The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-22
GAY STREET 7HRONGS;
mLIHE" DAY AND NIGHT


in the several points of interest enum-
Grated heretofore, they all have part
in Nicollet, and they proceed to show
it personally. <.....
Always Something Doing
Nicollet avenue is tremendously
lively in the daytime. Possibly every
citizen is conscious of that, but Nlcol-
let avenue at night is unique. Partlcu-
larly in summer all the sidewalks are
thronged so as to be almost impossible
of passage. Good-natured crowds per-
ambulate the evening thru, enjoying
the window displays, the street sights
and looking at each other. The street
itself is traversed by hundreds of au-
bound for dinners, parties or Just for
the lark of moving thru the densely
crowded avenue.
Tired with walking, one may find at
any corner some kind Of gathering
Salvation Army or Volunteer meet
ing, public ownership speechifying, a
Latter Day Saints exposition of the
ton. Strangers like this sort of. thing,
and so do the people themselves.
els this what goes on all day long9'
said railroad man from a less-favored
city, looking at the passing throng
from the windows of the Omaha office
at Sixth and Nicollet. His suspicion
confirmed, he sadly shook his head,
walked out and boarded an interurban
car for home.
"Do you know what I do evenings
N the summer9' said a highly po-
sitioned railroad man Of St. Paul re-
gently. ~ get right into my automo.,
bile after dinner with my wife and
some friends, come over to- Minneapolis
and then ride up and down Nicollet
avenue. It's certainly fun
| Complimentary remar ks from sister
| ness man of St. Paul lately had some
thing to say Of Minneapolis. His idea
of Minneapolis is similar to that just
! expressed.
Lennon Draws Comparison.
| The business man was George E. Len
| non, and he said: ....
| ST. Paul people go home too early in
the evening. They go home too early and
| they stay home too long. They should
! spend more time downtown at night; they
should be seen more in the business
streets after dark. This would make the
town alive. This would bring us all more
business and Increased population. This
| would wake us up. And that is one i'm
portant reason why we need a new audi
| forum and more theaters. s.
| Why just notice the difference between
| the st. Paul streets of an evening and
the Minneapolis streets. Go over on Mic
ollet avenue in the foury twin and you
| can hardly butt your way thru the crowd.
| The out-of- town visitor mixes up with
people on the brilliantly lighted streets, he
| sees thousands of pedestrians on every
j block, the streets filed with automobiles
and other vehicles, and he says, This is
! the. stuff. This is a real city"
| Then he comes down here wanders
about the shadows of Seventh street,
| Robert or Wabasha, and gets positively
| lonely in the long intervals between the
few individuals he finds out after dark.
| He says This village is dead. It's me
| for the city" And he takes the trolley
| back to Midtown.
/ Then suppose he wants to transact his
business in the daytime and get a little
recreation at night. If he's in ST. Paul,
| he can go to one high-grade theater on
! Monday and to another on Tuesday. AZ
ter that he has to sit about the hotel
lobby or hunt up a lecture with stereopti-
con views. ~
| If he's over in Minneapolis he finds the
| theaters correspond with our own and
four good houses besides-the Orrheum
the Unique. the Lyceum and the Auditor
! ium He can enjoy something worth go
| ing to every night in the week, and some
| thing that he's not afraid to write his
| wife about.
| The more theaters, the more people
| downtown; the better a town is off for
| local business men, the more attractive