“In the morning they come out with queer-looking eyes…”
The above map represents one ward of New York City – the Eleventh.
The saloons as put upon this map were ascertained by the reporter of the Christian Union by actual count.
The saloons are largely beer saloons: for the base of the population is German, and a large intermingling of German sounds, German signs, German wares, and German smells generally, prevail.
Pretty much all the available space, after enough room has been taken out for houses and grown people and huckster’s stands, is filled by stout, chubby, healthy-looking children – with here and there a punier waif – of all ages and sizes, mostly young and small, and of all degrees of cleanliness, from comparatively clean to superlatively dirty.
The Ward is reported by the police to be as orderly as any in the city.
The German is peculiar. Unlike his Irish and Yankee cousins, he does not make a great noise and hurrah over his cups, and wind up with a street brawl. He gathers unto himself a few kindred spirits, and together they wend their way to the Trink-Halle, where, in a little back room, with closed doors and drawn curtains, they guzzle beer together till none of them can see. In the morning they come out with queer-looking eyes, but there has been no disturbance in the place.
Said a clergyman to your reporter, “I came into the ward expecting to find nothing but filth and vice. But I could take you into hundreds of homes where you would find ease and comfort and even culture.
Balance Sheet:
- 19 Churches and Sunday-Schools, 5 Industrial Schools, 1 Hospital
- 346 Saloons
- One saloon to every 200 population.
Christian Union, February 19, 1885. PDF of entire article and map is here.
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