New-York tribune., 1886-11-07
XII.
Continued.

Txxcnty-five wears have made striking changes
m ew-York Dwellcrs in the city itself do not
recognize how radical these arc 1t is not only
that bold avenues have pushed their way up along
the island, lined either hand with solid and
stately BUILDINGS, and easily prophesying how
Central Park will one day cease to be suburban
contradiction Of its name, and lie, like Hyde Park
in London. midway OF huge, busy. compact
metropolis The mere growth Of the city is cvi-
dent enough, as also its partial gain in archi-
tectural grace after the long undisputcd rule of
severe uglincss. Houses frequently reared,
at present, without violating every known law of
beauty or sometimes they CLEAN like happy in
cidcnts OF true art amid surroundings that ac-
centuate the hard prose of bric-aying and stone
cutting. In this way we all know that New York
has at last walked from her slothful indifference.
1t has already become commonplace to give her
the credit of such reformation We drive upon
her broad bou,evards, sweeping miles out into the
country, and though they are now lonely enough
fancy easily borders them with noble structures.
We think what palaces may one day loom above
the glittering Hudson on that imperial thorough
fare which is now the Riverside. We mark here
and there in the really grand park statue eX-
uuisite and perfect as that of Shakespeare at the
southern end of the Mall AMI people the whole
forcst-lixe expanse with busts and statues yet
unhewn from their marble or uncast from their
bronze The sense Of promise in all this is over
powering. The city has grown so nightly in less
than three short decades since the days when
I watched the black mass Of rock from my bed
room window and seemed to hear not far away
the hum Of that slowly creeping civilization which
would soon shatter and crush it We feel on the
threshold of an immense creation. as our eyes
roam over the vast area on which a magnificent
titysshall one day stand But strange depression
cl,onl Ion nfrn
have been dust when all is finished and splendid
The weariest of us have thrill that we can not
NJ first explain Then 1t resolves itself into this
We should like TO come back and see it in all its
rrandeur-when il has had past, history,
record Of far-reaching traditions. The field for
speculation is immeasurable; the optmist may
aream of civic ideals male tangible. the pessmist
nay see luxury throned ruined repubhcanism.
But there is modification, almost pain in the
thought that we shall have moved only among
crude and feeble beginnings Perhaps our de
iccndans will wonder that we ever cared for
Rome, Paris, Vienna, when this superb Manhattan
island shall contain It's ordy repositories OF
rainting anl sculpture its treasure-stored museums.
Its countless monuments OF majesty and dignity
But the changes now most apprcciabe TO one
who looks below the surface of our metropolitan
progression arc those that possess purely social
import The modes of living have been altered
In more ways than at fIst realize. Forlsn
customs have crept into New-York at stealthy
but sure pace twenty-five years ago a good
many people dined at two O'Clock AMI supred
simply at half-past six, who have to-day quite
forgotten the indulgence Of any such primitive
habits The dinng-rOom was not seldom In the
basement portion of the abode, and food was
cooked AMI served with homcH skin and in few
nouIscs The upper dining room, adjacent TO the
thor, pnlu oil
lors7j had only begun to assert its claim, like
The butler and fOOtman who superseded the
widely accepted "waitIcss. Late balls. with a
fIoflsion Of vands. were rare. Very few people,
even Of the wcalthiest class. kept than one
private carriage and many kept none at all
Extaya agant and sumptuous costumes among WON
en were by no usual. Neither old nor
gOung gentlemen of any class whatever habituaiy
donncd evening attire. and 1.-THE dIess-coat and
white crayat' were us often seen at morning
wedding as at an entertainment prolonged until
midnight. The fashions of England and France
we're already aped by certain tlIrong. but It's
number was not large ana its influence was little
felt To-day 1t would be hard to find boarding.
house in the extreme East or West portions of
town where siX-o'cloclX dinner is not held de
rgueur and tea when not drank daintily at five
o'clock is nearly sure TO be an accompaniment OF
breakfast As for c, stly equipagcs, these Like
buffers and footmen now legion among us
and too frequently the funls that secure them are
iqueezed out of mcagrc incomes, robbed from
the over trustful grocer and butcher III aljoinin;
streets. The clerk in Sixth avenue drygoods store
who anoints his locks and takes his sweetheart
TO dance where the tickets Of admission not
more than dollar each will hire the conventional
swallow tail coat for night if he be not already
lortunltc enough to own this garment and the
lady whom lie thus escorts viii spend her last
ngs TO dir costume of becoming richn IS.
New York has not vcstigc left of her old pro-
vincial model alton She has gone the way of all
great cities though there incentive for trust
In a wiser and camcr growth 1t has been Of
little avail that the vast Atlantic rolls between
her and monsiciical cities From the pretcnce |
AMI vainylory with sscd throughout every various |
grade of her society to the grossness of her polit
ical corrIptions she Offers hardly point Of di |
vergence. Not even hcr worst vices have a touch |
Of originality: they are all importcd-smuggled |
through, as one might say, free Of duty, TO cheat
that revenue OF dcccncy which the Unfit and
honor of her patriots and founders once firmly
established.
When Ms Dorian Casimir AMI myself reached
New York the transition period had more than
pa sscd its primary decisive stage OF course /
now saw the social side Of the great city for the
6st time Even il had been brought into con
tact with it in my childhood | would have been
too young for any basis Of comparison to aid my
present survey. And now it all struck me as
very interesting. novel and extraordinary.
"One must be terribly res cctable, here or one
5 nobody, declared Mrs Dorian soon after our
arrival. We were Jhen at elegant and com
no1ious hotel AMI were looking about for more
and domestic quarters My poor old
,ouse in Lafayette Place will no longer serve, /
ear II is too far downtown as they say here.
low the city grows IL is strange that anything
hould grow much and improve so little"
IL think IT has improN cd greatly. | said. at
not the city at all" And now | turned
o Casinir, who was present but Casimr is by
ar the best judge lie sees il for the first time,
With unprejudiccd yet artistic eyes
III 10 b.v Al, |