USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, 1609-1909 > Part 40
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Mention has been made of the "America's Cup," originally called the "Queen's Cup," which was won by the schooner yacht America in an interna- tional competition under the offer of the Royal Yacht Squadron of England, in 1851. Since then there have been challenge contests from English yacht owners in 1870, 1871, 1876, 1881, 1886, 1893, 1895, 1899, 1901 and 1903. The race in 1886 was with the Boston sloop Mayflower as defender of the cup, defeating the English cutter Galatea in two consecutive races over the Sandy Hook course. In 1893, Lord Dunraven offered his yacht, Valkyrie II, as challenger and was defeated by the American yacht Vigilant. Two years later Lord Dunraven again challenged with his yacht Valkyrie III, against the American yacht Defender, and after being defeated in one race, won the second, but was deprived of the victory because of a foul. The Englishman claimed that he had been cheated, and refused to race again, charging the American yachtsmen with unsportsmanlike conduct, and visited this country to press the charge. His complaints were dismissed and he was dropped from the list of the members of the New York Yacht Club, under whose auspices the race had been held. The last three races have been contested by Sir Thomas Lipton with his yachts Shamrock I, in 1899; Shamrock II, in 1901 ; and Sham- rock III, in 1903. Sir Thomas made a gallant effort each time and his yachts were ably sailed, but were found not to be quite capable of the speed attained by the contesting American yachts, though the contests with Sir Thomas have all been characterized by the highest type of international courtesy and good feeling.
On March II to 14, 1888, the entire Eastern seaboard was visited by a blizzard which was more disastrous in its results than any that ever visited New York City in historic times. At one time the snow-laden wind blew at the rate of forty-six miles an hour. Streets and railroads were blocked, telegraph wires were blown down and many of the business people of New
THE GREAT SNOWSTORM AND CONKLING'S DEATH
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York, who lived in the suburbs, found it entirely impossible to reach their homes. The streets were impassable, in many places, even in the downtown districts, and among those who died from the effects of the storm, the best known was former Senator Roscoe Conkling, who, after several hours spent in endeavoring to reach his hotel from his office, went to his bed exhausted with his efforts and from that developed a case of pneumonia, from which he died, April 18, 1888. Senator Conkling was one of the ablest lawyers and most distinguished statesman of his day. He was a native of Albany, New York, but had made his home in Utica, where he was elected mayor in 1858, afterwards being in Congress, by consecutive elections, from 1859 to 1867, in the House of Representatives. He was elected to the Senate in January, 1867, and reelected in 1873 and 1879. He resigned from the Senate in 1881, be- cause of his dissatisfaction with the appointment of William H. Robertson as collector of the port of New York, by President Garfield, and after that engaged in the practice of law in New York City. He was especially promi- nent in Congress in connection with the reconstruction measures after the Civil War, and as one of the statesmen most intimate with General Grant, during his two terms as President, and the leader of those advocating the renomination of Grant for a third term, in 1880. After his retirement from the Senate, he was especially prominent in the work of the State Senate Inves- tigating Committee, appointed for the purpose of disclosing the fraud and bribery in the granting to Jacob Sharp of the Broadway Horse Railway fran- chise by the Board of Aldermen in 1884. After the taking of the testimony, lasting about three months, Mr. Conkling, together with Clarence A. Seward, made arguments resulting in the re- peal of the Broadway Railway charter, and afterward, in 1887, Jacob Sharp and several aldermen were convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary, for bribery in conection with the procurement of that char- ter.
OLD DUTCH FARM HOUSE Former Corner of Seventh Avenue and Fiftieth Street
At the presidential elec- tion in 1888, Benjamin Harri- son, of Indiana, and Levi P. Morton, of New York City, were elected Presi- dent and Vice President of the United States, on the Republican ticket, after a strenuous campaign, in which President Cleveland sought reelection, and Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, was Democratic candidate for the vice presidency.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
In 1889, from April 29th to May Ist, was held the centennial of the inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States. Presi- dent Benjamin Harrison took part in the proceedings, and was landed in a boat in the same way and at the same place, at the foot of Wall Street, where the first President had landed one hundred years before; and among the features of the occasion was a great naval parade and an imposing land pro- cession in which there was an especially fine military display. Several gover- nors of other States took part in the parade, as well as a large column of chil- dren from the public schools of New York.
