The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-09-17
In New York
By PAUL HARRISON

i New York,--I cover the water. front occasionally, and like it. South street, which paradoxically parallels the East River, is best l for strolling on a sunny day. Few tourists seem to go there, but 1t is
 known to every sailor of the seven seas. Ship chandlers' shops; l1awser and chain .. Seamen's restau- rants; men ashore want fresh }
 meats. At the docks, big, grimy barges with heroic names such as Spartan and Cyciops. On each a tiny shanty, quarters of the cap- tain and his family, and almost invariably neat as q pin. Gerani-
 ums nod brightly in little window
 boxes, and children scamper on
 the decks !. .. Sextants, chronome-
 ters. oil-skins. boots. Whiskey. 'Could have a cigarette, sir?" No bum, that fellow; just sea- man down on. his luck .. Plenty of waterfront hoboes, though, without the pride and bearing of
 saltwater men. They beg scraps from the fish markets, and sur reptitiously scorch them over tiny | fires ... Somnolent buns on an
 unused loading platform of a freight house are faced all day by
 a sign on the Gospel Mission across the street: Where Will You Spend Eternity?" As though each hour were not an eternity to i ,sese derelicts. |. Another sign:
 "Be Sure Your Sins Will Find You Out" What more could hap pen 10 such men?
 In Shadow of Tragedy
 A dozen huge barges loaded with scrap iron destined for Japan ... A snorting little tug deftiy butts a freighter into her berth =. l.
 know what hapens to most of the
 old automobile tires-tugs and
 barges hang them overside to act as buffers. An aura of tragedy seems to hover over. the piers of
 the Ward Line. All up and down
 the waterfront there is talk of the Morro Castle tragedy. Bad hap. penings always come when a cap- tain on his ship dies" mutters red faced sailor. They'll never think of Lord Jim and wonder how many bEtmeless careers have gone up in the smoke of the holocaust, Many life has been thus taint- ed. The captain of a certain coal barge used to be the skipper of a liner. On a wall of his dingy shanty are his masters papers good on any ocean," They say he can't forget that once he was suspended for negligence in con.
 nection with a shipwreck. So now his vessel is floating coal bin, wallowing around the harbor on the end of towline.
 Roosevelt street is a Spanish slum -. At the wide end of Cath crime street, an ice man carries on business from huge pile of cakes right in the middle of the pave- ment. On Front street, at noon, appear scores of young girls wear ing short gingham dresses and grotesque rubber boots. They work in the fish packing concerns. wonder why a bearded little. man is wearing heavy. tattered over coat on such warm afternoon. The answer becomes obvious when he shuffles past. through Il long rent in the back are, visible hts bare, scrawny shoulders
 Food Hint
  viously, the schooner Gloucester. She's already unloaded and will put out again tonight. Meanwhile
 part of her crew are splicing ropes
 and patching sail. Two men have
 found snug hammocks in folds Of
 the jib, and are sleeping. Another
 is patiently cutting tongues from
 thousands of codfish heads piled on the deck. Your big restaurants
 don't serve 'em, but they're the tas-
 tiest part of the fish, he explains. I sit for a minute with the TO-
 year-old mate, named simon. His
 nose is mere button because he
 once forgot to get out of the way
 of a swiming boom Most of his
 teeth are gone. ''They all go Ito
 aohin' one time. and I pulled lem z
 out myself. te explains casually.
 No use putin up with anything
 unruly, always sayS-teeth or
 men neither This, finger, now; she
 got festered, so says to the capan,
 Cut Ter off, An the .cap'n whacks <
 her off. an I felt better rig.st
 away"
 A seaplane swooped to the riv-
 er's surface and drew a contem.
 tuous glance form the mate. An
 ambulance changed past on South
 street. The whistles of two fer-
 ryboats raised a clamor.s, Simon
 glanced at the sky.s She's comin'
 on to blow" he said. "I'd liken
 a good blow, things has been so
 quiet ashore" %4
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