USA > New York > Comley's history of the state of New York, embracing a general review of her agricultural and mineralogical resources, her manufacturing industries, trade and commerce, together with a description of her great metropolis, from its settlement by the Dutch, in 1609 > Part 8
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COMLEY'S HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
51,466. Of these committed, 41,514 were of intemperate habits. The police fur nished 185,124 lodgings at its stations. The cost of the police system is about $4,000,000 a year. The Commissioners of Public Charities and Corrections have made no official report since 1871, but some details are to be found under another head.
Education .- The public instruction of the city of New York is under the charge of a Board of Education, consisting of 21 Commissioners of Common Schools, which has charge of all the common schools and such corporate schools as share in the school money of the State. This board reported the whole number of schools within their jurisdiction December 31st, 1874, as 287, including 57 grammar-schools for males, 45 for females, 11 for mixed sexes, 47 primary schools, and 64 primary departments; there is I female normal school, I normal school for teachers, and i model training school in connection with the Normal College ; and there are 13 corporate schools. The public schools are held in 121 buildings, of which 67 are for grammar, 48 for primaries, and 6 for colored. The whole number of scholars taught in 1874 was 251,545, and the average attendance 117,239. The whole number of teachers employed 3215, of which over 3000 are females. The expense of teachers amounted to $2,433,418.68, and the total cost of the system $3,475,313.20. The amount of State school-tax paid by the city of New York in 1874 was $1,381,445.86, and the total amount received from the State for the schools of the county, $554, 191.99. The Normal College, the Normal School for teachers, and the Model School, gave instructions to 1996 persons. Of the 512 attendants at the college sessions, 187 were graduated with diplomas. There is also an evening high-school, attended chiefly by adults, at which the highest branches of education are taught. In 1873, the Board of Education was authorized to establish a Nautical School, and in 1874 Congress authorized the Secretary of the Navy to furnish a suitable vessel. A vessel was designated, and the school is now in opera- tion. An act of compulsory education was passed in 1874, and Randall's Island set aside for the reception of delinquents between the ages of 8 and 14. The College of the City of New York, better known as the Free Academy, is a part of the gen- eral system of public instruction, an attendance of one year at some one of the public schools being a requisite to admission. It has been in successful operation for twenty nine years. The Roman Catholics have 20 select schools, averaging 1600 pupils, and about 50 parochial schools, with over 20,000 pupils. Of Jewish education there are no returns made public. They chiefly avail themselves of public schools. The Hebrew Free School Association limits its instruction to the Hebrew lan- guage. There are two important literary colleges, both of which make annual reports and are subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The older, Columbia College, was established under the name of King's College by royal charter in the year 1754, and its privileges were confirmed by an act of the State, April 13th, 1787, and by subsequent acts of legislature. In the college proper there are 9 professorships and 2 tutorships; in the school of mines there are 8 professorships ; in the school of law, 4 professorships, including one of medical jurisprudence. The number of students, under-graduates, in the college in the year 1873, was 123; the number of graduates in the month of June, the same year, 21 ; the number of graduates in the school of mines, 5 ; the number of graduates in the school of law (bachelors of law), 138. The charge of tuition in the college and school of law is $1oo per annum ; in the school of mines, $200 per annum. The old site of King's College was on the beautiful square between Murray, Church, Barclay, and Chapel streets (the latter now known as West Broadway). This college, now known
