Lights and Shadows of New York Life

J >> James D. McCabe >> Lights and Shadows of New York Life

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The cellar contains coal bins with a capacity of 500 tons. Close by are
eight Harrison boilers of fifty horse power each, used for operating the
steam engines and warming the building with steam. There are in all ten
steam engines located in this immense cellar. These are used for running
the elevators, for working seven steam pumps, for feeding the boilers,
and for forcing water up to the top floor, which is used as a laundry.
In a certain part of the cellar is located the electrical battery, by
means of which the gas jets in the building are lighted. Here are also
rooms for the storage of goods.

The basement is occupied by the Carpet-making and Parcel departments. It
is the largest room in the world, and is unbroken save by the light
pillars which support the floors above. The Carpet-making department is
interesting. The house deals largely in carpets, and one is surprised at
the smallness of the force employed down here. The carpets purchased are
cut, and the pieces matched as they lie on the floor by women. Then they
are placed on a wide table, forty feet long, and are sewn together by a
machine worked by steam. This machine moves along the edge of the table,
and the man operating it rides on it. His only care is to hold the parts
to be sewn perfectly even, and the machine sews a seam of forty feet in
from three to five minutes.

In the centre of the basement floor is a space about thirty feet square,
enclosed by counters. This is the Parcel department. All purchases to
be sent to the buyer pass through this department, and these make up
about ninety per cent. of the day's business. The purchases are sent
here by the salesmen with a ticket affixed to each, stating the quantity
and quality of the article bought, the amount paid, and the address of
the buyer. The goods are then remeasured, and if an error has been made
either in favor of or against the house, it is rectified. The goods are
then made up in secure parcels, each of which is plainly marked with the
address of the purchaser. These parcels are then turned over to the
drivers of the wagons used by the house for delivering purchases. The
drivers are furnished with bills for the amounts to be collected on the
parcels, and they are held to a rigid accountability for the delivery of
every parcel entrusted to them, and the collection of all moneys due on
them.

The ground floor is the principal salesroom. It is a simple, but elegant
apartment, and its chief ornaments are the goods for sale, which are
displayed in the most attractive and tasteful manner. The room is 300 by
200 feet in size. It contains 100 counters, with an aggregate length of
5000 feet. Behind these counters are low shelves on which the goods are
kept. In the centre is the immense rotunda, and at various points are
the little wooden pens enclosed with lattice work used by the cashiers.
Each article for sale has its separate department, and there are thirty
ushers on duty to direct purchasers where to find the articles they seek.
The display of goods is magnificent, and includes everything used for the
clothing of ladies and children, either in the piece or ready made.
There is also a department in which ladies and children may have all
their clothing of every description made to order.

The second floor is used for the sale of ready-made clothing, suits,
upholstery, etc., and the third floor is the carpet salesroom. The other
floors are closed to visitors, and are used as workshops, laundries, etc.

The convenience of having all these things, and in such great variety,
under one roof is very great, and saves purchasers many a weary walk
through the city. The immense capital employed by Mr. Stewart, and his
great facilities of all kinds, enable him to control the markets in which
he makes his purchases and to buy on terms which render it easy for him
to undersell all his competitors. The smaller houses complain bitterly
of this, and declare that he is ruining them. In spite of its immense
trade, "Stewart's" is not the most popular place in the city with
resident purchasers. The salesmen have the reputation of being rude and
often insolent. There can be no doubt that, were specific complaints
made, Mr. Stewart would administer the necessary punishment to the
offender without delay; but as the offences complained of are chiefly a
lack of civility, few care to complain.

The throng of visitors and purchasers is immense. They have been known
to reach the enormous number of 50,000 in a single day; but the average
is 15,000. Looking down from one of the upper floors, through the
rotunda, one can witness as busy and interesting a scene as New York
affords. All kinds of people come here, from the poor woman whose scanty
garb tells too plainly the story of her poverty, to the wife of the
millionaire whose purchases amount to a small fortune, and all classes
can be suited.

