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THE PERSONALITY OF AMERICAN CITIES
THE PERSONALITY OF AMERICAN CITIES
BY EDWARD HUNGERFORD Author of " The Modern Railroad ," " Gertrude ," etc. WITH FRONTISPIECE BY E. HORTER NEW YORK McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 1913 Copyright, 1913, by McBride, Nast & Co. Published November, 1913 TO MY LITTLE DAUGHTER ADRIENNE....
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PREFACE
PREFACE
This book has been in preparation for nearly four years. In that time the author has been in each of the cities that he has set forth to describe herein. With the exception of Charleston, New Orleans and the three cities of the North Pacific, he has been in each city two or three or even four or five times. The task that he has essayed—placing in a single chapter even something of the flavor and personality of a typical American town—has not been an easy one, but he hopes that he has given it a
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THE PERSONALITY OF AMERICAN CITIES 1 OUR ANCIENT HUB
THE PERSONALITY OF AMERICAN CITIES 1 OUR ANCIENT HUB
There are more things forbidden in Boston than in Berlin—and that is saying much. You may be a citizen of a republic, but when you come to the old Bay State town you suddenly realize that you are being ruled. At each park entrance is posted a code of rules and regulations that would take a quarter of an hour to read and digest; in the elevated and trolley cars, in public institutions and churches, even in shops and hotels, the canons laid down for your conduct are sharp in detail and unvarying i
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I
I
Before the dawn, metropolitan New York is astir. As a matter of far more accurate fact she never sleeps. You may call her the City of the Sleepless Eye and hit right upon the mark. For at any time of the lonely hours of the night she is still a busy place. Elevated and subway trains and surface cars, although shortened and reduced in number, are upon their ways and are remarkably well filled. Regiments of men are engaged in getting out the morning papers—in a dozen different languages of the son
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II
II
New York is the City of the Towers. Sometimes a well-traveled soul will arise in the majesty of contemplation and say that in the American metropolis he sees the shadowy ghost of some foreign one. Along Madison square, where the cabbies still stand in a long, gently-curving, expectant line he will draw his breath through his teeth, point with his walking stick through the tracery of spring-blossoming foliage at Diana on her tower-perch and whisper reverently: "It is Paris—Paris once again." And
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III
III
Thirty minutes before the big bell of Trinity spire booms out noon-tide New York's busiest grub-time begins. A few early-breakfasting clerks and office-boys begin to find their way toward the shrines of the coffee-urns and the heaped-up piles of sandwiches. Of course, in New York breakfast is an almost endless affair—generally a fearfully hurried one. But lunch is far more serious. Lunch is almost an institution. Fifteen minutes after it is fairly begun it is gaining rapid headway. Thin trails o
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IV
IV
You had planned at first to walk up Broadway. You wanted to see once again the church-yards around Trinity and St. Paul's, perhaps make a side excursion down toward Fraunces' Tavern—just now come back into its own again. Some of the old landmarks that are still hidden around downtown New York seemed to appeal to you. But your host at luncheon laughed at you. "If you want to spend your time that way, all right," he said, "but the only really old things you will find in New York are the faces of t
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V
V
Dinner is New York's real function of the day. And dinner in New York means five million hungry stomachs demanding to be filled. The New York dinner is as cosmopolitan as the folk who dwell on the narrow island of Manhattan and the two other islands that press closely to it. The restaurant and hotel dinners are as cosmopolitan as the others. Of course, for the sake of brevity, if for no other reason, you must eliminate the home dinners—and read "home" as quickly into the cold and heavy great hou
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VI
VI
After the dinner and the hat-boy—the theater. You suggest the theater to Katherine. She is enthusiastic. You pick the theater. It is close at hand and you quickly find your way to it. A gentleman, whose politeness is of a variety, somewhat frappé , awaits you in the box-office. A line of hopeful mortals is shuffling toward him, to disperse with hope left behind. But this anticipates. You inquire of the man in the box-office for two seats—two particularly good seats. You remember going to the the
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VII
VII
It has all quite dazed you. You turn toward Katherine as you ride home with her in the taxicab—space forbids a description of the horrors and the indignities of the taxicab trust. "Is it like this—every night?" you feebly ask. "Every night of the year," she replies. "And typical New Yorkers like it." That puts a brand-new thought into your mind. "What is a typical New Yorker?" you demand. "We are all typical New Yorkers," she laughs. It is a foolish answer—of course. But the strange part of the
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3 ACROSS THE EAST RIVER
3 ACROSS THE EAST RIVER
Physically only the East river separates Brooklyn from Manhattan island. The island of Manhattan was and still is to many folk the city of New York. Across that narrow wale of the East river—one of the busiest water-highways in all the world—men have thrust several great bridges and tunnels. Politically Brooklyn and Manhattan are one. They are the most important boroughs of that which has for the past fifteen years been known as Greater New York. But in almost every other way Manhattan and Brook
