Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1882-06-28
NEW YORK LETTER
OBSERVATIONS OF MEN AND
THINGS IN THE GREAT ME.
TROPOLIS.
The Influx Of Immigrants and the Hos.
pitable Treatment Extended to Them
How II Has Been and Will Continue
to be Paid for-How a Polished Scoun.
drel "WOrksO-Etc.
Special Correspondence of the T1Mxs.l


New YORK, sJune Give are
just beginning to find out how big
we are in New York-that is to say,
how big New York city is. In square
miles we knew all about it long ago,
and in superficial area we give in to
the broad brimmed sons of Pennsyl-
vania, who can call their city the
largest in the country without lying
more than is good for them But
the world don't measure influence by
the yard, nor power by the tape-line.
Daniel Lambert don't count for quite
SO much as William NJ. Evarts, al
though he might cover the latter up
and not know anything was under
him, and Barnum's fat woman don't
fill as big place in the worlds es.
timation as George Eliot, although
the circumference Of her calf was
greater than the span Of the others
waist. The census tables are slow
in coming out, and we have waited
two years to know just how many
souls made Manhattan Island their
home in June, 1880. / say "souls"
because that's the convenient phrase,
but in point Of fact the supply of
souls would be found to run alarming
ly short if there was any trustworthy
way Of determining how many of the
visible bodies contained nothing worth
the name of soul, but in its stead,
only the greed Of the wolf, the lust Of
the goat, the cruelty of the hyena, the
cunning Of the fox, and the venom of
the shake.
There were 1,2O6,299 persons living
in New York City two years ago. II
the enumeration had occurred fifteen
minutes later in some of the tenement
house districts, it might have been an
even 800 instead Of 299, by the ar
rival Of new baby, but the baby
probably didn't know the Marshal was
coming around so soon, and didn't
hurry on that account. As the city
contains some rs square miles, SIM
| pie calculation shows q density Of
over $4,000 to the square mile. Take
off the upper third Of the island, where
there is much land not yet bailt upon,
and wherein is Central Park with its
SAG acres, and the remainder would
be found to have nearer 100000 than
$4,000 to the square mile. There
were 167,290 children under FIVE
years of age, enough of themselves,
to make city as large as
Cleveland, and nearly enough to en-
title them to petition Congress for
admission as Il State, requiring lib
eral appropriation for internal i'm
provements. Then at the other end
of the line were 346 men and women
who, like "Grandfathers Clock" had
''stood ninety years on the SHELF" and
were, presumably, nearly run
down. How many Of these had cut
short their days by rum and tobacco
we are, unfortunately, not told. 1t
would make such a strong temper
ance sermon if we knew. There
were 1921 more females than males
"a fact that you had better not pub
lish prominently because there is al
ready too great propensity, on the
part Of the country boy, TO come to
New York for fame, fortune and wife,
and don't want to stimulate his COM
ing to look over these 25,U0O assort-
ed females. There were only 2O,456
colored people here, which insures a
good watermelon market, but dom
endanger the demand for white la
Dor.
But these were the figures of 1880
and don't tell the story of to-day,
because we are getting a new popu-
lation at the rate of
FIFTEEN THOUSAND A WEEH.
In the past fortnight over thirty
thousand omigrants have landed here
and over two hundred thousand have
come to our shore, so far, in 1882
There has never been such a rust
from Europe as now, nor SO many ma
tionalities represented. 1t has beer
estimated by our political economists
: that every man arriving as an emi
grant, was worth to the country, II
actual present or prospective wealth
not less than $1,000. Figure It VI
yourself, and see how much richie
we are as nation, than we were 81
months. Even if your own pocke
does not feel the weight of any par
% of the $1,000 per capita, you ca