The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-06-21

! lions made, but suffice 1t 10 say II
twas shown that in some parts OF New
| York $50 people are squeezed within
an acre, and that gives each one less
than ten feet Of moving and breathing
room. These figures. which / guess are
| pretty accurate. explain some other
| figures recently published that In this
| big town .on an average thirty-siS bath
| tubs are used by $500 tenement fami-
! lies. or course, many members OF
| these families never get into the tubs.
| Another melancholy fact to which
my friend called my attention is that
4 in New York, relative to population,
| fewer people own homes than in any
| city In tho world. / guess he knew
what he was talking about, for he was
loaded with figures. He produced
them, and they show that there dwell
on the island OF Manhattan very near
IL 100000 families, and but a fraction
| over 5000 OF them hold titles to the
| premises they occupy. Or, to reduce
the matter to palmer figures, ninety
| four out of every hundred families are
rent payers. and thuslit may be readily
seen that the population Of the great
American metropolis shifts annually
| in moro Kaleidoscope fashion than
any people on tho earth. those of Rich
4
| or course. it follows that the other six
| families out of the hundred are big
| rent collectors. The Aston family, for
! instance. own n multitude OF buildings,
| and It Is said their tenants number
greater than the entire population OF
| Hartford. the biggest city in Con-
Eecticut.
I Viewed From Aloft.
| I looked over this vast city; this
mass OF bricks. mortar and humanity.
from the cupola Of the New York
Times building, Forty-second Street
and again the question arose. Where
are they going to house any more
people? The answer IS simple enough;
| simple in words. but II involves EiSan-
| tic undertakings.
However. what may seem to people
outside of New York as gigantic efforts
! do not disturb the hustlcrs who do bus.
illness on Manhattan Island. Here blocks
LOT costly residences are torn down IN
a day and night to make room for
! sky-scrapers. for big Office buildings
big stores. warehouses, great railway
| depots, etc, and ut seems to me the
| time is not more than generation
away when all of Manhattan Will be
devoted to business. Will contain moth
| ing but business houses. and people
i ~
My friend of many figures Is ready
with the digIts to prove this to my sat
kisfaction. but it will take up too much
! space to reproduce them; what am
| figuring on Is an answer to the ques-
ton. Where are the people who carry
on this business going to live?
The Jersey shore Is near by. and
| there was a time when 1t was thought
| that a.. Gotham would find homes In
4 Z 1,<t,.
of dollars have been expended in try
ing to make the mosquito-infested
swamps on the south side OF the Hudson
inhabitable. and the millions were
thrown away. The mosquitoes and tho
| fevers stu wear the belt over in Jer-
sey.
Long Islands Inviting Prospect.
Long Island Is the land that is to
solve the problem The fnanclers who
are at the head of tho electric railway
lines, the steam lines, the big bridges
| the ferry boats and all the other meth.
DDS OF rapid transit have seen this
and millions upon millions of money
are being, expended to meet tho situa.
| ton.
Long Island. by reason Of It's posi-
| tlon. separated only by tho East Rive,
from the great business and anuse.
ment centres OF Manhattan and the
congested tenement and factory dis.
! tricts of the East Side, must increase
in population and land values at ar
accelerated speed With each year
Fortunately for real estate investor:
of to-day. the development OF Queen.
by what was long considered an al,
I most impossible barrler-tho Eas
i River: and the result is that the LAND
Immediately adjacent to railroad sta,
4 lions was neglected. as Long Islant
was inaccessible for the daily toilel
and was exploited principally by tn.
wealthy, who preferred the more dis
tant acreage. Were they~could enjo,
4 tho eXclusiveness they desired.
] Thus. with stations surrounded b!
: wealthy estates and vast tracts lying
vacant along the railroad. ideal con
J dltions were created for lot develop
) ments that only awaited that othc
great factor In land values. rapid tran
sit, to make quick fortunes for shrew'
, investors.
, Go in any direction by railroad line
from New York. and the reverse gen
orally will be found to he true. 4own
have been built up near the stations
: and the man of small means to-da,
! must go into q cheap section or locat
at a moro distant point from the rail
, road, with the probable expense OF a,
!. extra trolley carfare each way.
What Itnpid Trnnsit Has Done.
} To-day Long Islapd has rapid trans!
: by reason of tunnels, bridges and cleo
> trio systems. But the development O
\ its rapid transit systems Is only |,
It's infancy. Tunnels have become al
ordinary feat In engineering. and be
cause Of the great area that Ions
! Island offers In such close proximit,
to Manhattan business, shopping
! amusement and hotel centres, tunnel
and bridges will be multiplied, SO tina
) Instead of thilry-two railroad track
in operation, or soon to be put in ope
ration connecting Manhattan and Ionf
Island. 1t will not be long before Their
arc twice tllirty-two tracks.
: New traffic centres are being created
J that offer opportunities for the maj
with small capital to make investment
to-day that will ba read Of In Iutur
years Will, the same interest that &C
counts of the foundation OF the Asto
Is fortunes command,
Long Island City, with tremendou
factory and fiat development, that vii
j soon be aulckened into an activity ~"