Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-04-12
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
The Conductor and the Ragpiclzer- The
atrical Competition IN Gotham.
Club Consolidation.
rSpecial Correspondencc.l

auna1 IioGuT6 is DuiIlaI nature aII0T
all, no matter where you may happen
| to encounter it. ] saw something the
other night which would tend to shake
the theory OF the pessiInists who assert
that there is very little Of good in the
average man, especially if he be g resi-
dent of a very large city.
Of the hundreds of thousands who
earn their living in New York and
Brooklyn there is probably no class
which comes in for larger share of
abuse than the street car conductors
These poor fellows are required to make
an almost impossible schedule and
when they attempt 20 do it by hurrying
passengers a bit are confronted with
complaints of rudeness from the patrons
Of the road.
Conductor and RagDiclzer
A few days ago I was g passenger on
a Fourth avenue car. At a corner sew
eral persons got on, and still the car did
hot start. Looking out I saw that a
very old and decrepit man was making
futile efforts to mount the back step,
The conductor saw the condition of af-
fairs at the same moment. Quickly re-
leasing his grasp upon the bell strap, he
stepped to the rear platform, and after
gently assisting the old man up put his
hands on the others shoulders and led
him into the car, where be seated him
tenderly in the corner. Then he pro-
ceeded to the front to collect some fares.
AS he returned, the old mans almost
palsied hand was outstretched, with his
nickel between his withered thumb and
no
deliberately turning his head to one side
he passed out to his station on the rear.
The passengers also observed the action,
and one lady, more emotional than the
rest, wiped away a suspicious tear.
The conductor, strictly speaking, had
no right to cheat the company out of
the 5 cents which the old man should
have paid for his ride, but am inclined
to think that if the president Of the
company had been on the car he would
have applauded the act, as we did. Had
the object CT the conductors solicitude
been we'll dressed the act would have
been less commendable perhaps, but he
was SO manifestly ragpicker that adj
ditional praise is due the man who
wears the uniform Of the railroad mo-
nopoly and is an honor to it,
Theatrical Competition.
Those persons who take an interest
in matters theatrical are really alarmed
at the outlook il this city, and the OWL
erS Of GhcaterS are, many OF them, i'll q
state bordering closely On panic. There
are more buildings now devoted to
amusements Of various sorts than can
profitably &c L Inning, and yet there
are TunlOTs CT CHEERS TO come. They will
come, tCo, despite the jokes at the ex-
pense Of the projectors, and many of the
new houses will probably make money.
This sounds rather like an anomaly, but
it is easily explained. The theatrical
center has slowly advanced from Prince
street ncrthward, until now it has reach
ed Forty second. The theaters for a
dozen CT 10 biCcks south Of that and
those d few blocks north are apt to catch
most of the business for the reason that
they are mCst freQuented by the regular
as well as the transient population.
The places projected Will be built be-
tween these boundaries, ard If their at
fractions are good they will be we'll
patroni2ed. The other places down town,
except they have specially favored loca-
ticns, are suffering and are apt to con-
tinue to do SO. Several houses have been
closed for weeks at time this season,
and somo Of them, it is rumored, may
drop out altogether and be converted in
to office buildings.
Booming Club Mernbership
= The fact that two Of the most con-
spicuous New York clubs are willing to
receive new members at present without
the payment of initiation fees reveals
situation which three years ago would
have been thought impossible. That
either the Calumet or Manhattan would
ever find it SO difficult to fill it's rolls
that members would have to be attracted
by the waving of the initiation fees
would never have been thought prob
able, and the example Of these two clubs
is likely to be followed in the near fu-
ture, according to writer for The Sun.
A member Of one of these clubs said re-
Gently: s'There are other clubs in New
York at this moment which are very
much in need of the help that would
come from an increased membership
When this cannot be acquired by an in
crease in the number of new members |
that are admitted, it must be done by
the absorption of another club. This is
the means which all the clubs would
rather adopt when it comes to a ques-
ton OF increasing their lists of members.
1t can be done in SO few cases, however,
that the next step-waiving the mem
bership feels nearly always resorted to.
Initiation Charges Suspended.
CHOW that two clubs have done this,
it would be good idea for all of them
to follow suit and announce that in
view of the present situation of affairs
among the clubs the initiation charges