The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-09-22
:THE NEW YORK ALPS.
a. New Jersey Mans View Of the
City in 1920.

City In 1920.
1920; having an idle day in New York,
had inveigled 4 friend into showing
me its marvellous sights
Il hope you've brought an overcoat,"
he said, to my amazement, as we
started out. ''You will need it," he
ndded. moping his forehead. AS he
spoke we turned into a narrow street
running north and south. Here a
breeze struck our faces as cool as if it
blew from the ferny depths of q can
yon. The light was twilight, and
looking up / saw that we were walled
in by gigantic buildings. Far above,
between their black sides, ran a silver
ribbon of sky
ave are now entering the range of
the New York Alps" he exclaimed.
''But what is the reason for this sud-
den change in the wea ther?' ! asked,
fearing to contract pneumonia before
I could button my coat.
''Why, the sun rises at eleven and
ss:s at two in this street. 1t is called
Crevasse alley. This building on the
right is Jungfrau, the other Jugger-
maui. Both are snow-capped." lie
frau that thought he must be trying
to discover a mortgage on it, but one
glance at his face assured me that I
was wrong. He was weeping. ''That
is my ,ld homestead" he sighed.
looked ut him amazed. What a
have been!''
''Only three childrcn.' he replied,
puzzled at my surprise. ooh, I see,"
he laughed; you thought we occupied
the whole building. No, indeed: there
were forty-five other families under
the same roof. My homestead is the
two extreme northeast windows of the
tenth floor. See, one of them has Il
jar of milk on it, Then followed an
eloquent silence which 1 dared not
break. II tell you, Tom,'' he at length
continued, lit stirs all the poetry in
my being to sec my old homo again.
What fond memories cling to that win
dow!''
found myself instinctively looking
up for the memories. Just then ped
dler accosted US
Looking for your old homestead?''
he asked. Hire one of my fine telc-
scopes"
My companion drew himse If 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 n very valua-
BILE layer of air three tNlndrcd and
fifty feet above the building. I was
not old enough then to advise him, SO
he sold out. But it was mistake.
New York air is getting more valuable
every day.
l thought it kindness to check
unhappy "reminiscences. SO I said:
'But how can the memory of such a
cooped-up life be grateful? What fun,
for instance, can boy have in such a
place?'
''Oh, it was possible in those days to
reach the sidewalk during the course
of a morning, and there we played
like rowdies. To be sure. we were
cramped in many ways. We were like
the elephant in the conundrum-ve
couldn't climb tree; then the rules of
the fiat admitted no domestic animals
neither dogs, chickens nor horses"
THAT was hard"
eyes; still 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
I asked: us there not ground enough,
that people should take to building
castles in the air?"
us it possible, men. that you do not
understand the wonderful advantage
of those buildings?''
''Frankly, no; and, moreover, I've
been racking my brain to discover why
they are painted in stripes
The particular building before you
planned. ''And those stripes are the
1scthermal lines representing it's sum-
mer clinate-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: SIN that case you
need q change of air. Let us ascend
the Refrigerator. It only takes day
and q half
"a day and half!" gasped. "And
you sleep in the elevator?"
'tWhy, yes There are Pullman
sleepers attached. But don't say ele-
vators. man; 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. I know some de-
lightful people, too-the first families
Of the Refrigerator, who claim to have
come up in tho 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 / ana rich and poverty
saaoys VAC. ] ps!d SAC. Alteration to
them. II grew mers snteFesssnf N