USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume II > Part 39
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The business of Brooklyn is growing apace, rather militating against the theory that most people only use the city to sleep in. The period now in hand was marked by the organization of the Brooklyn Wharf and Warehouse Company, in 1895. Originally the warehouses and their adjacent docks along the water front on the East River from Catharine Street Ferry clear around to the Erie Basin on Go- wanus Bay, were owned and managed by different concerns, that were rivals of each other, and therefore antagonistic. But in the above year these were all consolidated into one company, with a capital of thirty millions of dollars. Important improvements have followed this unified control of the whole water front. One of these is the " wharf railroad," opened in 1896. Its success has been complete; its tracks were laid along the whole length of the water front, or about two and a half miles. It has made this section of Brooklyn quite equivalent as a terminal railroad station to Jersey City or the Grand Central Depot in New York. Along the wharf railroad freight sta- tions are established, so that each " merchant and manufacturer of Brooklyn has been placed on an equal footing with his competitor across the river. Instead of carting his product to and from the rail- road and freight stations in New York, as heretofore, the goods are now received and delivered at these stations on the water front."
A history of Brooklyn must not pass by unnoticed an honor done to it in naming one of the United States naval vessels after it, especially when that particular ship was the finest of its class in our navy not only, but in the world, at the time that it was built; and more espe- cially still, because in the war with Spain the Brooklyn led in one
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of the most remarkable triumphs. In May, 1897, the Brooklyn people were afforded an opportunity of expressing their appreciation of the compliment to their city. A committee had been appointed, with William Berri. President of Bridge Trustees, as chairman, to solicit funds and purchase a silver dinner service to be presented to the cruiser. Some ten thousand dollars were raised, and a splendid ser- vice was manufactured specially by the Alvin Company, consisting of three hundred and forty pieces, weighing two hundred pounds Troy sterling silver. The Brooklyn had been built at the Cramps's vards at Philadelphia, and on May 15 she was ordered to proceed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in order to receive this handsome and costly present with dne ceremony. She arrived on May 20, and Saturday, the 22d, was set for the exercises. But a word or two about the Brook-
-F Cresson Schell
THE U. S. CRUISER " BROOKLYN."
lyn itself will not be amiss before an account of the proceedings of that day is given. She is the most formidable ship of the cruiser class afloat at the present time. She was unequaled, and even unap- proached by any ship of her elass then, but shortly after her comple- tion Great Britain began building two ships of exactly the same pat- tern. Her length is four hundred feet, which is twenty feet longer than the New York, and her displacement, 9,215 tons, which exceeds the New York by nearly three hundred, the latter being the best of her class when first built. She has twin-screws, and a peculiarity which may add to her usefulness but detracts from her as an ornament. is the extraordinary height of her three smokestacks. They are one hundred feet long from base to top, and thereby is secured a forced draught without air pressure in the firerooms. Another unusual feature is the great berthing space, so that she can carry one thousand men, and
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be serviceable as a transport for troops if necessary. At her official trial she developed a speed of 21.92 knots per hour, and along a part of the course her speed was 22.9 knots. This makes this cruiser the swiftest of her class, and so perfect is her construction, that with her engines working at their utmost capacity, there was hardly any vibra- tion felt throughout the ship. Among the party on board of her dur- ing this interesting experiment was Attorney-General Harmon. In a moment of pleasantry he struck off a stanza or two of poetry to cele- brate the occasion, hardly thinking the lucubration would find its way into the public prints. One stanza read thus:
" The City of Churches has given thee name, So ever the cause thou maintainest be just ; Should thunders of battle thy ports set aflame,
Float stainless above them 'In God is our Trust.' "
The events of the month in which we are writing (July, 1898), have proved that this poetry was also a sort of prophecy.