The sales of the house average about $60,000 per day, and have been known
to reach $87,000. The bulk of the purchases is made between noon and
five o'clock. The average daily sales of the principal articles are as
follows: Silks $15,000; dress goods, $6000; muslins, $3000; laces, $2000;
shawls, $2500; suits, $1000; calicoes, $1500; velvets, $2000; gloves,
$1000; furs, $1000; hosiery, $600; boys' clothing, $700; Yankee notions,
$600; embroideries, $1000; carpets, $5500.

[Picture: A. T. STEWART'S RETAIL STORE.]

As may be supposed, the business of this great house requires an army of
employes. The force consists of 1 general superintendent, 19
superintendents of departments, 9 cashiers, 25 book-keepers, 30 ushers,
55 porters, 200 cash boys, 900 seamstresses, working-women, laundresses,
etc., 320 salesmen and saleswomen, and 150 salesmen and others in the
carpet department, making a total of 1709 persons. There are other
persons employed about the establishment in various capacities, and
these, with the extra help often employed, make the aggregate frequently
as much as 2200 persons. The business of the house opens at seven A.M.,
and closes at seven P.M. All the employes have thirty minutes allowed
them for dinner. One half of all are alternately dismissed at six
o'clock each evening. All the employes, when leaving, must pass through
a private door on Ninth street. On each side of this door is a detective
of great experience, whose business it is to see that none of the
employes carry away with them any of the property of the house. The
discipline of the establishment is very rigid, and is enforced by a
system of fines and other penalties.

The general management of the house is entrusted to Mr. Tellur, the
General Superintendent, but Mr. Stewart gives it his personal supervision
as well. He comes to the store every morning at ten o'clock precisely,
and consults with Mr. Tellur about the business of the previous day, and
the wants of that just opening. He goes through the entire
establishment, and personally acquaints himself with the exact condition
of the business. He knows everything connected with the retail store,
and every detail of its management receives his constant supervision, and
is conducted in accordance with his instructions. He remains here about
an hour and a half in the morning, and returns at five o'clock in the
afternoon, and spends half an hour more. The rest of his working day is
passed at his lower store.

[Picture: LORD AND TAYLOR'S DRY GOODS STORE.]

Lord & Taylor rank next to Stewart, and are a more popular firm with
residents than the latter. They occupy a magnificent iron building at
the corner of Broadway and Twentieth street. It is one of the finest and
most picturesque edifices in the city, and is filled with a stock of
goods equal in costliness and superior in taste to anything that can be
bought at Stewart's. On "opening days," or days when the merchants set
out their finest goods for the inspection of the public, Lord & Taylor
generally carry off the palm, for the handsomest and most tasteful
display. The show windows of this house are among the sights of
Broadway.

Two blocks below, on the same side of Broadway, is a row of magnificent
white marble stores. The upper end, comprising about one-third of the
entire block, is occupied by Messrs. Arnold, Constable & Co., a popular
and wealthy house. They are noted for the taste and general excellence
of their goods.

James McCreery & Co., at the corner of Broadway and Eleventh street,
occupy a part of the ground floor of the magnificent edifice of the
Methodist Book Concern. They do not make as extensive a display as their
competitors, but are well known in the city for their rich and elegant
goods. The ball and wedding dresses imported and made by this house are
among the richest ever seen in New York.

XXIV. BLEECKER STREET.

Perhaps very few people out of the great city know Bleecker Street at
all; perhaps they have passed it a dozen times or more without noticing
it, or if they have marked it at all have regarded it only as a passably
good-looking street going to decay. But he who does not know Bleecker
street does not know New York. It is of all the localities of the
metropolis one of the best worth studying.

It was once the abode of wealth and fashion, as its fine old time
mansions testify. Then Broadway north of it was the very centre of the
aristocracy of the island, and Bond street was a primitive Fifth avenue.
Going west from the Bowery, nearly to Sixth avenue, you will find rows of
stately mansions on either hand, which speak eloquently of greatness
gone, and as eloquently of hard times present. They have a strange
aspect too, and one may read their story at a glance. Twenty-five years
ago they were homes of wealth and refinement. The most sumptuous
hospitality was dispensed here, and the stately drawing rooms often
welcomed brilliant assemblages. Now a profusion of signs announce that
hospitality is to be had at a stated price, and the old mansions are put
to the viler uses of third-rate boarding houses and restaurants.

