The Washington herald., 1917-01-04
Seen and Heard
n, GEORGE MINER.

New York, Jan. 3.-The lack OF
civic pride was never shown more
hagrantly than in the condition Of the
streets in New York City today. For
fifty years they have been continuous
ly in a more or less disgraceful state,
but their present torn-up condition
surpasses anything that the citizens
of Manhattan ever had to put up with
before. Many of them are almost i'm
passable, both on the driveways and
sidewalks.
OF course the new subways are
blamed for it all, but as the subways
are nearing completion the streets get
worse instead of better. 1t seems to
be all over town, too, and not in any
one particular location. OF course the
main thoroughfares are in the worst
state of all. Broadway for three miles
is dangerous street to be on.
No other city in the world would
stand this imposition, but New York
ers will stand anything. They growl
a little and do nothing to remedy the
evil. That it can be remedied there is
no doubt. That it is entirely unnec.
essary to keep street torn up for
two years to build subway has been
proved both in London and Paris
Nothing of the kind happened in
either of those cities when the sub
ways were put down. The public was
hardly inconvenienced at all In Lon.
don there are fourteen subways cir.
cling in every direction. While they
were in the process of construction
the surface of the streets was hardly
disturbed. In New York they are
building two subways and everything
is ripped to pieces.
The crowning outrage from this
condition of the streets occurred this
week. At Broadway and Thirty-sixth
street is a handsome new fourteen
story building. In it Henry Siegel
one-time merchant king, opened the
Women's Emporium a few months
ago. If any one can make a dry
goods store a success Henry Seigel
can, but he couldn't this time.
The store has had to close In the
windows are signs which state that
it had been necessary to shut up the
store on account of the condition oi
the street and the sidewalk. They
were so impossible that customers
were barred out It's true, too. For
two months the store has been iso-
lated behind trenches.
Isn't that the limit,
It's too bad that Henry Seigel
didn't get a good show, too, so that
he might redeem himself from the
big crash two years ago when he went
down with Seigel & Cooper on &C
count of the private banking business
they were doing and not on account
of their dry goods trade.
Henry Slater, big hat manufac-
turer here in New York says that
leather Is so scarce now that It is
next to impossible to get even the
cheapest grade. to use for sweat,
bands in hats. Many of the fac
tories are being forced to use imita,
ton leather for this purpose. Also he
informs me that there is great ac-
tivity among inventors in trying tc
get up a satisfactory leather substi,
tute and several companies are form
ing to promote this industry.
1t is all due to the lack of merchant
vessels caused by the war. Down or
the docks in Brazil they tell me there
is more than a million dollars worth
of leather in the shape of hides rot,
ting away for lack of bottoms tc
carry them. 1t is feared that these
hides will be total loss. 1t is not
that there is any real lack of leather
in the world. 1t is the lack of means
To oct II here