The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-09-18
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
TFRoM OUR REGULAR coRREsroNDFN

New YORK, September /, 1873
/ To rrus EDITOR OF THE NEW NORTHWEST:
A week ago the streets Of New Yorl
wore the weary, hot look Of Summer
but to-day the number of coupes, au,
occasionally four-in-hand drag, indi
cate that the crowd Of Summer louugeri
is returning. and fashionable women
milliners aud shop keepers begin Il
look lively. The first Autumn Leaf thai
falls Is the signal for this renewal o
life There have been more people trlv.
cling This summer than during any
season since '73, and the hotel keeper,
and theatre managers, whose opinions
are the barometer Of prosperity, all
agree that good time is coming. There
will be more marrying this Fall than
there has been since '69, and the thou
sands Of newly made mOthers-iu-law
will congratulate themselves that they
are riding up on the flood Of the fast
/ making tide Of prosperity. This is phe-
I nomsnal, for the average bachelor OF
I Gotham is becoming every year less and
I less a marrying man. He can live
alone happily, aud there are clubs and
other social evils that initiate against
the old-time spirit f domestic happi-
ness. While all other business has been
at stand-still, the hotels have been
thriving briskly, particularly the down.
town ones. LAST week the Astor House
was so crowded that beds had to be
made up in the halls aud pavilion. The
Astor Of old-time fame and magnifi-
cence is sadly altered. One side Of IL
has been given over TO offices, and the
other half is kept as the hotel, but both
are distinct. One can enter on Vesey
street or on the Broadway side without
interfering at all. II still retains some
Of its pristine elegance. You may break
and divide the hotel il you will, but a
halo Of old glory will hang round il still.
so the Astor will always have for its
guests a class Of inmates who put up
there as the hotel they have heard Of
from childhood, and it will also be more
or less frequenled by politicians
The Battery AMI Castle Garden were,
years ago, the resort Of the elite. Jenny
Lind sang there; SO did Mario and Grisi;
then il was the lauding-plsce Of immi-
grants, and I can imagine how desolate
many poor souls have felt when arriv-
ing here in strange country, and sit
ting down on their "chist," they looked
around with wistfnl eyes on the land
they had come to. Bowling Green was
in those days an arislocratic spot, and
as ! stood before the old Van Horne
mansion, not long siuce, / remem bered
playing when a mere child in the large
garden back, and making myself sick
with the apricots that grew by the gar
den wall. Now. IL j. q third-rate res
tanranti 50 on up through all Broad
way, one landmark after the other has
disappeared Bond street and Union
Square btcnme the fsshinusble plnces
inr residences, and the walk for the
bellies Of New York was from Union
Square To- Canal street Where the Fifth
Avenue Hotel nnw is was an inn-a
resi- country taveru-where the stages
running To tile different ferries changed
horses, aud was considered on the out I
skirts Of town. On Twenty second
street, near Broadway, was a cottage in
Gothic style, with graveled walks and
handsome fountain in front. Philip
Kearney, the father Of General Philip
Kearney, lived there, and as the tide Of
progress moved upward, he was induced
to sell the land, aud the first block Of
brown stone houses was erected thereon
10y the purchasers agent.
The quarrel between Cyrus w. Field
aud Samuel J. Tiden excites amuse-
tnent only, and the Herald failed as en-
tireiy TO make a sensation uf il as that
restless sheet did Of the Jews aud the
yellow fever, forcible combination,
but no one wants TO have them flung
in his eyes and ears every morning.
Tie elevated railway was grand in its
inception and throughout its manage
meut. There is more right good faith
or square dealing involved in the con-
troversy between Mr.. Field and Mr..
Tilden than If tie Manhattan Bank
robbers were to accuse each other OF bad
faith and rascsiity.
The theatres are rapidly getting on
their varnish and gliding for the coming
campaign. Boucicault is putting on
paint, enamel, gold leaf and damask.
II T. his misfortune that be cannot do
things possibly In neat way. There
is nothing simple. frank or manly about
him, and his labnrs. whether expended
on Stage curtains, gilt proscenium boxes
or a gaudy auditorium, must show the
result. Wallack has renovated through
out, / don't mean Don John Lester, but
his theatre. Stage, auditorium, en-
trance aud outside walls have emerged
from the hands Of the painters and car
penters like the butterfly from the grub T.
There is something very interesting and /
attractive about this historic theatre to
Old New Yorkers. To again quote my I
friend, DR. Holmes:
..Thcy love the memories OF Abe past,
It's pressed yet fragrant flowers,
The moss that clothes its broken walls,
The ivy on its towers"
AUGUST.
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During the cyclone, WaterviIle lady /.
was considerably injured by q flying