The Secrets of the Great City Part 11

FASHIONABLE SHOPPING.

The fashionable shopping points are along Broadway, from Ca.n.a.l street to Twenty-third street, and in some of the cross streets between these thoroughfares. The princ.i.p.al are Stewart's, Lord & Taylor's, and Arnold & Constable's.

STEWART'S.

The up-town or retail store of A. T. Stewart & Co., is located on Broadway, between Ninth and Tenth streets. It extends back to Fourth Avenue, and covers the entire block, with the exception of the corner of Broadway and Ninth street, which is occupied by the famous picture dealers, Groupil & Co. This break in the building of Mr. Stewart, gives the whole edifice, as seen from Broadway, an awkward appearance. It is said that the great merchant is anxious to buy the corner, but will not pay the price asked, as he regards it as extortionate. The building is a handsome iron structure, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and is painted white, which causes some persons to call it a "marble palace."

It contains in its various departments everything pertaining to the dry goods trade. It has also a department for ready-made clothing for women and children, and persons can here purchase at a moment's warning a complete outfit in any style their means will allow. The articles range from simplicity to magnificence in style and quality.

The rooms are always full of purchasers. The city trade proper is immense, and the majority of the strangers coming to the city do their shopping here.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. T. Stewart's Wholesale Store.]

No one cares to come to New York without seeing Stewart's, and all go away satisfied that the immense establishment is one of the sights of the metropolis.

LORD & TAYLOR'S.

The store of this well-known firm is located at the corner of Broadway and Grand streets. It is one of the most beautiful in the city, is built of white marble, and is handsomely ornamented. Its ample windows contain the finest display of goods to be seen in America. The interior, though not so large as Stewart's, is quite as handsome, and the various departments are managed with as much skill and system. The ready-made department is a feature worth examining. The establishment has not so large a trade as Stewart's, but rivals it in the excellence of its goods, and in the taste displayed in selecting them. Many persons prefer this store to any in the city.

ARNOLD & CONSTABLE'S.

Arnold & Constable are now located at the corner of Ca.n.a.l and Mercer streets, but will soon move into their elegant marble store, now in process of erection at the corner of Broadway and Nineteenth street.

This is one of the favorite houses of New York. Its trade is large and fashionable, and it divides the honors of the city with those already mentioned.

INTERIOR OF A FIRST-CLa.s.s STORE.

A stranger, in entering a first-cla.s.s dry goods store in this city, is at once struck with the order and system which prevail throughout the establishment. The door is opened for him by a small boy in entering and departing. As he enters, he is politely accosted by a gentleman, who inquires what he wishes to purchase. Upon stating his business, he is shown to the department where the article he is in search of is to be found, and the eye of his conductor is never off of him until he is safe under the observation of the clerk from whom he makes his purchase. This is necessary to guard against robbery. So many small articles lie exposed in the store that a thief might easily make off with something of value but for this watchfulness. Private detectives are employed by the princ.i.p.al houses, and as soon as a professional shop-lifter enters, he or she is warned off the premises by the detective, whose experience enables him to recognize such persons at a glance. A refusal to take this warning is followed by a summary arrest.

In paying for his goods, the purchaser notices that the salesman makes a memorandum of the articles and sends it with the money to the cashier by a small boy. If any change is due the purchaser, the boy brings it back. The articles are also taken at the same time and are examined and remeasured to see that the sale is correct. The purchase is then either delivered to the buyer or sent to his residence, as he may desire.

The boys to which we have referred are called "cash boys," and are now a necessity in any well regulated establishment. Stewart employs nearly three hundred of these boys in his upper store, and one hundred in his lower store. Good, steady cash boys are in demand. Intelligence is at a premium in this department. Let a boy take a proper recommendation from his public school, or Sunday school teacher, and if he is intelligent, healthy, and cleanly, he will be at once taken on trial. He starts out with a salary of $3 per week. If he shows capacity he is promoted as rapidly as possible. The highest salary paid is $8 per week, but he may rise to be a salesman if he will work steadily and intelligently. These boys generally have a lively and bright look. They act as cash boys, carry parcels out to customers, attend the doors, and do sundry other useful acts. They are strictly watched, and any improper conduct is punished with an instantaneous dismissal. They generally belong to respectable families, and live at home with their parents. Many of them attend the night schools after business hours, and thus prepare for the great life struggle which is before them. Such boys are apt to do well in the world. Many however, after being released from the stores, imitate the ways of the clerks and salesmen. They affect a fastness which is painful to see in boys so young. They sport an abundance of flashy jewelry, patronize the cheap places of amus.e.m.e.nt, and are seen in the low concert saloons, and other vile dens of the city. It is not difficult to predict the future of these boys.

