The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-26
Aaron Burr'S Water Venture

House wreckcrs who are tearing down
 the old building of the Manhattan com pany al Center and Reade streets have uncovered little spot of old New York hidden for more than 100 years, Says the
 New York Sun It brings back Alexan-
 der Hamilton and Aaron Burr and their
 feud, which culminated in the Weehaw-
 ken duel of 1904
 No sooner were the windows and walls
 of the front of the building removed than a cast iron tank 42 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep was disclosed. The building
 hadebeen erected around the tank, which
 had obtruded its curves in all the rooms
 for so many years that even tenants
 were no longer curious about it. This tank rests on most elaborate
 foundation, which extends two stories be-
 low the surface and around that as more grew the tales
 There>is no doubt that foundation was
 put up to last, Its strong circular walls pierced in the manner of ancient forts
 with holes two feet in diameter The
 round foundation was also cut up into
 small rooms except on its outer circle.
 Below, still deeper. is still more strong,
 heavy masonry, and this is entirely cut
 up into small cells leading off from the
 main room. Very dark and damp, of
 course. the cellar was enough to inspire
 even the sluggish imagination. Where British Kept Prisoners Everybody knows what the tank Is, " said r. w. Seagrist head of the com pany which is demolishing the building, Tt Is the old water reservoir of the Man
 haitian company, which had the monop-
 oly of selling water to New York a hun
 dred years ago.
 T don't know exactly what the foun- dation is. but about 50 people have told me today that we have come upon one Of the old revolutionary forts of New York. One man said 1t was known as Fort Lafayette after the war. Down in these little cells in the subcellar is where the British kept good American prison CTS during the war until the Americans died. It certainly looks the part While old men were gently sympathz ing over the unhappy fate of the patriots
 stern history came up and gave the story
 a severe polt, but only as to the fort end
 Charles Hcmstreet, who is an expert in old New York. and has written au- thofitatively on the subject came along. It was most interesting site and scene. Mr. Hemstreet admitted but unfortun- ately it was no fort. revolutionary or otherwise; no prisoners had ever died down in the dark, and no cannon had ever glowered through these holes. There was history, however. which might ap- | peal.
 | Aaron Burr, among other things, was a very shrewd lawyer. Mir. Hemstreet explained. He had some clients In i19s who>wanted to start d bank. There were | two banks In the city of 15,000 then. the Bank of New kork and the branch of 1 the United States bank. the dominating power in which was Alexander Hamilton, 1 whom fate arrayed against Burr unto
 the end. Hamilton and his friends would
 not permit another bank, and they were | backed up by President John Adams. l Burr and his friends started to or ganize a water company with $2.000.09I capital and applied to the state ieeisla- 1 ture for a charter. About that time there was a smallpox epidemic which was ascribed to the wells and springs of the little city. Tho legislature granted a