The record-union., 1898-01-08
new YORK CITY.
THE GRAND CELEBRATION ON,
NEW YEARS EVE.

Wonderful Good Nature of the
People in the Immense Crowds
The G1ories Of the Bowery of
Old Have Departed-C1osing Up
the Policy Shops-Asphalt Pave
ment With Snow on It.
! Irregular Correspondence of the Record
Union)
| NEW YORK, Jan. 3-Among the
several disadvantages possessed by
asphalt used as a road pavement the
first and worst is slipperiness. New
Workers, and particularly those given
to equestrian habits, have had this fact
emphasized during the recent SHOWS
more than ever which is principally
because the asphalt. during the warm
season, being looked upon with favor,
has been adopted for most of the i'm
portant thoroughfares of what is now
Manhattan Borough. In a few in
stances the Street Commissioner was
sufficiently humane and thoughtful
enough to supply along with the smooth
asphalt a strip or pathway of rougher
material, which permits the horse to
obtain something like substantial
foothold when the ground is covered
with snow and ice For when the
asphalt is thus reinforced neither a
Rocky Mountain goat nor a Mexican
burro stands much show of remaining
upright.
Even in it's natural state the asphalt
is not to be trusted by equestrians, and
many have been the accidents suffered,
particularly by saddle horses, on its ac-
count During the great parade last
April, for instance, when thousands of
troopers from out of town gathered
here, these asphalt-sliding incidents,
many of which were of a serious ma
ture were all too numerous.
The "Sportsman's Exposition held
at Madison Square Garden seems to
have become as much of an annual
fixture as the Horse Show of the same
place. The one which is to be held
this month is the fourth held under the
auspices of the National Sportsmen' s
Association, and promises to eclipse all
of it's predecessors in the variety and
quantity of exhibits. A display Of BIZ
cycles and their equipments will be a
feature. On previous occasions have
been shown typical hunting camps, the
various styles of cabins, tents, etc,
used as woodland shelters; the many
varieties of firearms and other weapons
used for sporting and military pur-
poses, experts exhibitions of fly-cast-
ing, rife and gun shooting, etc. This
year one of the new features will be
live game exhibits.
1t is hardly necessary to add that
while the sportsmens show is highly
interesting and instructive, as well as
successful financially, it can never hope
to be the fashion exposition as is the
Horse Show institution, even though
the two be housed under the same roof.
The celebration of New Years Eve
at the City Hall Park was surely an
event which must long be famous in
the annals of our municipal history.
The crowd, the parade, the noise, the
lavish and wonderful display of costly
and beautiful fireworks, and above all
the universal and remarkable good ma
ture which prevailed under circum-
stances Of the most adverse nature in
the crowds combined to make it thus
memorable.
That which undoubtedly impressed
the observer most of all the myriao
sights was the quantity and behavior
of his spectators. Larger
crowds have gathered upon the streets
of the metropolis upon other oc-
| casions, but probably not in this nor
in any other city has so much human
ity wedged itself into so few acres.
Though the ground was wet from a
cold rain that had been coming down
all day, and still drizzled inermittently
through the raw, mist-obscured atmos-
phere; although every individual spec
tator was slammed and banged, mud
besprinkled and trodden upon high en-
thusiasm and consequent good humor
ran riot.
The writer started out with two
| friends. and for an hour most of our
| attention was devoted to the feat of
avoiding separation. At 10 O'Clock, on
a corner of Newspaper Row, we became
entangled in whirlpool of humanity,
and in less than minute each, was
| hopelessly lost to the other In a vain
attempt to find my erstwhile compan-
ions I allowed myself to be borne off
| in the direction of the World building.
Here in an instant the crowd became,
after few struggles, hopelessly sta
tionary. The pressure for about fifteen
minutes increased until it seemed as
though only an accident could avert a
serious catastrophe There were a few
women in the crowd, and their escorts
We're powerless to protect them. With
hats askew and clothing torn, despair
was evident upon their pale faces. Sud-
denly movement is noticed on the
outskirts of the crowd in the direction
of the bridge; the vibration reaches
the center and in an instant the
wedged mass becomes a moving ava
lanche which sweeps before it all op-
position.
| Despite the herculean efforts of the
police, this scene was repeated again
and again, and to the participator il
seems nothing short of a miracle that
there We're no fatalities. Wherever the
crowds We're thin enough to permit of
using horns, some over three feet in
| length, these instruments of torture
were brought into requisition, and the
din, which was always present cannot
be realized by those who did not hear
| it.
| While all this was going on upon the
ground the atmosphere above was rem
dered brilliant by pyrotechnic and
search-light Examinations, which, I'M
der more comfortable conditions, would
have made certainly an inspiring scene
to its beholders.
On the City Hall, the Postoffice and
In commanding positions on all the sur
rounding mammoth buildings were