New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-01
UP IN BUSY HARLEM.
RAPID GROWTH OF THE PLACE.
GOATS AND ROCKS REPLACED By HANDSOME

RAPID GROWTH OF THE PLACE,
GOATS AND ROCKS REPLACED By HANDSOME
HOMES.
Not many years have passed since that section OF
New-YOrk which is known as Harlem was the subject
Of unlimited amount Of good naured rsery on the
part Of people whose homes were nearer what was
then the heart Of the city IL customary 10 re-
fer to Harlem an-outof.the-wsy place, the prin-
cple features OF which rocks and goats. In fact
the bare mention of Harlem had the effect Of calling
forth peasantres about these attractions But II
Harlem once the subject Of raillery 1t has now
become the object of envy. On every side one hears
of the great things that arc going in Harlem and
one now has only TO make a careless tour through
the once ridculed ton TO convince himself OF the
truth Of reports Of the great Improvements which
have been or are bcrg made. OF late 1t has nap
pened that the man who lives in Harlem has oecono
excessively proud of his section, all Of the humity
with which he received the testing references OF
his downtown friends to goats ard rocks having oeeh
! superseded by lofty consciousness Of apparent SUI
periorty.
II "a only fair 10 acknowledge too, that there is
good ground for the pride of the Harlemte, for the
Harlem of tho goats and rocks has disappeared 20 %
succeeded by Harlem which is Of Itself and III lsii
great and beautiful city, almost independent ana en-
hrely local In It's peculiar CHARACTERISTICS iIo
wealthy bomeowner no longer coDtenpiates tho
picturesque mdeousness Of the howell OF the aoorei
perched on the rocks the street. The shSnS
has disappeared, the rocks have been biss'ed
and ON tho spots where they stood other houses nave
,o 70 = uar,emite were TO be asked where the
l,borers and the goats had gone he would prooaoS
CIV that m the American Indian had been forced 10 'e
westward before tho march Of civilization, 50 had inc
laborer of Manhattan Island and his god's '"p
m tbe northward before the advance of enterprise
There might be something in the nature OF "ha'
novepsts would call the irony OF Iae' IN the iaoI
that tens of thousands of people who once scorneo
Harlem because of its goats and rocks nave oeeh
forced actually to make their homes within Its lines
Nv the raising Of the rents and cost of living in the
centre Of the oty during the last decade. But the
newcomers have found that they were gamers py
the change, and have become themselves the
s.anchest Of henchmen.
There has been a constant march Of improvement
IN Harlem ever since the elevated roads providea
means OF rapid transit At the outset the improve
ment was moro marked than at any other time ex-
ceptng the present. As soon as people reaiNeu
that they could live in Harlem much more cheaply
than in the centre of the city, and sul reach their
places of business in less time than was required
In their transportation before rapid transit was IN
troduced, they began focking to the new houses
which enterprsing spectators had provided for them
In the northern part of the city In anticipation OF the
exodus This exodus was practically uninterrupted
until the opening OI ING bioohiyh brIus~' WIN"
showed another way toward cheaper and more
comfortable homes. A few years only were required
TO show that even this great link between the two
cities inadequate TO the demands Of the increas-
Ing home seeking population ard the tide, inter-
rupied, but not subdued, more set toward Har-
lem with full force. When 1t Is considered that the
population of city of almost 100000 Inhabitants
Increases naturally rapidly than one Of
1000 900, another for the march of improve
ment toward Harlem is manifest. All the causes
combined at any rate have resulted in building up
a Harlem Of which its residents and all the citizens
of the metropolis may justly feel proud.