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as Columbia, occupies an equally beautiful site at the corner of Forty-ninth street and Fourth avenue. The value of the grounds and buildings now occupied is estimated at $800,ooo, and the total value of its property at $4.582,000. Its revenues reach the sum of $393,000, and its expenditures $208,ooo. The second of the literary institutions is the University of the City of New York. It has four depart- ments-arts, sciences, medicine, and law. The first two named are directed by 14 professors; the number of undergraduates in 1873 was 121 ; of graduates, 10. The third, of medicine, is directed by 14 professors; number of students, 217. The fourth, of law, by a president and four professors; number of students, 35. Instruc- tion is free in the departments of arts and science to all who pass the preliminary examinations, no charge being made beyond an incidental fee of $15 per annum. For the department of medicine the charge is $140; for that of law, Sioo. The revenue of the University was $36,646.57, and its expenditure 836,646.57. Besides these widely-known institutions there are-the College of St. Francis Xavier, number of professors, 10 ; number of students in 1873, 80 ; number of grad- uates, 21; value of buildings and adjuncts, $228,000 ; of other property, $172,000 ; revenue, $36,084 ; expenditure, $31,0844 ; price of tuition, $60 per annum. Manhat- ten College: number of professorships, 10; number of students in 1873, So; in preparatory department. 467; in commercial department, 126 ; total, 673 ; no degrees given in the year named ; value of buildings and adjuncts, $233,300; other property. $112,000 ; revenue. 862,343.34; expenditures, $65,357.59; tuition, including board. $600 per annum. The Rutgers Female College: instructors, 12; number of students, undergraduates, in 1873, 68; graduates, 8; no building owned ; revenue. various sources, $17,824.45 ; expenditure, $19,376.14. In addition to these seminaries of general learning there are several medical colleges, first among which is the College of Physicians and Surgeons, medical department of Columbia College (already named above), number of professors, 19; number of students in 1873, 390 ; number of graduates, 99; value of building and grounds, $154,000 ; other property. $11,000; revenue. $12, 142.50; expenditure, $15,366.59; price of tuition, Si4o. The Homeopathic Medical College of the State of New York in the City of New York : students, 100; graduates in 1873, 38. The New York Medical College and Hospital for Women, New York City: professorships, 12; number of students in 1873, 25 ; graduates, 9 ; value of building and adjuncts, $63,500 ; of other property, $17.500 : revenue, $3375 ; expenditure, $5740; price of tuition, $70. The Eclectic Medical College, New York City : professorships, 8; number of students, 37; of graduates, 21; value of property (no building), $15,000 ; revenue, $755 ; expenditure, $755: price of tuition, Sioo. The New York College of Dentistry: professorships, 13: number of students, 39; graduates, 10; revenne, $5677.99; expenditure, 86129.70; price of tuition, Sioo per annum. New York Free Medical College for Women : professorships, 14; number of students, 43. Summary .- Instructors, 3365 : number of students, 277,310; cost of instruction, $3,808,381. In addition to these institu- tions, incorporated by the State or making report to constituted authorities, there are numerous schools for the education of both sexes in the highest departments of knowledge, some of which are as extensive and well known as the colleges. Mr. Peter Cooper has also established an institution for the education of the working classes, which is under the charge of a board of trustees, and to this he has given a building valued at $500,000, and made other munificent donations. The instruction includes engineering, the arts of design, modelling. The tuition and lectures are free.
