The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-19

dcnt--Ase Ioas Years.
 New York. Jan, 1e--The opening or <he f3rzt tunnel under the East River laef week, the latest advance in New Xork's transportation problem Wnlcn marks the inauguration of subaqueous travel. comes curiously enough az sns end of two and one-half centuries which have marked the growth of local z fra nsft from its earliest beginnings lust 250 years ago Manhattan attain $ cd fte first paved street, known then as Dehoogh street but now as stone. That was in 1857 and the successiV stages of advance which have culminat- ed in the opening of the East River Flannel form an interesting reVieW. After the coming of the first paved street in 1857 no advance Of note was made until 1897 the year which mark cd the first lighting of streets at nignt by means of lanterns. In l7oS the ilrst ferryboat---a sail boat--began opera tions between New York and staten xsland. More than half a century later that is in 1872, came the first steam ferry boat between this city and New Jersey. Twenty years later In lsSz came the first horse car line not only in New York but in the world, which ran through part of the Bowery. Tn 16sg came the first steam railroad, rum ming from Brooklyn to Jamaica, in Long Island The year 1851 saw the opening of the first elevated line. single track affair for which the motive power was fssrnfshed by cable. It operated be- tween the Battery and Thirtieth street then an outlying suburb. In 1883 came the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and three years later the first cable car line. The first electric trolley lines tr n 1&42. while the subway was opened in 1884. The latest advance is the opening of the first tunnel under the East River in 1908 or 250 years after the city saw it's first paved street To advance from pavements to under-river tunnels has taken Father Knickerbocker near ly the whole period of American his tory
 The fact, long since forgotten, that New York was once known as the Towns of Mannados. is an interesting discovery recently brought to light through a copy of an extremely ancient and valuable map. now in the posses sion of the Old Guard of the City Of New York, itself the oldest military orwanization composed entirely ot veterans in the city, and one rich in historic memories and honors. While the metropolis today is variousiy re- forred to as New York, Manhattan and Gotham, and was formerly known as New Amsterdam, it is safe to assert that not one person in ten thousand ever knew ef it's still more ancient ap- uellafion--Mannados. The map through which this new old name was brought to light is entitled "A Description or che Towne of Mannados of New Am- sfefdam as 1t was in the year 1664." and was discovered during the ccmpiia- 1F faI VaI lat ttnQ n early history for a local historical society. It was named by its dis- caverer the Dukes Plan" The origi- nal is in the British Museum, but the copy is in the possession of the Old Guard has been certified as to it's cor rectness in every detail, and forms an Interesting relic of New York as 1t was 250 years ago with its forgotten name of Mannados. Many historical relics of great value. belonging to the Old Guard were destroyed when it's armory was burned in 1893. Others which were saved however still form valu- able and interesting collection in keep fng with the name of the most famous and houored military organization or the city whose annual ball held every January, together with the yearly parade on the anniversary of the date on which the English evacuated New York, form t6e two greatest events of the year in local military circles.
 Society will soon have to discover something new in the way of jewels if diamonds continue to be the drug on the market which the panic has made them. As things go at present, the demands for diamonds is almost at a standstiIl and as for prices, about all that is necessary to obtain stone is 10 name your own prices. Nobody wants to buy diamonds and the se- riousness of the situation in this regard which has already brought about the failure of several large diamond houses simply because trade was dead is in- sfanced by the fact that the importa- tions of these gems for 1901 was nearly 312,OO0, 900 less than in 1906 when pros- parity was so much in evidence. Dia- monds which cannot be sold are just 50 much unproductive capital, fact sgriktngIy illustrated by the inability of the firm in whose possession it is to dispose of the world famous Hope blue diamond valued at $250,000. A se- Kious phase of this stagnation is found in the pawn shops. In New York more than anywhere else in the country peo- pie of small means have acquired the habit of purchasing diamonds with their savings instead of banking them, on the theory which heretofore has al- ways held good. that the stones would