USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume II > Part 44
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deed. but so exactly tallying with the main districts of the section as to be still associated with their names. Thus, there is the First Ward, or Hunter's Point; the Second Ward, or Blissville; the Third Ward, or Ravenswood; the Fourth Ward, or Astoria; and the Fifth Ward, or Bowery Bay, and later Steinway. Each ward was at first repre- sented by three aldermen, but for very good reasons it was deemed best to reduce the number of men to be manipulated in the Common Council, and, therefore, since 1879, there have been but one alderman from each ward, and two aldermen at large, making seven Common Councilmen altogether. The annals of Long Island City's municipal government present many picturesque episodes, and have brought to the fore characters none the less picturesque and even startling. But as the study of these events and men in detail might add indeed to the gayety of nations, but nothing much in the way of instruction, incidents and names had better be left for the enumeration of his- torians who bear not the burden of the entire Greater New York on their shoulders, but can delightfully expatiate on Long Island City alone throughout the extent of a volume such as must contain an account of all the boroughs in our present work. Suffice it to say that in 1894 the people of Long Island City voted for consolidation with the Greater New York with extreme eagerness and unanimity, the four thousand or more votes of Queens County against the meas- ure being polled mainly outside the municipality. And all this time the original parts have remained painfully distinct and distant from each other. It requires an effort of the mind for the denizen at Hun- ter's Point and Astoria and Ravenswood and the rest, to realize that they belong to one community, and have certain interests in common. The extraordinary modesty wherewith the inhabitants of these vari- ous districts forget or suppress the fact that they are living under the jurisdiction of Long Island City has already been mentioned. Now that Greater New York covers them all, the other name falls into innocuous desnetude most easily. Never was a geographical lesson learned with more amazing promptitude.
No events of special importance or of general interest have oc- cured in Long Island City since the incorporation. Industries of various kinds have continued to seek homes here. In 1872 the Em- pire and Standard Oil works were established along the East River, but are now further back and close upon the banks of Newtown Creek. Just about the time of the incorporation, in 1870 and 1871. the great piano house of Steinway and Sons began to erect their plant in the neighborhood of Bowery Bay, and the vast enterprise has ere- ated almost a town around it, so that Bowery Bay has come to be con- fined to the water only, as the name Hallett's Cove was erstwhile re- manded to what it properly belonged, and now the Steinways have given a name to a section of the city and its corresponding ward. Here and in Dutch Kills, and. indeed. in certain parts of Astoria and
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Ravenswood, the thrifty German mechanic or tradesman has man- aged to put up his small home, as in other parts of Newtown. At Hunter's Point the prevailing element seems to belong to the Irish nationality.
In the year 1876 Long Island City at Astoria became the scene of an event in which all of Greater New York, and even all of the Re- public were interested. This was the blowing up of certain rocks in Hell Gate channel, commonly referred to as " the blowing up of Hell Gate," which seems a phrase nmich resembling that which speaks of " setting the Hudson River on fire." On pages 489 and 490 of our first volume we gave a brief account of this operation, and promised further par- tienlars here. Refer- ence was also made to Engineer Maillefert's achievements in the same direction in 1851. Earlier than this the difficulties of Hell Gate were sought to be avoided by the enter- prising inhabitants of Hallett's Cove them- selves. That mysteri- ous Hallett's Cove Railway Company, which Thompson grave- ly tells us was organ- REFORMED CHURCH OF ASTORIA. ized in 1828 for the pur- pose of " repairing vessels, etc.," we find advertising in 1832 that on May 30 its books would be open for subscriptions to make up an authorized capital of $150,000, to be expended in cutting a ship-canal across the Cove, from above the dangerous passage of Hell Gate to below it about opposite the extremity of Black- well's Island. Whether the capital was over subscribed or not. the canal has very evidently never materialized. As was noted in our other volume, the government of the United States took the problem of Hell Gate seriously in hand in 1866, making Gen- eral John Newton its engineer to take charge of the work. That formidable obstacle and grim watchdog at the very month of