There are twenty-three libraries of circulation and reference, several of
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which have reading-rooms attached. The principal is the Astor Library, founded on a bequest of Jolin Jacob Astor, organized under a board of trustees in 1848, with a collection of 70,000 volumes, and made by the distinguished Dr. Joseph G. Cogswell, with a view to the providing of a reference library of works not otherwise of easy access. The original building, 65 feet front by 120 feet deep, is situated on Astor Place. William B. Astor, son of the founder, has since added a second building of similar size, and the number of vol- umes had increased to 150,306 on January ist, 1875. The buildings are elegant and commodious. The books are free to the public, for use only in the library. The only other free library is the Lenox, incorporated January 21st, 1870, for which a large and beautiful building has been recently completed, covering the whole front of the block on Fifth avenue, between Seventieth and Seventy-first streets, and con- manding a fine view of Central Park. In it the large and valuable collection of the founder, James Lenox, whose munificent gift includes also the real estate and buildings, will be deposited. It is the largest and finest collection of books on early American history ever formed. There will also be a fine-art gallery and a collection of curiosities. The New York Historical Society occupies a fine building on the corner of Eleventh street and Second avenue, the capacity of which it has for some years outgrown. It has a collection of historical works, newspapers from 1704 to the present date, manuscripts, public and private documents of great value, and is the favorite receptacle for family papers of historical importance. The collection of books reaches 60,000 ; of newspapers bound 2319. It lias also a large collection of American antiquities, the famous Abbot Egyptian collection, the Lenox Nineveh marbles, and one of the most extensive and finest art collections in the country. It is supported by a large membership of the leading citizens. The oldest library in the city is the New York Society Library, situated in University Place, between Twelfthi and Thirteenth streets. It was organized in 1740, and incorporated in 1754, has a collection of about 70,000 volumes for circulation and reference, and has a reading-room. It is maintained by annual dues. The Mercantile Library Asso- ciation, Clinton Hall, Astor Place, originally organized for the benefit of merchants' clerks, to whom access is given at a merely nominal charge, has a very large col- lection of current literature, 158,0344 volumes, and a fine and extensively-used read- ing-room, where both foreign and domestic reviews, magazines, and periodicals are amply supplied. The library is chiefly used for circulation. In addition, there is an admirable system of lectures and classes. The American Geographical Society has rooms in Cooper Institute. It has a good library of books on geography and a valuable collection of charts, maps, and other documents. It is the only institution in the country wholly devoted to geographical science. The Union Theological Seminary has a large and noted collection, chief among which are early American tracts. The Episcopal Theological Seminary has also a large collection. The American Institute is particularly strong in works on mechanics and engineering. The Apprentices' Library, free to this class and female employees, has a large assortment of general literature. The Law Institute has a carefully-selected library, and a reading-room attached for the use of the bar. The Chamber of Commerce has a small but extremely valuable collection of works on finance and subjects of commercial interest. There are several societies for the promotion of the fine arts. The National Academy of Design, instituted in 1826, owns a building on the corner of Twenty-third street and Fourth avenne, and has large and valuable collections. The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, incorporated in 1870, occupies an elegant building on Fourteenth street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. It has a carefully
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selected and choice collection of antiquities and curiosities, some of great value, chief among which is the Cesnola collection. A building for the accommodation of this museum is now being erected in Central Park. A Studio Art-building As- sociation was organized in 1865, and is located on Tenth street, near Sixth avenue: it is mainly used by artists for studios. There are 444 newspapers and periodicals published in the city of New York. Of these 28 are daily, 8 semi-weekly, 187 weekly, 22 semi-monthly, 180 monthly, 3 bi-monthly, and 16 quarterly; 32 are in foreign languages-16 German, 9 Spanish, 3 French, 2 Scandinavian, 2 Swedish ; 99 have a circulation of over 5000 copies. The ten leading newspapers are the Daily News, one cent, with a daily circulation of 127,360 ; the Sun, two cents, daily circulation, 119,792, weekly, 73.533; the Herald, three cents, daily, 85,000, weekly, 15,000; the Tribune, four cents, daily, 43,833, semi-weekly, 10,000, weekly, 48,000, the Times, four cents, daily, 42,000, weekly, 30,000 ; the Staats-Zeitung (German). daily, 30,000, weekly, 15,000. Of the illustrated papers, Harper's Weekly has a cir- culation of 100,000 ; Frank Leslie's Illustrated News, weekly, 50,000 ; the Graphic, daily, 11,000. Of the literary papers two are devoted to stories and tales-the New York Ledger, with a circulation of 300,000, and the New York Weekly, with a circula- tion of 180,000. Of the religious papers, the Christian Union, weekly, has a circula- tion of 78,333 ; the Christian Advocate, 45,000; the Catholic Review, 20,000; the Sun- day-School Journal, monthly, 75,000 ; the Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Aldro- cate, 100,000. Of the magazines, Harper's Monthly has 130,000; Scribner's Monthly, 48,000; St. Nicholas, a child's magazine, 40,000 ; the Galaxy, 18,000.
