The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, October 08, 1911, SECTION SIX, Page 5, Image 67

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    TITE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, TORTLAXD. OCTOBER
8. 1911.
BT IHED LOCK LET.
m a EW TORK. Oct. I. (Fje-!al Cor.
1 respondenca.) The other day waa
" a saints day aad consequently a
holy tfar and a holiday la Little Italy.
Aorees Twelfth street near Elisabeth
waa a. banner which read:
t ti oittw rrrri avntiui
I tORRlTTO PROVXNCB
t BA Ri,
Cp and down tha full length of Elisa
beth street flattered streamers aad
baaeera, while from doorway to door
way feetooaa wara faatanad and colored
llrata wara strung across tha streeta
Every window, every fire escape, every
doorway aad even tha roof waa crowd
ad to capacity with womaa aad children
f Little Italy.
Aa I atood there two Italian bands
iwuf around tha corner aad marched
down tba rough eobbla atona street. At
tha sound of tha saosle tha faces) of tha
onlookers lit op with pleasure. Tha
baad stopped la front of aa aJtar which
bad been built beside tha walk aad aa
thay played scores of Itallaaa paaaed
la front ef tha shrtna Tha figure of
tha patron aalnt of tha day waa dis
played on tha altar aad alao atatuettea
of alary aad tba Babe, while la tha
foreground waa a band mada of was
showing tha wonnd of tha call wbara It
bad been attached to tha croaa. Aa each
person paaaad la front of tha ahrlne
they took oS their hat. bowed, depoa
Ited a penny, or a nickel and In aome
raaee a dollar bill In the basket which
occupied tha foreground baalde tba
bleeding band of tha Baylor.
I noticed two ef tha men la particu
lar. Ona of there a beavy-eet hatry
cheated maKOlar worktnirman. who had
evidently Just coma from hla work aa ha
la dressed In coarae shoes, cheap troua
era and wore a sleeveless low-nerk
undershirt- Ona of bla arm a aad hla
neck were covered with lone white
arare evidently a souvenir of aome dis
cussion In the past In which hla op
ponent had argued with a stiletto or
a duitr.
A man with a savare. rorblddlng
look approached, took off hla hat. bowed
In the Image of tha aalnt and deposited
bla offering, hla featurea atlll hard and
nasoftened. He turned In a doorway
near at band and a moment or two later
ha emerged carrying a bright-eyed llt
tla baby. Tha llnea of hla fare had soft
ened. Ha sat on tha steps, and while ho
caressed tha llttla baby ha talked with
a soft and gentle voice la musical Ital
ian. Tha afreet waa sordid and squalid,
or It waa wonderfully colorful and In
teresting. It depends upon your view
point. To ma It waa full of Interest.
Block after block tha streets were
crowded with all of the tjrpee that coma
from Italy. They may talk of ancient
blood, but all blood la ancient. Hera
before ma were the descendants of
Caesar's legtona Tha forefathera of
these men with their atout hearts,
short swords mada Home the mlstreaa
of the world.
Here were the older Italians dressed
In the rotumes of their native vil
lages Sicily or along tha shores of
tha Adriatic. Hero In tha Llttla Italy
of America were mingled the nattvea
of I'adua. of Lilian, of Verona and Na
ples, of Venire and Home and scores of
unknown villages that are swept by I
Isn't
As Sung in
SersrefSv
1
she was stand
hked la days
in
bar ts or
e - "ry day
A 3-
.. REFRAIN.
.5
a9
)
Tom. If some -Jim.
If some -
J P &J000XO,
fer- 1-
Ia at ft eke to know aome - be - dy cares for yoa, sobs - be - dy Ekes yea - too, aseaa - be - dya
-CA . g j-" 1,'. , ..' jj. a y I
i tf fr eT" "
Copyrlht. MCMX. by the Tork Music Co.
International Copyright Secured. AU performing and other rights reserved.
Used by permission. Uurtay Music Co,
tha warm winds from tha Mediterra
nean. Though tha old seople might wear
costumes of the provinces from which
they came la memory of tha old days,
tha younger people were bound by io
such traditions, aad scorea of young
girls gay with laces, ribbons aad beads
mada their way through tha crowds.