There was held in the mayor's office, in 1899, a meeting in the interest of a world's fair, to be held in honor of the quadricentennial of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Many of the prominent citizens and large capitalists in New York became interested in the endeavor to secure the selection of New York as the place for holding the World's Fair, but finally, in a contest among several cities, it was decided by Congress to have the exposition at Chi- cago.
In 1890, the corner stone of the Washington Memorial Arch in Washington Square, New York, was laid with ap- propriate ceremonies, on May THE KEYSER ESTATE Former Corner of Fourth (Park) Avenue and Fortieth Street 30th. This arch had its in- ception in the celebration, in 1889, of the centennial of Washington's inauguration, one feature of which was a temporary arch, as part of the street decoration of the occasion, which spanned Fifth Avenue, on the north side of Waverly Place. The structure, which was designed by Stanford White, the architect, was so generally admired that arrangements were made to perpetuate it in marble at Wash- ington Square, at the southern end of Fifth Avenue. The main work was completed April 18, 1892, and the cost of the structure was $128,000, which was raised by popular subscription.
Another important centenary was observed in New York City on Feb- ruary 4, 1890, being that of the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United States, which held its first sessions in New York City.
Abram S. Hewitt, one of the most distinguished citizens of New York, both in business and in public life, was elected and served as mayor for the three-year term covering the years from 1886 to 1888, inclusive,
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THE COLUMBIAN CELEBRATION
and he was succeeded by Hugh J. Grant, elected on the Tammany ticket, and serving from 1889 to 1892.
On January 29, 1891, a banquet was held at Delmonico's, given by the Board of Trade of New York, in honor of Honorable William Windom, secretary of the treasury. It was turned into a tragedy by the sudden death of Secretary Windom, upon the completion of his speech at the banquet. Another noteworthy death of the year was that of General Wil- liam T. Sherman, who died in this city, on February 14th.
At the November election, in 1891, Roswell Pettibone Flower, Demo- crat, of New York City and Watertown, New York, was elected governor of New York, for the years 1892 to 1894, inclusive.
The most exciting event of that year occurred on December 4th, when a Boston lunatic, named Norcross, entered the Wall Street office of Russell Sage, carrying a handbag, and demanded of that famous financier the immediate payment to him of $1,250,000. Upon meeting with a refusal, he threw the handbag, which contained explosives, to the floor, and in the explosion which ensued, the lunatic and a bystander were killed. Mr. Sage was slightly, and several others severely injured, and the building was wrecked.
The four hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus in America, October 12, 1492, was celebrated with imposing military and civic ceremonies, October 10th to 12th, 1892. The Columbus column and statue at the southwestern entrance to Central Park, was unveiled on October 12th, when, in the absence of the mayor, the speech of accept- ance was made by General James Grant Wilson.
The year 1892 was one of great political turmoil. The presidential election of that year was between President Harrison, as Republican nominee, for reelection as President, with Whitelaw Reid, of New York, as his running mate, against Grover Cleveland, ex-President, and Adlai A. Stevenson, of Illinois, for Vice President, on the Democratic ticket. The election was complicated by a large defection from both parties in western States, which had previously been Republican, but which, in the election of 1892, were lined up in a fusion with the Democrats of those States, in favor of James B. Weaver, who was the candidate of what was called the People's Party. Cleveland and Stevenson were elected.
In. New York, Rev. Dr. Charles A. Parkhurst began, in 1892, his crusade against the city administration of New York, denouncing the city officials as "a pack of administering bloodhounds." His views were endorsed by a mass meeting at Cooper Union, but did not bear practical political fruit until some years later, as Thomas L. Gilroy, the Tammany candidate for mayor, was elected for the term covering the years 1893-1894.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
On September 20, 1892, the bronze statue of Horace Greeley was unveiled in Greeley Square. On December 27, 1892, the corner stone of the beautiful Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, the Divine, on Morningside Heights, was laid with appropriate ceremonies. The build- ing, which was planned upon a scale of stately grandeur, is not yet completed, but is still progressing and will, when BILLING CROTON COTTAGE: finished, be exceeded by no structure in the country in architectural beauty.
