davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1921-05-26

Green Bay--The hoard of supervisors
acted favorably on the resolution ap-
propriating $1,000, which will be di-
yided between the public Libraries of
Green Bay and De Pere. In return
for this fund, rural dwellers Will be
placed in the same class as citizens Of
Green Bay and De Pere and will be
permitted to borrow books without be-
ing charged yearly for the card priv
ilege.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30

edge enters into the psychology of railroad
management.
Speaking of shopping, it was not very
discreet thing, so far as ones own town was
concerned, TO ido much shopping in New
York Buying out of ones own little village
was not au tGit at al. 1t made one unpopu-
,ar among the local tradesmen. who had
their own little ways of squaring the ac-
count Moreover, they kept close eye upon
travellers, and If Brown came home with an
armload from Brother Stewards store down
where THE New YORK HERALD is published
now the whole town knew II and commented
unfavorably upon it.
Am / rambling too much? If so stop
me, but l am chatting about the topic OF
old time local train service just things
fit into my mind. Committing. as / think
have said, dates back to the earliest days
of railroading, when the old horse cars were
running in and out of New York. Even In
the early sixties, when steam engines We're
dragging trains down to Thirtieth street.
horse cars were used to haul the passengers
from there to Chambers street.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30

country needs people who are competent for
that service. They ought to be as well
trained for public service as for banking or
railroading.'
Simple common sense, of course, but re-
member that Stewards words of long ago
made deep impression upon me. A great
deal of our trouble has come through the
inefficient government of poorly trained men
or through the laundering of men not trained
at all but boosted into Office by political
machines. But 1 must not be too discursive.
We talking about committing.
Few women travelled on the committing
trains then, and Friend Husband did the
shopping. 1t is perfectly easy to see where
the ancient jest of the overburdened, stag
gering commuter sprang from, because A
have lively recollections of Smith or Jones
or Brown executing the orders of his better
half and conveying home from New York
mules load of odds and ends. Travel was
not so agreeable for women folk, you see,
1t is now. and they had not then much
the habit of travel-for | have found that
travel is something of a habit. That knowl-
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
5a@cWA7oe5 Have Azw4ZS AAzv ZeOVMsJw~x

They were funny old trains, now that one
looks back upon them over the sweep Of
half century or more, for there is vast
difference between the committing OF to-day
and committing when / was young man
Just starting a career. They used old
wooden cars then. Many of the trains were
made up of such cars, with seats along the
sides, though the Harlem Railroad had cars
with cross seats. The sealing capacity then
was from fifty to sixty persons.
Heat for the coaches was supplied by two
wood burning stoves, one at each end of the
car I have a very clear recollection of the
times when brakemen, too lazy TO build
fire in the wood burners. set red lantern
inside the stoves to fool the passengers into
believing they We're getting heat. We are
used TO different comforts nowadays, but 1
certainly would like to see some of the
present day grumblers riding in the coaches
they used back in the sixties, when even
the little old engines were fired with wood.
THE first lights used on the Harlem road"
Senator Depew resumed, were sperm oil
lights. Some of the other roads used can
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
I/D TIE SHOD0/NC

trains furnished a clearing house of town OF
village gossip, but as rule the talk was on
more important things and was of very
high order
What has become of good conversation?
Has 1t gone to that mysterious bourne which
has swallowed up the art of letter writing?
Then men talked or read books. One
seldom saw newspaper in the communication
trains of more than half century ago
where now there is a paper hiding every
face.
, II spoke of Mr.. Stewart moment ago"
Mr.. Depew continued "He is the Oldest
man living that I can recall as fellow
passenger. Back in those days he COM
muted from somewhere near Yonkers,
think, and I remember very clearly what
keen and competent mind he had when he
interested himself in our discussions. His
conversation was always shrewd on political
and financial conditions. I was not much
more than boy when he said to me on the
train one day:
You have talent for public life. That
is excellent. Train yourself for it. The
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
NCEY NJ DEPEW, OLDEST COMMUTER, PROVES 1T