CHAPTER XIV.

IMPOSTORS.

New York is the paradise of impostors. They thrive here. They practice all manner of tricks upon the unwary, and are off before one can lay hands on them. Sometimes they are caught, tried, and sentenced to the penitentiary.

A FOREIGN SWINDLER.

Several months ago, a foreigner, calling himself a Russian Count, and pretending to be Colonel of Engineers in the Russian Imperial service, made his appearance in this city, and announced himself as the agent of his Government to make contracts with certain engineering firms in this country. He hired an office down town, and would occasionally show, to those whose acquaintance he had made, plans of the work that was being executed under his supervision. He brought with him letters of introduction from many of the leading men of Europe, and these, united to an easy bearing and good address, sufficed to gain him admittance into the most refined and exclusive society in this and neighboring cities. At Washington, he was treated with marked consideration, was shown through the public buildings, and was allowed to inspect the Navy Yards at Washington and Brooklyn, and the fortifications in this city and elsewhere. Unfortunately, the expected remittance from Russia failed, from some unknown reason, to arrive, and the Baron was forced to appeal to his American friends for loans, and he borrowed, from various persons, sums ranging from $500 to $2,000, and amounting in the aggregate to $25,000 or $30,000. To one gentleman, who had loaned him at various times $1,500, the Baron said, recently, that his long- expected remittance had arrived, and he made an appointment with his creditor to meet him on a certain day and go with him to a broker's to procure currency for his Russian gold. In calling at the office of the Baron on the day named, the gentleman found him busily engaged in explaining some of the plans to a stranger, and as it would be impossible for him to go to the broker's on that day he begged the indulgence of his friend and named another day. Before that day arrived the Baron had disappeared, and the police, on being informed of the circ.u.mstance, made inquiry, and ascertained that a man answering the description of him sought for had taken pa.s.sage in a steamer for Europe.

CHARITABLE IMPOSTORS

Men and women are always to be found in the City, seeking aid for some charitable inst.i.tution. They carry books and pencils, in which each donor is requested to inscribe his name and the amount given. Small favors are thankfully received, and they depart, a.s.suring you in the most humble and sanctified manner that "the Lord loveth a cheerful giver." If you cannot give to-day, they are willing to call to-morrow, next week--any time that may suit your convenience. You cannot insult them, for like Uriah Heep, they are always "so 'umble." You find it hard to suspect them, but in truth, they are the most genuine impostors to be met with in the City. They are soliciting money for themselves alone, and have no connection with any charitable inst.i.tution whatever.

OTHER IMPOSTORS.

One-armed, or one-legged beggars, whose missing member, sound as your own, is strapped to their bodies so as to be safely out of sight, women wishing to bury their husbands or children, women with borrowed or hired babies, and sundry other objects calculated to excite your pity, meet you at every step. They are vagabonds. G.o.d knows there is misery enough in this great City, but nine out of ten of these people are impostors. If you give them money it will go for drink.

A FASHIONABLE IMPOSTOR.

A well known banker, who acted as agent for one of the numerous charitable a.s.sociations of this city, was called upon one day by a lady of great elegance, who said she had come at the instance of Mrs.----, naming one of the lady managers of the a.s.sociation, to ask for one hundred dollars, for which she had immediate need. As the lady referred to had never drawn on him for money, except by means of a regular cheque, the banker suspected that something was wrong, and informed his visitor that it would not be convenient for him to let her have the amount just then, and asked her to call the next day. She departed, and the next morning was punctual to her engagement. Meanwhile, the banker had ascertained from the lady manager that the request made of him was an imposture. He was not in when his visitor called the second time, but his son met the lady, and, as he knew her, expressed his surprise at seeing her there. Overwhelmed with confusion, she took her departure, saying she would come back when the banker returned. She did not make her appearance, and the son, in mentioning her visit to his father, was informed of its object. It was agreed to pa.s.s the matter over in silence, and a note to that effect was dispatched by the young man to the lady--she replied, thanking him for his silence, she said she was in need of money, and did not wish her husband to know it, and hoped to raise it in such a manner, and return it before the imposture should be discovered. She was a woman of good social position, and the wife of a wealthy citizen.

