The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-05
EAST SIDE QUEER SIGHTS.
THE BIG MACHINE SHOP AND THE
TOMBSTONE PLACE.

TOMBSTONE PLACE.
No Matter How Hot or stormy, There Arc
Always siEhtseers PeerinE Into the Ma
chine shop - Photographs Are Now Set
Into the Marble TOmbstones with Glnss to
Protect Them.
A big machine shop that backs up on adensely
tenanted east side street has windows suf-
H~ciently low to tho ground to allow outsiders to
peek In and affords continuous and never-fail-
Ing entertainment for the people of that neigh
borhood and those who go by. Never mind
how high the temperature or how fercely the
sun beats down on the unshadod pavement.
there is always a row of spectators. two or three
to each window, intent on tho doinRs Within.
seemingly obllvlous OF conditions without.
Long and earnestly they look, and rs fast as one
tires and goes away another takes his place. The
earth floor OF the shop Is tunnelled down q
whole story's depth below tho street level. and
the high-pitched rafters OF the ceiling arch over
far above, giving q breadth. height and room
mess that is itself q sensation In that space
obstructedl locality. When the eyes applied to
the window crevico get used TO tho gloom
within, the blackness and smirchiness under
foot, overhead and all round in this big pat
termed workplace. with tho coal fires glowing
and quickening in response to the bellows, and
the bare-armed workmon plying their task inn
p~assively in the heat, makes an odd spectacle.
Everything Is on q gigantic scale. the things
that are being made and the things used to
mako them homely crude and put to vital pur-
pose; great rough-hooped, battered. wooden
tubs half-nlled with water. stand beside the
brickt6restands ready for use, ready for sousing
the red-hot iron. and heavy iron bars. mallets
and big timber pieces and sections OF log are
strewn about the uneven dirt floor. Only the
nicely adjusted electric lights. swung down, con-
venient to the workstands. and the delicate
implements lying beside them. tell OF work fine
and accurate. as well as that Of stout structural
cast, turned out by these big climbed, brawny
i~ronsmiths, who forge in the summer's heat as
nonchalantly as though their smelling fires
were q boon and not an aggravation.
Perhaps 1t Is this stoical calm Of the IRON
workers that Is the main. irresistible attrac-
ton for the street loungers who look on from
the hot sidewalk above. Standing full in the
eye OF the July sun that is intensified twofold
by the bricks which hold and reflect it. it doubt
less makes them feel cooler to see fellow crea-
lures weatherinE even worse conditions. Then
the brute bigness and crudeness. OF the place
and the important work going on there, In con-
trast with the dIvided-up shops and tenements
outside and their ~picayune interests and diver
stiles. is an Inherent fascination.
Gee. but take it the bad place don't look
! younGster. an errand boy. who had dropped his
basket. and stood tiptoe. peering in. with his
hands for Srs a telefi %nSis so long intent intent that hat his is
iNA SNeAA $500 ~
-" told you. you'd say So, was the answer, as
the W picked up their budgets and got under
An them fires there in the dark and the
water sizzlin' when the red hot touches It, At
TO- make you creeBPil w know v a couple OF Kids Is
look down into it: Their brother works in
the shop. too. but that don't make no difference;
He looks another thing to EN- when he's all
sooted up and rummaging bout his forge.
People looks in there a good deal one time and
windows and | generally takes q look myself
when come this way count of is seemin' 80
That's it, you think. as the boys move on
out of hearing. The big shop. with its glowing
fires. bRre-chested. bare-arlned workmen NOV
are with petty, everyday things that are not
are working. il, is true. working hard. but the
bigness about them, the vital character of the
s sssiIsD and 5h;G nts 4mREl9E in in tb see ags T9Tk; is suG'
In a street adjoining the mammoth machine
shop is another and very different outcropping
Monument mo shop showing out stark and stony
dashers' establishments that are lodged in
under the big a marble yard will
D9m mop91 enough s{@ siSht IN the Sl ssburt eSS or is c IL !
places boarded about and set back somewhat In
s~cclusion from the ordinary street life. but
wares OF this nature set out on a populous cor
ner cheek by Jow! with soda water and shoe
black stands. candy. and barber shops. and res.
head and foot markers and cleaning
shafts spd tablets PIT out on ths
this this east side establishments are SNOWY anc
~fanciful, and not over. solemn or wanting IT.
variety for al their weighty SIig9ifiSanGedI I B1!
their attention IS the original and novel me-
mortal that Is the latest on the list OF grave,
whom the stone contemporaries. covered ovel
With glass. and framed about with black Dor
derinR. IL imbedded in the white surface JUS
over the inscribed name, age. date. and place o
dnery, looks, from the tombstone, that i
memorate such a calamitous taking of. lit
fqnts in all stages Of ipfancy-long-frocked
Superintendent ndimISntive little little morSies meant loF chill
dren's graves. and photographs Of soldiers anC
OF civilians. young and old. OF mothers with thei
children beside them in a group. and OF wives
with their husbands. or young girls viii thei
sweethearts or schOOlmates clasped hand II
hand. or with heir heads leaning together il
touching confidence are fixed In sample mar
blcs TO show the appropriateness OF such a typ
OF memorial. Groups of sightseers. and perhqp
OF those really interested. are always eyeinl
these marbles and commcnting on the pho
tographs which set them off. seeming to find
gruesome pleasure in the contemplation.
Nearly everybody over this way who buys
tombstone nowadays has the photograph o
the dead person put IN over the date It's tn
panion, as the two stop to look over the cpllcc
ton. About six months or SO ago they 60
out the first one fixed W that wayand ever sine,
there's been a run on them II no bad clhr
acter gets into the cemetery anu breaks tn
glass on purpose the likeness will last a loni
time. It's good. heavy glass as will keep on
the air and protect the picture, and most com
monty there's a ledge Of the marble runs out AM
screens it from the rain and bad weather."
or all the odd and conglomcrate spectacles o
the east side. this stark collection Of show
white marbles wedged in among the stree
hucksters. and eating stands, and tlssy littl
iettered-over shops. seems the oldest. TIL
restless crowd sprGes about t and stops to LOO.
with az much interest AZ they .eytnce In III
millinery nextdoor, or the cooked viands acros
the way. And the vender Of the marbles. rohus
and alert. sits outside with a smiling face, as
ready TO drive a good bargain, either cash dow
or on the i%nstallment plan. with the fair under
standing that there Is no extra charge for tn
photograph, a mode of toni stone cnlighten
nent that WAS a happy thought to him and I
which he claims exclusive right.