' The business of a lodging house
seldom commences before ten o'clock, and its greatest rush is just
after the closing of the theatres; but all through the night, till
three o'clock in the morning, they are receiving such of the outcast
population as can offer the price of a bed. To any one interested in
the misery of the city, the array presented on such an occasion is very
striking. One sees every variety of character, runaway boys, truant
apprentices, drunken mechanics and broken-down mankind generally. Among
these are men who have seen better days. They are decayed gentlemen who
appear regularly in Wall street, and eke out the day by such petty
business as they may get hold of, and are lucky if they can make enough
to carry them through the night. In all lodging houses the rule holds
good 'first come, first served,' and the last man in the room gets the
worst spot. Each one sleeps with his clothes on and his hat under his
head to keep it from being stolen. At eight o'clock in the morning all
oversleepers are awakened and the rooms got ready for the coming night.
No one is allowed to take anything away, and if the lodger has a parcel
he is required to leave it at the bar. This prevents the theft of bed-
clothes. As the expenses connected with lodging houses are very light,
they are generally profitable, and in some instances large fortunes
have been made at the business.
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