Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1871-06-21

Begun-Faets ANA Figures That Etc.
waited RaiiwayIrhei BrookIyn bridge
CITY Improvements-Our City's Rulers.
From our own Correspondent % I..4..ty ...I
90 700, NEW York, June 18th, 1871.
In saying that all is quiet in the metro
polls, do not wish TO be too literally Tin
derstood. In war times the saying s'aH is
quiet on the Potomac only applied to the
general situation, the petty skirinishes,
pickcts' rifle practice, foraging raids, etc,
being disregarded as comparatively unim-
portant. So in New York. In general,
TALL is quiet on the Hudson but we have
nevertheless an occasional murder, an or
binary kind of burglary, pleasant little
case of defalcation, half q 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 IL
New York was to be III any manner puri-
fed. No longer could this great city be
held up before the mental gaze of rustics
as very cess-pool of iniquity, q 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 moral bug-bear. d3'A- ..H-
Just at present, the chief employ
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 the question. Many have
left already for their cosy Summer villas,
and others are getting ready to follow, so
that in about six weeks our census will
have been temporarily diminished by
some 10000. This annual exodus is often
amere matter of habit and il 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 mortals who have
to stay in town can get a little relief from
the..heat Of the Summers sun.
In q 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 wall is heard, for
the dressmakers are overcrowded with
business. / think it likely that a good
many Kingdoms would have been freely
given had a dressmaker been the price.
This rush of business only lasts for few
weeks, aud then stagnation and-some-
thing else that ends the same way.
don't know whether the readers OF the
CHRONICLE are aware 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. Injunc-
ton after Injunction has been hurled at its
devoted head; ii has been indicted as a
public nuisance; it has forfeited its charter
half dozen times, and still the single ear
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 run
away horses How? Why, because il
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, l have not ventured
to ride on it; but if it continues much
longer in operation the accident-policy
companies will do a good business and a
losing one, should venture to predict
But we are to have an elevated railroad
managed by our city magnites-a viaduct
road. Estimated cost, SIXTY millions. But
that is amere trifle, of course. 1t is simply
a steam railroad on arches, and running
the length of the city, beginning at Cham
ber's street, The terminus down town is
at Tryon Row. Where 1t will end up town
is not yet known. Well we need some
means of rapid transit pretty badly, and SC
must submit to ''pay the fiddler.n
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 fee
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 tallest top
masts can pass under it without beinl
housed" hHow is that for high %"
The parks in the city have all been "fixet
over" The most noticeable improvement
is at the battery, which bids fair once NOR
to become pleasant place for an Afternoon
stroll. From dirty waste it has beer
transformed into cheerful garden ant
has the merit of being always cool 1t is
good place to get q view Of the harbor, an,
is another "lungn added to the metropolis
These improvements keep q large force o
voters. ] beg pardon, mean laborers
busy, and they are at hand for any emer
geney. ' 'ts
OT, n aartairi occaainn Aha, cfltinsal toni