The Port Gibson reveille., 1909-09-16
FROM THE DANA (IND. NEWS
SA~N~@~O~@~@~@~S~S~Wse~t

My Dear John: l am writing ac-
cording to promise from the great,
the wonderful city of New York.
have been asked if did not wish
to live here: / said "yes," but It
seemed almost crime to add one
more to the population. There it is,
such a world of people crowded into
so limited a space. You step out OF
doors and you are in crowd at
once. The great wonder is that or
der is maintained. But order is
kept, and very good order. Every
one seems too occupied with his own
affairs to care for or pay attention
to his neighbor. 1t is like a colony
of bees: and such comb as these
human bees have built up here. Cell
piled on cell until it seems as II
some of it at least must topple over.
will not attempt to give figures
or describe any one building in par
ticular,. but the general impression
is one of awe. The sight of these
great buildings and the insane crowd
ing of people is somewhat distress
ing to a sober minded person. There
is something abnormal, unhealthy in
such a CITY. New York attending TO
business. New York at work is very
serious. very much in earnest. Every.
thing is done like a matter of life
and death, and l suspicion this is
really so and that the great major
ity of those dong business in New
York are doing II perilously near to
the precipice of bankruptcy. / was
walking along Fifth avenue with the
proprietor of large hotel and spoke
of this. He said it was so. TO
do business, he said, Gin New York,
one must have plenty of backbone
and plenty back of the backbone" So
no wonder they work SO seriously.
When quitting time comes it is
like when you throw brick into
hornets nest. The people pour
out, swarm out and thicken the al
ready eongested streets and stream
off in all directions. One cannot fol-
low them home, but we can imagine
them boiling a quick meal, when the
eternal unrest SEXES them again and
OF they go to Coney Island and where
not for amusement. They call 1t
amusement, recreation; but think it
is merely a little sugar to make more
palatabIe the bitter pill of business.
1t is a wonderful sight to see 100000
people at play. Coney Island is the
playground. It is such a playground
as no sane fellow would even dream
Of.
If you were set, down in Luna Park
fexcuse me, Lunatic Park you would
find it hard to believe that you were
in the United States and among
sane community. | stood and watched
grown men and women (sane wom-
en) sit down an a slippery curved in
cline and slide heller skelter, with
great swiftness, and land at the foot
in great disorder as to their clothes,
especially the women. Thousands
stood about and watched the childish
performance and were. content to pay
for the privilege. They must pay
for. everything; nickels, dimes and
quarters are drained away until GER
tainly a very great many go home
bankrupt.
one is struck at once with the
yastness of the problem of transpor-
tation here. No sooner is one new
means of transportation completed,
when behold, it is already oyercrowd-
cd Car after car is added to a
train. then a new means must be IN
vented. The trains overhead, the ele-
waited roads, are run with eight and
fen cars. Below, the surface roads
are full. below that, the subway is
Transporting its full share. There are
the bridges; no sooner is one COM
pleted than another must be hurried
forward. Yesterday the new tunnel
was opened for traffic under the
Hudson River and one can hardly
note the difference in the crowds
That use the ferryboats. l would
have gone through this great tube
,nder the Hudson on the opening
day, only the boy preferred the boat,
and with such good arguments in
favor of the open air that sided with
him and took the now obsolete ferry.
yhe New York Central Railroad but
Yesterday spent vast sums in adding
10 its terminal station at Forty-sec-
end street. Today all must be torn
down to give place to a huge struc-
ture costing many millions. How
they manage to pay dividends with
all this great expenditure is mys-
terry.
New York is dry; not as to drink,
hut rain. It has been weeks since
1t rained, and the grass of the parks
IS burned and brown in places. Tear
ing down and building up is the rule
here. No part of the city is alto
gether tidy and presentable for this
reason. When New York will be a
fixture and its people have the time
To stop and look at what they have
done. no one knows. ! hope for their
aakes it will be soon. They seem
Co need a rest. Yours very truly,
JNO. E. LAUER-
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WHERE MEN ARE WooEp.