Here, if ha wara only on tha ground '.
a picture for aa artist. With ahouldera
bent, with gray hair covered with a
headdress, with face Beamed and wrin
kled and brown stands a peasant. In
her aara are large gold rlnga Her dresa
Is a faded blue. Her eyes bora Into
yours aa though aha could read your
Inmost secret. Ton would guess that
aha came from Corsica or some place
whera tha blood la hot and It la a
word and a blow and tba blow romea
first. Reside ber la a young Italian
girt with oval face and olive complex
ion, with dark ayes and long lashes and
with abundant black hair. She la wear
ing a dresa of aoma tawny yellow ma
terial, and through tha lace work on
tha sleeves and across the front and
ahouldera are ribbons of black velvet.
Around ber neck Is a chain of beada
formed of alternate beada of amber and
Jet. She baa all the grace and beauty
of a Royal Bengal tiger with her yellow
and black stripes, and probably all of
lta fierceness if aroused.
If yon wonder where tha Italians get
their passion and their revenge yon
need only, look to their women folk.
Last night, for example. Antonio Teso
mono. a young Italian woman. XI years
old. shot four times at her lover. Mir
rlno Gorro, two of the bullets taking
effect. When tba policeman wrested
tha revolver from her hand and asked
her why she did It. she said "We have
been sweethearts for years. He told
me that ha no longer loved ma and
that ha waa going with another girl.
If I could not have him myself I don't
want anyone else to have him."
Along the sidewalks are numerous
pushcarts, whera you can buy strtnas
of garlic or strings of shelled chest
nuts and other Italian delicacies. A
man who aold raw clams did a thriv
ing business. For a cent the dispenser
of clams would open a large clam and
hand It to you on lta half shell, throw-
ng in without charge a saueese of
lemon.
One couple after another would step
op. tha young man giving tha dealer
four or Ave pennlea while ha and hla
darkeved sweetheart would eat with
evident relish tha raw clams. My cu
riosity was aroused, so I stepped for
ward, handed the dealer a nickel and
motioned to the clams. With all tha
courtesy of the Duka of Duxbury or a
Lord High Admiral, ha cut open a fresh
lemon and handed It to me. and then
opened a large clam and gave It to me.
I gave It a generous squeeze of tha
lemon, and tipping up the shell and
holding my head back In Imitation of
tha others. I started the clam down
ward toward the commissary depart
ment. It probably waa not any happier
than I was over tha experiment. Tha
dispenser of clams saw my rather
doubtful look and with a graceful bow
and showing his white teeth In a amlle
he picked out several of tha larger
rlama and aoused them around In a
bucket of vary dirty water. After show
ing ma thla special mark of considera
tion In washing tha clams, ha confident
ly opened tha next ona and handed It
to me. Courtesy demanded that I eat
It. Taste and appetite protested, but
courtesy won out. and I took It germs
and all and swallowed It. There waa
an uneasy feeling In my midst, aa
though the first clam were coming up
It Nice to Know Somebody
Cares for You
the New Musical Play "The Happiest Night of His
-
bo iy net girl be kad
bo - ij sast the ts - ry boy
isf sear He longed to call her dear
of yore But sow she did a dor
Vy wsy. If yoa
and aigsl If yoa
I in
ia
f
poeo rii
W . . . . 1 I I
T ' 1 , ' " 1 " m - r 1 1 '
to meet the one that went down, ao
with all the courtesy possible I declined
any more. In broken English he as
sured me that I still bad three or four
clama coming, but I decided thsy should
continue to be coming and I moved on.
A little further on waa a man cutting
Infinitesimal slices of honeycomb. For
a penny you were furnished a wooden
toothpick and allowed to epear a email
slice of honey. For the Investment of
another penny you could have a half
allce of watermelon, the allcea being
chiefly remarkable for their thinness.
After I bad walked through Hester
street, .with its swarming life. I went
down to First avenue. I went along
First avenna from Seventh atreet to
Fourteenth atreet. It waa Saturday af
ternoon and the women were out In full
V. V J--J' . . "aa -e- J i
force doing their marketing. Every
available Inch along the sidewalk was
occupied by pushcarts and barrowa.
