USA > New York > New York County > Manhattan > Manhattan: historic and artistic; a six day tour of New York city > Part 11
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1865 .- News of the surrender of General Lee and the Confederate Army caused great rejoicing. Banners streamed in the wind, the national colors were displayed in great profusion, sweet bells chimed the airs of peace, the sound of cannon rolled over the water of the rivers and the bay, and the atmosphere was filled with the general gladness and mirth of the people.
One week from the time when peace was restored to the country, the body of President Lincoln was laid in state in the City Hall, the "Saviour of his Country" having been shot by an assassin, while in his box at the theatre in Washington. The tri-colored decorations
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of the city were at once exchanged for the sombre hues of woe.
1867 .- In January, five thousand persons crossed over a bridge of ice that had formed in the East River between New York and Brooklyn.
A short experimental section of the Ninth Avenue Elevated Railroad was opened for travel.
1869 .- The American Museum of Natural History was incorporated.
The Telegraph Messenger Service was or- ganized.
1870 .- The Metropolitan Museum of Art received its charter.
1872 .- A committee of seventy was appointed to investigate the extent of the depredations made by Tweed and his "Ring," and to bring those criminals to justice.
1873 .- The business interests of the city were paralyzed by a panic of unusual severity.
Morrisania, West Farms and Kingsbridge, three villages that covered an area nearly doubling that of the city, were annexed.
The city charter was amended, and many important modifications were made on prev- ious enactments.
1875 .- Fourth Avenue was improved at a cost of six millions of dollars, an expense shared equally by the city and the New York Central Railroad Company.
1876 .- The one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, celebrated by a World's Fair at Philadelphia, brought many visitors to the city. Exhi- bitions of loaned paintings, held in the Acad- emy of Design and the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the summer season, made the
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year a memorable one to the lovers of fine art.
Hell Gate channel was opened.
1878 .- The streets were lighted by electric arc- lamps.
1879 .- The Central-Station Telephone service was put in operation.
1880 .- Four elevated railroad lines were com- pleted, and in operation.
1881 .- The city, with the nation, was called to mourn the death of President Garfield, who was assassinated in Washington by an insane person.
The current was first turned on for the In- candescent Lamp Service.
Four hundred and forty-four newspapers and periodicals were published.
1883 .- East River Bridge was opened to the pub- lic.
The statue of Washington, now standing upon the steps of the Sub-Treasury Building in Wall Street, was presented to the United States Government by the New York Chamber of Commerce, on the occasion of the one hun- dredth anniversary of the British evacuation of New York.
1888 .- The city was visited by a storm of wind and snow that for several days shut off almost all communication with the surrounding country, and resulted in much suffering and many deaths.
1889. - An elaborate pageant, commemorating the first inauguration of a President of the United States, arrayed New York in holiday attire, and provided for its citizens three days of patriotic display and memorable pleasure.
The programme included civil and relig-
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ious ceremonies, a naval, a military, and a civil parade, and terminated with a great ball at the Metropolitan Opera House. It is estimated that three million strangers visited the city during the time of this celebration.
1890 .- The population of the city, as reported in the United States census, has been as follows :
1790. 33,13I
1800.
60,489
18IO. 96,373
1820. 123,706
1830. 197,112
1840
312,710
1850
515,547
1860
813,669
1870 942,292
1880. 1, 206,299
1890. 1,515,30I
An enumeration made by the police, under the unanimous resolution of the Common Council, showed the population of 1890 to have been 1, 710, 715.
The credit obtained by the city was illus- trated by an achievement never before reached in the history of municipal finance, bonds bearing interest at two and one-half per cent. having been sold in the open market at a premium of one and one-eighth per cent.
A " strike" by the engineers of the New York Central Railroad closed transportation over that route for several days.
1891 .- A Cable Railroad was laid from the Bat- tery to Central Park.
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
THE appearance, customs, and manners, of the people who occupied Manhattan Island before the coming of the white settlers, were so distinct from those of other nations known to the civilized world, and their individual character had so little in common with the more restrained and law-abid- ing Europeans, that they were classed among those wild and lawless races who, it was supposed, had few of the affections and higher emotions of humanity. Later experience, however, has shown that under the advantages of education and moral culture, the American Indian is capable of high attainments in all that distinguishes the best traits of human character.
