Mexico weekly ledger., 1900-01-18
ABOUT GOTHAM
NEW Y0RK CITY NOTED ron us
CLEANLINESS UvKR ALL
OTHER BIG CITIES
LITER FRaH LEIGH i. HODGES.
Gossip Of 8 Recent Trip Mads By Mr
Hodges From West to- East
Scenes In and Around
Greater New York

l~oorap1assncs e ne Lsarz.
6Ew YoKK, Jan m.-nthersi il one
tang mort admirable than any other
about this great city. II il IL eleznli-
ness. within the LAST two weeks I
have been in Chicago, St. Louis and
Kansas City, the three representative
cities Of the west. They are splsndid
tsihutss 70 the energy, push and ssa-
ny Of the men who made and who are
making them, bot they VIII never
show for what they N until thsy
are kept clean And New YORK has
demonstrated the tact that great
cities eSa Be kept clean. Il requires
oeasslsss work and some expenditure
Of money. II requires civic pride on
the part Of the citizens and above al,
q requires hard coal. For, when Il
speak OF . elezn city, I don't only re4sr
70 the streets and sidewalks. / refer
principally TO the air one must breathe.
One can wear heavy boots and over
shoes and keep out Of the mud, but
one cannot strain the air be takes
int his lungs. They say that when .
Chicago man dies, an examination OF
the coating Of soot and carbon on his
lungs viii enable q physician to ten
Just how long he lived 10 the city. II
don't think they could do that in St.
Louis. II the man had only been in
the city . few hours they might End .
very small portion Of the lungs that
vas not dyed black; otherwise, his
tsrn Of residence there would remain
q dark very d&rk-secret forever.
An eastern man who was being
shown around Kansas City one day
was taken to The top Of a tall building
and al be saw from that point Of van
tsge was q pail OF black smoke. what
time does the curtain risen he said.
And until the curtain of smoke does
riss from those three cities they must
not expect to receive from visitors
the praise they really deserve and will
then reeeive.
But, speaking Of smoke, I read the
other Day that Of q single brand Of
Eve cent cigars, e5 millions were con-
sumed in this country last year. Three
and one-quarter millions Of money
gone up in one particular kind Of
smoke in 3S5 daysl And there are
only shout twenty-ssyen thousand
brands OF cigars manufactured in this
land Of the free, to say nothing Of 3
tew hundred that are imported. Il Il
any wonder that our cities are smoky7
Coming east on the train last week
I overheard an amusing conversation
between q Denver man and q New
Yorker who has never been west Of
Chicago. The Denver man was blow
ing about bis town. "Most beautiful
city IN the naiioD," he said; 'tnnest air
and scenery On EARTH"
Nov, to . New York man there IL
no air 1ner than that which sweeps
across Manhattan and, ~ for scenery,
be THINKS the Creator used the beet Of
ali Els materials right here and scat
tered the few sscond-class mountains
and rivers and the like over the rest
Of the earth.
"Got water-works out tbere7"asked
the doubter.
"Got water-Worksl Well, ! should
say We had.U came the answer with q
sneer.
sand street cars?D /
"And street care" with another
sneer.
"Anythfng else?"
"Yes; something else. We've got
taller buildings out there than you
ever saw."
This woke the New York man.
Taller buildings than he'd ever seen.
"Wny, my man, there are no taller
buildings in the world than in New
York" he said. /,
"Thst 90, eh9n said the Denver man
undaunted. "Why, the lowest fonn
dation stones Of the lowest buildings
inDsnver are laid some seven thousand
feet above the level Of your streets in
New York" And they parted. |,
had occasion to go to the twenty
first story Of one building the other
day. We wer so long going up In the
elevator that expected to be welcom-
ed By St. Peter when we stopped at
last. The man I went up to see Is 9
Photographer. He taxes pictures of
well-known men and women IN their
homes and ofiees. On one wall Of
bis little den-itis not much bigger
than 8 goods box-Chauncey Depsw
leans back In q big desk-chair and
smiles bis patented smile. On another
Hstty Green and her daughter clasp
ing each others hands. That daugh-
ter will fall heir to about 90 million
dollars M Of these days. l met her
the other day. She has a pleasantly
face and dresses very plainly. She is
rather tall and has q colt voice like
her mothers. They live in q fat
over IN Hoboksn. Hoboken IL not
the most attractive place | ever saw.
Someone has said that God made Ho-
boken for the German steamers 10
land ct. So far az ! know, the place lie
famous for nothing else. |.
But, after dark the trip to and from
Hoboken is beautiful. The thousands
upon thousands of lights that fringe
the opposite shores reflect In the
water like moving things and sparkle,
then disappear for the moment az the
waves play up and down. The bulky i.
ferries lose their crude outlines in
the darkness aud show only long rows
Of lighted windows. As far as the eye
. reach, white lights and red and
green T reflected in the tide. The
splash Of the paddle wheels seems to
have turned to music. The black
water that never rests seems peopled