They even overflowed Into the side
streets. It waa alow working one's way
through the dense groups of Jewish and
Italian women surrounding the carta
It was a medley of color; it waa a med
ley of aound. The first three cries sep
arated from the babble of tonguea were
lemona three for a penny, garlic 6
cents a string, atocklnga, the BO-cent
kind, two for a quarter. By fastening
your attention to one man you could
distinguish what be said- Here are
aoma of the warea that they were cry
ing Broken egga 1 cent each, cracked
ones two for I cents, bananaa two for 1
cent, good ones 1 penny apiece. Cali
fornia pears three for a nickel, ice
cream conea a penny apiece. If you
want to know how much it would cost
you to live on the Bowery or In the
Ghetto or In Little Italy, here are the
prices, copied from some of the signs
on the carts. Cucumbers a cent eacti.
. at
that
in jost a
had set be
year
fere.
g r r I:
Aai he tried to show her that he cared far
If she told him that hex thotarhta were with bob
-L.
3:
riL
her plane what woold yoa say?
his place what would JOS Sal J I
roll
.4-. b-.- J- I. , M
Lace edging. 2c 4c and Go a yard. Belts,
garters, combs and buttons the lowest
price In the city. Beef fat aklmmed
from aoup. Be a pound. Eggs, three for
a nickel good onea two for a nickel.
Green peppera lc each. In my walk of
seven blocks here are some of the
things I saw on the carts: Crab-apples,
potatoes, clama. Summer aquaah. eels,
oranges, toothpicks, suspenders, tur
nips, granlteware and handkerchiefs
and ao on Indefinitely.
Many of the push-carts ' were In
charge of Jewish or Italian women. The
streets are fairly alive with their chil
dren and those of their customers. I
stopped to look at the display of veget
ablea In one of the push-carts. Sitting
beside the push-cart was a blg-bosomed
Jewish woman who was looking placld-
ly at her baby which was taking;
dinner at ine maternal fount. The
placid-faced Jewess looked up, saw In
roe a prospective customer there waa a
sound like the pulling of the cork from
a bottle aa she pushed the baby away
from lta dinner and laid It down on lta
chair to watt on me. Evidently the
baby waa accustomed to have lta din
ner Interrupted, for It lay there without
protest.
While these streets are Interesting
in the daytime, they are not less so
after nightfall. A few nlghta ago I
happened to be down at Rector street,
near Washington, not far from the
Battery. This section Is largely occu
pied now by Greeks. Syrians, Turks
and Montenegrins, with a sprinkle of
Irish and other races, who are at
tracted there Ty the low rents. As I
etopped at a shop window to look at
some delicate Syrian lace and lace
medallions I heard excited volcea
across tne street. Turning quickly, I
saw a foreigner engaged In a contro-
art
4
Life"
Asa
r
New York.
Isn't It
versy with an old woman and her IT
or 18-year-old daughter. The voice of
the old woman rose shrill and protest
lngly. Its Irish brogue unmistakable.
With aome muttered exclamation, which
I could not hear, the man slouched off.
Whatever he said aroused the two
women to perfect frensy. Picking up
a stick the younger woman struck him
over the shoulders while her mother
picked up a loose atone and burled it
at him. The man turned on them,
struck the girl in the face, knocking
her down, then struck the older women
who clung to him like perfect fury. In
a second the young woman was on her
feet. Her hair had become loosened
and had fallen down ber back, and like
a tigress she closed on the man la spite
of his raining blows and tore at his
face. Meanwhile the older woman had
picked up a heavy bottle and closed
In to hit htm on the head. A score of
bystanders Including myself had run up
to part the screaming-, struggling, curs
ing combatants. Someone grabbed the
old woman's hand and the bottle fell
to the cobble stones and was broken.