In many respects Bleecker street is more characteristic of Paris than of
New York. It reminds one strongly of the Latin Quarter, and one
instinctively turns to look for the _Closerie des Lilas_. It is the
headquarters of Bohemianism, and Mrs. Grundy now shivers with holy horror
when she thinks it was once her home. The street has not entirely lost
its reputation. No one is prepared to say it is a vile neighborhood; no
one would care to class it with Houston, Mercer, Greene, or Water
streets; but people shake their heads, look mysterious, and sigh
ominously when you ask them about it. It is a suspicious neighborhood,
to say the least, and he who frequents it must be prepared for the gossip
and surmises of his friends. No one but its denizens, whose discretion
can be absolutely trusted, knows anything with certainty about its doings
or mode of life, but every one has his own opinion. Walk down it at
almost any hour of the day or night, and you will see many things that
are new to you. Strange characters meet you at every step; even the
shops have a Bohemian aspect, for trade is nowhere so much the victim of
chance as here. You see no breach of the public peace, no indecorous act
offends you; but the people you meet have a certain air of independence,
of scorn, of conventionality, a certain carelessness which mark them as
very different from the throng you have just left on Broadway. They
puzzle you, and set you to conjecturing who they are and what they are,
and you find yourself weaving a romance about nearly every man or woman
you meet.

That long-haired, queerly dressed young man, with a parcel under his arm,
who passed you just then, is an artist, and his home is in the attic of
that tall house from which you saw him pass out. It is a cheerless
place, indeed, and hardly the home for a devotee of the Muse; but the
artist is a philosopher, and he flatters himself that if the world has
not given him a share of its good things, it has at least freed him from
its restraints, and so long as he has the necessaries of life and a lot
of jolly good fellows to smoke and drink and chat with him in that lofty
dwelling place of his, he is content to take life as he finds it.

If you look up to the second floor, you may see a pretty, but not over
fresh looking young woman, gazing down into the street. She meets your
glance with composure, and with an expression which is a half invitation
to "come up." She is used to looking at men, and to having them look at
her, and she is not averse to their admiration. Her dress is a little
flashy, and the traces of rouge are rather too strong on her face, but it
is not a bad face. You may see her to-night at the --- Theatre, where
she is the favorite. Not much of an actress, really, but very clever at
winning over the dramatic critics of the great dailies who are but men,
and not proof against feminine arts. This is her home, and an honest
home, too. To be sure it would be better had she a mother or a brother,
or husband--some recognized protector, who could save her from the
"misfortune of living alone;" but this is Bleecker street, and she may
live here according to her own fancy, "and no questions asked."

On the floor above her dwells Betty Mulligan, a pretty little butterfly
well known to the lovers of the ballet as Mademoiselle Alexandrine. No
one pretends to know her history. She pays her room rent, has hosts of
friends, but beyond this no one knows anything. Surmises there are by
the score, and people wonder how mademoiselle can live so well on her
little salary; but no charges are made. People shrug their shoulders,
and hint that ballet girls have resources unknown to the uninitiated.
The rule here is that every one must look after himself, and it requires
such an effort to do this that there is no time left to watch a
neighbor's shortcomings.

In the same house is a fine-looking woman, not young, but not old. Her
"husband" has taken lodgings here for her, but he comes to see her only
at intervals, and he is not counted in the landlady's bill. Business
keeps him away, and he comes when he can. Bleecker street never asks
madame for her marriage certificate, nor does it seek to know why her
numerous friends are all gentlemen, or why they come only when the
"husband" is away.

Honest, hard-working men come here with their families. Their earnings
are regular, but small, and they prefer the life of this street to the
misery of the tenement house. Others there are who live in the street,
and occupy whole dwellings with their families, who stay here from force
of habit. They are "slow" people, dull of comprehension, and to them the
mysteries of their neighborhood are a sealed book. Yet all are regarded
as persons whose characters are "not proven," by the dwellers outside the
street.

Money is a power in Bleecker street. It will purchase anything. Much is
spent by those who do not dwell here, but come here to hide their
secrets. Women come here to meet other men besides their husbands, and
men bring women here who are not their wives. Bleecker street asks no
questions, but it has come to suspect the men and women who are seen in
it.

