Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-04-12
The Boauery Would Free Itself
From Eul of a Bad Name
Kansas c ity Star.

= NY OSdF.
in tights in America. came upon the
audience Kissed her off. The next night
when she appeared she wore Turkish
trousers and the audience enjoyed the
performance, but they wouldn't stand fol
any of those new tangled tights.
1t was in those days just before the
civil war that the Bowery got its first
taste of gang fighting. 1.-The Bowery
Boys and the Dead Rabbits had a
shotgun fight in the street and 10 lay
dead when the smoke cleared up. The
modern gangsters, however, always found
Second avenue more to their liking thar
the Bowery.
Following the civil war the Bowery
went in for gambling. drinking and prize
fighting, to say nothing of politics. Tam
many hall and the Bowery are names
linked together in history. but many of
the old Tammany tigers are leaving the
old street after the death of big Tim
Sullivan a few years ago.
Mover Was Really DANGEROUS.
But with all its bad reputation the
representative Boweryite always insisted
that the visitor was perfectly safe if he
kept his senses about him. The proprie-
tors of Bowery resorts charged good
prices for their wares and amusements
and were content to get their patrons
money without knocking them over the
head and taking it away by force. Old
timers boast v%irtuously that a man to-
day stands a better chance of losing his
bank roll in the uptown tenderloin than
he did in the worst Bowery days.
The Bowery was we'll press ACCENTED,
New York newspaper writer's liked to
confess that they had a wicked street in
their town. Everybody and everything
was dubbed with euphonious titles. The
people of the Bowery realized the value
of fame and they tried to live up to eX-
pectations.
"Owney" G~eeghegan's was one OF the
famous resorts OF the Bowery in it's
prime. For SIS any two of Owney's rough
neck~ would put on a bare listed battle
Qor the amusement of the gentlemen who
dropped in) that had more fight to the
square inch than any OF the battles that
day in Madison Square Garden.
John McGurk's Suicide Hail. was an
other place that was known the country
over. Then there was Paradise Hail."
another place that was shown to the put
lander the first thing when he struck
New York. The "Bowery Girls had a
reputation for wickedness that extended
over the wide world. They smoked Gig
arets and they danced in the dance halls.
The cigaret was the stamp Of their wick
edness. OF course. the same thing can
be seen now in some OF the most expen-
sive cabarets in New York and little
or nothing-is thought of 1t.
One Of the most famous C. ,racters in
the history OF the Bowery was Steve
Brodie. Steve was a newsboy and a
bootblack. He was al expert swimmer
and had figured in several life saving in
cidents. a Ia Horatio Alger. On July 10,
1886, Steve and a little group Of his
friends that he had jumped
from the Brooklyn bridge into the East
river. To this day there are many who
doubt that he ever did it. Nevertheless.
Brodie ~straightaway became a character
and was lionized by the sporting and no.
litical element.
The Success Of Brodie.
Some one set him up in the saloon
business and his resort became the head
quarters for the wise element. Every
visitor had to visit Brodie's place and
brag about it after he got home. Later
Steve went out in a terrible melodrama
called ION he Bowery," and introduced
the slang that is associated with the
street. The rest of America thought that
everybody in New York. or on the Bow
cry. at least. talked that way and the
show did little good to the name of the
other hands and lost their vogue. The
street. Steve's jump-if he did jump
made him a fortune and he went the
pace and died OF it.
But the old Bowery since the sos
hasn't been particularly interesting. One
by one the famous resorts passed into
other hands and lost their vogue. The
worst of them were closed. Business
encroached upon amusement and the old
characters died. Eve the sailors quit
going there. Time was when the Bow
cry was famous on the seven seas.
Nowadays it is simply a rather COM
mercial street. At night 1t differs little
from any other street, with it's picture
shows and shining shop windows. 1t
isn't the same old Bowery but there is
an old sentiment at work in New York
that promises the improvement people
a hard battle when they try to change
its name.