IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YORK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8421, 21 January 1899, Page 4

IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YORK.

New York City, the metropolis of the United Stales, is well worth a visit, as in and around it all the phases of the goahead Yankee style of living, of commerce, and of enterprise may easily be observed. " Greater New York," which now includes Brooklyn and several other smaller places within a radius of a few miles of the original New York City, is the second largest city in the world, both as to size and population— the latter being considerably over three millions. Approaching New York by steamer, the first thing that catches the eye is the large number of excessively tall buildings, otherwise " SKY SCK.\I'EKS. :> The sky-scraper stylo of building is purely American. The framing of these very high buildings is made of the best steel girders and small plates securely riveted and bolted together. The whole weights of the buildings are carried on strong steel columns, which in turn are built into the solid rock that lies under New York. The steel work is put together and built up a few storeys first, and then the masonry and brickwork are built in between the girders, which form the framing. When the buildings are finished there is not a trace of steel work to be seen, and unless one did not know it would scarcely be credited from an outside view that these buildings contain so much steel. The floors are all made of firepooof mateiial, and, excepting for decorativepurposes, very little wood is used at all. Some of these skyscrapers are thirty storeys in height, and one lately finished is thirty-five storeys in height. In spite of their (in many cases) immense size these buildings have a very pleasingand'gracefulappearauce. Mostly all the fronts are built in with a kind of grey marble, which looks and keep 1 ; very clean. Coming from London, with its dark and heavy smoky atmosphere, the clear air i.s a welcome surprise. As all the coal burned in New York is anthracite, which gives out no smoke, the atmosphere is always perfectly clear, and consequently the buildings do not get dirty. In Broadway (the principal street in the city) there are dozens of "sky scrapers," which look very imposing. The interiors of many of these buildings are got up in a very fine style, and thin sheets of marble are used to cover the walls. This marble is of various colors, and gives to the buildings a decidedly expensive appearance. Electric elevators shoot up to the tops of the buildings in a very short space of time, and in '"no time " one is conveyed up twenty-five or thirty storeys. The Yankee believes in making his elevators on the "quick and lively" style. In one "scraper in New York, which is thirty-two storeys in height, there are four elevators, and it is a common saying of those in this building that their elevators don't elevate you up, they just simply jerk you where you want to go. All office and'other fittings in these buildings are of the most substantial character, and everything looks as if it were built to stay for a thousand years. One of the finest " scrapers" in Broadway — the New York Life Insurance Company's buildingcost over 4,000,000d015. Nearly all the great New York daily papers have a " scraper "of their own. The world has a very high building, on the top of which there is a dome, from which a splendid view of the other " scrapers " of New York may be obtained. MAMMOTH >"i;\VSI'AI'i;i:S. The New York papers are great affairs of news and paper. On Sunday the issues of the World and the New York Herald are of enormous size, consisting of dozens of pages of advertisements, cartoons, pictures, and American stories. The price is 5 cents a copy, and one wonders where the news comes from with which to fill up these vast pages. Often a Sunday edition will consist of seventy-five pages. During the late war the papers vied with each other in telling the greatest "fibs," and in making up the latest untruthful reports. This is called "yellow journalism" in America. New York is tlie city of IMMENSE HOTELS. These palaces, for such they really are, are magnificently got up as regards their appointments. The size of some of them will scarcely he believed by anyone who has not seen them. The latest, the Waldorf-Astoria, is an immense building, and is run by a millionaire. It is said that only those possessing jjlenty of means can live at this hotel, but nevertheless it is always full. The appointments and furnishings are truly gorgeous, and the amount of money expended in building and equipping this hotel amounted to millions of dollars. There are over 1000 rooms under one roof, and quite an army of servants and cooks are employed in their respective duties. Everything of the very latest in American labor-saving machinery is used in this hotel — that is •where the machinery is applicable to any purpose for which it is required. The laundry alone is well worth seeing, and literally "clothes are washed by electricity," as all the latest drying and washing machines are run by electricity. Other immense hotels arc the Majestic, San Remo, Savoy, Netherlanrl, Plaza, etc. These, with many more, rank as first-class, but at the present time the WaldorfAstoria is the hotel of New York City. j MINOR HOTELS. Tho medium-class hotel is the one where a splendid "fill up," as a mealjn America is termed, may be obtained. For 5 cents a glass of beer may be procured, and the customer has the choice of a splendid variety of eatables. The "free lunch" of the colonies is not in it with the free lunches of New York and Chicago. The beer is always iced, and nearly all drinks obtained in New York and other largecities have a liberal quantity of ice mixed up with them. The ice used in New York is cut out of the river Hudson, when the latter is frozen in winter, and stored in great icehouses on the shore. Fiom here it is conveyed to the city by rail and barge. In summer the quantity of ice used in the city is truly enormous.

HOW TUB YANKED MEALS.

