The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-22
CURFEW IN NEW YORK
ADOPTION or TINS RELIC 1870 BE
URGED.
IL Was Not Barbarous ana iJft'h'c In
actment Of King william, the Con-


| II Was Not "A Bnrbarous and Tyrranic In
actnent Of King william, the Con-
URFEW must toll tonight" and,
4 indeed, every night that IS 'lS
| ordnance which Mrs. John -.
Townsend wishes the New YORK
! Board of Aldermen 10 pass. As
already told ia the Herald, MIS-;
! Townsend has become irmiy cohNlIVeu
/ that the streets at nibht are o. Dieeulh5
| mat if parents 90 not protect ther cnn-
dren from this conta mlnttloh th1 'its
/ ought TO interfere. She therefore uie0
! that a curfeW bell be rung at O'CLOCK
/ every night. and that all cMldrcn lC-Nu
/ upon the streets after that Aouf without
/ proper guardianship should DC dilealou'
/ What b. the curieWy It's etymOitby car
riCs its history with II. IAe WoIu comes
from the French cOuVTc-icu cover hIel'
"a bell tOllcd at evening as siBnal 10 tlo
! inhabitants to cover hres. eAtlhsul7h
/ lights. and retire TO rest. IL rs eIIoneoIa-
! ly said to have been instituted ia Eng
/ land by William, the COnqueror, as an
! arbitrary bit OF tyranny, ana lhe nursery
I historian has WaXcd senumentai over Tue
! wrongs OF the conquered saxon dhG con-
/ jured up pictures that must De- baim 10
! iho d0WntrOdden Cclt. Even thompson
/ tells US.
The shiyering wretches at the curfew
/ Detected. sunk into their sordid beds.
But the couvre-feu was known before
/ Williams time, both in England ana On
/ tho Continent. lie did, indeed, issue an
! cdlct on the subject, ana Alnoubh TINS
/ cdict may incidentally nave helpct ~
put down the saxon beer ciuDa, Which
/ were hotbcds Of political conspirdries, ms
/ primary aim was rs "a plccdulOh against
/ lire. That danger was an ever present
enc I'm those days Of cnimneyiess WOODEN
| houses.
The ancient city ordinances Of London
/ abound in stringent IRE regulations.
/ None Of them, however was more elec-
I tive than the cover fire. bell, which as
| far back as the time of King Alfred was
! Tuug in certain places ia England. VIII
I l9m's cdict rendered compulsory an am
/ cicnt custom. But 10 was a wise le6i-la-
/ tive act ana not bit Of arbitrary tyfdh-
/ N.Y. We find plenty OF carly traces n the
/ custom Of its equivalent as, for instance,
/ the blowing Of horn ar the market
/ place IN Continental Europe.
j is curious instance Of the conser-
/ VatlVo tendency of the rural mind in Eng
/ land that the custom of ringing the cur
/ few should have 50 long survived its orig
/ inal significance.
CURFEW IN MODERN ENGLAND.
Curfow is stNl religiously toled in many
] hundreds Of towns and villages. either ail
/ the year around Or-Wlich Is still more
! usual-irom September 90 April no pare
! of the Kingdom can claim 10 as a special
! proof Of its adherence t0 "a primitive sine
! pliDIty. Geographically considered, JUS
! surViNals are by no means uniustructivc.
/ 40 tolls from the Isle of Wight boo the
/ south. through Kent, and Surrey Middle
| sex. suffolk, Norfolk Lincoln, York. Dur
/ ham and northumberland. ANA even
! across the border, in the Scotch lowlands.
! And 10 can be traced again through CUM
/ hcriauu and Lancashire, %. .ult, Dtiub-
/ shire, stafford. Motifs. Leicester hire,
[ Worcestershire. ShrOps hire. Hartford
/ shire, Monmouthshlre, down 20 Devon and
! 10 is. ia short pcrpctuatcd an over the
/ kingdom. Here and there 81 has become
/ identified with local customs. At New
/ castle, until it was discontinued, IL was
tho signal for shutting the shops. At
| Durham, again. twhcre DO is toicd az nlne
! @ clock. ii heralds the CLOSING OF the cole
/ Ieee Gates. while in many Cheshire and
/ J orkshiIe villages lt has iCr hundreds or
! years warned farmers 10 lock up their
! cattle for the night. The almost universal
/ hour az which % rs toiied is % clock in
! the evening. although here ana there 30 is
I ruug instead at and O'Clock. Ia some
! places. too. there IS "a morning curlew,
"a curious variation. Al stow, FOR me
/ stance 30 is on Was lately. rung as early
I ass o'clock DO the morning. and az Tam
/ worth at the more reasonable hour OF
/ O'Clock. At Waitham in the Wolds again.
