The evening times., 1900-03-17
MIDwNTER IN NEW YORK.
4 Writers EBrIy Impressions Of the
Metropolis.

(JlcUb 4. Ri-. iu tie Ccuuu.j
The very earliest impression / received OF
Americas metropolis was through a print
in my childs pictUte-bo0k that was ent'-
tied Winter ia New York" To showed a
sleighing party. or half a dozen such. muf-
fed 20 the ears in furs. and racing with
grim determination for some place or other
that lay beyond the page wrapped in the
mystery which so ickles the childish fan
cy- For it was clear TO me that it was not
accident that they were all going the same
way. There was evidently some prize
away OF here in the waste OF snow that
beckOned them on The text gave me 70
ciew TO what 1t was. II only confirmed the
impression. which was strengthened by the
introduction Of a half-n.,ked savage who
shiyered most wOefully in the foreground
thai New York was somewhere within the
arctic circle. and a perfect paradise for a
healthy boy. who takes TO snow as natu-
rally as q. duck takes TO water. ] do not
know how the discovery that they were
probably maaing fer Gabe Cases aud his
bottle of champs gue. which always awaited
the first sleigh on the road would have
struck me in those DAYS Most likely as
a grievOus disappointment, for my fancy.
busy ever with UDcas and ChugachcO0k
and Natty BumppO had certainly a buffalo
hunt. or an ambush. or. at the very least
a big fire. ready at the end Of the road But
such is life. Its most cherished hopGs have
20 be surrendered one by one 10 the prOsy
facts OF everyday existence. ] recall dis
tinctly how il cut me 10 the heart when
/ first walked up broadway. with an i'm
mense avypistol strapped around my
waist. TO find IL a paved street actually
paved. with no bUn3IOes in sight and rot a
red man or a beaver hut.
However life has It's rnr7nr ca ff1r-l AT
So At fifty l am as willing TO surrender
the arctic circle as I was hopeful OF 10
at -en. with the price Of cCal in the
chronic plight Of my little boy when he has
4 troublesome hitch in his trousers. "Oh
dear me- my pants hangs up and don't
hang down And Gabe Cases IS a most
welcome exchange 10 me for the ambush.
since i have left out the pisto. end the
TEST OF the armament I lister 20 the
stories Of the oldest iuhab tant. of the
winters when the snow lay to ,he second
story windows In the Bower" with the
feryent wish that they may never come
back. and secretly glOat over his vail that
the seasons have changed and are not what
they were. The man who CXuberantiy pro
claims that New York Is getting TO have
the fines; Win er-resOrt climate in the
world Is Iay friend. and I dc not care il
/ never see another SNOWFALL. Alas res,
old terms. l fear the evidence Is that /
am growing old
In the midst OF the rejoicing comes old
BCreas. as last winter. fer instance. aud
blows down my house Of cards. Just when
we thought ourselves safe in referring TO
the great blizzard as a monstrous. uuheard-
Of thing, ard were dwelling securely in the
memory 81 how we gathered yiolets in The
woods out in Queens and killed mosquitoes
in the house in Christmas week, comes
grim winter and locks the rivers and
bUries us Up 10 the neck in snow, before
the Thanksgiving diuneU is cold Then thc
seasons when Gabe's much-coveted bottle
stood unclaimed on tLe shelf in its bravery
of finC ribbons till saT into the New Year
, and was won then literally by a scratch
on a load hardly dowEy with white, seen
like a tale that is .old, and we realize that
latitude does 81 Eiraided make temper
ature IL is OIIr in exceptional winters.
after all. that 1-e class for a brief spell
with Naples Greenland and the polar
stream are ue-er long in asserting their
claim and SSntl Slaus' 10 unchecked
/ raroarpgss to our hparthS.