The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-09-09
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
[FRoM OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT

NEW YORK, August 21, 1850
To THE EDITOR OF THE NEW NORTHWEST:
The International Commission on the
Worlds Fair to be held in New York
in 1888 bad a meeting yesterday, but
did not do much but talk. The talk,
moreover, was not particularly encour-
aging. 1t was stated by Mayor Cooper
that all the great international Expo
sitions heretofore held have had Gov
ernmental aid. The Centennial re-
eeived from the city Of Philadelphia
81 5000, 600, and from the State of Penn
sylvania 81 900 600, and an advance (af-
terward repaid OF SI,5OO, 900 from the
Uuited States. Under existing laws,
the city of New York cauuot make a
donation or subscribe to stock. II pub
lie aid is required, it will he necessary
for the Commission to make application
to Congress or to the Legislature of New
York. Other speakers from different
States urged the necessity Of speedy
action, especially in the States whose
Legislatures meet bienniaIly; and it
was added that unless New York exert
ed itself, il would be useless to go before
the people Of the other States and ask
for their cooperation. The squabble
about a site should also be settled, and
then the people of the country will begin
to think the projectors Of the fair mean
business, and will no doubt give their
cooperation TO make il a success. From
now to 1888 is a short time in which to
get up a Worlds Fair; but Americans
can do good deal In two years when
I they set about it.
Oar living celebrities are all out of
town. Nothing remains by way Of a
sensation except the obelisk, aud the
average New Yorker knows more about
| faro than Pharoah. But interest is re-
yiyed by the rumor that a nephew of
Rawlinson, the great philologist, now
travelling in this country, has discovered
an inscription on the needle" which
refers TO the New World. 1t speaks of
the might aud civilization Of Atlantis,
the continent Of which Plato wrote, and
which was supposed to lie west of the
Andes aud the Rocky Mountains. The
vestiges of its civilization are supposed
to be seen in the ruined temples of
Guatemala aud Central America Bur-
led under the quiet waters Of the Pacific,
the continent has left but little trace,
unless it be found in this lettering on
the famous obelisk. II may be only a
rumor, but il is certainly a very curious
one.
There is another sensation. Il is not
our murderers, Of whom We have pro-
duced a crop Of half dozen since the
recent hangings, but our cats. The
gentle aud melancholy Mr. Bergh has
had his slumbers disturbed by feline
songs, and is resolved that the cats shall
be exterminated-when caught. On the
other hand, all dealers in provisions,
prudent housewives, saloOnists and
other tender souls aver that everything
would be eaten up bodily Including
babies Of proper age) by the wharf or
Norwegian rat, If it were not for poor
pussy. Meanwhile pussy climbs dead
walls and trees, slips down drains and
glidss up fences, aud defies all the
Vaccinations Of the cat catcher The
midnight cry Of the furry quadruped is
as frequent as ever, and the solemn Mr.
Bergh, who finds his profit in a society
which needs money to run it aud pays
good salaries, Is advised on all quarters
TO turn his attention to the thousands
Of human beings who suffer from want
and sorrow in the great city, which to
him seems full of brutes only.
Charity has its sensations, like every
thing else, and just now it proposes to
build a home for intemperate women.
Some Of our best people are enlisted In
the work, and there will be no lack Of
money for the purpose, and yet one hes
itates to believe that it is necessary. II
there il drunkenness In the social cir
cles Of the upper class, it is carefully
hidden. None see it, but every body
who goes into society sees the quantity
Of drinking that goes on among our
young meu-sees the eyes and lips and
faces frightened by wine-knOws how
liking is kindled into love of it-aud
cannot but wonder wheTe il all ends.
Does the organization Of this charity tell
the secret? AUGUST.