New-York tribune. [volume], August 28, 1904, Page 5, Image 29

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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at fi«ib> shift. If this estimate Is correct, when
aD gtx of the big shovels are in operation they
trill do the work of 7.200 men.
However disastrous the big shovels may be to
the prosperity of the laboring man. it Is certain
mat they fire effective in ■■ell work ■• that at
Cie Pennfylvarsi.i site. The ground is filled with
b] £ stones and the o'.d foundation walls of the
houses and other structures which once covered
' the site. Agair.^t these the small shovels and
picks of the uorkiiiguien can make* only slow
headway. The bi? steam shovels out through
then about as easily as - knife cuts cheese.
One big heaping steam shovelful practically fills
a tip cart. The men in charge of th* work say
• •hat curb a. shovel contains about 250 small or
ordinary hand shovelfuls, and that It does in
about three minutes what would take one
laborer nearly three hours to accomplish w ith a
hand shorcL
The ur.it of measurement in such work as t!;is
b the cubic yard, and the contractors say that
* each bis shovel excavate* about three and one
half yards of earth at each 'dig:." while the
re parr of each shovel is given as about seven
thousand yards a day.
The contractors say that the work at the pres
ent time is I -*- a suggestion of what it will be.
as only about three thousand yards a day are
no* belr.s taken out. The excavation will be
carried to I depth of sixty-five feet at Ninth
ave, and forty-five at Seventh-avc
If the claims of the contractors are correct, it
would appear that they are not slighting the in
terests of the working men ns much as some of
"the disgruntled Democratic politicians would
have it appear. It was declared at the works
the other day that _"• <" men re now employed
there. and thit as soon as the work is well under
way the force will be increased to eight thou
sand.
The cost of the work is stated to be r. early
-•$5,000,000.
%
FEARED ETPEKSII HABIT.
A friend cf District Attorney Jerome tells a
ftory 1 ' the poolroom fighter's younger and im
pecunious days, when he was an assistant in
*£he sal of which he is row head. "Then, as
Bow. Jc-rorr.e was a great smoker. He used to
bay a ch»a;, brand of cigars of a none too deli
cate guallly from a Nassau-st. dealer.
"As a Lor.ua to a steady patron and Incident
*2y with the hepes cf getting Jerome to buy the
EntO BATH OW CHAPMAN IxAWIC
■*""• expensive brand, tne wily dealer would
•ccasionaily give him a perfecto. Be didn't
•■•* tO» man. however. Jerome Invariably
Care the perfecto to the firm friend he met.
■ That's not the brand I smoke.' be would ex
■*■■»• 1 don't dare try a perfecto for fear I'll
4 '°™ an expensive habit.' "
WOULD same THE DOG CARE.
The family had added a bull terrier to Its stock
•f peta. The first day after hi* arrival the new
, •"■**» ended the career of a pet cat. He was
forgiven, however, and that night there was a
aaituor, over a name for the doc- Six-yea*
«*• Paulina listened to several suggestions, and
***** said, gravely, "I'd call him Care, I think,
loa know grandma says 'Care killed a cat.' "
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT.
HOME OF FRANK M. CHAPMAN, WEST ENGLEWOOD, N. J.
Where the lawn is arranged to salt the hlrds of tb« air.
WHERE BIRDS ARE PETS.
Frank M. Chapman Planned I^axvn
in West Englctcood for Them.
The idea of planning one's lawn to please birds
has probably occurred to few persons. In
the arrangement of the lawn about his home, at
West Engiewood. N. J.. Frank M. Chapman, the
authority . d birds, has given them the first con
sideration. He looks upon them as an Important
part of his home life, and has taken thought
how he may attract them to his front yard and
persuade them to make it a rendezvous. As a
MEL CHAPMAN^ STUDY IN GABLE OF HIS HOUSE.
From her nest In the peak an owl watches over his labors.
result of his efforts, bird* of nearly all species
that frequent New Jersey or pass over the State
in their flights to and from the North are to be
seen about his grounds at one time or another.
It has made It possible for him to study the
rarer birds from his study window in the cable
or from his own nest up In a tree far back be
hind the house. It Is unnecessary for him to
bunt for them, for they come to him.
Mr. Chapman's home Is a roomy old place,
about ten minutes' walk from the little box of
a station, with Its lame attendant, which indi
cates to the West £hore engineers where to stop
to take on and to deposit those persons who
dwell In West Englewood and commute. It Is
on the eide toward the Hudson lilver and the
THREE YOUNG BLUEBIRDS AND THEIR MOTHER.
UISJ : SJETand thus took her own photograph.
Palisades. It has always been Mr. Chapman's
home, as he was born In the house. About It,
especially In front, are many trees. The trees
are so numerous that one. upon seeing the place,
could understand why a stranger searching for
It the other day stopped almost in front to ask
a passing citizen where It was. When he learned
that it lay just beyond an evergreen tree at his
back, he mentally kicked himself for displaying
such a degree of Imbecility, and, as a result,
nearly fell Into a depressed path which wound
up to the house through the little grove.
In the rear of the house the grounds extend
almost as far as the eye can reach, that Is. as
far as the next rise of ground, which may be
1,500 or 1.800 feet away. Over this expanse are
scattered many trees. There Is no regularity
about their arrangement. They were planted by
the birds, and Mr. Chapman permitted them to
grow as they liked. The birds dropped the seed:?
from which they grew. These are not the only
trees about the place planted by the birds. They
also contributed the hedge of wild cherry trees
which separates Mr. Chapman's land from the
three thousand acre park belonging to the Tea
neck estate of the late William Walter Phelps.
