The Washington times., 1901-10-20
A NEW YORK CROWD.
Fair Play the Watchword of Gather.
ings in Manhattan

Students of anthropology and delivers in
the psychological field cannot put time to
better advantage than by endeavoring to
ascertain what is the element that tends
to make a New York crowd" conspicu-
ously different from a similar aggregation
of people anywhere else in the whole
world.
Visitors from other lands mark the dis
similarity in bearing that is noticeable in
gatherings in this city from the attitude
of those at home; and residents of even
nearby cities are habituaIIy remarking
that the New York crowd" is a crowd
by itself. Perhaps it is the elusive X
faculty that We hear about so much now
adays that is predominant in the metro
politan gatherings, or yet it may be some
mental characteristic created in the So
cial unit by the hurly-burly, happy-go-
lucky mannerisms Of the ever-to-b be Jared
passengers on our commodious systems of
transportation; but whatever it is, it
goes a long way toward making life bear
able and even pleasant in the overcrowd-
ed conditions that are ever present in the
centre Of commerce and finance
Fair play is the watchword OF the
New York crowd. At the baseball games
at the race course, at the theatre. every
where that great masses of people meet
for common purpose, you can hear at
every hand, If you mingle with the crowd
expressions that prove conclusively that
the one uppermost wish of the whole null
titude is that every one shall have a fair
chance.
The other day great crowd of people
assembled in front of one of the news
paper offices down town to watch the bull
letin boards for accounts of the interna-
tional yacht race then taking place The
vast majority of those assembled were
ardently in favor of Columbia, and took
advantage of every opportunity that was
presented to give a cheer for the Ameri-
caa boat, and yet during every wait be-
tween reports, nearly every one within
earshot would give expression to some
sentiment showing that If Sir Thomas
Upton did win one or two of the races,
the speaker would be gratified, because
Upton is such a fine fellow and such a
true sport"
The unlimited good nature of the crowd
was eXemplifed by the grace with which
it took the conflicting reports that were
posted on the bulletins of the two papers
that were occupants of the building in
front of which il had congregatcd.
one bulletin would announce Sham
rock still leading" and at the same mo-
MANIPULATING
brush at the rival board would print
Columbia has now passed Shamrock and
is holding a safe lead" At once the
whole crowd would break out in a loud
laugh, and some wag would shout:
Hey, mister, which of youse fellers is
gittin' IL Wireless2"
once. when the bulletin announced that
both boats were about to go on long
reach" a seedy-looking individual who
had been very yoluble in his comments
on the reports announced in stentorian
tones:
DE one dat's got Croker on board will
This sally was greeted with round OF
laughter by the rest of the onlookers. and
as the race wore on and the end ap-
preached the jOlllty of the crowd grew
ring accidents, the American boat would
win. When the news was flashed out that
Columbia had won the humorist shouted:
well, de Shamrock comes from the
mud, anyway, and dis ere one is no ex-
ception, as dere is where she is now"
Slowly the constituent elements of the
throng separated and commenced their
daily battle to cross the bridge or board
an uptown trolley or run the gamut in
getting on an elevated express train, but
each said, whenever the chance was Of
fered, Il hope Upton gets one heat. any
how. He has tried hard to win, and is
deserving of at least one race"
While that vast throng had stood for
hours before the bulletins. and had been
passing vehicles and noisy trolleys, and,
while tLoSe who knew better had been
forced to listen to the most ridiculous
comments made by those who pretended
to be yachting experts yet did not know
jib from a rudder never word of an
ger was heard and never a suggestion that
did not go toward making better feeling
wherever heard.
Such are the characteristics of New
York crowd whenever or wherever you may
find one. What accounts for the presence
of this desire for fair play? Why is II
more marked in New York crowd than
in a Philadelphia or a Boston crowd or
even a London crowd? Who can tell the
reason. and who can give a clearer or
more pointed opinion than that same
humorist, who was entertaining the bull
letin readers, when he replied. in answer
to question as to what he thought made
such an assemblage SO absolutely Impair
tial and fair-minded:
We'll, you see we never gifts fair play
ourselves. The coppers and the Bridge
guys is always tumpin on us. ana we
wants to see fair play when we kin II we
dldnt see some one else git II wed never
see II, cause we'd never see ourselves
gittin' it"-New York Times.