A “What If” article titled “Eight Pre-historic Monsters Visit New York” published in the Richmond times-dispatch., February 28, 1915
[…] If the dinosaurs had visited lower Broadway to pay their respects to the Mayor, let us say, It would not have been at all impossible for the corythosaurus to have balanced itself on the steps of the City Hall and from that vantage point to have scratched his chin against the Statue of Justice which adorns the top of the Structure.
Next In size to the corythosaurus were the two deinodons. If these three had marched down Broadway side by side switching their enormous tails in their characteristic manner not only would pedestrians have been crowded off the side walks, but all projecting stoops and other sidewalk encroachments would have been as effectively demolished as if a cyclone had struck them.
These deinodons were equipped with huge eagle-like claws which would have enabled them to mount the irregular surfaces of some of the Broadway skyscrapers. We can imagine them making their way Slowly but surely up the sides of the Flatiron Building, for instance. While the going would have been somewhat difficult, owing to the straight up and down character of the building and the lack of architectural embellishments, the animals could no doubt have obtained a foothold by smashing in windows here and there.
Whether or not the combined weight of these monster, approximating forty-five tons, would have been sufficient to have demolished the building may be doubted, but it must be remembered that it was not constructed to resist any such concentrated weight as such a feat would involve. It is quite likely, at any rate, that if the building had not been brought thundering to the ground a large part of the structure would have given way under the weight, and the huge monsters would have been precipitated to the street, crashing through the new subway as though it were made of paper, and perhaps demolishing many of the smaller structures In the vicinity.
If less destructively bent, the parading dinosaurs might, nevertheless, have worked considerable havoc among the Broadway traffic.
No trolley car could for a moment withstand the shock of a collision with one of these living dreadnoughts. The corythosaurus. for instance, was about as long as one of the newest style cars, and had enormous strength. If this animal decided to clear Broadway, one mighty blow with its tail would be sufficient to lift a crowded car from the tracks and send it crashing Into the buildings.
A Battle-Royal Between Prehistoric and Modern Animals
Automobiles would have fared equally badly had they at tempted to dispute the right of way with the marching dinosaurs. The ankylosaurus would have been particularly dangerous to traffic if he had run amuck While he wasn’t quit as ponderous as some of the others, he was. so completely armored that artillery would have had to have been employed to have made, any impression on him.
He was like a huge barrel of steel eighteen feet long and six feet in diameter. His head was triangular, covered with bony plates. The entire body was protected, too. with solid bony plates, large on the back and smaller underneath. The ribs and the vertebrae were all fused together In solid formation. His principal weapon of offense was a huge club-like tail, which he could swing with deadly effect.
One can Imagine the futile efforts of the police to have captured this monster if he had gone on the rampage on Broadway. Shooting him would have been out of the question. Revolver bullets would have bounced off his bony armor like rubber balls. To have attempted to lasso him or trip him with ropes would have been vain, Big auto-trucks might have been used in an effort to push him along, but the most powerful machines made would have found him immovable. He weighed over twenty tons.
If the dinosaurs pursued a line of march up Broadway to Columbus Circle their attention, no doubt, would have been first attracted by the Columbus Monument. How long that column would have withstood their combined attack can be imagined.
More destruction would have followed their attempt to pursue their course along upper Broadway, for their combined weight would, no doubt, have bean too much for the pavement which covered the subway to have with stood, and the prehistoric parade would have dropped through. A collision between a rapidly moving express train and the struggling dinosaurs in the subway would have brought about a catastrophe as unusual and as thrilling as it would have been stupendous.
After one or two adventures of thin character we can imagine the procession moving east toward Central Park, where the trees and foliage would have afforded some of the surroundings to which they were more accustomed. In the course of their wanderings through the park they would, no doubt, have come upon the menagerie, and then would have ensued one of the most interesting episodes their visit — a tussle between the prehistoric monsters and their modern prototypes.
If the dinosaurs escaped this conflict their course might have led them to one of the huge electric. plants on the East side, and there another battle would have taken place. We can imagine the terrified beasts crashing into the big plant and falling blindly on the great, revolving dynamos. Some of the machinery, no doubt, would have been speedily placed out of commission, but sooner or later the foolish monsters would have run foul of the current, and the enormous voltage would have resulted in their electrocution. Thus the unbridled power of bygone ages would have fallen a victim to the harnessed wonder of modern times.