The panic of 1893 was one of the most severe in the history of the country. At that time, it was attributed, as economic crises usually are, OLD COUNTRY INN Croton Cottage Former Corner of Fifth Avenue and Fortieth Street to causes entirely domestic : some saying that it was caused by the silver legislation of Congress, others attributing it to the fear of changes in the tariff, and others to various causes originating within our own borders. That these various situations singly, or altogether, may have had a contribu- tory effect in augmenting the severity of the crisis may well be true, but for fundamental causes there were the usual preliminaries: world condi- tions of excessive speculation, and too great an expansion of business plants. "Boom" times induce large investments of fixed capital in additional buildings, machinery, and the like, which, built to meet an anticipated demand, are unproductive if the demand diminish. This was especially the case in the years from 1888 to 1892. Not only was production of com- modities and increase of equipment much overdone, but all over the central and far West there was unprecedented activity in real estate speculation, as well as in speculative operations on the exchanges in stocks, grain, cotton and other commodities. Public expenditures also went to unprecedented figures. This period introduced us to that luxu- rious novelty, a "billion-dollar Congress," and there was a general spirit of adventure everywhere prevalent.
But these conditions existed not only here, but abroad. Australia especially was doing the same thing that we were doing in this country -laying out paper towns and additions to cities, increasing production, and speculating in all ways that men do, who expect to make a fortune overnight. The Baring Brothers, the great London banking house, was found, November 24, 1890, to be in great financial stress, with liabilities
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THE PANIC OF 1893
of £21,000,000, and was only saved from failure by the timely assistance of the Bank of England, the Bank of France, and other great establish- ments. .
The Baring difficulties tended to greatly reduce the supply of money for speculative purposes in the European markets, and soon there began to be felt a scarcity of money. Australia, which had had such a fever of expansion and speculation, found itself practically bankrupt, and in that country, during the latter part of 1891 and the year 1892, nearly every bank closed its doors, many of them never to open again.
In the United States the same causes produced like results, and during 1893 and 1894 many thousands of banks and business enterprises went to the wall. The gold reserve in the treasury had fallen to a low figure, and Mr. Cleveland, and his secretary, Mr. Carlisle, replenished it with large bond issues. New York suffered with the rest of the country, but proved that its financial institutions were exceptionally sound. There was, how- ever, a period of about three years of monetary stringency, complicated with serious coinage and currency problems.
On March II, 1893, Governor Flower signed the act, passed by the Legislature of New York, authorizing the purchase of Fire Island for quar- antine purposes, thus settling a question which from early days had caused much local agitation in New York and its suburbs.
As a part of the quadricentennial celebration, connected with the World's Columbian Exposition, New York held a naval review on April 27, 1893, and a large street parade on the following day, in which ten nations participated, and on May 18th, the Princess Eulalia was received in New York as a representative of the Spanish government, with appro- priate ceremonies. As a part of the same celebration, the Viking ship from Denmark was welcomed in New York harbor on June 17th.
The unveiling of the beautiful statue of Nathan Hale, the work of the sculptor, MacMonnies, occurred on November 25, 1893. The statue was erected under the auspices of the Sons of the Revolution of New York, and is one of the chief ornaments of our City Hall park.
In the election of 1893, there had been notorious frauds at Gravesend, Long Island, conducted in an open and shameless manner, and with much intimidation of respectable voters, by John Y. McKane, the Democratic boss of that district. His actions aroused much indignation, and lead- ing in securing his prosecution was William J. Gaynor, a Brooklyn lawyer, who was elected to the Supreme bench at that election, and who pursued the case with such ability, that McKane was convicted, and on February 19, 1894, was sentenced to serve six years at hard labor in Sing Sing prison. The case was appealed, but the Court of Appeals confirmed the convic-
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
tion, November 27, 1894. Judge Gaynor's term expiring December 31, 1907, he was unanimously reelected for another fourteen-year term, and served in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, until elected, in the November election of 1909, to his present office as mayor of the city of New York for the term expiring December 31, 1913.
