USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume I > Part 56
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As on General Grant's birthday the work had been begun. and
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again the cornerstone had been laid, so now was this day selected to celebrate its completion and the formal transfer of the mausoleum and its precious contents to the keeping of the city of New York. The exercises while conducted on a grand scale were yet marked by a se- vere simplicity fully in harmony with the character of the man in whose honor and to whose memory the monument was reared. At about nine o'clock in the morning President McKinley and party were escorted from the Windsor Hotel by the Mayor, in car- riages, attended by Cavalry Troop A. The tomb was reached about ten o'clock, and upon the speaker's stand were assembled Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, the General's widow, his sons and their
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wives and children; ex-President Cleveland, several foreign am- bassadors, members of Congress, and other distinguished people. The exercises here were opened by the singing of " America " by a chorus under Damrosch's direction, in which thousands of the spectators joined. Bishop Newman, Grant's pastor, then offered a prayer, after which Mayor Strong introduced the President. Mr. MeKinley spoke briefly, dwelling on the homely virtues of the man whose publie achievements were known to all the world; recall- ing the men in civil life, and the heroes of the land and sea service. who had preceded Grant to the grave, or had passed away since the mausoleum was begin; referring to the union of the Blue and Gray in the honors of the hour; and saving at the close: " Let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the metropolis, among the fair sisterhood of American cities, has honored his life and memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to render the edifice worthy of the man. upon a site unsurpassed for magnificence, has this momment been reared by New York as a perpetual record of his illustrions deeds, in the certainty that as time passes around it will assemble. with gratitude and reverence and veneration, men of all climes, races. and nationalities." The President's address was followed by the ora- tion of the day, delivered by General Horace Porter, to whose energy and perseverance were mainly due the successful completion of the building, and the raising of the large amount of money needed. His oration was an enlogy on the dead chieftain and a résumé of his career. He reminded the anditors that Grant was not a dead mem- ory; pointed out the majesty of his achievements; dwelt on some of his personal characteristics, the evidences of his foresight. the policy of mercy and forgiveness he always advocated and himself pursued. proving his statesmanship, and explaining the tribute of grateful af- fection that rose from hearts all over the Union. Speaking of the monument the orator said among other things: " It will overlook the metropolis of the Republic which his efforts saved from dismember- ment; it will be reflected in the noble waters of the Hudson, upon which pass the argosies of commerce, so largely multiplied by the peace secured by his heroic deeds. The tolling of passing bells will replace the echo of his hostile guns." In presenting the monument Gen. Porter, addressing Mayor Strong, said: " And now. Mr. Mayor, it becomes my official duty on behalf of the Grant Monument Associa- tion to transfer through von to the City of New York this National memorial. Its construction has been the work of willing hands and generous hearts. About 90,000 patriotic citizens have been contribu- tors to the building fund, their subscriptions ranging in amounts from 1 cent to $5,000, so that it has been an eminently popular sub- scription. The entire fund with acerned interest amounts to about $600.000." Then referring in complimentary terms to his several col- leagues in the Association; to Mr. John H. Duncan, the architect and
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designer of the structure; to the sculptor J. Massey Rhind. from whose hand came the high-relief decorations; and others, engineers and builders, who aided in completing the splendid work, the orator said in closing: " And now, Mr. Mayor, it only remains for me to formally transmit through you to the custody of the Nation's metropolis this memorial tomb, which henceforth is to remain in the custody of the city over which you have the honor to preside." In a few appropriate words Mr. Strong accepted the enstody thus honorably imposed, say- ing in part: "Erected as it was by the voluntary contributions of nearly one hundred thousand of our fellow-citizens, mostly from the territory of the Greater New York, it will forever perpetuate the name and fame of one of the bravest military chieftains of the coun- try. Here will be the shrine where his old comrades will worship and whither the people of a grateful nation will journey to offer the silent tribute of admiration. Let it be the Mecca where pos- terity for ages to come will gather fresh inspiration for patriotism. Great in war, greater in peace, let his memory never fade from the heart of a grateful Nation."