dies. The kerosene lamp period came next.
and this was considered TO be big improve
ment. Pintsch gas lights were brought ints
use about 1889 believe, and were hailed as
a wonderful boon to travel The change
from these to electricity began about fifteen
years ago and was gradual
THE first steam locomotives used for local
traffic were the so-called 'Forney' engines.
These old timers were double enders, made
to run forward or backward. They were of
standard gauge construction, but so light
that a COW could butt them off the track,
and sometimes did The change In coaches
was a gradual development from the small
wooden ones with open platforms to sixty
foot cars and then to the multiple unit cars
which seat eighty-two persons and cost
SfS. .000 At the present time the coaches
used for local travel south of Croton on the
Hudson are multiple unit and the rest are
standard coaches hauled by electric motors.
all steel
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Bright Yellow and Light Green
CoIorS Used on Sister Roads

I'm the earlY days distinguishing feature
of committing was the variety of colors
marking the various divisions of the rail
roads. In the early eighties the Harlem road
used light green cars and the Hudson River
Railroad was known by its bright yellow
coaches. The earliest Communication zone
was about what 1t is to-day, stretching
far north as Pawling and Poughkeepse, but
it was a very different looking zone sixty
years ago than it is now. There were then
wide stretches of field and forest where
there now solidly built up communities
''The first committing was on a limited
scale, for there Were comparatively few
persons-not more than 1000 5000, ]
should say-who travelled regularly up and
down the river. am only guessing at the
number, but 1t surely could not have ex-
ceeded it much. The growth in committing
has been steady, but it's biggest development
according to the figures of the New York
Central Railroad, has been in the last decade,
Committing. may add has never been
source of profit to the roads, bat it is val
uable>to them because of associated inter
ests. when communities are built up
traffic in freight necessarily arises There
fore> railroads have always encouraged com
muting and have given service at eXtraordi-
narily cheap rates. The rate to-day, for ex
ample, is six mills mile on the average,
while the regular rate is 3.6 cents mile
"The first Communication tickets were sold
on an annual basis and very much like
an annual pass. There was no punching by
the conductor then. The holder did not
have to Identify himself by attaching a
photograph to the ticket Later such
tickets were sold on a semi-annual basis,
then on a quarterly basis and finally the
monthly arrangement was adopted Specu
ators, by the way. have always been trouble
some to the communication railroads. and
can recall the annoyance caused by these
sharks up to half a century ago, it seems
to me. Naturally, as traffic increased they
ncseased in numbers and boldness and 1t is
because their illegitimate activities have Sc
riously cut into receipts from Communication
that the New York Central has been forced
to make such strict regulations concerning
its Communication tickets.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Fast Local Trains of To-day
Contrasted With Early Ones

The fast local trains of to-day are vastly
different from the local trains / used even
thirty years ago Those who rode regularly
in those days recall that the trains then
stopped at -Fifty-ninth. Seventy second
Eighty-slxth and 10th streets. and that one
could take New York Central trains TO ga
TO the ball games. Frequent stops have been
eliminated. and the fact that 243 New York
Central trains are in and out OF the terminal
every weekday shows the volume of com.
mutation travel
"Tn addition to these trains it must be-
remembered that there are 161 trains i'm and
out over the tracks of the New York New
Haven and Hartford These figures do not
incfIide specials or extra sections Of regular
trains.
Passenger travel I'm and out of the Grand
Central Terminal shows a marked Increase
being nearly 800 per cent greater than Il
was thirty years ago. About 30,0 900 com
muters lise the New York Central and the
New Haven trains every day. and the Ne'-
York Central alone. including the West
shore road, handles $4,000 commuters daily
Senator Depew stopped here
That's about all can think of, believe"
he said.
81 can see" replied why you have
never kept a diary" ~
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Gigantic Outlays Necessary
To Meet Demands of Commuters

