Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-01-22
NEW YORK LETTER.
&xx And rHrSas IN THE GREAT
CITY.
Vie Elevated Railway Aecidsnts-rhe sig
nature Fad"-clothes OF Million.
airss-Wsll-strset silhouettsa


New YORK, January 81, 1888.
There is one very perceptble result OF
Che recent accidents on the Elevated
road in this city. 1t may be seen in any
cars of the line to-day. You can read 1t
IN the faces of women and hear it in the
conversation Of men. ltamounts simply
70 this, that people are scared Not that
anybody il very badly frightened, but
there is enough nervousness in the air
70 kill half-doZeu people, II 1t were all
collected on wire as Frapklin did the
lightning. There is little doubt that
many people nov travel in surface
cars over distance which they
would not have thought OF covering
in this way were 1t not for the startling
stories in the local papers. 1t Is by 10
means rare TO hear parties OF men in the
cars discussing the probable results OF
fall to the street, and gong into harrow
ing details Of the results which they
would look for in their own anstomles.
Coming down town on the Sixth-aveDue
line this afternoon | noticed a pale, thin
girl with very large ewes, who occupied
. cross seat with an elderly lady. They
were evidently strangers. The girl
showed signs Of nervousness whenever
there WAS a chance for it. She chung
. 10 the window ledge when the car
went around q corner, and seemed
greatly relieved when o stop was roade
One conld read in her face the results of
reading sensational stories about the
dangers of the elevated road. AS the
brakes were applied for the stop at
Chambers street she started at the shock.
and inst nj that instant half dozen boys
in the street below set up unearthly yells. |
Ii was too much fog the nervous passen- /
ger. She turned toward the elderly .
woman. "grabbcd" her with sudden, /
impulsive force, and hid her face in her /
lap. The lady was considerably startled /
and not much pleased. but in a moment !
her motherly instinct got the better OF /
her annoyance, and she soothed the /
frightened girl with the utmost gentle /
ness
The incident illustrates feeling /
which is becoming general. The papers /
are full of stories about accidents on .
the road, and mishaps that would once
have been thought too small to mention
now occupy half column.
General Manager f. h. Hahn does not
feel Grutlleu at lutSc hlpiltS~ 1io
they are gross exaggerations
"Look at that accident on Fifty
third street" he said. 1.-THE papers
said that it was narrow escape from n
horrible casualty. What weret the facts
An engine was moving ont on n switch
near the station. a small bolt broke
and the switch did not operate perfectly.
so the wheels Of the locomotive fell
down between the switch and the main
rail. An approaching train was stopped
when il came within a hundred yards or
so of the place, and r trsckman was sent
with message to the engineer that he
should disconnect his engine from the
train and push the derailed locomotive
back to place again. He did so, and
that's all there was about it, but when
the story came out in the papers it made
the people believe that the Waterman was
8 hero who had barely succeeded in stop
ping the train in time to prevent an awful
disaster.
A FIRST-CLAsS SYSTEM.
a. have gone into this at some
length, " continued Mr.. Hahn. because
] want to say what tue result is. Be
sides frightening people unnecessarily it
discOurages capitalists who might other
wise start rapid transit enterprise. /
tell you that New York will never have
a first-class sSs.sG. OF rapid transit till
the papers al61A llssSanding every corpora
ton of the kind formed in the city.
"Yeu don't want to see another sys-
tenn, do you ?" asked in surprise.
1--WE don't care" replied Mr.. Hahn. {
1--WE should have business enough. {
New York is a growing town. !
There is a great deal of truth in what l
Mr.. Hahn SAYS, although he probably ex- {
aggerates the hostility of the newspa- {
pers. AS matter of fact, the reports S
of the recent accidents, which now num- I
Der a half-dozen within month, have {
been much overdrawn. For instance,
the derailment on Ninth avenue at Six {
teenth street was represented as Oc-
curing to a passenger-train which {
jumped from the uptown track 6
clear across to the downtown line, |
passing over a middle track. That was S
the story printed next morning IN {
every paper which mentioned the affair. {
As a matter of fact the rear trucks {
of the last car of an unoccupied train |
which had been standing on the middle
track we're derailed a. the cars were being
drawn upon the downtown track. The q
accident resulted from mistake of the g
man in the switch-tower, and was of the !
most trifiing character. In spite of these
accidents the elevated railroad of New c
York is managed admirably, and the +
dangers to passengers are reduced to c
microscopic minimum. L
x,fsrfNn craN ,SrXy ran s
One of the new fads Of the season is !,
the collection OF autograph letters from :,
living men and women. One day this y
week Broadway shopkeeper showed y
me an odd collection and told me the
prices that he hoped to set for each let
Ter. One from Browning, the poet, is
marked $3.50. A humorous letter to q q
President Garfield signed Mark Twain :
is held at a.. The great humorist says: ~
alt seems to me that it is better 10 Il
have a good mans fisttering estimate OF Il
my infuence-and keep it-than TO fool !,
it away with trying to get him an Office. =
A brief note signed by Wilkie Collins, =
the novelist, is held at Sl5O. Another 4
from Sir Charles Dixie, the English ~
statesman, whose escapades caused such ~
sensation year or more ago. is valued '
ct 81. One from General John G. Ere "
mont. the pathfinder, and the first can Il
didate of the Republican party for Presi- u, =.
dent, is ticketed 1915. An autograph IL
verse and signature by DIR. Oliver Wen !.
dell Holmes is 1925. A short letter written " :,
by eloquent Bob lngersoll is not valued 1,
very highly. II may be purchased for q,
IS cents. One from the MARQUIS o.
A 4 4 e
Canada, may be had for $l.75. u
Justin McCarthy's autograph is e,
valued at the same figure. John III
Ruskin's is more highly prizod 1t is
held at $50. Clark Russell. the author
of 30 many weird tales of the sea, has m
name that is Of some pecuniary moment 81
II is marked s. %. A scrap of paper ga
signed by General W. 7. Sherman will Il
DO sold for 81. A letter of Sturgeon, d
the famous English divine. in which he D.
IL