The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-09-03

your editorial article on Discovering
New York; he'd me to rediscover ths
New York OF fifty years ago. II 1t Il
true that New York changes it's facs
every five years, how much Of q change
viii fifty years produce?
In 1859 we moved from the Big Flat
enormous barracks that extended from
Elizabeth street to Mott street just
north Of Canal street. into the biggest
newest, finest tenement Of its day. still
standing at the corner Of Norfolk and
Delaney streets. We soon moved out.
as the walls were still damp when we
moved in, and went to Paddy Shay's
house at ITO Delaney street. In those
days clannish folks monepolized blocks
not districts. as they do now. The Irish
owned Delaney street and few side
streets east of Pitt street; ALSO Madi-
son. Monroe and the greater part Of
Cherry street. None of their descend
ants can be found In this section now.
YesterdaysI looked for one OF the
sights OF those days: the cow stable
opposite Shay's house, where the people
OF the neighborhood Sot. their milk. The
stable Is gone and the site Is covered
by the bit Of green aud the walks In
Schiff Parkway. On Clinton street north
of Broome there is still standing the
Little Apollo Hall. the Clinton Assem-
bly, Rooms Of fifty years ago. where
Harry lie Clair became famous as q
female impcrsonator. On the opposite
side OF the street stood the Clinton
A.. I.aa ~
OF the East Side street pumps. i know
it was a hallucination. but as ] stood
there yesterday seemed to see the
pump again, and j wanted to work the
pump handle, curve my hands under
the moss covered spout and drink again
the clear. cold, soft water as ! did in
the late Sos and early res.
In Shay's house there was pump in
the hall, but the folks in the next house
had well in their back yard. 1t was
great sport to throw a dead cat or
mouse into the we'll and hear the banshee
wall in the house when the thing was
pulled up in the bucket They believed
in banshees and fairies in those days
ard in that neighborhood.
/ passed School 161 in Ludlow street
north of Delaney street; little No.
! Of half a century ego. Big No.
l was grammar school in Vande-
water street. The present school has
a capacity of about SEQ; little No.
1 held abou. ESQ in its eight school
rooms, all on one floor. In those days
children were graded by Intelligence
instead of by age, teachers were per-
mitted to resort to corporal punish
ment, and every teacher had ruler
for the knuckles and a rattan for the
softer parts OF the body. The worst
punishment, however. was to be sent
to a girls class and be compelled to
sit beside girl for the rest of the day
Only a fist fight could Wipe out that
disgrace.
On Fridays the children who had be-
haved themselves during the week re-
ccived a slip of paper on which was
printed "A Good Boy" or "A Good
Girl, There were spectators In those
days who bought up good tickets. pay
ing a stick OF candy apiece and selling
them for a penny. making 100 per cent.
profit--two sticks of candy for q
penny. Perhaps some OF these boy
profiteers are now dealing in liquor
withdrawal permits. The pennies usu-
ally went to Nanny Mulligan. who
sold peppermint sticks. lemon sticks.
Washington pie. ST. Johns bread,
lozeuges With notices printed on them
and peanut taffy in front Of the school
and who smoked bit of clay pipe
when she was not sleeping during
school hours.
1t was Nanny Mulligan who hrst told
us about the banshees and the fairies
and the big wind and the potato famine
and Daniel O'Conneli and her own
mother, who knew all the Emmets in
Ireland. Nanny died and the janitor
OF the school took some OF the boys to
the wake, real wake such as Dion
Boucicault portrayed in THE Shaugh-
raun" How many are there in this city
of 5000. 900 people who ever saw real
Irish wake or who remember the days
when Nanny Mulligan and hundreds OF
others like her sat on the street curbs
smoking their clay pipes and talking Of
the olden days in the Emerald Isle?
In those days there were two coIored
colonies in that neighbofhood one In
Clinton alley running from Clinton street
to Suffolk street north OF Delaney street
and one in another alley CT Delaney
street east of Pitt street. They had a
church. the Wesley Methodist Episcopal
Chapel, on Attorney street next to the
police station---now n movie house--and
when the churct-was converted into a
synagogue in 1857 the yard WAS dug UP
and a number Of collins were found. 1t
was an old cemetery for coiored persons.
but there were no headstones OF records
The police station, at the time II
WAS given ND. was the oldest building