Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1882-04-20
NEW YORK FIFTY YEARS AGO.
Interesting RecoIectIons of One of
the Oldest inhabitants.

In small pamphlet, printed for
private circulation, Nc. James w. Aut-
en-, Of New York, has recorded his
"reminiscences Of that city IA it was
when he FIRST entered it in 1881, and
OF the changes he has since seen made
on Manhattan island. Some Of his
rec0llections, which seem strangely out
of date in the hurlyburly of 1882, are
as follows:
| have seen many and wonderful
changes in this city. From a goodly-
sized town of two hundred thousand
inhabitants it now numbers more than
a million and quarter of souls. |
have seen it rebuilt in most parts
twice, and in many the third time, and
extend its northern border from Canal
street to far beyond the Harlem river.
In 1889 we had no CrotOn water, little
anthracite coal, except Rhode Island
coal, which successfully resisted every
effort TO burn it; little or no illuminat.
ing gas, the city being mostly lighted.
publicly and privately, by oil, etc; no
railroads, no express companies, no
sunlit pictures, no friction matches, no
land telegraphs, no ocean cables, no
petroleum, and not a steamship to
cross the ocean; nearly all our foreign
mails coming monthly or fortnahtly
by the famous old "Black Bal" or
"Back Star" and other lines of 'Liv.
erpool Packets" The arrival at y
European mail in that day waa y preat
event in shipping and mercantile cir.
cles. The packets were sometimes on
thirty to sixty days or morpi and Ia
share in "the first delivery" "f letter.
was the object of every merchant. ~
none could afford to he much hphil d
his neighbOr in the reception of G m
mercial news. extras" were usu,lN
issued, often causing greet excitement
California, Alaska, ard other remn'e
parts Of our country were then III
known, except by Dtm', and 'he whole
vast territory west of The NJ s-iss poi
river was laid down on the MAPS il,
"unexplOred regions" In that day VT
had little or no small coin except the
Spanish and Mexican shilling and six.
pence and "pistarr"n" and our rates
Of postage were q, l3b, 1Sa and 25
cents, according to distance. If it be
asked what did the citizens do for WA
ter for the extinguishment of fires and
for domestic use, the answer il, theg
had the North and East rivers, the olo
pumps and cisterns, and Knapps sprird
water delivered at their doors at sy
much per gallon, and that furnished
by the Manhattan company. The Old
flint and steel and Undertook supplied
the place Of matches; pune whale and
sperm oil and candles, the place of gus;
hard woods and Virginia Fand Jersey
pine, and bituminous coal the place of
anthracite; the numbering omnibus
served for "rapid transit and Kipp s;
Browns stages running from the cor
ner Of Pine and Nassau streets to
Greenwich village one shilling
were well patroni2ed. But the rush
uptown at the close of business
was not so fierce as in our
day, for very many OF our mer.
chants lived near the Battery,
around the Bowling Green, in Broad.
way, in state and Greenwich streets,
and nearly all below Chambers street,
many Of them over their own place Of
business. For the transportation of
merchandise We had the useful horse
and cart, and fine body Of cartmen,
nearly all native born and each attired
with "frOck," neat and clean every
day. The "vOlunteer fire department"
of that day, though in some respects q
nuisance and disgrace to the city,
used 10 boast that q fire rarely extended
beyond the building in which it origin
ated.
! well recollect The steamboat which
first brought Inc TO the city-Capt.
Vanderbilts splendid new steamer
Nautilus built in l8ll,Ithe pioneer of
the steam marine of that day. She
played her part well, carrying safely
hundreds daily to and from Staten
island for the modest sum of % cents
per passenger. Tie boats on the ferries
to Brooklyn and Jersey city were then
known rs "horse boats" being pro-
PEELED by horsepower only, one horse
and a driver TO each boat, the latter
armed with whip by which greater
speed was promptly secured. Well,
they did rot 90 very fast, but they were
safe, II shipwreck never having been
heard Of on those "raging seas"