The Secrets of the Great City | Page 7

Washington, marched into the Bowery early in the morning,
and remained until noon, when the British troops evacuated the city and
its defences. This done, the Americans marched down the Bowery,
through Chatham and Pearl streets, to the Battery, where they lowered
the British flag, which had been left flying by the enemy, and hoisted
the "Stars and Stripes" of the new Republic.
[Illustration: Broadway, looking up from Exchange Place.]
After the city began to extend up the island, the Bowery, which had
been eminently respectable in its earlier history, lost caste. Decent
people left it, and the poorer and more disreputable classes took
possession. Finally, it became notorious. It was noted for its roughs, its
rowdy firemen, its courtezans--in short, it was the paradise of the worst
elements of New York. The march of trade and improvement along the
east side of the city has effected a partial reformation, but still the
Bowery is generally regarded as one of the doubtful localities of the

city.
The street runs parallel with Broadway, and is about a mile in length. It
is much wider than the latter thoroughfare. It is tolerably well built up;
and is improving in this respect every year. In connection with
Chatham Square, it is the great route from the lower part of the island
to the Harlem river on the east side. It is devoted principally to the
cheap trade. The Jews abound here. The display of goods in the shops
is attractive, but flashy. Few persons who have the means to buy
elsewhere, care to purchase an article in the Bowery, as those familiar
with it know there are but few reliable dealers along the street.
Strangers from the country, servant girls, and those who are forced to
put up with an inferior article from the want of a few dollars, and often
a few cents, to buy a better one, trade here. As a general rule, the goods
sold are of an inferior, and often worthless, quality, and the prices
asked are high, though seemingly cheap. Large fortunes are made by
the Bowery merchants, who, with but few exceptions, are adepts in the
art of swindling their customers.
Pawnbrokers' shops, "Cheap Johns," second class hotels, dance houses,
fifth rate lodging houses, low class theatres, and concert saloons,
abound in the lower part of the street.
The Sunday law, which, seems to be so rigidly enforced in other parts
of the city, is a dead letter in the Bowery. Here on Sunday, one may see
shops of all kinds--the vilest especially--open for trade. Cheap
clothing-stores, etc., concert saloons, and the most infamous dens of
vice, are in full blast. The street, and the cars traversing it, are thronged
with the lower classes, in search of what they call enjoyment. At night
all the places of amusement are open, and are crowded to excess.
Boughs, thieves, fallen women, and even little children, throng them.
Indeed, it is sad to see how many children are to be found in these vile
places. The price of admission is low, and, strange as it may sound,
almost any beggar can raise it. People have no idea how much of the
charity they lavish on street beggars goes in this direction. The
amusement afforded at these places ranges from indelicate hints and
allusions to the grossest indecency.

Another feature of the Bowery is the immense beer-gardens with which
it abounds. We refer to those of the better class, which are patronized
chiefly by the German element of the city. These are immense
buildings, fitted up in imitation of a garden. Some are very handsomely
frescoed, and otherwise adorned. They will accommodate from four
hundred to twelve hundred guests. Germans carry their families there to
spend a day, or an evening. Clubs, parties of friends, and public
societies, often pay such visits to these places. Some carry their own
provisions; others purchase them from the proprietor. There is no
admittance fee: the entrance is free. Beer and other liquids are served
out at a small cost. Guests are coming and going all the time.
Sometimes as many as five thousand people will visit one of these
places in the course of an evening. The music is a great attraction to the
Germans. It is exquisite in some places, especially in the Atlantic
Garden, which is situated in the Bowery, near Canal street.
[Illustration: City Hall]
The profits are enormous; the proprietors frequently realize handsome
fortunes in the course of a few years. Were these places all the
Germans claim for them; they would be unobjectionable; but there is
no disguising the fact that they encourage excess in drinking, and offer
every inducement for a systematic violation of the Sabbath.
Besides these, there are saloons and gardens where none but the
abandoned are to