The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-13
HOT NIGHT INTHEG GHETTO
SCENES ON NEW YORK's EAST SIDE
DURING LAST WEEKS HEAT.
Children Slept on Sidewalks While
Parents Watched Over Them by
Turns-Great Discomfort.
New York Mail and Express.

New York Mail and Express.
Did the people of the Ghetto" camp out
on the sidewalk during the nights of terri
BILE heat? Some of the papers said they
did. and on the hottest of all the nights L
walked through the section at midnight to
see if it were true. / found that the state
ment was partly true. There were plenty
of people sleeping on the sidewalks, but
they were mostly children and the grown
persons who were in charge of the chill
dren. And then there were thousands Of
people on the sidewalk who were not even
trying TO sleep.
Babies, babies everywhere, lying half
naked on mattresses, on pillows, on blank
cts, on boards, or on the bare sidewalks.
Oftener than otherwise the mother sat by
their side, bending over them, watching
them, awake. Sometimes she lay by their
side on another mattress, or on the bare,
hard walk. asleep also, and Of course
dressed; for one might have searched the
whole Ghetto in vain for an indecorous
sight. The babies, Of course, were scarce
ly clothed at all. Often both father and
mother were with them, one asleep while
the other one walked and watched. Hun
dreds of babies were in baby carriages,
sound asleep on pillows. and many mothers
pushed these Garriases, up and down. to
amount of air possible.
1t was an appealing sight, with a strong
element of unconscious beauty. The chill
dren were mostly asleep, though here and
there a sleepy flock Of them moved about
uneasily. awake. On Orchard street we
saw a family Of at least a dozen persons
all lying asleep in a row, their heads to-
ward the building, their feet projecting
outward so far that one had to exercise
care in passing. Father and mother. and
children of all sizes. were there. Along
the edge of the sidewalk sat, bending for
ward and talking earnestly, a group of
the neighbors. 1t was safe enough, here,
for both parents to sleep; the watching
was done by the waiting multitude, unable
TO sleep, unwilling to enter the oven-like
houses which doomed above them. Young
men and young women gossiped in low
voices and laughed. Old men with long
gray boards moved in a stately way UP and
down. Old women squatted in a row,
black eyes cleaning in the gaslight. Out
on a heap of building material-timbers.
boards and bricks-in the street, half a
dozen men and boys were curled up.
asleep. their bodies fitting into the irreg,
ular spaces in a way that made my bones
ache.
BEAUTY IN POVERTY.
Four or five young women sat together,
chatting, on as many big milk cans that
stood in front of a closed grocery. One of
these girls, in a long, light-colored wrapper,
bent forward gracefully. Her slender. for
ward-inclined figure was of remarkable
beauty. All about were figures. indeed. that
any artist must have been glad to paint.
If he could have painted them. Perfect un-
consciousness marked every one OF them.
Many sensitive, intelligent faces looked I'D
inquiringly as the strangers passed. All
these people must have known that one.
whom they all recognized as not of their
number, had in a sense come to spy them
out In this distressful night and see how
they strewed themselves about the side
walk. But there was no expression of re-
sentiment in their looks. The whole scene
had perfect gravity about it, and perfect
decOrum.
There were many lights burning in the
rooms Of the houses, and looking up at the
nre-escape balconies we could see that
these were occupied by s~leepers. Many OF
these balconies had cloths or anket hung
in front of them 10 hut off the sleepers
from view Of the street. Where they were
not so screened il was possible to see that
every square inch of the balcony space was
occupied. These people. hung out over the
street thus. had almost as weird a place to
sleep in as those who were camped out on
the sidewalk.
Farther and farther down Orchard and
Chrystie streets we went. The dark, half
naked little children in wriggling heaps.
the elders leaning. sitting about. and many
OF them asleep While sitting bolt upright.
reminded one who had seen the other
sight OF the reconcentrados in Cuba. Other
things unpleasantly suggested the atmos-
phere OF Santiago or Siboney. In the
street there were many pools of water,
whether left by the shower of the after
noon or by a merciful wetting down from
the fire plugs. il was impossible to say.
In these pools there were decaying water
melon rind. banana skins and other vege-
table substances, and the smell OF these
and other things made the air a frightful
one to sleep in.
Leaving the Ghetto. we drifted north
ward 10 Tompkins square. This space
was full OF sleeping people, but none were
on the ground. as we had expected 10 see
them. They We're on the benches In all
manner Of attitudes; they slept leaning
back; they slept leaning so far forward
that they seemed likely TO fan to the
ground. and hey slept leaning up against
each other in pairs. One group consisted