Churches .- New York is largely provided with churches. The total number, together with mission organizations, is 470, of which 334 have edifices of their own, with accommodations for 350,000 persons, and valued at $28,800,000. Of the organi- zations, 92 are Protestant Episcopal, 70 Presbyterian, 58 Methodist Episcopal, 46 Baptist, 40 Roman Catholic, and 27 Jewish. In the Protestant churches, chapels, etc., there are seats for 250,000 persons, but it is estimated that the average attend- ance does not exceed 150,000. Of the Protestant churches, 240 are regularly incor- porated, with an average membership of 300, giving a total of 72,000 communicants. There are in addition 140 Protestant missions, where religious instruction and service are regularly maintained. The latest census gives 365 Protestant Sabbath- schools, with 88,237 scholars on roll, and an average attendance of 56, 187 ; and of Roman Catholics, Jews, etc., there are 59 Sabbath-schools, having 27,589 scholars on roll, and an average attendance of 18,274. The total number of missionaries is 266, who make 800,000 visits a year, besides hundreds of tract visitors, poor visitors, and other humbler agents.
There are 5 free reading-rooms for seamen and 15 for workingmen, and 10 daily prayer-meetings. The churches most famous for their size, cost, and archi- tectural beauty, are Trinity, Grace, St. George's, the new Fifth avenue Presbyterian, the Reformed Collegiate, and the Jewish Synagogue ; a new cathedral is also being erected by the Roman Catholics, which will exceed in size and splendor any church in the city. It is of white marble, covers an entire block, and is in the Gothic order.
Charities .-- New York is famous for its munificent and cosmopolitan charities. bothi at home and abroad. It has never failed to respond to an appeal for aid, and the eyes of suffering nations and communities are first turned to her. Ireland in its famine, France in its floods and desolation, England in its manufacturing distress, even in time of war, found a ready response. And so has every American in its day of distress-witness Portland, Chicago, Boston, etc. The municipal charities of
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New York are intrusted to a board of management entitled the Commissioners of Public Charities and Corrections, who have charge of all the criminals, paupers, and public sick of the city.
The prisons, hospitals, asylums, ahnshouses, nurseries, etc., numbering 27 insti- tutions (viz., the Almshouse, Hospital for Incurables, Asylum for the Blind, Bellevue Hospital, City Prison, Randall's Island Hospitals, Workhouse, Charity Hospital, Fever Hospital, Small Pox Hospital, Infants' Hospital, Inebriate Asylum, Asylum on Ward's Island, Lunatic Asylum, Epileptic and Paralytic Hospitals, Randall's Island Nursery, Free Labor and Intelligence Bureau, Industrial School, Hart's Island, and School Ship Mercury), received last year 153,271 subjects. The depart- ment for the outdoor poor gave relief to 22,782. Correct conclusions cannot, how- ever, be drawn from these figures, as the same persons appear more than once upon the register. The money expended in sustaining the board amounted to $1.541,- 685.50. The immigrants are under the care of the Commissioners of Emigration ; of the 267,901 alien passengers landed in 1874 at the port of New York, 51,871 were relieved, forwarded, or provided with employment by the commission ; 12,586 were cared for in the refuge and hospital on Ward's Island-an institution supporting an average of about 2000 persons. The total expenses of the commission were $466,- 108.22. Besides these public there are numerous private institutions, endowed by the voluntary benefactions of the citizens, in some cases aided by State or municipal appropriations. The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor expends about $50,000 annually, and relieves about 5000 families. Last year being a year of extraordinary suffering, aid was given to 24,091 families. The New York City Mission gave aid to 2500 families in 1874. The Howard Mission and the House of Industry disbursed large sums. The Prison Association, the Home for Female Prisoners, and the Midnight Mission are humane reformatories. There are 27 hos- pitals in the city, of which 15 have large and commodious buildings, the recent erections being admirably adapted to sanitary and curative puposes. The oldest of these institutions is the New York Hospital, founded under a colonial charter in 1771. The large and beautiful site which it occupied for nearly a century has been sold, and this favorite institution has lost its old prestige. The Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, located at One Hundred and Seventeenth street, between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, is a branch of the New York Hospital. A farm of 300 acres has been purchased at White Plains, and suitable buildings will shortly be ready for the reception of patients. St. Luke's Hospital occupies spacious buildings on the corner of Fifty-fourth street and Fifth avenue.
