Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-09

he sun which rose over Nex l Ork on
EvAcu alton Day. lI-.}, looked down On Z
citv v hicl would appear insignificant
beside some of our modern muihroom
tov ns of tie West. A century and p
half btfore.the whole island-tnen esti-
mated - contain 22,opO acres-eai Il been
purchased frou the Indians hv the
Dutch for tae equivalent OF S2i. In
1913 tGere " 70 buI fo1- houses between
the Battery and Harlem river. The
first municipal government was estab-
lIshed IN 1853. CoSblestones We're first
planted Ia the streets III tS5~, and the
first BRICK house Was DUn after erected
on the Strand" now Whitehall s:ree:.
by jacob LeI,!er, the sturdy DutcA'nai.
vino WAS hang for treason ~ Bowling
Green 5yorder OF the English Governor
In 1891. There ere abO1. 800 houses
here Ia l15}, and We are told that the
city was - a mile III leng b and at me
dunn not above half thlt in bre eiith.
Various causes operated to prevent ltl
rapid growth. the greatest OF all being
the revolution. and 50 the city had not
progressed n l1s3 mG:h beyond its .iia-
ITS of thirty years before.
The city's life commenced at the Bat
terry, and practically ended at Canal
street, much of the territory on the
near southeriy side of the litter being
waste lots or given oyer To the cnltiva
sion of garden truck. People tn those
days went from the Battery to the neigh
borhood of the present Grand street for
an outing, Jnst as their descendants now
seek rural delights IN the heart of West
chester County. Broadway and Bowery
roads were the two great tthOroughfares.
The former WAS about y mile and a half
In length, Battery to PRICE Stretches
than one mile of it-beving paved.
Beyond the City Hall the houses s.rag-
gied. and when the site of Union square
WAS reached one might revel amid the
butter cups and daisies. Below the
City Hall, on Broadway and the streets
contiguous to it. dwelt the aristocracy
of the city In houses LOFTY AMI well
built" said to have been little lnferi
or, In many respects, to the family man
sious of London, after which they were
patterned" The Bowery road was
then sort of s.. N;cholos avenue, mi
aus the grading, etc, and not quite so
well populated. A chronicler of the
times tells us that ''the Bowery road
begins at Catham street and runs into
Broadway at tho end Of a mile, and
much of the intervening space between
these large streets and from thence to
the Hudson and East Rivers is yet un-
touched, or CONSISTS only Of unfinished
streets or detached buildings" After
tho revolution it became necessary to
change the names Of great many
streets-kin9 street became Pine,
Crown street Liberty and Queen street
Cedar. OF Maiden lane it is said that
it was originally "a rural valley road
called Aaid's path"
New York has spacious and we'll
built Streets" wrote AN English trav
eler Of century ago. Most OF the
houses are built Of brick, generally
strong and neat and several stories
high. Some have, according to the old
style Of architecture, their gable ends
turned toward the street, but the new
houses are altered in this respect.
Many of the houses have balconies on
the roof. where the people sit IN the
evening in the summer time"
On the other hand, talking of the
streets. = Philadelphian. visiting New
York about the ssme time. says: ~
am still psrplsxsd to find my way
through the crooked streets of this oity,
nor do think could obtain a toler-
able knowledge Of them in u month"
The same traveller tells how he "trav
eled in style in an excellent and hand
some hackney coach, provided with
horses, careful driver and an Obsequi
Gus footman. for % cents"
The population at this time was about
10000. In 1867 1t had been 1902. and in
l77l, u .S63. That it should have de-
creased in the intervening dozen years
will not be thought surprising when it
IL considered that, to quote cdronicler
of the evacuating year, "between l2OOO
and 15,CUO refugees (FOries) left New
York City, Long Island and tneir vicini-
ties in advance Of the British troops"
Thus the census of 1856 showed that the
population-:hen 23,6l4-had increased
but 476l. This slow growth may be
partly accounted for by this: Most of
them pretended that it is not so much
fear of ill treatment after the depart
ure of the army that urges them to leave
the country as q conviction that the
republic must sink III a'shOr: lime un-
der their national debt and the exorbit-
ant taxes with which they will be load
ed" Not until the new republic gave
promise that it had come to stay cid the
great tide Of emigration set In.
The wealth of the oity was consider
able under the circumstances. Of course
there we're no milliOnaires, either in the
city or nation. In list of properties
valued ct G3)60 and over, published ia
1888, the highest figure is e7c0O. the
valuation of ths Tontine coffee house
on WALL street. Peter Goelet is down
for f25OO, and Peter Stuyvesant's sub
urban residence ID valued at $500 an
snOrmoss price in those days. There
we're in that year less than 800 hOu ses,
valued as El0,OOO and over in the whole
city. Nine years later, in l795. when
the city was divided into seven wards
and Harlem, the total valuation was
e2.563.00O, Harlem's share being t2l.-
OOO. The tax was Gl5, ,46-twelve sh,ll-
ings on ths fl0O. or about sixty cents
on 800.
AZ to the kindred subject of the city's
receipts and expenses. During the revO-
lutionary period the city was under
martial rule. and the first accounting
after the war was made on Sept. l, 1875,
commencing from Dec. S. 1888, at
which period the city government went
into active operation. The total expen-
ses were f25, 1884, Of which the principal
items were:
Repairs to public buildings. ..e59S1
| foorhouse ....''.- '.....''. ''-' voao ~
Watch (police) and lamps ........ 400
Rridewell tprison) n).......--....... 3ilu
| Interest on bonds. ........... 1s4i
The receipts we're !c24,4s5, and the
greatest portion OF the amount came
from taxes. e9Al; sale OF lots. ea5l7;
excise, ttOs.
TIE Mayor who vent out jus; after
the Revolution began was Whitehe td
Hicks. who being of Quaker origin. did
not see hi, way to taking sides. David
Matthews wes Mayor during the var.
and SD much Of an official nonentity-
the military ruling the city-that the
records say nothing Of him bat that he
Was II lawyer iby profession. James
Duane WAS appointed Mayor in l.S',
but did not enter on his official duties
till the next year. 1t is said that "ne
resided at his country sea: near the
present Gramercy Park"
There were bat two parties then the
patriots Tor Wings and Tories. Very
soon came the Federalists and their
Anita sEba Ctty Hal.-fhap kQnxn