Lights and Shadows of New York Life

Lights and Shadows of New York
Life, by James

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by James D. McCabe
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Title: Lights and Shadows of New York Life or, the Sights and
Sensations of the Great City
Author: James D. McCabe

Release Date: October 27, 2006 [eBook #19642]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIGHTS
AND SHADOWS OF NEW YORK LIFE***

This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF NEW YORK LIFE; OR, THE SIGHTS
AND SENSATIONS OF A GREAT CITY.
BY JAMES D. MCCABE, JR.
[Picture: GENERAL VIEW OF NEW YORK CITY.]
[Picture: GRAND CENTRAL RAILWAY DEPOT.]
[Picture: TITLE PAGE.]
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF NEW YORK LIFE; OR, THE SIGHTS
AND SENSATIONS OF THE GREAT CITY.
A WORK DESCRIPTIVE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK IN ALL
ITS VARIOUS PHASES;
WITH FULL AND GRAPHIC ACCOUNTS OF
ITS SPLENDORS AND WRETCHEDNESS; ITS HIGH AND LOW
LIFE; ITS MARBLE PALACES AND DARK DENS; ITS
ATTRACTIONS AND DANGERS; ITS RINGS AND FRAUDS; ITS
LEADING MEN AND POLITICIANS; ITS ADVENTURERS; ITS
CHARITIES; ITS MYSTERIES, AND ITS CRIMES.
BY JAMES D. MCCABE, JR.,
AUTHOR OF "PARIS BY SUNLIGHT AND GASLIGHT,"
"HISTORY OF THE WAR BETWEEN GERMANY AND FRANCE,"
"GREAT FORTUNES," "THE GREAT REPUBLIC," ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS FINE ENGRAVINGS OF
NOTED PLACES, LIFE AND SCENES IN NEW YORK.
Issued by subscription only, and not for sale in the book stores.
Residents of any State desiring a copy should address the Publishers,
and an Agent will call upon them. See page 851.

NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY,
PHILADELPHIA, PA.; CINCINNATI, OHIO; CHICAGO, ILL.;
ST. LOUIS, MO.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by J. R.
JONES, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington,
D.C.

PREFACE.
It is the desire of every American to see New York, the largest and
most wonderful city in the Union. To very many the city and its
attractions are familiar, and the number of these persons is increased by
thousands of new comers every year. A still greater number, however,
will know the Great City only by the stories that reach them through
their friends and the newspapers. They may never gaze upon its
beauties, never enjoy its attractions in person. For their benefit I have
written these pages, and I have endeavored to present to them a faithful
picture of the "Lights and Shadows" of the life of this City, and to
describe its "Sights and Sensations" as they really exist.
This Great City, so wonderful in its beauty, so strange to eyes
accustomed only to the smaller towns of the land, is in all respects the
most attractive sight in America, and one of the most remarkable places
in the world, ranking next to London and Paris in the extent and variety
of its attractions. Its magnificence is remarkable, its squalor appalling.
Nowhere else in the New World are seen such lavish displays of wealth,
and such hideous depths of poverty. It is rich in historical associations
and in treasures of art. It presents a wonderful series of combinations as
well as contrasts of individual and national characteristics. It is richly
worth studying by all classes, for it is totally different from any other
city in the world. It is always fresh, always new. It is constantly
changing, growing greater and more wonderful in its power and
splendors, more worthy of admiration in its higher and nobler life,

more generous in its charities, and more mysterious and appalling in its
romance and its crimes. It is indeed a wonderful city. Coming fresh
from plainer and more practical parts of the land, the visitor is plunged
into the midst of so much beauty, magnificence, gayety, mystery, and a
thousand other wonders, that he is fairly bewildered. It is hoped that the
reader of these pages will be by their perusal better prepared to enjoy
the attractions, and to shun the dangers of New York. It has been my
effort to bring home to those who cannot see the city for themselves, its
pleasures and its dangers, and to enable them to enjoy the former
without either the fatigue or expense demanded of an active participant
in them, and to appreciate the latter, without incurring the risks
attending an exploration of the shadowy side of the Great City.
To those who intend visiting New York, whether they come as
strangers, or as persons familiar with it, the writer has a word to say,
which