The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-05

A Travelling Englishman's impress
sfOns of the City of Philad

Letter in London Mail.
After the others. Philadelphia strikes you
as beyond all things q civilized Sa eity,a ,i Giiy
leisure. Elsewhere they do business or
seek pleasure; here they live; The very
| Vine, Spruce, Pine - have g. fresh and
wholesome breath about them. 1t may be
fancy, but the women here seem prettier
and the men better set IN. TIT New
Yorker takes a tram car to go a quarter
of a mile, and grows fat. Here the phys,
ical type is more athletic. The typical
American woman's face long, thin. pale.
pure-eyed, like an early Italian Madonna
Is richer and less austere. Middle class,
you may o3 so SalI f ras P PrlsS, S %ith midas ids ene class
with little of dowdiness and much of ra-
tional stability. If there are few notable
buildings, there are few Sums. If few peo-
pie are very prosperous, few are very
wretched. In sum, the Philadelphians get
more happiness per head out of their city
than any other townsmen in America.
Philadelphia, like London, has made it
centersst has felt its way out to the fringe
of manufacturing towns around II and WOW
en- them into a piece of itself, with streets
on streets of artisans dwellings. The old
business city is on the tongue between the
tended and made itself fast to districts be-
yond the value of land in the center went
up but slowly.
In New York a man with an old house in
the heart of the city must tear it down TO
put up a twelve-story sky-sera2er or
Il IluSL lldht ItduN " bG 49, ~ VI SaA9N
ence. In Philadelphia the rise in land value
has been continuous, but 1T has been
steady. For result you have houses stand
ing in busiest Chestnut street that nifty
years ago were country villas. You have
walls and windows that looked down On the
revolution. While this equable prosperity
came over the center there grew ~ the
tracts of undiStinguished houses round
about it. There are 10000 Of them, and
S peas e oat of of a aaI pod. b But in these houses
the Philadelphia workman lives and dies.
His son lives and dies there after him. and
his grandson after his son. Among the
| poor ii happens nowhere else in America
and seldom enough in Europe. In Phila-
delphia this local attachment is character
iStic of rich and poor alike
There are born of this principle of habi-
tation many salutary features Of civic life.
The fact that Philadelphia municipal debt
Is going down touches me but little; the
fact that her streets. alone among those
1 have yet seen. are decently and smoothly
paved with asphalt moves me 10 approba-
| ton: the fact that Philadelphia made the
| electric road-car companies pay for the. inn
| provement commands my unstrained enthu-
siasm. The municipal government of this
city has its interest as the product less OF
a few commanding personalities than of
the general momentum of a half,uncon-
these people live year in and year out in
their own homes. tGere grows up between
them the bond of a neighboriy friendship
such as exists in few cities even in the Old
world. Then again there are scores of
building associations. friendly societies.
1 CLUBS. TcllSlOuS SulauS diu lit IKE. wages
are good; add to that these interests. every
one managed by the clerks and artisans
who constitute their membership. and you
have all the markings OF a happy life.
A friend of mine here has two servants.
quadroon girls: they get their board and
lodging and wages equal to about ESQ a
year. Both of them have just bought BIZ
cycles. One of them is a prominent mem
Der of the Zion Methodist African Episco-
pal Church. One day her master was going
TO speak in public. Mary" he said,
you've often wished. TO hear me speak
you can come tonight II you like" II
should love TO hear you, sah,' answered
Mary. but I'm speaking myself to-
night" She Is now selling among her per-
sonal acquaintances alone sl60 worth of
tickets for the z. M. a. L. C.'s annual
celebration. y bicycle. public speaking and
a circle OF friends equal TO taking $50
worth of tickets for a celebration-the life
Of that little yellow girl ann be a very
dull or unhappy one; AS for young men.
there is no end TO their societies and or
ders. My same friend had a lad in his en-
ploy at s. a week; this Is only a lads
wages. for an unskilled man can ALWAYS
get his dollar a day IL he is steady. and
skflled mechanics command anything up
ward Of s. must be put against high
or prices on thi1 side the Atlantic 0nA