USA > New York > New York and its institutions, 1609-1871. A library of information, pertaining to the great metropolis, past and present > Part 14
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The ferries, excursion-boats, and railroad-trains are crowded with eager thousands, anxious to snuff the breezes of the coun- try or bay, if it be but for a day or an hour. The parks, · squares, and suburbs are thronged on Sabbath with countless thousands unable to proceed to any greater distance from the scorching city.
This period is particularly fatal to infant children. Men and women, from sultry tenements, may be seen all hours of the night, walking the streets with pale, gasping infants in their. arms, most of whom with a change of air might
THE CASINO-CENTRAL PARK. (Restaurant.)
SUMMER IN NEW YORK.
recover, but who soon find a narrow cell in the neighboring cemeteries. The mortality among the laboring classes is often great during the heated term. On the 17th of July, 1866, the mercury stood at 104° in the shade, and 135° in the sun. One hundred and sixty-nine cases of coup de soleil. or sunstroke, were reported in New York alone, besides a large number in Brooklyn and Jersey City, a large per cent- age of which proved fatal. Over twenty head of fat cattle in the market-yard on Forty-fourth street died of heat, and scores of horses fell dead in the streets. Laborers and quiet citizens were alike prostrated. A carpenter at work in the gallery of a church fell to the audience-room, and was carried home by his fellow-workmen to die. A huckster was overcome in his wagon on the same block, the same day. A young lady, oppressed with heat, started with some friends for New England, by one of the Sound steamers, but expired soon after leaving the pier. A seamstress in the upper part of the city, without any exercise or fatigue, fell from the chair in which she was sitting, and instantly expired. A wealthy lady on the east side of the city entered her private coach to visit a sick friend. On entering her friend's house, she felt a sense of faintness stealing over her, and after making some hasty inquiries, remarked that she did not feel well, and would not sit down. She returned to her carriage. and ordered the coachman to drive home quickly. He did so, but on opening the carriage door found only her lifeless form.
This excessive heat never continues more than a few weeks. and rarely above a few days. The perils of such seasons are frightful, especially to dissipated and careless people. The burning rays pour down for weeks without rain or dew, upon leafless streets, until the pavements glow with heat like a fiery furnace, in which humanity is sweltered and baked alive. It is not proper at such times for strangers to enter the city, and many of those who do, after remaining a short time in the Morgue, are deposited by the authorities in au
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
unknown grave. The summer of 1869 was unusually cool, and that of 1870 warmer than any experienced in more than twenty years. Fewer sunstrokes, however, occurred than in 1866, as many of the laborers wore cabbage-leaves under their hats, a simple experiment which probably saved the lives of thousands.
AUTUMN IN NEW YORK.
September brings the return tide of a surging population. The great heat of the season has passed, vacations are ended, and nearly every resident is anxious to see how it looks in New York. Teachers of the public schools, and scholars who have been luxuriating amid the shades and glens of the green mountains, return to resume their labors and studies. Churches, refitted and refurnished, are opened with impressive and attractive services, and glad pastors and people exchange their mutual congratulations. The wholesale dry-goods trade has already opened, crowding many of the down-town streets with such piles of new boxes that the pedestrian can scarcely pass. New stores are opened with brilliant windows, new books and styles announced, and handbills profuse as the leaves of autumn spread in every direction. The markets abound with fruits and vegetables of every description, and from every part of the country, rich and luscious ; but, how- ever plentiful, through the perverseness of the middlemen, they are always costly here. Autumn is preeminently the season for music, promenade, and parade. Music is much cultivated in New York. Singing is taught in the public schools, the Sabbath-schools meet twice, devoting most of one session to singing, so that children with little talent in that line, by this long-continued drilling, nearly all learn to sing. In autumn one is attracted by music at the park, music at the school, music at the church, concert, theater, in the
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AUTUMN IN NEW YORK.
drawing-room, and in the public street. Military organiza- tions, target companies, and the members of various societies. parade the streets, or ride after richly caparisoned horses. wearing unique uniforms, filling the air with strains of music. Organ-grinders, from every nation, and of every age, multiply at every corner, to the disgust of merchants and householders. At this season hundreds of persons from the surrounding country flock to the city in quest of situations, . but failing to obtain them, depart in disappointment, or linger to swell the ranks of vagrants and criminals. Cold weather seldom arrives earlier than December, leaving three delight- . ful months for business, study, and pleasure. The climate during the whole of autumn is bracing, cheerful, and bland beyond all description.
