Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-11-26
NEW YORK LETTER.
Street Mnsic Shut 0f.-D.g Business
on the Elevated Road.
New YORK Nov. 20, 1889.

NEW 1OHh NOV. ~, loOo.
Correspondence Of the Capital Journal
A few days ago the Bo: ID of Alder
men posed an o:dinancI prohibit
ing organ grinding, or the playing
of aly music.,l instruments, in the
strcets OF this city, excepting in
pre- des, e.c.. under penalty of fine
or imprisonment. The intention
was % sop the alleged annoyance
caused by The everla9t'ny g. ud'ng
of the hand-organ and the .ooting
of the ~ lie German blnd;" but
events have proven that our plebian
populace do not consider it much of
q nuisance after all. Ia fact they
rather like the music, and are COM
ing to the re cue OF the musicians
by demanding an amendment to the
law, which will allow them to fol-
low their old-time occup .tion with
some restrictions. For this purpo
a ma ss-meeting will be held t. night
in Brooks AS emily Rooms, wher,
no doubt, there will be music in the
air. The number Of people who
gain a lievelihood by this means
must be very lfige, as they can be
seen on almost every block, with a
crowd Of children waltzing about
them, which crowG varies in size &C.
cording as the music is furnished by
a regularly uniformed German
"mud-gutter" band, or by an ordi-
nary italian hand-organ. In either
case the childlen are vastly int lrest.
ed and, whether the tune is "Where
Did You Get That Hat?" or "Home
Sweet Home" the performers are
always sure of an audience of little
ones who appreciate their efforts.
A PAYING INVESTMENT.
On the heels of the report that
the Broadway Railway company
had made application for permis-
sion to change its motor power from
horses to cable, comes the an
nouncement that the elevated rail-
roads carried during the past year
nearly 1SO,OOO,OOO passengers, this
Is an average of half million a
day, or, in other words, the receipts
were more than a thousand
dollars an hour, night and day. In
return for all this money the conf
pany gives very poor accommoda
tions; one is very lucky If he can
get u seat in the morning or evening,
and if he does, he Is not sure
whether he will be roasted or frozen
to death before he arrives at his
journeys end. Often on the
coldest days in winter there is not a
vestige of heat in the cars, while on
a mild day the heat is sometimes
suffocating; besides this, the speed
Is little better than that of the horse
cars, being less than ten miles an
hour at best. "Rapid transit" so
long talked of, and which we
thought we had, is still in the
future.
REMARKABLE STAGE MACHINERY
The mechanical arrangement for
reproducing horse race on the
81. .ge, which Is done in the County y
Fair" now running Mt the Union
Square Theatre, is remarkable piece
of stage machinery. 1t is not a
brand new device, but the proprietor
and chief actor, Neil Burgess, has
greatly improved on 1t since 1t was
seen here last spring. The effect of
the horses running at full speed and
yet not getting ahead, is produced
by the "revoiving stage" which the
horses keep pushing from under
them. The moving panorama at
the back has been rearranged, and
the Encouragement is 80 clever and
artistic that it gives the Impression
of the landscape flying back from
the heels of the horses precisely as
In genuine equine contest. The
front panorama, which used to be
Il picture ofa fence, has been trans
formed into practical fence and
greatly assists the illusion. Alto
gether 1t is an ingenious arrangement
and should serve to stimulate other
inventions of n similar nature,
EDWIN ARLINGTON.