The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-10

more than to learn that the reason why the
visitor from the West manifests no sur
prise at the sights so proudly pointed out
TO him is that he is not surprised. He is
not sensitive because he is not a New
Yorker he does not care in the least
whether he is spotted as a Westerner.
| and. therefore, a jay, or not; he simply sees
very little in the big city that amazes him.
and 1T does not occur to him to profess an
emotion that he does not feel. Why should
he blink at Broadway's fercest electric
light when, even IL he lives in a small
village. he has been familiar with electric
lights for years? The average Nesterner
is likely TO nave travelled a good deal before
he first visits New York; he is sure TO be
acquainted with his nearest large city
San Francisco, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago,
even indianapolis. each smaller than the
great metropolis, of course, yet with many
things in common-among them cable or
trolley cars. For many years he has been
accustomed to lodging these cars and is
skillful at it, whereas, they are yet SO new
in New York that the natives nave not be-
come uSeU 10 them. w nat Tcdny QOtS as
tonish the visitor from the West is that
archaic institution, the cross-town New
York horse car. every Western town that
thinks anything of itself having banished
such clumsy means of transportation long
ago; but politeness usually causes him to
refrain from expressions Of his sentiments
in this instance. AS for the elevated roads.
~ &c ,oOro tbo, 1;Ixol.. .L,+ bo hoe olraodxr
seen the equally ugly ones in Chicago; he
has, likewise, seen high buildings. equally
big shops and beautiful parks. It is also
quite probable that he has seen some of the
plays being produced in the theaters, even
before they came to the New York stage.
Of course, in such case, they were being
tried on a dog" but the effect on the dog
was the same as if he had seen them else
where. As for private residences, almost
any mcderate-sized city will show a great
er and more attractive variety of archi-
lecture and building material, though the
structures may be less imposing in point of
size than the millionaires' palaces on Fifth
avenue. But mere size does not itself i'm
press the average Westerner. He is used to
~ ~ tAC OOhhA AT 1--WE III. LIS It'll
and goings have given him a familiar sense
of vast Space; he was born to a wide out
look, and the bigness of a city does not dis
concert him. The miles and miles of New
York residence streets impress him only be-
cause of their similarity and their uniform
ugliness. 1t seems to him that a man who
turns the wrong corner on the way to his
home must he i'm dancer of NOT finding him
self again, and that an instinct similar to
that of the homing pigeon must come to
the resident who reaches his domicile, look
ing like so many thousand others, without
trouble. He is also impressed with the
fact that, Notwithstanding the professed
belief of the New Yorker that all the peo-
pie Of the country outside are consumed
with a desire to come there to live, those
who do have homes there and money
enough to get away are constantly on the
wing, spending their summers in London or
Newport. their winters i'm Italy, or Florida,
or California, their autumns in the country.
But for all this the Westerner likes New
York. He likes TO go there; the city has a
charm that draws him again and again.
but it is a subtle charm, not easy to define.
1t has little to do with the size of the place
or the features pointed out as distinctive.
So far as these are concerned he has grown
familiar with them through type and pic
ture, for if ever a place had an ac-
complished publicity bureau it is New
York. The public which does not travel
there are still a few stay-at-homes in the
worlds not allowed to be unacquainted
in that metropolis. A resident of Talbot,
who reads papers and magazines, knows
precisely how every important institution
between Grants tomb and the Brooklyn
bridge looks long before he ever sees them
in reality, and if set down suddenly on
Broadway could recognize local celebrities
as they pass. This, of itself. helps to ex-
plain the Indifference of visitors complained
of. Their sensations have been discounted.
But though the Westerner has a fondness
for the great city. because of it's life, its
brilliancy, it's cosmopolitanism, or for
whatever reason, it does not follow that
he wants to live there or envies those who
are residents. On the contrary, he is very
likely TO be satisfied with his occasional
visit, and to return home to spend the re-
naming fifty weeks of the year, quite con-
tented with his Observation-Disclosures to
be a jay.
THE DEPORTED FILIPINOS.