The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-11
SIDE-LIGHTS
On Glasgow-An Impartial View.

l presume the readers of the Journal
 and Courier will pardon me if, at the
 outset of this article, give little at tention to an article on the above sub
 ject by one Ayrshire" I will not quibble about the nom-de- plume, nor
 about the style or even tone of the ar ticle, but the taste and form are both alike execrable. It is enough that re- formers and faddists should tear a city
 to exaggerated tatters, but for an ''al-
 most native it Is beyond any question
 Q Representative and dangerous pro-
 ceedlng. Believing as I do that Ayr shire" saw with his own eyes and heard
 with his own ears the scenes and sounds he describes in "The Dark Side" of Glasgow, 1t would be injudi- cious for me to give him Cor her) the 1 lie direct. Moreover, I, too, have saen such scenes as these. But not alone in Glasgow I lived quite a number of years in the city of the Clyde and know somewhat whereof I speak. The scenes | in Glasgow on q Saturday night in | those districts mentioned by Ayr shire" are certainly not edifying. But it is well to know and remember two things in regard to this 1, The dis tricts aforesaid are the lowest of the low localities of the city and, second, Glasgow is like every other large city very cosmopolitan, so that it Is doubt c., II. Is z said districts are natives or even Scot tish born. Such scenes SIS described by Ayrshire" are bad enough, and yet not so bad but they can be described. I have seen, in fairly good localities of London and New York scenes that sim uly beggared description. They are to be seen almost in every city, in every land, if you look for them in the right places. Our own city of New Haven is not exempt from the double pollution of drink and prostitution, if we may be- lieve the daily newspapers. MeMn and women may make foo's of themselves in Glasgow, but life and honor are more respected there than in this city of Yale And that even among the class of rags and tatters described by Ayr Sullt. ] u IIIdLtCI5 Ncly IlttlC IL ,NleC struts About the street like wild duck with broken wing. But enough! Two blacks never make a white,Y and comparisons are odious. I think it pity Ayrshire wrote this article, be- cause, first, he visited only the lowest districts; second, the few hundred peo- pie he, saw, more or less the worse for liquor, has no influence on the greatness of Glasgow, and, third, because of the spirit of his closing paragraph.
 Twenty years ago the lowest classes of Glasgow were to be found around the Salt market, Bridgegate, Knight street and High street Since the city began improving this district the habitues had to seek fresh fields and pastures new. Hence they have got scattered over what was once very respectable territory. Have patience, my friend, Glasgow will ,one day, in the not far distant future,
 "Cleanse her foul bosom of that peri
 lous stuff
 Which weighs upon her heart"
 Now if "Ayrshire'' had chosen olmost any other parts of the city than he did, I defy him to have such story to tell. Better kept or lighted streets, more re- spectable or courteous people, with such an air of solid freedom, can hardly be found the world over. It is no idle boast that the Glasgow of to-day IS greater than ever she was in industry, science and art, in moral and domestic economy and the drink question, as regulated by her magistrates, Is well ordered and controlled It is to be re- sretted that drunkenness prevails at all either in Glasgow or New York, but the conduct of few of her children will never be a blot on the escutcheon of Glasgows enterprise, nor mar the luster of her fame as q breeder of fair women and brave men, as the patient and painstaking mother of theology and as to the children of her | great and silent sister, the Clyde.
 JOHN JAPP.