XII.
THE LIBRARIES, MONUMENTS, AND MARKETS OF NEW YORK.
MERCANTILE LIBRARY-CLINTON HALL. (Astor Place und Eighth street.)
THE LIBRARIES.
THE libraries of Manhattan far excel those of any other city on the continent. The first public library was established in 1729, when Rev. John Millington, Rector of Newington, England, bequeathed 1622 volumes to the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." Rev. John Sharp, chaplain of Lord Bellamont, having some years previ- ously presented a collection of books, they were now arranged
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THE LIBRARIES.
and offered for the public use under the title of the " Corpo- ration Library." But the librarian soon died, and the library was neglected. In 1754, a few enterprising minds organized the "Society Library," and by grant of the Common Council. added this old library to their own collection. The society was 'chartered by George III. in 1772, and still flourishes with a library of about 50,000 volumes.
" THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY," which has done more than any other to preserve the reminiscences of early New York, was founded in 1804. Its rooms contain, besides the library, many choice and rare curiosities.
" THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION" has held its fif- tieth anniversary, and is, perhaps, the most popular institution of its kind in the city. It owns its fine edifice, Clinton Hall, on Astor Place, has a property valued at half a million, and a library of one hundred and twenty thousand volumes, which increases at about ten per cent. per annum. Its read- ing-room contains four hundred papers and magazines.
THE " ASTOR LIBRARY" is the largest in New York, and contains one hundred and thirty-five thousand volumes, mostly solid works. It is emphatically the great library of reference for scholars, and fills an important place in the literary facilities of the metropolis. The cut presents a view of the original structure, as provided for by the bequest of John Jacob Astor, but which has been enlarged by his son, William B. Astor. The present building and library form a worthy monument of two worthy men.
Besides these we may mention the " Apprentices' Library." of fifty thousand volumes, the " Library of the American In- stitute," the "New York City Library," the " Printers Free Library," the " Women's Library," the " Harlem Library." the " Mott Memorial Medical Library," the "New York Law Institute Library," and the immense libraries connected with the large institutions of learning. Honorable Peter Cooper has also during this year, on the occurrence of his eightieth birthday, surprised the community with the gift of $150,000,
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
to found a complete library for working men. To these will also soon be added the "Lenox Library," founded by the dis- tinguished philanthropist whose name it bears, who has just set aside land and $300,000 for the erection of appropriate buildings, opposite Central Park, to which he adds his entire collection of statuary, paintings, and books, said to be the most valuable in the country, and money sufficient to make it com- plete and unrivaled. Besides these, there are numerous read- ing-rooms judiciously distributed through the city, furnished with all the periodical literature of the day, opened by the Young Men's Christian Association, and other benevolent societies.
MONUMENTS.
Some portions of New York and vicinity are thickly studded with monuments, commemorating the names and deeds of the great, the patriotic, or the admired. Some reared by private enterprise over the remains of friends have cost large fortunes, and money which might have blessed the world has, in more than one instance, been foolishly thrown away. Some very laudable efforts in this line have, however, been undertaken. Churches have reared chaste monuments in memory of devoted pastors, students to eminent men of letters, and soldiers to attest their respect for fallen comrades. The soldiers' monument, which lifts its modest head on the western elevation of Greenwood cemetery, and the one erected by the Seventh regiment in Central Park, are very imposing testimonials of patriotic regard. The beauti- ful monument of Columbus, the peerless navigator, and that of the learned Humboldt, and one of Shakspeare, all recently placed in Central Park, are worthy of mention.
Old Trinity church-yard contains several, the most impor- tant of which is-
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY-Second Avenue, cor. Eleventh Street.
SOCIETY LIBRARY
3:
NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY-67 University Place.
COLUMBIA COLLEGE-Fiftieth Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues.
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS
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COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS-Cor. 23d Street and 4th Avenue.
