Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-11-30
.ARGEsT CITY CIRCULATION.
A Broadway Improvement.

every change in the great artery OF tne
city Is as quickly perceived and as care
fully noted as the changes IN his house,
hold. or in the bazaar in which the busy
hours of the day are passed, or in the
price of gold, or in the state of his bank
account, or in the style Of walking dress,
or in the political sentiment OF his Ward,
does not need 10 be told that great i'm
provements are going on in Broadway,
and that one does not hazard much IN
predicting that in another decade the
iavorite thoroughfare will be hardly
recognizable by those who tread its pave
ments to-day, aud wonder at its magnifi-
cence, and guess at its length without at
tempting 20 measure it, and calculate its
wealth by a rule of compound proportion
not laid down in the books, and estimate
the number of people whe thronK u
during the year by a combination OF
rules unknown to Tycho Brahe and his
contemporaries. Every day sees some
thing new in Broadway. A new marble
palace goes up to-day and another one
built last year is pulled down tomorrow.
Yesterday they laid the foundations OF q
seven-story brown stone structure, where
week ago there stood row Of modern
granite warehouses, three years old, and
but six stories in hight. Here meeting
house is pulled down and temple Of the
drama rises from its dust like a phoenix
from the ashes; and there, two hundred
feet above the head of the tallest pedes-
trian, is the sky -piercing spire OF q
church which stands on the very spot
where stood crowded hotel when the
Arkansas merchant purchased bis last
supply of spring goods for his backwoods
store. And so Broadway changes, and
will change, so long as 1t remains the
chief avenue of Manhattan Island.
Among the most prominent objects
which attract the attention and excite the
admiration of the stranger who peram-
bulates Broadway for the first time at
night, when the gayly dressed people are
tlocking to the theaters on either side,
and the whole street is ablaze with light,
when the ticket spectators are vexing
the air with their sharp, monotonous an
nouncements, and the ragged, shrill-
voiced newsboys crying the last edition
of a penny paper, and the omnibus
drivers yelling to their horses, and the
cabmen swearing at each other-among
the most prominent objects of attention,
when the eve has become accustomed to
the moving panorama in the street, and
the ear familiarized with the myriad
sounds that sssail it, is the apothscary'
window brilliantly Illuminated, and filled
with the cunningly devised TASKS OF
Flemish make, the many colored jars and
vases turned BY the skillful Dresden pot
ter, aud made doubly pleasing. to the eye
by the delicate tracery OF the artists
mcneil; and hundred and one other at
tractive little nothings so picturesquely
arranged that only the most common
place, matter-of fact, Impractical stroller
can pass them without bestowing at least
a glance upon them.
One of the most noticeable establish
ments on Broadway is that Of Helmbold,
the chemist, Just step above the main
entrance of the Metropolitan Hotel.
Two large windows, lighted by gas illu-
minators, whose radiance is increased by
patent French refectors, glisten and
CLEAN with brightly colored vases and
many-tinted jars Of curious shape. Back
of each window is splendid bronze
stand, ceiling high, with branching arms,
hearing various vessels filled with herbs,
and spices, and seeds from far-off shores.
In front, under an ornamental canopy OF
iron work of strange design, hang two
glass mortars, which serve as shades for
the gas jets that light the marble hoor
beneath. On entering the door you see
on either hand long ranges of orna-
mepted shelves, and counters, and show
cases, with wealth of precious per-
fumes and other delicate things thereon
and therein, and above the upper shelves
bright signs in golden letters on ground
of glass, setting forth the names and
virtues of the druggists special COM
pounds.
On your left as you enter are the soda
fountains, and within step or two a Sc
ries of other fountains, from which are
drawn, at any hour of the day or night,
such mineral waters as your system may
need. Here you may drink in its purity
the puugent Kissengen, the salty vichy.
the tasteless Katalysine, from Gettys-
burg, or the soothing Seltzer, or the wa
ters of Saratoga or Missisquoi, famous
for wondrous cures. Passing these foun-
tains Of health, you reach the prescrip-
ton department, a snug, cosy apartment,
which might well serve Lilly or Sldro-
phel for midnight study, OF. make the
heart Of any old alchemist glad with its
nuiet and comfort. Here are compounded
all the prescriptions ordered by physi-
clans for the cure of their patients. All
day and all night the clerks are at work,
and the quantity Of sure cures here made
mn. the number of lives saved by the
medicines here coneocted, it would be
difficult to reckon.
Next we come to the Ladies Psrlor,
furnished elegantly, the floor covered
with a thick green carpet, soft to the
touch and grateful to the eye, under the
light of the bright gas jets above. In the
center of this apartment stands beauti-
ful show case, a dodecahedron in shape,
filled with variety of articles for use
and ornament. On either side stands
the statue Of a negro slave, holding in
one hand a salver filled with business
cards. in the other full vase containing
some precious ointment or some price
less beautiher whose virtues are best
known to those whom fate aud time have
forced to use them.
Beyond the ladies' parlor is the count
ing room, a neat and compact nest OF
fire-proof safes, and desks and chairs,
where the heavy business of the great
establishment is transacted. and all the
affairs Of the house regulated and kept
in order.
Here, too, is the advertising depart
meut. in which five clerks are constantly
engaged in examining the columns OF the
thousands of journals through which the
great Helmbold communicates with the
world at large. Each clerk has bis range
of papers, and when the mails come in