Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-06-30

tween Nineteenth and twentieth
streets. Every block begins new
hundred in number, no matter WHICH
way you travel and it takes an entlfe
stranger but a few days to get WORK
ling idea of the system. There is only
one weak point in it, so far as ! have
found. If YOU ask policeman how far
lit is to such a place and he says: Just
1.-TWO blocks north" don't believe him as
iyou would a New York or Boston
lpoliceman. CA Boston policeman
wouldn't talk to you of blocks" any
lway but that doesn't matter) The
philadelphia guardian Of the city's
welfare will mean all right and you
will understand him in time. He
means two Philadelphia blocks. Here
Ithev reckon blocks by certain streets
and don't count certain other streets.
land YOU have to know what streets TO
lcount and what ones not to count. That
comes with practice. like the habit of
Ieating ice cream. which is little more
universal, l think, here than in some
other cities, perhaps because you can
get it cheaper.
But the street system as whole
would be greeted with joy in Boston, if
IL were VI HNiN, anu 10
flaws are few The street paving is a
thing to be seen and ridden upon to be
understood. Asphalt is universal and
lbicyclists are as numerous as mos
Quitoes at League island, of which
more later. The really surprising thing
about the streets Is the absence Of auto
mobiles and the other forms Of horse
less vehicles. There are apparently
only about a dozen of them in the en-
tire city for public hire, and no more
| for private use. At any rate, If you
counted one every time you saw it and
kept at it a Week | don't believe you
would equal the number you could see
any single day on Washington or
Fremont street. This seems doubly
strange, in spite of its reputation for
tslowness, because the city has such ex-
ceptional streets for such vehicles,
while New York and Boston pavement
| is not to be compared to it at all.
l Go along the resident streets, espe-
cially the older ones, and you will see
what Ben Franklin saw when he did
likewise: the great array of white,
lcarefully scrubbed. stone doorsteps and
house underpinning. 1t is a feature ot
the city that gives it an individuality.
Go along some of the newer resident
streets and you will see another Phila-
ldelpha idea carried out in the form of
small porches in front Of the two and
three-story houses that run in blocks.
Ian just alike. On warm evenings you
will see family gatherings on these
white steps and small porches, enjoy
ing cool breezes from the going down
t..F ~ . laa
next day begins There seems to be
plenty of room in Philadelphia, and
two story houses with six or seven
rooms each. or three story houses with
nine or ten rooms, are the rule. renting
for from SO to $50, according to loca-
tfon and size. 1t is only within the
past week or two that there has been
Iany apparent inclination to depart
from this home building custom to the
Is ky-scraper- apartment-house style of
more crow ded cities. but now the Bos-
ton and New York idea has taken root.
think that is why Philadelphia has
such a firmly rooted reputation for
sloWness. Folks don't have to hurry,
and 50 simply don't. There is no point
of congestion where people rush to and
from at morning and night, going to
and from working places. to and from
their homes, as there is in Boston or
New York, and one misses all the
hustle and hustle Of Park row and
Brooklyn bridge, or Park street station
in the subway, at those hours
While not to be compared in size or
amount of business done with the
North and South Union stations in Ros-
ton. Philadelphia has n couple of fine
terminals in the Broad street station
OF the Pennsylvania Railroad and the
terminal Cs the Reading road Not
having any subways or elevated street
railways. nor any need for such, Phila
delphia has her steam railroads enter
the city on stills and underground do
ing away with all grade-crossings.
Even this method does not entirely do
away with accidents, as was shown the
other day when several cars We're
burned and lives lost by an accident in
a tunnel
League Island Navy yard is in Phila :
delphia. but comes as near as possible
to not being, for it is four miles
straight away from City hall. south on
Broad street, on the banks of the dirty
Delaware river where the city stops,
anu cioSe 10 tne dlrtler Schuylkill.
which furnishes the city with water.
Just now there are special attractions
for natives and visitors at the ward i'm
the twin battleships Indiana and
Massachusetts. which are laid I'D in
reserve to await the time when officers
ana men enough to put them into
active service again are available. The
first Sunday the two ships were at the
yard six thousand people visited them.
good proportion making the journey
on bicycles. Being surrounded by
fresh water, this navy yard is we'll
adapted for the lay'ng up of ships with
steel bottoms for long ,-..ods. for fresh
water does not have such an effect on
the bottoms as salt water has
Jersey mosquitoes have reputation
that covers a good extent of country, but
by the time League island mosquitoes are
better known their little Jersey cousins
VIII have to hustle to maintain their
present position. League Island mosaui-
toes come in large packages and seem
well equipped for business. When the
two battleships referred to arrived at
that island navy yard the officers and
crews were not long kept In ignorance of
the bugs presence, for even while the
ships were being towed up that tortuOuq
back channel" (Which is the particular
home If League island mosquitoes and
the special place selected for laying up
l uTar Ia far