The huts or wigwams of these Aborigines were made of two rows of upright saplings, with the branches brought together at the top. Upon this frame-work a lathing of boughs was fastened, and the inside was nicely covered by strips of bark that afforded a good protection from wind and rain. The ground was the only flooring these habitations contained, and on this fires were kindled, the smoke escaping through an aperture in the roof. The width of the wigwams was al- ways twenty feet, the length varied according to the number of persons that they were designed to accommodate. Sometimes twenty or thirty fam. ilies occupied the same apartment, each retain.
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ing an allotted space. In time of war a fence or stockade, from ten to fifteen feet in height, pro- tected the villages.
The Manhattan Indians are described as having been tall, small at the waist, with black or dark- brown eyes, snow-white teeth and cinnamon- colored skins. They were active and sprightly, though probably of less average strength than Europeans of the same size. While eating they sat upon the ground, taking the food with their fingers. In their dress they were fond of display, both sexes indulging in this taste to an extrava gant degree. Some of the highly ornamented petticoats of the women were sold to the early settlers for eighty dollars. The men wore upon their shoulders a mantle of deer-skin, with the fur next to their bodies, the outside of the garment ex- hibiting a variety of painted designs. Sometimes these queer people decorated themselves with many colors and patterns. In "full paint" they were both grotesque and frightful. The procurement of food, which consisted of nuts, fruit, fish, and game, was the usual employment in time of peace. The bow and arrow were the implements used in hunting. It is said that the Indian boys attained great skill with these weapons, being able to hit a shilling at a distance of fifty feet. This singular expertness was a wonder to the white settlers, who sometimes excited emulation among them by toss- ing up a purse of money to be claimed by whoever could hit it in the air.
After death the Indians were placed sitting, in graves lined with boughs, and covered with stones and earth. By their side were deposited cooking utensils, money, and food, in order that the spirit might want for nothing on its journey to the " Happy Hunting Grounds."
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MANHATTAN.
The original name for the Island was Monaton, a word descriptive of the whirlpool at Hell Gate, - the most striking geographical feature of the re- gion, -and the appellation by which the earliest inhabitants designated themselves was “Mon-a- tuns," or " People of the Whirlpool." Manhattan is the Anglicized term.
FROM 1613 TO 1664.
Some of the early settlers adopted the bark cab- ins of the savages, while others dwelt tempor- arily in roofed cellars. After a saw-mill was built near a stream that emptied into the East River op- posite Blackwell's Island, these pioneers construct- ed one-story log dwellings, the roofs of which were thatched with straw, and the chimneys made
DUTCH DWELLINGS IN NEW AMSTERDAM.
of wood. The windows admitted light through oiled paper.
As the little town of New Amsterdam increased in size, its habitations assumed a more substantial and comfortable aspect, tiles, shingles, and even brick, having been used for the most elaborate res-
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idences. The houses were built in the Low Dutch style, with the gable ends toward the street, the tops indented like stairs, the roofs surmounted by a weathercock, and the walls clamped with iron designed in the form of letters, (usually the in- itials of the proprietor's name), and in figures in- dicating the year when the building was erected. Every house was surrounded with a garden in which both flowers and vegetables were cultivated. Cows and swine were abundant, but horses were very rare. Inside, the floors were strewn with clean sand. Cupboards and chests that held the pewter plate, or household linen, were the main orna- ments of the best room, and as wealth increased, some of these displayed china tea-sets, and pieces of solid silver.
According to Lossing: "Clocks and watches were almost unknown, and time was measured by sun-dials and hour-glasses. The habits of the people were so regular that they did not need clocks and watches. At nine o'clock they all said their prayers and went to bed. They arose at cock-crowing, and breakfasted before sunrise. Dinner-parties were unknown, but tea-parties were frequent. These ended, the participants went home in time to attend to the milking of the COWS. In every house were spinning-wheels, and it was the pride of every family to have an ample supply of home-made linen and woollen cloth. The women spun and wove, and were steadily em- ployed. Nobody was idle. Nobody was anxious to get rich, while all practised thrift and frugality. Books were rare luxuries, and in most houses the bible and prayer-book constituted the stock of lit- erature. The weekly discourses of the clergyman satisfied their intellectual wants, while their own hands, industriously employed, furnished all their
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physical necessities. Knitting and spinning held the place of whist and music in these "degenerate days." and utility was as plainly stamped upon all their labors and pleasures as is the maker's name on our silver spoons. These were the "good old days" of simplicity, comparative innocence, and positive ignorance, when the "commonalty" no more suspected the earth of the caper of turning over like a ball of yarn every day than Stuyvesant did the Puritans of candor and honesty."
