Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-03
THE CHATTING DISH
Chestnut Street From Our Fire Escape


lust outside our office window is a fire.
y escape with little iron balcony. On
warm days, when tho tall windows are
wide open, that rather slender platform Is
our favorite vantage ground for watching
Chestnut street. We have often thought
how pleasant it would he to have pallet
spread out there, so that we could write
the Chatting Dish in that reclining posture
that is so inspiring.
But we can tell good deal of what is
going on along Chestnut street without
leaving our desk. Chestnut street sings
music of its own. Its genial human SYM
phony could never be mistaken for that of
any other highway The various strands
of sound that compose its harmony grad.
ually sink into our mind without our pay
ing conscious heed to them For instance
there is the light sliding swish of the troll
ley poles along the wire, accompanied by
the deep rocking rumble of the car. and
the crash as it pounds over the cross.
tracks at Sixth street. There is the clear
mellow clsng of the trolley gongs, the
musical trill of fast wagon wheels
running along the trolley rails. and the
rattle of hoofs on the cobbled strip between
tne HeldlS. easy " lueHtilS
is the sound every citizen knows, the rasp-
ing sliding clatter of wagon turning off
the car track so that a trolley can pass it.
The front wheels have left the track but
the back pair are scraping along against
the setts before mounting over the rim.
livery street has its own distinctive
- noises and the attentive ear accus
toms itself to them until they become al.
most part of the days enjoyment. The
deep-toned bell of Independence Hall
bronzing the hours is part of our harmony
here. and no less familiar is the vigorous
tap-tap of Blind AIS stick. Al is the
wellinown newsdeaer at the corner Of
he passes along under our windows, and
the tinkle of his staff is a well known and
pleasant note in our ears. We like to
imagine, too. that we can recognize the
peculiarly soft and easy-going rumble of
a wagon of watermelons.
DUT what we started to talk about was
- the balcony, from which we can get
a long view of Chestnut street all the way
from Broad street almost TO the river 1t
is pleasant prospect. There is something
very individual about Chestnut street. It
could not possibly be in New York
The solid, placid dignity of most Of the
buildings, the absence Of skyscrapers
the plain stone fronts with the arched
windows of the sixties, all these bespeak
city where it is still little bit bad form
for a building to he too garishly new. I
Ia h,,t 40 -,
New York any such criss-cross of wires
above the streets. Along Chestnut street
they run at will from roof to roof over
the way.
GAZING from our little balcony the eye
~ travels down along the uneven profile
Of the northern flank of Chestnut street.
From the Wanamaker wireless past the
pale, graceful minaret of the Federal Re-
serve Bank, the skyline drops down to
the Federal Building which, standing back
from the street, leaves a gap in the view.
Then the slant of roofs draws the eye up
ward again, over the cluster of little conf.
cal spires on Green's Hotel (like French
Chateaul to the sharp ridges and heavy
pyramid roof of the Merchants Union
IL uSl 'plllpdHS' lHlS, Will It's lWo dtten-
dant banks on either side Is undoubtedly
the most extraordinary architectural Gu
riosity Chestnut street can boast. The
| facade with its appalling quirks and twists
of stone and iron grillwork, it's scuptured
| Huns and Medusa faces, is something to
contemplate with alarm.
A FTER reaching Seventh street. Chest
| "A nut becomes less adventurous Per.
| haps awed by the simple and stately beauty
of Independence Hall and it's neghbors
| it restraints itself from any further origi-
| nality until Fourth street, where the or
| nate Gothic of the Provident claims the
| eye. From our balcony we can see only
| part of Independence Hall. but we look
down on the faded elms along the pave
ment in front and the long line Of iron
posts beloved of small boys for leapfrog
| Then the eye leaps up to the tall and
| graceful staff above the Drexel Building
where the flag ripples cleanly against the
| blue. And our view is bounded, far away
to the east, by the massive tower Of the
Victor factory in Camden.
TT is great fun to watch Chestnut stree,
from the little balcony. On hot DAYS
when the white sunlight fills the stree
with a dazzle of brightness and bands OF
dark shadow, it is amusing to see how
all pedestrians keep to the shady southern
pavements. When driving shower come.
up and the slants and rods of rain lasf
against the dingy brownstone fronts, on,
may look out and see passers by huddlec
under the awnings and the mounted po
licemen's horses sleek as satin in the wet
The pavement under our balcony is no
table for its slipperiness: 1t has beer
Clipped into ribs by stonemasons to max,