Middletown transcript., 1882-02-03
Correspondence Of the Transcript
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.

from the South, is its growing resem-
blance to the celestial realms. This
may sound strange to those who have
read Talmage's sermons ON the "Ten
Plaques Of the Metropolis, - or to those
whose ideas are gathered from the col
umns and the pictures Of the Police
Gazette but the assertion can be sub
stantiated 1t is said of kingdom
come" that there is no night there .
the same may be almost claimed of
New York.
The blue-white electric light every
where stretches out its shining fingers,
grasping at the throat Of the King of
Night; uncovering to every eye the
crimes and follies he hides beneath his
sable cloak, and driving him from his
throne to seek another kingdom. Sure
ly, no preacher or teacher of public or
private virtue can rank with Edison in
purifying the morals of large city,
and in driving out from its heart those
who love darkness rather than light,
and whose deeds correspond with that
love- Still, there is a charm in dark
ness, and this continuous blaze of arti-
fetal day pals on the sight. Your |
correspondent does not wish to have it |
inferred that his deeds are always and
necessarily evil. After subtracting that
large amount of guile due to original
sin, and allowing for the fact that his
father is a preacher, he will compare
well with the average young man of
the period but, if you could enclose to
him along with the weekly edition of
the TRANSCRIPT a square foot or so of
cloudy, wild, and moonless New Castle
county night, to rest his weary eyes
upon, it would not be recorded against
you in his diary.
But, the work goes on. The Edison,
the Brush, and the other companies vie
with each other in laying wires and
planting batteries with which to make
a grand assault upon the gas light COM
panies. The latter are entrenching
their position and preparing to resist
the assault by every means in their
power. They have prepared a second
set of Notifications in the rear of the
position they now hold, and if the cleo
tric forces drive them from their guns,
they will retire in an orderly shape to
their new position. Here, they will
abandon all idea of furnishing light,
and will assume the duty of warming
us and cooking our food. A gas is now
manufactured which admirably an
swers all the purposes of a caloric.
Soon, instead of ordering a ton of coal
or a cord of wood, we will go to the |
wall and turn the gas into our stoves |
through the pipes which now brings us I
light while our light will come to us '
travelling by wire. Then let the coal '
and wood dealers look that their arms '
be bright. The gas division will drive
them from their field; and weeping, $
they will turn to look for other worlds [
to conquer. Where will they find G
them? a
Just now the attention of polite a
Gotham is divided by its balls, its thea b
tres, and its churches. The former Q
have ragged since New Years, and will q
continue until Lent. The preachers, !
and players, except in extreme warm Il
weather, when the houses of both are s
closed, are always with us. s
Of the theatres, the one most worthy Il
of attention is the Madison Square, a
where 'Esmeralda' isnow being played. s
Those who regard the theatre as the u
first step in the stairway to perdition Il
should be especially grieved when a o
play like ''Esmeralda'' is produced at a q
theatre like the Madison Square. For, h
if by any chance a good man can be "
cajoled into visiting it, henceforth all W
his preconceived prejudices against b
theatres and players are cast to the "
breezes, and he will go on and down Il
until his infatuation leads him to look II
upon the can-can dances d
and enhancing ballets of the "Metro- c.
politan.'' The church has more to
fear from moral than from immoral e.
shows. While the latter will not tempt Ct
the class leader to add another voice to II
the chorus of good men gone wrong, a n
play in which there is "nothing to II
bring the blush of shame to the cheek n
Of modesty" may start thousands on al
The downward track to swell the mighty 81
chorus of the lost.
In church circles, the most noticeable IL
event is the establishment of the new if
known as the Stalwart Ell
Church of America. y re
Feeling that a closer bond of union m
vas desirable, the New York Stalwarts hC
to enter the arena of theol- eI
ogy. OF
Looking around, they found Con-
Church laboring under a ii,
lebt of some $4,000, which the trust su
,e's were glad to surrender into their ri
lands. Next, to secure a pastor, they tn
brought DR.. Newman over from the te
dethOdists for salary of six thousand m
lollars. DR.. Newman used to be tn
1rant's pastor when he had one, in is
Washington, and is Stalwart of the
'talwarts. The pewS were taken by po
1rant and his friends at figure which ar
ntirely wiped out the large debt, and TT;
he denomination may be now consid- tn
red as fairly established. The only tic
ause of sorrow is the disappearance of ho
Roscoe Conkling. Those who know da
i'm best think that, had he lived, he it
would have become bishop of the new it
hurch. To explain, it is sow neces- to
ary for me to give you piece of secret vii
Iistory, which has been so long kept a ad