The midland journal., 1894-08-31
THE NEW YORK ALPS.
A New Jersey Mans View Of the
City in 1920.

1920; having an idle day in New York,
/ had inveigled friend into showing
me it's marvellous sights.
81 hope you've brought an overcoat,"
he said, to my amazement, as we
started out 'You will need it," he
added, moping his forehead. AS he
spoke we turned into a narrow street
running north and south. Here
breeze struck our faces as cool as if it
blew from the ferny depths of cam
yon. The light was twilight, and
| looking up I saw that we were walled
in by gigantic buildings Far above,
between their black sides, ran a silver
ribbon of sky.
"We are now entering the range of
the New York Alps" he exclaimed
"But what is the reason for this sud
den change in the weather." / asked,
| fearing to contract pneumonia before
l could button my coat.
"Why, the sun rises at eleven and
! sets at two in this street. 1t is called
Crevasse alley. This building on the
right is Jungfrau, the other Jugger-
naut. Both are snow-capped." He
| then began to stare SO hard at jung
frau that thought he must be trying
| to discover a mortgage on it, but one
| glance at his face assured me that
was wrong. lie was weeping. "That
| is my old homestead" he sighed.
looked at him amazed. "What
| perfectly enormous family there must
| have beenr'
"Only three children" he replied,
puzzled at my surprise. "Oh, l see,"
he laughed; you thought we occupied
| the whole building. No, indeed; there
were forty-dve other families under
the same roof. My homestead is the
two extreme northeast windows of the
tenth floor. See, one of them has
| jar of milk on it, Then followed an
eloquent silence which 1 dared not
break. II tell you, Tom," he at length
continued, sit stirs all the poetry in
my being to see my old home again.
| What fond memories cling to that win
| dow!'
l found myself instinctively looking
up for the memories. Just then a ped
| dler accosted us.
Looking for your old homestead"
he asked. Hire one of my fine tele-
scopes"
My companion drew himself up stiff
| ly. MY family were first settlers, and
| our windows can be seen with the
naked eye. You see, my father" he
| continued to me, ''owned a very valua-
| BILE layer of air three hundred and
| fifty feet above the building. I was
| lot old enough then to advise him, SO
ne sold out. But it was mistake.
| New York air is getting more valuable
every day."
l thought it a kindness to check
| unhappy "reminiscences, so l said:
But how can the memory Of such
cooped-up life be grateful? What fun,
| for instance, can a boy have in such
| place?"
''Oh, it was possible in those days to
each the sidewalk during the course
| Of morning, and there we played
| like rowdies To be sure. we were
cramped in many ways. We were like
| the elephant in the conundrum-we
| couldn't climb tree; then the rules of
the fat admitted no domestic animals
neither dogs chickens nor horses"
"That was hard"
eyes; still l love the old spot"
| AS we talked we threaded our way
through Ravine street and Gulley way,
always In the cool shadow of buildings
whose tops were lost in the clouds, /
was thinking the while of the sweet,
idle fields of my New Jersey farm. and
asked: "Is there not ground enough,
that people should take to building
castles in the air?'
SIS it possible, men, that you do not
understand the wonderful advantage
of those buildings?"
"FranSly. no; and, moreover, I've
been raclsing my brain todiscoyer why
they are painted in stripes
"The particular building before you
is called the Refrigerator, he ex-
| planned. "And those stripes are the
isothermal lines representing its sum-
mer climate-red being torrid; green,
temperate; white, approaching arctic.
| Well, I'd no idea you knew SO little of
the world, you must have been living
in New Jersey" Then. seeing my
confusion he said: "In that case you
need change of air. Let us ascend
the Refrigerator 1t only takes day
and half"
| "a day and half" l gasped. And
| you sleep in the elevator?"
"Why, yes There are Pullman
| sleepers attached. But don't say ele-
| vators, mani that's old American.
| They're called translators now. Come,
It's sweitering here, and once there
we'll have peaches for tea and tobog-
gan slides after know some de-
lightful people, too-the first families
! of the Refrigerator, who claim to have
come up in the first translator"
The plan was alluring, agreed, and
in an hour we were on board the trans
lator, speeding upward
The first stations were hot, noisy
slams, and, as an rich and poverty
annoys me, 1 paid no attention to
them. 1t grew more interesting in
~ know an old soldier who had chronic
/ -. f..... I,a..a Iaz...