Saturday, May 22, 1897, was a fine day. At three o'clock the exer- cises commenced with the singing by a chorus of fifty voices of" Amer- ica." William Berri presided; a prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Storrs, after which ex-Mayor Schieren made an address, presenting the service, on behalf of the committee, to the city. Thereupon, Mayor Wurster presented the beautiful gift, on behalf of the city, to the ship. To this address the Captain, Francis H. Cook, responded, accepting the service for himself and officers. Among the things he said were these : " May her career be as peaceful in times of peace, and as war- like in times of war, as that of her glorious namesake. May her lofty smokestacks be as emblematic of peace as are your church-steeples, her battery as ever ready to do battle for the right as your citizens have always proved themselves to be." At the close of the exercises "Columbia " was sung, and Dr. Storrs pronounced the benediction. A few weeks later, on June 3, the Brooklyn left for England to repre- sent the United States, and pay this country's compliments, at the Queen's Jubilee celebration. She appeared in the naval parade of all nations off Spithead on June 25, 1897, and was the observed of all observers among the hundreds of vessels there. It can not but afford some satisfaction to the citizens of Brooklyn that in the action off Santiago on July 3, 1898, the most distinguished part was taken by the cruiser named after their city. She was Commodore Schley's flagship, and against her the maneuvers and fire of Cervera's escaping squadron were specially directed. Her perfect machinery enabled the Commodore to bafile an attempt to ram her, and then, in the long chase after the enemy's swiftest ship, her remarkable speed kept her abreast of her quarry, while hier steadiness made the gunnery of the men fatally effective. An official table, furnished on July 17, recites " that the greatest proportion of large shells effectively landed went from Commodore Schley's flagship, the Brooklyn, and that she placed
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twenty five-inch shells in the vitals of the different vessels of the enemy, pretty equally divided. This demonstrates that the Brooklyn fought every ship of the Spanish squadron in turn, and landed nearly twice as many five-inch shells as all five vessels did eight-inch ones, and as many as all other kinds combined." She herself was hit forty times without sustaining any serious damage, and the only man killed in that astonishing naval battle was one of her crew. The supersti- tious blue-jacket will say that the name of one of the most prosperous cities in the Union, attached to the cruiser, was bound to bring luck to her. At any rate, by warship and by city both, the name of Brooklyn is bound to remain imperishable upon the rolls of fame.
And now the city was hastening on to the latest and greatest of her consolidations. Annexing Williamsburgh and the rest of Bushwick in 1855; annexing the New Lots portion of Flatbush in 1886; annexing the Flatbush that remained, and New Utrecht and Gravesend in 1894. and the last of the " five Dutch towns," Flatlands, in 1896. Brooklyn was destined now soon to undergo that process herself and throw all her greatness into the Greater New York. In view of this passing away of the city's life into a larger circle of municipal existence and grandeur, it becomes interesting to note who bore last the distinction of being Mayor of so honorable and famous a city. This privilege was accorded to Frederick W. Wurster. Born in North Carolina in 1850, he came to Brooklyn when he was seven years old. Thus he was practically a Brooklyn boy, educated in her public schools, graduating from them. and entering upon a business career in the same city at the age of twenty. He had pursued this career successfully without seek- ing political office of any sort, resembling in this his predecessor, May- or Schieren. Like him, however, he had had a hand in organized efforts to improve the administration of the city, having been Presi- dent of the Nineteenth Ward Republican Association, his residence and business interests being located in Williamsburgh. Mayor Schieren appointed him Fire Commissioner, and his conduct of that department led to his nomination at the close of Mr. Schieren's term, who rigidly adhered to his purpose of leaving office after the great battle had been won, in which he had consented to lead the forces of reform. Wurster's election afforded an illustration of how different conditions had become during these two years. There was a complete subsidence of excitement. Neither one of the party candi- dates specially represented a fight for purity of government now, for each party saw that only good men could be considered as possibili- ties. Hence, Mr. Wurster was elected over Edward M. Grout by a plurality of only 2,095, quite a small figure by the side of Mr. Schier- en's thirty thousand.
The project of uniting Brooklyn and New York into one city had been broached more than once in earlier days of the city's history, as we have had occasion to note in the progress of this narrative. As we
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...
