Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-01
ROUND ABOUT NEW YORK.
RiDples on the Current of Ldfe in the
Metropolis.

Metropolis.
The vast number Of skygcrapers IN the
metropolis, besides creating a race Of rub
bernecks, adds a new ailment to the stock
Of common afiictions. 1t is known as
"skyscraper feet" The floors Of the big
buildings, as a rule. are Of concrete or
marble. instead Of wood, as used to be the
case with ONCE buildings before the era
OF very high edi1ces. The new physical I'll
Is suffered by hall porters and elevator men.
and is a painful soreness in the feet, which
eliminates in corns and similar excrescen-
ces. Attendants in ONCE buildings walk
about on the hard floors all day, and they
md that the exercise In many cases leads
TO sore feet. The soreness is not a trIning
matter, either. Many men can be seen
with their shoes cut to ease the pressure.
ana they limp about the Railways in a way
that speaks eloqueHtly OF their suffering.
The doctors have a scientific name for the
new disease, but the elevator man who
poured his tale Of woe into people's ears
the other afternoon could not remember
what It was, except that It had a doleful
sound.
A New Yorker Of q statistical turn Of
MIND has been figuring on what the people
OF the city pay for luxuries and other things.
SS1 Nv says rOT our 0AllY
newspaper reading our papers use from
$50 to 1000 tons Of white paper a dav.
which In the average eight-page paper
amount to from 5000, 900 to 5000. 900
copies. The various press associations
cable us between $4,000 and 100, 900 words
a day. Our entertainments in our forty
odd theaters cost us from SIS, 900 to 800. 900
a night We sold on cur stock exchange
floor over 251,O 0o. 900 shares Of stock during
the last year, and while 1000, 900 shares a
day Is a large average, on May 9, 1901, the
trafic amounted to 1886, sos shares. And
so 1t goes. We surely are justified in de-
claring that New York is the city Of big
numbers, as we'll as big things"
There is a retail establishment On Fifth
avenue which is probably without a paraI-
lei In New York or this country In the
fact that, although technically a shop. as
1t deals only with private purchasers, It
has no till or money drawer and no cash
Is ever seen In II in connection with any
business transaction. The things sold, re-
ports the Evening Post, are so costly and
most of the customers are so rich that
payments are invariably made by check.
A similar condition prevails In the parent
house In London, established some thirty
years ago. The New York store has ex-
listed about twenty-five years and now
rivals the business Of the original estab-
lishment. with which it interchange arti-
Giles in stock, as the needs of customers re-
quire. There has also been for the last
few years a branch of the business In Paris
in charge Of An agent. but the amount Of
stock kept there Is small in comparison
with that Of the two other houses.
The business of the firm controlling these
places is dealing in antique art objects,
such as are sought after by experienced
connolsseurs and wealthy collectors, not a
few OF whom are multimillionaires. Orig
inally the firm dealt in antiques, curios,
tapestries, ETC., but these did not include
such expensive things as are frequently
handled now. The grade OF the stock i'm
proved with the growth OF the business
and the establishment is known throughout
the art world today as among the most
liberal buyers Of the most costly objects in
its line, which II is always able to dispose
Of at a profit. One of it's representatives
In conversing on the subject said that a
fine thing could always be sold at a good
price, and that his people were never
afraid either to buy such a thing or to
keep Il on hand for a long time, as It was
sure to increase in value like old wine.
Really fine old art objects and curios are
steadily getting scarcer and the demand
for them is now greater than the supply.
One Of the districts OF New York city
that has completely changed as to its APP
pearance In the last ten years is hat small
spot which was known as the Five
Points" Mulberry Bend and other streets
in the vicinity which used to be choked
with squalld life, are now open TO the
sun and air, so that II is dificult to
imagine them under their old conditions.
True, there Is a give Points clothing
house" at one corner. The sign is Haunted
with much dash, as II begging passers-by
not to forget that there used to be a col
lection Of thieves kitchens and crooks
workshops where now is green grass and
electric lights. Aside from this one sign,
there is little to keep in ones mind the
ancient character Of the quarter, Wide
streets, and, above all, Mulberry park, one
Of the most attractive breathing spots in
the city. have driven out the wretchedness
and crime OF old, and when one goes ia
the Five Points now. he finds himself In
one Of the most cheerful neighborhoods or
the whole east side.
The mere bigness Of New York is the
quantity that first strikes the newcomer
says a Pittsburg Dispatch letter. Later h'
/ finds that the city has other claims t.
the distinction OF being called the world:
metropolis. He hnds that about half thu
big ships that pillow the ocean are headet