The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-29
THE GOSSIP OF GOTHAM.
THE BICYCLE VOTE KNOCKS OFT
THE GREAT GRANITE RING.
The Salvation Army TrOubIe-The
Poster CraEe-FOrger BrOckway's
Delicate Touch - Mark Hanna's
Wonderful CampaiEn-A 500. 900

Just eNtorted from the commissioner OF
public works and from the board Of al
dermen. a plan for spending more than a
million dollars to provide bicycle roads
in the city OF New York-asphalt pave
ments, mind yous connecting the ends Of
the city.
In other words. the big granite ring has
been knocked out by me fifteen pound
scorcher safety, which would be greater
cause for municipal self-congratulation, If
two or three asphalt rings had not arisen
to contest the field.
-Four years ago all the property owners
upon both sides of an uptown block might
have united in demanding that a smooth
pavement be laid in front Of their proper
tyi they might even have offered to pay
the cost themselves. but they would have
been 'trun down" by the granite ring.
which was so powerful as to keep even to
this day Fifth avenue paved through its
entire length, with the exception of a few
hundred feet, with noisy, Jolting granite
blocks. But we shall change all that.
The asphalt rings are having lots OF
run, trying on the one side to secure
passage of a law providing that all as
phalt used in this state must be a pro-
duct of the United States, and, on the
other side, to prevent the passage of such
bill. But perhaps ii makes comparative
ly little difference which side wins, as
long as the granite ring is knocked out,
for It ought to be knocked out.
Until now most of the asphalt pave
ments in New York have been laid in the
dirtiest and foulest slums OF the lower
east and west sides, partly because In such
streets the traffic of heavy vehicles is
least, but mainly because of the ener-
getic action of the board of health, which
has insisted that the superior cleanliness
or smooth pavements and the ease with
which they can be washed makes them
particularly valuable in regions where
the natural inclination is to be dirty. Nor
was the local government even in the
granite age so ready to disoblige it's con-
stituents in the tenement regions as in
the brown stone districts where dwell
the mugwumps, googoos, Parkhurstians
So all we have to do now is to connect
the slums with the uptown boulevards
asphalted before the granite ring rose to
power-and there you arel
The bicycle host is not more in evidence.
nowadays than Darlington Booths new
army of Gods American Volunteers"
Mr.. Booth is a sshrewd man. He has
put in his platform as one Of its most
important planks a promise that the
bonnets of the volunteers will make the
girls look younger than do the poke bon
nets OF the Salvationists. After this an
the victory Of the Volunteers over the
Salvationists will follow as a matter of
course, the successive triumphs of the
American yacht, the American track ath-
letes and the American chess player.
BY the way, one Of the most remark
able members OF the Salvation Army at
present in the United States is Miss
Susie Swift, a Vassar graduate, who
seven years ago was converted to Sal
vatlonism while in England, and has been
active in the work ever since In that
and other countries. Miss Swift is so
pretty that she really ought to shake the
Salvation Army and by joining the VOi-.
unteers get the benefit of the new bon
net upon the invention of which Bal
lington Booth has turned his mighty
brain.
After the Salvation Army and the BIZ
cycle craze there is no interest so uni
versal just now as that in posters. If
any genius could invent poster to ad
vertise sthe Salvation Army and the Vol
unteers and some brand of bicycle all
at once, the combination would win him
immortal fame.
If any genius ever does strike such a
combination, l am reasonably willing to
warrant that 1t will be Will Bradley.
Bradley is the fellow who gets up pos
tique beaks playing skip-rope with rain
bows, aurora borealists and things like
that, and he has got so much vogue that
he has just started ga little magazine to
print his own posters inqcolors.
Poster making is graft now days
and such artists as Rhead, .Xereck, Collin,
| King Penfield and Coqueville are making
more money than they ever saw before,
and for one hope they will go on doing
Talking of making money reminds me
| of Brockway, the forger, who got ten
| years in state prison in Trenton the other
| day, and OF queer fact concerning one
/ of his former periods In retirement.
1t was when Brockway was confined in
1 the Kings county penitentiary and had
been set at some kind OF manual labor
shoemaking. if remember right-that one
| day committee of Brooklyn politicians
| waited upon the warden and said to him
See here, you got 'er put ,Brockway al
| "Why?" asked the astonished warden.
Holy Mosesp' said the spokesman OF
the elegation-.probably because Hully
| Gee had not then been invented-"Can't
| you see? You keep him making shoes and
| you'll spoil his delieacy of touch, and ruin
his business when he gets out"
| Now the story goes, but will not vouch
for ii, that the politicians were men of SO
| much influence that their reasonable re
quest was granted; AT any rate Brock
| way did not lose his delicacy of touch
| and when he got out Of jail he went tC
making money again as fast as ever.
| But he is an old man now--old and
broken, and probably will not live out
n' To e eel away from money into the do.
main Of pure politics with which money
Thus much is "worte SARCASTIC" but II
| NAV be added in soberest earnest thai
the town is talking of Mark Hanna pref
| though the latter is at present the lead.
| ing republican presidential candidate, ano
his purse bearer and the manager of his
The wiseacres shake their heads, and
| this is what they say: We'll, IL the con
| vention were to be held tomorrow, Nc.
| Kinley would be nominated, but
| See what a solemn saying IL is, par.
| ticularly the butt
| Prom the vantage point Of an amused
| aloofness, / see things leading to the In,
ference that the, other candidates ar,
| ratified a bit by the fighting majors i'm.
| petuosity and are sparring for wind
Even a man so silent as Tom Plat
| who talks somewhat oftener than ne sings
| but always with an object says that Nor
| ton, his candidate, doesn't 20 around the
| country throwing money off the rear
| platform of a palace car'-the volley Of
] which remark lies in the application of Il
Most politicians in the east say thai
| Mckinley is too strong to be nonlina,
| ted" whatever that may mean. But thf
wish may be the thoughts .paternal pro
has many friends in New York and New
England.
Now this is the strange thing: No
body has a wore 20 say about the demo.
cratic nomination.
That is not quite true. Once in a while
some fellow will ask: well whom If
thunder can they nominate besides Cleve-
| land2"