While these exercises were being conducted at the tomb itself, a grand procession was on the march from the lower parts of the city, and approaching it as the objective point. The parade started sharp- ly at half past ten o'clock, from the corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street. The route was along Madison Avenue to Fifty- fifth Street, to Fifth Avenue, to Fifty-ninth Street, skirting Central Park to the Boulevard; along this to Seventy-second Street, then westward to the Riverside Drive, and so to the Tomb, fifty blocks fur- ther up town. By actual count at the reviewing stand at the Tomb, 58.467 men passed by it; the head of the column coming up at a f w minutes after 1 o'clock, and the last rank marching by at 6.52 P.M. The procession was composed mainly of the military, cadets from West Point in the lead. United States land troops and sailors and marines from the war vessels. the militia of New York State and of several others, headed by their Governors and staffs. in some cases where no militia had come the Governor and staff alone being in line. Three thousand boys of the public schools of the city also were in the parade. and as the result of the regular military organization into companies and regiments, with the accompanying drills, which had by this time become a prominent feature of the public-school system, these boyish soldiers marched with all the dignity and steadiness of veterans. Not till near the end of the march did they show any signs of fatigue, but not a boy dropped ont till the order to disband came. The boys wore medals inscribed " Grant Monument Parade. 1897. P. S. of N. Y .. " which were kept as souvenirs. Another division of spe- cial interest was that made up of the Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic. The veterans were drawn up waiting for their turn to fall into line along the Boulevard from Fifty-ninth Street to Seventieth
MILITARY DRILL OF PUBLIC SCHOOL BOYS.
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Street, with General O. O. Howard at their head. All the divisions that passed them gave them a marching salite. At 3,30 the command to march was given them, and a little after half past four they passed the reviewing stand; but much to their chagrin the President was no longer there, as he was forced to leave to review the naval parade. A never-to-be-forgotten feature of the procession was the part in it taken by veterans from the South. A detachment of Sons of Confed- erates formed one of the divisions, and among them marched also many of the Confederate veterans themselves. In carriages closely following these were General John B. Gordon, and many other Con- federate officers. During the long wait until the time to fall in, the General's carriage was surrounded by numerous Grand Army men. The greetings between the old antagonists were very hearty. The Sons of Confederates and the veterans who paraded with them wore broad-brimmed light hats. They attracted instant attention. They had two mounted color bearers, one carrying a broad United States flag of handsome silk; the other a pennant bearing the name of the association. Just after they fell into line they passed between the ranks of the Sons of Union Veterans, who cheered them heartily and repeatedly. They responded by lifting their hats. On passing around the tomb one of their officers dismounted, took a wreath of evergreens and roses, with crossed swords and an inscription in scarlet blossoms, " From Sons of Confederates," from Gen. Gordon's carriage, and. handing it to a park policeman, asked him to place it on the sarcopha- gus, at the same time their bugler sonnding " taps." Next to Lincoln the best friend the South ever had was Grant. and this tribute of af- fection was in recognition of that fact. The view of the procession along Riverside Drive was very fine. At certain elevated points be- fore the Tomb was reached the column could be seen for a long dis- tance up and down the road, and from the hill crowned by the monu- ment itself, up to which all the others led, the long-drawu march of the three score thousand men could be observed with magnificent ef- fect. As the head of the column came in sight, a signal corps on the lofty bank communicated the fact to the cruiser New York, lying op- posite, and a salute of twenty-one guns burst from her battery. Two lines of battle ships, of our own navy, with representatives from those of Spain, Italy, France, and England, lay anchored in the river, and between them passed a long array of craft of every conceivable kind, mainly tugs, excursion steamers, with a few private yachts, which had started from the Battery at 2.30 P.M. At five o'clock the Presi- dent boarded the Dolphin; in this he steamed down between the pa- rading vessels. But the cold gusts of wind which had emptied the stands on shore, made the naval display even more difficult, and hence no great satisfaction attended this portion of the ceremonies. The weather had been mild and beautiful a few days preceding the 27th. Rain fell on the 26th and spoiled some of the decorations. On the day
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of the celebration the sun came ont brightly, but there was a serious drop in the temperature, and the wind blew a gale all day, so that heavy overcoats and horse-blankets were put into requisition to pro- teet the persons of distinguished guests, and people descended from the seats on stands for which they had paid one or more dollars in or- der to get into their shelter on the pavement.