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4 WILLIAM PENN'S TOWN
4 WILLIAM PENN'S TOWN
To approach Philadelphia in a humble spirit of absolute appreciation, you must come to her by one of the historic pikes that spread from her like cart-wheel spokes from their hub. You will find one of those old roads easily enough, for they radiate from her in every direction. And when you have found your pike you will discover that it is a fine road, even in these days when there is a "good-roads movement" abroad in the land. You can traverse it into town as best suits your fancy—and your purse
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5 THE MONUMENTAL CITY
5 THE MONUMENTAL CITY
If you approach Philadelphia by dusty highway, it is quite as appropriate that you come to Baltimore by water highway. A multitude of them run out from her brisk and busy harbor and not all of them find their way to the sea. In fact one of the most fascinating of all of them leads to Philadelphia—an ancient canal dug when the railroad was being born and in all these years a busy and a useful water-carrier. If you are a tourist and time is not a spurring object, take the little steamer which runs
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6 THE AMERICAN MECCA
6 THE AMERICAN MECCA
Just as all the roads of old Italy led to Rome so do all the roads of this broad republic lead to Washington—its seat of government. At every season of the year travelers are bound to it. It is in the spring-time, however, that this travel begins to assume the proportions of the hegira. It is a patriotic trek—essentially. And the slogan "Every true American should see Washington at least once" has been changed by shrewd railroad agents and hotel-keepers to "Every true American should see Washing
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7 THE CITY OF THE SEVEN HILLS
7 THE CITY OF THE SEVEN HILLS
You can compare Richmond with Rome if you will, with an allusion upon the side to her seven hills; but, if you have even a remote desire for originality, you will not. Rather compare the old southern capital with a bit of rare lace or a stout bit of mahogany. Of the two we would prefer the mahogany, for Richmond is substantial, rather than diaphanous. And like some of the fine old tables in the dining-rooms of her great houses she has taken some hard knocks and in the long run come out of them r
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8 WHERE ROMANCE AND COURTESY DO NOT FORGET
8 WHERE ROMANCE AND COURTESY DO NOT FORGET
"You are not going to write your book and leave out Charleston?" said the Man who Makes Magazines. We hesitated at acknowledging the truth. In some way or other Charleston had escaped us upon our travels. The Magazine Maker read our answer before we could gain strength to make it. "Well, you can't afford to miss that town," he said conclusively. "It's great stuff." "Great stuff?" we ventured. "If you are looking into the personality of American cities you must include Charleston. She has more pe
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9 ROCHESTER—AND HER NEIGHBORS
9 ROCHESTER—AND HER NEIGHBORS
The three great cities of western New York—Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo—are like jewels to the famous railroad along which they are strung, and effectively they serve to offset the great metropolitan district at the east end of the state. They have many things in common and yet they are not in the least alike. Their growth has been due to virtually a common cause; the development of transportation facilities across New York state; and yet their personality is as varied as that of three sisters;
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10 STEEL'S GREAT CAPITAL
10 STEEL'S GREAT CAPITAL
A man, traveling across the land for the very first time, slips into a strange town—after dark. It is his first time in the strange town, of course. Otherwise it would not be strange. He finds his hotel with little difficulty, for a taxicab takes him to it. He immediately discovers that it is not more than two squares from the very station at which he has arrived. Still a friendly taxicab in a strange town is not an institution at which to scoff, and the man who is very tired is glad to get into
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11 THE SIXTH CITY
11 THE SIXTH CITY
They call her the Sixth City, but that is only in a comparative sense, and exclusively in regard to her statistical position in the population ranks of the large cities of our land. For no real citizen of Cleveland will ever admit that his community is less than first, in all of the things that make for the advance of a strong and healthy American town. His might better be called "the City of Boundless Enthusiasm." Your Cleveland man, however, is content to know it as the Sixth City. "Not that i
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12 CHICAGO—AND THE CHICAGOANS
12 CHICAGO—AND THE CHICAGOANS
Early in the morning the city by the lake is astir. Before the first long scouting rays of earliest sunlight are thrusting themselves over the barren reaches of Michigan—state and lake—Chicago is in action. The nervous little suburban trains are reaching into her heart from South, from North and from West. The long trains of elevated cars are slipping along their alley-routes, skirting behind long rows of the dirty colorless houses of the most monotonous city on earth, threading themselves aroun
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13 THE TWIN CITIES
13 THE TWIN CITIES
