Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-03-01
TRAVELS IN PHILADELPHIA
York Avenue
WHBRE York avenue members Fourth to
w Fifth IL tho ho,.sF .r l.. |

Inc most picturesque of these saloons is
| low 'cclIlnged, smoke -bcgrimed, mclo
drama suggesting hole in the wall with n
regular bar for regular guys
The cider isn't sweet it is hard as the law
| allows: which is pretty soft for Somebody.
which means that there Is no kick coming
! to the man who invests nickel. ..
T APOLOGIZE for dragging you into
L saloon thus uncercmoniously If were
| an honest to goodness cssayist I'd have met
| you in Franklin Square and, after burning
| incense to actors of bygope generation.
! would have escorted you in paragraphs Of
Stevenscnian polish down RACE street to
Fourth street, thereafter to pursue our
Lamb like way until We
Let's.
! 7 DO not know n pleasure more affecting
than to walk through Franklin Square
| that magnet for yesterdays Hoatsam and
| jetsam--on February day when Jack
| Frost. a whose behest I stir my stumps
with uDwonted energy, has enabled the all
| too small Ercenswnrd to put on hard,
| white frout--somc crust ON which jocund
youth. in the person Of two be- ovcrcoatcd
| young tatcrdcmalions, are vainly cssaying-
even as YOU and 7. dear reader-to skate.
Time
T OOK yondcr, boy See you that bench be-
- meath the frosty eln,--or is II hollow
| beech but no matter upon that bench
| in the winter of 1872 two noble actors sot
---sat--and discoursed lcarnedly on this and
that. The other ono was Booth (or was it
| CookcD
I call to mind that as VIC sat a summons
unreasonable but insstcut. brought us to
| our feet; and We hicd us to our coffee and
| crulcrs-one cup and three sinkers for five
cents Oh, happy, happy days!
I mind me, also, that Edwin, who was
ever fastidious, protesting that the dough
nuts we're not as they should be, threw them
from him. and one, far flung, neatly landed
on a hook imbedded in rafter from which
n string of garlic had but lately hung.
All, never doubt it, young sir! I'll show
you the doughnut!
EASTWARD Ho! In a few short squares
IL you may buy Philadelphia scrapple, New
York notions, Boston beans, New England
cod Newfoundland haddock, Irish potatoes.
Scotch woolens and fnnan haddie, English
roast beef. Welsh rabbits, French horns,
German sausages, Vienna rolls, Spanish
onions. Italian pearls, Portuguese sonnets,
Armenian rugs. Afghan shawls Hindu
idols. Siberian wolfhounds Russian samo
vars. Chinese pottery. Japanese curios,
Hawaiian ukulclcs. California oranges,
Chicago pork. Pittsburgh stogies and Girard
avenue transfers.
And here at last is the home of the
doughnut. It is no longer Il restaurant; it
is junk shop. In tho window there are
several wide -bellicd. narrow necked bottles
containing houses and ships. People stand
and wonder how on earth they ever get
inside. I'm saving my wonder until | see
narrow nccked bottle containing full
grown doughnut.
NIORTHWARD HUH. I dropped Lamb
at the last corner. He was leaning
against a post talking in his sleep. So we
may hurry on.
Along Fourth street. First thing you
know we'll find ourselves on York avenue.
That's the way York avenue is
approached. More or less exact persons with
passion for detail will tell you that York
avenue runs from Wood to Buttonwood, and
bit beyond but for the ordinary wayfarer
York avenue has neither beginning nor end.
You walk along Fourth street and by and
by you find yourself on York avenue. You
walk along York avenue and by and by you
find yourself on Fifth street. Ingrcss and
cgress are made inscnsibly. Sometimes you
moro or less scnsibly stop on tho way.
Which, naturally. brings us back TO the
cider saloon. It is a longer way, but some
prefer it.
rTNHE saloon door marked "Push." is set
l. cater -cornercd in passage. We walk
right in and turn around and walk right out
again. Opposite us, on n tall pole. is big
Indian who points an arrow as the wind
lsteth. Doubtless there is somebody in the
neighborhood who knows all about that
Indian. but was unable to find him.
V interviewed grim old humorist who
called for whisky at the bar and professed
surprise that il was not forthcoming. He
said: II was born and raised In Kensngton
and know but little Of this locality but I've
heard tell that the Indian went up there in
the carly 70s and has been on the job
off and on over since. Of and on They
took him down and painted him once or
twice Folks in the neighborhood did. Civic
! pride is what they call it. Or something
like that There was a volunteer firehouse
Mt the spot or near il. Maybe where the
boat is. And there were some fine old fights
in the square here, understand. But ]
dunno 7 was in Kensington. Did you see
the boat? Well, it looks like boat. It's
behind the horse trough, which is behind the
hagpolc. The horse trough is dated 1865,
so it must have been after that that the boat
arrived, unless the fellow who told me was
lying, which is quite likely. The truth isn't
in some people He said there was freshct
in the Schuylkill or the Delaware won
der he didn't think of the lIudson-and the
boat came floating down the stream and
bumped against the horse trough and stuck
there. SO they built a house through the
decks. But perhaps it amt SO. Do you
happen to have about you anywhere dime
that's a little bit worn on one side?'
THE boathouse or houseboat, which, Of
i course, is neither the one nor the other,
| is hitched on to modern building dedicated
| to paint and tiles aud beyond it Callowhill
| street desccnds on the avenue imposingly.
Callowhill street from Seventh to Fourth has
| the width and sweep of n boulevard; but at
| Fourth It shrinks into diuginess and sneaks
| to the river bank.
AT BUTTONWOOD street facing little
"A park, there is a plain building occupied
hy a seed houEe II was a CODValpSCpnt hnme