BROOKLYN'S WATER FRONT- - WHARVES AND WAREHOUSES.
approach our own times' we find that on February 20, 1874, a meeting of citizens was called by the " Municipal Union Society," which was largely attended. A discus- sion of the project to unite the cities of New York and Brook- lyn developed the fact that it was favored by much the larger part of those present. Still later, we perceive (as we stated in Vol. I., p. 552) that Brooklyn's eminent and be- loved citizen, J. S. T. Stran- ahan, was one of the most en- thusiastic advocates of the measure; and mainly through his efforts and those of An- drew H. Green, the matter was finally brought before the Legislature. Upon the list of localities and their votes (Vol. J., p. 552), Brooklyn appears with a very small plurality in favor of consolidation-64 744 being for, and 64,467 against it. a difference of only 277. But the case against consoli- dation was even worse than this. When the act authoriz- ing the vote was passed in the spring of 1894, the county towns had not yet been an- nexed to the city. Taking, therefore, the vote of Brook- lyn as it was before this an- nexation, there was a majority of 1,034 votes against the measure within those limits! When the bill authorizing the consolidation came from Al- bany to be approved or disap- proved by the mayors of New York and Brooklyn, both these officials vetoed it; but it
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was passed again by the Legislature over their vetoes, and became a law on May 11, 1896. When the charter came before the mayors the next year, Mayor Strong vetoed that too, but Mayor Wurster of Brooklyn signified his approval. (See Vol. 1., p. 553.)
Yet a strong and earnest movement had been afoot in Brooklyn seeking to overthrow the effect of the vote in November, 1894. The very same month the opposition to consolidation took definite shape in the organization of a body of citizens calling themselves the League of Loyal Citizens. There were only five men in this movement at the start. but success ere long crowned their efforts to arouse the people of the city to a pitch of enthusiasm equal to their own, the lead- ing spirit being Mr. William C. Redfield. The Loyal League pub- lished a series of six pamphlets, a large number of leaflets, letters, circulars; and during several months of 1895 issued a weekly journal called the Greater Brooklyn. At first there was very little response. A meeting called before the end of November, at the Art Association Hall, was rather poorly attended, scarcely two hundred being pres- ent, and the New York papers especially were rather inclined to poke fun at the leaguers, and complained that the movement was a belated one, and should have been started before the vote on the subject. But gradually their work began to tell. In the Legislature of 1895, the Loyal League strongly antagonized the Consolidation Bill, and wanted to add to it a referendum amendment. The Brooklyn Alder- men passed a resolution opposing consolidation in April, 1895. In December, 1895, the League started a petition to the Legislature asking for a resubmission of the question to the people. On January 7, 1896, a preliminary meeting of eighteen gentlemen was held at the Art Association Building, to consider the advisability of calling a mass meeting to protest against consolidation, or to demand resub- mission of the question. On January 13, the mass meeting was held at the Academy of Music, under the auspices of the Loyal League. This organization was now treated with extreme respect by the New York papers. The vast auditorium was filled with an enthusiastic assemblage, and the Rev. Dr. Storrs presided. His speech was force- ful and witty. He stated that the object of the meeting was to enforce the petition for resubmission. " Resubmission is the subject to be discussed," he said, " but now there is a strong sentiment against any consolidation, with or without resubmission." A sentiment that was applanded to the echo, and formed the keynote to the speeches and proceedings of the evening was: " Let the future of Brooklyn remain in the hands of the people of Brooklyn." Resolutions were passed, to be sent to the Legislature, and urging that body to take no action in the matter of consolidation until the question had been once more submitted to a vote of the people. A bill to that effect was intro- duced by Senator Brush, and the petition urging its passage bore sev- enty-two thousand signatures. On January 28, 1896, the Young Re-
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publican Club put itself on record against consolidation. But it all availed nothing. The people were not again given a chance to vote for or against union with New York. The Consolidation Bill became law in 1896, the charter of the Greater New York was passed by the Legislature in 1897, and even the Mayor of Brooklyn did not veto it. And on January 1, 1898, Brooklyn ceased to be a city, becoming one of the five boroughs of the greater City of New York.
