NEW YORK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3168, 2 December 1914, Page 78

NEW YORK.

THE GREAT RIVAL OF LONDON. SKY SCRAPERS AND NIGHT SIGNS. (Specially Written for the Otago W itness.) By. Geo. F. l.vous. Americans are proud oi many things in their country. Now York is undoubtedly a marvel ot which they are justly proud. If it does show occas.onai signs of developing into a monster beyond all human control, the average American does not worry about that. Tile most impressive land approach to the vast city is down the Hudson and Harlem Rivers, by the New York Central railroad. That road takes you through a dozen miles of Greater New 'York before you reach the imposing terminal station stretching from 42nd to 44th streets in the very heart of the city. The railway hno is hemmed in all the way by huge buildings, but glimpses down the cross streets, sometimes showing a farspreading park, servo to give a fair idea of the extent of New York. The Central Terminal itself is one of the wonders of the city, though the neighbouring now Pennsylvania Terminal, with its live or six levels of platforms, one below the other, gives the impression of being even more bewildoringly extensive. On the vast blue dome that covers the Central waiting room all the signs of the zodiac are picked out in white, and at night when the "stare” are lighted with electric globes the effect is obtained of peering into the depths of the open sky. rile mot approach to New York, however, is not by land at all, but by sea. It is only from the water that that marvellous sky line of cloud-piercing buddings can bo properly seen. The water-front of the southern point of Manhattan island is, indeed, one of the eights of the world. Yet it is only in very recent years that the enormous congestion of population and oi commerce on that narrow point has forced tho men who must at all hazards have room to tho discovery that the only room available must be sought for perpendicularly. So this invisible irresistible pressure—is it fair to name it " tho greed of gain?”—has squeezed the buildings up and up and up, till now one of them, tor tho time being, at least, monarch of them all, looks down on the rest, and on land and ocean for scores of miles around from a height of just over 792 ft. Tho very top of St. Paul’s cross . is almost half that height. Thirteen years ago there were 65 office buildings on Lower Manhattan, each exceeding 200 ft_ in height. Now it would almost seem easier to count the office buildings there that do not exceed 200 ft. A few years ago the famous Singer building, 612 ft in height, stood out above all competitors. Now, from the observation platform of tho W 00l worth building—for that is the name of the reigning monarch—7soft above the Broadway pavement, it is no easy matter to pick out tho Singer tower from tho surrounding mass of giant sky-scrapers. The mention of a simple experiment may convey an idea of how these buildings look from tho street. Broadway, as its name indicates, is a broad thoroughfare. Back up against a wall on one side of Broadway and start to count the storeys in the square building directly opposite you. Ten, 15, 20, 25, 30! Why do you stop? Because at that height the angle lias become too acute for you to be able to distinguish one storey from another. You are too close to see the top part of the building distinctly, but if you are curious enough to search for a side view of it at a quarter of a mile distance you will find that it has about 40 storeys. The Woolworth building deserves a whole chapter to itself. Its proprietors set out in true Yankee fashion to build the greatest business building on the earth, and assuredly they have succeeded. It’s 60 storeys include 27 acres of rentable office space, and about 13 acres more are taken up with elevators and corridors. Unlike other sky-scrapers it is anything but hideous. Its graceful up-reach-ing tower gives it a cathedral-like appearance, and as it bursts full on the view from the far corner of C.ty Hall Park the building is positively awe-inspiring. The entrance hall is a magnificent piece of rich, elaborate ornamentation, and in the basement are Turkish baths, swimming baths, and many other luxuries provided for lessees of offices in the building. It naturally occurs to one to think of. tho upp<n - storeys in such a place as rather inaccessible, and to wonder about the loss of time in getting up and down. But pay your half-dollar and go up yourself. From the eight-amj-twenty lifts that await your pleasure, select one of the two marked" “ Observation lilt.” Then take out your watch as it starts, and you will find—unless there has been a stop—that the car has landed you at tho fifty-fourth storey in just tho same number of seconds. Or it may stop to pick up a passenger on the way, and still land you there in 60 seconds. At the fifty-fourth storey passengers must change into another lift, which takes them to tho fifty-eighth floor. Even then they arc hot at the very top, but that is as high as visitors are allowed to go. Broadway pavement is just 750 ft below, and on every side stretches such a view as is not to bo seen elsewhere in the world. Within 20 miles live six and a-half millions of people —a concourse of peoples and nations and kindreds and tongues the like of which has never before menaced and perplexed the government of a groat city. On a clear day the great Atlantic liners may bo seen far out in the ocean, and so effective arc the methods of smoko consumption in use in the city that the view is rarely interfered with by smoke at all. Close at hand on either side lie tho Hudson and East Rivers, so crowded with craft of every size and description as to make collisions appear inevitable. No wonder these waterways are crowded, when they have to help to bear abroad more than a third of tho total exports of the United States —cargoes valued at an incredible number of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Yet there is no lack of berthing accommodation, for Now York can boast a water frontage of no less than 341 miles—a figure that must mako even tho wonderful Sydney Harbour hide its diminished head. One of the most strikingly distinctive features of Now York is the cosmopolitan character of its population. /Through tho immigration station at Ellis Island the newcomers pour at tho rate of something like a million a year, and a very large proportion of these got no further than Now York. Most of them come from Europe, and especially Italy, but there is no country under heaven that is not largely represented in that living torrent. Americans are considerably in the minority in their own

