Wichita eagle., 1890-02-09
NEW YORK SCRAPS.
Hew the Colony of New Amsterdam Grew
to . Metropolis.
Especial Correspondence

Hew the Colony of New Amsterdam Grs~
to q Metropolis.
Especial Correspondence
NEW YORK, Jan. 27.-Tracing the growth
Of the colony of New Amsterdam, how
curiouSly some of the records read. Only
200 years ago the stout Dutch women
| rowed their boats laden with market truck
from what is now known as Brooklyn and
Gowanus to Exchange place and the head of
canal in Broad street, now a maelstrom of
speculation and activity and the financial cen
ter of the New World. Governors Island, a
few hundred yards distant from the Battery,
was known as Nutters Island from the number
Of nut trees growing there, and Buttermilk
channel, which separates it from the shores
of Long Island, once SO shoal that COWS
forded it at low water. derived its name
from the quantities of that commodity
brought by the women in their boats to the
New Amsterdam settlers. Wall street, only
thousand yards away from the Battery,
was the upper boundary of the city, and
took its name from stockade built there to
prevent the incursions of the Indians. Pearl
street, now a mart Of trade and several
blocks inland, was a cow path running a
portion of its length along the edge
of the East river. In order to cross to
Brooklyn the early inhabitants took horn
from a tree and "tooted" a signal to the
Dutch ferryman who owned a farm near by,
and coming in answer to the blast carried
passengers over in his little skiff. The ances-
tor of the present Broadway was Here
STRAIT and ran up hill. Whitehall, adjoin-
ing the Battery, was named after the man
sion of one of the governors, and Bowling
Green was the village green where the people
erected their Maypoles and danced on holi-
days.
Let us take a glance at the Battery.
Overhead the elevated railroads make an
almost continuous rumble, and every five
minutes the cars are emptied Of hundreds Of
people who either swell the throng already on
the Battery, or hurry to the ferryboats wait
ing to carry them to Brooklyn, Staten Island
and other places down the bay. A favorite
lounging spot is the broad promenade that
skirts the sea wall, for here one has a COM
manding view of the harbor, and may enjoy
day dreams while old ocean lies before him
winking in the sunlight like drowsy lion.
That young fellow SO handsomely dressed,
with strongly marked Celtic features shaded
by broad sombrero, who leans against q
post and peers longingly in the direction OF
the Narrows, is lover, SO your friend de-
tective sergeant tells you, waiting fer his
sweetheart from across the sea. He has come
from Dakota.
''And who is that blind old woman2" the
writer inquiries of an official in Castle
Garden, to which we pay flying visit.
"Ah, that is a sad story" is the reply,
for it is the officers business to know every
thing. 'She is Canadian woman who
arrived here on a steamship only yesterday.
When she left New York four months ago
her husband was with her, but on arriving
in England she was either abandoned or lost,
and owing to her infirmity has become prac-
tically pauper. She is person of refine
ment, however, and the commissioners Of
emigration, learning that she has son by
former marriage somewhere in New York,
have communicated with him, and she is now
awaiting the answer. If he takes her away,
all right; if not, she must be sent back as
pauper. Heigh ho! it's the way of tbs
-rorld." F. g. DE F.