The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-19
ILLS NEW YORK LETTER.
Social Topics of an Unreasonable
Spring Time.
Indignation Over Bridge Tolls-The War
Against the Chinese-The World News
paper-Theodore Tilton.


you known hosiery-and found they all had
the stripe running the wrong way. Here it
is, past the middle of May. All the operas
and good plays at the theaters are over, and
everybody's married that's going to be, and
we've all finished our lists OF dinners and re-
ceptions and all that In fact, the winter
seasons all over, and we're ready for sum-
mer but summer doesn't come It's out OF
season for winter wraps, and it's too cold to
be comfortable in any thing else; so we either
have to stay in the house, or go out and
shiver. And then it's awful dull to be in
town and nothing going on. We ought
to be getting ready to go to the shore or the
mountains; but goodness gracious, Mon
tague took me down to Brighton the other
afternoon for drive and pretty near froze
to death.
But when summer does come, Iguess we're
going to have awfully splendid time.
Down at Coney Island and Brighton and
Manhattan Beach they're making all sorts of
arrangements for big season. Half dozen
new hotels are going up. New railroad &C.
commodations are being prepared, and new
steamboat lines are being established. Mr..
Corbin, of Manhattan Beach, tells me he
will be able to carry 70, 900 persons day to
the Beach and back again. The Brighton
road can do about the same Mr.. Culver
told me this week that he could carry 100, 900
day without crowding. and eX-Mayor Gun
theirs road will take $4,000 more The three
steamboat lines will take easily So 900 more
and the horse car lines will take at least TO-
000 So there is transportation capacity for
100000 passengers day. Last year the
heaviest travel over the roads was on the
day of p. S. Gilmore benefit when 275, 900
persons visited the Beach, it was estimated.
Such is the result of having a superb beach
wit aiO mil of ha nf "a
metropolis, with trains running there in
fourteen minutes, at twenty-five cents a
round trip.
Montague says all the cottages at Long
Beach are rented for the season,
and half of the rooms in the hotel engaged
There is little doubt, too, but that the mann
moth Rockaway Beach Hotel will be opened
this season; and then there are several new
resorts springing up near by So the expec-
tation is OF a great season at the summer re-
sorts.
BRIDGE TOLLS.
At last the bridge trustees have decided
upon schedule of tolls. They have actually
had the brazen effrontery to levy a toll of
one cent upon every foot passenger, which
will insure mighty small patronage for the
promenade. Passengers in the cars are to be
charged five cents for miles ride, when on
some lines OF street cars vuu can ride twelve
miles for that sum- Vehicles and animals
will be charged the same tolls as on the fer
ries. 1t is needless to add that this action of
the trustees has reused perfect storm of
popular Indignation, which is all the more
intense because so utterly powerless 1t is
almost universally declared that Seth Low
Brooklyn's young millionaire, reform, home
rule mayor, has committed political suicide
by champoning the obnoxious toll schedule
The people of that city, irrespective of party
will take up the free bridge issue at this falls
election, and If Low comes up for a second
term, they will snow him under without
mercy.
, l asked several of the trustees why they
ecided upon tolls for pedestrians:
Because said they, eminent lawyers ad-
vised US that under our charter we were COM
PEELED to do So"
The next evening l had talk with the
partner-not a wicked partner, either-of
one of the eminent lawyers" He told ME
something which | promised not to tell to
anyone else, but made mental reservation
allowing myself to write it out for the Jour
nal. Said he: t
Zone of the trustees appointed by the
board for the purpose, applied to our Office
for legal opinion He inclosed in his letter
draft on the bridge fund for ST. 900 as a fee,
and asked explicitly for an opinion adverse
to a free bridge. He asked that we would
frame as strong an opinion and argument as
we could against having it free even for foot
passengers. OF course, my partners bust
ness is to serve his clients, as he gave such
an opinion and pocketed the fee. And now
or couse, these guileless trustees say they are
compelled to exact tolls, under the law"
The cars that are to run on the bridge ar
rived here on Tuesday, and got good look
at them. They closely resemble the railroad
cars of thirty or more years ago. They have
low, fat roofs, with no ventilating arrange
ment, and the windows are small and only
open little wav. Altogether they are about
as mean specimens of travelling vehicle as
have seen for long time. 1t will be torture
to ride in them.
When the station building was put up
at the Brooklyn landing, a big iron
lions head was put on the, Sands
The aldermen-nine-tenth of them Irish
at once passed a resolution ordering it to be
taken down and an eagle put in its place.
This impairment command the bridge build
ers have as yet taken no notice of. Nor will
they.
' CHATTER ABOUT CHINESE.
A tremendous pother has been raised about
the alleged iniquities of the Chinese colony
in this city, especially in in the opium sa-
looms, into which, it is charged they entice
little girls and then accom- plish their ruin.
Two or three newspapers have devoted much
space to sensational stories about it, the car
toonists have taken it up and regular war
OF races is being preached among the low
Irish Catholics against the Chinese. 1t is not
unlikely that some blood will be shed before
the agitation ceases.
h1ooCi, iAipdrtihi iHNcSIiBdLOH SHOWS inOSC
of the charges, and all of the more serious
ones, to be utterly unfounded. The real
, trouble is that the Chinese are sober and in
dustrious, and so make money while the
Irish lie around drunk. Hence jealousy and
luminosity are engendered against them.
OF course, the Chinese do smoke opium
but not as generally nor with nearly sc i'll
effects as the Irish drink whisky Moreover,
not half the opium dens in this city, about
which we hear so much, are kept or patron
lied by Chinese at all, and the stories about
hundreds of little girls being debauched by
the Chinese are about as wild as the
most extravagant yarns of Munchau-
sen. The most strenuous efforts on the