The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-06
CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.
In almost any other country than
England the name by which the evil
smelling cul-de-sac off Light street was
! known might be supposed TO have been
given it by some cynical humorist. 1t
was called Rose Garden court. AS
there is a reason for almost everything
in this world, the chances are that once
upon q time a garden stood there, and
that roses probably bloomed in it. The
entrance to the court was through an
archway, over which, on the Lighl
street side, was the name of the court.
At the right hand of this tunnel stood
the Rose and Crown" locally known
as the pub and the door of the jug
and bottle department opened into the
passage, which was convenient for the
inhabitants of the court On the left-of
the archway there was second hand
clothing shop, the wares, exceedingly
second hand, hanging in tattered fes-
toonS about the door
street lamp stood at the edge of
the pavement, opposite the entrance TO
the court, and threw its rays under
the archways, which somewhat feeble
Illumination was supplemented by a
gas jet over the door of the jug and
bottle department. At the blind end Of
Rose Garden court stood another lamp
post. The court was unevenly paved
with large slabs of stone, sloppy, as a
rule, from the overflow of tap which
supplied the inhabitants with water.
The court was walled about with five
story buildings, and in the oblong we'll
formed by these rather dilapidated edi-
fees the air hung dark and heavy,
laden with many smells. Breezes blow
ing over London from the south or the
north or the west produced no move
nj n hp OF ~
court. Come out the gale from the
Surrey Mills might cry, as it whistled
merrily over the housetops. Come OUT
and give the people a chance to
BREATHE" but there was 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 in
sistent east wind roared boisterously
through the tunnel, catching tho
mephitic atmosphere unawares, and
f1inging it headlong over the roofs.
filling the court with biting whirl-
wind, scattering loose bits of paper and
rags skyward, but the inhabitants OF
the court didn't like it. They closed
their windows, Shivered. and wished tn
gale would cease. Next day the air
would settle down quietly in the court,
collect its odOrS once more, and then
everybody felt that things were as they
should be.
The court was a property that paid
handsomely. No one residing there
knew who owned the buildings or tho
ground. The man who collected the
room rents did so promptly in advance.
and he had once told the landlord OF
the Rose and Crown" that the court
was more lucratiVe as an investment
than If it had been situated in thu
GrosVenor square district The owner
was popularity supposed to have farmed
the property to a company, and the
rent collector represented this organiza-
ton. The company could not be ex-
pected to spend money. on repairs, thd
owner could not be rea he'd, and aside
from all that, the rooms were in con-
slant demand, so il a tenant did nc
like the arrangement, he could ger our
there were a dozen others ready t.,
take his place
The people WHO lived in this human
warren were not criminals. Most of /
them did something useful for the liv-
ing they received. Criminals when
convicted, are housed in a much more j
sanitary manner, and they are sure of
enough to eat-which the denizens of I
tne court We're not. If any prison in /
the kingdom were as fetid as Rose /
Garden court, the great heart of the |
natlon would be stirred with indigna !
lloh, ana some wretch in authority
would feel the lash of righteous pubIii
scorn- The court was merely fairly
representative of the home of the Brit
lsh Worklnsman. in the wisest. largest
proudest, most wealthy city in tho
world, at the end of the nineteenth
century, after thousand years more
or less, of progress. Some homes IN
lhe workIngmen are better. but then
some are worse, for we must never
forget that we have the artisans i'm
proved dwellings, among us. The 90.
cupants OF the improved DWELLINGS,,
are hedged about with restrictions 6n+
"a the court was freedom-freedono "a
come and go as you liked; freedom, ~
s f,aS Hrunk; freedom to loaf or WORK
me personal predictions of rho
eourutes We're much the same as those
CT haoitues Of first-class West End
CLUBS, They liked TO drink and gamble.
me pub" was at the entrance. and
there or at the barber shop they could