CHAPTER XV.

SUNDAY IN NEW YORK.

Strangers have observed with surprise the quietness which reigns within the city limits on the Sabbath day. The streets have a cleaner, fresher look, and with the exception of the Bowery and Chatham street, are closed to trade. The wharves are hushed and still, and the river and bay lie calm and subdued in the light of the Sabbath sun. Everybody seems trying to look as neat and as clean as possible. The cars run on Sunday, as in the week. This is necessary in so large a city, as without them many persons would be unable to attend church, their houses being miles away from their places of worship.

CHURCH GOING.

In the morning, the various churches are well filled, for New Yorkers consider it a matter of principle to attend morning service. The streets are filled with persons hastening to church, the cars are crowded, and handsome carriages dash by, conveying their wealthy owners to their only hour of prayer.

The churches are nearly all above Bleecker street. Trinity, St. Paul's, the old Dutch Church in Fulton street, and a few seamen's bethels along the river, are the only places of worship left to the dwellers in the lower part of the city, who are chiefly the poor and needy. Little or no care is taken of this part of the population, and yet it would seem good missionary ground. Trinity tries hard to draw them into its fold, but no one else seems to care for them.

The up-town churches are well filled in the morning. The music, the fame of the preacher, the rank of the church in the fashionable world, all these things help to swell the congregation. They are generally magnificent edifices, erected with great taste, and at a great cost.

They crowd into fashionable neighborhoods, being often located so close to each other that the music of one will disturb the prayers of the congregation of the other. The plea for this is that the old down town locations were out of the way for the majority of the congregations.

Many of the new sites, however, are quite as hard to reach. The pews rent for sums far beyond the purses of persons of moderate means, so that the majority of New Yorkers are compelled to roam about, from church to church, in order to hear the gospel at all. At the majority of the churches, strangers are welcome, and are received with courtesy, but at others they are treated with the utmost rudeness if they happen to get into some upstart's pew, and are not unfrequently asked to give up their seats.

There are intellectual giants in the New York pulpit, but they are very few. The majority of the clergy are men of little intellect, and less oratorical power. They are popular, though, with their own cures, and the most of them are well provided for. They doubtless understand how to

"Preach to please the sinners, And fill the vacant pews."

SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

Morning service over, an early dinner follows. Then everybody thinks of enjoying himself if the weather is fine, or of sleeping the afternoon away if the day is too wet to go out. The cars are filled with persons _en route_ for the Park to pa.s.s a pleasant afternoon--the drives of that beautiful resort are filled with the elegant equipages of the fashionables, and the churches are comparatively deserted. Almost every livery hack, buggy, or other vehicle in the city, is engaged for Sunday, several days beforehand, and the poor horses have no mercy shown them on that day.

The low cla.s.s theatres and places of amus.e.m.e.nt in the Bowery and adjacent streets are opened toward sunset, and vice reigns there triumphant. The Bowery beer gardens sell lemonade and soda water, and such beverages as are not prohibited by the excise law, and the orchestra and orchestrions play music from the ritual of the Roman Catholic church.

The excise law forbids the sale of spirituous or malt liquors on the Sabbath, and the bar rooms are closed from midnight on Sat.u.r.day until Monday morning. The police have orders to arrest all persons violating this law. There is no doubt, however, that liquor can be obtained by those who are willing to incur the risk necessary to get it; but as the majority do not care to take this trouble, the North river ferries are thronged on Sunday, by persons going over to New Jersey for their beer, wine, and stronger drinks. There is no Sunday law in that State, and Jersey City and Hoboken are only five minutes distant from New York.