From early days there had been much talk of bridging not only the East River, but also the Hudson, and finally a company was formed and a bill was introduced into Congress, authorizing the bridging of North River, connecting New York with New Jersey. This bill passed Congress and was signed by President Cleveland, in June, 1894, and the bridge was authorized by the State in 1895, but it has not yet been built, although the Company which has the matter in hand is still in existence. A bill which passed the Legislature in 1901, greatly enlarging the company's powers, was vetoed by Governor Odell.
The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Parkhurst having made public charges against the police of New York City, a resolution was offered in the New York Senate, by Senator Clarence Lexow, of New York City, on January 24, 1894, to investigate the charge. The resolution was passed unani- mously, and Senator Lexow was made chairman of the committee. It met on March 9, 1894, in the Courthouse in New York City, and began the investigation with William A. Sutherland as counsel for the com- mittee, until April 13th, when John W. Goff appeared as counsel. At the end of June the committee adjourned until September 10th, and continued in session almost continuously until December 29th, when it finally adjourned. The evi- dence confirmed the charges. The examination and testi- mony of the seven hundred witnesses made 10,576 printed pages. The report was sub- mitted to the Legislature, Jan- uary 18, 1895. Previous to this, on December 14, 1894, Police Captain Creeden con- OLD RESIDENCE Former Corner of Madison Avenue and Fourth Street fessed to having paid $15,000 for his captaincy, and before that, Captain Stevenson; of the police, had been convicted of receiving a bribe. As the result of the investigation, Captains Stevenson, Cross and Dougherty, and Chief Devery, were dismissed from the service. The chief witness before the committee was Captain (now Inspector) Schmittberger. As the result of
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CREATION OF GREATER NEW YORK
the Lexow investigation, there was an exciting election for mayor, in November, 1894, the Republicans and independent Democrats combining against Tammany, resulting in the election of William L. Strong, the Republican candidate, who held the office of mayor of New York during the years from 1895 to 1897, inclusive, being the last mayor of the City of New York previous to consolidation.
On May 18, 1894, the Constitutional Convention met at Albany, and adopted the present Constitution of the State of New York, it having been found that the older instruments of organic law were not sufficiently adapted to modern conditions, so that a new statement of fundamental principles of legislation seemed to be necessary. For several years the question of the consolidation into one greater city of New York, Brooklyn and other municipalities, had been agitated, and in 1890 the Legislature created the Greater New York Commission, of which Andrew H. Green was appointed the president. The other mem- bers of the commission in- cluded the mayors of New York City, Brooklyn and Long Island City, the State engineer and surveyor, the attorney-general of New York, and nine other persons appointed by the governor. Various acts were from time THE OLD AUDUBON ESTATE On the Banks of the Hudson to time submitted to the Leg- islature, but failed to pass, and finally the commission was required to report to the Legislature by February 1, 1897, by bill, a charter for the enlarged city and a scheme for securing equality of taxation and valuation.
The charter, as prepared by this commission and submitted to the Legislature, provided for the consolidation with New York City, on Jan- uary I, 1898, of all municipal corporations and parts of such corporations (other than counties ) within the territory covered by the counties of Kings and Rich- mond, Long Island City, the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, and that part of Hempstead, in Queens County, west of a line drawn from Flushing, between Rockaway Beach and Shelter Island, to the Atlantic Ocean. It provided for the retention of the local governments within these towns, except where changed by the Legislature, and provided for the election of a mayor of Greater New York, and other municipal officers of the greater city. at the general election in November, 1897.
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK
When the greater city was created, it had a population of 3,100,000, an area of 359 square miles, taxable property valued at $2,583,324,329, and a debt of $170,000,000. The Greater New York bill was signed by Gov- ernor Morton, May 1, 1896, vetoed by Mayor Strong, April 9, 1897, but passed by both houses, April 13, 1897.
