OCR Text |
Show NEW YORK'S MAGNIFICENT BUILDINGS Further. 1 can trace a clear connec- tion between the scrupulous care of the lody and the style of archltec j tore which has given New York and Washington the finest railwa-j Bta-,ions Bta-,ions In the world, and New York a postoffice which takes one's breath away with admiration for Its Urevk perfection of simplicity and strength. Amid the squalur of Elpnth avrnne i here has arisen the wonder of the, ; new world. Raised well above the I street leel and approached by noble; sters, Is a portico of twenty Ionic columns, the longest I remember to ! have seen Simph that; no'hlng to I lessen the dignity' of their Just bal-!ance bal-!ance or to mar their beautv, uhsmlH ing. yet not austere. Along the arch ! I liec'ture runs this Inscription- ' Nelth , er bo-iw nor rain nor heat nor gloom i i ot night s'ay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed ! rounds " That exactly matches the I reticence of the conception. Noth ling could better correct lhe European I mlsjudgment of the American charac ter than this magnificent public building, fit to be set beside the fin- est of ancient or modern times. The outside of the Pennsylvania railway station opposite Is made to look commonplace by this unexpected unexpect-ed recapture of the Greek spirit in j architecture. But passing through its lofty corridors and ample halls. I have felt the same content As one I snuffs up salt air at the sight of the sea. filling the lungs with Its vigorous vigor-ous tang, so there is a deep-breathing of the soul w hen the e e and the I Imagination are suddenly delighted. Both here and in the new Grand Central Cen-tral Station there is a largeness of conception, a shaking off of the bond-ago bond-ago of "good enough," a bold soaring toward a great aim The men who planned and built them must be men with a passion for harnion and or dr. The people who daily pass through them canuot but feel its in fluence and live In a finer, freer air The floors are so clean that (In farm house phrase) "you could eat your dinner off them' The mind is soothed by the spacious alm of the j balls, the quietly perfect organlza-i organlza-i tion, the neat spick and-span conven 1 ience of ticket and bnggage counters, i dining rooms, buffets, bookstalls, information in-formation offices. The Bpotleas white caps of the officials are allegorical They are emblems of the ideal aimed at bv the most excellent, railway stations sta-tions the world has yet seen. Sta tlons where there Is no opening for ! the scramble and rush which usually ' diBtui b tho traveler Stations for sn perhuman who move calm and ce--taiu to their appointed ends The white new City Hall In Now York, the cream-and-gold splendor of the oolworlb tow or near by, reflect the same Ideal, an ideal of cleanliness cleanli-ness and good order without and within What is it but this, too, which draga scandals to the light and is sweeping out the foul stables of public life? Do JOU not see now tho I connection between It and "a room With a bath''' H. Hamilton Pyfe in ; lxmdon Dally Mall oo |