The gigantic proportions which cDmmu-
tation travel has assumed and the outlay Il
has compelled the New York Central Rail
road to make is we'll illustrated by the i'm
provement of the roads passenger terminal
facilities at the Grand Central Station. The
introduction of electric power over a zone
extending over thirty miles out Of New York
city involved the complete reconstruction
of the terminal yards well the buil6-
ing of a great station with the track levels
excavated out of solid stone.s
Incident to the Improvement, which was
begun in 1904 hundreds of thousands of
dollars had to be spent upon substantial but
temporary construction; new tracks, new
signals and many other details had to be
provided for temporary use only to be
ripped out again as the work progressed to
a permanent basis Whole areas OF switches
and tracks i'm service were lowered over
night. The whole train shed was taken down
over the heads of passengers and new build
ings were erected over moving trains.
Street travel was maintained over all
construction possible. and gas, water and
sewer pipes we've changed without Interrupt
ton to service. More than 5000, 900 cubic
yards Of earth were excavated, requiring
the exploding of more than 1000 900 pounds
of dynamite More than 125,000 tons of steel
were erected and more than $4,000 cubic
yards of concrete We're put in.
During all this time travel passed through
the terminal without noticeable delay and
without the curtailment of schedule or acci-
dent 10 n passenger. although more than
150, 100000 passengers used the station while
construction progressed. With the terminal
completed and electrificaton installed the
smoke and dirt that annoyed old time com
muters became thing of the past. The
yards were cleaned up, the overhead bridges
in Park avenue from Borty- sixth to Fifty
sixth street were removed the avenue was
remodelled into one of the finest streets I'm
NV York and the whole committing situation
was improved thousand per cent. We are
very proud of what was done in changing
the terminal, and 1t has made the lot of our
brand Of commuter a much happier one.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Days of Brilliant Conversation
Instead of Mere Gard Playing

"As ] think of the old days when used
20 climb aboard the old wooden kerosene
oil lighted cars of the Hudson River Railroad
The circumstance that sticks in my mind is
the good talks we used to have--the really
brilliant and valuable conversation that
enlivened these trips up and down the river
bank. never saw cards played then.
There were no auction or poker parties kill
ing time in the club or regular cars for trip
Of an hour to two hours such as are so
familiar now. Cards were nowhere 80 popu-
lar-as they are now. / think an old fash
ioned religious prejudice against them still
existed and interdieted their use except I'm
rather ultra modern, exceptionally gay cir
cles. The men who travelled daily in those
days of sixty years ago loved the sound OF
their own voices and took n good deal of
pride In their general knowledge and cul-
ture.
IL remember our set of commuters from
PeekslSill used to gather habitually around a
very brilliant awyer-long since dcad--and
follow his lead in running conversation
that lasted all the way down or up the Hud-
son, and in which we settled most Of the
problems OF the universe The discussions
were sometimes quite violent, although I-do
not recall anybody ever issuing n challenge
TO a duel
Politics. religion. literature were the
three great topics. When Charles Dickens
published new book 1t created as much stir
over here back In those days as the world
series in baseball does now That's hard to
believe. perhaps. but / assure you that such
was the trend and bent of mems minds then
when | was youth
Local happenings took up a good part of
the train conversation of that time. for the
twice day meetings ON the commutation
The New York herald., 1921-10-30

A few blocks above the New YORK stood
the ST. Denis, at one time a very popular
hotel, famous for it's good eats" and
few blocks below was the Southern Hotel.
later called the Grand Central and still later
land at the present writing) named the
Broadway Central. The last named house in
it's early days was called rival of the New
York Hotel II was built in the early 7Os
by the late L. s. Higgins the carpet manu-
facturer, who wanted and was willing TO
pay for "the most palatial hotel In America"
In 1892 the house was bought by Tilly
Haines, popular hotel man from Boston,
who gave 1t the name It now bears. On the
stairway leading from the Office to the sec
ond floor is the spot where Edward $. Stokes
shot Jim Fisk
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
By EDWIN c. HILL.