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Hell Gate, Hallett's Reef, jutting out viciously into the channel from Hallett's Point, was attacked in July, 1869. It was calculated that the body of rock to be removed to attain a depth of twenty-six feet over the reef was no less than 53,971 cubic yards. The first thing to do was to build a cofferdam to hold back the water, and this had need to be very powerful to withstand the enormous force of the tide rush- ing around the Point at the rate of nine or ten miles per hour. Its shape was fan-like, measuring 720 feet along the shore, and reaching out 300 feet into the stream. When this piece of work had been ac- complished, in October, operations were begun on the sinking of a shaft into the heart of the rock, thirty-two feet down. From this shaft as a center thirty-five tunnels were dug into the very bowels of the reef, radiating from the shaft, and ten transverse galleries, twenty-five feet apart. The tunnels were from seventeen to twenty- two feet high, and from nine to twelve and a half feet wide. The gal- leries varied from a height of twenty-two feet to one of twelve, ac- cording to distance from center, and their width was nine feet. These extensive excavations were not completed till June, 1875. Now was begun the work of drilling holes for the charges of explosives into the roof of the rocky temple thus weirdly dug out beneath the raging waters overhead, and also in the piers that seemed like the pillars of the structure, and which a stronger force than Samson possessed must pull down. The holes were three inches deep, in both roof and piers, and 5,375 of them honeycombed the former, and 1,080 the latter. This work was finished in March, 1876. Into these cavities 13,597 cart- ridge cases were lodged, connecting with twenty-three batteries, each to charge one hundred and sixty wires with electreity, the wires being divided into eight groups of twenty each. In September ev- erything was ready for the explosion, the batteries were prepared. and the water was allowed to pour into the spaces below by means of a siphon carrying it over the cofferdam. Then, on Sunday, Sep- tember 24, 1876, at 2.50 o'clock in the afternoon, the hand of a little baby-girl touched the fatal button that sent the electric fluid into the explosives, and Hallett's Reef succumbed to the art of man. But still there was Flood Rock, a little offshore, and somewhat south- erly of the Point, a worse monster than the one destroyed. It was twelve hundred feet long, and six hundred feet wide. The amount of rock to be demolished measured 270,717 cubic yards, or over five times more than in the other case, and the square surface measured no less than nine acres. Work was commenced almost inunediately upon this enormous obstruction. It necessitated two shafts instead of one, but the general plan of operations was similar to that already de- scribed, only differing in that two systems of excavation had to be con- dueted at once, each shaft being a center of radiation for the tunnels and for the concentric circles of the transverse galleries. A serious complication presented itself by the opening of seams in the roof,
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through which the water came pouring in torrents, and great ingen- ity was required to neutralize these breaks. Into the roof 11,789 holes were drilled, and the piers received 772. a surprisingly small number compared with the former operation. The final destruction of Flood Rock was decreed for October 10, 1885. As in 1876, the whole coun- try was on the qui rice. Dreadful things were expected. Hallett's Reef had indeed disappointed such expectations, but here was some- thing five times more fearful. Officials advised the people of As- toria to take down their mirrors from the walls and place their china flat on the table or floor, lest a universal crash might bring glass and china in millions of fragments about their cars. The police sent word around that if residents in apprehension of danger would prefer to leave their houses, their property would be carefully protected by the department, but if they stayed at home it would be at their own risk if damage were done, and thieves should take advantage of the confusion. It is related that not many people left their houses, even of those who lived in the immediate vicinity of the explosion, which unfortunately leaves us two horns of a dilemma to choose from: either that the people of Astoria were exceedingly brave, or that they had their own opinion of the protection that would be afforded by their police.
