Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-11-19
New York by Gaslight,
Our Cowboy Friend Takes a Look ut
The Great City from the
BROOKLYN Bridge,

correspondence of the Gazette.
Since my last letter to you / have
been witnessing the wonders of New
| York life. This Is The city of America.
and If any Of my cowboy friends are
contemplating II trip / would advise
them by all means to come to Gotham.
The female friend who accompanied
me to West Point last week insisted
that should take her across the Brook
lyn bridge in the moonlight and look
az New York and Brooklyn lighted up
with gas and electric light. We went,
and IL il sight which is as impressive
as IL Is grand. This bridge would reach
from the court house in Fort Worth
far out and beyond the Union depot,
with its center towering nearly 200
feet above Twelfth or Thirteenth street.
Getting out of the elevated train at the
city hall we crossed the bridge from
the New York side, jostled and pushed
by the promiscuous throngs of pedes-
| trians returning TO their houses in
Brooklyn. Pausing awhile to watch
the glittering pennies fall into the re-
ceiver we started on the foot. walk
across the bridge. The "tall tower" of
the Tribune building doomed UP above
us with the hands of its great clock
pointing TO the hour of $50. After
walking about two hundred yards we
assembled the flight of steps which was
the scene of the terrible disas-
ter on the 3lst of May last.
A policeman stood on the top keeping
the pedestrians moving. No one is
allowed to stop ON these steps and to
this day you hear nearly every passen-
ger say something about the accident.
We next stopped to look at the Police
Gazette building and watch the Third
avenue elevated train dash under us.
About this point the four great cables
begin to make their assent to the
towers; they are about the size of -four
barrels and resemble the leading
strand of II huge spiders web, with the
net work of irons suspended from
them like the web work. We next
pause ut the New York tower and all
other works of architecture fade into
insigniiicance. Leaning over the
railing we looked down on the river
dotted here and there with steanl-
ers, ferry boats, tug boats and
sail vessels of every description known
to navigation. AS far as the eye could
see myriads of lights met our vision.
To the south lay Governors Island
the home of Hancock-scarcely dis
cernible in the moonlight; the waters
of the East river whirled and tossed
by the ebbipg tide, sung n soft, must.
cal song; under us, within the range of
our eye-sight, lay two million souls;
over our heads n row of electric lights
sputtered and shone with brilliancy
visible many miles down the Dny.
was lost in thought, standing there
while my friend east bits of paper
over the railing and watched them
| slowly float far down in the distance
TO the bosom of the river.
"Move on" said brass-buttoned
official, and we passed out from the
archway of the tower and did not
pause again until we came to where
the cables had descended TO our side.
We were then in the center of the
bridge and while standing there the
| tops of the lnasts of q huge ocean
trader passed directly under us with
the British flag Tapping with audible
sound from the maintop. Now and
then belated vehicle or hack passed
on the roadways on either side be-
hind ard iii front of us the lengthen-
ing stays upon which the bridge is
hung stretched down from the cables
like enchanted archways glittering in
their white paint from the reflections
of the electric lights. The home of
| Beecher looked AS large AS New
York, and n glittering sea of sights
was above, below and around us.
Passing on, we reached the Brooklyn
tower and then began to retrace our
steps, and saw New York under gas
light. For many miles up the river
the lights beamed-countiess as the
stars on n clear winter night. /
asked my companion to point me out
the give Points," and she actually
did not know where they were. /
afterwards learned that they had lost
their traditional terror, and their
neighborhood was comparatively n
peaceable one. The bridge has two
roadways, one foot-passenger walk and
n car track under the footway, which
Is elevated above the others. There is
gradual ascent to the midGle of the
| river from each side.
The engineer who designed this great
structure, and his son, who carried out
the work after his fathers death, have
builded themselves II monument and
fame which Will last through many
ages. Roebling is II familiar name to
| all New York and Brooklyn, and to
| the world of civil engineers. The
father lost his Life while superintend-
| ing the work on one of the tower Gals
| sons, Through some acute disease con-
tFacted rom exposure, and the son Is
confirmed invalid from IA similar
cause. Their mission on earth is ac-
complkhed, however, aud their name
lives in the greatest engineer
ing triumph of the nine
tenth century-the Brooklyn bridge.
IL was nearly eleven o'clock
by the TribuAe timc-piece when we
assembled the station steps and took
the elevator for home. In my next |
VIII tell you something about New
York places vi resort. C.R.
New York, NoY. l4tk.