New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-10

try people are strangely Indifferent to the
| Importance Of fresh air For the last lor'S
! years, since we first began to clean ana purify
our air the average increase in longevity has Deeii
"A little more than five years. The old philosophers
| used TO waste great deal of time in trying
to find the EllNlr of Life. We engage In no
| such vain quest; or rather we ma the re"'
| Elixir of Life in more intelligent UNDERSTANDING
| OF the laws OF life The nearer we get To me
conditions that nature intended the longer we VIII
! live. How simple, and set how many THOUSAND
years it has taken the world to find IT Out
Underneath the streets there is great and com
prehensive system of other streets brilliantly i'll
with electricity, where most of the business oil the
city is done Express wagons drays, trucks etc. are
confined 10 these streets thus leaving the upper
street, for the exclusive use Of the people Under
| meath the city also is a magnificent system Of
sewerage more perfect than anything known.
| in the days of old New-l ork. lhclc
are no longer any carriage wagons WIN
! their disgusting adJuncts. Connected with every
| house there is a shute which is opened once Il
day for the reception OF all detrituN. IL Is IN
| medately carried into immense pipes through
which il is conveyed TO great establishments out
side of the city where it is made innocuouS 10y
recently invented chemical processes. The result
in health and happiness from this admirable
system of sanitation can hardly be estimated.
Another thing that adds greatly to the pleasure
! of living j. the frequent flooding OF the streets
with salt or fresh water. On hot summer day
I for instance, this can be done at moment :
notice. and at the same time, by an ingenious
device sea air laden with the delightful OGor
of salt spumc. can be distributed through the city
This sea air is cooled, and is made TO circulate
as a breeze, no matter how calm the day may be-
Annther nt a system oil
awnings to cover the streets, when necessary, In
summer, and of glass roofs for the streets IN
winter. The citizens are thus able TO travel Oh
the streets without suffering from heat i'll summer
from cold or snow in winter
Since the great antiliquor revolution which took
place sixty years ago. there has not been licensed
saloon in the city and the number Of habtual
drinkers is very small. The causes which led up
to this revolution had been gathering force Ion
generations. The saloons increased enormously IN
number and power with the help Of the politicians
and the latter, in turn, ruled with the help OF the
saloons IL was a game of sec-saw. with the
saloons and the politicians alternately on top, but
with the people always at the bottom. Crime
and ruin, moral and physical, held sway in every
grade OF society. The Prohibitlonists tried IN
vain to stem the tide of evil, and good citizens
began TO despair. Then, no one knows Just how,
a frenzy of hot indignation spread through the
community Good citizens in every walk Of lfc
few of whom were PrOhlDilloDlste, ana many oil
whom were themselves moderate drinkers. though
recognizing the wisdom Of abstinence, banded them
selves together to suppress the curse OF drink. lhe
suppressed fury Of wears got the better of them,
and wild saturnaia OF ndcfcnsiblc violence
cnsued. Disticrics and brewerc> were burned.
thousands Of liquOrShops were wrecked ana their
contents poured into The sewer hundreds OF
saloon keepers and disreput1 bic politicians
were hanged on lamppoSts. and thousands OF
others were driven out Of the city. LaWlcSS
and criminal as the uprising was-and no one
attempted 10 Justify tit proved 10 be- the salya-
ton of Manhattan. Ii ended forever the domino
ton Of the saloon and the saloon politician. 1t
was the triumph not OF prohibition. hut OF
abstinence, two things which. though often con
fused arc radically different. TO abstain is al
ways feasible, to prohibit is not. Abstinence j.
the higher virtue, and II has only become po>Sb"
through the growth OF moral character IN the
pcopc. Among Us man who doesn't abstain Is
as loathsome being a. was the brutal murderer
dominant, there is nothing to fear from the drink
habit Il turks only in few dark corners, and
even then is 80 attenuatcd as to be harmless
And what revolution IL was 10 take one
fact; per capita equivalent Of the amount that
used to be spent in drinking and other forms of
vice, as well as on the institutions made neeeS-
sarN 10y the drink habit. is now voted every year
to the Pleasure and Profit Fund. Out of this fund
maintain number of splendid theatres. opera
houses mnsc-halls, and places Of popular enter
taIuncnt and Instruction The best ARTISTS OF
the world are engaged fol these places. and all
citizens admitted 10 them free Of charge
This docs not promote pauperisin. for recreation
ton. and even our benighted ancestors believed IN
making education free
The old socalis'ic dream of deadcning equality
has not been realized among us Some of us are rich
and some of us are poor; some wise, and some
foolish. But there are no extremes Of wealth
and poverty as there were in the old days. Our
danger of amaSsing wealth, folly because they
could not possibly use or enjoy more than a
certain portion Of 1t, and danger. because 1t
sowed the seeds of revolution and anarchy by
nycifinO tho and a lenS- ia VOred cifi-
gems. So when citizen acquires certain spec
lied sum which is amply sufficient to maintain
himself and family in luxurious comfort hc
either stops acquiring wealth or. If he does not
stop, he is Obliged to turn over his surplus wealt
10 municipal fund called the brotherhood
Fund" Some men have a pecnliT aptitude for
making money, and love 10 do 80 for the pleasure
IL gives them. just as they would love a game
Of chance. II is not Il very noble Characteristic,
but such as il Is We turn It to account hy maklna
those men help those who are less fortunate In
a word. the Brotherhood Fund is used ~ trai'
educate and wisely assist the citizens who do
not have much natural capacity 10 make their
way in life or who, for reason. have beer
Handicapped in their efforts to earn living. TIL"
result Of all this is that there are no very poo
people among us, except very few who are H.
capable or incorrigible; and these we take care
Of in institutions
The spell ceases to WORK. The vision of the
greater New-Norl that NAV he. may we not hope
of the Newly rk that i - DO. becomes blurred
and indistinct At last it disappears entirely
and Our eyes again look upon H." concrete New
York that now is. The contrast between the
possible and the actual is calculated 10 make
rs sad. But we will be optmis's in spite Of so
much 10 discourage us II, as the inspired
man declared, faith is the substance Of things
hoped for, the evidence Of things not seen. then
we have faith that Ncw-York will some day be-
worthy Of the 10y" and admiration Of all her
children, and our dreams about her greatness aud
glory will be realized facts.
HE CAUGHT THE BOAT