To Britishers the American customs are somewhat peculiar, and as the American generally follows his own inclinations and styles, which are totally different from anybody else's, the originality displayed in them is all the more noticeable. At these hotels oysters are largely consumed. When one wants oysters a layer of crushed ice is spread on a plate, anil the oysters opened, and in the half shell are placed on the ice ; cabbage, finely cut up, is served I with the oysters, which are eaten with lemon juice and mustard as a flavoring. In a restaurant meat is served on a plate in the usual manner, and all vegetables, etc., are put in snmll dishes around the plate. Each dish contains a different variety of vegetable ; consequently, if one is fond of many vegetables, quite an array of small dishes is soon collected on the table. The Americans are great on pies of all varieties, and for 10 cents a cup of coffee and a large piece of pie may be bought, which will constitute a good" fill up." New Yorkers being a go-ahead people, everybody appeal s'lo be in a hurry when walking in that city, and when anyone is doing business it is best to state precisely what is wanted, and waste no time. TUB IXDIVIDIWI, MIST till. Some of the great blores are well worth seeing. Everything imaginable almost may be purchaser! at these stotct, which are stupendous in si/.c, at is Ihe amount ol stocks they carry. In some of them a vast business is done, and crow's of people are going in and out all day. Automatic machines for taking, counting, and registering the cash are on every cannier, and the amouiit of work these machines, in their particular line, do is wnndciful and astonishing These stores arc gradually getting all the business, and the individual in a particular branch of business \< being slowly but surclv squeezed out, by the competition from them. .Scigcll, Cooper, and Co. havii vast stores at Chnago and New York, and the interior of either of them is like a town in itself. CAISI.K TKAMf I.VI.KVWIU'.KI.. Broadway runs for about eleven miles, and is traversed by cable li.mis, uhieh follow each other in very rapid succession, and at a high rate of speed ; but in many parts of the city horse ears are still in use. The fare is 0 cents all round. One may go 100 yards or I'J miles lor ,"> cents. The electric light is in evidence everywhere, and the streets at night are biilli.iutly lighted, while the trallic goe? on inteiruptedly till a late horn. Slow -going Englishmen on their i i t - 1 ariival in New York often iuquiie, "Do Xcv, Yorkcis ever sleep ':"' .MlMiu M \tti;i;s. The flower shops in the city .ire ,-plcndidly got up, and the auangenient and display of lloweis aie the cause of much admiration. The Americans aie gieat lovers of flowers, and in then 1 simps flowers of all kinds are made up into Wieaths, bouquets, and other de\ v c.-, and displayed with the aid of the elcui ie light. "Candy stores" (sweet shops) make, great displays of all sorts of candy. The Amci icaus are masters of the ait of making all kinds of chocolates, v cs, and contei tionei \ . 11l the drug stores iced drinks of all kinds are served at .■> cents and 10 cents .1 glass, and various other concoction* 111 ilie iced walcr hue may bo had at fixed pni- . T,he iutcri'jib of vjirn; vi t!ie "up toiwi