The property of this institution was exempted from taxation and assessment by legislative act in 1870. Mt. Sinai Hospital, formerly known as the Jews' Hospi- tal, was established in 1852. It occupies a large building on Lexington Avenue from Sixty-sixth to Sixty-seventh street. The Roosevelt Hospital, a bequest of James H. Roosevelt, who died in 1863, has extensive buildings erecting on Ninth avenue, corner of Fifty-sixth street. There are, besides, the German Hospital, incorporated 1866; St. Francis's Hospital, 1866, under the charge of the Poor of St. Francis; St. Vincent's, 1849, under the Sisters of Charity; the Presbyterian Hos- pital, 1868 ; Women's Hospital for Surgical Treatment of Women, 1855; New York Asylum for Lying-in Women, 1822; New York Society for the Relief of Rup- tured and Crippled, 1863; New York Infirmary for Women and Children : New York Homeopathic Infirmary for Women; the Hahnemann Hospital; Hospital for Diseases of the Nervous System ; Metropolitan Medical and Surgical Institute : Strangers' Hospital. There are four eye and ear infirmaries: the New York Eye
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and Ear Infirmary, founded IS20; in 1874 there were treated 10,486 patients, of whom 7464 were for diseases of the eye, 2439 of the ear, 583 of the nose and throat. The expenses for the same year were $28,011.70. Manhattan Eve and Ear Hospital; New York Ophthalmic Hospital; New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute. There are 7 city dispensaries, which supply gratuitously medicines and medical and surgical attendance, and are mainly supported by subscriptions and gifts from the legislature. Besides these, there are several supported by private contributions. The New York Dispensary, corner of Centre and White streets, established 1790, supplies an average of 40,000 patients at an expenditure of $10,000. The Central Dispensary, the Demilt, the Eastern, the Manhattanville, Northern, Northeastern. Northwestern, Western, Harlem, Hoffman, German, Orthopaedic, Dispensary for Diseases of the Skin, Bond Street, New York Homeopathic Medical College, Metropolitan Homeopathic, Northwestern Homero- pathic, Western Homeopathic, Western Dispensary for Women and Children, Eclectic. There are two institutions for the deaf and dumb : the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, incorporated in 1817, occupies buildings 650 feet in length, cover- ing two acres, and accommodating 450 pupils; the Institution for the Improved Instruction of Deaf-Mutes. There are three institutions for the blind : the New York Institution for the Blind, which receives pay pupils and others at State charge for $300 per annum ; the Blind Mechanics' Association, which secures employment for blind adults ; the Holy Light Home for the Blind, for the support of the aged and infirm, without regard to religion or nationality. There are 26 religious, edu- cational, and other Roman Catholic organizations, reformatory and charitable. (! benevolent societies there are 51, of trades' unions about 50, and of secret and benefit societies about the same number. Besides these, there are 75 other charitable insti- tutions. The Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, House of Refuge, Randall's Island, occupies two large structures rooo feet in length, in the Italian order of architecture; the workshops 30 by ico feet, three stories high; con- nected therewith a school for seamanship.
