Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-06
new YORK BREATHES AGAIN
What q Nebrasl5an Saw at the
Great Centennial
THE BIGGEST JAM ON RECORD.
Like Sariines i'm n Box" Don't Ex-
press 1.-THE West But Poorly
Rcpresentcd-What
Train Says.
Echoes OF the Celebration.

New York, May l. Special Correspond
encc of The BEE. The great centennial has
come TO an end. The trades display, this
afternoon completed the programme OF ex-
crcises, and the president and his party left
the city. With them departed throng
which taxed all the lines Of railroads to their
utmost capacity. AS a consequence, tonight
New York is rapidly assuming its normal
condition. The streets are still crowded, but
there is not the horrible jam that has pre-
vailed for the past three days.
The word "horrible" may sound too strong
in this connection, but IL is the only term
that fits. The dispatches sent out from the
city have utterly failed to give any adequate
idea of the glutted condition of the principal
arteries through which the life blood of New
YORK flows. The whole municipal system
pulsated palptated, throbbed with the
TRANSMISSION of blood from the thousands OF
cities, towns and villages of the entire re-
public. But the splendid organism of the
city stood the strain wonderfully. Even ex-
perts in the science of multitude-manage-
ment marveled.
The great in-pouring of the multitude first
made itself manifest on Sunday night, and
from that time or until Tuesday morning
there was a continuous stream of people
flowing into the city. The railroads aban-
doned all business except that of carrying
passengers and perishable goods. Freight
trains were side-tracked and switches spiked.
Wrecking cars were stocked with provisions
ana their crews were in attendance ready to
respond at a moments notice to the call to
duty. Fortunately, however, their services
were not needed, for in the three days not an
accident occurred on any lines leading into
the city. 1t was after the arrival in New
York that the real dangers of the centennial
trip began. Such crowds as forced their
way through obstructed streets, had no pity
on weaklings, and women, children and timid
man or toto nd hnfn hnp nj in
this case, Providence Gn the guise of the
police) helped those who did not help
themselves, and in spite of the
fact that women tainted and chill
dren were separated from their parents, not
fatal or even serious accident, was re-
| ported.
The phrase, ''packed like sardines in a
| box" can give but little idea to the reader
| of the jam OH streets on which any of tho
| centennial exercises were held. If one could
| imagine sardine box packed with live fish,
| aud each one wiggling and squirming in a
| vain endeavor to eXtrcate itself from the
| general crush, he might have dim mental
| vision of the New York streets the past
| three days. But 1t would be very dim, for
all the incidents would be lacking. The po-
| lice with their clubs, the cracked heads, the
| fighting hackmen, the street fakir, the pure
! well water for nickle glass man, were
all there and added to the eclat of the occa-
| sion.
| The general exercises of the celebration
| there is but little to add. The two greatest
successes of the occasion were the
| naval parade on Monday and the military
| pageant Tuesday. In comparison with
| these, all the other exercises were as moth
| ng-seemingly failures. The ball, and
| there really was no ball, at least, so far as
| dancing was concerned, was humiliating.
| Everything was confusion. The various
committees seemed to have entirely neglected
their duties to quarrel over the Ward Nc
| Allister affair. The only guests who were
| suitably received and cared for were Presi-
| dent and Mrs. Harrison. The members of
| the cabinet and their ladies were left to
"hustle' for themselves. Secretaries Win
| dom and Rusk were disgusted with the
| treatment they received on arriving at the
| ball room, and returned Immediately to the
| Fifth Avenue hotel in high dudgeon. This
reached the ears of one of the mbers of
| the ball committee, and delegation
was sent to the hotel to offer
apologies to the secretaries and induce
| them and their ladies to return to the ball
room. This scheme worked, but the honor
| able gentlemen received only scant courtesy
on their second visit. They remained, how
| ever, until the jam became a crush, and the
| crush was transformed into a miniature
| riot. -"ra
The only other really "bad break" in the
| programme was the reception to President
| Harrison on Monday after the naval parade.
When the president landed at the foot of
| Wall street he and his party entered car
rages to be conveyed to the Equitable build
ing, but the other distinguished guests fol-
| lowed on foot. When the presidential
| party reached the sub-treasury building, the
| crowd on Wall street escaped from the con-
troll of the police and fiocked into the drive
way, utterly demoralizing the rear of the
| procession and cutting it off from
the presidents carriage. The police made
q wild rush to keep the crowd back, but the
officers failed to distinguish between the
common rabble and the distinguished visit
| ors, and as a consequence two or three
| United States senators, many members of
| congress and even some of the New York
| aldermen were shut out from the ceremonies
| attending the reception. Nearly all Of them,
| however, good-naturedly accepted the situa-
| Jon, though one or two aldermen made loud
threats Of revenge
For once the New York newspapers had a
task to perform which exceeded their abili-
ties. Their reports Of the centennial exer-
cises We're brilliant, extensive and interest
ing, but they lacked accuracy. For instance,
all the Monday papers announced the pres
ence with the presidential party Of James G..
Blaine, TWO of them giving a graphic ac-
count of the ovation which the assembled
multitude gave the secretary of state
Blaine, however, was IN Washington trying
to recuperate. much to the regret of the i'm
aginative reporters. The Evening Post had
Governor Thayer, of Nebraska, and staff
participate in the grand military parade, but
the governor was not there except, perhaps,
in spirit.
1t was painful task to hunt for Nebraska