Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-06

Court Come out" the gale from the
Surrey hills might cry. as it whistled merrily
over the housetops. Come out and give the
people chance to breathe;' but there wGs
no answering rustic In the court-the air
there was silent and sullen, as if it had
taken its temper from the Inhabitants Of
the place.
Sometimes. in early spring. the insistent
east wind roared bosterously through the
tunnel, catching the meDhitic atmosphere
unawarcs. and finging It hesdlOng over the
roCfs. filling the court with biting whrl-
wird, scattering loose bits Of paper. and
rags skyward, but the inhabitants CT the
court didn't like 1t. They closed their
windows, shivered, and wished the gale
would cease. Next day the air would settle
down quietly in the court, collect it's odor
once more and then everybody felt that
things were as they should be.
Tho court was a property that paid hand
somely No one residing there knew who
owned the buildings or the ground The
man who collected the room rents did so
promptly In advance, and he had once told
the landlord of the "Rcse and Grown" that
the court was more lucrative as an invest
ment than il it had been situated in the
Grosvenor Square district. The owner was
popularity supposed to have farmed the
property to a company, and the rent col
lector represented this organization. The
company could not be expected to spend
money on repairs the owner could not be
reached and aside from all that the rooms
were in constant demand, so II a tenant
did not like the arrangement he could get
out-there were a dozen others ready to
take his place.
The people who lived in this human war
ren were not criminals, Most OF them did
something useful for the living they re
ceived. Criminals, when convicted, are
housed in a much more sanitary manner
and they are sure of enough TO eat-which
the deniZens of the court were not If any
prison in the kingdom were as fetid as
Rose Garden court the great heart OF the
nation would be stirred with indignation,
and some wretch in authority would feel
the lash of righteous public scorn. The
court was merely airly representative of
the home of the British woriugnan, in
the wsest, largest, prOudest, most wealthy
city in the world at the end of the nine
teenth century, after a thousand years, more
or less, of progress Some homes Cf the
wcrkingmen are better, but then some are
worse, for we must never forget that we
have the ARTISANS improved dwellings"
among u.s. The occupants of the improved
dwellings" are hedged about with restrlc-
tiOns, but in the court was freedom-free-
dom to come and gol as you liked; freedom
to get drunk; freedom to loaf or work;
freedom to starve
The personal predictions of the courtties
were much the same as those of habitues OF
tirst-class West End clubs. They liked to
drink and gamble. The pub" was at the
entrance. and there or at the barber shop
they could place a little on a horse they
knew nothing Of One of the advantages of
free country Is that a man can get quite
as drunk on beer as he can on champagne
and at much less cost The results are Won
derfully similar. 1t Is popularly believed
that a policeman in Piccadilly Is kinder to
a client in dress coat than a fellow officer
on Waterloo road is to a man in moeskins.
Rose Garden court had little trouble with
the police, although the court-especially the
feminine portion of it-looked somewhat ask
ance at the force All a policeman asked of
drunken dweller in the court was that
If he wanted to fight he should fight in the
court and not on a busy thoroughfare like
Light street In the court the wives of the
combatants usually took charge Of them be
fore the battle had been fought to a finish
and sometimes tall policeman watched
over the separation of temporary foes, say
ing little unless one of the fighters resisted
the wife who was vociferously showing him
toward his own doorway. when the officer
would say:
"Come now, my man, none Of that"
whereupon strangely enough, 1t was the
woman who resented the officers interfer-
ence for her protection, though when her
man proceeded to abuse a member OF the
force also. she quickly told him to shut
his - mouth" using an adjective that was
at once sangulnary and descriptive. Often
a stalwart policeman would take by the |
scruff OF the neck an inhabtant of the court |
staggering along Light street. filing the air
with melody or defiance, and walk him |
rapidly down the street, the mans legs wab- |
bling -cbOut uncertainty, as II he were a |
waXwork automaton, until they were OPP |
poste the entrance OF the court; then, hay |
ing received the required impetus from the |
officer. the man shot under tile archway and |
was presumably taken care of when he got |
inside, anyhow, once In the court he could |
not get out again except by the way he |
and few ever became drunk enough |
to forget there was always a policeman In |
the nelghborhood The thrust under the |
archway was merely the kindly Light street
way Of doing the Pccadily act of placing a
little effect when the masses do nothing but |
laugh or applaud the criminal
man tenderly in a cab and telling the driver
where to go Few were ever actually ar
rested in the Light street district. and their |