IN row that my friend John A. Stewart
Nj has retired from the human race
called committing" said Chauncey
NJ Depew referring to the ninety nine year
old banker who is still. however, in active
business life. II figure that / am entitled Ia
the distinction of being the Oldest com
muter."
The man who has made more people laugh
than any other person now alive did not
'riook sufficiently burdened with years TO
claim any distinction based upon extreme
age, for, as he stood in front of the fireplace
in the drawing room of his home at 27 West
Fifty-fourth street legs planted well apart,
shoulders square, hands clasped behind his
back, he did not look within fifteen years of
the lightweight he must acknowledge.
We were chatting over range of topics
Senator Depew being one of the most enter
tanning conversationalists l have ever
known, and the topic of committing and COM
niuters bobbed up out of some casual talk
on railroadng. His eye cleaned reflec-
lively
Now, there's another life experience L
should have kept a diary on" he ruminated
Funny thing, but i never have had the
diary habit. / should have kept such daily
chronicles upon at least three activities
politics, railroading and social life. You will
indulge me If j say that / have had some
most picturesque and entertaining expert
ences in all three fields"
"The record, such as it is, all too incom-
/plete as it is, speaks for ITSELF" interjected
well, perhaps so.' said the Senator-it
is title that clngs to him somehow
Maybe after all, was wise not to scratch
down my everyday experiences. We are
..t&f 10 fxAHx T. 1tar.v
down a mass of trivial and nconsequential
experiences which may mean much to us at
the time of their occurrence, but which
count for nothing after decade or less.
think one is apt to lose perspective in keep
ing diary.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Site Interesting TheatricsIIy
As Marking Famous Old Theatre

The site of this hotel is historically inter
esting. The rear Of the building on Mercer
street covers the ground on which stood
Tripler Hall, later known as Burton's Lon
don Theatre, Here Edwin Booth played
Hamlet" for 100 consecutive performances.
then the longest run of any theatrical pro-
duction before New York audience.
There are still living old men who regret
the demolition of the st. Nicholas Hotel
which stood at Broadway and Spring street.
The cornerstone of this imposing white
marble building was laid September "a, 1861.
ID. Henry Haight built the hotel and named
it after the st. Nicholas Society, of which
he was an enthusiastic member and the
society looked upon the place as a second
home. For thirty three years IL gave the law
to hotel customs. and every year saw many
banquets and other social events OF great
interest taking place there
Uriah Welsh called "the prince of boni-
faces" opened the cornerstone box when the
building was pulled down in 1884. lie found
therein speeches of men of the ST Nicholas
Society and n copy OF THE NEW York HER
AID, dated the day the stone was laid in
place. From the st. Nicholas Hotel grad
uated many of the more prominent hotel
men of a later day. among them Samuel
Hawk and Gardiner Wetherbee. who opened
the Windsor Hotel on Fifth avenue
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Great Vogue of the Metropolitan
In Centre of Dry Goods District

The Metropolitan Hotel was a brown
stone structure which stood at Broadway
and Prince street. 1t was the property of
A. T. Stewart and being situated in the
centre of the wholesale dry goods district, II
was largely patronized by merchants visiting
New York. This house was run from the
beginning on the European plan, and from
1870 TO 1880 its dining room had the dis
tincton OF being the largest i'm New York
Henry Clair conducted II during its heyday
of prosperity. In the Metropolitan was i'm
cluded Niblo's Garden, where our grand
fathers-poor. simple souls! were pleasantly
shocked by THE Black Crook" and Lydia
Thompson's Blondes.'
Henry Clair was likewise the proprietor
for time OF the New York Hotel, an inn
posing (for the tlme) red brick building on
Broadway, extending from Washington place
to Waverley place, with fancifully wrought
grilles on iron, balconies on each of the four
stories. This was the favorite inn of the
Southerners who used TO come In droves to
summer I'm New York before the war As
the lovely daughters OF the South were in
the habit of coming out on the balconies 10
breathe the evening air. the New York and
its vicinity became a promenade for male
New York.
Later Henry Cranston, whose name is
often heard i'm "reminiscences of hotel New
York., ran this famous hotel and in
fact under his management II touched its
zenith. He is the same Henry Cranston
who built the West Point Hotel, Cranston's,
on tho bluf at Highland Falls on the Hud-
son. This famous hotel has been converted
into a convent
The New York herald., 1921-10-30

