The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
WHERE NEW YORK EXCELS.
.ouE POINTS IN WHICH IT rs
Buzz .uERICA,s FINEST CITY.

-, ot II. Euthusls.tio Residents Compares It
IN, washington To the DisadvantaEe or
~. C.p,tai City-Ths well-Drcssed naen
nd the Beautiful women or p1ashnttan.
v,suSGToS, Jan. S.-The spectacle of .
No. Work man making an earnest defence OF
~, city. and also a comparison Of Its features
'.,,b those OF Washington, interested a group
y, men in the lobby Of the Arlington the other
..oniny. He said he had listened to ignorant
and nreiudiced criticisms Of New York as q for
s,or city. without civic pride or patriotism,
-,il be was tired.
= hive no defence TO make Of Tammany or Of
-, ~political conditions that led TO Its recent
,,cccss. but l do say that New York Is the
,ncst city in America. Without civic PRIDE 1t
.,uld never have been made what 1t is. The
roonlc have their own way OF showing II. They
,ooy I've slow to subscribe to certain enterprises
hut the town Is full OF costly proofs OF q sub
,,antial regard for its appearance. mean the
Ala New York, or Manhattan borough as It Ia
now called.
"rhe best thing, almost the only noteworthy
thing of the feeble administration OF Mayor
Strong. was in putting at the head Of the Street
Cleaning Department q man who was not
afraid to spend money. 1t called for nerve
rather than technical knowledge, but as the
streets were kept clean. nobody kicked at the
enormous expenditures. Nearly every mar who
nuts up a building In New York adds q large
sum to the necessary cost, for appearance.
There is never a protest against an increase Of
taxes for parks, street widenings, and improve
ments, splendid public buildings, and whatever
adds to the fine appearance of the neiFhbor-
bood. Such hotels as the Waldorf. Astoria, tho
Netherlands, the Savoy, Delmonico's, and Sher-
rvs are simply in harmony with the disposition
to consider beauty and magnifcence In the re-
building Of the city. The repaving Of Fifth
avenue is only q step toward making that the
most magnificent street In the world. Tho
upper avenue and Riverside Drive will show
the highest possibilities of architectural geuius."
W think we have rather q nice town here"
interposed q Washington man.
.Of course you have. In the spring It 10
beautiful. Until this visit l could hardly find
ANYTHING to ~criticise. Taken as q whole, and
most of the year. 1t is tho most attractive city
In the country, not excepting Boston, with Its
alluring suburbs. Nearly every city has some
pecial feature. but Washington combines
many. AS New York 10 the finest, the most
impressive and splendid, Washington 10 tho
most charming. Not oven from Morningsido
Heights, which overlook tho Hudson and River
side Park and the Harlem and Central Park,
has New York any such views as may be had
from many points in Washington. Just now,
however, the conditions emphasize tho differ
ences between the exterior aspects Of the two
places, and in favor Of New York.
Naturally, in wet:weather what q Now York
visitor first observes here are tho brick side
walks, which are unknown there. We have
nothing but stone, always in perfect condition.
The brick walks are rough and uneven, and
tiresome to feet that ave been used to the
less elastic, but smoother, stone. Theys sink
toward the middle. and In spots, and the water
stands In pools, as 1t mover docs on our walks.
The roadways, too, even the asphalt. do not
dry as quickly here. The drainage there 10
ideal. Manhattan Island has o rocky ridge in
the middle line nearly its entire length. 1t
streets are narrower than the avenues here,
and the roadways slope from the middle to the
carbing. SO Ss the heaviest r. rainfall MIA |. is S carried dtt off
a rain Is over. Except In some of the side
streets downtown. the slush after a light snow
fall never remains half q day or q day, as 1t
Another point of difference is that Washing
ton continues to have . variety Of houses IN a
shop, between two handsome brick residences.
attracts uns II the notice Of a Visitor rom New York,
OF course there is the objection Of duh. uni:
Ill 1uuI ID LILO aISuitOCbuIal oIllhO VI
New York, but It is almost. inevitable, Tho
ground and the owners capital can be put To- tho
a mSi' ,R RsD5'hi Is ii.t Use CHANCE ny avG fos srob nasaalnsi
variety. There are miles on miles Of such uni
form blocks without the striking and not al
homes Of the miiiionaires between Fifth and
MSaiSSn st aysnS p,;;,d Are hvs SSs tsr. 6rtSk' bo oSss.
uues are hve-story brick buildings.
There a an ABSENCE of grass plots In front
az and the s dsplo2nSIc ls saa 6 5fn tqesa. r HlG IS ths sadaSi
the latter is In a fair way to be corrected. When
the Tree Planting Association shows that
are in Central Park, or are less of a nuisance
than many think. trees will DO planted on most
residence streets. Leno1 avenue ,is a bower
81 think nobody will deny that New York 10
the cleanest city in the land. No soft coal 10
s ffary pSwe eRs'e o. G the II Health aaS Z Se asS sns afG 70
est city in the world. It is loss Of an Industrial
community So5 than any other Of its population:
should not be free Of pollutions. I do not know
whether e, soft coal is used. bqt do know that l
than at home. I have had to take of a white
neck scarf because 1t becomes soiled so quickly.
There are more rooms to let in fine houses and
Rooms to Let cards, ! have seen more hero
call it here, I t~hink-than can DO bound in q
days search In New York. There everything
OF the kind is done through the advertising
columns OF the newspapers. In Cleveland. too.
they put ont signs for everything, and II a
woman doesn't &c! a servant in that way, she
calls over the back fence and asks the neigh
boris girl, to find ono for her, II she can't lure
the neighbor's girl herself. Owing to tho num-
Der OF people who come to the capital for the
winter, there Ia an extraordinary demand for
rooms, and as many people who take large
houses for the winter do not need all the space,
Ihey are glad to let rooms. The prices are
lower than in New York. A room with closet
And bath that rents for $50 a month here would
bring about $40 a week there. Everything
9leFc Is by tho month, there by the week. The
New York renter of a single room docs not care
ioput NJ, 800 a month in u advance, and the land
iord would not trust him for = month. Here 1t
Is the custom to require half a months rent
money In advance. At the end of tho month
os renter pays for a full month. half for the pre-
cedlng half month.
Even without the magnolia trees and tho
Salnly air Of Washington. the visitor would
Know he had reached the edge of the South by
we number and kinds of negroes that crowd
the streets and public places. There are ne
groes in New York, but they are merely black
sest a group in the Dowery, which is the only
street in tho world outside of Cairo where q
man could walk out IN his night robe and at
tract no notice. Even In Thompson street is
never seen the almost Bhoeless, boisteIous.
sood'hatured and loose-jointed negro of the