Most of the streets were paved to the width of ten feet from the fronts of the houses, the middle space containing public wells, and being left with- out pavement, for the more easy absorption of water. Brick pathways, called "strookes," were laid in place of sidewalks. Public markets were quite numerous, the supply having been received from the fertile section of country on the northern portion of the Island, where the farmers located a village called New Harlem. The road to this settlement was little more than an Indian trail leading through the woods, and becoming impass- able in many seasons.
As to the character of these founders of the city of New York, they were deliberate, but deter- mined. Much time was spent in examining every project before it was ventured upon, but when once undertaken it was carried out with a spirit of force and persistence to which later generations are deeply indebted.
With regard to the people of Holland, Mrs. Martha Lamb, in her " History of New York," as- serts: "In no country were the domestic and social ties of life discharged with greater precision. It matters not that chroniclers have made the Dutch subjects of unmerited depreciation. It has been stated that they were characterized only by slow-
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ness; and that the land was barren of invention, progress or ideas. The seeds of error and pre- judice thus sown bear little fruit after the read- ing of a few chapters of genuine contemporary personal description. As a rule the Hollanders were not inclined to take the initiative in trade or politics, and were distinguished for solidity rather than brilliancy; but it is absurd to say they were unequal to the origination of any new thing. We find among them many of the most illustrious men of modern Europe,-politicians, warriors, scholars, artists, and divines. Wealth was widely diffused; learning was held in high respect; and eloquence, courage and public spirit were characteristic of the race. For nearly a century after the Dutch Re- public took its place among independent nations, it swayed the balance of European politics; and the acumen and culture of the leading statesmen elicited universal deference and admiration. For an index to the private life of the upper classes, we need to take a peep into the richly furnished apartments of their stately mansions, or walk through their summer-houses and choice conserva- tories and famous picture galleries. As for the peasantry, they were neat to a fault and indus- trious, as well as frugal."
It will not be amiss in this connection to quote from the historian Broadhead, who says about the women of Holland; "The purity of morals and de- corum of manners for which the Dutch have ever been conspicuous, may be most justly ascribed to the happy influence of their women, who mingled in all the active affairs of life, and were consulted with deferential respect. They loved their homes and their firesides, but they loved their country more. Through all their toils and struggles, the calm fortitude of the men of Holland was nobly
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encouraged and sustained by the earnest and un- daunted spirit of their mothers and wives. And the empire which the female sex obtained was no greater than that which their beauty, good sense, virtue, and devotion entitled them to hold."
FROM 1664 TO 1776.
The advent of the British brought about many beneficial changes in the social life of the Island. Not only were English habits incorporated into the less ambitious character of the Dutch inhabitants, but the settlement of many Huguenot families of distinction aided materially to produce an atmos- phere of culture. Irrepressible social, political, and religious, forces were sweeping over the great nations of Europe and imbuing the immigrants who sought our shores, with a spirit which was to work out undreamed of results. Founded upon Dutch stubbornness, integrity, and practicality,-supple- mented by English inflexibility, sagacity, and commercial prosperity, and adorned by French refinement and vivacity,-it is no wonder that later generations arose to prominence, acquired the independence of character that could success- fully resist oppression, and developed the ability to aid in founding and maintaining a new and marvellously prosperous nation.
As early as 1668 a social club composed of the best Dutch, English, and French families, was es- tablished. Meetings were held twice every week at the different houses, the members coming to- gether about six, and separating at nine o'clock in the evening. The English governors and their suites held elaborate court, observing on all occa- sions the strictest etiquette sanctioned by foreign custom. Chroniclers love to dwell on this period
15
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of colonial history, in which the grand dames and lordly gentlemen appear in bold relief, not only because they were so few, but also for the reason that they were of the brightest and best that the earth afforded.
Quite a number of these personages brought with them considerable wealth, so that their resi dences became somewhat palatial, and adorned with furniture and works of art imported from Europe. Silver and gold plate, elaborate table service, and profuse entertainment, made New York hospitality famous even in European circles. Many families retired to country homes, where they lived in quiet but elegant simplicity, cultiva- ting their farms, and entertaining with delightful courtesy their visitors from the city or from Euro- pean countries.