In view of the strenuous opposition to the achievement of such a re- sult, it may be well to cite from a Brooklyn man a consolatory thought that may mitigate the chagrin of the situation. The Hon. William C. De Witt, a member of the commission intrusted with the prepara- tion of the charter, in a lecture explaining its points, given in the Long Island Historical Society's Hall, on May 20, 1897, reminded his hear- ers: " When consolidation was first impending, our foremost citizens apprehended that Brooklyn was on the verge of a precipice; that her autonomy was to be destroyed; that her name and traditions were to be lost; that she was to be amalgamated with the City of New York." He assured them, however, that these apprehensions were made entirely groundless by reason of the provisions of the charter. Indeed, they should be far from regretting the change from city to borough, for " Brooklyn," he said, " will be greater as a borough than she is as a city. She will be the grandest of the five divisions of the impe- rial metropolis. Brooklyn, by the charter, is given her own school moneys and school system; her own park moneys and a park commis- sioner, withexclusive administrative jurisdiction on this side the river. She has her own charity moneys and her own charity commissioner, with like exclusive jurisdiction. All theadministrative offices are seat- ed here. although the chief head is located in Manhattan. It is easy to foresee the ultimate and permanent supremacy of Brooklyn." This surely is a cheerful and sanguine view of the situation, contemplated with so much apprehension and disgust by more than half the voting population of the city that is now a borough. We commend this view of one of their own citizens to the people of Brooklyn, and add, in the language of the Holy Book. " Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE GREATER NEW YORK.
THE OTHER BOROUGHS
CHAPTER XVI.
QUEENS-NEWTOWN.
HE picturesque names which diversify the map of the Greater New York have a variety of derivations. Two are suggested by natural or geographical features: Manhattan, the island, and Bronx, the river. One happily perpetuates the name of a city, great in itself until its identity was lost in a great- er,-Brooklyn. And two bear permanent witness to civil divisions that once were counties now wholly or in part absorbed by this overwhelming municipality: Richmond, or Staten Island, becom- ing a borough bodily, and Queens yielding up more than half, and leaving the rest exposed to the inviting experiment of a newly named and organized county. So the consideration of the Borough of Queens must begin with some account of the early days of the County of Queens.
It was not till the English days that such a division of territory was heard of, and then nearly twenty years after the surrender of New Amsterdam. In that earlier arrangement already mentioned. all of Queens, with the exception of Newtown township, belonged to the North Riding of Yorkshire. When under Dongan the institution of the popular body of the Assembly made necessary a division of the province into counties, Kings must have its mate and neighbor in Queens, in honor of James's brother and his royal consort, even as Dutchess, with its unfortunate spelling, gave a name to one of the up- river counties in honor of the Duke's own wife. So that we have for the date of the beginning of Queens County as such, March 1, 1683. Holding ourselves just now to a general survey of the county only, before more properly confining ourselves to those parts which belong to the Greater New York, it may be interesting, if not particularly edifying to read some general estimates of its inhabitants,-the re- sult of the investigations of earlier historians. Neither Prime nor Thompson are very complimentary in their conclusions. Prime, from the preacher's standpoint, draws a gloomy picture of moral deso- lation, mainly as the result of three sad facts: one that " Yankees
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and Dutchmen, Presbyterians and Quakers, men of every religion and no religion, have for almost two centuries been mingled together, with all their various affinities and repulsions "; another that " in many towns, fishing and hunting, traveling and visiting, and even ordinary secular labor, are indulged in by multitudes, on the Sab- bath day "; and, as a third, he thinks " it is proper to notice one of the principal means of demoralization, with which this county as well as the adjacent parts have been cursed for the space of one hundred and eighty years. There is no reason to doubt that the pas- sion for horse racing, so long and so assiduously cultivated, has had a powerful influence in stamping the character of the people of this county with traits so diverse from either of those with which it stands in juxtaposition." It is perhaps a little unfortunate for Queens, that
SHORE ROAD ABOVE HELL GATE.
