New York by sunlight and gaslight - a work descriptive of the great American metropolis; its high and low life; its splendors and miseries; its virtu (1882) (14779797882)

Identifier: newyorkbysunligh00mcca_1 (find matches)
Title: New York by sunlight and gaslight : a work descriptive of the great American metropolis ; its high and low life; its splendors and miseries; its virtu
Year: 1882 (1880s)
Authors: McCabe, James D., 1842-1883.
Subjects:
Publisher: New York : Union Publishing House
Contributing Library: Columbia University Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: The Durst Organization



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ry. Some of it thewretched people who endure it have, no doubt, broughtupon themselves by drink, by idleness, or by otherfaults, but a large majority are simply unfortunate.Their poverty has come upon them through no faultof their own ; they struggle bravely against it, andwould better their condition if they could only findwork. They are held down by an iron hand, however,and vainly endeavor to rise out of their misery. Theydwell in wretched tenement houses, in the cellars ofthe buildings in the more thickly populated parts ofthe city, and in the shanties in the unsettled regionslying west of the Central Park. A few families, evenin the midst of their sufferings, manage to keep theirpoor quarters clean and neat, but the majority live insqualor and filth. But litde furniture is to be seen inthe rooms of the poor. Everything that can bringmoney finds its way to the pawnshops for the meansto buy food. Many of these wretched homes havebeen stripped of all their contents for this purpose.
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THE HOMES OF THE POOR. 583 A cooklng-stove sometimes constitutes the only articleof furniture in a room, and the inmates sleep upon pal-lets on the floor. Not a chair or table is to be seen.Often there is no stove, and the only food that passesthe lips of the occupants of these rooms is what isgiven to them in charity. The.inmates of these wretched homes are oftenfamilies who have seen better days. Once the husbandand father could give those dependent upon him acomfortable home, and provide at least the necessariesof life. But sickness came upon him, or death tookhim, and the little family was deprived of his support.In vain the mother sought to procure work to keepher children in comfort. What work she could pro-cure was at intervals, and the little she earned barelysufficed to keep a roof over their heads. Little bylittle they sank lower, until poverty in its worst formsettled upon them. The city is full of such cases, andthe Missionaries whose labors among the poor bringthem in con