The history of New York City, as we have had abundant occasion to note through several chapters, is largely a history of parades. From that first fine pageant in honor of the Federal Constitution in 1788 to the one just described the people of New York have displayed a re- markable aptitude in presenting effective spectacles in their streets, emphasizing by marching multitudes their interest in public events. their appreciation of great enterprises for the common good, their ad- miration for benefactors of the Nation. And in many of these pa- rades great skill and taste were exhibited in symbolizing by allegori- cal groups the sentiments germane to the occasion, or by historical representations events especially deserving recollection. Again. where the claims of trade. industry, commerce, needed remembrance. as particularly sharing the benefits of the occasion honored. or prom- ising to further the enterprise just initiated,-they knew how to il- lustrate these various occupations and interests of men, by vivid ta- bleaux showing them in actual operation. Can this taste, and the aptitude in gratifying it, so conspicnous a trait of New Yorkers. be an evidence of the abiding influence of the combined Dutch and Flem- ish-the Netherlandish-character impressed upon the population of the city at its very foundation? Many a stately pageant does Mot- ley tell us of in his " Dutch Republic." that passed in gorgeous array through the streets of Ghent, or Leyden, or Brussels, or Utrecht, or Amsterdam. Commenting upon the fondness for these shows and their success in representing classical. mythological, and historic epi- sodes. Motley is led to say that " the Netherlanders were nothing if not allegorical." The spirit of the Netherlander therefore must some- how have cling to New York all along, and be hovering over her peo- ple even now. We have diligently sought to bring that city and her people before the reader in every period of her history ; as it was when Christiaensen wintered there in his huts of bark; as it was when the Directors came, and the Dutch flag waved over it; as it was when the English came, and when American Independence claimed the soil for itself; as it was when the Federal Pageant marked the beginning of Republican Government. A last lingering glance will regard the city as it was when Grant was laid to rest in the mausoleum, reared as a worthy monument to his deeds in saving the Republic and perpetuat- ing the Union.
New York is, of course, first among the cities of the Republic, and vet she can not claim quite the position of a London, a Paris, a Ber- lin. which those capitals ocenpy in their own countries. That is con-
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trary to the genius of our land and people, where no such prepon- derating or dominating influence would be tolerated, or can in the na- ture of things be accorded, to the habits, the opinions, the manners of any collection of citizens, whatever may be their advantages of loca- tion or success in municipal being. Such things are only possible where a Court sets the tone of living, as in London, Berlin, Vienna; or where the traditions of such influences abide, as they do still in republican Paris. In this again New York is singularly like to its old namesake, Amsterdam. That city, though a metropolis, is not a capital, as the others are; and Holland, with its democratic instincts, in spite of its monarchical form of government, as little tolerates a dominating court or capital as the United States.
But while New York has no court she has her palaces. It is some- thing to stimulate the pride of her poorest citizens, that mansions adorn her streets, that may well vie with the homes of emperors and kings in splendor or beauty. We look upon the marble walls of the Stewart mansion, or the homes of the Vanderbilts, the massive pile of C. P. Huntingdon's residence, Tiffany's peculiar but magnificent domicile, the AAstor's and other houses that here and there break the conventional monotony along Central Park,-and it should awak- en satisfaction, not envy, that our fellow citizens by their own brains and capabilities in commerce, finance, railway enterprise, develop- ment of the country's natural resources, or what not else of useful and honorable industry, have been enabled to rear for themselves dwell- ings which even some pampered scion of royalty would have to deem fit for his habitation, whereas he occupies palaces and lives in indo- lent luxury without the turning of a hand in useful occupation, or the exertion of a mind in exhaustive planning of great enterprises. The plain burghers of Amsterdam, in 1648, thought themselves as good as kings and erected the City Hall (now misnamed and misused as a royal residence), equal to any imperial palace then in Europe. So are our citizens sovereigns and princes and kings in the realns of useful human activity. They are of our kin, before us as before them the world, with all its chances and its prizes.
