The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-10-18
MERCANTILE PALACES.

EqutaDie Assurance anu new YOrk
Life Insurance COmpanies-What
$4,000 Has Produced-The
Renaissance Schools-Beauty,
Grace and Grandeur.
n oil kinds of building, whether the structure II
designed for private, commercial, ecclesiastical or
public edice the activity and profuse outlay Of pro-
preors have been for the past i've years among the
most marked features Of landed improvements on
this island. Let the observer make detour OF that
section Of the city lying below Fourteenth street.
and the varying shades Of fresh fronts in the
new gems OF architecture win indicate to his mind
how rapid and yet how substantial has become the
progress Of building Of every class. New styles
have been introduced In designing the outlines OF
important structures and new elements which viii
have q considerable bearing upon the future OF all
buildings have been discovered. These facts are
20 apparent when o brief survey OF Broadway
= had that the wondrous embodiment OF history
n architecture, as an art, and as an evidence
Of commercial progress and multiplying wealth, ia
holder and more satisfactory than those remains OF
former Roman glory that sleep In decayed grandeur
upon the hills OF the Eternal City, and speak
with an eloquent silence OF her Coliseum, her Capt.
tol, her baths and the hermitage of her popes.
vtus and wonder at the debris OF Pompeii and Her
culaneum which, 1000 years ago. was the scene OF
the opulence OF the Caesars. Two thousand years
hence the historian may look in vain FOR those mile
stones in New York which mark the periodical
transitions OF great commercial community from
prosperity to prominence Even now they are
Ast passing away before the city has completed the
rst century Of her millennal greatness and before
she may be said to have developed into
that healthy maturity which is fast approaching.
Still those few corner-stones that have been left
demolished by the hand OF imperative improvements,
taken In succession and In the continuous line that
their ascending series assumes, well show how from
the Dutch settlement OF 1909 the metropolis OF 1869
has grown from the cradle to the verge Of manhood
In this sense the future ages win have some records
OF New York's primitive days; but not the full and
bold outlines that viii 60 down a. the city becomes
embellished with beautiful and stable buildings and
replete with discriminate ornamentation and taste
full elegance. We have already, as q community,
been too long In that period which, in man, Is the
intoxication Of sudden wealth. We have been
seized with Q fever for lavish outlay, and have
made too great haste In disregarding the rules
Of purity and harmony to have yet attained sue.
cess that is enduring success in any department OF
architecture This the conspicuous fault that has
marked the building OF the last ten in the city
In the earlier times there was an ugly plalnness and
wide defiance to every principle OF taste that must
De remembered by every one who was promenader
Of the Bowery in its palmy days.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF FORMER DAYS.
An examination OF State street. the former avenue
OF the city dlscloses how homely and truely Dutch
were the houses OF the primitive elite OF the Island,
whose descendants are now known as the old fami.
hes. These, their former habitations, which, when
they resided in them. were considered princely in
their appointments and decorations, and beyond
criticism In their architectural design and finish,
now be seen transformed into hastily looking and
rtckety storehouses destitute OF stability, like rail
fence in outline, resembling moro bundle OF hides
than block OF ''private paaces,n and SO far be-
meath the present ideal Of construction that they
would be spurned In Hoboken and ridculed In
Shaker settlement This Is difference only IN the
taste OF different tmes not SO much disparity In
the requirements or actual art. This, then. the
beginning In anything that approximated 10 preten-
sion In architecture. and IS the sequel viii show,
not SO bad nucleus as 1t might have been. These
houses, rude in their outlines, were very elegant
IN the interior, their decorations even SURPRISING
those OF some mansions OF the present day, and
their internal arrangement being made TO subserve
economy OF room. From this locality let US
turn up Broadway, the most vital artery
OF the city and its real backbone, extending as It
does from It's enduring footnod At the Battery to the
upper end OF the island, communicating TO its lateral
dependents the richness OF Its sumptu0us architec
Near Beaver street the mammoth warehouses;
wherein are slowed the gram and other products OF
ers IN DaaaH These edces ars GENERALLY Of
brick, substantial, comm0dious and costly: yet they
have In no sense any other architectural merits
They are simply constructed to supply the wants OF
the storehouse trade, and for that purpose serve
we'll their end. Going further up Broadway build
ings Of greater pretenslon loom up, and there are
emanations Of still later demand The wool mar
ket Is alltmp0rtant in New York. To accom-
modate TINS staple brown stone brick and iron have
handsome
lures are the result. The heavy trucks and carts
g az a%a n are anG
simple fronts, as concern 0rnamentatl0n tell OF still
another important II not decisive step toward the
beautiful. Bonded warehouses are also prominent
In this quarter, but exhibit marked Characters
tics indicating departure from painness or rectan-
Gular hideousness. Further up the real structures
tnat now begin 10 emDody q new idea IN construc-
ton loom up, These edifices ore occupied by steam
ship companies, Insurance companies banks, count
lng houses OF every nature and all OF them are used
Tor miscellaneous business purposes. In detail none
q them w hear close ca
aymbolizing the purity and propriey Of the estao-
From this vicinity Broadway commences to assume
Ats checkered appearance, and then credltahe
attempts at excellence are notable. Yellow stone,
and the Gothic, Doric, Corinlhan aud renaissance
are the different styles which nave been pictured
with fine II not symmetrical eject Passing by
the new buildings, the most elegant Of which we Will
notice further on, the frequent use OF marble Is now
conspicuous ana these fronts are more prominent
o. wo advance up the street until IN many enlire
sections they become the prevailing feature The
close specialization OF TINS stone, III marvellous
beauty, illustrating purity and typlfying art
the nice limitations OF nature OF which 1t
s capable under the scuptors hand, Its close ALI
ance with Roman greatness, the dellcacy and
amoothne5s OF finish which 1t always exhibits and
1tcuiiar fitness fora sharp contrast render II the
mn desirable stone In the world, poin for stability
and architectural perfection. Therefore Its employ
ment on broadway was a wise Innovation and the
present demand, which its past success has created
speaks well for future triumphs OF design on this
Island Trinity church was decisive landmark OF
tne quarter about which writing. IL Ii SIM
pie yet ornamental; grand, yet not pretentous. It's
construction throws The whole vicinity into the
shade, though IL Ii ecclesiastical In style. C0mpe.
ton Is the father OF progress and this stirred up
until now the whole neignborAood is planted with
costly and hlgnly ornamented buildings.
improvements OF this character have not been
backward lii other sections OF Broadway builders