ON AMERICAN SOIL 177 



partlj into the water of the bay and the builder has nec- 

 essarily, in building on his square, to use some old vessel 

 or undertake the tedious work of filling up the allotted 

 space; if he is fortunate enough to obtain a real lot on 

 dry land, there are ninety-nine chances out of a hundred 

 that he has to level it one way or the other. However, 

 this again is left to the pleasure of the owner, who may 

 build on a hill or in the valley if he chooses or he may take 

 pains to level it before beginning to erect whatsoever the 

 plan may call for. Thus it occurs here and there that 

 they who have built their houses upon natural ground 

 find their neighbor digging twenty feet deep into the 

 elevation to place his own house right into that newly 

 dug hole, which is a frequent occurrence where the street 

 is either planned or already laid out. As the soil is gen- 

 erally light or pure sand, the neighboring houses where 

 such digging has occurred soon tumble into the hole, as 

 may be witnessed quite often nowadays. In this manner 

 one need not be surprised at the rapidity with which the 

 leveling of the city progresses. In fact, the work is done 

 much quicker than in localities where the authorities 

 impose building restrictions of various kinds — which 

 would cause many inconveniences here in America. I 

 have already mentioned that the streets are wide and 

 straight but as yet without stone pavement. Only the 

 oldest and most frequented thoroughfares in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of the harbor show some improvement in 

 this line, consisting of wooden pavement; while all of 

 them have broad wooden sidewalks which in some in- 

 stances are being replaced by flag-stones (usually slate) 

 or bricks. Every house is occupied by tradesmen of some 

 kind and is literally covered with advertising signs and 

 posters. Though the only ornaments of the buildings, 

 these signs show much originality, as it is every man's 

 endeavor to make the letters, coloring and wording of his 

 advertising board as attractive to the passer-by as pos- 

 sible. Thus it is that the whole represents a typical 

 Rococo, the reality of which baffles any description. In 

 solid Kdnigsberg, T would perhaps be accused of telling 



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