Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-03
CHARM OF BROADWAY
No Street in All the World Has Such
Strong Attractions.
THE NEW YORKER is PROUD OF IT.
Murray Draws Vivid Pen Picture Of the
Great Thoroughfare.
FACES TnAr TIE PUBLIC RECOGNIZES

icoRRrspoNDENcE or THE pIsPArcH.s
NEW YORK, May 2-Glorious is Broad
wayl Unrolling her living loveliness in
the May day sunshine she appeals eloqu entity
to the eye, the heart. the Imagination. Ber-
lin has her historic Unter den Linden;
Vienna her Praterstrasse; London her
Strand; Paris her gay boulevards. Many
Americans haye seen and tasted of their
beauteous and bewildering belongings.
There is but one Broadway and that is in
New York; but one grand thoroughfare in
the world embracing the attractions Of the
worlds famous streets, and that is Broad
way. There are short stretches of street
scenery in other countries and in other cities
Of this country that present unique and es-
pecially attractive features. But in no other
city Of the world is there one grandly con-
tinuous thoroughfare of five miles combin-
bining the almost endless variety Of features
of metropolitan life.
What Makes It Interesting.
There are two grand reasons for Broad
ways unique, spectacular superiority-the
natural trend of long city confined by
water, and the natural variety in American
life and American character. For these
two natural causes you can see more things
worth seeing on Broadway than on any
other single street in the world.
And how the New Yorker loves Broad
wayi The wider he has travelled, the longer
his absence, the more joyfully he returns to
bask in the sunshine of the old familiar
street. A street OF ralaces and shsnties; q
boulevard OF pleasure; a road lined with the
commerce of every nation of the earth. It
is his street. From the Battery to Central
Park he knows every foot of it. He owns
it. It is Broadway. There is sentiment
about Broadway like the sentiment that at
taches to the old homestead. Time nor ab-
sence Gulls that sentiment. The meannesses
and inconveniences of the street appeal to
native pride. -1--a' =,
His for Better or for Worse.
If the New Yorker should at come time in
the remote future return to town and find
Broadway not dug up for mile or two, he
would be pained. If he should find instead
q smooth and clean pavement with grooved
rails it would remind him of Vienna and
other continental cities, but the Broadway
of his affections would be forever gone. If
the blocks of one-story frames along the
''Strand" had given place to substantial
buildings of stone and brick, he would
doubtless shake his head sadly and thence
forth talk only Of "the good old days."
He loves the old landmarks. He cher
ishes the Broadway Of his time. Every
stretch of pavement from Fourteenth to
Forty-second street repeats the story Of his
leisure life to him. The "Rialto, Tiffany's,
Union Square, Lord & TaYlor's, Maillard's,
every hotel front where he has occasionally y
summed himself in the bright eyes of the
passing throng, Delmonico's, Thorley's, the
theaters-all are chapters in his private life,
replete with interesting "reminiscences. Here
was where he strolled Saturday afternoons
with the "only girl he ever loved" 1t was
in the long ago; but these remindersl II
was but yesterday.
What the Changing Years Bring.
Some of her are dead, some are married.
The happy hours with her on Broadway
exist for him now as they were then. How
she reveled in Broadway And here on this
lovely May day are myriads of handsomely
dressed and beautiful women who have sue
ceeded her on the street. Half dozen
years hence all this stylish mob will have
been replaced with another. All, well; let
them come and go-Broadway is always the
same. These plate glass windows and little
Partisan cafes, all tell familiar tales of
hours Of delicious idleness, of days of una
dulterated sunshine and nights of adventure
and excitement.
No wonder he loves Broadway And no
wonder the vigilance Of the Broadway
squad is necessary to prevent him from
blocking the sidewalk with his sentimental
"reminiscences.
Faces? He knows by sight almost every
habitue of the grand old street. Actors,
nfp ohopf fnxz
thors, artists, politicians, matinee-young-
women, sporting men, club men, theatrical
managers, circus men, gamblers, dramatic
agents and the leaders of that grand caval.
cade of bediamonded, berouged women that
sweep "the Strand" on Saturday afternoons.
Scenes of a May Day.
On this delicious May day of all the wear
Broadway puts on her freshest colors and
unfolds her loveliest petals. The hour is
between and 6. The matinees are over
and the sidewalks are thronged. One vast,
animated procession is moving up, another
moving down-most of the crowd hugging
the western walk. There is always popular
side. On Broadway it is the western side
from the Battery up. The other side re.
ceives but the overflow of promenaders, and
those shrinking taciturn or hunted men and
women who avoid crowds and who are out
neither to see nor be seen. There are dis
tinguished or would-be distinguished
theatrical managers, actors and actresses
who affect the ''other side" to avoid contact
with the common theatrical herd who swarm
Broadway corners at this season OF the year.
There Is decidedly dramatic tinge to
upper Broadway at this time The theat-
rical season is over and the strolling play
ers have poured into New York by the hun.
dred and by the thousand. The first thing
returned player does is to "show up" on
Broadway, and this he or she continues to
do daily until the beginning of the next
season, if not flush enough to meanwhile
take q whirl by the sea or in the mountains.