Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-06-16

All Quiet in Got ham--The Annual Ex O<iHs
Begun-Facis and Figurcs-That EIe-
waited Railway-The BROOKLYN Bridge
City Improyements-Our taiy's Ruters.
From our own Correspondent -
New YORK, June 10Th, 1871.
In saying that all is quiet in the metro
polls, do not wish to be too literally un-
derstood In war times the saying "all is
quiet on the Potomac" only applied to the
general situation, the petty skirmishes,
pickets' rifiepractice, foraging raids, ETC.,
being disregarded as comparatively unim-
portant. So in New York. In general,
"all is quiet on the Hudson" but we have
nevertheless an occasional murder, an or
dinary kind of burglary. pleasant little
case of defalcation, half a dozen assaults
with car-hooks, canes, whips, clubs or any
other handy weapon, per diem, and in
that way our worthy citizens are kept
amused and entertained by our rulers, SOW.
ereign lords of New York city by the grace
of almighty Tammany. In fact, what
would become of our country cousins if
New York was to be in any manner puri-
fied. No longer could this great city be
held up before the mental gaze of rustics
as a very cess-pool of iniquity, modern
Sodom. And so perhaps it is good thing
for this country that there is one place that
can be pointed at as a warning, and serve
the purpose of a moral bug-bear.
Just at present, the chief employment
of our citizens in town is found i'll devils
ing means as TO how they may best join
their more fortunate bretheren out of
town. Where to go for the Summer
months that's thequestion. Many have
left already for their cosy Summer villas,
and others are getting ready to follow, so
that i'm about six weeks our census will
have been temporarily diminished by
some 10000. This annual exodus is often
a mere matter of habit, and it Is an open
question whether the most popular Sum-
mer resorts are much cooler than our own
city. To be sure, green fields and forests
afford pleasant variety when cOntrasted
with brick walls and heated stone pave
ments, but there is almost always breeze
blowing across the city, from river to
river, so that the poor niortals who have
to STAY in town can get little relief from
the.heat of the Summers sun.
In general way, business is dull though
money is plenty. The exceptions to this
statement are the retail dry goods mer-
chants and the dressmakers. All through
the city the universal wah is heard, for
the dressmakers are overcrowded with
business. / think it likely that good
many kingdoms would have been freely
given had dressmaker been the price.
This rush of business only lasts for few
weeks, and then stagnation and-some-
thing else that ends the same way.
/ don't know whether the readers of the
CHRONICLE areaware of the fact that New
York possesses an elevated railway, There
is popularity about this road which is
worthy ofmention, and that is this, it is
apparently legally indestructible. Injune--
ton after Injunction has been hurled at its
devoted head; it has been indicted as a
public nuisance; it has forfeited its charter
half dozen times, and still the single car
runs the whole length of the track three or
four times day. For all practical uses a
failure, it is a most admirable thing to
teach young drivers how to manage rum
away horses. How? Why, because 1t
keeps them in constant practice. Any
horse that can stand still and let one of the
cars rattle along over its head, deserves
canonizatiOn. 1t is nothing but an unmiti-
gated, useless, cumbersome, unsightly
nuisance. Not being particularly anxious
to leave this world, have not ventured
to ride on it but if it continues much
longer in operation the accident-policy
companies will do good business and a
losing one, I should venture to predict.
But we are to have an elevated railroad,
managed by our city magnates-a viaduct
road. Estimated cost, sirty millions. But
that is amere trifie, of course. 1t is simply
al
the length of the city, beginning at Cham
ber's street. The terminus down town is
at Tryon Row. Where it will end up town
is not yet known. Well, we need some
means of rapid transit pretty badly, and so
must submit to "pay the fiddler" Il
The Brooklyn bridge, which is to unite
New York with its twin sister Brooklyn,
has at last appeared above water, and the
solid masonry which forms the base OF the
Brooklyn tower, is now some twenty feet
above the river, as you know the towers
are to be 800 feet high, and the bridge it
self is to be SO high that the. taiiest top
masts can pass under it without being
housed" "How is that for high Z"
The parks in the city haveaH been "hxed.
over.p The most noticeable improvement
is at the battery which bids fair once more
to become pleasant place for an afternoon
stroll. From a dirty waste it has been
transformed into cheerful garden, and
has the merit of being always cool. It's
good place to get view of the harbor, ana
is another "lungn added to the metropolis; .
These improvements keep large force OF
voters. | beg, pardon, + mean laborers,
busy, and they are at hand for any emef-
gency. - 2 aSs . ~ >
Building Sites for Sale.