New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-09

C police record. From its earliest days, when,
IN l741. fourteen negroes we're burned TO death
there for participation in the famous negro
instruction. il has been place 10 walk
around even at the loss Of considerable time
and energy. The Old Brewery, standing al
the crossing Of what was at that time known
e., Little-Water. Cross. Anthony. Orange and
Mulberry streets. was in the first part Of the
nineteenth century a sort Of lodging-hou in
which men. women and children were herdcd
together i'm what was then Understandable
filth" but which to-day might form the basis
for a strong novel Of realism 1t was the
home of such social clubs as the Dead Rab-
llts" and the plug Uglies.' and its various
entrances and exits. of which there we're
dozens. went by such pleasantly suggestive
names as "Nurderers' Alley" and Den Of
Thieves" while the whole district was known
1T Police Headquarters as "The Bloody Sixth.
That's the kind Of place it was. and the IN
habitants didn't care who knew it.
In 1912. when Dickens was visiting Amer
ica. he was taken by his mentors. the police.
into what was then the most deiciously Grim
NAL Of all spots in New York. Here are
his impressions. as recorded in American
Notes:
Let us 20 on again and plunge
into the Five Points But it is needful. first.
that we take as our escort these two heads OF
police. whom you would know for sharp and
well trained officers if you met them in the
Great Desert.
We have seen no beggarS on the street 10y
light or day. but OF other kinds Of strollers
nlentv Poverty. wretchedness and vice are
rife enough where we are going now.
This is the place. these narrow ways. d-
vcrging to the right and left. and reeking
everywhere with dirt and filth. Such lives
e. are led here bear the same fruits as else
where. The coarse and bloated faces in the
doors have counterparts at home and All the
wide world over Debauchery has made the
very houses prematurely old. See how the ro
ten beams are tumbling down. and how tn"
patched and broken windows seem TO sco"l
dimlv. like eyes that have been hurt IN drunk
on frays. Many Of those pigs live here. DO
they ever wonder why their masters walk ny
right in lieu of going on all-fours? why the,
talk. instead of erunung?
80 far. nearly every house is low tavern
and on the barroom walls are colorcd prints
cf Washington. Queen Victoria of England
and the American eagle.
What place is this to which the squaId
street conducts us? \ kind Of square Of lep-
IONS houses. some Of which are attainabie
only by crazy wooden stairs without. What
les beyond this lettering flight Of steps tina,
creak beneath our tread? miserable room.
rcbted nv one dim candle. and destitute of all
comfort. save that which may be hidden IN
wretched bed. Beside it sits a man. hs elbows
ON his knees. his forehead hidden IN ms
hands. What ails that man. asks the fore
most officer. Fever. he sulenly replies with
ont looking up Conceive the fancies Of
tevered brain in such place "a this
Ascend these pi,ch-dark stairs heedtul Of
= false footing on the trembling boards. ana
crope your way with me into this "olhSn den'
,.here neither ray Of light nor breath OF ar
appears 70 come. \ negro lad startled from