Quite as satisfactory a feature, if we look to the appearance of the city. are the splendid hotels that grace many of our thoroughfares. We may linger fondly over the old names, and monrn the departure of the noble hostelries that once bore them. We miss the Irving House and the St. Nicholas (hidden away somewhere on another street quite foreign to our associations), and the Metropolitan, and the huge brick structure of the New York, beloved of Southerners; we are glad to find the " semi-moderns " still with us, the Sturtevant and Gilsey House and Grand Hotel. We comfort ourselves particularly because we find the ancient Astor and Brevoort and Saint Denis still on the sites that knew them thirty or forty years ago. But consola- tion and compensation do not fail to possess us when we behold a
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Windsor, or an Imperial, or a Plaza Hotel. Thus we glory also in a Savoy, with its magnificent banqueting hall, decorated in gold and
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THE NETHERLAND, SAVOY, AND PLAZA HOTELS.
white, with glorious frescoes, and fairy effects by means of hidden electric lights. Then there is the Netherland, which was saved from
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calling itself the " New Netherlands" by a judicious friend, and then flopped over into another mistake by leaving off the " New," which omission would have rendered the plural form correct. And again, language shrinks at its own inadequacy when it wants to tell of a Waldorf, and its enormous and magnificent neighbor, greater than itself, the creation of the same colossal fortune, the two amalgamated in name and identity as the Waldorf-Astoria. The wonder is that such huge resorts for the temporary home of strangers, or the easy convenience of citizens who have a horror of housekeeping, can possi- bly make both ends meet while so many of them cluster together in close proximity.
The stranger is drawn to New York, however, by many inducements. There are the mammoth stores, often occupying a whole block, appar- ently devoted only to the sale of drygoods, but in reality emporiums where can be purchased everything from a clothes-pin to a horseless carriage; where one can go and buy a handkerchief, and also stock a dwelling from garret to cellar with all the appurtenances of house- keeping. These stores, multiplying in every part of the city, are rais- ing serions questions of economics. They are crowding to the wall small shopkeepers, many of whom indeed have already given up the struggle, glad of the chance to become more salesmen behind the counters of their unmerciful rivals. Making their profits on the sale of drygoods mainly, sold for cash, these concerns can buy immense quantities of groceries, or furniture, or shoes, at bottom prices, and sell them at no profit at all or at so little profit as to ruin the small dealers if they must compete with them. The general public, how- ever, usually hails with joy the reduced prices regardless of economic effects.
Strikingly impressive again, sure to attract the visitor's admiring attention, are the armories that are now to be found in various parts of the city. The first of any pretense to architectural grandeur was that of the Seventh Regiment, on Fourth and Lexington Avenues, and Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Streets. The drill room measures two hundred by three hundred feet. On April 19, 1893, the regiment placed a bronze tablet on the building on the corner of Fulton and Nassau Streets, the site of the old Shakespeare Tavern, where on August 25, 1824, the Seventh was organized, then known as the Twenty-seventh. The tablet represents the tavern in bas-relief, and has upon it a monogram with the figure " 7" as the central part. The Eighth Regiment Armory is of plain brick, and standing upon the lofty hill at Ninety-fourth and Ninety-fifth Streets and Park Avenue, its great round towers reminding one of some exaggerated mediaval castle, are seen far and wide. The armory of Cavalry Troop A is placed directly against its rear, facing Madison Avenue, so that the two buildings ocenpy the whole block: the later structure was com- pleted July 10, 1894. The Twenty-second Regiment has a fine armory
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on the Boulevard and Sixty-seventh Street, and the Twelfth's is near by on Columbus (Ninth) Avenue and Sixty-second Street. The Ninth has recently moved into its new armory on the old site in Fourteenth Street, a little west of Sixth Avenue. It is still commanded by Col- onel William Seward, who gave way only for a short time to that tinsel soldier James Fisk, who so disliked the bullets and brickbats of the Orange Riots in 1871. The Sixty-ninth is still in the old
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THE SPEEDWAY ALONG THE HARLEM RIVER.
