six o'clock
In fact , the boss soon determined that many others , like himself , were waiting for a chance at the first vacant one . Reluctantly he made up his mind to walk . He glanced up at the tower of the Metropolitan Building ; then stared in astonishment . The hands of the great dial were still perpendicular -- the hour indicated was still six o'clock ! Probably the only men in the whole of New York who accepted promptly and unquestioningly the fact that the entire electrical apparatus of the city was paralyzed were those in the newspaper offices . These capable citizens , accustomed to quick adaptations to new environments and to wide reaches of the imagination , made two or three experiments , and accepted the inevitable . Within ten minutes the _ Despatch _ had messenger boys on tap instead of bells , bicycles instead of telephones , and a variety of lamps and candles in place of electricity .