AMERICAN LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5738, 6 November 1905, Page 2

AMERICAN LETTER.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) NEW YORK. September 16. Tho summer being now over N ew York it is gratifying to find that an other business year has begun with every assurance of prosperity and marked confidence in the future. When the exchange brokers, according to an annual custom, put the ban upon straw hats on September 15th. it. is not without cause that the autumn is regarded as haying arrived. The weather records show that until that date there is no certainty of being free from weather as hot ana oppressive as that of any part of summei, but there is no record of au 3 ; intense gammer heat after September loth. J-he days may be warm, but seldom above 80, and then only for an hour or two hut tho nights are invariably coo!. Noi will tho mercury soar again until the following May. It is the time of the year when strangers flock to the city for vacation and shopping when everybody, is getting home again from abroad and natuially stays a few days in New York, and when the offices of the great merchants and concerns that “do things” are again become active with business interests. Naturally, therefore, the theatres find the early autumn their most prosperous time of year, for, besides - the readiness of people' to go to n show, the season being yet too young for the inception or programmes of social engagements, and the floating population being so Jarge, the opening of another theatrical season witnesses the production of new dramas and the advent or fresh faces upon the siege that prove additional attractions. These original productions are in themselves often worth travelling far to see, and as, after a year or two of success here, as in London, they are sent out “on tho road 11 to tho uttermost parts of the earth, it is natural that interest in them should bo forestalled by widespread notices. So fully descriptive and critical are the articles upon such mattors in tho daily and theatrical publications which meet your notice, however, that they need not require space in this letter The success of the playhouses at present is merely mentioned aa another evidence of general prosperity, the samo aa the crowded state of the restaurants and tho throngs of people on tho streets compared with those one Ineets in July or August. In the matter of crowds, a most interesting occasion was that of Labour Day, which always falls upon the first Monday in September, and is generally observed in this country and Canada as a holiday. Why it was devised is a conundrum, except upon the same idea as the old Greeks erected a statue "to the unknown god.” It is possible that some canny legislators bethought themselves that an extra day of grace upon notes maturing the first of September would be valuable in their own interests, and so as Monday is not always the best day to collect funds, the holiday at this time of the year "comes in handy.” At all events, it is the special day upon which labourers cease from their labours, or rather fail to resume those from which they ceased on the Saturday or Friday previous, and aa it is the occasion of the special rush to get home, the transportation facilities in every direction are taxed to their utmost. X went up to 42nd street on the evening of Labour Day to see how much of a crowd there was—and saw it, or some of it. I had never seen in any other city of the world such a crowd of people, coming and going with all imaginable varieties of hand baggage and children. Besides pedestrians, struggling as best they could, the street was jammed with cabs and vehicles of every description, for it is at Forty-second street that the Grand Central depot stands, the greatest railway station of the metropolis. The throng was so great that people pressed and pushed to get into the station as well as out, and those who were not on Hand in the street at least an hour before the departure of their trains stood great chances of missing them. As an_ illustration of tho crowds upon incoming trains, one due from Boston at 3 p.ra. was posted as follows:—"First section will arrive at 5.30, second section 7.45, third section 9.30." This means that in addition to all the passenger traffic which one locomotive conld draw, there were two other trains equally aa great, and so many trains were on the road that all were delayed. It was calculated subsequently that fully 300,000 passengers arrived at and departed from the Grand Central in that day. The mountains of baggage required several days to distribute. It speaks well for the railroads that there were no accidents. The confidence of a prosperous winter is evidenced in the shipping line by a better demand for tonnage than has characterised the market for many months. In grain, cotton, and other staples, the export is so assured that charters have been effected and berth space booted far in advance, while in the West India and South American trades the demand is equally satisfactory. A notable feature of the decline of American shinping is the retirement and loss of several of the biggest “wind jammers” under tho flag. The "Manuel Llagnne" is to become a barge or lighter, the Roanoke, A. G, Hopes, and Spartan

arc lost, and there are no others building to take their places. The exports aud iuir-orts of the country are therefore chiefly to be carried by foreign bottoms, and there is no immediate prospect of any legislation which will stimulate a change in this respect. Exports to South Africa continue lively, and although there Is now no longer opposition to “the ring" of British liners, the steamers are sailing on schedule time chock-a-block with cargo. I am advised that exports to Xew Zealand also promise to be greater than ever before. That, interesting experiment of Bishop Potter’s to run a church saloon in this city has stopped, it was known as the “Subway Tavern,” and the principle was that if men must have liquor they should bo' supplied with tho best at a minimum of cost. The tavern did not succeed in attracting any more business than any other tavern, and lias been abandoned by its backers as a failure. Kecent life in this city has not been characterised by any very thrilling sensations of widespread interest. There have been the normal number of suicides, accidents, and business developments. Tho one thing notable about the summer vacation seemed to be tho increased demand for out-of-town accommodations, for hotels, boardinghouses, and cottages have been so looked for, that all accommodation has been at a premium. It does not seem to be any question of cost, but the man who wants i& good investment need only name his figures for big interest on his money if able to supply suburban sojourning facilities in pleasant spots anywhere within a day’s journey of the city. The trend of summer travel is so steadily increasing that there is no prospect of tho supply exceeding the demand for accommodation.

In Canada as well as tho United States tile general condition of prosperity seems evident. Railway construction, immigration and progress in all lines seems to characterise all the provinces. It is stated that so good is the demand in Canada for general workers that there is difficulty in securing the necessary number of enlistments for the new regiments necessary to garrison Halifax and Hsuuimalt, but this deficiency will be supplied by former soldiers from other British forces.