"He stabbed me." cried the young girl
"somebody shoot him." By this time
the man had broken away and an old-
man with the evident desire of being
a peacemaker stepped up, laid his hand
on his shoulder and aaid, "Come on
away. Let s get out of thla" Like a
flash the crazed foreigner turned on
him and landed a blow on his face,
breaking his pipe and cutting his
mouth. The indignant peacemaker spit
out the fragments of broken pipe and
said. "I waa trying to help you." With
an oath the younger man aaid, "Next
time don't butt in." The . American
slang In his broken English sounded
very peculiar. Thla waa too much for
the old man and with a cry of anger
he sprang at the young fellow to be
grabbed by four or five of his friends
and carried off fighting, cursing and
struggling. Foreigners were running
from all directions. The two women
were In the center of a struggling
group trying to hold them. With a
fearful Imprecation the old woman
aaid, "Let me, at him. Til out his heart
out. I'll show him that the Collins are
respectable people."
Going arourd the corner I came
across two policemen and told them to
the fight that was going on. One of
them inquired anxiously, "Is It over
yet?" "No, If you hurry, I think you
can get there before It Is over." "Oh
I don't want to get there," he exclaimed.
"We never Interfere with these for
eignera in their feuda If they kill
any one someone will send them to the
morgue, and If anybody is badly hurt
they will ring up for an ambulance.
It la better to let these folks have
their fights out than to let the gTudge
smoulder." That they do have their
fights out is very evident by a casual
Inspection of the paper each morning.
I notice by this morning's paper that
during the past month 12 black hand
outrages have taken place in - which
bombs have been thrown. Last night
Pasquale Ferroazzo, a rich Italian on
Hick street, and Alessandro. Germano,
an olive oil Importer, both had their
buildinga practically destroyed by the
explosion of bombs.
A day or two ago I was told that an
Italian was shot and that he lay where
he was killed until found by a police
man, the neighbors not daring to in
terfere for fear they would be Involved
In the vendetta Witnesses who tes
tify In casea of this kind are usually
found with their throat cut and cov
ered with wounds.
A night or two ago a young Italian.
bests trBa.. And when yotfrs far
1 . rH.
woald yon do ?..... . Td try my bsst to dream a - boot soma-j
bod y too Aad if my dream came tne aome bo dy would be
yoa. Tbea. I would tra - ly be da-Eht - ed. If ia our dreams we were n - nit - ed,
' j r " ' t "
Deuet est re -pose aome bod -y knows, Soma bod- y cares for yoa. Earns bod-y cares for yoa.
rt - t"X--i"r
Nice to Know Somebody Cares for Ton
27 years old, who waa saving money
to send to Italy for his wife and chil
dren, was found dead and on his body
were SI knife wounds. So It is not
much to be wondered at that the po
licemen prefer to let the foreigners
settle their own quarrels and then send
the victims to the morgne or the hos
pital, as the case requires.
If one could , but look behind the
scenes or were given an X-ray vision,
what tragedies they would see.
A day or two ago I asked some ques
tions as to Jewish history of a very
intelligent Jew of the younger gener
ation. He referred me to two men who
were versed In the law of the Talmud
and the history of their race. I secured
from them the Information I was in
search of. They had the faces of
scholars. More Important than the get
ting of money to them was the rab
binical law. Here and there through
the Ghetto and elsewhere in New York
are chevrahs, where the Jews make a
study of the Talmud and the ancient
writings. Here is some wide street on
the East Side you will see the Jews
down from a time that antedates our
Anglo-Saxon clvilizatlor. Here you
may see some venerable, and dignified
father in Israel wearing'hls talllth and
tepilltn his praying shawl and phy
lacteries. A " Jew of the older school
who clings to his Torah cannot under
stand why his children forsake tne
faith of their fathers and become apos
tates or meshumads. as they term
them. They look with troubled eyes at
the children who have forsaken the
old Ideala.in the mad scramble for
wealth and with sore hearts they go
back to the study of the precepts of
the Talmud.
As the chimes In the Metropolitan
tower rung the other night I looked at
my watch and found that it was hall
past 1 o'clock. I looked up at a street
so as to get my bearings and found
that I was at the Five Points. Baxter
and Mulberry streets and the Five
Points at midnight are the other side
of the shield from the glitter and glare
of ' Broadway.
The Utter-strewn streets and the
dingy tenements are sordid and squalid.
