Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1906 — LETTER FROM THE “OLD MAN" [ARTICLE]

LETTER FROM THE “OLD MAN"

Visits the Metropolis and Tells of Its Greatness. NUMBER THREE. The distance from Albany to New York City is 145 miles, and the one way fare by boat is $2; for the round trip $3.50. I went down via the Day Line steamer “New York,” leaving Albany at 8:30 a.m., and arriving in New York at the Desbrosses street pier at 6p. m This boat and her sister boat “Albany,” is a large, handsomely equipped steamer and the trip is a delightful one. The upper Hudson is rather commonplace and uninteresting, the banks being low and the scenery uninviting. After passing the city of Hudson, however, the river view begins to improve and we come in sight of the Catskills, rearing their tall peaks dotted with, hotels. Our next stop is at Kingston Point, a pretty place and apparently a picnic resort of considerable note. Fifty minutes more and we stop at Poughkeepsie, a pretty city of considerable size and connecting Highland on the west bank with a suspension bridge said to be one of the highest and largest ever erected. Our next stop is at Newburgh, and the scenery here is indeed beautiful. Away up on a high mountain peak we see hotels and summer resorts, and down the face of the mountain is a cleared space and an inclined railway is in operation, connecting the mountain resorts with the town of Newburgh at the base. Leaving Newburgh, with many a backward glance at the beautiful mountain scenery, we soon come in sight of West Point, where the government’s famous military training school is located, 50 miles from New York. Thence for nearly two hours we wind around between the high hills of the historic Hudson and stop at the city of Yonkers, 17 miles from the metropolis, and from which point on into the city the scenery is simply grand. All along the east bank of the river we see the fine summer homes of the millionaires who drive the republican elephant—these are all along the Hudson hut are more numerous here. On the west rise the famous palisades of the Hudson,and finally we arrive in New York harbor, where we see sailing craft of every description, from thesmall sailing vessel to the big U. 8. and foreign gunboats (two French gunboats were anchored there) and the great ocean greyhounds, some of which various lines we see going out toward the broad Atlantic while others are coming in. Ferry boats and tugs are going in every direction, and the scene is a busy one. The Hudson river is the most historic stream in America, and the scenery along its course, it is claimed, is unsurpassed by any river in the world. It is pre-emi-nently famed among the rivers of the world for the surpassing beauty and bold grandeur of its scenery, while history, legend and story have left hardly a mile of its course unhallowed by their association. It has been sung by the poet, pictured by the artist, and pen-painted by a multitude of descriptive story writers, but n 6 pen or brush has adequately protrayed its charming scenery, which must be seen to be appreciated. There are dozens of large brickmaking plants along the Hudson between Albany and New York, the product of which is no doubt all used in the latter city. Fred Clarke met me at the boat landing and we started off up town to get supper. Fred has been here six months and is well acquainted with the city. He likes it so well that he says he wants to spend the remainder of his days here. After supper a jaunt was taken down the famous Broadway to the equally famous Madison Square. (It was at the Maclison Square roof garden theatre, it will be remembered, that the recent murder by Harry Thaw took f)lace.) New York is full of these ittle parks, called squares here. Next we took in a good bill at a popular roof garden theatre, and then to the hotel and to bed. Next morning we took in one of the numerous “seeing New York” trips, preferring the yacht trip around the Island of Manhattan. This trip is some 35 miles in length and occupies about three hours’ time. A guide points out

and explains all the points of interest in encircling the island. It costs one dollar, and is well worth the price, for one can see and learn more than heca'h learn in six months’ stay on land. All the various islands, the Statue of Liberty. gun boats, tall buildings, etc.; etc., are seen to advantage and thoroughly explained. One’s first impressions of New York are disappointing. Its streets are—especially in old New York—narrow, its sky-scrapers more scattered than in Chicago, where the business district is more compact, and its famous Broadway is little wider than our own Washington street. Here you find sky-scrap-ers in all parts of the city, perhaps standing out alone surrounded by buildings of but a few stories in height. One’s opinion, however, grows better as he sees more of the great city. After dinner we visited the Battery, or Battery Park, the government aquarium and other points of interest, passing many large buildings of which we had heard and read a great deal but had never seen. We also took a little walk down Wall street, the short, narrow street that plays such an important part in the finances of the world, and saw the office of J. P. Morgan, the great financial king whose mere whisper causes hosts of the smaller fry to tremble. Just across the street from Morgan’s office stands a federal building and in front of it stands a statue of George Washington, the base of which bears this inscription: “On thia site in Federal Hall. April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath as the first President of the United States of America.” » Fronting Wall street and surrounded by tall buildings stands the famous Trinity church, of which most everyone has heard or read. The church is apparently open at all hours of the day to visitors, and we passed through the building. Also walked through the churchyard which lies on each side of the tall spired church. Here are buried many notable men, inclnding Alexander Hamilton, Robert Fulton and many others. The inscriptions on Boutfe of the old stones are so obliterated by time that they are only partly discernable. I copied the inscription on the Hamilton monument and also that on the humble stone of a printer. Of course everybody knows that Hamilton was an “incorruptible patriot, soldier and statesman,” as the stone states, and “died July 12, 1804, aged 47,” but to show what good people the printers are I will give the inscription on the latter stone entire, capitalization, etc.: “Here lies the Body of Mr. William Bradford, Printer, who departed thia life May 28, 1752, aged 92 years. He was horn in Licestershire, in Old England, in 1660. and came over to America In 1682, before the City of Philadelphia was laid ont, He was Printer to this Government for upwards of 50 years, and being quite worn out with Old age and labour, he left this mortal State in the lively Hopes of a blessed Immortality.” “Header, reflect how kwh you'll quit this stage. You'll find but few attain to such an age, Life's full of Pain; Lo. here's a Place of Rest, Prepare to meet your GOD, then you are blest." In these days of graft it is hardly likely that William would have held the position of “printer to this government” for so long a period, but would have been able to retire on a competency in less than half that time. And then, there’s Charley Landis. We also visited the noted Coney Island and Manhattan Beach. Both are famous resorts, the former having a sort of “White City” attraction in addition to bathing, and is patronized—now at least—by the common herd. Here we saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men and women bathing in the surf, and for one that never saw anything of the sort it is an interesting sight to watch them as the big waves engulf them and sweep the whole mass of bathers in toward shore, ail laughing and shouting and apparently having a great time. Saturday’s crowd was nine-tenths at least Italians of the better class, and it was difficult to discern a good American face. Manhattan Beach is patronized by a better class of people and here the face of the American predominated. It is a pretty place. While we went to Coney Island by boat—about an hour’s ride from the city—we went to Manhattan Beach and from thence to the city via surface, elevated and subway cars, passing through Brooklyn and over the noted Brooklyn Bridge. We took aev-