rug stores arc beautifully got up with j jplions, pump-, etc., mounted in silver, nil plate gla<-> all around the store. Tin 1 sew York barber is an institution. A i\ll Yankee shave at. '_'■"> cents is a treat, .s the operator take.-, ;'. lnii^c time, ami eaves tile fa' e peifrrlh smooth, anil vilhoul tlie lea--t feeling of uiil.itioii. t lot -water i-loUh are ,i]iplieil to the face, t mil after a "real good up town shave' 1 « ho New Yoikoi generally admits lie feds i 'clean and til." The "slime" chairs aie dso worthy of notice. An American does !■! Kit Let hi. 1 -, hoots t leaneil ; lv: gets .1 'shine.'' liont s, if put out-ide ol your icdroom door in a hotel, are not cleaned. You have (o get your '-lime yourself — that s, boots are cleaned on vmr feet, and you [i.i v foi that at tioiu ."> to 10 cents an iperation. Every hotel keeps a " shine ■.hop anil cluiis," and also a " shavei and cutter shop. " Tlie shine chairs are geno[•allv kept by nigger boys. j;r,i:v.vr]:i> ian.Ko.in. Thee r.iilioads certainly disfigure the EtiectS and must in many eases have caused greal denunciation in value to some properties. They are inn by the Manhattan Kliltoad Coin[iany. These, r.iilriuds travcisc the three, large avenue-i of New York— viz., Third, Sixth, and Ninth. The road is carried on a track, whiili in turn is carried on pillars and supports at various heights above the road. There are two " tracks," one at- each .side of the avenue in some parts ; at others there are two tracks side by side down the centre of the avenue. There are stopping places about every 'i")Oyds, which are reached from the road by stair?. The fare by the elevated is i) cents any distance. Towards the upper end of New York the elevated tracks rise very high, and in some cases are over Qafl above the roadway. All the Ir.iflic pissing over the roada below goes on as usual ; there is no interruption, and nothing in Ihe way of a block ever takes, place. These tracks aie used about twenty-one hours each day, so that tlie elevateds are almost continually going. Anyone living ncdroneof tiio " elevateds " takes some time to get used to the noise at. first, as the locomotives make a terrible noise. The appearance of the avenues is certainly spoiled by these "elevateds," but they save n congestion of pedestrian traffic, in the street's and roads below. About 700,000 passengers are carried every day on the elevateds, and the trains follow each other in very quick succession. About S.'M a.m. thousands of otliee people arrive, and it is then that the use of the elevateds is seen. It is proposed to substitute "electric traction" for the steam locomotives, and when this is done the noise will be done away with. SPEEDY KAILWAY TRAVEL. There is only one railroad into New York City, and this one is the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company. From :its depot the famous fast trains of America start. After leaving | Now York, the track goes alongside the Hudson river to Albany, and thence to Chicago. On this company's track the trains often go over siNty miles an hour. To Chicago from New' Y^ork is over 1000 miles, and the train often does it in 22 hours. Everything that can conduce to the comiort of passengers is in the ears, and even on the very long journeys which prevail so much in America the time employed in doing them seems to slip by quickly. A COSMOPOLITAN' CITY. The cast side of New York is the poor .side of the city. In this part are congregated all nationalities ; in fact, almost every racoon the face of the earth is represented here. The famous " liowry "is on the east side, and it is a notorious place for " toughs "—a term for a worse speeiman of a man by a long way than the worst, colonial larrikin. Many shootings and stabbings take place on the Bowry, and it gets a bad name. But during the day everything is quiet, and the only noises to be heard are rows in "drinking saloons" and the music of "dime museums." Not far from the Uuwry is Chinatown. Tlie Chinamen have established themselves very strongly in New York, chiefly around Mott street, and go in for all sorts of commercial enterprises. Many persons alfirm that it is not safe to go through Chinatown at any time, and more especially at night, as in this quarter all the scum of New York resides; but Chinatown (.locs not seem to be any worse than many other parts, and as a rule no disturbance lakes place in the streets. The slums of New York are in the east side. Crowds of children, mostly Italians, play about the streets, but as these streets are fairly wide there is not the dirt and filth to be seen here which is generally noticed in other cities. A NOVEL EXTKIUMENT. New Y'oik has its hotels for millionaires and men of great wealth, but it also has an immense hotel for the working man. The Hotel Mills, in Bleeeker street, is on a gigantic scale, and cost, it is said, over l,Uoo,(inodols. Jlr Mills, a banker in New York, built it, not for charity, but to pay its way, and also allow linn interest on his outluj' of capital. This hotel is eleven storeys high, and is built after the best style, with marble walls and staircases, electric lights and elevators, maible and stone baths, and every modern convenience. There are reading, smoking, and billiard rooms, and papers and books from all parts of the world aie kept for the use of the guests. A room may be secured for 20 cents a night, and n good meal for 10 cents and upwards. Transient guests are taken in at the same rates (day by day boarders are called transient guests). This experiment by a wealthy man is being watched closely in Now York, is, if it is a success, many more such hotels will be built. Everything in this Hotel Mills is of the best quality, but all elaborate, unnecessary fittings are dispensed with. The food is well cooked and served, and everything is kept scrupulously clean, and the charges arc made within the vouch of any tradesman. Thehotel was builtto meet therequirements of the " respectable self-respecting working man of New York," who in many cases hud no choice between a "saloon" and a cheap and nasty "doss house." Over SOO rooms, it is said, are contained in the hotel, and from the first few months' working everything promise^ well, as far as the venture becoming a paying one is concerned. Flats are greatly in vogue in New York, uml long streets of six and eight-storyed red brick buildings may be seen, and which contain hundreds of families living on the "flat system."

\viii;ki: .millionaires con(;bi:<;ate

In striking contrast to the "flats" of the city, and away towards the fine Central Park, is Fifth Avenue, where a great many of America's millionaires live. Some of the houses are, splendid specimens of architecture, but the majority of them un> built of a brown sandstone, which soon assume* a dirty appearance. There are not the bustle, excitement, nor stir about the aristocratic part of New York that there are about, the West End of London. Madison Avenue is another aristocratic 'quarter, and leads into .Madison Square Gardens, where the great American horse show is held every year. Central Park is a fine ripen .space, with good driving roads, pretty gardens, ami plenty of trees. It is much frcquentud by those driving carriages, and up to a certain hour in the day cyclists may ride all over and about it. A COIU'AKI.soW Xew 01k is a line city to spend a few days in, bul there ale not* the sights to be seen such .is a'e in London. The streets of Xew York, being so ic.;ular, wide, and straight, do not admit of being crowded, unless by a ver\ large concourse of people, and, eompand with London, the sheet.-, as far as people aie enuecined, seem to be Hiiiet. 'lilt: RAILWAY hi. l Ill's. Thru" beiui: only one i.iilio.id dcp.'.t into the cit\, the lailrnnds trom the south have had to make .ler-ey City their termini, lielwecu Xew Yolk and .Icisey City there is a stretch of about .1 mile of deep water, and pass, ugcr.s are conveyed across 111 steamboats, Land is too valuable and aKo too scare? in Xew York to admit of the large raihuad companies getting sites for depots ; consequently, with the exception ot the Xew York Central Company, all tile depots ate a lout; wa\ fiom the i ity piopci. The iatlnv.,l depots aiound Xew York ale l.ugc and .111 \ structures, but there is an jli-nnc of the bustle and excitement so presatenl in .tnd about a London lailw.iy station. ---Aiidiew L. Fogu in Diiiiedin Star.