Lights and Shadows of New York Life
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Chatham street is the paradise of dealers in mock jewelry and old
clothes. Some of the shops sell new clothing of an inferior quality, but
old clothes do most abound. Here you may find the cast-off finery of the
wife of a millionaire--the most of it stolen--or the discarded rags of a
pauper. It seems as if all New York had placed its cast-off clothing
here for sale, and that the stock had accumulated for generations. Who
the dealers sell to is a mystery. You see them constantly inviting
trade, but you rarely see a customer within their doors.
[Picture: CHATHAM SQUARE.]
Honesty is a stranger in Chatham street, and any one making a purchase
here must expect to be cheated. The streets running off to the right and
left lead to the Five Points and similar sections, and it is this
wretched portion of the city that supports trade in Chatham street. The
horse car lines of the east side pass through the entire length of the
street, and the heaviest portion of the city travel flows through it, but
respectable people rarely leave the cars in this dirty thoroughfare, and
are heartily glad when they are well out of it. The buildings are
generally old and dilapidated. The shops are low and dark. They are
rank with foul odors, and are suggestive of disease. The men and women
who conduct them look like convicts, and as they sit in their doorways
watching for custom, they seem more like wild beasts waiting for their
prey, than like human beings. Even the children have a keener, more
disreputable appearance here than elsewhere. The lowest class Jews
abound in this vile quarter, and filthy creatures they are.
The Chatham street merchants are shrewd dealers, and never suffer an
opportunity to make a penny to pass by unimproved. They are not
particular as to the character of the transaction. They know they are
never expected to sell honestly, and they make it a rule not to
disappoint their customers. One of their favorite expedients to create
trade in dull times is called a "forced sale." They practise this only
on those whom they recognize as strangers, for long experience has
enabled them to tell a city man at a glance. A stranger walking along
the street will be accosted by the proprietor of a shop and his clerks
with offers of "sheap" clothing. If he pauses to listen, he is lost. He
is seized by the harpies, who pretend to assist him, and is literally
forced into the shop. He may protest that he does not wish to buy
anything, but the "merchant" and his clerks will insist that he does, and
before he can well help himself, they will haul off his coat, clap one of
the store coats on his back, and declare it a "perfect fit." The new
coat will then be removed and replaced by the old one, and the victim
will be allowed to leave the shop. As he passes out of the door, the new
coat is thrust under his arm, and he is seized by the proprietor and his
assistants, who shout "stop thief!" and charge him with stealing the
coat. Their noise, and the dread of being arrested upon a charge of
theft, will frequently so confuse and frighten the victim that he will
comply with their demand, which is that he shall buy the coat. This done
he is suffered to depart. A refusal to yield would not injure him, for
the scoundrels would seldom dare to call in the police, for fear of
getting themselves into trouble with the officials. They have reckoned
with certainty, however, upon the stranger's timidity and bewilderment,
and know they are safe.
LXII. JAMES GORDON BENNETT.
James Gordon Bennett was born at New Mill, Keith, in Banffshire, on the
northeastern coast of Scotland, about the year 1800. His relatives were
Roman Catholics, and he was destined for the priesthood of that church.
He entered the Roman Catholic Seminary at Aberdeen, in 1814, and remained
there two years, acquiring the basis of an excellent education. Chance
having thrown in his way a copy of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, he
was so much impressed by it that he abandoned all thought of a clerical
life, and resolved to emigrate to America, which he did in 1819, arriving
in Halifax in May of that year, being then nearly twenty years old. He
had not an acquaintance on this side of the Atlantic, had no profession
save that of a bookkeeper, and had but twenty-five dollars in his pocket.
He began by giving lessons in bookkeeping, in Halifax, but his success
was so poor that he came to the United States, landing at Portland, where
he took passage for Boston. Arriving in Boston he found great difficulty
in procuring employment, and was reduced to the verge of starvation, but
at length obtained a place as a proof-reader. He held this position for
two years, and, having lost it by the failure of his employers, came to
New York in 1822. Soon after this, he accepted an engagement on the
_Charleston_ (S.C.) _Courier_, but held it for a short time only.