The manners and customs of the less favored class of citizens were marked by industry, sobri- ety, and economy. At their festivals children and negroes were permitted the enjoyment of unre- strained mirth. Sunday gowns were removed as soon as their owners returned from church, and consequently were kept in a state of preservation which made it possible to hand them down as heirlooms. Cocked hats were treated with the same deferential regard. To illustrate the ex- treme simplicity of habit which prevailed among the people of this generation, it is only necessary to add that the Rev. Dr. Laidlie preached "right lustily against the luxurious abominations of sup- pers of chocolate and bread that kept the families till nine o'clock at night." This same preacher was the first divine who introduced the " outland- ish practice of delivering his sermon in English."
The laws at this period were few, but rigorously enforced. A ride on a great wooden horse was
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MANHATTAN.
This is la The picture of of neo ngon, An tbe yoer 1730J
That is a fair copie of y& Ungen arrived from London and now in y? City Hall
I feet wide on y board and 9 feet works poole . . 13 feet long in re whole. manmed by TI Tugmen eleven bucket. men and A fake man Gs the year 1720.)
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MANHATTAN.
the most common punishment. Every man pleaded his own cause, or what was more com- mon, said little and let it take its own course. The only long speech on record is that of a certain pettifogger, who in pleading for the right of geese to swim in the pond at the head of "Nieuw" Street, did "incontinently cause his client to be non-suited, by tiring his worship's patience to such a degree that he fell into a deep sleep and slept out the remainder of the term."
The customs and dress of the period immedi- ately preceding the Revolution are best described by Mrs. Lamb, as follows: "Show and glitter marked the distinctions in society. Dress was one of the signs and symbols of a gentleman; classical lore and ruffled shirts were inseparable. It was the habit of the community to take off its hat to the gentry; and there was no mistaking them wherever they moved. Servants were al- ways in livery, which in many instances was gor- geous in the extreme. Gentlemen appeared in the streets in velvet or satin coats, with white embroidered vests of rare beauty, small clothes and gorgeously resplendent buckles, their heads crowned with powdered wigs and cocked hats. A lady's toilet was equally astounding; the court hoop was in vogue, brocaded silks of brilliant col- ors, and a mountain of powdered hair surmounted with flowers or feathers. Although it is a fact worthy of remembrance that servants were ser- vants in those days, and never assumed to copy or excel their mistresses in the style and costliness of their attire, the democratic hammer already sus- pended over the doomed city was to subdue the taste and change the whole aspect of the empire of fashion."
At the time of the war, "Washington's guard
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MANHATTAN.
wore blue coats faced with buff, red waistcoats, buckskin breeches, black felt hats bound with white tape, and bayonet and body belts of white. Hunting shirts-" the martial aversion of the red- coat"-with breeches of same, with cloth gaiter- fashion about the legs, were seen on every side, and being convenient garments for a campaign- ing country, were soon adopted by the British themselves. This was the origin of the modern trouser or pantaloon."
FROM 1783 TO THE PRESENT TIME.
After the evacuation of the British and the restor- ation of peace, the city occupied itself incessantly with the work of reconstruction. During the resi- dence of the chief executive the same punctilious ceremony was observed that had marked the Eng- lish occupancy. The staid Knickerbocker element also dominated sufficiently to hold in check many tendencies that grew with marvellous rapidity under the stimulus of newly acquired independ- ence, and the friction of a cosmopolitan life.
There is little to relate of special mannerism from this time. The increase of population dif- ferentiated social life into circles, each of which preserved its special code, and this tendency has of course increased until the present time, when innumerable cliques separate society, or draw to- gether those whose temperaments and occupations make them congenial to each other.
The commercial development of the metropolis during the present century is a subject upon which volumes might be written and the half not told; indeed, the history of this period contains little else, although educational institutions have kept pace with the phenomenal prosperity. Efforts to
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encourage scholarship have been many and well founded, and the patronage of art has been liberal, advances steadily, and tends permanently to ele- vate the public taste.
