New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-10
ON EAST RITER BRIDGE
Use Made of 1t at Night By Res
dents IN It's ViciRity.

iamsburg Bridge at night
Almost before the sun has slipped out of sight
the little dark eyed children from the Ghetto
begin to take possession of their huge play
ground.
They climb the slow incline to the bridge SOHO
in merry groups. playing hide-and-seek IN the
tiled approaches; others staggering sober1
along under the weight Of half grown habieA
At the end of the approach, where the bridge
divides, they pause moment their little forms
sharply outlined against a pink and purple
sky. Then they settle themselves comforts
bly, possible against the towering framework
| Of the bridge, where they can safely watch tho
| uncertain, creeping tourneytngs of their smaller
brothers and sisters, or Chamber precartousiy up
on the ratings to get better view Of the gray,
sliding river, the fat faced sombre houses
either side of 1t, the steamboats, with their
vivid orange colored srnokestacks lying b
dock, and the ferryboats leaving behind them
curling white trails the gray of the river.
Three little girls with black curls and gay
calico dresses their arms affectionately twtned
| about anothers waists, saunter along. sing
ing America" with more zest than harmony.
They are entirely American in their speech and
actions but they have left at home fathers and
mothers who know and recognize tongue but
| the Yiddish.
Two small boys, wildly pursuing hoops over
the level cement, leave several overturned babies
shrieking in their wake Their guardians,
scarcely older than the infants themselves
balance their charges and offer what comfort
they A tiny weazen-faced girl with dis
torted back, who is peering down over the rail-
ing at the roadway of the bridge, calls excitedly
to group of her companions They join her, to
watch with exaggerated interest the progress Of
an ornate white hearse.
Me brudder died in one O. dose oncet." asserts
|
others refuse to believe such good fortune They
even deny her possession of brother.
You was all girls" they say ntemptuousiy.
| A fresh faced, Clearly woman points out the
small forest Of tree tops rising from the back
yards Of Dutch houses, with strangely built
slopng roofs and coIumned houses of older
time. AS she speaks she grasps in one hand
the skirts Of her plump, golden-ha baby,
who. in effort to reach with pink outstretched
hands the fascinating, elusive river has man
! aged completely to invert himself
His name is Louis" says the mother gratui-
tously to the onIooker. with a proud glance at
the squirning combination Of blue skirts, pink
! bare legs and arms and yellow curls.
| "Oh, see; a French baby"
! mol no! He ISIS German" she protests, al
most dropping the wriggling Louis in her desire
to enforce her remarks with gesticulations.
| With the darkness and the clouded moon come
| the weary fathers and mothers, and the lovers
Through the darkness of the bridge the city and
! the river break a million points of light. The
angular, unsightly buildings along the river
| bank are transformed by a multitude of lights
| fiecking the purple black water with uncertain
| dancing dashes of gold. From the brightly IL
| Illuminated recreation piers pours pale laven-
| der shower of reflections. Below the bridge
ruled by its intervals of light and shadow, lie
bands of alternate black and silver.
| Looking southwark, where only the parabola
of lights and the continual arched parade of the
tiny golden lines Of the cars indicate the great
sweep Of the Brooklyn Bridge, rises a wonder
full tower of light. II is only an illuminated
tower. but the illusion OF fairyland is complete
Down below, the streets of the East Side
strike the eye like Ztgzags Of lightning. At in
tervaIs burst of light from the oil tanks throws
a dull red reflection across the sky.
OF most of this the habitues of the bridge
seem unconscious. The mothers occupy them
selves with neighborly gossip and the nursing
of babies The fathers divert themselves and
their offspring by starting the baby carriages
rolling down the incline, and then. with proper
| handicap racing after them. To the casual OBJ
server this may seem a dangerous performance,
but to the Ghetto father and baby 1t is nothing
more than q simple quiet little game.
| Unnunbered lovers wander through the crowd
! frankly embracing each other, or lean in conf
Iential proximity over the railing. The love-
making of these Roneos and Juliets is not