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MONUMENTS
THE MARTYRS' MONUMENT, erected by the Trinity corpora- tion in 1852, to the memory of those patriots who died in the old Sugar House and in other prisons during the Revolution.
MARTYRS' MONUMENT. (Trinity Church Cemetery.)
HAYIR WORTH
WORTH MONUMENT. (Madison square and Fifth avenue.)
It is a chaste Gothic structure of brown stone, standing on a granite foundation, about forty-five feet high, appropriately inscribed, and crowned with the American eagle.
THE WORTH MONUMENT, erected on the west side of Madi- son square by the corporation of the city of New York in 1857, is the only one completed at the public expense. The monument is a four-sided chaste granite obelisk; its sides, be- sides presenting the equestrian image in high relief, are nearly covered with inscriptions, setting forth the career of
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
the hero of Cherubusco and Chapultepec. Handsome bronze reliefs are introduced between the several inscriptions.
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT stands at the south-east por- tion of Union square, and is a colossal bronze equestrian
WASHINGTON MONUMENT. (Union square and Fourteenth street.)
statue, executed with great artistic skill by Browne, and was erected through the laudable efforts of Colonel Lee. The figure is fourteen and one-half feet high, and stands upon an immense granite pedestal of the same height, making the whole twenty-nine feet. This representation of the Father of his country has been universally admired. The means for its erection were contributed by the inhabitants of the neigh- borhood. It is said that the gentlemen who circulated the subscription called one day on a property-owner, noted alike
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MONUMENTS.
for his wealth and avarice. The subject being presented, the miser stated that he could give nothing, and remarked that ' no monument was necessary. Laying his hand upon his breast he exclaimed, with emphasis, " I keep the Father of his country here." "Well," responded the intrepid collector, "if the Father of his country is there, he is in the tightest place he ever found."
THE LINCOLN MONUMENT, erected in September, 1870, by the Union League Club, stands at the south-west corner of Union square, and corresponds in position with the Washing- ton monument on the opposite corner. The pedestal consists of three Dix Island granite stones, which weigh in all over forty tons, and is twenty-four feet high. The statue, which represents the deceased statesman in citizen's dress, but cov- ered with a Roman toga, is of bronze, nearly eleven feet high, and weighs three thousand pounds. The design was formed by H. K. Brown, Esq., and is a faithful representation of the martyred President. In his left hand he holds the Proclama- tion of Emancipation, and a galaxy of stars on the pedestal represent the States of the Union.
THE VANDERBILT MONUMENT, erected in 1869, and crown- ing the western wall of the immense freight depot which - covers the old St. John's Park, is by far the most elaborate and costly undertaking of its kind on Manhattan. It was conceived, and carried forward to completion, mainly through the untiring exertions of Captain Albert De Groot. The whole scene in bronze is one hundred and fifty feet long, and over thirty feet high, with admirable groupings of ancient and modern representations, and is designed to allegorically exhibit the brilliant and successful career of the dashing Commodore. The central and chief figure is the Railroad King, a life-like and correct statue, twelve feet high, weigh- ing over four tons. On the left of this central figure every- thing is seafaring, representing his early beginnings on the New York Bay, his later travels, and his patrictic munificence. . In the distance Neptune in bold relief is seen, in a half-re-
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
clining posture, looking seaward, while a schooner, a steamer, a steamship, and miscellaneous aquatic groupings, complete the center of the picture. On the right terra firma, the theater for a king of railroads, spreads away. At the extreme right, corresponding to Neptune, stands the figure of Liberty, while the intermediate space exhibits forests, cultivated fields, railroad track with tools, tunnels, switchmen, and dashing trains. The whole weighs over fifty tons, and cost half a million dollars, which was contributed by New York bankers and capitalists. It is an appropriate recognition of the per- severance and thrift of a modern Knickerbocker, who, with- out patrimony or schools, has carved out his own diploma, and compelled the world to sign it.
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THE MARKETS.
