The Worthington advance., 1890-11-06
THE. GERMAN CAPITAL
4odeen Berlin 1s Scarcely Sur
passed by, Paris.
a City Of Much Magniaoence and Wonder.
1al OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Lights Made
Things Of Beauty - Tho Tele-
'phonio Service.

phon,e service.
Berlin in 1877 was city of much mag
ntflcence, but it was in the transition
state due to its recent assumption of i'm
pcrialshonors which many defects man
tfcst 70 the visitor, in shape of wretched
age system, accompanied by high
death. rate, inconvunient methods of
local transit and other reminders Of the
more iprovtncial days before the great
empire sprang into existence. Berlin
is to-day, writes correspondent of the
Mexican Financier, one Of the most
splendid capitals Of Europe, hardly sur
passed even by Paris in grandeur, and
withSits population of 1,5oo,0Oo, is the
second city of the continent in size and
the drst in industrial rank. 1t is growing
with;a pace Of a Chicago, and every year
beh0lds enormous areas of the sur
rouh4fng sand-p:ains covered densely
With the new houses of the expanding
oitys Here, in the ''sand-box of Ger
many" amid the barren plains of the
old Mark Brandenburg, the cradle of the
Hohenzollern might, the tireiess energy
and persistence of the Prussians have
builtup the chief city of the most pow
erfuf empire of Europe.
The principal streets of Berlin are
nearly all paved with asphalt, and they
are such marvels of cleanliness and
smoothness that one feels the same re-
spett for them as for nice drawing
room, and scruples to litter them even
with scrap Of paper. The most fre-
qGented ones are literally washed and
scrubbed every night. After being wet
down few men or boys proceed along
the road, pushing before them pieces of
boafd set diagonally on a pole, with a
stripof rubber on the lower side. The
mud is thus transferred from the course
Of one man to another and finally left
in the gutter, whence it is removed.
The consequent freedom of the city
from dust is very marked. The smooth
nes3of the pavement affords immense
rellef In diminishing the confusing
noise and jar of the streets. Waking
carly in the morning at a hotel in the
center of the business section one per-
ceives no rattling of wagons, only. the
clatter of the horses hoofs,. 50 that it
seems as if cavalry regiments were con-
tinually passing. The smooth streets
have also made cycling very popular,
and 'tricycles are extensively used for
business purposes. The broad side
walks are laid with tagging in the CEN
ter; and between that and the curbstone
are paved with small, mosaic-like
stones that form q smooth sur
face, and are easily removed and re-
placed. Beneath this space are laid the
gas pipes, telegraph and electric-light
wires, pneumatic tubes, etc., so that in
laying or repairing these the street
pavement is not disturbed. The wires
Of the arc lights, as we'll as of the in
candescent, are all carried underground.
and in Berlin there are not to be seen
the!unsightly poles that so disfigure tho
streets in Mexican cities. Only the tel
ephone wires are carried overhead, run
ming over the roofs of the buildings, and
these are now being put underground in
cables as far as possible.
In Berlin the wires have been carried
underground from the start, and no diff
dculty has been experienced. Instead
of adding new ugliness to the streets
the arc lights of Berlin arc things of
beauty, an artistic establishment to
!; th6tcity. Inter den Linden is probably
themost brilliantly and beautifully-il-
Illuminated street in the world. Along
each side and down the center the arc
+ lights are set even more closely to-
| gether than ordinary gas lamps, and
' the effect at night is that of great
, strings of white, cleaning pearls.
+ The telephone service is admirable,
as istestified by the public appreciation,
there being over 10000 instruments in
use in Berlin. There are no private tel
ephone companies in Germany, the tel
ephone, like the telegraph, being a
branch of the postal service. The price
tor, telephone service is low, the annual
charge, for an instrument being 120
marks or something less than $50. The
long-distance service between the prin-
.eipal cities of the empire is being rapid
II Introduced. A telegram received for
person who has a telephone is at once
delivered orally from the central Office,
and the written message then forwarded
by the local post. Likewise telegram
is transmitted by the sender to the tele-
graph Office by telephone. The tele-
phones in use are manufactured by Sic.
mems & Ha.ske, the great electricians,
and are said to be great Improvement
upon the Bell patent, upon which they
are based.
The efficiency Of the German postal
service with its branches of telegraph,
telephone, pneumatic tube and parcel
post, 10 sufficient reply to the assertion
thet the convenience of the public can
not be 20 we'll met as by private corpora
tions having control Of the various
means Of interc0uraa.
i: >1s'c--'
DJ; KLEN'S ARNICA SALVE.