It seems all wrong to be pulling down those thick walls; exposing
the privacy of the inside of the house, its arrangement of rooms and
fireplaces, and the occupant's taste in color and wall decorations. Two
young women who take the walk up-town always look the other way when
they pass this sad display; they say it's unfair to take advantage of
the house. Soon there will be a deep pit there with puffing derricks,
the sidewalk closed, and show-bills boldly screaming. And by the time
we have returned from the next sojourn out of town there will be an
office-building of ever-so-many stories or another great hotel. Already
the sign there will tell about it.
You quicken your pace as you draw near the Park; some of the up-town
walkers who live along here have already reached the end of their
journey and are running up the steps taking out door-keys. The little
boy in knickerbockers who seems responsible for lighting Fifth Avenue
has already begun his zigzag trip along the street; soon the long double
rows of lights will seem to meet in perspective. A few belated children
are being hurried home by their maids from dancing-school; their white
frocks sticking out beneath their coats gleam in the half light. Cabs
and carriages with diners in them go spinning by, the coachmen whip up
to pass ahead of you at the street-crossing; you catch a gleam of men's
shirt-bosoms within and the light fluffiness of women, with the perfume
of gloves. Fewer people are left on the sidewalks now--those that are
look at their watches. The sun is well set by the time you reach the
Plaza, but down Fifty-ninth Street you can see long bars of after-glow
across the Hudson.
In the half-dark, under the Park trees, comes a group of Italian
laborers; their hob-nailed shoes clatter on the cement-walk, their blue
blouses and red neckerchiefs stand out against the almost black of the
trees; they, too, are walking home for the night. The Walk Up-town is
finished and the show is over for to-day.
THE CROSS STREETS
[Illustration: Down near the eastern end of the street.]
THE CROSS STREETS
A city should be laid out like a golf links; except for an occasional
compromise in the interest of art or expediency it should be allowed to
follow the natural topography of the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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