El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-02-24
BROADWAY To
HAVE 4 FIVE
MILE SHAVE
False Fronts to Come Off,
at a Cost of Many Millions
of Dollars.
THIEVES ARE THICK;
LEPERS ON STREETS

New York. Feb. 24-Broadway is
soon to undergo the greatest cleaning
up it has ever experienced and visitors
to town after the job is completed
will find in the place of the famous
thOrOughfare as they know it. one of
almost puritanicaI appearance The
cleaning up is not to be Of a moral
character, however, but architectural
From the battery TO tirty- ninth
street a distance OF five miles. on
both sides of the Great White Way,
every obstruction which projects be-
yOnd the building line is TO be shaved
off, carted away and thrown on the
dump.
Just how much this five mile shave
will cost Is still unknown, but 1t IS
certain to run far into the millions
and to be the cOstliest shave New York
has ever had
Hundreds OF store, office and manu-
featuring buildings will probably SUI
fer in the five mile slice that is TO be
drawn along the edges OF the street
taking off pOrches, stOOps, signs, pill
lars. sidewalk stands, cases for dis
PLAYING goods and perhaps even parts
Of buildings.
The howl of protest that is expected
when the pruning process begins will
avail little The false front that
BROADWAY has been wearing until it
has become almost real must come
off. since the board Of estimate after
a long consideration, has now so ruled
in its struggle to relieve the ever
growing pedestrian congestion that
threatens eventually TO make New
FORKS most crowded streets literally
impossible
New York IS rapidly becoming the
burglars mecca and as a result. bur
glary insurance rates are soaring Re-
cent daring daylight rObberies by a
gang making use OF an automobile
have served to focus public attention
and 70 bring about a realization Of the
fact that Jesse James and his methods
would be considered amateurfsh here
That this condition has existed here
for some time. however. and is not
a sporadic outbreak IS evidenced by the
fact that because Of the succe ssTul
activities OF burglars here last year.
the companies writing burglary insur-
anCe have found Ii necessary to raise
their rates In some cases the Increase
amounts to so per cent All but two OF
the companies have now refused 10 in
sure horses and wagons because OF
the startling record OF thefts Of such
the streets OF New York last year
Slick Work OF the Thieves
The gang OF feather and fur thieves
which has caused so many heavy losses
Is still at large Trey are very clever.
Their only tools seem 70 be an iron
bar. a rope and an umbrella They
break into floor above a fur or
feather establishment. prospect for an
opening and then make a hole through
the ceiling They insert the umbrella
carefully, open il after IL is through
and then safeguard noise from falling
plaster by gathering it in the umbrella
until the opening is wide enough to
admit a man They have even gone
through ceilings protected by wires BY
carefully pushing the wires to one side
They use the umbrella afterward as an
elevator for the furs or feather Al
together Father knickerbOcker seems
to be IN need OF a committee OF vigil
lants.
Sugar Trust Not Afraid.
As the greatest consumer OF sugar in
which the greater part Of the huge for
etgn tmpOrtatiOns Of this product are
received, New York is watching with
interest the DEVELOPMENTS in cOnnec-
ton with this industry, including the
course OF the government suit against
the trust and the threatened reduction
OF the tariff on the raw product The
trust shreWdly estimates that a reduc-
ton Of the tariff. which would wipe
out or seriously cripple the sugar pro-
ducing industry OF the United States
total annual consumption, would bring
grist to its mill because il would mean
the bringing in of that much more
foreign sugar for the trust to collect
toll on through the process OF refining.
Lepers in New York Streets
That lepers walk abroad In the
streets OF New York Is the surprising
disclosure Just made here as a result
of the death from this disease OF a
West Indian negress at the little
known lepers' colony on BlaCkWells.
According to the statements OF physi-
clans who have looked into the matter,
there are prominent men IN this cOun-
try known 10 a few physicians who
have been suffering from leprosy IN
mild form for years without any mem
Der Of their families or business &C
quaintances being aware Of the fact
or suffering from it. One physician
who has observed so cases of leprosy
here in q single year. states that the
fear Of the disease is a greater danger
to the community that the disease it.
self. It nevertheless comes as a shock
TO the general public TO realize that
New York has a leper settlement even
though IL is conducted along the most
most modern lines. The lepers on
BlackwelIs island have their own dor
mitory, their own kitchen. bathroom
and living room and ar ewalted on by
an attendant They are all allowed to
communicate in a measure with the
other patients out OF doors They go
to church on Sundays and on the whole
they have an excellent time for people
that are afflicted with a supposedly
incurable disease.