Some of these means it is our purpose to notice separately.
THE LOWEST DEPTHS.
You will see the extremes of poverty and want in and about the Five
Points district. In the day time half-clad, filthy, emaciated creatures
pass you on the gloomy streets, and startle you with the air of misery
which they carry about them. At night these poor creatures huddle into
cellars, so damp, foul, and pestilential that it seems impossible for a
human being to exist in them. The walls are lined with "bunks," or
"berths," and the woodwork and bedding is alive with vermin; the floors
are covered with wretched beds in a similar condition. The place is
either as dark as midnight, or dimly lighted with a tallow dip.
Sometimes a stove, which only helps to poison the atmosphere, is found
in the place, sometimes a pan of coals, and often there is no means of
warmth at hand. Men, women, and children crowd into these holes, as
many as thirty being found in some of them. They pay a small sum to the
wretch who acts as landlord, for the privilege of receiving this
shelter from the cold night. The sexes are mingled carelessly, and the
grossest indecency prevails. The air is loaded with blasphemy and
curses, and is heavy with such foul odors that one unaccustomed to it
cannot remain five minutes in the place.
The attics of the lowest class of tenement houses are no better than
these cellars.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255