DURING the summer of 1868 the reading public was startled with a series of well-written articles published in Packard's Monthly, and partially reprinted and commented upon by most of the papers, purporting to set forth the career of the "Wickpdest Man in New York." The attention of the city was thus called to the condition of society in Water street and its vicinity, and so profound was the conviction, in many thoughtful and pious minds, that something should be undertaken for this sin-blighted locality, that it resulted in a noon-day prayer-meeting, established in the dance-house of John Allen, and conducted with much fervor for a considerable period. Though the effort did not result in the conversion of a large number from the neighborhood, it considerably sobered many, and had an excellent effect upon Christians of all denominations who took part in the undertaking.

Water street contains a few wholesale business houses, conducted through the day by amiable gentlemen residing in other places, but tie resident population of the locality is perhaps the most depraved and infamous on the entire New York island. Murder and robbery have never been as frequent here as during the worst days of the Five Points, but for low groggeries, scandalous brothels, and dance-houses, where every sentiment of decency is ignored, and the whole populace reduced to the lowest scum of moral degradation, the locality has long been unrivaled. Sailors and roughs of the lowest order, whose means will not admit them to houses equally disreputable but higher up on the ladder, here assemble nightly to waste their money and lives in drink and frantic revelry. The dance-house girls, also, are the most ignorant and helpless of their class. Many of them, reared in the neighborhood, have little knowledge of anything better, and little compunction for a life of crime. Some of them have never seen the better parts of the city, attended school or church, or been in any manner reached by the ministrations of religion.

They are the slaves of the proprietor in whose miserable shanty they dwell. He claims as his property the miserable garments they wear, so that, when one attempts to escape from brutal treatment, she is not unfrequently arrested for theft, and thrown into prison.

It was in this slum of moral putrefaction, after the excitement of the noon-day meeting had subsided, and religious efforts in the locality had been mainly suspended, that the Rev. William H. Boole, a member of the New York East Conference, and pastor of one of the city churches, under the inspiration of "a profound and responsible conviction," opened this Home and refuge for fallen women. The founder believed that greater good would result from an institution founded in the midst of this sea of social crime than from one removed from the locality, because of the ready access afforded those for whose benefit it was opened, and the reformatory influence it would exert in the neighborhood. Like the ladies at the Five Points, he was enabled to seize upon one of the chief citadels of corruption in the locality.

The "Kit Burns Dog-Pit," rum, carousal, and brothel shop, had obtained a world-wide notoriety, the proprietor gathering lucre from the most brutal and corrupting expedients ever tolerated in a civilized town. The proprietor of this establishment, with no sympathy in the object of the mission, was strangely moved to offer his building for the moderate rent of one thousand dollars per annum, obligating himself to continue the lease for six years. The lease was at once taken, and the work of cleansing and remodeling the premises undertaken. The building is a four-story brick, twenty-five by thirty-four feet, with a rear extension which originally contained the "pit," but which has since been changed into a kitchen and several bath-rooms. On February 8, 1870, in presence of a vast concourse of people that crowded the building, the "pit," and the adjoining street, the Institution was solemnly dedicated by the Rev. Bishop Janes, the Rev. S. H. Tyng, G. W. Woodruff, S. W. King, and W. McAllister taking part in the exercises. The addresses contained many pungent utterances, and produced a profound impression. The Home was not formally opened for the reception of inmates until the 10th of March, 1870, and in a short time the applications for admission were so numerous that many were turned away for want of room to accommodate them.

In projecting the Institution, it was believed that some difficulty would be experienced in drawing these abandoned creatures into it, and it was proposed to hold evening meetings in the hall set apart for public worship, to which it was hoped they might be attracted, and so impressed with truth as to be led to seek refuge and aid in this Christian Home. But as more than could be admitted have from time to time presented themselves, without solicitation, no plans for reaching them have been necessary.

The internal management of the Home is under the direction of two resident matrons and a missionary, who are constantly employed in self-sacrificing labors of love, and who are heartily identified with the movement, receiving no stated salary, but trusting entirely to the unsolicited contributions of the friends of the cause for their supplies. The matrons have charge of the domestic department, direct the girls in their household duties, and conduct the religious meetings when held exclusively with the inmates of the Institution, in which they are assisted by Christian ladies from the city. The missionary, Mr. Henry M. Little, has charge of the Sabbath preaching, the daily and evening prayer-meetings held in the hall, and acts in concert with the matrons in the general administration of the Home. The duties of the day begin and end with prayer, in which all join.