Returning to New York he attempted to organize a Commercial School, but
was unsuccessful. He next tried lecturing, with equally bad luck, and
was obliged to renew his connection with the press. He held various
positions on the New York newspapers, in each and all of which he proved
himself a journalist of large ideas and great originality and power. In
1828, he became the Washington correspondent of the _New York Enquirer_,
and in this position inaugurated the style of newspaper correspondence
which is now adopted by all the leading journals of the country. He was
poorly paid for his services, and was obliged to do an immense amount of
miscellaneous literary work in order to earn a bare support. In the
autumn of 1829 he became assistant editor of the _Courier and Enquirer_,
with James Watson Webb as his chief. In this position he did great
service, and really made the success of the paper. He found his position
unpleasant, however, and abandoned it in 1832.
He tried several other expedients, all of which were unsuccessful, and
even tried to induce Horace Greeley, then a struggling printer, to join
him in the establishment of a newspaper. Horace refused, but recommended
him to another printer who accepted his proposition. His next step was
to rent a cellar in Wall street, and in this cellar, on the 6th of May,
1835, the _New York Herald_ was born. The coal vaults of the present
_Herald_ office are an improvement upon the original office, which was
sanctum and counting-house all in one. Mr. Bennett performed all the
work on the paper, except setting it up and printing it. He collected
the news, wrote the contents, sold the paper, and received
advertisements. He worked manfully, but his difficulties were enormous.
He made his little journal spicy, attractive, and even impudent--though
not indecent, as some have wrongly asserted--in the hope of making it
popular. He worked from sixteen to eighteen hours a day, but in spite of
all his efforts he lost money until the end of the third month, after
which he contrived to pay the actual expense of publication for some time
longer. Then a fire destroyed the printing office, and his partners
refused to continue their connection with the paper. By almost
superhuman efforts he succeeded in securing the means of going on with
the _Herald_, and in a short while the "great fire" occurred just in time
to save him. It was the most terrible catastrophe that had ever occurred
in America, and Bennett resolved to profit by it. He went himself among
the ruins, note-book in hand, and the result of his labors was a series
of graphic and accurate reports in the _Herald_ of the disaster, that at
once created a large demand for the paper. This demand did not fall off,
but it was not sufficient to place the _Herald_ on a successful footing.
At this time, Mr. Bennett was fortunate enough to secure a large contract
from Dr. Brandreth for advertising his pills in the _Herald_. The sum
received was very large, and was conscientiously expended in the purchase
of news, and in improving and increasing the attractions of the paper.
At the end of the fifteenth month of its career, Mr. Bennett ventured to
increase the size of the _Herald_, and to raise its price from one to two
cents. Since then the paper has prospered steadily, and is now one of
the wealthiest and most powerful journals in the land, and the best
purveyor of news in the world. Its success is due almost exclusively to
the proprietor. Mr. Bennett has not only built up his own paper, but has
revolutionized the press of the world. This is his chief claim to
distinction.
He rarely writes for the paper now, though he maintains a close
supervision over all parts of it, as well as over the mechanical
department of his enterprise.
[Picture: JAMES GORDON BENNETT.]
He is married, and has two children, a son, James Gordon Bennett, jr.,
who will succeed his father in the ownership of the _Herald_, and a
daughter. He resides on the Fifth avenue. He is said to be a courtly
and agreeable host, and his long and extensive experience as a journalist
has made him one of the best informed men of the day.
In person he is tall and firmly built, and walks with a dignified
carriage. His head is large and his features are prominent and
irregular. He is cross-eyed, and has a thoroughly Scotch face. His
expression is firm and somewhat cold--that of a man who has had a hard
fight with fortune, and has conquered it. He is reserved in his manner
to strangers, but is always courteous and approachable.
LXIII. DRUNKENNESS.
During the year 1869, there were 15,918 men, and 8105 women arrested for
intoxication, and 5222 men and 3466 women for intoxication and disorderly
conduct, making a total of 21,140 men and 11,571 women, or 32,711 persons
in all arrested for drunkenness. Now if to this we add the 21,734 men
and women arrested during the same year for assault and battery, and for
disorderly conduct, and regard these offences as caused, as they
undoubtedly were, by liquor, we shall have a total of 54,445 persons
brought to grief by the use of intoxicating liquors.
