The sun., 1896-10-15
11rB 1op1os ABou UT row

way cable cars were packed with struggling
people fighting their way home. q man OF giRan-
tic pr oportions stepped airily on the rear plat
form of ono of them, crushing tho passengers
gathered there so closely against the rails
that they barely escaped sufrocation. Having
nearly succeeded in flattening out every man
there, he expertly turned himself sideways,
and with difficulty squeezed through the
door into the car. The standing passengers
fed before him, and, leaving trail Of crushed
evening papers and indignant frowns behind
him, he succeeded Ia moving half way UP to-
ward tho front of the car. At one OF the cross
streets a woman got out. leaving a seat vacant
Tho space was small one, and the fat man
looked us though ho might require II third Of
the car to be comfortable, but he promptly
indicated his Intention of occupying the seat
by saying, Excuse me, ladies and gentle.
men, II lap over" and then sat down. Tho
displacement OF the passengers on either side
teas empuS bs tbcp I had NO elect
on his good nature. His great face was the
picture OF good humor, aud he began to talk
mately as though they were all old friends OF
his. There was feeling of resentment among
wsh It n
cause cau lie had forced them out Of their places
cp ught the infeC tion OF his Jolly, unctuous
manner. He was dressed IN bicycle suit,
and across the bosom OF the sweater he wore
printed s' ony after the fat
with the rest of his fellow travellers that he
revealed what his real purpose was. When
he had them all engaged in conversation he
took out of his pocket q package of business
est him, threw others to the passengers who
were out of his reaih. On the card was his
name. and In one eorner, the name q the bicy.
the interesting personal STATISTICS, Ago 27.
Weight 4SO pounds" were printed On tho re-
verse, side Of the card was the breezy greet; ,,t;
know the rest" When the stout man, who
looked as though he weighed fully 4so pounds, md,
self laboriousy out of his seat, and, with the
same overwhelming result that had marked
of, It was only to wait for the next car, and
repeat in all It's details the process that had
,een witnessed in the first. IT might be thousht
cheeky exponent Of this form OF personal ad-
vertising apparently thrives on tho labor
It has been said that the agents OF dealers
have collected nearly all the old furniture in
the United States which possesses any quail
ties besides antiquity that might be expected
to appeal to purchasers. Tho East was believed
to have been entirely cleared out ten or more
years ago, when the old furniture craze first
became virulent and after that the agents OF
iealers in the big cities began to travel through
the South collecting whatever they could
After n while the South had evidently given up
all that it was likely to. and New Orleans,
where only q few years ago the second. hand
stores were filed with valuable old French
furniture and bric-A-brac. discovered how
much these relies were worth and put up prices
until these articles are now no cheaper in the
South than they are here. There are few of
these articles 10 be had now in that region. de-
pit In fran a
sales here which purport TO offer furniture that
had been for years some Southern planta-
ton The scarcity of genuine articles of this
kind makes 1t the more diitiCult TO understand
the discovery OF some New YORK women VINO
We're spending last summer In the neighbor-
hood of small Connecticut town. In sec
ond. hand shop there they stumbled acciden.
tally upon collection OF antique furniture OF
the best American workmanship and in re-
markably fine state OF preservatOn. although
its appearance had not been ruined by any of
the eisborate methods OF restoration which
mar SO much nf the old furniture sold to-day
The stock in this small town had been gradual,
ly accommodating for years, and the dealer had
evidently escaped entirely the investigations
OF the New Yorx agents In their searches for
these old pieces were sold is an ordinary seq
ond hand country store. piled up with Junk
md other trash. with which ,r, the furniture
sold It at amazingly low figures. but. az he
knew the value, the women who bought much
OF it did not feel that they were taking advan-
tage of him. There was too much of a stock for
the New York women to buy. but they are
! jealously guarding the name and address OF
| the dealer from the knowledge of any except
their very intimate friends. Both OF them are
| well-known judges OF Am .r.can furniture. and
! they were not to be deceived by an imi' alton,
and the storekeeper was entirely innocen. OF
| any attempt To deceive them. They consol"d
themselves when their consciences dwelt OH
the small sum the furniture has cost them by
recalling the number OF occasions on which
the ,H in such s G M, lay
common feature in the ma aIority OF such trans
actions.
One of the most marked changes IN city
architecture in the past three years has been
the increase In popularity of the French style
which Is prac c:cally the prevailing fashion in
buildings that are at present IN process OF con-
struction, or have been recently built. IL is
not style adapted to other than handsome
residences, and for that reason 1t is never
likely to become wearsomely familiar. Many
of the recently built private houses here have
been particularly successful specimens OF this
scnool, and in several instances IL has been ap-
piled with equal success TO larger business
buildings and apartment houses. One of the
reasons for the present vogue of French style
is believed TO be the time which so many Ameri-
can architects now spend in study in Paris.
although the Substantial and Intrinsic merits
of the school re grounds enough for its accept
ance here The fashion Is. at all events tho
most grateful one tltat eyer came to relieve
blocks which prevailed until the upper west
side stared In with an architecture of it's
own. which seemed to have no other starting
point than the purpose OF being entirely diifer-
That result was certainly accomplished, but
in tho calner consideration OF the matter that
followed 1t seemed dubious whether there had
been any real benefit tn New Sork's aesthetic
faa II m ha plnuUA.