At 7.30 o'clock in the morning there arrived a detail of one hun- dred and twenty-five men from the garrison at Willett's Point, under a Captain and Lieutenant, who were to guard the approaches to the works, and keep the people from interfering with the delicate business connected with perfecting the final electrical adjustments. Early as was the hont, they were none too soon; even then crowds had begun to assemble. These were driven back, and the lines set beyond which no foot of the unofficial or uninvited masses was to step. General Ab- bot, the commander of the post at Willett's Point, assumed charge of the soldiers. He was himself an eminent engineer, and took an active part in the final preparations on this day. An old house at the steamboat landing contained the cables that were to convey the elec- trie currents into the mines. Here, too, was the apparatus for gen- erating the electricity. It was particularly essential to protect this place from unwarranted invasion, and no one, even of the guests or officials, was permitted to come within five feet of the wires. As the hour for the great event approached the shores of Manhattan Island and those of Astoria, far along the river road, and down toward Hal- lett's Cove, were black with tens of thousands of people. Trepidation was not altogether unmixed with the prevalent curiosity, as the in- habitants crowded about the shore at the Point, and some who were brave enough to come discreetly turned and ran home ere the button was touched. The hour set was 11 a.m. General Newton's baby girl had now grown to be a little lady of some nine or ten summers, and it was arranged that her hand again should make the connec-
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tion between the electric current and the twenty thousand little mines. At 11.13 o'clock precisely this was done, and with a great thud up went Flood Rock, and then settled down in fragments upon the bottom. The writer at that time was living in Brooklyn, six miles and more away from the site of the explosion. A slight shock was felt in the house at the moment, and not more than that, if as much, was felt in the immediate vicinity, so that with much disgust the dwellers in Astoria replaced their mirrors and glass and chinaware where they belonged. Yet it seems that at a distance further removed than Astoria more violent effects were experienced. Some articles fell from shelves and some window panes were broken on the east side of New York City as far down as Seventy-ninth Street. Observations on the amount of shock and the rapidity wherewith the vibration traveled were made at Yale and Princeton. The effects upon the rock attacked were at first disappointing to the uninitiated observers. They had seen columns of water rise one hundred and fifty feet into the air, and bowlders hurled forty or fifty feet high. But when the waters settled down again there was Flood Rock, apparently as chip- per as ever, boldly looming up to bid defiance and threaten destruc- tion to shipping. Several persons at low tide went out upon the sur- face of it and walked around dry shod. Nay, it seemed to be more of an obstruction than it was before, for two big rocks never hitherto known to watermen of the vicinity, jutted out above water at one end. But all this was but a misunderstanding of the real situation. The masses of roek though piled up so as to reach above the water, were no longer solid. They were in fragments, waiting only to be picked up by the dredging machines. In course of time the shattered and loose débris was removed from the spot that had once been so perilous, and the palatial steamers that daily round Hallett's Point into Hell Gate on their way to the Sound and various ports in New England. now sail with gay unconcern and at full speed over the places where these two reefs arose forbiddingly above the lower tides and hid treacher- ously beneath high tide. On that same day the Pilgrim and others approached very gingerly, and they found that the way was not yet cleared for them. The whole performance, for which years of prep- aration had been made, and upon which enormous labor had been ex- pended, lasted just thirty seconds. Much credit was due to the skillful engineer who had planned and executed so novel and perilous an en- terprise. Nor amid the glories of the hour must be withheld those that are due to the little lady at the button. While some grown men fled from the spot. she stood ready to perform her part, with eyes sparkling in their excitement, but without a tremor of nervous- ness or fear. Well might General Abbott tell her: " My dear, you have made more commotion this morning than any little girl in all New York."
In 1880, ten years after the incorporation, the population of the city
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had grown to 17,129. At the census of 1890 it was put down at 30,506; it is now estimated to be forty-eight thousand. As the result of the city's preponderating influence in the county by reason of the mere coagulation of people and consequent concentration of votes, it was decided. " after a great deal of maneuvering and jobbery," it is asserted, that a Court House for Queens County should be built in this distant corner of it. In 1872 commissioners were appointed, and $150,000 was appropriated by the Legislature; but in 1875 it was necessary to vote $100,000 more, and the commissioners were super- seded by act of the Legislature by the board of supervisors in the charge of the construction. In April, 1877, it was finally ready for of- cupaney, the entire cost of the building having then attained the sum
BODINE CASTLE, RAVENSWOOD.
