USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 11
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1848. Never was there a better investment made than that of the Croton Aqueduct by the citizens of any other city. It has proved itself of great benefit, not only in a sanitary and financial point of view, but as a real source of enjoyment-its construction having given rise
MOUTH OF THE CROTON RIVER
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to many imposing works of art of which New-Yorkers may justly be proud.
Beginning at the "Dam," the waters of the Croton flow to the Distributing Reservoir in Central Park, forty
CROTON AQUEDUCT AT SING SING.
miles and a half, through a covered viaduct made of stone and brick. In its course, it flows through sixteen tunnels in rock, varying in length from one hundred and sixty to one thousand two hundred and sixty-three feet. As it passes through Sing Sing and over the Kill, it becomes an
CROTON DAM.
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THE HIGH BRIDGE.
VIEW ON BLOOMINGDALE ROAD.
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VIEW IN CENTRAL PARK.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
elliptical arch of hewn granite, of eighty-eight feet span, with its key-stone more than seventy feet from the waters of the brook beneath it. In Westchester County it crosses twenty-five streams, from twelve to seventy feet below the line of grade, besides numerous small brooks furnished with, culverts. Upon its reaching Harlem River, it passes
MANHATTANVILLE FROM CLAREMONT.
over from the main-land to Manhattan Island by the " High Bridge," justly considered one of the most mag- nificent structures on the continent. Built of granite, the " High Bridge," or aqueduct, is one thousand four hun- dred and fifty feet in length, and rests upon arches sup-
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ported by fourteen pieces of heavy and elaborate masonry. Eight of these arches are eighty feet span, and six of them fifty feet high. The height of the bridge above the water is one hundred and fourteen feet. The original cost of this structure was nearly a million of dollars. This point forms one of the "lions " of the city-to which any
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THE RESERVOIR, FIFTH AVENUE.
" cousin " or " friend " who visits New York must certainly be taken during his or her stay. Nor, indeed, could a more charming drive be taken in the suburbs of the city thar this. The Bloomingdale Road, which, leading through Manhattanville, conducts the visitor from the city to the " High Bridge," and, passing between hills covered with wood, affords, in the heats of summer, a delightful change from the dust and scorching stone sidewalks and brick walls of the town.
From the " High Bridge" (which; by the way, is at the foot of One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Street), the waters pass the Clendening Valley in an aqueduct one thousand nine hundred feet in length, and enter the Receiv- 64
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ing Reservoir in the Central Park. Hence the waters are conveyed to the Distributing Reservoir on Murray Hill. . The Reservoir stands in solemn contrast to the gay buildings of the Fifth Avenue, by which it is surrounded. "Its walls, in Egyptian style, are of dark granite, and average forty-four feet in height above the adjacent streets." Upon the top of the wall, which is reached by massive steps, is a broad promenade, from which may be obtained a fine view of the surrounding country. Per- fect security for the visitor is obtained by a strong battle- ment of granite on the outside, and an iron fence on the inside nearest the water. The water was first let into this reservoir on the 4th of July, 1842; and, on the 14th of the following October, distributed, by means of iron pipes, throughout the city .*
* The Croton Dam covers an area of four hundred acres, and contains 500,- 000,000 gallons of water. The usual flow of the water through the pipes is 30,000,000 ; its capacity 60,000.000. The Receiving Reservoir covers thirty-five acres, and contains 150.000,000 of gallons. The Distributing Reservoir holds 21,000,000 of gallons. "The ridge line, or water shed, enclosing the Croton Valley above the dam is 101 miles in length. The stream is 39 miles in length, and its tributaries 136 miles. The total area of the valley is 352 square miles, and within it are 31 natural lakes and ponds."-Lossing's Book of the Hudson.
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CHAPTER X.
