The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-19
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
,on ADDITIONAL LOCAL ITEMS SEE 4Es1DH PAGES


feature in which the cities of the Sid World are
distinguished from those in the, New, 1t is in the
character of their stores. Over the great water,
in London and Paris, for instance, the stores
even of firms Of worldwide reputation, doing
business on the grandest scale, if not exactly
limited in extep't, are poor, worn and dingy in
appearance. There you may frequently ma
beneath q low-browed front, uninyiting,
gloomy, without vestge of paint
the Offices of house employing
hundreds of clerks, keeping busy perhaps thou
say,ds of work men, and exporting annually mil
Tions of dollars worth of goods. Here, on this
>side of the ocean, we seem to entertain different
opinions in regard to the style, structure, and
appearance of our places OF business. All our
large cities contain specimens Of store arehitec'
ture that would put to shame the most preten-
tious in Europe. Our men Of business seem to
have initiated spirit of rivalry in this respect
to engage in a contest as to who can build
the most palatial and extensive of stores-and
are lavish of money III procuring marble fronts,
broad plate glass Windows ana costly adorn-
men,s The discrepancy existing between our
stores and those OF the older people across the
water is one that escapes no travellers eye. .
But the contest goes still further. IL Is all
one sided as far as regards Europe. Inc lact Is
AT once conceded that we far surpass her IN thls
matter, and we have no monUie III shn rsad
acknowledges that the New goes ahead OF the
Old World In the rearing OF magnificent edlnces
devoted exclusively to the purposes OF trace
Not content with this graceful surrender to US
AS a nation, our men of business must needs try
to outyie each other; and Boston, New YORK,
PhlladelphIa, Baltimore, and New orleans each
advance claims and arguments IN their support
TO possess the most gorgeous, costly, and ornate
of business structures. Modesty would perhaps
compel us, as Phiadelphians, to yield the palm
of superiority to either OF the cltles named,
while yet we may think, and that honestly too,
that our own city could justly bear 1t of. Were
a comparison to be made, we DOUBT not that
even the Metropolis of the Western World,
as New YORK proCods isSSies our hfaSgn' faynr'
and Broadway back down to Chesnut street, in
the mum Der of superb business structures they
relatively contain. Be it as It may, and grant
ing that the victory is still undecided, the
Quaker City makes no rest in efforts to outdo
them all; and within the past few mouths many
OF our firms have erected and opened stores for
the cvrryiug on of their business. which could
well match the best anywhere in this country,
and which for beauty in design grandeur Of
architecture, substantial character, and con-
Venence of construction, compare with any III
the world. This growing tendency to five and
six stored buildings, marble or granite
fronts, and lofty rooms, may easily
be accounted for in the case. OF
large manufacturers, where looms, engines,
saws, lathes, benches, and what not, are re-
auired IN countless numbers and diversity; but
1t may tax the ingenuity OF many to discover
reason why jewellers, whose business II seems
NAV be confined in the smallest compass, should
follow hard in the footsteps Of the others, and
run up structures almost squares in extent, en-
bracing apartments upon apartments, long,
broad, and high. But go 1t Is. Hardly has one
well known firm on Chestnut street opened with
q glare of brilhaDcy store which seems to pre-
clude the possibility of rival, before another
frm, equally as welt known and energetic, lays
the foundation, erects the walls, marbles the
gla tho WlnlOWs and frpScOpS the
ceilings of another that, IT may be, puts into the
shade the former.
For many months past the old hrm o. Bailey
& Co., jewellers, long established on Chesaut
street, between Eighth aud Ninth, has been
pushing vigorously ahead the completion OF a
store ut the southeast corner OF Twelfth aud
Chestnut Streets 1t IS now finished, and to-day
is opened to the public. No expense has been
spared in its fitting up, and its owners can
proudly boast that ii it does not top Off all other
stores occupied by parties engaged Ia similar
business it at least stands rank and rank with
Rising in magnificent proportions to, the
height of five stories, it covers the entire depth
of q lot reaching 10 SAMSON street. In width il
is IA feet. Constructed in the main of brick, Its
face glistens with the purest OF marble. Air,
light, and safety are everywhere through it.
Myriads of windows open on the Twelfth street
side really so many in number that the narrow
strips OF wall between them appear barely capa
BILE of upholding the massive roof above. Not 9
single fire for warming purposes Is to be found
In Inc DullOlnB. ln6 DtdIlue lS All uUuc Dl
means of the steam-pipe arrangements yast
network Of tubes rsmitying the whole place. Toe
structure ia fre-proof from cellar to caves: IN
every detail the most guarded precautions have
been taken to protect the wood work and com
bustible portions. So thorough have been othel
measures of precaution, that an iucendary coulC
hardly find place to apply his match.
There are several entrances to the building
the principal one, of course. being on Chesnu'
street. This is truly majestic, receding like
vestibule, highly finished in carved wood work
of black walnut, the edges OF the plate glass in
the windows which flank its sides trimmed with
silver, its pavement pretty with cubical blocks
of varigated marble. The entire floor OF the
main store is laid with these same cubica
blocks. From the hagstone without you
Immediately tread hard upon the marble within
Once inside the place, the first thing which
Strikes the eye is the peculiar manner in which
the windows are constructed, AMI the chaste,
simple, yet elegant character OF their finish.
OF course the fore part Of each window Ia on a
line with the front of the building. As the
main doorway recedes between them from this
H. a. PPiyss them depth corresponding to its
own. Nothing is addeG to ti;5 oy suOLracting
space for the store, for the windows after this
being made by the making of the doorway,
are left to themselves. They are also constructed
ia what IS termed the vestiDule style-their 1ool
being the floor of the store-nelther shelves mol
platforms marIing their sides or bottom. Here
as everywhere throughout the place, the finish
is done in black walnut, With only the vacan
space of the doorway intervening, the windows
are parallel with each other. Ia either, huge
mirrors cover the sides. Note the effect, Stand
ing either IN the entrance or in the window
itself, and looking east ward or westward, yor
gaze down perspective, through sort o
corridor that appears without end.
The principle is a well-understood one bu
has never yet been applied in any of our stores
The beauty Of the illusion cannot be questioned
Leaving the windows you proceed up the room
With q general glance around your eye fnall,
rests upon the ceiling, and resting there it turn
not away without admiration for the magnihcen