During 1896, after an active endeavor on the part of the reform ele- ment to procure legislation which should in some measure minimize the evils of liquor traffic in New York City, a compromise bill was introduced by Senator John Raines, of Ontario County, which proposed to regulate the selling of liquor on Sunday by permitting it only in hotels; but the definition of a "hotel," under the bill, has really resulted only in increasing the number, without improving the tone, of the establishments where intoxicating liquors may be sold on Sunday. A certain type of saloon, known by the name of "Raines Law Hotel," has come to represent the most disreputable sort of resorts now in the city, and at the same time the illegal selling of liquor in the regularly licensed saloons has been very little, if in any degree, diminished.
At the general election of November 18, 1896, Frank S. Black, of Troy, was elected governor, and Timothy L. Woodruff, of Brooklyn, was elected lieutenant governor, having been nominated by the Republican ticket.
During the same year the gold reserve in the United States Treasury having been greatly depleted, arrangements were made with New York banks by which $20,000,000 in gold was deposited by the banks in the sub- treasury to protect the government reserve.
In the presidential election of 1896, there was the greatest excitement and the most widespread interest that had ever been developed at any election in this country, unless it may have been the election of 1860. The advocates of the gold standard, on one hand, and of the free coinage of silver on the other, were very strenuous, although in the East, in all of the large commercial centres, the advocates of the gold standard were very largely in the majority. The meetings of the various parties were largely attended, and among the greatest political demonstrations that were ever made in this country were "The Sound Money Parades" held in New York, Chicago and other large cities. The final result was the election of William McKinley, of Ohio, as President, and Garret A. Hobart as Vice President, by a very large majority over William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, and Arthur Sewell, of Maine, Democratic candidates for Presi- dent and Vice President.
A most interesting celebration, from a historical standpoint, was that held May 6, 1897, being the Bi-centennial Jubilee of Trinity Church.
THE FIRST MAYOR OF GREATER NEW YORK
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At the election of 1897, the important question was the selection of its first mayor by the Greater City of New York. The candidates were Robert Van Wyck, on the Democratic ticket; General Benjamin F. Tracy, on the Republican ticket; Seth Low, on the Citizen's Union ticket; and Henry George,
STEINWAY & SONS
STEINWAYL SONE
7% LONG
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STEINWAY HALL
the famous single-tax philosopher, on what was called the Jeffersonian ticket. Four days before election, October 29, 1897, Henry George died very sud- denly. He had made a marvelous campaign, and it was thought by many that he would have won the race if he had lived until election day, but although the party transferred the nomination to his son, Henry George, Jr., the Demo- cratic candidate, Van Wyck, was elected by a substantial majority.
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During the administration of Mayor Strong, there had been a consid- erable number of changes in the police force, which was for the first part of that administration under charge of Theodore Roosevelt, as police commis- sioner. One of the first things done by Mayor Van Wyck in the way of change was the summary dismissal of the police commissioners, Phillips and Hamilton, and Chief of Police McCullagh, on May 21, 1898.
The year of 1898 was that of the Spanish-American War, and several of the New York regiments went to the conflict, the first being the Seventy- first Regiment, which marched to camp at Hempstead, Long Island, on the President's call for troops, April 29, 1898, and left for the front on May 14th. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, who had been police commissioner under Mayor Strong, and had been appointed, in 1897, assistant secretary of the navy, re- signed that position when the war with Spain was declared, and with Dr. Leonard Wood, an army surgeon, organized the First Regiment of United States Volunteer Cavalry ("Rough Riders"), which was recruited from the ranches of the West. Surgeon Wood, because of his superior technical knowl- edge, was made colonel, and Mr. Roosevelt lieutenant colonel, of the regiment. That regiment went to Cuba, participated in the fighting in front of Santiago, Cuba, and Mr. Roosevelt was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment for gallantry at Las Guasimus.
The war was over within a few months, most of the troops returning to the United States, and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, General Joseph Wheeler, the Rough Riders, and the Third United States Cavalry, landed at Montauk Point on August 15, 1898; and five days later there was an imposing naval parade in New York harbor of Admiral Sampson's victorious Santiago fleet. Admiral Cervera, the Spanish naval officer whose fleet had been destroyed on July 3d by a part of Admiral Sampson's fleet, under command of Rear Admiral Schley, arrived in New York on September 8, 1898. On October 12, 1898, the battleships Oregon and Iowa sailed from New York for Manila.
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