NEW YORK had now fairly distanced all competitors. The gas had been introduced into the city in 1825; the New York University, notwithstanding the "Stone-cut- ters' Riot," finished in 1835; the magnificent Mer- chants' Exchange (the present Custom-house), and the Custom-house (now the Sub-treasury), erected in 1827; the Croton Aqueduct completed, and its practical utility inaugurated by a brilliant procession, in 1842, and a com- munication by the magnetic telegraph opened with other cities. Nothing was wanting to her temporal 1842. prosperity ; her civil freedom was all that could be desired. One thing only was necessary to place her on a footing with her sister cities in breadth and liberality of senti- ment. Nor was she long in taking this last step. By the provisions of an act passed by the New York Board of Education on the 11th of April, 1842, it was declared that no school in which any religious or sectarian doctrine or tenet was taught should receive any portion of the school moneys to be distributed by this act. Archbishop Hughes at once took the ground that to allow the Bible to be read daily in the schools was teaching a sectarian doctrine, and therefore demanded that the schools in which it was read should not be included in the distribution of the moneys. Colonel Win. L Stone, who for many years had been one
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of the School Commission, and at this time (1843-'44) was the county superintendent of the Common Schools,*
immediately protested against the promulgation of 1843. this atrocious sentiment. A lengthy public discus-
1844. sion upon this point followed between the Arch- bishop and Colonel Stone, in which the latter carried the day; and at a meeting of the Board of Education, held November 13, 1844 (three months after Colonel Stone's death), the act was amended by a resolution to the effect "that the Bible, without note or comment, is not a secta- rian book, and that the reading of a portion of the Scrip- tures without note or comment, at the opening of the
* The difficulty which the author experienced in endeavoring to discover the year in which Colonel Stone was Superintendent of Common Schools deserves particular mention, as showing the shiftless manner in which the pub- lic records are kept in the city of New York. Wishing to ascertain the exact year in which Mr. Stone held the office, he went to a gentleman (we will call him A), whom he knew to be engaged in writing a history of our common schools, and asked the question. The gentleman was unable to tell him at the moment, but referred him to the Board of Education as the place where, of course, the desired information could be obtained. The author went there and asked an officer of the Board the question. He could not tell him, but referred him to a gentleman upstairs who would know. The latter, however, was equally in the dark, but, in his turn, referred his questioner to a gentleman down-stairs in another department, who, having been connected with the Board for a long term of years, would certainly know. Upon repeating the question to this one, he was informed that he did not know, as, until within a few years, the school records had not been annually printed, and that the manuscript kept by the different secretaries before that time was mislaid. He, however, was positive that if he should go to Mr. - , in Wall Street, he would know, as he was one of the School Commissioners in the year designated. To him, therefore, the author went ; but his astonishment may well be imagined when that person said he had entirely forgotten, but stated that if he would go to such a one-mentioning the veritable Mr. A .- he could undoubtedly tell him, as he was now engaged upon a history of the common schools! This, if not " reasoning in a circle," certainly was questioning in a circle, the questioner having brought up at the very point from which he started ! Finally, upon the author making a second visit to the room of the Board, an attache of the ยท place, who had a dim recollection of a record-book being in the cellar, went - down stairs, and, after much search, exhumed the manuscript, from which, after patient search, the desired information was brought to light. Now, if such difficulty exists in ascertaining-not an insignificant fart, but one relating to the Superintendent of Common Schools only twenty years since-what would
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schools, is not inculcating or practicing any religious or sectarian doctrine or tenet of any particular Christian or other religious sect." The catholic spirit of New York's Dutch ancestors had triumphed. Henceforth it is to be hoped that she will be as cosmopolitan in her religious as she is in her civil rights.
In 1845 New York was again visited by a conflagra- tion second only in its ravages to the one of 1835.
The burnt district embraced Broadway, Exchange Place, New, Broad, Beaver, Marketfield, Stone and Whitehall Streets, and -which is a striking 1845. coincidence-a portion of the same region devas- tated by the great conflagration in 1835, ten years before.
be the difficulty in finding the history of events which occurred thirty, forty, or fifty years ago?
We have stated the above with no intention of throwing censure upon the officers of the present Board. The fault lies not at their door. On the con- trary, with great courtesy, they endeavored to aid us to the extent of their ability, and realized in its fullest extent the evils of the manner in which the records had in former times been kept. Indeed, it is only justice to say that it has been through their exertions that the proceedings have latterly been printed.
