Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-24
LET THE BELLS RING.
Everybody Getting Ready for the
Merry Christmas Holiday.
BUSINESS GIVEN A BACK SEAT.
More Light Thrown on the Pennsylvania
Railroad and Cherry Alley.
DEATH CONCEALED IN BAD PLUMBING

The prosperous condition of business dur
ing the year has enabled every person who
made an effort to save up something to in
vest in Christmas presents to make the home
circle brighter and happier. So generally
is this regarded as duty, to say nothing of
the pleasure, that for the past month,
through rain and shine. buying has been
prosecuted at rate to break all previous
records. Saturday and Yesterday sales OF
holiday goods were enormous. Those OF
Saturday swelled the bank exchanges to
nearly $4,000. .0O0 Yesterdays sales were
probably greater, as all the outgoing after
noon local trains were crowded with people
loaded down with packages, great and small,
which looked as if they had passed through
the hands of good old Santa Claus. It
pretty custom, and keeps green the memory OF
the most momentous event In the annals OF
mankind
Ordinary affairs, so far as may be, are neg
lected for the time. The man absorbed in bus
mess lays it aside for little while and medi-
tates on the wondrous event at Bethlehem,
when for the first and only time the human
ear caught the strains of angelic music-"Peace
on earth good will to men," 1t is joyous and
a welcome season to rich and poor alike. 1t
affords an opportunity for rest and review. 1t
is time for good deeds and high resolves. Sell
fshness and narrowness retire abashed when
confronted with the light which it pours upon
dutyand responsibility. and all that is good and
noble in man is strengthened and confirmed.
He who is not happy on Christmas is indeed an
object of commiseration. A happy Christmas
is the best thing THE DISPATCH can wish for
its army of readers.
Business will keep. Let 1t stand aside for
few days while the bells ring and the people
make merry
The movements of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road in the Cherry alley district are as much
mystery as ever; but enough light has been
thrown on the subject in spots to convince the
public that there is more in the wind than the
railroad people and their agents are willing to
admit But as it is big thing, if anything, it
will take considerable time to accomplish all
the plans in view. 1t may be years before the
facts will be allowed to como to the surface.
Said an East End gentleman yesterday: Il
feel satisfied that there is large admixture OF
truth in the talk of Pennsylvania Railroad
gobbles in Cherry alley and Seventh avenue.
am acquainted with some of the officers of the
road. and frequently meet them. Two or three
months ago overheard one of them say: It's
all right; have Just seen our agents. They
say BQey nave S6CuIeu bOu16 duu udNo OpbAOno
on more. If we can get down to Seventh ave-
nue. we will be fixed OF course. could only
guess what he was talking about; but with
rumor and few facts to assist me- was not
long in making the application. He was throw
ing little light on the Cherry alley mystery"
A member of a real estate firm on Fourth
avenue supposed to be in the secrets. If not
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in
its efforts to get depot site down town, when
asked yesterday for information on the subject,
said: IT have nothing that can make public.
There may be such deal rs you speak Of. 1t
is a fact that the road has been trying for years
to get site for depot further down town.
The change at Grant street was the first i'm
portant move in that direction. That gave
them free outlet to Seventh avenue. 1t was |
an entering wedge to something better. What |
they have done since am not at liberty to sly; |
but when big. rich corporation like the Penn |
sylvania Railroad undertakes anything it gen. |
orally carries it out
zone thing would like TO say in this connec- |
tion. Property holders on Cherry alley and ad- |
jacent thoroughfares should not jump to the |
conclusion that the Pennsylvania Railroad |
wants TO absorb all that Fart of the city, and |
make such extraVagant demands for their pos |
sessions as to practically retire them from the |
market. 1 by no means admit that the railroad |
people are looking for property on Cherry alley |
or elsewhere. but if they are they know its
value and are not likely to pay much more. 1t /
has about reached the limit of its productive |
capacity, except for the purposes of the rail-
road. To boom it on the mere supposition that |
the railroad wants it would be an injury to the
property of that part of the city. Large bodies
move slowly. have no doubt that the Penn
sylvania Railroad would be pleased to have a
depot in a more central part of the city than
the present one. but it can wait To- l6 20 years
if necessary"
Another agent said: "What everybody says
must be so. While have no facts to show for
it, it is my opinion that the Pennsylvania Rail-
road is working big deal in real estate in the
district bounded by Liberty, Smithheld. Fifth
avenue and Grant This is large territory
and gives ample scope for selection. Some of
the maneuvering is no doubt for the purpose Of
throwing dust in the eyes of the people I
think Seventh avenue is the objective point
and that the depot viii be built there if any
where"
case in plumbing in New York recently
discovered discloses conditions that impress
two important points with considerable en-
phass. The case is that of Jerry builder
in the construction of row of houses. The
cellars of these houses had to be blasted ont of
solid rock at considerable expense. To connect
the house drainage with the street sewer called
for an additional expense OF 500 for each build
ing. But to save this expense of blasting to
make the required connections. the contractor
ran the waste-pipe from each house down un-
der the cellar floor and back under the yard to
a point beyond the fence line, where the mouth
OF the pipe was hidden under pile of broken
rocks, thus saving 81 900.
This was not discovered until the Health De-
partment began to investigate the cause of SO
much sickness in that row, when the outrage
was discovered. This impresses two lessons:
One is that plumbers should be chosen for the
inspection of plumbing. and the other is that
bad plumbing does cause sickness. These les
sons are important enough to be dwelt upon by
civil and health authorities in very serious
manner. There is no necessity whatever to
wait until disease prosrrstes q family before
the discovery of deficient plumbing is made
AS general thing the building and plumbing
regulations of our cities are such that the au-
thorities can point to no manner Of excuse for
such work.
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