Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-03
ALL ON DECK AGAIN.
The Business Grind Resumed After a
Brief Interruption.
A GRAND HERO IN PRIVATE LIFE.
He Suffers the Loss of His Eyes Rather Than
Desert His Post of Duty.
WATER STREET BADLY IN THE SOUP


and also ont of respect to the toilers, with
whom it was a holiday. To-day, however,
Captain Barbour will call the opposing ele-
ments together, and the thread Of trade will
be taken up where it left of. "How much
am bid for La Noria?" "What is offered
for Philadelphia GASP" "Who wants Switch
and Signal?" 'I would like to get bid on
the fractions" "How much for Electric?"
Come, wake up, gentlemen" and other ia
miliar phrases will resound through the
great building to-day, which only a few
hours previously was like banquet hall de-
serted. The banks, too, will throw open
their doors and invite the moneyless to enter
and be supplied from the great store that is
almost bursting the vaults.
One day of idleness makes but little diff
ference in the conditions and volume of
trade. Plans will be carried out, combina-
tions perfected, causes produce effects, stocks
bull ed or beared and petroleum manipulated
by the Standard as If there had been no inter-
regnum in the business calendar.
There are heroes in business as there are
heroes in war The man who leads forlorn
hope, or grasps the flag under which he fights
| from the hand of a fellow comrade and waves
| it in the face of the foe, is no more worthy OF
sculptured martble poets praise than he
| who perils his life in the discharge OF private
| duty. Indeed, the latter is higher type OF
heroism than the former. The one is done
| either under the pressure of intense excite
ment or with a view of association with the
"few the immortal names that were not born
to die" The military hero is urged forward
| by ambition The hero in private hfe-the
moral hero-has his only reward in the con-
sciousness of duty well performed.
There is a hero of this type in Williamsburg.
| He is physician, with a large practice. For
| several years he has been victim OF hay fever
| in its most aggravated form. A short time ago
he felt the symptoms of the malady coming on.
| His inclination was to go North for relief, but
he had ten dangerous cases of typhoid fever on
| hand and could not reconcile it with his con-
| science to desert them at so critical time. He
| hoped too that the attack would be mild; but
| in this he was disappointed. The disease de-
veloped rapidly. His eyes became inflamed,
| and the pain reached such degree of intensity
that he was compelled to come to the city for
| treatment But he obtained only temporary
relief Finally one eye was veiled in darkness.
the sight, perhaps, permanently lost, and the
other was very little better. The pain increased
as blindness came on, and again he meditated
going away. His ten patients, lowering be-
tween life and death, appealed to him to re-
main IF you go we with die, they said.
This touched the doctors heart. with
| Gods help, will stand by you," he replied.
And although suffering inexpressible torture,
! with bandages dipped in ice water constantly
over his eyes, unable to sleep or eat and guided
by friendly hands, he kept up his visits to his
patients and is in fair way of pulling them
through. Mercenary motives had nothing to
do with this tragedy in real life. He was
&C tuated solely by sense of duty. 1t is
the wish and hope of his hundreds of friends
that his vision may be restored, but it is feared
that one eye is irretrievably eclipsed. The
name of this moral hero-this exemplitication
| of the highest type of manhood-is F. s. Perish
ing. !
The march of improvement has struck nearly |
every part of the city except Water street.
where there are a great many tumble-downs
which ought to be demolished and replaced |
with houses of modern style and adaptability |
to business. Twenty-Five or 80 years ago the |
Monongahela water front was the busiest part
of Pittsburg. The steamboat interest which |
made it so has disappeared, but the location |
has lost none of its intrinsic value for business
on that account. With scarcity of business |
sites in the heart of the city, 1t is mistake to
allow so valuable thoroughfare as Water |
street to be occupied so largely as it is by un-
important industries and small traders, who |
could do as well, or better, on back streets,
where ground is less valuable.
The improvement of this highway would af- |
ford an outlet to many of the crowded streets !
and at the same time add greatly to the ap- |
pearance of the city. 1t would also help along |
the revival of the river interest, which present |
and contemplated improvements by means of |
dams and dredging are placing among the prob
abilities.
At the beginning of the present season there |
was some anxiety among business men gener- |
ally from the fact that in many parts of the |
country during the late spring months. the |
weather was exceedingly unfavorable- Late |
frosts, in some localities necessitated the Sec
ond planting of many leading agricultural |
products; besides the destructive floods in
other localities swept much of it away and de-
stroyed it. This condition of things for a time
created considerable anxiety. and the fear that |
these conditions might be more general aatur-
ally had, for the time being. depressing in
fuence upon almost all kinds of business
Dealers in almost every class Of staple articles
complained of dull sales and slow collections
Yet, as the season advanced, and the reports
from the more prominent agricultural portions
of the country were received, indicating that
the crops were not as generally injured by late
frosts or otherwise, more confidence began to
be felt
Within few weeks this feeling has ex-
panded and taken possession of the public
mind to such degree as to leave no doubt of
a season of extraordinary activity extending
through the fall and winter months. There is
already noticeable improvement in many
branches of business and the impetus thus
given will soon be felt and seen all along the
line.
A lady made a suggestion yesterday which
may or may not be new, but in either case it is
of some Importance to the Pennsylvania Rail-
road. Said she: "If had the management of
the road, instead of dlscharging passengers at
the Union depot and compelling them to walk
a mile to reach the business parts of the clty
would utilize the Liberty street tracks for an
electric road and transfer the passengers to
downtown points. This would save them time
and labor and add immensely to the popularity
of the road. The long walk has driven many to
the cable roads. The scheme l suggest would
bring them back" This suggestion is respect.
fully referred to- Superintendent Pitcairn.
curious railway car is bailding in Chicago
and it will be exhibited in Pittsburg during the
trial trip The distinctive feature of the car is
the fact that it is all iron or STEEL No wood
will be used in its construction. The Roof,
boiler plates riveted together, and it is nothing
more nor less than big boiler. It is not quite |
round, however, being somewhat the shape of
a horseshoe-the round part being the TOD. In
the bottom are several steel girders packed in