Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-16

ROUND ABOUT NEW York.
nipples on the Current OF Life in the
Metropolis.
When the wheels Of justice arc properly
oiled In New York City the criminal courts
can make n record for speed and tobogGan
a culprit 70 Sing Sing with as much celebrity
as a Chicago divorce court. A burglar
caught in the act Of robbing q bedroom
occupied by a man and wife was taken in,
Indicted, pleaded guilty, and within ten
hours was on his way to the penitentiary
to serve a term of forty years. The un-
usual speed with which the case against
the burglar was prosecuted was partly due
to the fact that his victims had engaged
passage on a steamship which sailed for
Europe that afternoon. They appeared be-
fore the grand jury and later in court to
testify against the prisoner. II was within
thirty-five minutes Of the sailing time OF
their steamer when they left the court
room, but they rushed up town in an auto
mobile and got on board.
Talk about finding the proverbial needle
In a haystack! Here's a story told In the
Tribune by a New York Central official.
Not long ago a woman passenger on q fast
express just leaving the outskirts OF
Schenectady attempted to open a car
window, The window stuck for a moment
half way up, as car windows will, and then
crashed down on her fingers, knocking
from It's setting a diamond valued at $500.
The diamond went out of the window, of
course. Luckily, the unfortunate passenger
thought to pull out her watch and note the
time at which the accident happened. Then
she got busy with the telegraph line. At
the first station at which the train stopped
she t~elegraphed to the Grand Central sta
ton, giving particulars OF her loss and the
exact time at which Il occurred. with
visions of a damage suit ahead. some quick
witted official rushed an order TO Schenec-
tady, and a young engineer in the mainten-
ance of way department, accompanied by
a couple of section hands,, was sent hurry
Ing down the line on what he thought was
a crazy mans search; but six miles out Of
the Electrical City he found the diamond
in the track ballast.
One happens upon architectural freaks
here now and then" said a New York man
quoted by the Sun. which don't show for
what they are from the outside Of the build
ing. For instance, a friend of mine. in
hunting up a doctor who'd been recon-
mended to him, stumbled onto as complete
a three-story dwelling as you ever saw.
which was built into a large and fashion
able apartment house. 1t was nothing like
your duplex apartments or anything one
ever seen before. 1t was a single house in
corporated as part Of an apartment Inquiry
developed the fact that the doctor had
wanted a private house and had also
craved all the c%onveniences of first class
apartment house service. so when an ad-
dition to this desirable apartment was con-
templated the doctor and the architect got
together and the single room within the
large apartment building was the result.
The doctor gets his separate entrance on
the street, his private han and stairs lead
ing to the upper floors Of his house around
which is built the apartment house proper.
Not one person in a thousand would ever
notice anything a bit unusual about the
portion Of the building which constitutes
this separate residence and yet It's there
and fills the bill to perfection"
Customers Of a certain uptown florist
pause frequently before a roped off en-
closure and ask the price OF ported plants
blooming there. Always the florist replies
In the same words:
They are not for sale"
Uusually the customer passes on to other
flowers without skiing why, but now and
then one more curious than the rest seeks
enlightenment. To such the florist tells
an interesting little story.
They have been left to me in trust" he
says. I'm simply those flowers guardian.
They were formerly owned by a retired
physician who lived almost entirely alone.
These plants were his chief companions.
4 . 4
sequence, he became very much attached
to them. The thought of their being neg
lected after his death grieved him. so he
made a will designed to save them from
such a fate. He bequeathed the flowers to
me and invested a sum OF money the in
come from which will be sufficient to care
for them for many years"
That there will never be a great confla-
grafton in New York City is the first and
most important fact which fire Insurance
men say the trial OF the new auxiliary salt
water system has developed. For many
weary the DOGGY of insurance men and
others has been dread Of a great Gorilla
grafton, but after the saltwater test 1t was
claimed that the new system would be
able to set up a high pressure battery
against which no fire could live. Another
thing foreshadowed by the establishment
of the new pumping stations is the gradual
disappearance of the steam fire engine.
This viii be heard with great regret, for
where is there anything more picturesque
than a fire engine on its way to a fire
with horses at full gallop? Fires fought
without the aid Of fire engines will be de-
prived of the chief element Of romance and
interest. The disadvantages of the engine
are every day becoming more manifest. |
The delay in the fuel, the time lost in get
ting up steam and other delays all were
causes of the spread OF fires. The high
water pressure mains are fed by salt water
pumped directly from the river. Every
hydraLt has a pressure up to 800 pounds,
II desired. The tales often told Of poor
water pressure at fires will now be a thing
OF the past. it seems certain. The new
service protects the area between Chambers
and Twenty-third streets on both sides OF
the river known as the downtown district.
On the day when the cars were with
drawn from the Fulton street crosstown line
a merchant displayed a card in his window
bearing these words: Goodbye, New York
hOrgacars-we shall NOT miles vor - DsopIa |