Show U lights 9 of newyork by L L STEVENSON the more I 1 go down to the tip end of manhattan the more battery park intrigues my interest and ex cites my fancy the marine pan orama is never the same it va nes ries with every hour of the day or night it is a truly moving picture the harbor is never still along in the thin hours of the morning the passing of lights here and there on the dark waters may be only 0 occa dional but the harbor is not still it is not still at dawn at high no noon on or when the lights of the office build ings of manhattan go out or shine only for scrubwomen and porters the work of the harbor never is 15 done it continues 24 hours a day and so far as I 1 have learned there is never an hour but that it is worth observing 0 o dawn is greeted with whistles tugs come out in fleets they al ways seem to be in a hurry churn ing along with a white bone in their teeth the big terries ferries begin bringing over staten island residents along with loads of fresh legeta bles from the gardens of the borough of richmond or perhaps from new jersey by the way of the kill von kull bridge coast guard sailors start polishing up the government cutters that take customs men immigration officials newspaper men and others down the bay to meet liners smoke curls lazily from the stack of the ellis island ferry the tunny funny little governor governors s island ferry starts its trips between the military reservation and the mainland dredges pile drivers and other work boats go into action the harbor comes to life with a rush 0 along about 9 aa a m liners start coming up the bay As they leave the narrows they look like stately white clouds suddenly they change to ships ships with white sides and glittering brass with huge funnels spouting smoke streamers almost always the rails are lined with pas home comers and visitors all eager for the statue of liberty and a close up view of the famous skyline of new york there is much whistling for a big liner doesn doean t have a great deal of room in the harbor traffic smaller craft scurry out of the way and the liner passes slowly with all the majesty of a monarch watching the incoming liners from battery park to me is better than any stage production it isn t a one way picture either hardly have the incoming liners docked then those outbound leave their piers and creep down the hud son into the bay and then speed out to sea every kind of craft that will float passes battery park every kind of ship from the humble cargo carrier to the queens of the sea every private boat from extremely small ones propelled by the strength of human arms to the big yachts of morgan or astor craft that can go around the world without re fuelling As for the work boats they range from scows to floating factories and from barges to grain elevators there is even the suggestion of noah s ark in some of the barges animals of various kinds form the cargo animals on their way to slaughter animals that let their presence be known by moos baas squeals and grunts saturday night is the busy time at the battery during the summer months various excursion boats depart from there the sandy hook and atlantic highland boats the excursion steamers that go up the hudson the boats for rye and oth er beaches the crowds are gay and colorful the competition of f the ticket sellers is hot venders venders do a heavy business but whether saturday night or any other time the battery to me is attractive so attractive I 1 think sneak down there right away t times square eavesdropping he s the kind of a guy that tosses a nickel to a beggar and expects a 10 credit in m saint peter s book books 0 BU bell syndicate service |