A fine yellow train takes you from Chicago to St. Paul and Minneapolis, in the passing of a single night. And if you ever meet in the course of your travel the typical globe-trotter who is inclined to carp at American railroads, refer him to these yellow trains that run from Chicago up into the Northwest. There are no finer steam caravans in all the entire world. And when the globe-trotter comes back at you with his telling final shot about the abominable open sleepers of America—and you in your
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14 THE GATEWAY OF THE SOUTHWEST
14 THE GATEWAY OF THE SOUTHWEST
There are three great cities, or rather three groups of great cities, along the course of the Mississippi. To the north are St. Paul and Minneapolis, while far to the south is New Orleans, to which we will come in the due order of things. Between these St. Louis stands, close to the business center of the land. For nearly twenty miles she sprawls herself along the west bank of the Mississippi. Throughout her central portion she extends for a dozen miles straight back from her once busy levee. Sh
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15 THE OLD FRENCH LADY OF THE RIVERBANK
15 THE OLD FRENCH LADY OF THE RIVERBANK
At the bend of the river she stands—this drowsy old French lady of the long ago. They have called her the Crescent City. But the Mississippi makes more than a single turn around the wide-spreading town. And the results are most puzzling, even to those steadyminded folk who assert that they are direction-wise. In New Orleans, east seems west and north seems south. It must almost be that the Father of Rivers reverses all the laws of Mother Nature and runs his course up-stream. New Orleans is upon
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16 THE CITY OF THE LITTLE SQUARES
16 THE CITY OF THE LITTLE SQUARES
In after years, you will like to think of it as the City of the Little Squares. After all the other memories of San Antonio are gone—the narrow streets twisting and turning their tortuous ways through the very heart of the old town, the missions strung out along the Concepcion road like faded and broken bits of bric-a-brac, the brave and militant show of arsenal and fort—then shall the fragrance of those open plazas long remain. The Military Plaza, with its great bulk of a City Hall facing it, t
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17 THE AMERICAN PARIS
17 THE AMERICAN PARIS
A great bronze arch spans Seventeenth street and bids you welcome to Denver. For the capital of Colorado seems only second to the Federal capital as a mecca for American tourists. She has advertised her charms, her climate, her super-marvelous scenery cleverly and generously. The response must be all that she could possibly wish. All summer and late into the autumn her long stone station is crowded with travelers—she is the focal point of those who come to Colorado and who find it the ideal summ
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18 TWO RIVALS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC—AND A THIRD
18 TWO RIVALS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC—AND A THIRD
"When you get to Portland you will see New England transplanted. You will see the most American town on the continent, bar only Philadelphia." The man on the train shrieking westward down through the marvelous valley of the Columbia spoke like an oracle. He had a little group of oddly contorted valises that bespoke him as a traveling salesman, and hence a person of some discrimination and judgment. He was ready to talk politics, war to the death on railroads, musical comedy and the condition of
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19 SAN FRANCISCO—THE NEWEST PHŒNIX
19 SAN FRANCISCO—THE NEWEST PHŒNIX
We came upon it in the still of an early Sunday evening—the wonderful city of Saint Francis. Throughout that cloudless Sabbath we had journeyed southward through California. At dawn the porter of the sleeping car had informed us that we were in the Golden State, not to be distinguished in its northern reaches from Oregon. Men were talking of the wonders of the Klamath country into which the civilizing rails of steel are being steadily pushed, the breath of tomorrow was upon the lips of every one
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20 BELFAST IN AMERICA
20 BELFAST IN AMERICA
Concerning Toronto it may be said that she combines in a somewhat unusual fashion British conservatism and American enterprise. Her neat streets are lined with solid and substantial buildings such as delight the heart of the true Briton wherever he may find them; and yet she has among these "the tallest skyscraper of the British Empire," although the sixteen stories of its altitude would be laughed to scorn by many a second-class American city. Still, many a first-class American city could hardl
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21 WHERE FRENCH AND ENGLISH MEET
21 WHERE FRENCH AND ENGLISH MEET
Our hotel faces a little open square and in the springtime of the year, when the trees are barely budding, we can still see the sober gray-stone houses on the far side of the square, each with its brightly colored green blinds. At one is the "Dentiste," at another the "Avocat," a third has descended to a pension with its "Chamber d'Louer." There are shiny brass signs on the front of each of these three old houses, and every morning at seven-thirty o'clock three trim little French Canadian maids
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22 THE CITY THAT NEVER GROWS YOUNG
22 THE CITY THAT NEVER GROWS YOUNG
He stands, hat in hand, facing the city that honors his memory so greatly. To Samuel de la Champlain Quebec has not merely given the glory of what seems to us to be one of the handsomest monuments in America, but here and there in her quiet streets she brings back to the stranger within her walls recollections of the doughty Frenchman who braved an unknown sea to find a site for the city, which for more than three hundred years has stood as guardian to the north portal of America. Other adventur
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