New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-11
AN7E-RELLUM NEW YORh.
THE CITY DESCRIBED By AN OLD IN
HABITANT.
pENtNIsCENCES OF AN OCTOcENAkiAN I 10,
~ I'll, ,.tTy or NEW YORK. hs!6 10 lH") ID.
rhar,cs II. Uaswell illustrated. octave pp
Nil ISL Harper ~ Brothers.

Rot
War there were man. hybrid CHARACTERISTICS
about the city of New-York. 1t was rhahs'nt 'o'
rapidlv 10 he any longer regarded as ''' "'e.
continuation of an cighieen'h-'eh'"'! s''N
IN 1910 In, wear at which Mr.. Haswell begins his
chronicle the present century hah' y" '"e VIM
hro,,ar with lis pioneering past. We had every
thing before us, but We were al least "ouOi"'
That Is immediately discernihe in any record OF
the time. and mos, quickly OF ali in narrative
like MIR. HaswelIs. which gives the impressions OF
s,, living and still in the stream of our ia'-
est social movements He shows us mat Wh'ie '"'
,i,, NJ the neriod he traverses was not 'Oid New
vorr" in the traditional. acceptation oil mat
,brasa-whioh really means the New-.ork ~
the Dutch and Of Washingtons epoch-li was not
u,ho,v n new New-York. either. IL WAS curious
co;nbin alton Of the two. The past ana the pres
ent iostle one another in the most pai'i'hb idS"-
ion within Mr. Haswers pages IL IS ohls Ne
cause the latter have been written win great
bluntness and comTon-aense tnat the tea"e' -
capes worrying over the question as To "he'"e'
the more old fashioned men IN the reco'u arc
ghosts In a modern panorama, or The more "'"-
ern rersonages are phantoins coming pe'"''" w
and the realities Of the past
Sine. the publication Of Philip Homes 'Diary
some eight or ten years ago, there mas not pe'h
so good. authoritative IA book about Nc"-iork as
this one by the last man In the world from whom
such A work might have been expected fe'N
Oldboy did some excellent Things III inc same
field and had some grace in wriiins MI H"3-
well makes no pletensions whatever To literary
style lie has been known for the best years "i
his NE AZ The author Of all Indispensable cnsi-
neering manual. and. considered sulc'H "S
writer. i, may he said that he writes like an en-
hi. htz .srtsH
of talk in It, mere discursive talk and In that
our author is one of the most entertaining of MS
toricai companions. 1t is useless for him to pro-
;ost that he IN not writing history. He describes
the events and manners of his time, ana no mat
fer how he describes them, they are the material
Of hstory when he states that "as late AZ lS-o
7 I'm company with an elder relative. OCCASION
ally practised notwithstanding AT target on
fence" In Canal-st.. he may be reNivins memories
which are not altogether unfamiliar To readers
I'm New York but III l. serious contributor 'o
the literature Of our development as city when
he sets down the street cries al eighty years ago
and tells the ms and outs oi TIE daily ne OF
our grandfa,hers. The book contains a mass OF
historical notes. put together Win some chron"-
logical symmetry. but otherwise arranged IN
miscellaneous way. one is constantly discover
inp nualnt fragments of ana" In the rambling
story A chapter ON The New-York of Jacob
Radcllre's Mayoralty gives. for example a de-
lightful resume Of the things whose omission
from the life Of that time made all the difference
between two stages Of civilization ii IL supposed
10 he a matter of popular knowledge yet as MI
UasWel SAYS "Of the change In social, domestic
and business customs and convenlences. from
1916 10 the present day. none but one who mas
expcrlenccd 1t can give a proper estimate. Al the
II,.t inn in
private houses and hotels. and there was but one
public bath that of Stoppani. in Chambers-st.
Illuminating gas for the streets had been read
of as a possible practicabity. Clubs. street
stages and cars. Sunday concerts. steamboat ex-
cursions newspaper vendors and extras street
shoeblacks kindling- wood, expresses organ
grinders messenger boys bananas. oranges
other than those from abroad-siates. grapefruit,
roasted chestnuts. photographs. tclcsraphs, rail
WAYS chiffonicrs. drop-etter boxes, cabs, han
soms sewing machines. typewriters, eyeglasses
other than spec iaclesand cigarettes were alike
unknown"
II is in passages like this. rather than In sys-
tsmatic accounts Of political AFFAIRS or other con-
spicuous things that Mr.. Haswell Is mos; useful
And it is rot mere catalogue that he presents
Wher he tells III that cigar cases were a rarity
ana that within hats there was purse-lhSe
diaphragm lining well designed To retain a hand
full Of cigars. a handkerchief or pair Of gloves.
and goes on to describe the costumes OF his early
contemporaries, he gives us a servlceab'e picture
OF the way In which society lived and breathod
and had its being more than half a century ago
There is humor and there is severity In his
sketches OF old NcwrYork manners. As a speci-
men Of the first the following Is especially pct
uresque and novel. Before the introduction OF
ba write he hut hcr In
| any Of the public markets became possessed of
| an exceptionally fine beef or number Of sheep
he would parade them through the principal
| streets. as Broadway, Bowery. Greenwich and
| Grand s,s.. preceded by a band Of music and fol-
| lowed by the fellow butchers OF his market, with
| their aprons and sleeves on. In their wagons tot
| a different construction from that Of later time)
| the cortege being arrested before ths houses OF
| the customers of the butchers. when it was ex-
| pected of the occupants To step out and give an
order for such part ~ the animal paraded as they
elected This is a scene which is medieval In
! its ingenious noise and showiness. and there Is
| an artistic element in the spectacle which is not
| often observed I'm the habits Of the city to-day.
one can imagine the gr0lesque procession pass
| ing through the principal thoroughfares. and in
spite Of its Guaintness, falling not unnaturally
into the general aspect Of the city.
| To be sure, there were market gardens IN
Union Square during those days and FAR below
that, even below Cana-st, where Mr.. Haswell
went for his pistol practice. there was semi
rural air about New-York. We read of man
who, In 1928, shot woodcock in the park where
| the Postofice now stands Nevertheless, the
/, city had much Of the enterprisng. pushing
character for which It is distinguished at the
present period When the yellow fever spread
through ths downtown quarters In 1872, an exc