of $278,500. The Court House is rather attractive in appearance. three stories high, and of Roman architecture, built of brick with granite trimmings. But its surroundings are grotesquely out of keep- ing, and have only subsequently been somewhat relieved by a hand- some schoolhouse not far away, to be supplemented by a hospital of fair size and style, which is still in course of erection. Aside from this one oasis in the desert of desolation, we can point to no material im- provement in the appearance of the nominal city. A system of water- works was introduced, whose efficiency was not great, and only in 1894 or 1895 were the works extended so as to meet the growing de- mands. Nay, even as late as 1897 the people suffered to desperation because by a little official manipulation for the sake of promoting per-
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sonal profit. the water supply could be diminished at will, with an abundance of water to be drawn from. The sewerage of the city has remained in a deplorable state to this very day; one or two immense sewers were constructed at Astoria, at great cost and to the great- sat- isfaction of those who performed the job; but not much can be said for the general beneficial effect of these conduits upon the town. Mean- while the streets throughout the city were largely left as nature made them, with a little superimposed rearrangement by man's hands which has only increased their wretchedness. Some parts of the city that were in fairly good condition have actually been allowed to de- teriorate. Astoria has been a sufferer that way. Had it been left to the humbler glory of a village existence it would have continued to emerge from its primitive state and become a place fair to look upon and comfortable to live in. A few of the streets were paved, but the biggest undertaking in that line was only partially completed after costing about ten times what the whole job should have been done for, and one of the handsomest thoroughfares was allowed to go to ruin. This is the road skirting the river, along Hell Gate. and the broader expanse beyond, where the wealthier people of the village, the Woolseys and Hoyts, persons who made their summer homes here, and others, like the Trowbridges, occupying property in- herited from the Polhemuses or the Robertsons, had combined to construct a fine macadamized roadbed, protected from extraordinary tides by a powerful stone wall, built with all the mason's care and skill, and surmounted by broad flagging which served as a sidewalk. This road was shamefully neglected; the bed of macadam allowed to wear away, and hoodlumis and vandals from New York suffered to work their evil will upon the river-wall, till scarcely anything re- mains of it to-day. Schoolhouses were put up in the different dis- tricts for enormous sums, far exceeding their real cost. In one of them a heating apparatus was placed at an expense of $7,000, which laeks only one qualification, and that is that it does not heat the building, so that in winter teachers and scholars keep on all their outdoor wear, and still sit shivering, and often classes have to be dis- missed for days at a time.
All this is, of course, the result of the peculiar methods that were permitted to prevail at the fountainhead of municipal power. At first the men placed in the Mayor's chair came from the ranks of the old families of the town. The first Mayor, as stated, was a Mr. Dit- mars; another who served more than one term was Henry S. Debe- voise, whose name is again a reminder of how the settlers of Flat- bush and other Dutch towns below Newtown Creek managed to spread into this northern region. But ere long the amenities of the political battlefield brought forward an individual of the most aston- ishing personality, unspeakably out of place in a position of that kind, and who never could have attained to it at all had Long Island
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City been a serious municipality instead of a travesty upon the name. He was elected term after term, until he felt he onght never to be dis- lodged. By a tremendous spurt of moral indignation and social dis- gust, a Reform Party managed to seat a Mayor of their selection, who took office on January 1. 1893, but only after personal altercations had removed the previous inembent. Long Island City was not a congenial home for Reform, however; it sickened and died before three years were over, and then the unspeakable individual managed to forge ahead again in a three-cornered fight, wherein the Reformers and Republicans unwisely divided their forces, and the proprietor of the Mayor's chair came to his own again by a paltry phirality of twenty-five votes, with the consciousness that a vast majority of voters did not wish him there at all. Thus he attained the distinction of being the last Mayor of Long Island City (with a year to spare) when the great consolidation went into effect, to the inexpressible relief of very many of the people.
