Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

The Secrets of the Great City by Edward Winslow Martin
page 10 of 524 (01%)
eight hundred feet. They begin about First or Fourth street, and run to
the end of the island. Second and Eighth are the longest, and Fifth and
Madison the most fashionable.


BROADWAY.

The most wonderful street in the world is Broadway. It extends, as we
have said, the whole length of the island. But its most attractive
features are between the Bowling Green and Thirty-fourth street--the
chief part of these being below Fourteenth street. The street is about
sixty feet wide, and is thronged with vehicles of every description.
Often times these vehicles crowd the streets to such an extent that
they become "jammed," and the police are forced to interfere and compel
the drivers to take the routes assigned them. The scene at such a time
is thrilling. A stranger feels sure that the vehicles cannot be
extricated without loss of life or limb to man or beast, and the shouts
and oaths of the drivers fairly bewilder him. In a few moments,
however, he sees a squad of policemen approach, and plunge boldly into
the throng of vehicles. The shouts and oaths of the drivers cease, the
vehicles move on, one at a time, according to the orders of the police,
and soon the street is clear again, to be blocked, perhaps, in a
similar manner, in less than an hour. Twenty thousand vehicles daily
traverse this great thoroughfare.

It is always a difficult matter to cross Broadway in the busy season.
Ladies, old persons, and children, find it impossible to do so without
the aid of the police, whose duty it is to make a way for them through
the crowds of vehicles. A bridge was erected at the corner of Broadway
and Fulton street, which is the most crowded part of the city, for the
DigitalOcean Referral Badge