Another remarkable illustration of the subject existed a few years ago in the basement of the City Hall, under the County Clerk's office. The ancient rolls of the Colonial Courts were one grand pile of parchment, lying in mass, and great quantities were stolen and sold to gold-beaters. It would probably be impossible at the present time to find the judgment-roll in any cause tried prior to the year 1787, unless by chance. Possibly there has been more care of late in the preservation of these records. Their value cannot be overesti- mated. (See also Appendix XII., in regard to the destruction of the records in the Hall of Records by the mice.)
Although there may be spasmodic attempts by individuals to bring about a reform in this regard, vet we greatly fear that it will continue so long as the true cause of the difficulty remains, to wit, that political maxim-the bane of American institutions-" to the victors belong the spoils." New office-holders care little for old records; and, throwing aside all sentiment in the matter, unless this thing is rectified, it will, in time, embarrass the practical business relations of every-day life. More attention must be paid to preserving records. It is not necessary to make enormous jobs, such as the atrocity which was per- petrated in New York City in reference to the Register's office. What is needed is a general respect for the value of old records, and the adoption of preservative means.
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"It broke out on July 19th, 1845, completely destroying Exchange Place and Beaver Street, from Broadway almost to William. Both sides of Broad Street, from above Ex- change Place to Stone, with the east sides of Broadway and Whitehall, were consumed. Above Exchange Place the flames crossed Broadway, and consumed a number of buildings on its west side. During the progress of the fire a tremendous explosion took place, similar to that of 1835, in a building stored with saltpeter. The owner contended that this article could not explode, which gave rise to the long-debated question, " Will saltpeter ex- plode ?" and for a long time able and scientific men warmly took sides in the arguments. Explosive or not, this was the second store filled with the article that blew up, causing great alarm and destruction to the neighborhood.
" Three hundred and forty-five buildings were swept away at this time. Their value, with the goods, was estimated at about five millions of dollars. Among other things destroyed was the "Old Jail Bell," which had hung and rung in the cupola of that ancient civil pest- house and prison during the American Revolution. There, as already stated, for years it was the fire-alarm, or signal, and was considered especially the firemen's bell, as it could be depended upon at all times. At an early period, when it uttered its warning tones, citizens, with fire-buckets on thei: arms, might have been seen hastening to the scene of danger and forming into parallel lines, one to pass the full buckets to fill the engines, and the other to return the empty ones for refilling. Most of the New York families had such leather buckets, which generally hung in some prominent part of the hall or entry, ready at hand in case of need." *
The signal-bell rang in the days of John Lamb and pleasant-faced Tommy Franklin, and during Jameson
* Hon. G. P. Disosway.
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Cox's and Wyman's and Gulick's administrations. It was cherished by the firemen, and, upon the destruction of the Bridewell, the old bell was placed in the cupola of the Naiad Hose Company, Beaver Street, and was still devoted to its long-established uses. But the great fire of '45 swept away this building, with its venerable bell; and the faithful old public sentinel, sounding its last alarm, suc-
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BARNUM'S MUSEUM AND ST. PAUL'S CHURCHI.
cumbed to the flaming foe against which it had so many years successfully warned the citizens.
Many fires have occurred since the one of 1845. The Crystal Palace (1858), Barnum's Museum (1865), Harp- er's Building (1853), the old Irving House and the Acad- emy of Music (1866), and the Winter Garden Theater (1867), have fallen before the destroyer-cach involving
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heavy losses ; but the city has never since been visited by such wholesale destruction of property ; and it is fervently to be hoped that New York, protected by its present effi- cient Fire Department, has experienced the last of similar calamities.
Indeed, with the exception of Constantinople, New York has, perhaps, suffered more frequently from con- flagrations than any other city in the world. Hamil- ton said in his time that one could not be twenty-four hours in New York without hearing an alarm of fire. This observation was repeated by a writer who published a' small work, in 1837, called A Glance at New York, who added that one alarm a day would be a small average, and that it would be nearer the truth to say that the firemen of New York were called out five hundred times a year- a statement which all familiar with New York at that time, and for years before it, can corroborate. Many of these, undoubtedly, were false alarms, raised by boys for the pleasure of running after the fire-engines. We have had no fire of the magnitude of that of London in 1666, which laid waste four hundred and thirty-six acres, destroyed eighty-nine churches, thirteen thousand two hundred houses, and left two hundred thousand people temporarily without homes ; nor like the fire in Hamburg, in 1842, which burned down sixty-one streets and one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven houses; nor like the Chi- cago fire, which burned over five acres, and left one hundred thousand of her citizens houseless. But if the frequency of fires in the city, the magnitude of some of them, and the amount of property destroyed, be collectively consid- ered, it will be seen that New York, perhaps, has suffered more heavily from this kind of calamity than any other city of modern times.