Seventh's armory over Tompkins Market at Third Avenue and Seventh Street, but it is to have the site of New York City College when that institution moves up town. A splendid and lofty stone edifice is the home of the Seventy-first Regiment, on Thirty-fourth Street and Park Avenue, which was completed and occupied in March. 1894. Here are the offices of the headquarters of the First
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Brigade, commanded by General Louis Fitzgerald, to which all the New York regiments belong.
It must be a source of great satisfaction to the National Guardsmen when on the march, that so many of the streets of New York are now provided with asphalt pavements. There is also a distinct military advantage about the circumstance, which the anthorities of Paris clearly appreciated. It reduces the facility for throwing up breast- works or barricades, and quite deprives a mob of the convenient am- munition of paving stones. This both for holiday exhibitions, and because of the more serious utility, the soldiers of the militia must re- gard the increasing number of asphalted streets greatly to their ad- vantage. The bicyclist may imagine that they are made for his spe- cial benefit, but they have a deeper design; and the ordinary mortals who own no bicycles may also possibly put in a word of approbation on the merely sentimental score of affording a handsome appearance to the city of their habitation. The horseman may likewise modestly put forward a tribute of gratitude, although he must restrain his steed from a too tempting swiftness over the smooth surface. The city has not forgotten that some people still love horses, and that a horse that can go ought to have a chance to prove his mettle. 1 Speedway for fast driving is now under construction at great cost, running from One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, at the head of the viaduct, down along the steep bluff at as moderate a declination as possible, until nearly the level of the Harlem River is attained, where it will stretch without rise or fall for two and a half miles, as far as Dyckman Street. It has afforded a curious illustration thus far what patriotic citizens are willing to make out of the municipal treasury. The property to be acquired, or to be damaged. for the construction of the Speedway, was valued by sworn appraisers at $200,000. The aggregate of the claims of the owners of the several portions amounts to the nice round figure of $3.000.000. The bridges over the Harlem have been noticed in a preceding chapter. On February 28. 1896, plans were approved for a second East River bridge, to cross from South Fifth Street, Brooklyn, to Delancey Street, New York. In June, 1894, the President signed the bill authorizing the construction of the New Jersey and New York Bridge over the North River, to land in New York between Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets, for the use of railways mainly. Work is going on npon both these bridges at the present time, but as yet very obscurely. Rapid transit, a problem once thought solved by the elevated railways, and again by the cable- roads, has been thrown back upon the people by the very effectiveness of their operation, cansing an increase in the inhabitants. In 1894 the people voted that $50,000,000 be expended on the solution of the problem by some new plan. The Commission went to work bravely and then were stopped suddenly by a court decision in 1896, because their designs threatened far to exceed the cost voted on, and the
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excess would render their action unconstitutional. The plans adopted (and which may vet at some future day be unhampered by legal in- junctions) involved an underground railway starting near the foot of Whitehall Street, to run beneath State Street and Broadway to Fifty- ninth Street, under the Boulevard to Ninety-third Street, by viaduct to One Hundred and Twenty-third Street, again by viaduct to One Hundred and Fifty-first Street, under the Boulevard to One Hundred and Fifty-sixth, viaduct to One Hundred and Fifty-ninth, under the Boulevard to One Hundred and Sixty-ninth, and under Eleventh Ave- nue to One Hundred and Eighty-fifth Street. A branch was to start at Broadway and Fourteenth Street to Fourth Avenue, under Fourth Avenue to Ninety-eighth Street, by viaduct to the Harlem River, cross- ing the latter by a bridge. The city is still busy, as was noted before, with the extension of its water-works and the increase of the water- supply. In 1890 the consumption of water was 110 millions of gallons per diem; in 1895 it had increased to 200 millions daily.
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