n TEW YORK and Paris have not much
Nj In common, but they do resemble
each other in the cold blooded way
they wreck famous old hotels and erect on
their sites new buildings that better serve
modern needs and purposes. The hotels that
figure in books of travel when to make the
grand tour was the proper way to finish off
young mans education, and those which
are the scenes of famous novels written in
the Sos OF the last century, Paris knows no
longer. They have been succeeded by the
Elysee Palace the Metropoe and a score of
other modern oaravansaries While one
writes one would not be surprised to hear
that the Grand Hotel, the famous hostelry
near the Grand Opera House, had been RACED
Unsentimentally have New York's ancient
hotels been treated. Let but the flood OF
fashion ebb about their vicinity and down
go the old houses, leaving mot rack be-
hind not regret and recollections only
IN the minds of a few old boys
Stevens House Lasted Long.
Bur Old Age Was Pirabie
The Stevens House, at Broadway and Nor
ris street. lasted long time hut to pitiful
CID age, without dignity or romance,
French's OF Park Row occupying the site
of what is now the Pulitzer Building. knew
better than to lag superfiuous. Three or
four other houses which are important I'm
theannals of down town are, like these two
forgotten as II they had never BEEN One
hotel In this district had "soul" enough TO
have impressed itself on everybody who
came to New York. This was the Astor
House, at Broadway, Vesey and Barclay
streets. Part OF the old structure still
stands
Frenchs Hotel stood for forty years and
enjoyed prosperous career owing to pat
ronage drawn from the New England States,
upper New York and the Middle States. 1t
was strictly a commercial hotel run on the
American plan, which was the general plan
The New York herald., 1921-10-30
Never Kept Diary of Letters
And Finds Memory Serves


pleasant voice of his, II made it my business
TO read up on a number of important diaries
Take John Morleys. After reading Morley's
| was glad i had kept none myself, for In
writing his autobiography he simply dumped
into 1t the masses of his diary. and this made
several volumes of very tiresome reading.
No. 1t may interest you. Hill, to know that
have never kept any sort of record of any
Of my experiences in a pretty active life.
II never let letters accumulate and / re-
tain no other memoranda except numerous
published speeches full of anecdotes and
personal experiences. In preparing my auto
biography which after several months
pretty steady work I have just finished at
a length of 100000 words was myself sur
prised at the fruitfulness and clearness of
my recollection of men and events.
checked up wherever possible, but in almost
every instance / found that my original
recollection was reasonably accurate and
faithful"
It's pity always to divert Senator Depew
as he runs easily along the smooth highway
of his fluent conversation. but I wanted
very much to hear something about the rail-
road committing of the old days, the subur-
ban travel of sixty years ago. Therefore
asked him to turn the lantern of his mind
hack into the nineteenth century, and pretty
far back and tell me what he discerned
He laughed.
well, let's see he began. ITS hard to
begin. I have been running back and forth
between New York and Peekskil or some
other point up the Hudson for sixty years
easily. I became attorney for the road in
1866. That was fifty-five years ago, and for
four or five years previous to that, I'm politics,
I was commuter in good standing-had to
nay my way. too, which is more than they
made me do when I became one of their
counsel Say sixty years covers my comT
muting experience.
Possibly you didn't know committing was
that ancient? As a matter of fact commut-
ing and the running of trains began at the
same time. 7 have in my office-it is one
of the curiosities of the office--a commu-
tation ticket that was made out on Nav /.
1s56-sixty-five years ago--to one T. c. Van
Hoesen, and this ticket No 70, cost the gen.
tleman s112.50, enabling him to travel be-
tween New York and Sing Sing (evidently
he was not a boarder in one of our we'll
known institutions up that way) for whole
year.
"Pretty cheap when you come to think
: about IT, though Mr.. Van Hoesen and fellow
travellers didn't get as much for their money
rs commuters get nowadays. Those tickets
were big cabinet photographs. and
although they were supposed to he used only
by the person whose name was signed there
upon they were passed through the family
and even used by outsiders.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30

tunda-the place where the best luncheon
New York has ever known was served--the
ground floor was rented in stores In its
early days the Astor was patronized by So
ciety. and historical balls and other func-
tions were held there. 1t was the temporary
home of all the famous people from all over
the world who visited New York. In 1850
Jenny Lind was a guest there, and 1t was
back to this famous hotel that she drove
after her great triumph the night of her
debut i'm America at Castle Garden.
The New York herald., 1921-10-30

IN row that my friend John A. Stewart
has retired from the human race
called committing" said Chauncey