The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-03-27

fury Bring Fortte
IF any old resident Of New York, who has
been. resting quietly in his grave for the past
thirty years, could be brought back to the
metropolis of to-day, his astonishment at all
he would see around him would cast the expe-
rience of Rip Van Wrinkle. after his twenty
years sleep, into the shade, and would forever
strip Irving's pleasant story of its charms. In
the last third Of a century the world has
moved at more rapid pace than at any pre-
vious period of it's history, and if the human
intellect could have remained dormant during
that time, instead of keeping pace with the
combined advance of science and enterprise,
the achievements of progress witnessed at the
present moment might well be COMPOUNDED
with the old arts of demonology and witch
craft. So much has been written on this SUBJ
ject that it may be regarded as hackneyed
theme; yet it is singular how little attention Is
bestowed on the lessons taught by the expe-
rienco of the past, and how obsiinately men
refuse to allow the wonderful triumphs Of
intellect and energy witnessed in third Of
an ordinary lifetime to open their eyes to the
destiny in store for the leading nation Of the
civilized world before the next thirty years
shall have passed into history.
Looking back but little over a third Of o
century New Yorker may recall how great
an enterprise appeared the construction of
one-horse steam railroad between the City
Hall and Harlem; how journey to Wash
ington-for it was, indeed, journey in those
days-consumed as much time as is now re-
quired for trip across the Atlantic to Europe
and how pilgrimage to the far West was
then an undertaking more APPALLING than is
now voyage to China. And what was then
the ''far West?" One might discover that
Imaginary spot within the next twenty-four
hours, as it then existed in the mind of the
resident of New York, only few miles
beyond Buffalo; while there is now no longer
'far West" until one finds himself resting
on the beautiful slopes of the California coast
and bathing his feet 10 the waves Of the
Pacific. But yesterday, as it were, travel
Ter to the Western lakes took his life as we'll
as his valise in his hand, and prepared
himself for trial of endurance and
courage, without even the slight consolation
of a policy in an accidental insurance COM
pany-an institution of modern growth
while to-day the iron horse tears his way
across the whole American Continent, from
ocean to ocean, except, indeed, on occasions
when snow storm fills the valleys and piles
up its white mountains on the plains, or when
the eccentric red man conceives the idea Of
putting on his war paint and tearing up q
dozen miles Of rail. The wonders accom-
plshed by steam in the past thirty or forty
years pale, however, before those the returned
resident would behold as the result of the
mastery of electricity by the men who have
given us the telegraphic wire as the me-
dunn of communication all over the world.
In this direction our modern Rip Van Wrinkle
would no doubt believe himself transported
back over four centuries Of time, to the days
when the heroes of the Arabian Nights per-
formed their astonishing feats, when flying
horses made their journeys through the air,
when castles were built by unseen hands in a
night, when magic carpets transported those
who sat upon them to foreign scenes with the
rapidity Of thought, and when accommodating
lamps, on being rubbed with piece of
| cloth, brought to the ears Of their owners
| the words and dreams Of persons thousands
Of miles away. The key OF the telegraph
operator is our modern Aladdin's lamp, and
to-day it flashes over six thousand miles Of
wire the instant variations Of Erie stock,
making the pulses of the great financial GEN.
| tres of Europe and America beat in harmony,
| 30 that the variation Of one-eighth per cent
| Is felt simultaneously In Frankfort, London,
| New York and San Francisco. Thirty years
ago the foreign stockholders of Erie would
! have been for weeks in ignorance of the sue
cess of the splendid coup detat Of General
Dix and of the downfall Of the Grand Opera
House Ring, and our own market would
have been held as long again in anxious sus-
pense awaiting the result OF the news upon
the English Stock Exchange.
| The American press has, above all other
agencies, aided the progress of the past quar-
ter Of Century, and above all other interests
kept pace with the advancement of the age.
Thirty years ago the politics of the whole
country, and hence the destiny of the nation,
were controlled by three or four journals.
The Washington Globe, the Richmond Inquire,
and the Albany Argus gave the cue and
the tone to the whole party press of the
United States, and so brought to bear
an overwhelming influence GA Congress and
the White House. As the country increased
In population, wealth and influence, and as
the general standard Of intelligence advanced
among the people, independent journals began
to make themselves felt and grew into o
power in the land. Still, the struggle was 9