Indeed, so long as its tenants do not violate the written law of the land
to an extent sufficient to warrant the interference of the police, they
may do as they please. Thus it has come to pass that the various
personages who are a law unto themselves have gradually drifted into
Bleecker street, unless they can afford better quarters, and even then
the freedom of the locality has for them a fascination hard to be
resisted. No one loses caste here for any irregularity. You may dress
as you please, live as you please, do as you please in all things, and no
comments will be made. There is no "society" here to worry your life
with its claims and laws. You are a law unto yourself. Your acts are
exclusively your own business. No complaints will be made against you.
You are absolutely your own master or mistress here. Life here is based
on principles which differ from those which prevail in other parts of the
city.

Yet, as I have said, no one dare call the street "bad." Let us say it is
"irregular," "free," "above scandal," or "superior to criticism;" but let
us not venture to term it "bad," as its neighbors Greene and Mercer are
"bad." I cannot say it would be shocked by such a charge, for Bleecker
street is never shocked at anything. It would, no doubt, laugh in our
faces, and scornfully ask for our proofs of its badness, and proofs of
this sort are hard to bring to light in this thoroughfare.

XXV. CEMETERIES.

I. GREENWOOD.

The most beautiful cemetery of the city of New York, and the place where
its people most long to sleep when "life's fitful fever" is over, is
Greenwood. It is situated on Gowanus Heights, within the limits of the
City of Brooklyn, and covers an area of 413 acres of land. It is two and
a half miles distant from the South Ferry, and three from the Fulton
Ferry, with lines of street cars from both ferries. A portion of the
grounds is historic, for along the edge of the heights occurred the
hardest fighting in the battle of Long Island, in 1776.

The cemetery is beautifully laid out. The heights have been graded at
immense expense, and the grounds are provided with carriage roads built
of stone, covered with gravel, and with foot-paths of concrete. The
carriage drives are seventeen miles, and the foot-paths fifteen miles in
extent. The sewerage is perfect, and the greatest care is exercised in
keeping the grounds free from dirt and weeds. The cemetery was laid out
under the supervision of a corps of accomplished landscape gardeners, and
it abounds in the most exquisite scenery. From the higher portions the
bay and the cities which border it, with the blue ocean in the distance,
may all be seen. Everything that art could do to add to the attractions
of a naturally beautiful spot has been done, and the place has come to
be, next to the Central and Prospect Parks, one of the favorite resorts
of the people of New York and Brooklyn. The entrances are all adorned
with magnificent gateways of stone. The northern gateway is adorned with
sculptures representing the burial of the Saviour, and the raising of the
widow's son and of Lazarus. Above these are bas-relief figures,
representing Faith, Hope, Memory, and Love.

The cemetery was opened for burials about twenty-seven years ago. At the
close of the year 1870 the interments had reached 150,000. From fifteen
to twenty interments are made here every day. The deep-toned bell of the
great gateway is forever tolling its knell, and some mournful train is
forever wending its slow way under the beautiful trees. Yet the sunlight
falls brightly, the birds sing their sweetest over the new-made graves,
the wind sighs its dirge through the tall trees, and the "sad sea waves"
blend with it all their solemn undertone from afar.

The tombs and monuments to be seen at Greenwood are very beautiful. Some
of them are noted as works of art. Many of them have cost from $10,000
to $100,000. About 2000 of these tombs are scattered through the
grounds. In beauty of design and costliness they surpass any similar
collection in the New World, but in one respect they are like all others,
for they speak nothing but good of the dead. Indeed, were one to believe
their inscriptions, the conclusion would be inevitable that none but
saints are buried in Greenwood. All classes come here, but the cemetery
is characteristic of the living city beyond. Wealth governs everything
here as there.

II. CYPRESS HILLS.

North of the Brooklyn and Jamaica Turnpike, is an elevated ridge known as
the "backbone of Long Island," and on this ridge, partly in Kings and
partly in Queens counties, about five miles from the Catharine Street
Ferry, is the Cemetery of Cypress Hills. It comprises an area of 400
acres, one-half of which is still covered with the native forest trees.
The other portion is handsomely adorned with shrubbery, and laid off
tastefully. The entrance consists of a brick arch, surmounted by a
statue of Faith. It rests on two beautiful lodges occupied by the
gate-keeper and superintendent of the cemetery.