J grateful farmer, who was lost JOB tne
/ snow and found his way home 10y lts
/ sound. left field 10 endow o'clock
I curiew forever.
CURFEW N AMERICA.
The facts. indeed. plainly show that the
! custom has kept its hold ON the popular
/ symplthies through an the ages. The
e filrms and the furiilns brought 10 over
/ with them 10 New England. where the
! CurfeW bell is stll rung lu many towns
] and villages. IN the "Bclls 0f Lynn
/ Lonefcllow appeals 90 the "c.rlcw OF the
/ setting SUM- as heard az Nahant. and
/ other illusions arc freely found in our
/ native poets
Nay so firmly has the curfew ntranch-
/ od itself in parts Of New Enrland that in
/ IHi there WAS popular uprising at thc
/ old seaport town OF Portsmouth. n. BE-.
. when the more prOgre .iye residents
] sought 10 abolish the ringing of the lcu
of tne North Church 40 O'Clock every
might. This hcI rang when General
D Washington stopped over night iu tho
| town. and also Wucn Daniel Webster was
. reading cases il Jaw Office there. Do had
sent eoncfauons to bed. Should &c Poe si-
/ Tent no"! "No. cried the o'd-tIuers as
+ they rose in their wrath and kept on ring
ine it.
ID was about the same time that tine
curieW habit spread 20 the West and ia-
. ter 90 the south. II started at SILVIA
tor 1Iiuu.. and hy July. ie5 about twenty
. other toWns in That State bad passed cur-
few ORDINANCES. NOt only that. but other
7 towns DO oregon. WASHINGTON. idanc.
] South Dakota Nebraska Kansas Mieli-
/ gan Missouri. Indiana, and Georgia had
+ followed the lcaaor.
The general principle Of the curfcW Ordi-
/ nances is the same wherever they have
. been adopted. but the ordinances differ boz
/ details. The idea SIS TO provide that chill
] drcn under certain age, varying in Oil-
/ icronl towns from eighteen down 90 fife
+ teen years, shall not he ON the streets OF
I the town after stated time. ranging
. from half-past seven j. n. 10 j. Nj
b unles. acccC rpaniCd 10y n lawful guard
. IAN. The penalty for violation of the
+ or finance also varies I'm OiuDrcut towns.
Throughout Minnesota children under
B sixteen years OF age are required tO Doe go
/ home hy O'Clock as night or very soon
I after. Curicw Is sounded Iy t0lIing nine
] strokes ca Tie fire bell of Tie town. ANY
I child found on Tho street after that hour
/ unacconpHnied by guardian. may De
/ arrested. and for the first offence taken
! home to his parents and cautioned. NJ
| arrested IN second time fine OF from So 90
I Sl0 on imprisonment OF from three 20
| ton days BOB Jail. 10 the discretion OF the
| MAGISTRATE, is the penalty.
ln most other Western states Tie crr-
| few rings earlier than in Minnesota. Use
\ ually it DIS rune at either eight or hale
past eight O'Clock WarrCrrhure. MO..
rings the curfcw 20 h1lf-rast seven u. ~.
Topeka. Kan. puts the age limit 90 siy-
| teen years. Wallace. Idaho puts 20 az If-
| teen years. thauutc. ham. requires o..
children of that town 10 De Cn fnc streets
as carly ass seven o'clock. Warcr0ss Ca.
permits the children OF that town 10 De
abroad until ten o'clock. a unique aili-
| ton TO tie curfCW ordinance an Pierce
Men, makes 10 unlaW-ul fDr amy boy when
spoken 20 by any person 10 return other
imam a civil ansWcr-Ncw York Herald.
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JH q NFHS or yyNffftF 49, ~ ann