But it does not require this estimate to convince a New Yorker that
drunkenness is very common in the city. One has but to walk through the
streets, and especially those in the poorer sections, and notice the
liquor shops of various kinds, from the Broadway rum palace to the "Gin
Mill" of the Bowery, or the "Bucket Shop" of the Five Points. There are
7071 licensed places for the sale of liquor in the city, and they all
enjoy a greater or less degree of prosperity. Very few liquor sellers,
confining themselves to their legitimate business, fail in this city.
The majority grow rich, and their children not unfrequently take their
places in the fashionable society of the city. The liquors sold at these
places are simply abominable. Whiskey commands the largest sale, and it
is in the majority of instances a vile compound. About three years ago,
the _New York World_ published a list of the principal bar-rooms of the
city, with a report of chemical analyses of the liquors obtained at each,
and proved conclusively that pure liquors were not sold over the bar at
any establishment in the city. A few months ago a _World_ reporter
published the following estimate of the business of the bar-rooms in the
vicinity of Wall street, patronized principally by the brokers:
Hot Hot Whiskeys Brandies. Wines. Mixed Ales, Bottles
spiced whiskeys. straight. liquors. beers, Champagne.
rums. etc.
L. Dardy 56 59 62 15 23 30 105 6
Mike's 65 110 70 20 28 23 90 10
V.B. 43 62 112 30 35 27 110 5
Carpenter
Young 35 40 52 10 12 15 65 2
P. Murphy 34 49 63 12 15 25 45 2
Schedler 51 48 112 35 52 45 315 18
Delmonico 213 205 315 90 135 180 210 35
Riley 105 123 180 25 30 62 80 6
Sammis & 23 31 30 8 10 15 35 1
Sharp
Van Riper 27 22 19 10 13 18 40 1
Ed. 18 29 38 12 15 20 60 2
Schultze
Delatour's 15 20 45 27 30 12 25 2
Gault's 28 32 125 23 35 28 85 5
Total 713 830 1223 317 433 500 1265 94
"This makes a total of 5281 drinks and 94 bottles of champagne consumed
in thirteen of the largest saloons, supported by the brokers; and
including the dozen or more of small places, the number of drinks taken
in and about Wall street per day is over 7500, while over 125 bottles of
champagne are disposed of. The amount of money expended for fuel to feed
the flagging energies of the speculators is, therefore, over $2000 per
day, and it is not at all strange that the brokers occasionally cut up
queer antics in the boards, and stocks take twists and turns that
unsettle the street for weeks."
The brokers, however, are not the only generous patrons of the bar-rooms.
The vice of drunkenness pervades all classes. Every day men are being
ruined by it, and the most promising careers totally destroyed. Day
after day, you see men and women reeling along the streets, or falling
helpless. The police soon secure them, and at night they are kept quite
busy attending to them. But the arrests, numerous as they are, do not
represent the sum total of the drunkenness of the city. The drinking in
private life, which oftentimes does not result in actual intoxication,
but which kills by slowly poisoning body and mind, is very great, but
there is no means of estimating it.
[Picture: A FEMALE DRINKER.]
Respectable men patronize the better class bar-rooms, and respectable
women the ladies' restaurants. At the latter places a very large amount
of money is spent by women for drink. Wives and mothers, and even young
girls, who are ashamed to drink at home, go to these fashionable
restaurants for their liquor. Some will drink it openly, others will
disguise it as much as possible. Absinthe has been introduced at these
places of late years, and it is said to be very popular with the gentler
sex. Those who know its effects will shudder at this. We have seen many
drunken women in New York, and the majority have been well dressed and of
respectable appearance. Not long since, a lady making purchases in a
city store, fell helpless to the floor. The salesman, thinking she had
fainted, hastened to her assistance, and found her dead drunk.