The marketing ou Manhattan seems to have been, for some years, a system of general huckstering. For the better security of seasonable supplies the authorities ordered in 1676, that all country people bringing supplies to market should be exempt from arrests for debt, and that the Market-house, a small building devoted to that use, and the green before the fort (the present site of Bowling Green), should be used for the .city sales. In 1683 markets were appointed to be held three times a week, to be opened and closed by ringing a bell. In 1692, a market-house for meat was ordered at the foot of Broad street, and subsequently nearly every slip on the East river side, where the city mainly lay at that time, had its mar- ket-house. "Bear Market " (Washington), so called from the . fact that bear meat was first sold in it, was the first on the west side. The present structure was erected in 1813, and though low, gloomy, and in a decayed condition, has for many years been the principal wholesale market of the city.
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THE MARKETS.
The market proper contains five hundred and three stand- (with many outside), and furnishes employment and subsis- tence for about 10,000 persons. Its annual business is be- lieved to exceed $100,000,000 .* The market buildings, num- bering fifteen, are judiciously distributed through the city; most of them are still owned by the corporation, and bring an annual income of several hundred thousand dollars. Several fine market buildings have recently been erected by. private parties. The Manhattan Market Company, chartered a year and a half since, are now erecting the largest and fin- est market building yet undertaken on the island. It stands on the block between Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth streets. Eleventh and Twelfth avenues. The main structure, which is of iron, stone, and Philadelphia brick, is 800 feet long and 200 feet deep, and will contain 800 stands. The interior of the structure is 80 feet high, well lighted, and if Washington is ever removed, this appears certain to become the principal wholesale market of the city. The contractors have agreed to complete it by the first of October, 1871. Others are to follow under the direction of this company.
XIII.
THE CEMETERIES OF NEW YORK.
IIE bustling glittering cities of the living stand in such close proximity to the silent but more populous ones of the dead, that this sketch of Manhattan would be quite imperfect, were no mention made of the places where rest the eight generations that have successively peopled the gay metropolis.
The Burial-places of Manhattan were for many years con- nected with the separate churches, and as late as 1822 there were twenty-two of these church burying-grounds south of the City Hall. In 1794 the Potter's Field was located at the junction of the Greenwich and Albany roads. This was at a. later period removed to what is now Washington square, from whence it was removed to Randall's, then to Ward's, and finally to Hart's Island. The negro burying-ground was long at the corner of Broadway and Chambers street, on the site now occupied by A. T. Stewart's wholesale store. In 1729, a Jewish cemetery was laid out near what is now Chat- ham square. The land was given by a Mr. Willey of London to his three sons, then New York merchants, to be held in trust as a place of burial for the Jewish nation " forever." But so uncertain are the securities of earth, that the place has now long been covered with stores and warehouses. In 1813, all burials below Canal street were prohibited. The plan of erecting marble cemeteries farther up town was now proposed, and two were constructed between Second and Third streets, Bowery, and Second avenue, with 234 and 156 vaults respectively. They were constructed entirely of stone, and calculated to receive a large number of bodies. It was
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NORTHERN ENTRANCE TO GREENWOOD CEMETERY.
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THE CEMETERIES OF NEW YORK.
however, soon discovered that this plan must be a failure. I :: 1842, the plan of rural cemeteries was fully inaugurated by the laying out of Greenwood, which had been incorporated in 1838. In 1847, a general law was enacted by the Legisla- ture, conferring upon voluntary associations the right of establishing rural cemeteries, which was soon followed by the laying out of Cypress Hill, Ever Green, New York Bay. Calvary, and others. In 1842, the Trinity corporation pur- chased thirty-six acres of ground, on Tenth avenue and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street, of Mr. Carman, for a ceme- tery, which is the only one now in use on the island. This cemetery has recently been much injured by the laying out of the Public Drive, which passes through it, ruining many of its vaults, and convincing us that the land should never have been devoted to a cemetery. The grounds are richly shaded and kept in good cultivation. Here sleep the remains of Bishops Wainright and Onderdunk, of Philip Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration, of Madame Jumel. Aaron Burr's last wife, of Audubon, the renowned naturalist. of John Jacob Astor, and many other distinguished per- sonages. The vault of President Monroe is seen, though his remains were several years since removed to Virginia.
John J. Cisco, of Wall street, and other living capitalists, conscious of coming doom, have here erected granite or mar- ble structures for their last earthly homes. Land has now be- come very valuable in this locality. The grounds were origi- nally obtained for $14,000, but the corporation has refused $80,000 for the water front simply.