Still, it must be admitted that, as a general thing, all of the conflagrations, both general and individual; with
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which New York has been visited, have in the end proved of great benefit, by causing more spacious and elegant edifices to arise, phoenix-like, out of the ashes. Perhaps in no other city of either hemisphere is there such a number of magnificent public and private edifices. Take Fifth Avenue, for example, which, although at present the chief of the fashionable promenades, is by no means the only handsome thoroughfare. For a distance of
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FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, MADISON SQUARE.
more than two miles one may pass between houses of the most costly description, built chiefly of brown free- stone, some of it elaborately carved. Travelers agree that in no other city in the world can there be found an equal number of really splendid mansions in a single street. At Madison Square, between Twenty-third and Twenty- sixth Streets, it is crossed diagonally by Broadway. At 65
THE THER
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the intersection, and fronting Madison Park, is the Fifth Avenue Hotel, built of white marble, and said to be one of the largest and most elegant buildings of the kind in the world.
It is therefore, not a little singular that New York, with her traditions and memories, should have so few
UNION SQUARE.
public monuments. True, there are a number of statues ; such, for example, as those of Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin, erected successively in 1856, 1870, and 1872; but it is a literal fact that, with the exception of the mural one to the memory of General Montgomery, in the front wall of St. Paul's, and the soldiers' monument in Trinity church-yard, the only public monument that
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SOLDIERS' MONUMENT IN TRINITY CHURCH-YARD.
WORTH
WORTH'S MONUMENT.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY.
can, with truth, be thus designated, is the one to the memory of the late General William J. Worth, of the United States army, erected by the corporation of the city of New York in 1858. It is of Quincy granite, 1858. the apex is fifty-one feet from the ground, and the smooth surface of the shaft is broken by raised bands, on which are the names of the battles in which General Worth had distinguished himself in the War of 1812 and the war with Mexico. On the lower section of the shaft are representations of military trophies in bronze relief. The entire execution and designing of the work is due to Mr. James G. Batterson, who deserves great praise for the admirable manner in which his task was performed. The site of the monument-which is inclosed in a plain iron railing, and surrounded by green turf-is most happily chosen ; and, in addition to being a worthy tribute to a beloved and gallant soldier of the Empire State, is a hand- some ornament to the brilliant and fashionable locality.
In the same year (1845) the Post-office was removed from the Rotunda in the City Hall Park to the Middle Dutch Church, where it still (1872) remains. 1845. Harper's Magazine for October, 1871, in giving a reliable and minute sketch of the New York Post-office and it: traditions, says :
" Immediately after the destruction of the Post-office in the great fire of 1835, it had been removed temporarily to the brick stores in Pine, near Nassau Street ; the destruction of such an enormous number of buildings making it impossible to obtain a suitable building in the vicinity of the burned district. In this strait, the city authorities offered the Rotunda in the City Hall Park, erected in 1818, by Vandelyn, the artist, for a studio and the exhibition of pan- oramic pictures. When it was understood the Government proposed to accept the Rotunda, busy as the merchants were in re-establishing themselves and counting up their losses, they found time to get up very demonstrative indig- nation meetings and protests against locating a post-office so far up town.
" The Post-office was, however, installed in the Rotunda, and the commer- cial pressure of 1837, which followed the great fire, diverted the public mind from the location of the Post-office. Illustrative of the pecuniary disaster of the period may be mentioned that, in the ' collapse,' many of the merchants of the day owed the letter-carriers various sums, ranging from fifty to one hundred and
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fifty dollars, much of which money was never paid, the debtors being irretrieva- bly ruined. This year the mail time between New York and New Orleans was reduced to six days and six hours. But the people, nevertheless, were impa- tient for more rapid communication, for we find in a Chicago paper of the time this notice :
".HIGHLY IMPORTANT .- By a foot passenger from the South we learn that the long- expected mail may be looked for in a week.'
