Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-01-06
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Night in & Great City.
-hu, I'd Navy JoWnAl.

Night in & Great City.
Il needs neither Walt Whitman
a3g a J .fqain Miller to appreciate in
-9-' '.rgtco the strange influences
- ..;c ;.Erua,l il l gs, at city at hight.
Le- ~: raan OF fair power, of observa-
tioo aka 7, ii ct!on prowl about New
EocA from midnight until fonr o'clock
~ lie morning and he will be aware, il
not OF gi is, at least OF wondrous
soft OF unreality attaching TO all cor
poreal entities, and be may readily lose
himself in the dream that he is one Of
: myriad OF phantoMs in phantom
city. Sleep, " the brother of DEATH"
has fallen over tie world at large, and
the night walker is so fer conscious of
being out of gear with humanity that
he may easily enough fancy all things
moral and his own perception of them a
sort Of coherent illusion.
"Colors seen by candlelight do not
look the same by day." and the very
forms of the houses seen by the star
light of the street lamps have some
thing grotesque or imposing about them.
There is one block near the Grand
Central Depot which on clear night
looks like a realized page out of the
Arabian Nights" The strange ori-
entail architecture of the Jewish Syna
gogue on the one hand is matched by
the equally magnificent but strongly
contrasting outlines Of two or three
Christian temples, aud tho enormous
depot in the near distance Iarmonizes
well in the general effect. Walking
easterly from F:ftL avenue it il easy to
think while your solitary footsteps echo
in the deliie OF the street, that the
giants are sleepiag and that your escape
is possible.
It is not only architecture-not even
principally the appearance of houses
that gives the weirdness to night in the
city. 1t is the changed character of
the population. One might easily
imagine that the city hal been plague
stricken and forsaken at sunset and
that the darkness had peopled the
streets with shadowed embodiments OF
her own peculisrities. 1t is note
worthy, too. that this strangeness
deepens as the night grows older. In
the early evening-even as late as mid.
night-the average citizen may be
abroad. At ten o'clock ct night the
city is rot very unlike what it is at Ten
o'clock in the morning. Men are, as 6
rule, seekiDg their pleasure instead ol
their profit. That is tho main differ,
ence. It is not until after midnjgh,
that the change comes fairly.
Then the prowler after impressions
may see the foul shapes OF incarnats
sin fitting past the occasional lights
from one fastness Of darkness to an
other. Then the unhsppy women wht
may be seen throw off the restraints O
earlier hours. Then tho breach of th'
peace that earlier would give patrolmel
work is passed by idly. Then th'
most of the streets and avenues grow
silent while the few grow noisy. Thei
it is that the rider on any Of the all.
night lines of horse cars may study tn
phases of human nature that lie hiddel
in the day.
OF them all the Third avenue line i
the busiest, but the Sixth, Eighth ant
Second avenues are also curious stud
les. Eighth avenue is limo taken b.
late workers. Roysterers for tho mos
part find it out of their route. Th
passengers generally are glad enougl
to 60 to sleep, uncomfortable rs slum
. ber is on the hard seats of horse-cal
/ 1t is q curious thing, by The way, t
! notice how few persons fail to wake u
at the point on the road where the
desire to get off. Now and then, som
, unfortunate, desiring to get eff g
! Ninth street is carried to Fifty mint
street. at which point the much-trie
conductor, having probably tried fou
g or Eve times to awaken the exhauste
: man. will turn him bodily ont of th
9 car. But ordinsrily some indescribabl
o sense will notify a man through th
! thickest mantle of sleep, that he ha
s completed his journey, and it is no III
common thing to see him rise and stag
ger to the door before he is fairl
!. awake, unable to Gee the street sigr
: but fully aware that he has reached hi
/. stopping place.
The conductors on the horse cars ar
of themselves a curious class Of me
> and an interesting study. They chang
,, character at night as completely as
cloud changes color. 1t is not RECORD
ed that any man ever voluntaril
r chose the business OF car conductor
!, As geniuses are born, not made, so ca
conductors are elected by necessity, ne