From the cemetery one may command an extensive view, embracing all the
surrounding country, the cities of Brooklyn, New York, Jersey City, and
Flushing, the Hudson as far as the Palisades, Long Island Sound, the
distant hills of Connecticut, and the Atlantic.

Since the opening of the grounds, in 1848, upwards of 85,000 interments
have been made here. Of these 4060 were officers and soldiers of the
United States army, who were killed or who died during the Civil War.
They are buried in a section set apart for them. The Sons of Temperance,
the Odd-Fellows, the Masons, and the Police Forces of New York and
Brooklyn have sections of their own here. When the old grave-yards of
New York and Brooklyn were broken up, about 35,000 bodies were removed
from them to these grounds.

III. WOODLAWN.

WOODLAWN CEMETERY lies in Westchester County, eight miles north of Harlem
Bridge, and along the line of the New York, Harlem and Albany Railway.
It is easily reached by means of this road. It was incorporated in 1863,
and laid out in 1865. It comprises about 325 acres, and is naturally one
of the most beautiful cemeteries used by the city. It is easier of
access than Greenwood, there being no ferry to cross, and the Harlem
Railway Company having instituted a system of funeral trains which convey
funeral corteges to the entrance to the grounds. This, together with its
natural beauty, is making it a favorite place of burial with the New
Yorkers. The grounds are being rapidly improved, and, it is believed,
will eventually rival Greenwood. Since its opening, in 1865, there have
been nearly 9000 interments in Woodlawn. Admiral Farragut was buried
here in 1871. The main avenue or boulevard from the Central Park to
White Plains will pass through these grounds, and afford a broad and
magnificent drive from the city to the cemetery.

IV. CALVARY, AND THE EVERGREENS.

CALVARY CEMETERY is the property of the Roman Catholic Church, and
contains only the graves of those who have died in that faith. It is
situated in the town of Newtown, Long Island, about four miles from New
York. It comprises about seventy-five acres, and was opened in August,
1848, since which time about 84,000 bodies have been buried in it.

The Cemetery of the Evergreens is situated about three miles and a half
to the eastward of Williamsburg. It lies on the western end of a range
of hills, and is one of the largest and most picturesque of all the
cemeteries of New York. It is being steadily improved, and is growing in
favor with the people of the great cities at its feet.

Another burial ground once used by the people of New York, but now
abandoned by them, is the New York Bay Cemetery, situated on the shore of
the bay in the State of New Jersey, about two and a half miles from the
Courtlandt Street Ferry. It comprises about fifty acres of ground, and
contains 50,000 graves.

No burials are now permitted on Manhattan Island, except in the Cemetery
of Trinity Church, which lies at the intersection of Tenth avenue and
One-hundred-and-fifty-fifth street. From Tenth avenue the grounds extend
to the river. The new public drive passes through the cemetery, and has
greatly injured it. The grounds comprise an area of thirty-six acres,
are beautifully laid off, and are shaded by fine trees. Among the
persons buried here are Philip Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, Bishops Wainright and Onderdonk, Madame Jumel, the last
wife of Aaron Burr, Audubon, and John Jacob Astor. President Monroe was
buried here, but his remains were removed to Richmond, Virginia, in 1859.

XXVI. THE CLUBS.

With respect to the number and attractiveness of its clubs, New York bids
fair to rival London. They embrace associations for almost every
purpose, and are more or less successful according to their means and the
object in view. Those for social enjoyment and intercourse are the most
popular, and the best known. They are composed principally of men of
fashion and wealth, and occupy some of the most elegant mansions in the
city.

The best known are the Century, No. 109 East Fifteenth street; Manhattan,
corner of Fifth avenue and Fifteenth street; Union League, corner of
Madison avenue and Twenty-sixth street; Union, corner of Twenty-first
street and Fifth avenue; Travellers', No. 222 Fifth avenue; Eclectic,
corner of Twenty-sixth street and Fifth avenue; City, No. 31 East
Seventeenth street; Harmonie, Forty-second street, west of Fifth avenue;
Allemania, No. 18 East Sixteenth street; American Jockey Club, corner of
Madison avenue and Twenty-seventh street; and New York Yacht Club,
club-house on Staten Island.