery, Hester astreet way. She
took up with a pickpocket, not of her
race, and had been driven from her peo
pies colony. 8Evenlson the Bend she
dared not go around to the Baxter street
side OF the bl lck, for they are nearly all
Jews there; as nearly SO as on the Null
berry street side they are Italian. SO she
was particularly a prisoner in the tene-
ment and it courts, because the police
would not let her go out on the street o N
her own side of the block, since the
orders came from headquarters to keep
women out of the saloons there for the
protection of Jack ashore.
Its near time for the wagon, then,
amt it?' Lena asked of Lizzie.
Sure not, Lizzie responded. Hasn't
the cop got to go to the Tombs with Joe
and wait till he is held? And then the
sergeant sends word to the coroner, and
he sends the wagon. know well how
it's DONE"
Lena was impressed by this display of
superior knowledge, and remained silent
for time. She looked into the closet
bedroom, where Maggies body was hud-
died in the corner where she had fallen
on her kneesIwhile Joe slashed her life
out
The policeman had taken away only
Joe and the knife; all else in the blood
Spattered room remained as it was an
hour ago, when the startled tenants
rushed in and found Tommy crawling
oyer the body, and Joe, maniacally
drunk, laughing and sobbing and ours
ing on Pletros sbed in the Lroom where
the crowd was now; one of the two
rooms occupied by Joe and Maggie and
Tommy and the boarder.
Il wonder couldn't we do something
to make Maggie look decenter"' Lena
whispered, after long pause, during
which the only sounds had been the
moaning of the women. ''Oh, Gesu"
and the grooming of cid 2ietro, ''poor