Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-04-21
SIGHTS OF new YORK.
GREAT AMERICAN METROPOLIS
DESCRIBED BY c. f. OLSON.
DecOrahian Writes Letter About
Many Things of Worldwide
Interest That Will be En-
jOyed by Our Readers.
New York, April IA, 1909.

Dear SlT. 1DdDkS TO your SHOrJS
in my behalf | am now entered as
student in the instruction room of
the Mergenthaler Linotype Co.,
Brooklyn, n. Y. Perhaps a few lines
devoted TO my school work, and the
things | have seen and noted during
my stay in New York wouldn't come
in amiss, and might interest some
of Public Opinion readers. Any
how, | shall make the attempt.
| had merely to present your let
ter at the main office of the COM
pany in the Tribune building and it
was only few minutes before / was
given the credentials that admitted
me as a student in the factory. AS
you probably know the factory is
located on Park avenue and Ryerson
street, Brooklyn, and occupies about
a city block The instruction room
is on the third floor of the old build
ing and is in charge of Mr.. l.. l..
Kennedy, man who certainly
knows the Tins and outs" of the
linotype. The equipment consists
of 16 machines, all models being
represented. Five of the machines
are used by the students for study
of mechanism, etc., and this part of
the work is what l am most interest
ed in. Two students generally work
together throughout the whole
course. My partner is Mr.. Ma
hon, of Waupton, N. d. / thought
| held the western distance record,
but he has me beaten several hun
dred miles. Yes, there are students
here from all over the United States
Florida, Kansas, Maine, Indiana.
Massachusetts, and a number of
other states are represented, .and the
best part of it is everyone seems
to take great interest in their stud
les on the mysteries" of the limo
type.
A person could write and write
about the wonders of New York City,
and always find something new and
interesting. The greatest city in this
country, if not the world, has been
constant wonder to me. Every
Undertaking is on such a gigantic
scale. The rushing of the trains in
the subway, on the elevated, and
the great system of surface cars,
and the manner in which they are
kept running on schedule time
appears to me as very extraordin-
airy feat. Several improvements
have been made lately in the subway
service. The "Interborough" have
put on cars with side door exits, not
of their own accord, but because the
patrons demanded it. The women
Of New York have also for some
time been asking for a car for
women only to be attached to the
and Of tho
ing rush hours. A few weeks ago
the McAdoo people determined to
try the scheme and now the weaker
sex are privileged to fight for the
possession of seat among them
selves.
The McAdoo extension which Mr..
Bear mentioned in one of his letters,
is practically assured. Not only
that, but other subway lines are
going to build within the next few
years, which when completed will
make this city's underground travel
system well-nigh perfect.
During my leisure time ! have
visited many places of interest and
Wall street was the very first place
of the many. ! saw the banking
houses of j. p. Morgan, Carnegie,
Paul Morton, the sub-treasury and
the eXchange-from the outside
Also paused a moment before the
statue of George Washington, which
has been placed on the spot where
the father of his country took
the oath of Office as the first presi-
dent of the United States. Trinity
church, too, came under my down
town observation, as did the "Cathe-
dral," which is uptown on Fifth ave-
nue. and 50th street.
One Sunday afternoon in Febru-
airy, a friend and | paid our re-
spects to Barthold's Statue of Lib
erty. First we took a stroll in Bat
terry Park and visited the Aquarium,
then we took the boat to Bedloe's
Island. We arrived late and missed
the elevator service. l wanted to
go TO the top of the statue, so il was
a case of climb or nothing. The stat
ue itself is made of hammered
plates of copper, is ISL feet in
height and stands upon a pedestal
155 feet high. However, we went
TO the top and it seemed a long way
up the Zig-Zag and spiral stairs,
but we made it and / shall never
forget oGr CLIMB
March 18th / discovered Ireland.
Talk about Irish celebrations! Well,
New York City seemed all Irish on
that day. In no other city in the
world, not even in Ireland, they say,
is st. Patrick's day observed as it
is here. Wherever you looked you
saw green flags, shamrocks, etc.
Everything was beautiful verdant
green. The feature of the day was
the Irish parade, in which over co.
600 were in line. / saw this parade
as it passed the Plaza Hotel, and it
was a treat. / was especially i'm
pressed with the appearance of the
was the "hit" of the parade.
New York's Great White Way"
is a study in itself, especially in the
afternoon and after the theatre per-
formances in the evening. The ex-
tremes to which people go in the
matter of dress, is, of course, por-
trayed on Broadway. There is ap-
parently no limit to the amount of
money one can spend here-no
limit to the amount they will
take. What a contrast this section
presents when compared to the Rus
sian and italian quarters. ! have