The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-28
BUSIEST SPOT IN THE WORLD.
Wall Street I'm New York Lively
Village in Itself.
From the New York Worldly


From the New York World)
Wall Street is the most densely populat-
ed area in the world. Nowhere else are
| there such intricate hives of Office build
| ings crowded together in so small an area.
| = Even the men who have spent their
lives within its confines do not realize
how near and numerous their neighbors
| are In the short block between Broad
way and Broad Street. which includes the
entrance TO the stock exchange, there is
| enough population to crowd to overflow
ing good sized village. 1t is difficult tc
| get any idea of how dense is this popula-
ton. 1t is not generally realized, for in
stance. that the population of these build
ings is so great that IL all the tenants
were to leave their Offices for the street at
| the same instant hundreds of people could
not ind standing room.
The condition is made clear by little
figuring. Wall Street at this point is only
a fraction over forty feet in width Now
one OF the four corners of the intersection
holds nineteen story office building.
while directly opposite is large office
building OF ten stories. The width OF one
Of these buildings is but twenty feet six
inches. the one opposite forty feet. These
two buildings contain upward of l 400 peo-
pie. Now the actual space from wall to
wall. including the sidewalks, would not
furnish enough space for standing room
Were all the tenants to be collected in
front CT their buildings it would be a
second black hole Of Calcutta. They would
stard on each others heads in tiers three
deep.
One OF the curious results of this over
population is a marvellous system OF tele-
phone communication. unequaled anywhere
else in the world. The financial district
is supplied with upwarl of 5000 regular
telephones. The greater part are long
distance wires. All of hese phones are
kept busy. 1t is the experience of the tele-
phone company that each phone is used
on the average of about eight times day
This means that each day, and the day in
the Wall Street district is but five hours
some 10000 telephone connections are
made.
The private wires not connected with
the regular system are greatly in excess
OF the regular telephones. These are put
in by private companies. and It is impossi-
BILE to make a good estimate of their num-
Der. 1t is conservative guess that near
ly one-half million conversations take
place every day by telephone in this
restricted area.
The number of messengers who rush
about this district is also surprising to
anyone who is unfamiliar with the tre-
mendouus activity of the street. Practical
ly every large building has an office
crowded with boys to supply the demands
of the hives of Offices which are constantly
calling on them.
In addition TO the regular uniformed
boys, most OF the large establishments have
corps of their own boys, sometimes in
uniform. Ii has been calculated that for
every acre of ground in the financial dis
trict there are about 100 boys carrying
messages. Now field an acre in extent is
comparatively small, ard would be crowd
ed If it were filed with 100 boys at play.
There are thirty-four financial newspa-
pers in less than as many acres of land.
No other place in the world has so many
newspapers to its area.
There are several so-called news agen-
cies which distribute little pamphlets
miniature newspapers. in faet-as quickly
as the news is gathered by the reporters
or comes in by wire. These offices issue
from fifty to one hundred editions a day
Each Office employs small army of boys
who receive the papers as quickly as they
are printed and run at breakneck speed
with them to the offices.