The New York Juvenile Aschuim receives truant and friendless children ; accom- modates 500 inmates; the city pays Sito for each child supported. The Children's Aid Society seeks to secure homes for friendless children in country families ; schools are attached which educate from 9000 to 10,000 scholars annually. A newsboys' lodging-house is connected with the society, which has provided over 70,000 boys with permanent homes and employment. The New York Catholic Protectory has extensive buildings in Westchester County. The Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum has a large building, and supports about 200 children annually. There is also an Industrial Home for Jewesses, and the Noah Benevolent Widows' and Or- phans' Association. The Colored Orphan Asylum, whose premises were destroyed during the riots in July, 1863, has since erected new buildings; the average number cared for is 260. The Five Points Mission provides food and clothing for the poor, and temporary shelter for the homeless; its school attendance, over 400. There are several institutions for seamen-the American Seamen's Friend Society, the Sailors' Home, etc. ; and a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The foregoing include the best known of these numerous and valuable institu- tions, all of which draw largely from the private munificence of the charitable com- munity of New York. The organized local charitable societies and institutions re- ceive and disburse annually $2,500,000.
Public Buildings .- The most noted buildings are the City Hall, in the Park. erected in 1803, a graceful and elegant structure. Adjoining is the new Court-House.
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a large edifice, notorious as the means by which the city treasury was robbed of a large amount of money by William M. Tweed and his followers. They are both in marble, except the rear of the City Hall, which is brown stone, the authorities having then no idea that the city limits would extend any higher. The Custom-House, formerly the Merchants' Exchange, is an immense and massive structure of Quincy granite. The columns are 38 feet in height and 412 feet in diameter. The Sub- Treasury occupies the old Custom-House, a beautiful and spacions building in white marble. The new Post-Office, the finest public structure in the city, and admira- bly adapted for its purpose, was begun in 1869 and finished in 1875. It occupies the southern angle of the Park. The Western Union Telegraph Company and the Evening Post occupy fine structures of brick, with stone trimmings, upon Broadway, below the Park. The New York Tribune Association has lately completed a brick building on Printing-house Square, with a tower of enormous height, which has attracted attention and comments. Of the new buildings in the upper part of the city, the Grand Central Depot, the Windsor Hotel, the Gilsey House, and the Buck- ingham are the most prominent. The Albany and the Saratoga are large structures of flats on the French plan, now rapidly growing in favor. The Lenox Library has already been noticed. A marked feature of the social life of the city is the preva- lence of clubs, of which there are forty, including literary and sporting associations, for friendly intercourse. The most celebrated of these are the Union, limited to 1000 members, with a full membership, and occupying an elegant building on Fifth avenue; the Union League, with a roll even more extensive, and a fine house in Madison Square. The New York, Knickerbocker, Travellers', Century, Lotos, and the German Club on Reservoir Square. These institutions are provided with restaurants, and are daily and numerously attended. The city is admirably provided with parks, which have been aptly termed the " lungs" of the cities. The Centrai Park is noticed elsewhere. There are also the Battery, Bowling Green, the City Hall Park-all historical ground-Tompkins, Washington, Union, Madison, and Reservoir Squares, and, at the northern end of the island, Mount Morris Square and Iligh Bridge and Morningside Parks. The total area in acres and thousandths is 1007.251. The lower part of the city is quite irregularly built ; but from Houston street, about a mile north of the City Hall Park, the construction is regular, with long avenues running to the northern end of the island, and laterally traversed by streets which, like the avenues, are designated by numbers. Broadway, the most famous of the avenues. is an exception to this rule, and in its long extent of six miles crosses five of the avennes in a north-westerly direction. Broadway is lined with shops and hotels, and is one of the gavest streets in the world. Fifth Avenue, with its magnificent private residences, churches, and club-houses, is one unbroken series of architectural display; the natural advantages of this fine avenue, which runs along the ridge of the island, make it the favorite site for residence. Broad and extensive boulevards have been recently laid out in the upper part of the island, . which, connecting with the Central Park, offer long and agreeable drives,
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