Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-02-14
SIGHTS OF new YORK.
Ben Bear Writes Impressions of Great
American Metropolis.
PALZER THE COMING CHAMPION.
What New Workers Think of Winnie
shiek County Boy. Develop
ment of Great City.
New York, N. Y, Feb. 10, 1917

New York, n Y, Feb. 10, 1912.
Dear Editor
Contrary to my usual custom of
coming directly to the New York
market to do my buying, / stopped
off at Cleveland, Ohio, for few days,
to visit our daughter, Mrs. Heller
and our young grandson, and found
them all in the best of health. l had
occasion to look about Cleveland, and
it surely is one of the finest cities
in the west, with beautiful avenues
and drives, and the general appear
ance of the city is one of business
activity. Mr.. Hulet, the general SUI
perintendent of the White Auto Co.,
who married Miss Protheroe of our
city, showed me about the White fac
tory, and i am free to admit, l have
never seen a factory like it in my
life, and l don't believe there is an
other like it in the country. 1t is
simply wonderful place, occupying
no less than IL acres space, and the
busiest place l have ever been in.
They have hundreds of automatic
machines which virtually do their
own work, without any human at
tention, and Mr.. Hulet tells me that
the auto industry for the past 10
years has taxed their output to the
limit. Seeing the great usage of
autos in all big cities, and in the
country for that matter, leads me to
believe that Mr.. Hulet's statement is
absolutely correct.
| arrived in this city by way of
the Pennsylvania, crossing the Hud-
son river by tunnel, and found the
progress OF the past continuing more
so than ever. What first amused me
on entering the station as a novelty
was the doing away with the regular
railroad men announcers of incoming
and outgoing trains, and in their
stead, horns all around the building,
uniformly calling out the arrival and
departure of trains. My curiosity
was aroused as to how this was done,
and l was informed that one man at
the station house calls into a phone
arrangement, and his voice is trans
mitted by electricity over these wires
and into photograph horn, where
the voice comes out just as clear and
loud as If the man was calling. This
is another Edison invention. 1t only
illustrates one of the many new &C
complishments of this century.
While the most of my time is oc-
cupied in business, every spare mo-
ment that l find, try to use in look
IL up new developments, and mat
tiers of interest in this city. l was
told that l could see a beautiful
electric display at the new Fifth
avenue cathedral, where the former
Archbishop Farley of the Roman
Catholic church, has been made car
d1nal. On his return from Rome he
was greeted, in addition to many
other displays of welcome, with this
electric illumination. The whole ca
thedral, which is one block square,
is Illuminated by the outline of the
big church from the top of two
steeples, to the very bottom, making
most impressive sight. Many honors
were bestowed upon the cardinal,
and | am told he is highly recognized
by all other religious denominations.
In this connection ! might say.
that the cathedral of st. Johns on
Morningside Heights, a most beauti-
fCl location, which has been in the
course of erection for nearly Is
years, is nearing completion and
when completely finished will be the
NEST handsome and one of the larg-
est in the world. The interior is by
no means completed, but from what
! could see of the part that is finish
ed, the splendor and magnificence of
the interior will be unsurpassed.
There are many beautiful tapestries
OF rare cOlorings throughout the
church, and combined with the dark
cak effects and white marble, causes
an inspiring impression.
Coming down on the east side of
New York | found the streets con-
slGerably torn up with the building
OF the new subways. There has been
considerable strife between the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit GO. and the
lnterborough in getting the contract
for the building and running of the
subways, and the former company
has been given the contract This
las caused delay in the progress of
building and an investigation is be-
Ing made as to the cause of the delay.
SO you can see these large corpora
lions giving public service are held
TO accounting the same as indiyid-
uals. l find however that getting
about New York is easy and is done
very rapidly, and at a reasonable
price.
The life, excitement and hustle on
Broadway Is greater than ever, and
the restaurants increasing in num-
Der; all seem to be doing a land
office business, and | want to say
right here that they are not espe-
cially modest in their charges. To
make things more interesting and
lively for patrons, some of the lead
ing restaurants have added what is
known as the French caboret. which
consists of singing and dancing in
the French and Russian styles, and
those engaged for these acts are all
imported from Europe, and represent
some of the best talent on the other
side. AT Louis Martins on 42nd and
Broadway, the Hub of New York
the dancers receive salaries equal TO
many of the regular theatrical per-
formers. This somewhat accounts
for the high prices of food at these
restaurants. These caborets begin
when the theatrical performances at
the theatres end, which is about |
ll:OO O'Clock, p. IN. and continue
until about 200 a. m. A good deal
of the late rag time music is being