The Washington times., 1911-05-06
CHAPTER v (Continued.)

II knew anyone who wasn't re-
spectful TO Ruth. They USED
to like TO see her come, L
think, for she stood out in rather
marked contrast to the bowed figures Oh
the other women. Later on they USED u
save out for her any particularly choice
vegera BILE they might have. she IN
sisted, however, in paying them ah
extra penny for SUCH things.
From the market we went down a
series of narrow streets which LED 10 the
water front. Here the vessels from lhe
Banks come in TO unload. The ar was
salty, and though 20 US at nIst uie
Wharves seemed dirty, we got used TO
them after a whiue, and enjoyed lhe
smell of the fish fresh from the water.
Seeing whole push carts lull OF hsn
and watching them handled with
pitchfork as a man tosses hay didn't
Nket our appetites any, but When we
remembered that IL was these same
fish-a day or two olderIfor which we
charged for them here the dinerence
overcame our scruples. The men here
interested me. l found that while the
crew OF every schooner numbered a
goodly per cent Of foreigners. still the
greater part were American born. The
newcomers as d rule bought small
launches of their own. and went into
business for themselves. The English
speaking portion Of the crews were also.
as a rule. the rougher element. The
loafers and hangers-on about the
wharves were also English speaking.
This was fact that later on | found
TO be rather significant. and to hold
true in a general way in all branches
of the lower class Of labor.
The barrooms about here-always a
pretty sure index of the men of any
community-were more numerous and
of decidedly a rougher character than
those about the square. man would
be good deal better justified In carry
ing revolver on this street than he
would in little Italy. l never allowed
Ruth to come down here alone.
From here We wandered back, and l
house by the waters edge. This at
tTacted ME at once. / investigated this.
and found it offered a fine opportunity
for bathing. Little dressing rooms were
provided, and for a penny man could
get a clean towel, and for cents
bathing suit There was no reason that
| could see. however. why we Shouldn
provide our own. II was within an
easy ten minutes of the fat. and l saw
right then where I could set dip
every day. It would be great thing
for the boy. too ] had always wanted
him to learn to swim.
on the Nav home we passed through
the Jewish quarter and | made note
Of the clothing offered for sale here.
The street was lined with secondhand
stores with coats and trousers swinging
over the sidewalk. and the windows
were filled with odd lots OF shoes. Then,
too, there were tie pawnshops. I'd al
ways thought of pawnshop as not be-
ing exactly respectable and had the
feeling that anyone who secured any.
thing from one of them was in a way
p receiver of stolen goods. But as l
PASSED them now. / received a new inn
rression. They seemed, down here, as
legitimate business as the secondhand
stores. The windows offered an assort-
ment OF everything from watches to
hanjOCs and guns. but among them /
also noticed many carpenters tools and
go forth. That might he a useful thing
10 remember.
II was odd how in a dav our point of
view had changed. II ! had brought
Ruth and the boy down through here a
month before, we would all. I think,
have been more impressed by the con-
Eestlon and :he picturesque details of
The squalOr than anything else. We
would, have picked our way ginGerly
and Ruth would have sighed often in
pity and, comparing the lives of these
people with Our own, would probably
have made an extra generous contriHu-
tion to the Salvation Army the next
time they came round. I'm not saying
now that there isn't misery enough
there and in every like section Of every
city, but I'll say that in great many
cases the same people who Srovel in
ent kind of filth II thev had ten thou
sand a year. At that YOU can't blame
them greatly for they don't know any
better. But when YOU learn, as l
learned iater, that some of the prOprie-
tors of these secondhand stores and
fy-bloWn butcher shops have sons in
Harvard. and daughters in Wellesley. it
makes you think. But I'm running
ahead.
The point was that now that we felt
ourselves in a way one of these people
and viewed the street not from tho su-
perior height of native-born Americans
but Just as cIuigTants, neither the sOiled
clothes of the inhabitants nor the clut-
tered street swarminE with laughing
youngsters impressed us unfavcrably at
all. The inpassive men smoking cigar
cites at their doors looked Contented
enough, the women were not such as
to excite pity. and If vCu noticed. there
were as many children around the local
soda water fountains as you'd find in a
suburban drug store. They all had
clothes enough. and appeared we'll fed
and IL some of them looked pasty, the
sweet stuff in the stores was enough to
account for that
At sny rate we came back to our fat
that day neither depressed nor discour-
aged but decided" in better spirits. OF
course, We had seen only the surface
and l suspected that when we really got
INTO these lives we'd find bad COndi-
lion of things. 1t mist be 50. for that
WAS the burden of all We read. Put
We would nave time enough 10 worry
about that when We discovered it for