For some years the several and widely separated sections of the city had been accommodated with means of communication in the shape of horsecars. They and their horses were usually very much the worse for wear. The agonies of these beasts of burden and those of the pas- sengers who watched their torture were happily brought to an end about the year 1893, by the introduction of trolley-cars, run by electric power. The power-houses supplying the electricity have also fur- nished electric lights since January 1, 1895. Within the last five years some avenues have been paved with good Belgian blocks, and a few of the side streets have been furnished with asphalt pavements. But even yet there are plenty of localities where the aspects that greet the eye are dismal in the extreme. No one would suspect, looking upon these all too numerous places, that a municipal government, equipped for giving the people the usual advantages of city life, and for changing therude surface of the country into neatness, comfort, and convenience, with due attention to sanitation, had here been in exist- ence for nearly thirty years. The people now wait to see what the power, wealth, wisdom, and experience in municipal affairs of the greater city will effect. Bridges may come to span the East River at this point, as has been more than once disenssed, and often, as now, eagerly advocated. "L" roads or trolley-car connections may make but one city of this place, in reality as well as per charter, with New York and Brooklyn. Thus the wilderness too much in evidence here- abouts even to-day, may be made to disappear, and the natural advan- tages of the place for residence, business, commerce, convincingly assert themselves, so that the whilom Long Island City may yet be an ornament to the Greater New York.
And finally the fact that upon this part of the island was eventually erected an incorporated city, such as it was, calls attention to an in- teresting circumstance. Thereby the entire western extremity of
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Long Island was made to present a front of cities-Brooklyn stretch- ing her boundaries from the ocean, past the Narrows, and up to Bush- wiek Creek; Long Island City taking up the line and carrying it around Hell Gate to Bowery Bay. Thus, even before the consolida- tion of the Greater New York, that remarkable harbor system already emphasized-both shores of Bay and East River, and both shores of the North or Hudson River (with Jersey City and Hoboken on its western bank)-were beset by the compact habitations of men; occu- pied in uninterrupted succession by the monuments of a colossal traffic; the whole created by the ceaseless whirl of a human activity inseparable from the metropolis of a great commercial nation,- the Queen of the Commerce of a Hemisphere.
CHAPTER XVIII.
QUEENS-FLUSHING.
CIRCUMSTANCE extremely discouraging to a historian confronts ns in the study of the annals of Flushing, similar to one that is met with in the treatment of Brooklyn, or Breuckelen. The records of the town for a considerable portion of its existence are gone. Brooklyn's were purloined. Flush- ing's were consumed by the hand of an incendiary. In 1789, with all the troubles of the Revolution safely passed, and the adoption of the Constitution duly celebrated. John Vanderbilt was Clerk of the town. A half-witted negro slave of his took it into her head to set fire to his dwelling. Part of it went up in flame, and also a part of its furnish- ings; but the town records were destroyed completely. Stern justice meted ont the death penalty for the deed, and the poor negress's de- mise in that violent manner is declared by Thompson to have been " the last instance of a capital execution in this county." This was, of course, up to 1839; there may have been some since.
The date of the earliest settlement of Flushing Township carries us back to 1644. Then came hither a number of English people-Thomas Farrington, John Lawrence, John Hicks, and others-and finding the vicinity delectable, they planted themselves down in the midst of the savages, who do not seem to have been hostile, as the Indian wars then raging did not desolate their plantation. The next year. October 10, 1645, a patent was obtained from the Dutch Director, and in order to make that effective they must have a Dutch name for their locality. Hence they selected the name of Vlissingen, or Fishing, which was one of the guaranty towns held in security by the thrifty Elizabeth when she consented to assist the Dutch Republic against Spain. No less a personage than Sir Philip Sidney was made Governor of the place, and forth from it he went to meet his gallant death on the plains near Zutphen in the autumn of 1586. Naturally Englishmen found a congenial home here, and from that day to this there always has been an English or Scotch colony there. Of the Scotch Church at Flushing (still worshiping in one corner of the transept of St. Jacob's Church, walled off for the purpose), the Rev. Archibald Laid- lie was pastor, when he was called, in 1764, by the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church of New York City, to become their first English- speaking preacher, exactly a century after the surrender of New Am-
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