eral other rides on the subway, or underground railway, and it certainly “is the stuff.” Cars are run at a high speed and a large number of people are carried every day. Extensions under the rivers are now being made and some of the steam roads are also tunneling under the rivers. These tunnels cost heaps of money bnt I

guess if they were not moneymakers the “captains of finance” would not construct them. One shudders to think of what the result of a collision or accident to a heavily laden train would be. However, they are probably safer than the surface system.' Sunday morning we visited the Bronx Park, which in many respects excels the famous Central Park, which we visited' Sunday afternoon. Bronx Park has a zoo that is said to be the best in America, and improvements in the way of buildings, etc., are going on extensively. There is a very large collection of animals of practically every description here, many of them gifts from the tar-iff-protected millionaires who take this method of buying up public opinion, after the manner of John D. Rockefeller’s gifts to Chicago University. Central Park is the more beautiful of the two, of course, artificially beautiful, the Bronx being left more as nature’ built, it, and has a great deal to interest the visitor. The art museum at the latter place contains many priceless paintings and other treasures in the way of relics and pictures, etc., many of which were presented by wealthy people, including J. Pierpont Morgan and other well known millionaires. At Central Park one also gets a glimpse at the nabobs who have* made New York famous and the republican party successful at the polls. Here we see them driving about the park giving their poodles an airing and the “dear people” a chance to gaupe at their swell equippages, livered coachmen and expensively attired madames. New York is certainly a great city and is destined to be still greater. I was never in a city before where so much building is going on. All over the entire city, no matter what part you visit, are in the course of construction immense sky-scrapers, and apartment houses or flats, etc., and it really looks as though when those now under way are completed the city could easily handle another million of people. It is simply astounding the immense number and cost of the buildings now in course of construction. I was clear around, over and under and all through New York, and saw a great deal for the time spent there, thanks to Fred’s able guidance. The morals of the rich New Yorkers are said to be not of the best, and thousands of the wealthier citizens, it is claimed, keep up two establishments. This accounts in some measure for the great demand for flats. Another thing that strikes the visitor traveling through the east at this season of the year is the large number of apparently rich old fellows who have handsome young wives, or at least are traveling with pretty and expensively attired, dia-mond-bedecked young women. Probably I was as much impressed with the fact that the Italians have taken Ne w York as any onething. They are everywhere, conductors and motormen on the street railways, in the restaurant and saloon business, proprietors of stores, fruit stands, barbers, clerks, bootblacks, laborers—everywhere one meets the son of Sunny Italy, and it would seem that the Dutch and Irish who used to “own ’ New York were not in it with the Dago. And they are growing lots of little Dagoes, too, besides the shipload after shipload that is dumped in there every year, (Last month alone there were 119.900 immigrants landed at New York.) If it keeps on a good old American face will be such a rarity in New York that they will pen up a few out at Bronx and Central Parks as species of an extinct race. But with all its wealth and attractions, New York would not suit me as a place to live, any more than would Chicago, or any other large city I ever saw. The air is pure and clean and one is not as dirty after a full day’s travel about the streets as he is after fifteen minutes exposure to the murky, smoke laden atmosphere of our Chicago. I enjoyed the trip down by boat so much that I returned Monday the same way on the “Albany,” the sister boat of the “New York.” In addition to an excellent band of music—which we also had on the trip down—a quartet of colored jubilee singers furnished entertainment for the passengers. These boats are luxuriously furnished and are truly called floating palaces. Our up boat arrived in Albany some 30 minutes late, so I missed my train for Worcester and had to remain in the capital city over night, but I put in the early evening to good advantage in looking about the city which I had not visited before for over twenty years. I returned to Worcester the following morning. F.E. Babcock.