one of the two standard historians of Long Island should have been a clergyman. It is barely possible that another writer would not have seen such specters of evil in heterogeneous religious conditions, in the recreations afforded the residents of a metropolis by proxim- itons fields and woods and streams on the only free day that some peo- ple ever get, or in the generous contests of the turf. Yet there are deleterious consequences attached to each of these particulars, and it is open to every one's judgment to-day to determine how far Mr. Prime is right, and how truly or otherwise he has hit off the state of things as they still are to-day. Thompson has something to say on the other hand, of the intellectual status in Queens County in days of old. He remarks that the county contained mainly English set- tlers, and that they were but " poorly educated." As a specimen he gives us a copy of a paper or protest presented to the Provincial As-
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sembly by the three members of Queens County, Thomas Willett, John Tallman, and John Willett, which reads as follows: "On the 20th day of Ougost last, the house consisting of 2 Persons, wheareof the Speeker was one, Tenn of the number did in the House chalings the Speeker to be unqualified for his being an aliane, and afterwards did repetit the same to the Governor, which they have all so giv in under theare hands; upon which heed the House being equally di- vided, could giv noe decision. Till yon giv us fader satisfacktion, and the Speeker clere himself from being an aliane, we can not acte with you, to sit and spend ower Tyme, and the country's money, to mak actes that will be voyd in themselves." Judged by the stand- ards of orthography of that day this does not seem so extravagantly bad; yet these protestants from Queens were expelled from the house on September 22, 1701, not only by reason of the contumacious na- ture of their paper, but also, as Thompson italicizes, because it was written " in barbarous English, and showing their ignorance and un- acquaintedness with the English language." Without any special refutation of these disparaging representations regarding Queens County, it will be seen, as we take up the parts within the city limits in detail, that facts and circumstances of a nature to warrant opposite conclusions will not be found wanting.
Of the six townships constituting the county, three-Newtown, Flushing, and Jamaica,-fall within the territory of the Greater New York throughout their whole extent. Of Hempstead, but a small strip along its western border is included. The remainder of the township, together with those of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, are about to be erected into a new county to be called Nassau, an appropriate reminder of an ancient name of Long Island. And New- town claims our attention, first, because topographically it follows closely in natural order the Borough of Brooklyn. the treatment of which we have just concluded; and also because it contains within its borders a municipal development which made the action of three mayors an essential part of the accomplishment of the great consoli- dation which is the subject of these volumes.
As we explore the dim past the first inklings of history that give us a view of the white man in these parts show scarce half a dozen set- tlers within the boundaries of Newtown. Far up at what was for- merly called Fish's Point, where now the North Beach Pier receives excursionists who wish to enjoy the elevating delights afforded by that highly reputable resort, Hendrick Harmensen, occupied, or culti- vated, a farm of some hundreds of acres. The year given for this beginning of civilization is 1638, when William Kieft was Director- General of New Netherland. About the same time, or perhaps a little later, a tract of one hundred acres at the southern borders of the township came into the possession of and was occupied by an Eng- lishman, Richard Brutnell, or Brutnall, whose home in England was
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at Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was probably very far from his thoughts that some twenty years later the place he was living in would be included within another West Riding of York- shire. The spot on which he settled was located on Newtown Creek, and along the east bank of Canapaukah Creek, a very pretty Indian name, which more prosaic days and tastes reduced to the homely designation still prevalent as Dutch Kills. On the west bank came to settle a neighbor whose nationality gave better warrant for this name. This was Tymen Jansen, whose merits as a ship-carpenter, or whose bill against them in such employ, induced the West India Company to transfer to him a tract of land on Newtown Creek, run- ning up northward along the Canapaukah. Finally, among these earliest settlers must be noticed Burger Jorissen, whose name, as thus spelled, is sufficiently Dutch, but who is said to have hailed from Silesia, and to have been " a respectable blacksmith," as if all black- smiths were not that. A fate similar to that of his fellow-tradesman at Turtle Bay on Manhattan befell him, in that he was brained by a hatchet in the hands of an Indian. But in life he occupied the historic position of the first white man to own the shores of the East River opposite Blackwell's Island, and to enjoy the beautiful pros- pects and the fertile soil which in later days made Ravenswood a spot greatly sought after.
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