The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-01-31
FAMOUS WINE CAVES
People Work for Years i'm Artificial
Light--I,aking the Most Exten.
sivc Industry Carried On--IIere
Are to be Found Vaults for Stor-
ing of Valuables.

wholesome cellars because they are
too poor to pay the rents demanded
for more commodious quarters in
other neighborhoods Fortunately,
owing to the activity of the Board of
Health and various public spirited
bodies Of citizens, comparatively few
persons are allowed to dwell under
ground in New York.
But while only small number of
persons sleep below the street level
In Americas greatest metropolis
10000 earn their living In this lower
world where the sun never shines.
says the New York Herald.
Little does the average man real
Ire how important a part the cellar
or underground industries play in
the business life of the city. There is
hardly single line of work that is
not carried on beneath the street
level as woSl as above it.
Until the subway was opened, Oc-
tober 81, 1904. there was no under
ground system Of transportation. Its
installation opened a new chapter In
the city's underground life, for 1t
gave employment to some three
thousand persons as conductors,
guards, motormen, station agents,
ticket choppers, porters and news
girls.
Persons who patronize Delmon-
tcos, the Holland House and the st.
Regis are probably unaware that
there are in the city many restaur-
hnIau, NNhiln nf
them are of the commonest and
cheapest kind, some are elegant in
their appointments and are patron
fzed by society. For instance. the In
dian grill room of the Hotel Astor,
in Times square, Is the most attrac-
tive place of the kind in New York.
The walls are hung with the trophies
Of the chase. Paintings and statuary
Of pronounced artistic merit are lib
orally used in the decorative scheme
The absence of windows is the only
thing that reminds the patron that
he is dining sixty feet below Broad
way
Nearly all the hotel kitchens of
she city and especially those of the
more important, are located under
ground. The chefs, their assistants
and helpers work in an artificial
world. The electric lamps flood the
kitchen with brilliant light, and ven
diating fans drive out the smells
arising from the ranges and ovens
and force In the pure air from the
streets. More than a hundred per-
sons are employed in the Waldorf
Astoria kitchen, fifty in that of the
Hotel Astor and about the same
number In the Holland House
Kitchen
lh,f most extensive industry car
rfed on underground is that of bak-
ing. There are ten thousand men en-
ployed In the city's bakeshops, near
~ all of which are located in cellars.
Public attention was called to these
establishments by strike of the
east side bakers, during which sew
sraa articles were printed in the
newspapers showing the unsanitary
condition OF many OF the shops In
that part Of the city
In the less crowded parts of the
town every attention is paid to clean
sfrsss. The walls are tiled from floor
to ceiling, and each day they are
thoroughly washed The floors are
sometimes made of stone and some-
times OF hard wood. In either case
they are scrubbed with hot soap suds
antit they are clean enough to eat
Ola. Every baker is required to take
shower bath before and after
work, and is furnished with freshly
Numbered canvas or cotton suit each
day.
The bread is made from triple sift-
ed -four, and Is mixed and kneaded
by machinery. This method Of
handling the -four insures absolute
cleanliness in the product
In all the uptown bakeries the fire
In the oven must be out beyond the
building line. In order to obtain the
right to use space for his oven one
baker was obliged to pay the city
$I,76 a square foot for the land he
occupied. In the downtown bakeries
the heat In the cellar Is insufferable,
but up town ventilating fans make
life quite endurable.
Underneath nearly every pawnshop
In New York are extensive vaults in
which valuables are stored. Those of
the Oldest Bowery pawnbroker's es-
tablishment are wired carefully, and
after they have been closed for the
night 1t is impossible for a burglar to
effect an entrance without sounding
\ burglar alarm.
Many thousands of dollars worth
of jewelry are slowed away under
the sidewalks of the city's busiest
streets, and sometimes when the
grating boards are turned back one
can see the vaults far below.