New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-10
NETWORK.
As IT MAY BE.
a GLIMPSE or The FUTURE-BEAUTY AND
COMFORT

a GLIMPSE Or The fC1Ckt-BtACIf NM
COMFORT.
Parodies and limitations of Mr.. l,ellamys dream
of tue good time coming have been numerous; and
vet the public doesn seem To tire of them. Our
ferbears, not So long ago, III the ages OF ialth
spent much OF their time IN looking back at the
past In both the Golden Age 10 the objec'
Of vision: bu, its location has been changed.
To-day it is dimy seen through the mist OF The
future; Ill the good old days, which, alas were
not 50 good ii was buried IN The lnJ s,cry Oi The
past
We'll, then, dreams vi ihls misty Golden Age
being pleasant, may We not IN the opening
weeks OF the wear indulge in one about the
City Of New-lork in, say, the year 20GO y. ID. +?
we may and we will. But how shall we transport
ourselves 10 that period? Some Ol the Bella
myteists-pardOn the barbaroUs bat descriptive
word-inanagc it by getting tie hero knocked on
the head by some hing: when he recovcls. con
scicusnese hc finds himself in an clrthly paradise
not yet due for several hundred years, or else on
one of the planets, whose Inhabitants have been
vastly progressive than tie stupid Iellurlalls
But when we recall tine fact that Mark I~alns
Connecticut Yankee was sen, back 10 the time oil
King Arthur through a blow on the mead, we
hesitate. We don't want 10 risk fetching up III
tdie days OF some OF those old dead and gone bad
men, who would Just soon as not clap us into
= donjon keep for an indefinite period, or even
put us to death. II is altogether more pleasant
10 meet them in our histories.
What spell shall we Use To project ourselves
forward 10 the year 1000? Tutclaly genius
of Gotham. shade OF old Father knickerbocker,
and spirit vi Modern Progress. lie with US
Presto! the present grows dim the dear OLD,
dirty and shabby Ncw-lork know we'll
H., fa1a
and Manhattan. the proud and happy Metropolis
pf the World. stands before us.
The city We see is not much city as
blending Of city and country. The people have
learned what their forciathels did not know.
that bricks and mortar. or even people. do not
make a metropolis There are no longer any of
those human hives called tenements-thev dis
appeared long aao. Every other block is LETT
vacant, and is beautifully kept as park OF
garden. OF course the city is vastly larger than
the old city of New York Ii includes the whole
OF Long Island Staten Island and Westminster
County, both banks of the Hudson River for
fifty miles. and good portion Of the States Of
Connecticut and Ncw-Iersey. We smile We
read of the 0ld-tnc talk about consolidating
with Brooklyn: the former bedroom of New-lo
is how one Of the central wards of Manhattan.
the propricty of consolidating Manhattan and
Philadelphia
AS already mentioned, every dwelling in the
city stands by itself, with windows on every
side That one fact has added Incidentally TO
the happiness and health OF the city. We shudder
rs We read of the barbarous brown-sonc fronts
OF old New York. with their Of SQUARE holes
called windows in front and behind, and the
wholesome darkness and stulines> of their rooms.
And when we read of the Old New York fiat" We
hesitate TO believe that such outrage on
humanity over pcrpctratcd. But then we
reflect that everything WIS possible in tie dark
ages
Speaking OF the size OF Manhattan suggests
khe pavemcnts and the means of locOmotion. The
pavements are made Of u recently invented sub
stance which. though as smooth as glass, is never
slippery. And rs Il practically never wears out,
and is never torn mp we may he pardoncd for
looking back on tho old style of affairs in New
York with amused superiority. There are. of
course no horses 10 br seen for their presence
in the city is strictly forbidden by a city ordi
nance. few unproGre>sivc people in the back
country districts still Use horses to haul the old
creaking, rattlety-h,ng wagons and carriages that
were until recently the only means OF locometion.
aside from that other Anticipated invention. the
Of electric locomoton has superseded all this in
the cities and towns. There are great viaducts
on which electric cars to every part Of
the city, for through passengers. Bur for short
trips we never uee these cars, because we don't
need them. Every one, even the day aboier, going
TO and from his work has lis own electric
carriage. They neat and iaunty- looking af-
fairs. made In all sizes to accommodate from one
70 twenty persons having two large wheels be-
hind and one small wheel in front and they are
40 simple in construction that an infant could
manage them. All YOU have to do is to get in.
touch button, and Won are OFF One little lever
regulates the speed, which ranges from a snail's
pace TO twenty-f thirty miles an hour: and
another little lever enables YOU 10 steer You
need no track, but can speed VIII arever you please
and as you please. With such beautifully smooth
and clean pavcmcnts for the age Of unclean
streets is happily thing of the pasi-the luxurious
comfort Of travelling can easily hr imagined
But that is not all Not only in our social
and industrial life but in our means of locomo-
ton. we have absolutely banished noise from the
city. One of the things which we cannot under
stand about our New-YOrl< ancestors is how they
lived in the lntolcrablc noise they made. most Of
which was absolutely unnecessary. According TO
Ill accounts the din in their homes and factories
and on their streets must have been both terrific
and ceaSeless. Ia fact, their civilization was
civilization of olangor and noise. And vet so
TecOncilcd were they to do it, apparently. that in
looking over the files of old New York papers we
Gee only few passing references 10 it, Indeed.
some Of the cockneys of those days declared that
they felt homesick when they were away from the
noise and camor of the city. And from ali
counts their celebrations + the National holiday.
we're simply barbarous Saturnalia of unn Gaming
noise Verify our ancestors were queer custonc r..
What a contrast the city presents to-day No
noisy or loud-voiccd person can get into good
society factories absolutely noisecsS owing
to the introduction OF perfect machinery, and orr
vehicles, from the electric trains that run at the