Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-08-21
NEW YORK'S BUDGET.


E~>'t< UH<t3 11N Rttp titHt-
selves upon preserving their privacy.
A. old leather merchant died down
n the Swamp the other day and left
"a estate Of some SO, coz, 900, wbich inter-
tstina fact was daily mentioned in the
ntwspapers With expressions of surprise.
elnce. had the old man been known In his
Lifetime TO possess 80 much of the ono
<1in{ ueedful, he could not have gone
o lunch without having somebody
AXE note OF H. As il was, nobody
nsd ever heard OF him outside Of his
own chosen circle 81 friends and relatives.
And 2 very pleasant sort OF life should
Hy that would be, too. 1 met Artemas
Wxfd on tho street day or two AGO.
sWhatY" you win all say, Artemus Ward
sied quarter OF q century ago!" So did
>he one: but the very interesting New
Yorker OF whom am speaking spells his
yrst name with the diiferenceo Of one letter.
md Is so enthusiastic admirer OF his pre-
!ecozsor Ia name and fame. ARENAS
Ward ceyotes himself to spreading the
sme OF Sapolio, aud he seems to me TO
ave spread IL very thick.
lie ~ tho manager 81 one OF the largest
anufacturing establishments IN the
orld, serious-iookinr, bearded, brown
ed businessman of sturdy figures and
let, methodical WAYS. Millions of dol
ad q lifetime OF service has secured aud
stained for him the respect and gratitude
OF his employers. In return for liberal sal
ery hts active life is entirely devoted to
their interests. aud he - scarcely ever seen
except In his Office or his home or on the
way between. Yet his is a quaint per-
eonaiity. richly worth a character study,
and OF vast importance when one con-
s'ders the enormity of the transactions
with which his personality is blended. He
Is quiet jester. too. presuming IN no way
on the similarity of hrs name to that of the
great Ward, which he justly observes is
not his fault. As q student of Artsmus
Wards works and witticsms ARENAS
Ward is especially interesting. "Artemus
Ward" was, of course, Charles Farrar
Browne, who was born in Waterford
Me-, in 1884, and died in Southampton.
England. March 6, 1867. Everybody
who bias ever seen BARLEY Camp
bell. whose tall, lank figure, long
nose. and rather saturnine expression made
him 3 parsonage on Broadway from the
time he first settled IN New York, may
form 90 excellent idea OF what A1temus
Nard looked like in the flesh. except that
Ward had much darker and bushier hair,
curling in ringlets at the, ends, and q
heavier and more poetical moustacne.
blending, indeed, in some interesting way,
and TO striking degree, the physiognomy
OF BARLEY Campbell with that Of Edgar
Allan Poe.
AMysrKRy.
II has always been q mystery what be-
game Of Artemus Wards property. Jun
Fisk's Erie stock vanished when he died,
1T least no trace OF IL ever came to his exc
cutors. and the large amount of personal
property which Artemus Ward must have
been possessed of very shortly before his
death seemed almost as mysteriousiy to
vanish. His last season N London just be-
fore his death had Melted him for six
weeks at least $500 night. A friend saw
on his bedroom table pile OF bills amount
ing 10 $4,000 not long before his demise.
He had valuable diamonds and very
heavy gold watch and cham. The little
old homestead Just above New York city,
ct Yonkers on the Hudson. he had cleared
of debt within a short time, and bad
willed ii TO his mother. But that was
all she ever received from bis estate,
nor has there ever been any salts
factory explanation of the loss A
subscription was taken up after his
death TO put monument over
his last resting-place. The enormous sum
of $50 was raised. and as the fund remained
ct this figure for several years, without
showing signs of growth. that amount was
finally turned over to his mother. poor old
woman, who purchased with it the stone
which now stands upon his grave. Every
cism said to be the offspring of his fertile
brain. do not know whether the news
paper public remember that he once said
this Of the discovery of America:
1t cost Columbus $40. 900 to. fit out his
explorin' expedition. If he had been q
sensible man he'd have put the money. IN
g boss railroad or gas company and left
this magnificent continent to intelligent
savages, who, when they got hold of
good thing, knew enough to keep 1t.
Chris meant well, but he put his foot in 1t
when he sailed for America"
think the funniest thing he ever did,
however, was his lecture called. Among
the Mormons." He used panorama to
illustrate it. aud there was more genuine
fun in glance OF that panorama than in
whole cart-loAd of contemporary humor.
can hear him now. as he took up his
printed programme one night in Hamilton,
o., and described Virginia City. A wild
place. Game abundant, principally faro
and bluff. Shooting IN consequence. Every
man carries revolver. and every other
man two. Silver mines. The treasure
carefully guarded, each proprietor keep
ing silver watch. The Great desert-a
dreary waste of sand-a perfectful shameful
waste, in fact. They ought to save 1t !"
THE EIEcImcAL eANGLIoNs OF THE GLOBE.
Having an idle hour after midnight last
week accepted an invitation to take
look through the operating rooms of the
Western Union Telegraph Company In the
great building at the corner of Broadway
and Dey street. suppose 1t may be said
that any man who sits in an Office OF the
Western Union Telegraph Company at
any point on this continent 10 in touch
with all the world. But to really realize
that you are face to face with the cleo
trical ganghons of the entire globe one
has but TO take q walk through this enor-
nous establishment. No less than 800
separate and distinct wires enter the great
operating room alone. On the floor below
are the marvellous instruments which
work the great stock-reporting "tickers
simultaneously and with absolute accu-
racy, and also the various duplex, quadru-
plex, and multiplex instruments used on
long service work. The great operating:
room on the eighth floor employs day and
night no less than 1000 operators.
They are all under the immediate eve OF
the superintendents. and each operator
sits at his neat little desk with his instru-
ment In front of him. The room 10 di-
yided into switchboard sections repre-
senting the northern, eastern, southern,
and western divisions OF the republic. All
these wires are under the special superin-
tendence of men held responsible for their
condition and they are ell spread out be-
fore them like the keys OF q piano. The
construction of these enormous switch
DQAfAo ~ - Rctt@Ns - s1es ~ I" "es sNs~~-
watch.
TO the uninitiated these great spider
webs are absolutely incomprehensible, but
70 the adept they seem as SIMPLE as the
four strings of violin. One thing that
struck me us amazing was the fact that in
ali this vast hall, with every instrument
humping and pounding away, each opera
tor seemed 10 be indifferent 10 all instru-
ments save his own. What was Babel to
me was no more TO him than-the distant
sounds In the streets.
His mind was concentrated on his own
eomuuricator. In no establishment have
ever seen the splendor OF system so well
exemplifed. There ia. believe, nowhere
in the world an operating-room so tho
roughly equipped aud 50 scientifically man.
aged. should think that Dir. Gould
would be very proud of his achievement
IN concentrating and developing this great
telegraphie centre.
NoENIIE AND ISoEEsoLr.
The recent suicide of Judge J. q. Nor.
mile, OF Sc. Louis. emphasizes in q marked
degree tho sensitiveness OF public men 10
newspaper criticism. l lived IN the same
hotel with Normile for several years, and
our companionship was very close. he was
a raoultsr man and am0uO ii4 poeuliarltle9