We have already written of the Bucket Shops. They represent the lowest
grade of this vice. They sell nothing but poisons.
Is it strange then that crime flourishes? Is it a wonder that Saturday
night and Sunday, the chosen periods for drinking heavily, are productive
of more murders and assaults than any other portion of the week?
LXIV. WHAT IT COSTS TO LIVE IN NEW YORK.
The question is very frequently asked, "Is living in New York very
expensive?" An emphatic affirmative may be safely returned to every such
interrogatory. Let one's idea of comfort be what it may, it is
impossible to live cheaply in this city with any degree of decency. One
can go to a cellar lodging-house, and live for from twenty to forty cents
a day, but he will find himself overcharged for the accommodation given
him. He may live in a tenement house, and his expenses will still be
disproportioned to the return received. The discomforts of life in New
York, however, fall chiefly upon educated and refined people of moderate
means. The very rich have an abundance for their wants, and are able to
make their arrangements to suit themselves. The very poor expect nothing
but misery.
To begin at the beginning, the expenses of a family in fashionable life
are something appalling. Fifty thousand dollars per annum may be set
down as the average outlay of a family of five or six persons residing in
a fashionable street, and owning their residence. Some persons spend
more, some less, but this amount may be taken as a fair average, and it
will not admit of much of what would be called extravagance in such a
station.
For those who own their houses, keep a carriage, and do not "live
fashionably," or give many entertainments, the average is from fifteen to
twenty thousand dollars.
For those who aspire to live in comfort and in a respectable
neighborhood, and to occupy a whole house, the average is from five to
six thousand dollars. With six thousand dollars a year, a family of five
persons, living in a rented house, will be compelled to economise. Those
who have smaller incomes are obliged to board, to occupy a part of a
house, or to leave the city.
The average rent of a moderate sized house in New York is $1800 per
annum. This amount may or may not include the use of the gas fixtures,
and the house may or may not have a furnace in it. There will be a
dining-room and kitchen, with hall or passage in the basement. The first
floor will contain two parlors and the front hall. The second floor will
contain a bath-room, water closet, and two, or perhaps three, chambers.
The third floor usually contains two large and two small rooms, and
several closets. The chambers in the more modern houses contain marble
basins, with hot and cold water laid on. Where the tenant is unknown to
the landlord, he is required to pay his rent monthly, in advance, or to
give security for its quarterly payment. Such a house will require the
services of at least two women, and if there be children to be cared for,
a nurse is necessary. The wages of these, per month, are as follows:
cook, $16 to $20; chambermaid, $12 to $15; nurse, $12 to $16. In many of
the wealthier families a higher rate of wages is paid. At the rate
given, however, from $480 to $582 is the annual outlay for servants, to
which must be added a considerable sum for "changing help." Instances
are known to the writer in which this "changing help," in the case of
discharging an old cook and securing a new one, has cost a housekeeper as
much as $30 in a single change. This will be easily understood when I
state that ladies who go to look after "girls," in the places from which
they advertise for situations, are obliged to go to the expense of hiring
a carriage, it being unsafe for them to venture into these sections on
foot. Without counting the changes, however, and taking the lower
estimate of wages, we have a total of $2280 for house rent and servants'
hire. This leaves, from $6000, the sum of $3720 for food, clothing,
sickness, education, and all the incidentals of a family. The General
Government secures a large slice of this through its iniquitous income
tax, and State and county taxes take up several hundred more. Those who
have had experience in keeping house in any portion of the country can
easily understand how the rest goes, when one has to pay fifty cents per
pound for butter, fifty cents a dozen for eggs, sixteen cents a pound for
crushed sugar, twenty-five cents a pound for fowls, and thirty-five cents
a pound for the choice cuts of beef. All this, too, with the certainty
of getting light weights from your butcher and grocer.
Many persons seek refuge in boarding. Those who have no children, or but
one or two, may live cheaper in this way, but not in the same degree of
comfort that their outlay would bring them in their own homes. A couple
with two or three children and a nurse, cannot live in any respectable
boarding-house in New York, except in instances so rare that they do not
deserve to be mentioned, for less than sixty dollars per week for board
and lodging alone. Such persons must pay extra for washing, and there
are many "incidentals" which add to the landlady's receipts.
