The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-29

wharfage of any in the world, Liverpool
was second. Liverpool. counting both
sides, Of the Mersey. has thirty.nVe
miles Of wharfage. Old New York alone
had fifty-five miles. To this must now
be added all that great extent OF piers
and wharvee beginning at Long lsiano
City and extending down to South
Brooklyn, not to mention the staten
Island wharfage. After considering the
facts q man familiar with the COM
mercial facilities Of the Greater New
York said that the space actually ready
for ships was not less than seventy-hve
miles long. And that Is to say that
no fewer than 1000 ships OF more than
average Ocean-going size might mo
berth room at the completed piers and
wharves Of the Greater New York.
Having a safe harbor. with a moderate
rise and fall of the tide, the wharfage
facilities Of the Greater New York may
be expanded indefinitely with the de-
mands Of commerce-it Is only Ques-
tion Of demand when the new city Will
have $50 miles of wharfage where the
old one had but 55.
As to the growth Of the business
transacted on shore within the me-
tropolis. one who has known the city
for say ten years has only to recall
facts within his own memory to gain
q fair idea of what has occurred. For
| instance, there was the erection Of the
office building by the late George Jones
facing the City Hall park. 1t was
counted a most lofty structure, but
the American Tract society building,
recently completed. is so much higher
that were q man to leap from its roof
to that Of the lower building he would
as Inevitably have the life crushed out
Of him as IL he fell clear through the
twenty-three stories Of height to the
street. A good many years ago, when
the erection of an eight-story building
| was counted a great piece OF work,
Harper's Weekly had cartoon on the
last page. one week, showing buildings
| that lowered above Trinity church
steeple. Underneath the picture was
legend to the effect that If the erection
| Of taller buildings went on, then some
thing like the cartoon would be seen.
People laughed at the idea as Joke.
but the buildings that are loftier than
| Trinity steeple are here, and they are
| full of tenants who pay profitable rates.
And more of the lofty structures are
going up, and loftier ones still are in
| contemplation.
| Within a month or SO the plot OF
] round at Al and 43 Wall street sold for
, $3.50 q square foot. 1t was purchased
seven years ago for about half that. 1t
Is occupied by little ten-story build
| ing. What will II bring when. ten
years from now, some one wants to
erect building Of thirty stories there?
Elsewhere real estate that was worth
but $500 for a vacant lot ten years ago
Is now selling for 81, ,000 and even more.
One has only to go into the outer dis
| tricts of the new city to hear such
strange, true stories Of growth of values
| as must astonish even the boomers OF
| the plains of the southwest. The
growth In rapid transit facilities
throughout the city has worked such
wonders In this respect as to almost
surpass the belief Of the uniformed.
MUNICIPAL ADVANTAGES.
OF the future growth in the business
center Of the metropolis one can scarce
~ hazard a guess, for the reason that
the piling up of office buildings has
even now created a congestion in the
lower streets that at certain hours is
becoming uncomfortable. The available
transportation facilities for passengers
| are loaded to the last gasp already. The
transportation Of freight through
down. town streets Is already greatly
hampered. How. much longer this
hampering may be endured Is ques-
tion not easily answered. For time out
Of mind, the citizens Of old New York
have been watching the growth OF
population upon the island. There are
plenty Of men living who remember
when Lafayette place and Bleecker
| street were centers of aristocratic resi-
dences-when the city hall was some-
where near the center Of the city. With
the building Of the elevated roads and
| the, annexing of the. .Twenty-third and
| Twenty fourth wards the center Of the
city leaped away north until One Hun
dred and Twenty-fift street was very
near the geographical center. A more
| remarkable effect has been produced
by the last union of the municipalities
Of the metropolitan center, for now the
geographical center Of the metropolis
Is at the head Of the cycle path and
Boulevard, one block south Of Prospect
parh. '
A rough estimate of the cash value Of
the new city may be had by reference
to the tax rolls New York city rea
estate Is assessed at $1,646.02S,6 ,655 ON 9
basis of so per cent. of its cash value
lBrOoklyn real estate Is assessed at $780,
S0S, $40 on q basis Of, 10 per cent. of its
cash value New York is assessed $780,
919, ,O07 on personal estate and Brooklyn
i $2S,627. .446. But when one considers how
much personal property escapes the as
SCISSOR it is not a very extravagant
statement TO say that the actual value
Of the Greater New York real estate l:
IS, ,O00, ,000, 900. while the personal prop
erty should double this sum.
.. In view. Of the wealth and intelligence
Of this metropolitan center, 1t Is al
interesting fact that we have in Brook
lyn and New York alone 26962 miles o
cobble stone pavement that for rugged
simplicity and destructive tendencies ir
the matter of wheeled transportation II
not to be matched outside the gorges o.
the mountains of the interior. o,
asphalt pavements in the two larger
municipalities there are but 96.O7 miles
However. there are some hundreds o.
miles of dirt roads that make very goot
bicycle trails in the summer after rair
has laid the dust.
II the system of street paving Is no
a matter of pride there are q number
Of bridges within the metropolis wei
worth the study Of the engineer ant
the attention of the lover of the pic
tuyesque. No city in the world ha.
such exhibits as those afforded by tn.
East river suspension bridge and tn,
steel arches Of the Boulevard bridg,
over the Harlem. Nor are the ston,
arches Of High bridge over the Harlem
Macomb's Dam bridge. and the the
small bridges across the Harlem to bt
J omitted in a mention Of engineering
works. Moreover, these are but the be
ginning of vast system which within
a couole Of decades will be found here
One OF the chief arguments of the ad
vocates of union was that "consolida
tiOn means more bridreS-more facil
tiles for travel"
THE WATER SUPPLY.
And then there are the sytems b,
which this vast urban population i.
supplied with potable water. The huge
tunnel which was needed to bring tn,
Croton water to the city Is one OF tn,
engineering wonders of the world
| yxhila' the curious system of driver