The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-01-12
LIFE IN THE METROPOLIS.
Special Correspondence.

| amusements without end, and social gal
ties, balls, parties and dinners until one
can't rest Only those who have been
through the social whirl of season" in
the metropolis really know what it is.
Among other things we are having lots OF
weddings this frosty weather. Church
weddings are the rule. The churches OF
| chapels are beautifully decorated with
| flowers the ladies wear elaborate costumes,
/ aud there is an entire absence of the vul-
gar crowd of which we were wont to hear
so many complaints. Fashionable people
are becoming more and more exclusive
every year and resent the presence of what
a sublime little ass in the Knickerbocker
Club has the impertinence to call com
moners. Only few years ago and any
respectfully dressed man or woman felt
| quite justified in wandering into church
wedding and taking seat. Now, every
| thing is changed, and only those whose
clothing stamps them as members of the
extremely fashionable guild are admitted
The less pretentious people are stared at
| by the ushers when they present themselves
at the door and asked coldly what they
| want. If this does not repel them they
| are told that it was hoped to make the
affair somewhat exclusive" So they are
driven out and the swells smile contentedly
because no "commoners" are present.
Sometimes it seems as if Jay Gould in
vited hostility and hate. He always acts
without the slightest consideration for
people, and sneers when the public protests.
Recently he found that running trains on
tho Sivth avapua elevated ra ilrnad did NOT
quite pay. OF course the railroad pays
immensely at other times in the day, but
from 10 midnight till a. m. the trains
cannot clear themselves. So Mr. Gould
said, Stop all trains and close the road at
midnight" The general manager, the vice
president and many of the stockholders
protested against this move as being very
unfair to thousands of people along the
route. Fully fifty thousand people had
been led by the establishment of the road
to move up in 100 and 150th streets and
in that neighborhood. They believed that
the elevated road would run all night, as
they had agreed to when their valuable
franchises were granted them Now the
trains are stopped at 10, and these people
are debarred from attending the theatres or
evening entertainments because there are
no late trains. But the rule has struck the
newspaper men the hardest. OF the ten
thousands of men employed in one capac-
ity or another on the night staff of the
night staff of the great papers, fully one
half live up town These men have only
one thing to do now-move down town.
1t is not practicable for them to drag four
Or five miles in the street cars on cars on |
cold winter nights The row raised by the |
new rule is already beginning to take |
shape in propos ed petition TO the iegisla- +
he ba.
selves obnoxious to the public by short
sighted measures? Vanderbit's Public be /
and fiel5's monument to Andre,
the spy, are now matched by Gould's early /
closing movement The last named million
aire, by the way, is becoming quite ha6S
tue of the theatre. He and his son, George,
went to see Modjeska's Camille a few
nights ago. and both of them were very
attentive. 1t made the eldest man some
what nervous. but, his fat and sympa-
thetic son seemed to find it very amusing.
Young George is very discreet when with
his papa. He wears plain business or
suit to tho theatre when under
the paternal eye and never feels thirsty
once, but when he goes alone the case is
altogether different. Then he appears
With great effect, in evening dress and
striking jewelry. He looks like a Cuban.
10 dark is his face.
Everybody is glad that the hog Wander
1ilt is to have formidable rival for his
Hudson river railroad. one which promises
O deprive him of some of his excessive pro-
It's, for the benefit of the public / asked
cool thoughtful observer what estimate
lie made of the prospects of the West Shore
hudson river Line. Said he: That con
ern now has money to finish the road
1uch was said against them for while
because they seemed to be near the end of
heir ready cash. But that song can no
onger be sung. My opinion is that the
New York Central railroad people do not
appreciate the influence of the new road
do not think the West Shore appreciate
heir own future. They have ordered
900 freight cars whereas the Central has
o. 900 and has none too many. The new
Dad is but little understood even in this Il
;ty, except those interested in it. But it
S the best built road, for a new one, ever
nut down in America, the road bed very
veil prepared, the track double at the out
ct and made of the heaviest steel rails
sed in the country-about sixty-seven !
pounds to the yard Its grades are very
ow, it can carry larger engines than any
abroad in this state, and pull nearly .
ouble the number of cars that parallel
Dads can carry with their present en-
ines"
With pitfalls for pocket-books there are
great city like New York. The swind- j
ng schemes that are developed almost
ally are enough to strike one dumb with
at not only the effrontery but |
ne ingenuity of the theiving operators. ,