As night comes on, the lower portion of Broadway begins to be deserted. But few persons are to be seen on the sidewalks, and the omnibuses and carriages have the roadway to themselves. By eight o'clock Broadway below Canal street is almost deserted, save in the immediate neighborhood of the Post Office. Gradually this region becomes silent also, and below Union Square but little of interest is to be seen. The true night-life of Broadway is to be witnessed chiefly between 23d and 34th streets.

From Union Square to 34th street the great thoroughfare is ablaze with the electric light, which illumines it with the radiance of day. Crowds throng the sidewalks; the lights of the omnibuses and carriages dart to and from along the roadway like myriads of fire-flies; the great hotels, the theatres and restaurants, send out their blaze of gas-lamps, and are alive with visitors. The crowd is out for pleasure at night, and many and varied are the forms which the pursuit of it takes.

Here is a family, father, mother and children, out for a stroll to see the sights they have witnessed a hundred times, and which never grow dull; there is a party of theatre-goers, bent on an evening of innocent amusement; here is a "gang of roughs," swaggering along the sidewalk and jostling all who come within their way; here a party of young bloods, out for a lark, are drawing upon themselves the keen glances of the stalwart policeman, as he slowly follows in their rear. All sorts of people are out, and the scene is enlivening beyond description. Moving rapidly through the throng, sometimes in couples, sometimes alone, and glancing swiftly and keenly at the men they pass, are a number of flashily-dressed women, generally young, but far from attractive. You would never mistake them for respectable women, and they do not intend that you shall.

They do not dare to stop and converse with men on the street, for the eyes of the police are upon them, and such a proceeding would be met with a sharp order to "move on." These are the "Street Walkers," one of the most degraded sections of the "Lost Sisterhood." The men of the city shun them, and their prey is the stranger. Should they succeed in attracting the attention of a victim, they dart off down the first side street, and wait for their dupes to join them. Woe to the man who follows after one of these creatures. The next step is to some of the low dives which still occupy too many of the cellars along Broadway. Here bad or drugged liquors steal away the senses of the luckless victim, and robbery, or even worse violence, too often ends the adventure. These women have gone so far down into the depths of sin, that they scruple at nothing which will bring them money.

The throng fills the street until a late hour of the night. Then the theatres pour out their audiences to join it, and for an hour or more the restaurants and cafes are filled to their utmost capacity. Then, as midnight comes on, the street becomes quieter and more deserted. The lights in the buildings are extinguished, and gradually upper Broadway becomes silent and deserted. New York has gone to bed; and Broadway enjoys a rest of a few hours, only to begin at daybreak a repetition of the scenes of the previous day.