Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-07-28


| York were thrown open to them, and some
| tens Of thousands Of them, men, women
and children, slept on the grass under the
| watchful stars and the sparrow cops
Again. people OF the quality that enables
| them to live in apartment houses. as dis
| tingutshed from tenement houses, cannot
| very well chuck their bedding down in d
heap on the fire escapes and thereby catch
| whatever light breezes may happen along;
whereas the tenement house folks cam and
| they did. in vast numbers. Moreover. the
| recreation piers Of New York are not for
! the middle class or the rich: they were de-
signed for the poorer people unable to
anord steamboat rides and other methodS
| OF getting away from the heat for a while,
| and the poorer people surely offered up
taankS for the recreation piers last week.
particularly the mothers Of young ones
Thousands slept and ate and practically
lived on these recreation piers last week.
and they doubtless had a good deal better
and cooler time Of it than their afflu-
| ent fellow sufferers who scrambled for the
away from the furnace-like heat of the
city. They certainly were as well enter
tanned. and at no cost to themselves For
| there is lot Of fun going on these re-
! creation piers of the poor every night
| The young fellows with their mouth organs
and banjos. and the Dinnies and Jimmies
and Mickcys with the irrepressble dancing
| Feet and legs, and the young women of the
| tenements with their penchant for sentt
mental songs make the evenings on the re-
| creason piers pass swiftly enough
ers who find it impossible to get away from
their business in the summer time. and who
hate the elbowing for places on the boats
and trains bound for the nearby resorts
and beaches. who would be willing to give
up their money very literally for chairs and
entertainment on wide roomy piers jutting
into the East or North river If such piers
were erected or the reception of folks pos
seSsed OF the lucre to pay for such COM
forts. But the recreation piers are as
stated. only for the poor people. and the
H. ra- cod
of them after nightfall IS the recipient of
the askance gaze of all hands. men and
women. who are sitting or standing around
and he is liable to get a very direct and
forcible notifica ton at the hands of one of
The aforesaid JimmeS or Dinnies that he
mas got Off his beat or has lost his number,
| or words to that general effect.
No Place for Ladies'.
mus the citizen who wanted to achieve a
little evening coolth In this boiling town
last week was perforce compelled to try
the roof gardens in vast numbers. The re-
suit is that there has been general wall
over the meanness and cheapness and mas
tness of the New York roof gardens on the
part of the chiseled populace ever since the
| big hot spell. The New York roof gardens
are not what they used to be- Time was
when a man could take his women folk To
me New York roof gardens without any
Tear of feeling ashamed of himself during
OF aIter the performance. But he can't any
.ioie' ne SHOWS on majority of the
New York roofs this summer are sirnpIy
ana palpably indecent. They have been in
decent since the beginning of the roof gar
zen season, and it did not take people of
| Ordinary Responsibility long to find this
out Consequently the New York roofs are
now patronized chiefly by the rowdy ele-
fnent, male and female.
mere are unpalatable scenes on MANY
of the New York roofs nearly every nighf
l ne people who take in the roof shows
lto"adayS seem TO be Jealous to get into
flp-snorting drinking bouts as soon as they-
SIT down at the tables. and they are conse-
| quently quite willing to submit to the ex-
! tortlonate charges for refreshments that
are mace by the grasping Arrangements of
THESE places OF amusement" 1t is en-
/ couraglng to find that the better element
! OF the New York population no longer
eVlhces hankering for the morbdly in
decent in theatricals. Up in Harlem there
are TWO or three roof gardens that may
still be safely attended by self-respecting
people. and they are well patronized
The sweltering New Workers who take to
the beaches for the always problematical
GOODNESS thereof-for the whitening land
breeze seems to become more and more a
daily institution at the beaches in this
Northumberland be said to derive much
joy of their laborious jaunts. The fact
must be set down that the grasping spirit
appears to have taken an incredibly firm
hold on the people who have something 10
purVey in the way of food or drink
tertainment at the beaches that are with
in hitting distance of New York One of
the most accessible and famous of the lot
for example-the beaches continentally
advertised as being swept by ocean
breezes"-is gaining an unenviable reputa
ton in this respect. The eating facilities
of the single huge pavilion a. this place are
nevertheless so contracted on big after
noon or evening at the resort that hungry
persons actually stand in line in order to
eventually get chairs at the tables. 1t is
not a pleasurable thing to dine with the
greedy and envious eyes of ten or twenty
famished men and women upon one. They
ones chair Derfprtly
and finds himself boiling his food in a
digestion endangering fashion under this
unpleasant stimulus.
The effect of this vast patronage has
made the management of the eating plant
so complaisantly arrogant that from week
to week-almost from day to day. in fact
higher and higher figures are tackled after
the dishes mentioned on the menu. so that |
now the price of meal at this Swept
bythe-ocean-breeZes" establishment is cas-
lily double the price of a similar meal, in
finitely better prepared and served. how
ever. at the very top-notch restaurants of
New York The walters at this place are
insufferable that they will say insulting
things to patrons who tender them tips
of less than a dollar. The same sand-bag-
ging methods prevail at nearly all of the
nearby seaside resorts which New York |
ers compelled to go to if they crave
the sound of the seas monotone and
breath Of cool air.
The Coney Island Sums.
AS for Coney Island. the playground of
the masses, the place under the Tammany
regime has become unspeakably vile. 1t
is now vast slum. The deviltry is no
longer confined to the Midway; it is every
where. 1t seems to be the headquarters |
of half the crooks of the country. and the |
newspapers are filled every day with ac-
counts of bold daylight robberies happen !
ing down there. About month ago the |
police captain stationed down at Coney |
Island decided that he'd go in for regime |
of law and order. and he began to put |
the pressure on the crooks and divekeepers. |