At the present time the city extends from the Battery to Yonkers, including an area of forty and one-third square miles within its corporate limits. This territory is divided into twenty-four wards, designated by numbers, and into nearly one hundred and fifty thousand lots. Thirty-nine public parks, exclusive of triangles and small spaces, occupy a combined area of four thousand, eight hundred and forty-one acres. Pelham Bay Park, a tract consisting of seventeen hundred acres of forest land, with nine miles of water front along the Sound, has but recently been acquired. The annual appropriation for the maintenance of these pleasure resorts exceeds one million dollars.
The main configuration of the leading thorough- fares from the ancient "Copsie " or Battery, northward to the park, and thence to Harlem, Bloomingdale, and onward, were the old post-roads over which travellers passed to Boston and Al- bany. These highways followed the primary In- dian trails.
There are now in New York from fifty to sixty thousand business firms, nearly one hundred and twenty thousand buildings, forty-five first-class theatres, two hundred first-class hotels, three thousand apartment-houses, five thousand clubs, societies, etc., six hundred and forty-nine news- papers and periodicals, fifty-three public libraries, very nearly five hundred churches, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand, three hundred and six- teen tenement houses, and forty-three cemeteries.
As to the future of the city, who can estimate its gigantic possibilities? Already the population
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MANHATTAN.
is so dense as to render the present facilities for transportation quite inadequate. At the present moment there are no less than ten projects under discussion, or in process of construction, for con- veying passengers and freight to and from New York and Long Island, or Jersey City, by way of vast bridges over the intervening rivers, or by tunnels under them. Rapid transit in every case is to be a certain result if these efforts achieve successful issues, and the constant pressure of ne- cessity will doubtless insure a speedy completion for some of them.
The creation of a so-called " Greater New York," by the consolidation into one municipality of New York, Brooklyn, Staten Island, a portion of West- chester County, and a large area on Long Island, is a plan which awakens general interest at the present moment. The area of the consolidation would be three hundred and eighteen square miles, -a territory roughly estimated to include a radius of sixteen miles from the City Hall, (with the ex- ception of that portion which lies within the State of New Jersey). The community would then be composed of three millions of people controlled by a central government.
Great educational institutions also contemplate the combination of their forces. New and beauti- ful edifices that will accommodate the growing demand for scholastic opportunities, soon are to be erected upon favorable sites uptown. Public buildings are to be discarded for more commodi- ous quarters, and as many of these are required to be located in central parts of the city, familiar landmarks again must disappear, and nothing be left to the decay of age.
The march of progress brings with it as well, active individuals eager to promote the public
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good. Reformatory measures are inaugurated, - men and women both investigating deeply in order to better understand the methods whereby their wise ends may be gained,-and best of all, the voice of an ever-increasing multitude making itself heard in affairs, assures us that a diffused and widespread interest exists. This it is which surely promises in the time to come, a city the like of which has never yet been seen.
WESTOVER & SON
COLLECTORS OF
Mineral and Geological
SPECIMENS
ALSO DEALERS IN
Shells, Corals and Mosses
FROM THE PACIFIC COAST
ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED.
ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO
Santa Monica, Los Angelos Co., California.
FOR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR THE HOUSEHOLD
BY Mrs. E. G. COOK, M. D.
ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS PLATES, EXPLANATORY OF THE TEXT.
One volume, 12mo, cloth, gilt, price, $1.50.
There is now no doubt in the minds of intelligent persons that the great prevalence of disease and want of health found among the women of this and all civilized countries, is due almost entirely, if not absolutely to a want of knowledge of the laws of life and health. So prevalent is this condition that it is fast becoming what might be called a "fad" for women among the better class to submit to surgical operations for the removal of diseased conditions, in spite of the fact, that in the administration of anæsthetics, lives are always risked, and a record of the cases that are rendered worse, if not fatal, as the result of the "cutting," " scraping," and "removing" that is done would be appalling.
Let the women of our land study the laws of health as laid down in Dr. Cook's work, and learn to obey them, and a great change for the better would soon be made.
Bishop John H. Vincent, of Chatauqua fame, in speaking of this work says :
" The volume by Mrs. Dr. Cook is the result of native insight, profound study and prolonged experience. It is the work of a woman who knows woman. She has been a girl, wife, mother, student, and medical practitioner, and has given her best years and many of them to the momentous problems which per- tain to her sex, and which sustain such an intimate relation to the other sex. It is my deliberate judgment that this book should be read carefully by every woman in the land."
Sent postpaid on receipt of price by addressing the author at
917 Broadway, New York.
6385
.
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