The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1903-07-03
THE CITY OF COLOR,
NEW YORK A PICTURE OF PLEASING
CONTRASTS IN hUES.

| Ihe American Metropolis In Thi.
Respect Surpasses All the Great
Monotone Tinted Capitals of the
Occidental World.
| New York has been written about
from almost every possible point OF
vicw-architectural, commercial, polit-
ical and social. Yet SO far as We know
1t has never been properly appreciated
ior the one thing In which 1t surpasses
NIL the other great capitals of the occi-
dental world, and that is for It's color.
Those of us who live here all our live.
or who absent ourselves for only brief
ana inconsidcrablc periods Of time
never know how extraordinary Is the
environment in which we Lave been
placed. 1t Is only the stranger with an
artistic sense or the native who hns
been long away who gets the full cf-
feet OF this city of ours in :ts uniuue
prismatic floridity Of hue such rs vivi-
fics no other city OF its kind.
III you Will think for n moment and
visualize from memory the great cities
OF Europe rs colorist would SEQ them
you Will be struck by the fact TINT each
one Is monotone. London has the
dull. dingy, smoky hue OF its own No
vembcr fogs, and ms you pass along its
miles and miles Of streets, n welter OF
unvaricgated facndes and homely Chin
ney pots, your impression will he
more and more that London Is one
great smudgc, hideous and unrelicvcd
beneath sky Of watcry pnleness
which merely acccntuates 4 little more
the dinGy hue Of everything beneath It.
Paris equally represents n monotone. n
delicate gray that Is neat and clean and
that adds to the symmetry and har-
moniOusncSs OF the whole effect, but
that Is seldom diversified by warmer
tones. Berlin is monotone in buff.
and Rome, like Paris, for the most
part, n monotone I'm gray.
One thinks at first Of Naples rs n
city brilliant with the hues OF the
south, but little reflection will show
that 1T Is not the city itself which can
be rightly so regarded. but rather the
setting OF the city rs one pcrccivcs 1t
from the ship on which he enters the
glorious bay or from the Capo di Posi-
!ipo. The intense blue OF the sky, the
emerald Of the surrounding hills, the
sparkle on the waters that Lap its
crescent shore, the huge dun slope Of
Fcsuvius, with its golden smoke, and
Capri In the distance swimming I'm n
golden miSt-thcse things afford an un-
forgcttable dream Of perfect colorins.
But Naples itself! The place Is as
commonplace and dirty and deprcss-
Ing as Constantinople, which also from
distance cheats you into thinking 1t
a colorists paradise.
1t Is New York alone which, after
delighting the eye with the beauty of
Its harbor, embraced by the long
slopes of billowy green, fascinates the
eye by the brilliancy and diversity Of
Its color scheme. The sky Is as blue
as that which Is archcd above tho
Mediterranean. Its sunshine is as
Or ibrisht, sht,ra and i Is sifted down upon the
light merely intensity the vividncss Of
the color contrasts which are visible
Mt every turn. Here is no convention,
no conformity, no desire for harmo-
NOUS effect. The snowy whitcncss Of
marble and the clean gray Of granite
are everywhere intcrminglcd with the
cheerful buff or the warm, rich reds
of brick. Patches of green appear at
the end Of every vista.
The enormous display windows OF
the shops are riot of blues and yell
lows and pale rose and heliotrope and
scarlet. Gliding catches and reflects
the sunlight at every turn. Flags and
streamcrs and multicolorcd awnings
add to the effect, 80 that every street
Is a veritable spectrum. Throughout
the whole length and breadth Of the
island city color nbounds In fiecks and
splashes. 1t is just a hit barbaric,
possibly, but 1t Is also wonderful and
striking.
To the sober dullness of Madrid or
Rome or London 1t Is what the Pom
peiian wall paintings are to the quiet
canvases Of Harpignies-not art, but
instinct nevertheless with n sensuous-
ness and n glow that stir one strange
ly. If you .nrc n native OF New York
perhaps you never noticed this. Yet
all the same 1t Is set before you every
day. and II you Will only think Of II
the next time you go out Of doors you
will perceive 1t rs revelation and
Will know that whatever else New
York may be II Is, at any rate, n color
city, and as such 1t Is one that has no
rival.-New York Commercial Adver-
tiser.