New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-01-04

engines Of 10000 horse power, and employing o'ei
100000 work-people. ;aos
Il for it's solid English character In the street lie
and in buness affairs there is less of staring adver
Using and insane haste and less swindling IMAM l"
most other American cities. Trade rests upon
broad solid foundation. and is not subject 10 tuo
vicissitudes which affect it in New-York The char-
acter of the people ia tranquil. and they nave
Yankee trats--a fact that may be ascrioed III part
to the strong German contingent and IN part 10 INC
Southern element OF the appearance OF the Guy he
writes;
Baltimore is very handsome city. Its beauty
comes no. alone from its straight stfee's i,s a.
did aristocratc quarter, It's monuments nuJ
narks Its fine situation on the hill. overlooking
chesapeake Bay, gives to it natural peau'y WIN" VIM 10
sought in vain in monotonons fbiiarreIpn'a arc
MANY other cities of the Union. The houses are
built in a more cheerful and artistic style IMAM arc
those in the brick desert of the Quaker Olty' Nh IL
the best streets the building material Is stons.
residences of the aTistOcacy have an All VI eios"
which recalls European capitals
Washington surprises the author by Its unhnisheo
character and its lively contrasts OF palaces anu
novels Village and city seem to him to De al stiiio
wherever he goes and he thinks the village mas tne
best of the contest. for In spite OF the
improvements of the last few years, the place ss'ii
big country town. with couple OF hvely business
streets a few blocks of elegant dwellings, squa'o
here and there with pretty park and garden grouhuS
a network of streets, which for straightncss ana
smootbness and paving have no equal and' hnany'
half dozen public buildings. which, like architec-
tural sons of Enoch, tower above the suiiou""s
petty commonplace folk.
The Americans, who have bestowed appropriate
epithets upon most of their cities. call ashington
the "Cty of Magnificent Distances. ms Is qulee
right. You cannot take walk without encounter
Jug immense spaces, which have been deserts slnce
the CITY was founded, and which perhaps have never
been trod by white mans loot TO tnls gay. Iem
steps from the residence OF the President sietcnes
ont an enormous plain, upon winch not d single
house. nor a tree, nor wall is 10 ne seen nc
further boundary of this waste is the broao Ioto-
mac with its dirty yellow wateis and its sW amps
in which myriads of frogs hold nightly concerts
Frees incredible numbers whlrl through . Ia, ldo
night air, midst OF the silence and the "ilI
ness of the place might easier imagine hinseil
on the shore of some river IN the heart OF africa
than on the historical Potomac, lew minutes from
the Capitol and the palace OF the PRESIDENT
The Washington Street system is an annoying puz-
zle 10 Herr Won Wartegg, indeed is TO most
people who first make acquaintance with the cap
ital. After describing how the numbered and let
tered streets are cut up by avenues running toward
every point of the compass. he says:
In order to deprive the stranger of the last post
biity of getting about without losing his way, mere
is the same hyper-systematc slyness ana sartnesS
in tbe numbering of the streets in their kaledo-
scopic arrangement A division OF the city INFO lout
districts has been made-n0rtheast, southeast,
numbered; the long streets crossing them at fieht
angles are designated by letters. The avenues when
run through the streets IN eyely posT1po
bear the names of different States Inc numbering
of the houses follows the Philadelphia plan. 10y
studying the alphabet long enough to know the
number of every letter tho man VINO mas 1 ye ga
0narter of a century In Washington can tell the
location of any house he wishes to lind. de only
smiles when formula ike tine following i21 II pro
i iels-:t., Setw. X and " r. and finds
| what he seeks with his eyes shut, while stranger
snpposes in the first moment that he is called upon
TO solve problem in cube root or supposes nothing
| at all but has feeling of absolute helplessness
| mixed with superstlti0us admiration Tor popuia-
| tIon who not only solve such puzzl without any
trouble but are never tired Of prasiae their system
| AS the simplest and most convenient possible.
With the Capitol building the author has no fault
! 70 find It's size and beauty surprise him:
| Irnon the plateau of low hill rises the snow
| white mass in grandeur of form and a Costumes
| of material thit can nowhere III the world De
matched a stately park surrounds the edihce, ana
| ont of its green exp ,nse the n ana maIole h,oH
| of this monumental giant tower against the blue
| southern sky. Whatever may he sad about u, we
| CAPITOL is simply wonderful skiiiu archllGc-
fuTal critic may tell Us hundred times that the
| great structure does not come ont OF one mouin
that the dome is faulty, that tho building Is 100
! mucbfepressed here and TOO bold there-hs Judg-
! meut makes Impression upon us. put our cI es
| return with ever fresh admiration 10 TINS blended
p0mp of Corinthian columns, these grandlose nghtS
| of stairs, aud these blooming archlttaVes anu
| mticence which We first receive never leaves u.s.
| The book takes the reader from Washington to
| Cincinnati Chicago Milwaukee aud ST. LOUIS, ana
thence to California. Interesting chapters are de-
voted 10 The principal Western cities, among winch
! ST. Louis best pcases the author, because OF ITS
solid character, its many parks, and the agreeable
| social life he finds there. large portion OF the
| second and third volumes is given up to entertain
,g 1escr;ntious of life on the plains and iii the sill
yer and gold regions of the Rocky Mountains and
the Pacific Slope. Returning from California th'
reader is conducted through the South, and at last
in the fourth volume ends his tour by an excursion
70 Boston, Montreal and Quebec. In the hrst vol
nme the Pennsylvania coal and petroleum regions
Niagara Falls and Saratoga, the seacoast Summer
resorts the Adlrondacks and the Hudson kver iur
nish themes for some of the best chapters Ill th'
work As an example of the authors manner Of eli
livenmg his descriptions with spice of origina
comment the following extract from the chapter Oh
| ST. Louis will serve:
Tho anDearance of st. Louis differs very LITTLE
from that of other large cities OF the New world
| Most American cities are made ON the same pan
All the streets have about the same breadth and III
some look and everywhere the same name
of trees or distinguished Americans ar
given. them Everywhere one finds, Tor ex
, | annie n jefferson square, Washington Squaf
mr. a Madison Square The named streets are gcneI
aIly crossed by avenues which have numbers III
stead of names. The churches. school houses
newspaper buildings and hotels are so inuch AIN
| in their architecture and arrangement that you ca
easily mistake your locality. If you leave city II
= fine night in a sleeping car and awake next mOlhlh
| in another city, you might well doubt whether No
| had made anv Journey at all The Omnibus whlc
takes you 10 hotel is the same you rode III yes,el
day IN X. The hotel has the same OUTSIDE look, VI
5 same entrance, the same cigar ana neWsPape
! stands the same elevator with carved and glue
woodwork and mirrors, the same long corridor
with sof. carpets the same moDstr0us dining-root
4 ito