Not being one of the naturalists who have as
cribed reasoning power to animals and birds,
Mr. Chapman docs not permit any one to assume
that the birds, with superhuman sight, recog
nized the invisible boundary line and placed the
seeds at regular intervals along it. He explains
that the trees which broke the sod elsewhere
than on the line were eliminated. The cherry
trees are now producing fruit and supportin
the clinging vines of wild Ivy, the berries ot
uhich the birds eat as well as the wild cherries.
Mr. Chapman follows the tactics cf the diplo
matic housewife who would hive her household
an attractive centre for menfolk. ]i-- not only
aims to have the surrounding of hLs home at
tractive to the l>i;-ds. bat he adds the induce
ment of a liberal supply of fool. H< scatters
quarts of appetizing seeds oh the edge t»f ti> ■•
lawn. There are many pear trees* ami nppl»
trees. The red squirrels take especial tl^li^ht i:\
the pears. When the fruit is ri;» the ground
beneath the trees is covered with the cone
shaped bases and hemispherical ci >>.'.- of pc-ira
which have been cut in half by th* lively imps
In their search for seeds. When they are
through with them the birds will sometimes e.it
•-VVirERE'S MY BREAKFAST?"
Young wren In ore of Mr. Chapman's bird boxes.
of the soft fruit. Along the hedge is a row of
Eumarhs, whose rod seeds the birds eat in th
winter when other food la scarce. Near by is
a small Parkman's crabapple tre». set out for
the winter birds. The fruit clings all winter.
Naturally, the numerous trees, as well as th»»
bountiful supply of food, are an Incentive to tha
birds to build nests. The attractiveness of tli j
place In this respect is Increased by the erec
tion of a number of nesting places. Mr. Chap
man, when he set about put line; these up, did
not stick a lot of little bird houses with S\vi:-.s
gables on posts about th? lawn and on the* barn.
Instead, he gathered a number of knots vvitii
hollow centres. These lie fitted on the trunl-s
of trees at a convenient height for personal in
spection and for photographing. Wire was u?el
to attach them. They wore i Lit up so skilfully
that In some cases sue would be led to suppose
them a part of the tree— the stump of a limb
which had been lopped off and partly healed
over. For the birds which spend th«-ir winters
in the North. Mr. Chapman provides a li~',
roomy shelter ma.de of brush and a wljrwam < f
discarded beanpoles.
All of the modern Improvements which any
bird could expect or desire have be-n provid.-J
for this select "residential" site. A plunge l.;»t:i
with running water h-..- been constructed in th/
centre of the lawn especially for the ocvuuar <
of the bird houses. It a a cement iined i•> ]
with a fountain in the centre. Water p".n:U4
such as wild ri .-c, saglttarla, iris and i;m*i.s
add to its attractiveness. The sereei h <•■•• I, in
the daytime, has some of the c haractertsstlits i i a
lazy loafer. According to Mr. Chapman. !v>:h:nj
has been known heretofore as to whether as
pic. bathes or not. It turns cut that he tire*
use water sometimes, for Mr. Chapman has s-ji>
one whh-h lives in a gable of his house owt hit
study window bathing in bis pool.
A short time ago the destruction of an old bar<
<>n Uie plate by lire upset the nerves of ?••:! :•» ■ I
the birds, Lesides destroying a few of the tre«-^
The barn was nearly a century old and held to
gether by oaken pins. More than one n**:;- r.i
tion of boys had turned somersaults on ;.../•
mows and played hide and seek in Us dv :
nooks. On one beam was curved v name and
the date, 1620. L.ike okJ houses and old lesi
dents. it had its o.vn Individuality. When ii was
burned a robin was brood ins her young in .i
ncia'hborirs tree. Apparently, the fire did not
scare her. for -i.- ■ » Been dropping; food inti>
the ugly little mouths of her offsprings shortly
after the lire was out. A pair of humming birds
ivere more easily disconcerted They had n nest
about the size of a. •-■■'■( ball un the upper side
or' a limb in a tree Dear that occupied by th»
robin. B tore the fire there were two ecjcja in it.
These and the birds disappeared Boon afterward.
Whether the cksf became young humming lurdrf,
were carried away by the parents or stoirn by
animals after the birds abandoned their Best 13
not known.
There are persons who, owing to lack of sym
pathy or their nervta. would '■■■'■'< enjoy living at
Mr. Chapman's home. They are not th? kind of
persons who rise early in the coo] of the day to
hear the matin soatj of the birds. They are the
kind who swear when Ik uproar arouses th ti
and consign the creatures to all sorts of bail
place: as they turn over on their pillows \nC
endeavor to sleep again. Tiny would sympa
thize with a neighbor of Mr. Chapman. The -ry
of the guinea fowl is particularly attractive* to
Mr. Chapman, because it is a cry from the wfl«s.
tilt? guinea hen being the only domesticated fowl
which has lost nothing of its original speech. A
guinea hen of his a few days was uttering the
persistent and insistent cry of its kind which
sounds M if the vocal cords were rusty and
needed oiling. "I wish some one would wrln^
that guinea bird's neck." remarked the neighbor
with emphasis.
5