Nor is
there a single gaming hell or house of ill-repute.' Through all the
workshops into which we pass, in whatever labour the men or women
may be occupied,--and the place is noted for its manufacturing
industry,--at whatever degree of heat or cold, strong drink is
unknown. Practically, we are in a total abstainers' town, and a man
seen intoxicated would be so avoided by the whole community, he would
have no peace to remain.
And, as smoking and drinking go largely together, as the two practices
were, indeed, original exchanges of social degradations between the
civilised man and the savage, the savage getting very much the worst
of the bargain, so the practices largely disappear together. Pipe and
glass, cigar and sherry-cobbler, like the Siamese twins, who could
only live connected, have both died out in our model city. Tobacco,
by far the most innocent partner of the firm, lived, as it perhaps
deserved to do, a little the longest; but it passed away, and the
tobacconist's counter, like the dram counter, has disappeared.
The streets of our city, though sufficiently filled with busy people,
are comparatively silent. The subways relieve the heavy traffic, and
the factories are all at short distances from the town, except those
in which the work that is carried on is silent and free from nuisance.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35