greatest city. The number of Jews alone living in their particular quarter of Manhattan is estimated to be little short of a million. The city proper, which covers an area of 327 square miles, has five main divisions Richmond, an island 10 or 12 miles long, lying to the south-west of Manhattan; Brooklyn, across the East River and to the south; Queens, to the north-east of Brooklyn; the Bronx, across the Harlem Elver and north from Manhattan ; and Manhattan Island itself, the central principal borough, smallest in area of the five, btit containing in its 22 square miles a population of over two and a-half millions. The total population of the five boroughs was officially estimated at 5,333,000 last July, some two millions below London’s total yet, but steadily overhauling the world’s metropolis. Jersey City, across the Hudson to the west, with its 300.C00 people, is not counted in Now York. The figures above indicate the frightful crowding that exists on Manhattan. In many of the tenement blocks on the east side there are over 1000 people to the acre. The transport problems created by this enormous population have been dealt with w;th consp.cuous success. The experience of Old World Cities has been turned to excellent account, and many grave difficulties are being cleverly avoided. Huge manv-storeyed bridges span the East River, and numerous long tunnels penetrate beneath it and beneath the waters of the Hudson to the west. Swift, smooth electric trams run the length of every avenue and down a great number of the cross streets. The elevated railroads offer prompt and easy means of communication with ail parts of the city, but the greatest triumph of all is the New York underground system, which runs from almost the northern extremity of the Bronx right down the whole length of Manhattan, and then crosses under the East River to penetrate for several miles into the heart of Brooklyn. The numerous underground stations are never free from the sound of the rush and roar of trains suddenly appearing and disappearing again as swdttly down the lon<T electric-hghted white-tiled tunnels. Some of the trains are “locals,” and stop at every station. Others are expresses, and stop only at principal stations, every two miles or so. These expresses will cover a distance of two miles in three minutes, from start to stop. The stranger who fails to keep a sharp look-out is almost sure to find himself several miles past his destination. A five-cent faro is universal here, as on the trams and elevated railroads. The underground trains are clean and fresh, and always easy to find, so that altogether there is some excuse for the New Yorker who exhausts his vocabulary of sarcasm on first making the acquaintance of the London underground. Occupying the centre of Manhattan is the Central Bark —840 acres of flowers and trees and water and green sward, without which life in the city would be almost insupportable. In the freshness of spring it is delightful to see the eagerness with which the freedom of the park is enjoyed by thousands of children and adults. Among the sheets of water in it is the new retaining reservoir, with a capacity of one thousand million gallons. The fact that it stretches from 59th to 110th Streets indicates that it is two miics and a-half in length for in New York 10 streets go to the half-mile—a very convenient - arrangement for judging distance. Near the middle of the park, and fronting Fifth avenue, are the Metropolitan Museum and Art Galleries. Here the visitor will, according to his nationality, be pained or proud to see the enormous wealth of paintings and other art treasures gathered from the Old World, chiefly through the munificence of the late Mr Pierpont Morgan, The Egyptian antiquities are worth weeks of study in themselves, and in the picture galleries scarcely a single famous “ old master ” is unrepresented. Everybody who has heard of Now York has heard of the night signs of Broadway. The night signs of New York, it may be said, are by no means confined to Broadway, but may bo seen to almost equal advantage in a score of other streets. Unfortunately they belong to the numerous class of things that must be seen to be appreciated. No words can hope to reproduce the effect of the lights themselves, though it is possible to say something in the way of description. The most notable signs take the form of moving pictures. Affixed to the tops of buildings, a score or more storeys high, they are visible, and even legible, for miles. They are perhaps seen at their best near the Times building, at the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Amid the blaze of changing lights, stretching in all directions, the eye may be caught by a great red circle rolling slowly along against the background of the sky. It comes to a halt, and is immediately followed by another, which rolls along till it reaches the first. This is repeated till there is a row of five or six red circles. Then suddenly, in the centre of the first, appears the letter—let us say “ P.” Then comes “E,” then “A,” till the name of some familiar advertiser is fully spelt out. In a short time, the letters and circles gradually disappear as they had come, and soon the process begins all over again. The devices of this mature are innumerable. Some have the Star and Stripes picked out in electric lights, flickering so as to represent perfectly the fluttering of the flag in the breeze. Motor car tyres are advertised by a huge spinning tyre throwing up electric dust, while in the centre appear and disappear the name of the advertiser and pithy mottoes commending the tyres. One of the most elaborate of all the signs represents a woman seated, working a sowing machine. A kitten gets up on to the machine, plays with the thread, becomes entangled in it, and eventually falls back to the chair from which it has sprung. Then the story—one might almost say picture—• begins again. A very interesting type of dining room to bo found in several places in New York is known as the Automat. In appearance it is not unlike a large square post office box lobby. All round the walls are little boxes with glass fronts grouped under such headings as ‘Breads,” “Fruits,” “Meats,” “ Soups.” You study the sub-headings beside the boxes till you discover something you want. Then drop a nickel, or possibly two, in the adjoining slot, turn the handle, and The door opens, enabling you to help \ourself to the dish you have chosen. Having comfortably filled your little tray for 15° or 20 cents, you march off to an unoccupied table to enjoy yourself far from thought of waiters and lips. Drinks are obtained on the same principle by putting a cuip or a tumbler under a tap. dropping in a nickel and turning the handle. Now York, from its size, if for no other reason, seems naturally to invito comparison with London. Their characteristic differences may bo summed up in a sentence. They are the differences between youth and maturity. London lias the solidity, the wisdom. the profundity of ago. Now York has the restlessness, the superficiality, the

tremendous energy of youth. Its wide, regular, orderly thoroughfares certainly m ake Now York a much easier city to get about in, and much loss interesting. If to facilitate business were the only object of life, Now York would be an ideal city. Whatever residents may think, from a tourist’s point of view New York is unhappy in the possession of no history. That is why it is possible to see mast cf the sights of New York in three days, while those of London are hardly exhausted in three years.