The sun., 1908-04-30
SIGHTS FROM SINGER TOWER
FAMILIAR THINGS ABOUT TOWN
LOOK UNFAMILIAR,
UnSuSpected beings In the Hitherto In-
dOlabls Secrecy Of Lofty ROOfS
Party Of VlsitOrs Shot Up 70 story
Forty.tWO 10 See within and without.

Forty-tWO TO See within and Without
IAN aboard First stop forty-seoond
hoorl' was the signal for the formal opening
Of the new Singer Building yesterday noon.
The hrst elevator loads Of visitors, officers
Of the Singer Company, architects, builders
and few reportors-not more than hall
hundred-weTe taken direct 10 the forty
second floor. which Is the ono entirely sur
rounded by a broad balcony and at that
level a majority stayed their upward prog
ress. II your enthusiasm or sense Of duty
carried you further sloft you made the
ascent Of Ave more stories first by steep
iron stairway and finally by ladder, until
the top Of the surmountlng birdcage was
reached. Then you looked out upon
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
through windows Ike those in ships cabin.
II was better to leave those windows closed,
One young paper person opened window
and put his hated head out, the better to
rubber and the others In the cage gleefully
watched his hat as It sailed and sailed and
upshot and inShot and skidded on the April
breeze until II gently settled on the roof
Of the Equitable Building. There g little
figure, guessed to be an ofioe boys, picked
IL up with sctions which seemed TO ex-
press his conviction that things we're oom-
ing his way.
Al that elevation, about 900 feet above
the street level, familiar sights take on q
most unfamiliar appearance, People on
the sidewalks do not appear to be walking,
but move along with unjerky regularity
suggesting that they are passengers on a
moving platform You look north for the
line Of Broadway and are certain to pick
! out Hudson street a. the north bound leg
/ Of the Great White Way. For some reason
this delusion Is very strong and one scarcely
credits an experienced guide until Grace
Church spire IL pointed out at the Broadway
J bend
The height is so great that the visitor Ia
looking down Al quite a sharp angle on the
! tops OF the hagpoles on the twin towers OF
| the Park Row Building. The splre Of Trim.
| ity is seen emerging from a canon formed
by the Trinity and Empire buildings. There
are many surprises In looking down on
the roofs OF skyscrapers. One is that the
roofs Of new tall buildings are nearly all
brick. just like q brick wall leid Hat. These
are ali populace at the lunch hour. On
several Of them games Of baseball were
being played and on one a group OF Office
boys were deep In game OF craps. Elderly
clerks we're eating home made mncheOns
on some Of the roofs and Office girls too
nihbled luncheon and literature. Odd little
bits Of unsuspected life.
In that great hip Of Manhattan where
population density IL greater than any
where else in the world, that bulge Of the
island between the Brooklyn and Williams
burg bridges, the only notable buildings,
the only ones TO stand ont from the clutter
and tumble Of dingy tenement roofs, we're
public school houses,
! To the south the great work OF filing
| which ia doubling the acreage OF Governors
Island looked Ike boys ambitious efforts
IN the mud pie line Miss Liberty held aloft
her welcoming hand in natural poee, but
che is An big a girl Il IL impossible 10 get
her a. an angle where there is a suggestion
Of anything small. She seems 10 Re all
right.
out Of drawing OF perspective OF something
J and looked like feet Of canoes. The
towers Of Coney Island perked up saucily
and the blond stretch Of sand eastward
, showed where Fire Island stands in her
accustomed water LOT
The Singer tower. althOugh y looks grace
fully slender, s ~ matter Of figures 80 by
s5 feet square II is worth mentioning
! that IL is IN fact one tower made Of five II
the architects and engineers designs are
analyged The shaft FOR the elevator 10 a
steel tower and on each side OF the elevator
Ia a steel tower, and these bound together
make the one tower visible to the eye, The
tower begins at the fourteenth floor Of the
building and on each tower floor there are
sixteen offices or space for that number.
| for each honr No TO the thirty second ia
divided 10 suit tenants
Al the thirty second floor begin the
Offices NJ the Singer Company and they
continue to the top THE SUN reporter.
wandering down by foot from the balcony
on the forty-second moor. came upon
large refrigerator on the forty-hrEt floor.
Now refrigerator il a friendly rather
than a cold proposition IL II is looked AT in
the right way and invites closer acquaint-
! ance Near hy was a big gas range. Finel
! Cupboards. pantries. all that heart could
| wish. The answer came on the fortieth
Aoor, where there is bright little dining
room The mnoh room ia for the officers
Of the company. and on the same hoor
are a bathroom and two bedrooms, 30 that
when John really Ia detained late at the
Office he needn't go to hotel.
These happy little oonveniences are not
all Tor the company. Tenants have many
which are attractive. Every ofhce IA sup
nlied by tap with cold water. hot water
and ice water. Near these sources Of
gupply some curious visitor noticed in every
office little brass plug suggesting some
purpose but not revealing Il. IL belongs
10 the vacuum cleaning system Installed In
the building to do away with all sweeping
and dusting But what caught the visitors
was an attachment which could be hooked
up 10 that vacuum cleaning plug whereby
was operated a brush with exhaust air
IiXings for cleaning tenants clothes and
hat Press button and get your clothes
and hat cleaned.
In ali the Singer Building there is not
rSed as building material 90 much az
cubic inch OF wood. The doors look and
actually feel like well dressed mahogany.
They are hollow pressed steel on which a
finishing surface is baked, colored, grained
and baked again, then dubbed until the
deception 70 the senses OF sight and touch
Ia quite remarkable. All dividing parti-
tions all trim, even the window frames,
are OF steel. The floors throughout are
cement covered with what is called crown
flooring" a preparation laid on in liquid
form which becomes as hard a. cement,
but has the feel 10 the feet Of linoleum.
The building is supplied with sixteen high
speed elevators.
When they get around to II the owners
will light up the tower In q way which is
expected TO delight the people Of New Haven,
II not Springfield. From the roof Of the
main building number Of powerful search
lights will he directed against the tower,
which will itself help out the lighting effort
by turning on its own battery Of powerful
electric lamps, outlining its favorite curves