Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-19
MANY SLEEP IN PARKS
ALL THE GRASSY PLACES IN NEW
YORK OCCUPIED.

Come and sleep on the grass in the
parks" was the invitation Manhattan sent
out last night, and the people responded by
thousands. From the little triangle south
of Cooper Union to the slopes of Riverside
Park and in all the downtown small parks
the grass. the benches and the band stands
were populous. The Keep off the grass
signs were called in.
They won't be put out again this sum-
mer, either, If 1 can help It," said Park
Commissioner Pallas. He sent letter to
Police Commissioner McAdoo in the after
noon offering the parks within his jurisdic-
ton in the boroughs of Manhattan and
Richmond to the weary and overheated
and this order from Commissioner McAdoo
was read in all the station houses last
night:
by direction of Park Commissioner Pal
las you will permit the public to walk, sleep
and lounge on the grass benches In all
the parks within your precincts, day and
night during the hot spell, If they de-
sire.
Every Available Place Occupied.
1t did not take long for the news to get
about. By o'clock pm. Mulberry Bend
Park, in the Italian quarter, looked like the
beach at Coney Island on a hot day. There
were over 2,o00 women and children there
ers took to the grass until there wasn't an
available spot. Then they filed up the band
stacd.
Everybody in the park wore as little
clothing as the law allowed shirt and a
pair of trousers sufficed for the men, while
most of the children slept under the stars
In their birthday dress.
There were over $500 who sought relief
at the William H. Seward Park, at East
Broadway and Jefferson street. Only the
benches at Battery Park were overcrowded.
Few sought comfort on tbe grass.
The permission appealed nightly to
jewellers along the North river In De Witt
Clinton Park early in the evening were at
least 1900 persons most of them women
and children large number of them had
made arrangements to spend the night out
of doors and had brought pillows and blan-
kets Coverings were unanimously voted to
be unnecessary.
Riverside Places at a Premium.
On the hank slopng down to the river
from Riverside Drive space was at a pre-
MUM in the early evening. There was
breeze OFF the river and weather conditions
were quite comfortable. 1t was not observ
able that many intended to spend the night
there, the bank being too steep in most
places to insure tranquil rest. Neverthe-
less. in the late evening the bank was quite
as crowded earlier
Those who went into Central Park to keep
to turn them out at midnight. They hadn't
yet heard of the new order. Many of them,
upon learning that they might stay there
all night IL they chose, went home and got
pillows. Through the side streets leading
to the park entrances could be seen many
Bobemians and Italians from the East Side
making for the park with pillows tucked
under their arms.
In some spots whole families were
stretched out on the grass side by side. The
favorite spots seemed to be places where
there was an incline or embankment. Many
who are nightly homeless and generally
sleep in areas and on doorsteps went into
the park when the police found them in
their usual haunts and told them of the
new order.
Morningside and Mount Morris parks, in
Harlem, were both crowded. At Jefferson
Park. 112th street and East river, Harlem,
Italians were celebrating the fete Of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel and hundreds of
them slept in the park after the celebration
was over.
Sleepers on Seaside Benches
In the three Tenderloin parks the men de-
serted the benches for the grass, but the
few women sleepers stuck to the benches.
In Madison Square, where there were more
women than in both the others, the men
kept to the west side of the park, giving up
the east side to the women and not disturb
ing them in the least.
IN tne Dig parks IN the BTOIx, especially
Pelham Bay and Bronx parks, hundreds of
people have been sleeping under the trees
nightly. In Pelham Bay Park last night
large part of the Italian population of Will
liamsbridge, learning of the new order, took
bed clothing, pillows and in some cases,
cots, and slept beneath the trees. There
was a similar condition in Bronx Park. The
only interference from the police came when
the sleepers camped too close to the botan-
ical gardens or the zoo.
Seaside Park, Coney Island, was large
dormitory. Thousands of people came from
the city with the intention of sleeping on
the beach. Between five thousand and ten
thousand of them, according to an esti-
mate of Capt Dooley, did so.
Hundreds of others, learning that the park
grass was available for beds, preferred it.
A large number of the sleepers were women
and nearly all brought shawls. quilts or
capes on which to rest their heads.
Capt. Dooley had extra men patrolling the
beach and park as protection against
pickpockets. AT midnight trains from the
city were still coming in packed to the doors
and the number of sleepers was constantly
increasing.