IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YORK CITY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17865, 5 June 1926, Page 1

IMPRESSIONS OF NEW YORK CITY.

ELEVATORS, ICE-WATER, AND TEN-CENT STORES.

(BY

J. S. WEARN.

r (III.). Saturday afternoon is perhaps the best time to study shopping conditions | in New York City, for it is then that the cosmopolitan population employed » in the warehouses and factories is at liberty to go forth on a shopping expedition. Most factories, and many offices \ close all day Saturday, and carpenters, stonemasons and other like trades also call it a week on Friday night. On the other hand, all stores and shops are wide open—very wide—for it is on this day that there is not sufficient stores to accommodate the huge army of shoppers. Among the greatest institutions in New York City are the Ten Cent Stores. The floor space of one store covers well over an acre, and every one of the thousands of items is either ten or five cents (5d or These stores are the Mecca for the poorer classes of the pop ulation. At Christmas-time thousands of poor young hearts are gladdened by the presents which are bought for them by parents who could not afford to purchase from the more expensive stores. There are several department stores employing up to 10,000 assistants in the one building. Each store has its own information bureau, as without this it would be impossible for the stranger to find the different departments. Several uniformed policemen in the service of the store are continuously patrolling the various floors—their duties being obvious. Escalators, or moving stairways, take the buyers to the floors they wish to visit. These escalators present a peculiar sight, inasmuch as the people do not climb as in an ordinary stairway—but just stand still—and are elevated to the floor above, where another escalator takes them still higher if they wish to go. Whole batteries of elevators are also conveying visitors to and from the different departments in the upper stories. There may be as many as twenty elevators in the one building, each controlled by one uniformed attendant, who in turn, is under the supervision of the elevator dispatcher—-a very important man in a very imposing uniform. No elevator is allowed to start on its upward journey without being signalled to do so bv the dispatcher. In most of the down-town buildings—in the skyscraper district—both local and express elevators are in use. If the passenger requires a Jong ride up to the top of a skyscraper he should take a local. A journey up to, say, the 50th floor and return to the ground floor will take about 20 minutes, whereas the express will cover the same vertical distance in a few seconds. .. A ® tr ®! l S, er to York is always spotted by the elevator attendant. tor the reason that immediately the upward trip is commenced the stranger sags at the knees and assumes almost a kneeling attitude, this peculiar position being brought about bv the sudden acceleration upwards. The descent is the reverse, for when the downward “drop” starts you seem for a moment to lose the floor. When ascending or descending in these high biuldmgs, there is a very noticeable difference in air pressure, and as the lower floors are reached the compressed air m the elevator shaft makes its way up the sides of the elevator with a roar like escaping steam. To-day the Wool worth Building is the highest achievement in skyscrapers. It is fifty-five stories high, and rises to a height of 793 feet from the earth, and contained in the foundation 5® 5 basement as large as the average , * s t^ie highest inhabited building in the world, and cost over £3,000,000 to build. The eighteen elevators in this building are worked by women, who wear white gloves and a smart uniform. Visitors are allowed to view the city from the 55th storey, but before entering the observation tower, all umbrellas, walking sticks, cameras, etc., are taken charge of by a special attendant. Tints has been brought about by the fact that a camera once dropped to the street below, instantly killing a pedestrian. Although the highest, the Woolis not by any means the largest building in New York, this distinction being claimed by the Hudson Terminal Buildings, which is a twin structure, and forms the largest office building in the world. It has accommodation for 20,000 office workers. The Equitable Building ranks a good second. The price of land in the skyscraper district varies from one to two hundred pounds a square foot, which to the laymar seems comparatively cheap. When a fire occurs in the top storeys in thes* high buildings, it is of course impossible to direct a stream of water far enough to be effective, consequently each floor has its own fire fighting ap pliances. On an alarm being given, firemen enter the building, take elevators up to the scene of the outbreak and work with the plant already installed for their use. The hundreds of offices in this building have iced water in large four gallon Winchester bottles delivered each morning—winter and summer. The iced water is syphoned out into paper cups which are discarded immediately after being used. Iced water is essential to the New Yorker, as the high temperature in which he works—and which he loves—is responsible for nature demanding artificial means for reducing the temperature of the body tits normal condition. In hotels an*, restaurants, iced water is placed Jt»»; fore you whether required or not—immediately you take your seat—and i strange to say, is never charged for. It is apparently as essential as the very meal itself. I have seen paLons brushing the snow from their coats with one hand, and holding a glass cf iced water with the other. If you require a super fresh meal in a sea shop (fish shop) you may select a live fish, from others that are swimming about in a tank, and have It cooked to your liking. In their manner of eating and the food they eat, New Yorkers are totally different from the English. Their menu cards present rows and rows of strange names—all fancy dishes. It is almost impossible to obtain a typically English meal in New Y ork.