|
WALL STREET. THE STOCK EXCHANGE.
Just below the New Street corner is the Wall Street entrance to the Stock Exchange, easily the most talked of institution in the financial district. It is fully described in the pages relating to Broad Street, which is its official location and principal entrance.
The lure of the Stock Exchange, the marvelous tales of enormous riches acquired in the twinkling of an eye, are as you see, not the only things that invest Wall Street with its absorbing interest for the general public. Some of these yarns are palpable inventions, but they make good stories and will continue to be printed, but Wall Street as the world's financial centre has a serious role to enact and performs its part with commendable sincerity and undoubted ability.
Wall Street is so short that one can walk down one side and up the other in less than twenty minutes. Make a few notes of the places you particularly wish to see and it will add greatly to your pleasure, as you can go about with a definite plan in view. Admission to the Stock Exchange and the Sub-Treasury is by ticket, but almost any banker or broker will provide you with that upon request.
There is nothing particular to see in private places like the National City Bank or Morgan's, but you can step inside and polite attention will be paid you and part of the interior shown.
Everywhere in New York, if a stranger expresses a desire to see more or know more of a certain building, he will find an attendant who will try to meet his wishes as far as consistent with business. As one of the most talked-of thoroughfares in the world "the Street," as Wall Street is colloquially known, will more than repay the time spent within its romantic and interesting bounds. It is an express station on the subways and easily reached from all parts of town.
The utter desertion of downtown streets after six o'clock is something unbelievable. In the financial district, especially along lower Broadway, one's footsteps echo and re-echo among the tall buildings. Nor is the lonely pedestrian so much alone as he thinks. Countless prying eyes keep the wayfarer under close surveillance till he proves his harmlessness by boarding a subway or street-car bound for Brooklyn or the Bronx.
Go To Next Page |
