Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-10-13
"N'YoRk GOOD ENOUGH
SO Said the Wanderer Until Sum.
moned Home to Dirt and Noise.

'"o"eo 7ome 10 DIRT and Noise.
Charlotte HARDWOOD, in The Critic
Before | had quite attained tha
NlrYana of life in England, came the
summons home. 1t was in the early
spring. Now 1 am going to ge,
warm through" l said, and the pros
pect of sunshine and clear air, of the
brilliant atmosphere and busy life OF
New York, dulled the keenest edge of
regret at leaving England just when
she was putting on her fiower-decked
spring dress.
But as we steamed slowly I'D the
magnificent harbor something seemed
TO be going wrong. The bright sky
was obscured by Unfortunately high
box-like structures stuck full of holes.
Verdure had disappeared from the
face of the EARN, and nothing but
hldeous blocks of stone and shanty.
like piers were to be seen. | had for
gottenl But the docks aren't New
York" | said; ut will be better when
we land"
l draw veil over the landing. as
every self-respecting American must.
No one who has ever endured the
shame of landing in New York will
wish to recall it. The disillusionmen,
had begun.
The next morning, delighted at being
once more at nome, / started for a
friends house in Seventeenth street
Having been refused admittance to a
cross-town car on both east and west
corners of the avenue, | at last
managed to seize and Chamber on one
and in GREATNESS moment was flung
out on a mound of mud at the corner
of Fourth avenue.
The next day, in going up Broadway
to Fifty-ninth street, l had a good
view of the changes that had taken
place during my absence. Mag
nificent stone and marble palaces
rose on every block. At Twenty-thiro
street the Flatiron enormity came in
to view. | nearly wept, To think
that there were not dollars enough
nor public spirit enough, to have kept
that little bit of land 'tunimproved. :"
to have planted it with grass ano
trees, and added a tiny oasis to the
desert of bricks and paving,
stones that is called New York,
All the way uptown magnificence
and sequlof alternated. Broadway
the world, the empire city of the
the world the empire city of the
United States, seemed little more than
narrow path. Darkened by the i'm.
mensely high buildings, narrowed b,
the double car track, with shanties
fianking the superb huge structures,
mounds of mud, and winding ribbons
of Belgian block in the asphalt of the
street, huge holes full of dirty water
unwashed sidewalks, and unswept
streets-this was the city whose
glories | had sung, to which | had so
proudly invited my English friends.
What lies | had told, and how
ashamed l should be if any of them
were suddenly to appear.
In the areas of the houses we
passed on Fifth avenue stood ash
barrels, some surrounded by large
heaps of dirt and garbage; the cutters
were full of divers kinds of refuse;
the doorsteps unvashed, and paper
and peel lay undisturbed. or flying in
c-e wind; mounds of mud, hugh holes
and amalgamated dirt adorned the
streets. AS we turned into a side
street streams and pools of filthy
water prevented our crossing; wagons
discharged their. goods at the sbop
doors and their wrappings and pack.
ings in the street, and doorwavs made
convenient lodging places for little
piles OF mixed rubbish. 1 expected to
see pigs rush out and root. l wished
they would, so as to get rid of some
of the garbaga.
The shape and position of New
York. which are often given as an ex.
euse for all its deficiencies, shoula
be its glory. Between two fine rivers.