Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-11-28
NEW YORK LETTER.
ESPECIAL CORREsPoNDENCR.

ANILN ONN LIZ 1 CA\s
SPECIAL CoRREsPoNDENcH.
At "a cost of about $4,000 Uncle
Sam has recently sent the First artil-
lery away from the principal forts in
New York hArbor, and the last de.
tach,nents OF the Fifth artillery have
arrived in the last few days to garrison
these forts For this reason forts
Hamilton. Wadsworth and Slooum
have the general appearance of May
day moving bee, and everybody is
busy with preparations for house,
keep ping in the new home to which
Uncle Sam has assigned them. The
officer as we'll as the trooper 10 seen in
fatigue uniform, or any old thing that
is rough and ready, unpackiug the
household goods. laying carpets, hang
ing curtains and performing other SER
vices OF utility that seem greater hard.
ships than war would entail.
Many of the officers Of the First ar
tillery were we'll known in society in
and about New York and will be great
ly missed by large circle OF friendG
Those stationed At fort Slocum, Ds-
vid's island, were prominent in most
of the social functions at New Rochelle
and those from forts Hamilton and
Wadsworth were in evidence at many
of the greatest entertainments OF the
city. The Fifth artillery comes from
the Pacific coast. where it has guarded
the harbor uf San Francisco since
1890. Its officers have made brill
liant social record in the Golden Gate
and are certain to repeat their sue
cesses here. But to many OF them the
change of post was unexpected and
very unwelcome. 1t has put them to
much extra expense and Inconvenience
broken up their plans in many partic-
ulnrs, and in some cases caused the
temporary separation of families, be-
cause school arrangements Of the chill
lren or other circumstances rendered
it impossible for all the members of u
family to move in accordance with the
order from the department OF war.
High mp in Wall street sky scraper
in the rooms of the New York Zoo.
logical society, plans are now being
perfected for the establishment in this
. city OF the greatest zoo in the world.
Drawings for a dozen or more OF
the proposed two score build
ings have been completed, and later
on will be submitted to the municipal
authorities when the question Of site
comes up for confederation. Director
William T. Hornaday has just returned
from three months visit to all the
great animal gardens of Europe. He
was requested by the New York 80
ciety to study all the good and desir'
able features of foreign zoos, and, as
a result. has brought back several vol.
umes OF data aud . thousand or more
photographs and drawings OF build
ings and contents and surroundings.
Two widely different conceptions oi
the problem of charity have come in
to confi1ct through the effort OF the
Salvation Army to open shelters TO,
men in the crowded quarters of this
city. Commander th-Tucker an
nounces that the Lord wants him to
provide "a room and bath" and 6
cheap meal thrown in, for the home
less. There are philanthropic work
ers among the New York poor whose
hearts are quite as large as Mr.. Booth
fuckers $, and whose knowledge of the
conditions to be contended with is i'm
mensely greater, who are deeply dis
tresssd by this ill.advised program
The teachings of experience are no
to he lightly regarded in such mat
ter as this, and the experience Of the
English-speaking race, since the enact
ment OF the famous poor law o
Elizabeth, has over and over agair
demonstrated that the one most Ger
tain, and. on the whole, most crue
way to increase pauperism and crim'
is to provide an unconditional "relief'
for the apparently homeless. Thi
very experiment OF ''shelters" ha
been going on for some time in Lon
don, with most evil results. Owe
600 hardened pauper cases have re
Gently been traced to one Dotoriou
"shelter," where large proportion o
them had been cared for long enougl
to give them II legal residence and
claim upon public aid. For many year
the most intelligentand devoted philan
thropy OF this city has been fightinI
great odds to diminish vsgrancy. Re
Gently the effective cooperation O
the police and of the department o
charities and correction was secured
and real progress was being made
The program OF the Salvation Army
if carried out, would bring to Ney
York this winter thousands Of younI
and able-bodied men from countr,
towns, in nominal search of work
which would not be found, and hun
dreds of them would inevitably be
come habitual vagrants.
1t is funny to see the republica
mayor and democratic comptroller @
New York quarreling over the ques
ton as to which OF them is entitle'
to the credit for the success of th
latest municipal bond sale there. ''
personally wrote to several OF th
largest banking firms asking them t
bid for these bonds, and received thei
assurance that they would do 80, "say
the mayor. "That's right" says th
comptroller, II asked the mayor
do So" The fact is that the succei
of the loan was due to neither of thea
officials, but to the good credit of th
, city of New York and to the renewe
confidence in public credit everywhere