P. G. Wodehouse,
Psmith, Journalist — Chapter 6
(1912)
“ All the smells and noises, which are many and varied, are penned up in a sort of canyon, and gain in vehemence from the fact. The masses of dirty clothes hanging from the fire-escapes increase the depression. Nowhere in the city does one realise so fully the disadvantages of a lack of space. New York, being an island, has had no room to spread. It is a town of human sardines. In the poorer quarters the congestion is unbelievable.Psmith and Mike picked their way through the groups of ragged children who covered the roadway. ”