In 1851, an ordinance was passed prohibiting all burials on . the island south of Eighty-sixth street, except in private, vaults and cemeteries.
NEW YORK BAY cemetery is situated, as its name implies, on the New York Bay, in the State of New Jersey, two and one-half miles from the Jersey City ferry. The cemetery now comprises about fifty acres of level land, is nearer the
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
City Hall than any other, and contains the mouldering forms of over 50,000 persons.
GREENWOOD, the oldest and most noted of all our rural cemeteries contains four hundred and thirteen acres of land, purchased of over sixty different owners. The grounds are situated in Brooklyn on Gowanus heights, about two and a half miles from South ferry, the higher portions of which were crimsoned with the blood of the slain at the noted bat- tle of Long Island, fought August, 1776.
The surface, graded at immense expense, is beautifully un- dulating and diversified, producing constant and gratifying changes of scenery. Seventeen miles of broad carriage-roads constructed of stone, and covered with gravel, bordered with paved gutters, and fifteen miles of foot-paths, nearly all of which are covered with Scrimshaw concrete pavement, free from dust, mud, and weeds, conduct the visitor to every part of the grounds. The entrance-ways are all elegant, the northern, completed in 1863, being the most imposing. Its puter gate, closed only at night, opens on Fifth avenue, and is the principal way of access to the vast population of New York and Brooklyn. The gateway, reached by an approach, graded at great expense, is an elaborate Gothic edifice, mas- sively constructed of the best New Jersey sandstone, is 132 feet long, 40 feet deep, terminating above in three pinnacles, the central of which is 106 feet high. The deep triangular recesses of the pediments above the gateways are filled on both sides with groups of sculpture formed of Nova Scotia sandstone, representing the Saviour's entombment and re- surrection, the resurrection of the Widow's Son, and the raising of Lazarus. Still higher are figures in relief represent- ing Faith, Ilope, Memory, and Love. A bell tolls with each passing procession, and a clock marks the speed with which we are gliding to eternity. The grounds are being enclosed with an' iron fence, and otherwise constantly improved. About six thousand are annually interred here, and at the close of 1870 the whole number of interments amounted to
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MISS CHARLOTTE CANDA'S MONUMENT .- Greenwood Cemetery.
RECEIVING TOMB .- Greenwood Cemetery.
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THE CEMETERIES OF NEW YORK.
150,000. It is the most favorite resort outside of New York. its finely wrought vaults and over 2,000 monuments, some of which have cost large fortunes, attracting much attention. The monument of Charlotte Canda is perhaps the most noted of all, though those of D. H. Lewis, De Witt Clinton, Colonel Vosburgh, and others, are very imposing. Here clergymen, merchants, bankers, and common laborers find a space and think not of the amount of marble that marks their resting-place. Mr. Peter Cooper, Rev. H. W. Beecher, and many others, have selected the place for their final repose beneath the . shades of the sighing willows. The receipts last year amount- ed to over $250,000, and the expenditures to $247,000. The permanent fund for the improvement of the cemetery, aris- ing from the sale of lots, legacies, donations, etc., amounts to nearly three-quarters of a million, and is certain to be consid- erably increased.
CYPRESS HILL cemetery is situated on that elevated ridge north of the Brooklyn and Jamaica turnpike, known as the " backbone of Long Island." It lies partly in Kings and partly in Queens counties, is about five miles from the ferry at Peck Slip, and comprises 400 acres. About half of the - grounds are still covered by a natural forest, and the other portions profusely set with trees and shrubbery, thus blend- ing witht he wild luxuriance of nature the chaste embellish- ments of art. A brick arch, surmounted by a statue of Faith, and supported by two beautiful Lodges, forms the front, or southern entrance. The view from the elevated portions of this cemetery is very extensive, presenting, besides nearly every variety of landscape scenery, a bird's-eye view of the surrounding country, and the neighboring cities. Brooklyn, New York, Jersey City, the majestic Hudson, and the Pali- sades are spread out with panoramic grandeur; farther to the north rise the hills of Connecticut, and to the south, far as the eye can extend, stretches the broad Atlantic, bounded by the horizon. Over 85,000 interments have been made in these grounds since 1848. The forms of 4,060 of our brave
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
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