The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1876-06-21
NEw YORK IN 1879.

Manhattan vss beautiful island
hundred years ago. Satars had dons
everything 20 make il agreeable aud
pieturesque. aud nsan had then don.
little more than develop and rsine rs
beauty.
Mnch Of the interior Of thu Island
was occupied by small farms aud large
market gardens. both in high state II
cultivation Part Of the shore on al
three rivers xas lofty. and even preci-
pitous bat ia many places it slopsd
down gently u the water. atfosding ex-
quisite sites for country houses. tracss
of some Of " hich still remain. l saw
mysef tho o.hss day, GA the Eas kiv-
or side. st.,at Eighteenth street. q fsw
gravsstoees belonging To the burial
place Of an ancient New York family,
and, nser by. the ruins of their billiard
room. now occupied as a store-roosn and
tool house for the street-open.rs. All
round the Island. sni generally within
sight OF the water, there was = road
much fre9ue a. cd OH pleasant days.
which was called, as | notice ia one OF
General Waslfingtons letters. The
Sixteen Mile hound" Probably. there
was no. in the world more delightful
drive.
often think. as l am working my
way up town. in that new instrument
OF torture. the horse-car. of Thsodosis
Burr's description of the Island. writ
ten one day after returning from . ride
over part of this road.
sk> I,3 Il 1ahnf1
this island 30 beautiful. The varieties
Of vivid greens the finely Cultivsted
fields and gaudy gardens. the neat.
cool air Of the cts boxes peeping
through straight rows Of tall poplars;
and the elegance Of some gsntlemen's
seat. commanding view OF the majes-
tic Hudson. and the high, dark shores
Of New jersey, altogether form . scene
90 lively. 20 touching. and to me so
new, that l WAS IN constant rapture"
Such was this island when the city
had only disfigured a mile or so of its
southern extremity. New York. in
1916. was only pace Of about twenty
five thousap inhabitants, and was
thickly built about as far up as Fulton,
then Partition street. hexportcd mor-
chandiss TO the value Ut about seventy
thousand pounds sterling per annum.
and imported about half . million
pounds worth 1t was . crooked. cob
bio stoned. clean. shady. Dutch English
town; its houses generally small. low.
wooden. with gsrdcns aud grapsries
behind and around them. Strangers
from abroad used 10 wonder mt seeing
handsome residences in close contact
with stores, shops and Offices. IL WAS
only the lower part Of Broadway. and
that for a very short distance. which
presented anything like the sppea rance
Of fash iensble quarter. We can see,
however, from tho Walton House i'm
Perl street, - well - from portious of
ancient editices Of that day which still
stand in Broadway, that the wealthier
inha bitapts had very liberal ideas as to
what constituted becoming abode.
The city WAS blending Of three ole
ments. 1t still retained a strong Dutch
flavor. aany Of the leading fsmilies
beng Of Dutch origin. There were
Dutch churches. Dutch schools, Dutch
dishes. Dateh customs. and Dutch laws.
Some Of the English schools advertised
To teach the Dutch language. The city
had also the characteristics OF an Eng
lish numerical town and. above all,
il was the principal scst Of the sover-
eign power OF the mother country. and
its chief naval station 1t contained.
probably, greater number % persons
deriving pccuniary advantage from the
British government than any other
town in tho colonies.
For this and other reasons it was .
very loyal place. and al unsusl number
Of streets had names ssvoring of roy
Atty. Pearl street, just mentioned, vas
then named Queen, and Cedar was
called Iattle Queen Street. Pine was
called King. and Liberty street WAS
named Crown. Colrmbia College vas
called Kings college William street,
where the ledger Office now stands. re-
joiced in the swelling nsmo Of King
Georxc street, Franklin Square. near
by. vas called ~. Georges Square.
There was alao Kisg's Wharf. the
Kings Arms tavern. the Queens Arms.
the Royal George. aud other tavorns
named in the same style.
In those days. when reading was very
far from being On accomplishment
generally possessed. merchants were &C.
castomsd to uss "signs." instead Of
words. TO indicate their business. Thus.
near Burling slip. there was . famous
hard Sarc store. on which the sign WAS
large lock and key. another which ex-
hibited golden broad axe. Many of
thssc signs had . SAVIOR Of royalty. A
book store used the sign u Bible and
crown. and large sailors furnishing
store called itself the Crown aud An.
chor. In the middle Of the Bowling
Green, too, there was an equestrian
statue OF the king himself, partly
made Of lead. bat covered with bright
gliding.
With all this show Of loyalty. there
bad gradually grown ups stsoog and
general feeling of opposition TO the
British Government. which instantly
showed itself in . remarkable manner
whcn the news reached the city Of the
battle of Lexington Even that thrill
ling intelligence was four days in reach
ing New York The news cane on
Sunday The inhahitants poured into