New-York tribune., 1911-11-26
BOROUGH GOSSIP
Lost Streets of FlatbuSh Make
Trouble for Visitors.

Somehow or other. the people who live in
Brooklyn proper regard Flatbush In much
the same way that Manhattanites regard
Brooklyn--as strange place.
FIatbush is noted chiefly for it's Colonial
relics. its lost streets and its burglars. Its
funniest exhibit is a massive new bank
building. with great, thick bars in front of
it's windows.
one night. soon after the building was
put in use. some of the local burglars went
over to investigate 1t. They tested the
heavy bars first. and found that they were
made of tin and were hollow. In the eN-
citement one Of the men kicked the massive
masonry, and it bent in. The masonry
nroved 10 be of sheet iron, busted with
sand After that the burglars went away
evidently convinced that the bank was not
worth breaking into.
To visitors the lost streets are the moS'
troublesome feature. The streets start
from no particular place. Inc numbers
begin at either end Sometimes they start
in the middle and run in each direction
Sometimes the streets are numbered regu-
larly. Sometimes the houses are not num-
bered at all. Sometimes new hundred
starts with each block.
In Church avenue. one of the chief thor
oughfares, No 400 and No. 900 are side
by side. In looking for number on q
typical street the visitor suddenly bumps
against somebody's front gate. or walks
into a vacant lot lie is hundreds OF num-
hers. perhaps. from the place to which he
thought he was going lie finds that he IS
i'm a cuI de sac He retraces his steps a
few hundred feet and looks vainly Tor a
policeman Finally he determines to ASK
a plain citizen where the rest of the street
is The plain citizen shakes his head
mournfully and admits that ne has lived
I'm the section only Eve years and is not
familiar with an its vagaries but thinks
that the cigar man on the corner might
know The cigar man is sure that there
is no more Of thc street. The VISITOR ne
gins TO wonder II his friend was 'kiddlns
when inviting him out TO supper. In des-
peration he telephones police headquarters
The policeman who answers his ring does
not know what has become of the rest OF
the street His directory shows that the
number the visitor is looking for shouiu
be somewhere As a particular FAVOR he
calls up the F1atbush police station ana
inouires. "Oh. yes" says the man at the
station house. the street starts again d
half mile or so across lots
The burglars of Flatbush are peerless.
A great many people of the section put
everything they own IN display ana nave
the time of their lives paying up the IN
stalments on their mortgages. But the
general result is good for the second story
men.
one Of thc''6est ticks they ever pulieu
off from an outsider ; -7eint Of view. was
10 steal a house That was just before
they kicked in the front OF the bank ana
yanked the bars of the windows. The
house was being moved from one lot to
another. At night it was left in the middle
Of the street I'm charge OF sole watch
man. When il was dark. the burglars
slipped up with three OF four teams oA
horses. The watchman was enjoying
pipe and did not notice them Before nc
knew what was happening the burglars
had him bound and gagged. They placed
him on the sidewalk hitched the teams 10
the house and went of with it. Six months
or so later sleuths found the building on an
empty lot on the shore of Flatlands Bay.
The Roman Catholic Church Of 81 Ann
al Front and Gold streets of which the
Rev. Thomas Horan is rector celebrated us
nftieth anniversary few days ago Inc
church building, school convent and rec
tory were announced TO be free from deo''
They are valued at 100000 In the course
of its existence the church mas suIeieu
much from its burden of deot' ana mas
maid i'm interest several times the amount
of its mortgages. In 1889 the rector as an
investment insured three OF ms young men
for $4,000 each. Later one oil 'he 'i'lee
died. and the insurance helped reduce Ihe
mortgage In time. the premiums were
paid up. and Father Horan converted them
into cash on October p, receiving $l4''2s ~
OF the sum. Sl0.152 was used TO wipe out the