s, war came; came the shock of
realising that the guns were going off, that the masses of inflammable
material all over the world were at last ablaze.

2

The immediate effect upon New York of the sudden onset of war was merely
to intensify her normal vehemence.

The newspapers and magazines that fed the American mind--for books upon
this impatient continent had become simply material for the energy
of collectors--were instantly a coruscation of war pictures and of
headlines that rose like rockets and burst like shells. To the normal
high-strung energy of New York streets was added a touch of war-fever.
Great crowds assembled, more especially in the dinner hour, in Madison
Square about the Farragut monument, to listen to and cheer patriotic
speeches, and a veritable epidemic of little flags and buttons swept
through these great torrents of swiftly moving young people, who poured
into New York of a morning by car and mono-rail and subway and train,
to toil, and ebb home again between the hours of five and seven. It was
dangerous not to wear a war button. The splendid music-halls of the time
sank every topic in patriotism and evolved scenes of wild enthusiasm,
strong men wept at the sight of the national banner sustained by the
whole strength of the ballet, and special searchlights and illuminations
amazed the watching angels. The churches re-echoed the national
enthusiasm in graver key and slower measure, and the aerial and naval
preparations on the East River were greatly incommoded by the multitude
of excursion steamers which thronged, helpfully cheering, about them.
The trade in small-arms was enormously stimulated, and many overwrought
citizens found an immediate relief for their emotions in letting off
fireworks of a more or less heroic, dangerous, and national character
in the public streets. Small children's air-balloons of the latest model
attached to string became a serious check to the pedestrian in Central
Park. And amidst scenes of indescribable emotion the Albany legislature
in permanent session, and with a generous suspension of rules and
precedents, passed through both Houses the long-disputed Bill for
universal military service in New York State.

Critics of the American character are disposed to consider--that up
to the actual impact of the German attack the people of New York dealt
altogether too much with the war as if it was a political demonstration.
Little or no damage, they urge, was done to ei