As I made my way from the Five
Points toward Broadway I noticed on
the stone steps of a building which
was deeply in shadow a number of men
asleep. On the steps of that one build
ing I counted - 14 sleeping men. I
walked to the tracks of a Broadway
surface car and waited a few moments
for a car. I had ridden but a few blocks
when it stopped to take on two more
passengers. A young man In evening
dress accompanied by a young woman
expensively and tastefully dressed got
on the car. She stumbled and nearly
fell and was supported to a seat by
her escort. Her hat was on the side of
her bead. Her hair was coming down.
Her handsome face seemed to have let
down as though, she had removed a
mask or as If her muscles had gone oft
duty. She tried to moisten her lips,
and finally with much effort she said,
with thickened and uncertain utter
ance, "Don't thlsh car make you feel
thick? Makes me feel awfully queer.
Wha' say we get out and walk?"
Somehow a drunken woman hits
you In a vital place. Its like finding
a foul stream flowing from a clear
spring. It doesn't nt in with any con
ception you have of womanhood. Face
and figure and dress were alike beau
tiful, but the glazed eye, the droop
ing lip, the quenched Intelligence give
one a feeling of finding a lead sword
1 1 A ...kk.WI
III A quaucu ot-aisuaiu. I
When I got to Madison Square it 1
- wy, some-bod - y dreams of
yon If
I K-h M-
was 2 o'clock. As I walked through
the park I saw hundreds of men
asleep on the park benches or lying
prostrate on the ground. There were
probably five or six hundred men and
about a half dozen women. There waa
a suggestion of chill In the morning
air and many of the sleeping men had
buttoned a newspaper under their coat
and wrapped newspapers around their
legs. As I passed one of the benches
the light fell on one of the recumbent
figures and brought out his face and
figure sharply. His legs were wrapped
In paper; his arms were also wrapped
in newspapers. A week's beard did
not hide the gauntness of his face nor
the hollowness of his cheeks. His
h-ir was silvery white. His face
haunted me after I had passed. I hes
itated, stopped, and then for my own
peace of mind I walked back, banded
him a coin and said. "You had better
go and get a bed. You will sleep bet
ter." His hand came out from its '
wrapping of newspapers and 'in a deep
and musical voice he said "I thank
you. friend." I have heard Just such
voices in "King Lear" and "Macbeth."
Here was a tragedian taking part in
no stage tragedy.. His was the real
thing.
Last Sunday night I stopped at the
corner of Twenty-fifth street and
Broadway and listened to a man who
for the past 20 years has stood there
twice a week, rain or shine, and given
a talk to those who are down and out.
When he has concluded his talk be
takes up a collection and furnishes a
bed to as many as the collection wiU
take care of. The cost of a bed Is
15 oents, and frequently he only col
lects enough to take care of a dozen
or score of men while half a hundred
or more may be In line. On cold,
rainy, drizzly nights the park bench
or a doorway Is no flowery bed of ease.
"For 17 years." he says, "I have served
In the Regular Army, working for the
United States Government, but 20 years
ago I enlisted in the army of the Lord
and I have been serving him ever
since." His gospel is one that drives
straight to the point. "Men, they call
you bums, hobos and vagi. You are
down and out. There is no nse of
trying to deceive yourselves. You
might as well look the truth In the
face, and yet in the sight of God you
are as well worth saving as those
well-dressed and respectable-looking
men on the outskirts of this crowd,
who you can see by their expression
are feeling how much better they are
than you. They are saying to them
selves: "They made their own. 'bed;
let them u in it. The fools brought
it on themselves, and it is useless to
try to help them." Suppose you did
bring It on yourselves that doesn't
relieve your present need. You're down
to hardpan. You have struck bedrock
and know that if you die tonight you
will go to a nameless grave In Pot
ter's field. It isn't a man's money
that will save him. He may lose it.
and if he doesn't It will do him no
good hereafter. It isn't his education,
for the records of our Pentacostal Res
cue Mission for Fallen Men show that
we have furnished beds and a 2-cent
cup of coffee to more graduates of
Princeton, Yale and Harvard than you
have any idea of. Go down to the
bread line on any Winter night and
you will find college graduates wait
ing their turn to get a free half-loaf.
The Important thing ts your character,
and whether you have let go all holds
and are drifting, or whether you are
Concluded on Page 7.)
this wars io what