New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-25
CHERRY HILL SLUMS TO GO.
SINGLE AND DOUBLE ALLEY HAVE
ENDED THEIR CAREER.
TWO NOTORIOUS TENEMENTS WHICH HAVE BEE;
NESTS OF CRIME-TIIE SWAMP ANGEL

only few the passing OF Single Alley and
Double Alley. the worst two rows of tene-
ments New-York ever had. has come. Con-
demned by the Board of Health six months
ago. and long since denuded of their last
tenants-peaceful though dirty Italians-these
big barracks of the poor have become a great
ruin Where a thousand souls once crowded
the rooms, the fire escapes and the pavement OF
Double Alley and five hundred lived in Single
Alley now only a few scattered, skulking men
and boys are to be seen. stealthily carrying OIL
everything portable-stair ratings. boards, water
pipe and bits of iron. The Waterman who has
been guarding the property ever since the
Italians were turned out dismissed three
weeks ago. Within few days nova month at
most-men will come in and level the old build
ings to the ground
Many places are famous in the police annals
of NewYork and many sums have been the
targets Of those who have had the welfare of the
city at heart. but Double and Single Alley have
criminal records and death rates lodged against
them that the most appalling of all. Even
the old Five Points" in its worst days never
saw such revels and Mulberry Bend a sim
pie police problem in comparison. Ten years
ago the Oak-st. station as a regular thing made
these two alleys one patrol that is, one police
man had them as his sole beat, and it was often
the barracks were one huge rat trap. giving the
greatest security Of escape TO any criminal.
TRAPLIKE PLAN OF THE BARRACKS.
The plans of Double and Single Alley are
peculiar. Both begin at Cherry-st Single Alley
six feet wide with one row of tenements along
its length-makes a sharp turn at its further
end, and has another entrance on Roosevelt-st.
A few steps further up Cherry Hill is the
Iicl,h ,Idt Of
nine feet tenements on both sides, with their
fire escapes nearly touching.
What gave these tenements their popularity
among criminals were the great sewers running
the length of each court, readable from the
cellars under each of the twenty odd stairways.
When pursued, clever tough would at once
disappear into this rabbit warren, dark as pitch,
a hiding place unequalled in New-York Once
there he could dodge. make his way into another
portion Of the barracks, or even keep on until
he came out the Dover Dock the East
River front, where the sewers ended Each
sewer had a brick wall two feet wide on each
side extending from court to river. Along these
the pursued criminals used to crawl. Every
brick familiar to them that half dozen
policemen, and even more, could be readily
euded
The houses of the courts themselves were
prlnltlNe, old-tnne tencfnentS the rooms so
small that the family washings had all to be
done in special rooms below.
Here in these courts free from dirt,
lived. at least computation, one hundred and
fifty families forever quarreing MIXED ale'
rows were the lightest things the police had to
deal with. And yet each pair of rooms rented
for from IS to so a month, single as
high even as Sc to 81.
THE FAMOUS "LOOPY GANG"
What made the alleys region of terror how
ever the rOughs and scum of the old
Fourth Ward They stole and murdered and
srept in here for escape from their lawful enc
mics, the "buecoats." These were the Swamp
Angels. who actually lived in the sewers. and
lhe famous "Loopy Gang" whose rendezvous
was Double Alley, and whose most fearless
criminal and the last to be caught, "HOppy"
Curtis, sent to Sing Sing two years ago. 1t
was Captain, afterward Inspector. Alex Will
Jams and his club that broke up the "Loopies'
and sent them flying forever.
Why they were called the "Loopes' no one
knows. Well recalled. however, is their song,
the chorus of which was:
Can you dance the loopy -loopy?
Can you dance the happy loopy-loop, oh, say
Oh, Gully, we are dry.
And that's the reason why
We cannot dance the loopy-loop to-day.
This song was an invitation to any one within
earshot to contribute to a beer fund. If the
money was not forthcoming a brick or stone
would be used further argument. Once in
funds the band would proceed to hold an "inky.
Why they called their reves an "inky" there
is no knowing. But "inky'' it certainly was and
when an 'inky" was on there were certain to be
ambulance calls and several of the sixty mem
bers of the gang would be laid up in hospitals
Cor m he