Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-04-13
GOTHAM GOSSIP.
THE EMPIRE CITY UNDER THE NEW
INSPIRATION
OF the Electric Light-Wafted through the
BOwey on the Elevated Railroad
The Modern Sybaris-Opu-
lence and Layishness Of
the New Workers.
MIGHT BRlLLlANCY or BROADWAY.
,ycia, Correspondence Of the Register.

l ~
train, the other day, took the Elevated
road and was waited up town over the
heads OF the denizens OF that busy re.
gion-the Bowery-a picturesque region,
by my faith, Talk OF electric light,
Why, this part OF the town is ablaze
with it, individual enterprise forcing one
| man after another to illuminate his
premises in order to keep abreast with
his neighbors. From below Grand
street and almost up to Astor Place, nu'
merous theatres are tlourishing, as well
as fairly uncountable music halls, beer
gardens and museums, where mOnstrosl-
ties are exhibited and tutii qtani. 1t Is
a world As different from that OF Broad
way and Twenty-third street as il the
two localities were separated by an
ocean instead of few streets. Did you
ever dream that you had been granted a
PAIR OF wings by
Some Fostering Angel,
and were enjoying the rare priv
ilege OF soaring through space?
Being in the elevated road at
night gives one this sensation.
| The people beneath seem almost pig.
mics, and without any personal exer-
| ton one tiles above their heads, while
they run hither and thither in pursuance
| of their mundane affairs, without even
/ as much as a glance upward to look at
| the strange spectacle OF 4 weighty train
rushing through the AIR above them.
The railroad passes along on level with
the third and fourth floors of the houses,
which are in height anywhere from four
| to ten stories. The city is SO over
crowded with people that most of these
| dwelling houses are inhabited by sew.
eral families, one on each floor, which is
called Giving in flats" The rent for a
| "nat" is anywhere from SO to 500 a
month, according To location.
ANY contemporaneOus "used-up
man"-and heaven knows there are
many such-who longs for new sensa-
ton, should certainly pray for some an
cestral ghost to be endowed with 'iie
| again, and to- be permitted to revisit the
Ghmpses OF the Moon,
one OF these nights in New York.
| Oi all the gay scenes you can possibly
| imagine, this one OF night in New
/ York, is beyond comparison the most
enchanting. Ihe electric lights which
are now illuminating Broadway and
| Tyentv-thirI streets are said TO be i'm
measnrably more brilliant than those
used IN the Avenue de POpera in Paris.
| The mas,s which sustain them alott are
| three times as high as the Paris lamp.
| posts aud even at that distance the bril-
| lance is almost binding.
During the present opening OF the
spring season the stores are keeping
open until late NJ night, and the places
| of business which are situated under
the raSs OF this street electric light or
which have it on their own premises,
count ten patrons 10 one where oaly
gaslight is used. The reason for this is
obvious. GIslight IL :leceiviug; and
| pictures, cslored Stutis, and even stat
uary, have very
Different Appearance by Gaslight
from that which they possess 10 the day
time. But in the electric light green's
| look like greens and not like yellow
| blues; pink and salmon colorS have
| their own distinct shades; in Tact
| il is rs easy and satisfactory 10 do shop
| ping by electric light rs by daylight. |
| am tod that the managers of theatres
| look forward with some anxiety to the
matter Of shopping by electric light be-
coming fixed institution. American
women as q race, are lnveterate shop
pers, and il they can satisfactorily keep
up their favOrite diversion after night
| fall, and what is more, drag their hus
| bands out 10 do the same in company
with them. ii may effect the regular
business of the theatres in some degree.
Olive Logan once described the night
brilliancy OF Broadway:
"Stars of the summer night are shin
ing; in the empyrean the planets flame;
but suspended over the great thorough
fare, througed with the hurried human
itv OF this great city, there hangs 10y
night the tear the PERI shed when she
stood discousolate at
The Gates of Paradise.
This lovely electric drop differs from
any have seen in Europe, in that it is
incloscd in globr Of transparent, not
OF opaque, glass Ii IS, therefore, ~
dazzling that, were il hung upon the
line OF vision, the eyes of mortals could
not bear il; it would blind like the
lishtning's flash. But its altitude is SC
great, Swung as it is from the tops OI
high houses across Broadway, that one
may occasionally glance at it, especially
when it Hickers lON, and the ruby reJ
which tells Of waSerlng power, succeed.
the blue briiiiduce Oi the perfect stream
OF ralianre. DOWN upon the street be-
low il sheds concen,ric rays of light and
all
Within the Magic Circlc
is such a glare of brightness that men
stop and read newspapers, as though
'twere in the sunlight aud this high
noon"
was thinking the other day what
were once considered the seven won
ders OF the world, but no matter The
modern world is as full OF wonders a,
il is OF man and maid. This empire city
is certainly one OF non-scholastic won.
ders OF the present age. Ii Is said that
SyhSris, an ancient Greek city, has for
centuries represented the extreme o
proiuSiOn and luxury. j venture To say
that the antique city OF Greece had no
more conception Of the sumptuous life
aad license common 10 the new city on
the Hudson than had S,rsbo, who has
described it, of the mighty continent
slumbering amid far western seas Syb.
aris is buried in mold. its history is
stepped in myth; but New York, though
vet raw with freshness, contains the op.
u,ence OF kingdoms. New York is the
, Sybaris OF the present, and exceeds all
magniticence OF the past hundred-fold
This island city has more remarkable
, contrasts than any other city OF the Re
. public. IL is resplendent with palaces
= and repulsive with over populated tene
ments; 1t Is a common centre OF the
very rich and the very poor, and each
%ear 1t seems. the rich grow richer ant
the poor poorer, according to the con.
!, temporaneous law of
5 Municipal Civilization.
Indeed the rich must steadily grow