little hole; whereas, had I known my duty, I should have rung a
bell, or pulled a strap, according to the nature of the omnibus in
question. In a month or two all these things may possibly be
learned; but the visitor requires his facilities for locomotion at
the first moment of his entrance into the city. I heard it
asserted by a lecturer in Boston, Mr. Wendell Phillips, whose name
is there a household word, that citizens of the United States
carried brains in their fingers as well as in their heads; whereas
"common people," by which Mr. Phillips intended to designate the
remnant of mankind beyond the United States, were blessed with no
such extended cerebral development. Having once learned this fact
from Mr. Phillips, I understood why it was that a New York omnibus
should be so disagreeable to me, and at the same time so suitable
to the wants of the New Yorkers.

And then there are street cars--very long omnibuses--which run on
rails but are dragged by horses. They are capable of holding forty
passengers each, and as far as my experience goes carry an average
load of sixty. The fare of the omnibus is six cents, or three
pence. That of the street car five cents, or two pence halfpenny.
They run along the different avenues, taking the length of the
city. In the upper or new part of the town their course is simple
enough, but as they descend to the Bowery, Peck Slip, and Pearl
Street, nothing can be conceived more difficult or devious than
their courses. The Broadway omnibus, on the other hand, is a
straightforward, honest vehicle in the lower part of the town,
becoming, however, dangerous and miscellaneous when it ascends to
Union Square and the vicinities of fashionable life.

The street cars are manned with conductors, and, therefore, are