For such a family, giving them two chambers and a parlor, the Fifth
Avenue Hotel charges $30 per day, or $10,950 per annum. The figures are
high, but "the Fifth Avenue" gives a fair return for the money. The
charges of the other hotels are in proportion. None of them will receive
such a family for less than $6000 or $7000 per annum.
Of late years, a new style of living has been introduced. The city now
contains a number of houses located in unexceptionable neighborhoods, and
built in first-class style, which are rented in flats, or suites of
apartments, as in the Parisian houses. The largest of these are the
monster "Stevens House," on Twenty-seventh street, fronting on Broadway
and Fifth avenue, Dr. Haight's House, on the corner of Fifth avenue and
Fifteenth street, and Mr. Stuyvesant's House, in East Eighteenth street,
the last of which was the pioneer house of its kind in this city. The
"Stevens House" was built and is owned by Paran Stevens, Esq., and is one
of the largest buildings in the city. It is constructed of red brick,
with marble and light stone trimmings, and is eight stories in height
above the street, with a large cellar below the sidewalk. The cost of
this edifice is to be one million of dollars. "The woodwork of the
interior is of black walnut; the walls are finely frescoed and
harmoniously tinted. There are, in all, eight floors, including the
servants' attics. Five stores occupy the lower tier. There are eighteen
suites of rooms, to which access is had by a steam elevator. The
building is heated upon the principle of indirect radiation, by forcing
steam-heated air through pipes into the different rooms. The main
staircase is of iron, with marble steps, and the main halls to each story
are tiled. The chief suites comprise parlor, dining-room, boudoir,
dressing-rooms, and butler's pantry; each principal suite comprehending
five commodious chambers on the first floor, and two at the top of the
house. Each kitchen is furnished with improved ranges. The roof is
supplied with water tanks, and, as a further protection against fire, the
second floor is supported by iron arched beams, filled in with concrete."
The Haight House is said to be the most thoroughly comfortable
establishment of the kind in New York. "It consists of five floors,
having twenty suites of apartments for families, and fifteen for
bachelors, at a yearly rental of from three thousand to two thousand
dollars for the former, and from one thousand four hundred to six hundred
and fifty dollars for the latter. These suites are entered from the
hallways, each suite having a separate entrance of its own, and at the
entrance to the principal suites there is a small antechamber, from which
a servant may announce the names of visitors. The family suites embrace
a commodious parlor, a large dining-room, with butler's pantry attached,
a kitchen, three bed rooms, and a bath room. Each suite has its own
dumb-waiter; a dump for coal and refuse, and the proper provision for
ventilation; while the suites intended for single occupants are furnished
with every appliance necessary to the securing of perfect comfort and
ease. Although every accommodation is furnished by the house, some of
the tenants have chosen to go to the expense of decorating their own
apartments, and have had their rooms elegantly frescoed and painted by
some of the first artists in the city. The mantels are either of walnut
or the finest marble, of elegant design and workmanship. The supposition
is that a majority of the guests will cook for themselves, but
arrangements may be effected by which the cooking may be done in a
general kitchen for the purpose. There is a steam elevator, and a
general system of kitchens, sculleries, pantries, store and ice rooms,
with the engines, and a well-devised workshop for the engineer. There is
a steam laundry, capable of washing one thousand pieces per day, where
guests may have their washing done at a cheaper rate than could be
possible under any of the ordinary methods; and also a drying room--all
of the principal work of the establishment being effected by steam. Each
apartment has its bell and whistle, communicating with the basement. A
janitor, or porter, has a lodge in the main hall, within which there is
also a 'post-office.' In the basement is another porter's lodge for the
facilitation of business with the butcher, the baker, and the
expressman."
These houses, however, are accessible only to people of ample means. The
apartments rent for sums which will secure comfortable dwellings, and the
other expenses are about the same one would incur in his own house. The
great need of the city is a system of such houses in respectable
neighborhoods, in which apartments may be had at moderate rents.