"Fortunately for the interests of commerce and the unity of the country, rapid transit of news, cheap postage, and facilities for traveling, were approachi- ing consummation in the erection of railroad lines, with which private enter- prise was threading every section of the country. One triumph announced seemed only to create a demand for another, and when Amos Kendall carried
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THE MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH DURING THE REVOLUTION.
out the idea of connecting the non-continnous lines of railways by pony expresses, there was added a new value to the Post-office of New York. It began to assume its present central importance, and the promise of its brilliant future was almost realized, when the firing of guns from our national forts and vessels, with the ringing of bells, and cheers of thousands of exultant men, all joined in welcoming the first appearance of steam merchantinen in our harbor -the ever-to-be-remembered Sirius and Great Western.
" The inconvenience of having the Post-office so far from the center of busi- ness was still complained of, and, to quiet dissatisfaction as far as possible. a letter-delivery was established in the new Merchants' Exchange, where the
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Custom-house is now located, and placed in charge of Jameson Cox, an alder- man and ex-chief engineer. For letters two cents, for papers one cent, extra, was charged, which sums were paid without complaint by the merchants, and the amount thus collected paid to letter-carriers' charges.
" In the year 1826, Mr. Gouverneur had been removed, and James Page, Esq., postmaster of Philadelphia, commissioned to take charge, which super- vision was maintained for six weeks, when Jonathan J. Coddington was com- missioned postmaster. When the latter assumed the duties of his position the Post-office was in the Rotunda building and in the house of a hook-and-ladder company adjoining, and a ' hose-house on the opposite side of the way.' Noth- ing could have been more inconvenient, contrary to good discipline, and injuri- ous to expeditious business operations. To remedy these evils, Mr. Coddington built a handsome extension facing toward Wall Street. With this important addition, and other improvements, he brought the entire business (now con- stantly increasing) under one roof. The mails were received in Chambers Street, the box delivery was on Center Street, while the interior of the Rotunda was devoted to the general delivery.
" The location of the Post-office in the Rotunda seemed to be unsatisfactory to citizens living in every part of the city. An application was therefore made for the establishment of a branch post-office for the receipt and delivery of the mails in the upper part of the city. The reply was, that such an office could only be a branch of the one already existing, and that no compensation could be allowed for services beyond the two cents per letter paid the carriers. It was also doubted if the extent of New York demanded such an addition to its postal facilities. The proposition was also submitted to Mr. Coddington, and was opposed by him and his clerks, The subject was finally referred to the Chamber of Commerce, which recommended that there be established a sub- post-office for the reception of letters at Chatham Square, but not any place for the delivery of letters other than the existing arrangements at the Post-office and by the penny post. Such was the origin of the Chatham Square post- office, which maintained its popularity and usefulness until its occupation was destroyed by the present iron boxes now so familiar on the street corners.
" So much esteemed was Mr. Coddington by the officials at. Washington, that the Postmaster-General, under General Harrison's administration, informed him that, though a political opponent of the administration, he might retain his position. One week after this notice President Harrison died, and his succes- sor, John Tyler, promptly requested Mr. Coddington to renew his bonds. On this hint, after some hesitation, he did as requested, and forwarded them to Washington in June. The reply was promptly returned in the form of a com- mission creating 'John Lorimer Graham postmaster of New York, in place of Jonathan Coddington removed.'
" Mr. Coddington is still remembered among the old clerks of the Post- office, and the old merchants of the city, as one of the best of officers. He tried to learn the details of his position, and took pride in making every improve- ment that would render his department efficient. He was a man of great per- sonal independence, and, though a decided politician, he would not allow his bias that way to affect his official conduct. On one occasion a committee of ward politicians called upon him, and stated, through their chairman, that he had been assessed fifty dollars for partisan purposes. Mr. Coddington heard the proposition with patience, and then rising from his chair said :
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