The Secrets of the Great City | Page 2

separate villages, but are now
parts of the great city. The island comes to a point at the Battery, and
from this extremity stretches away northward like a fan. It attains its
greatest width at Fourteenth and Eighty-seventh streets. Broadway is
the longest street, running from, the Battery to Spuyten Duyvil creek, a
distance of fifteen miles. It is lighted with gas along the entire line.
Street railways and omnibus lines connect the various parts of the city,
affording cheap and rapid transportation within its limits. Ferry boats
ply constantly between the island and the neighboring shores, and
railroads and steamboats connect it with all parts of the world.
THE POPULATION.
The population of New York is over one million of inhabitants. This
does not include the immense throng of visitors for business and
pleasure. It is estimated that forty thousand of these arrive and depart
daily. During times of more than ordinary interest--such as a national
convention of some political party, the meeting of some great religious
body, the world's fair, or some such special attraction-- these arrivals
are greatly increased. During the recent session of the Democratic
National Convention, in July, 1868, the number of strangers present in
the city was estimated at two hundred thousand. The amount of money
brought into the city by these strangers is astonishing. Millions are
spent by them annually during their visits to the metropolis.
The population is made up from every nation under Heaven. The
natives are in the minority. The foreign element predominates.
Irishmen, Germans, Jews, Turks, Greeks, Russians, Italians, Spaniards,
Mexicans, Portuguese, Scotch, French, Chinese--in short,
representatives of every nationality--abound. These frequently herd
together, each class by itself, in distinct parts of the city, which they
seem to regard as their own.
Land is very scarce and valuable in New York, and this fact compels
the poorer classes to live in greater distress than in most cities of the
world. The whole number of buildings in the city in 1860 was fifty-five
thousand, which includes churches, stores, etc. In the same year the
population was eight hundred and five thousand, or one hundred and

sixty-one thousand families. Of these fifteen thousand only occupied
entire houses; nine thousand one hundred and twenty dwellings
contained two families, and six thousand one hundred contained three
families. As we shall have to recur to this subject again, we pass on
now, merely remarking that these "tenement sections" of the city, as
they are called, are more crowded now than ever, the increase in
buildings having fallen far behind the increase of the population in the
last eight years.
This mixed population makes New York a thorough cosmopolitan city;
yet at the same time it is eminently American. Although the native New
York element is small in numbers, its influence is very great. Besides
this, numbers flock to the city from all parts of the Union, and this
constant influx of fresh American vitality does much to keep the city
true to the general character of the country.
It has been well said, that "New York is the best place in the world to
take the conceit out of a man." This is true. No matter how great or
flattering is the local reputation of an individual, he finds upon reaching
New York that he is entirely unknown. He must at once set to work to
build up a reputation here, where he will be taken for just what he is
worth, and no more. The city is a great school for studying human
nature, and its people are proficients in the art of discerning character.
In point of morality, the people of New York, in spite of all that has
been said of them, compare favorably with those of any other city. If
the darkest side of life is to be seen here, one may also witness the best.
The greatest scoundrels and the purest Christians are to be found here.
It is but natural that this, being the great centre of wealth, should also
be the great centre of all that is good and beautiful in life. It is true that
the Devil's work is done here on a gigantic scale, but the will of the
Lord is done on an equally great, if not a greater, scale. In its charities
New York stands at the head of American communities--the great heart
of the city throbs warmly for suffering humanity. The municipal
authorities expend annually seven hundred thousand dollars in public
charities. The various religious denominations spend annually three
millions more, and besides this the city is constantly sending out

princely sums to relieve want and suffering in all parts of our broad
land.
The people of New York are the most liberal of any in America in
matters of opinion. Here, as a