The reflection from a mirror, of course, but it took me several
minutes to determine its location.
Ah, there it was--a peculiar combination, in polished copper, of
triple glasses fixed to the sill of a second-story window in the
house directly opposite. The device is in common use in
Philadelphia and Baltimore, but here in New York it must be classed
as an exotic. Its very name is unfamiliar, and I dub it the
"Philadelphia Quizzing-Glass" for want of a better term. You
understand, of course, that the mirrors are hinged together and
adjustable to any angle. It is consequently possible for an
observer sitting in the room to remain entirely out of sight and
yet command a view of all that passes in the street below. An
ingenious contrivance, then, for keeping one's self informed upon
the business of the neighborhood. But New-Yorkers, if not less
inquisitive, are more energetic than their Quaker cousins, and
prefer the direct method of leaning out of the window, or, if need
be, going down into the street itself. Still, there is something to
be said for the "quizzing -glass," for we may look upon it as the
range- finder of the domestic fortress, forewarning us of the
approach of the bore and the process- server. Obviously, the
ability to look round a corner may save us from many of the minor
complications that embitter modern life.
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