NEW Y011K CITY. 



43 



heeded only so far as to give him power to appoint 

 independently of the board of aldermen. As an out- 

 come of the investigation of the Broadway street rail- 

 road franchise a law was enacted, in 1886, that the 

 president of the board of aldermen (made elective in 

 1884) should be elected for two years, instead of for 

 one year ; and in 1 887 it was enacted that the aldermen 

 should number 25, exclusive of the president, and that 

 they sliuuld hold office for one year. The board of 



a lice commissioners consists of 4 members, 2 of whom 

 ong to each of the great political parties. It was 

 organized as a non-partisan board, but as a matter of 

 fart, from its very constitution, it is partisan. The 

 patronage of the department is divided between the 

 commissioners, and a large part of their business has 

 been in the past to satisfy the claims of the two po- 

 litical parties whom they represent. The comptroller, 

 the chief financial officer, was made elective in 1884; 

 and the sheriff is likewise elective. The department 

 of public works is administered by a single head ap- 

 pointed by the mayor, arid removable for cause ; and 

 ilic department of charities and correction, under 3 

 commissioners, is constituted in the same way. The 

 \ni-.ir<\ of education consists of 21 commissioners, one- 

 third of whom go out of office every year. The elec- 

 t n nis 'ire held in November along with the general 

 elections for State officers. For election expenses over 

 $2i MI. (Ml are appropriated annually by the city. 



x. The amended judiciary article of the State 

 constitution provides: "The Superior Court of the 

 City of New York, the Court of Common Pleas for 

 the City and County of New York are continued, with 

 the powers and jurisdiction they now severally have, 

 and such further civil and criminal jurisdiction as may 

 be conferred bylaw." These courts were reorganized 

 in pursuance of this article, under various legislative 

 enactments, and by the laws of 1873 were termed 

 "Superior City Courts," and were vested with original 

 jurisdiction, at law and in equity, concurrent and co- 

 extensive with the Supreme Court, of all civil actions, 

 and of all special proceedings of a civil nature. Ap- 

 peals are taken directly from these courts to the Court 

 of Appeals of the State. The Court of Common 

 Pleas of the City and < ,'onnty of NYw i'ork is the oldest 

 judicial tribunal in the State. It was continued under 

 the constitution of iS4ii. The three judges in office 

 when the amended judiciary article was adopted were 

 continued, and the election of three additional judges 

 was directed. The Superior Court of the City of New 

 York wiw established by an act passed in 1828. It was 

 the principal < Jiuniercial court. Equity jurisdiction 

 was conferred ujxin it by the judiciary act of 1847. 

 Three justices were added in 1849, law and equity 

 jurisdiction given, and cases were transferred to it from 

 the Supreme Court. 



The fin: department consists of 84 steam fire-engines, 

 2 watir-towers, 32 hook-and-ladder trucks, a lifc-savin.ir 

 corps, I ( >so miles of tiro-alarm telegraph, 980 alarm- 

 2i li horses, arid 1000 men. It costs $1,700,000 

 a year. There are 73 companies, making 12 battalions, 

 cadi under a chief of battalion (see FIRE). The police 

 department has 35 precincts and station-houses, 75 

 patrol-wagons, (1 courts, and 3200 men (each getting 

 fsiMl to 91200 a year). The head-quarters is at 300 

 Mulberry street, where is kept the "Rogues' Gallery" 

 or photographs and records of notorious criminals. 



hixtiiiti'i-jt. Battery to City-hall, J mile; to Canal 

 street. ] mile; to Fourth street, 2 miles. Above 

 Third street the blocks between the streets bearing 

 numbers are Uu to a mile, and the blocks between the 

 avenues are t'< to a mile. 



.Mittiii-!/>iil l!ni/i/inf/t. -^Although having a spacious 

 City hall and court-house, in the City-hall park, New 

 York pays over $100.000 annually as rental for other 

 offices. A new municipal building is projected, which 

 will also be the terminus of the Brooklyn Bridge and 

 the several railroads converging toward that point. 



Finances. The municipal debt in 1S88 is 



$144,995,041. The assessed value of real estate in 



1887 was $1,254,491,849, a gain of $50,550,784 in one 

 year. Nearly half of this gain was above Eighty-sixth 

 street. The total increase for six years, including 1887, 

 was $277,756,650. The assessed value of personal 

 property in 1887 was $246,508,151, an increase of 

 about $36,000,000. The total valuation in 1887 was 

 $1,500,000,000, an increase of $400,000,000 in ten 

 years. The city budget of 1888 was $33,800,000, or 

 $2,000,000 greater than in 1887 ; and the rate of taxa- 

 tion was $2.20 per $100, as against $2.16 in 1887. 

 The following table shows the total amounts allowed 

 for 1887 and 1888, and the appropriations, respectively 

 exceeding $1,000,000: 



Objects and Purposes. 1887. 1S88. 



Sute taxes $4,258,527.93 $4,0(54,179.24 



Interest on city debt 7,391,814.39 7,116,171.54 



Redemption of city debt 975,779.25 1,773,884.01 



Public works 2,759,720.00 3,180,309.00 



Park department 840,750.00 1,014,650.00 



Charities and correction 1,498.300.00 2,343,372.00 



Police department 4,235,867.06 4,415,255.66 



Street-cleaning department 1,050,000.00 1,259,459.00 



Fire department 1, 804,705.00 1,976,492.00 



Board of education 3,994,088.00 4,303,167.00 



Salaries, judiciary 1,014,160.00 1,055,540.00 



Asylums, etc 1,426,076.80 1,142,952.44 



Totals $34,343,022.55 $37,051,053.93 



Less general fund 2,500,000.00 3,251,053.93 



Total $31,843,022.55 $33,800,000.00 



Port- Officers. The governor and the Legislature 

 appoint certain officers to care for the port of New 

 York. They consist of the health-officer, a captain, 

 the commissioners of quarantine, the port-warden, and 

 the harbor-niasters. A law of 1883 aoolished the fees 

 of the capt:iin and the harbor-masters ; and a law of 



1888 abolished the fees of the health-officer, which 

 had occasionally reached $100,000 in a single vear. In 



Sliice of the fees salarijs were substituted. The State 

 oard of Health has some control over this depart- 

 ment, more especially in regard to the prevention of 

 the importing and the spread of contagious diseases. 



Steamships and Railroiiih. The Cunard line has 

 recently added to its fleet the Etruria, which has made 

 the fastest time between Queenstown and New York 

 ti days. 1 hour, and 55 minutes. The Anchor line has 

 added the City of Rome, the largest passenger steamer 

 afloat. Her length is 500 feet and her breadth 52 feet. 

 Her engines are of 8000 indicated horse-power, and are 

 callable of being worked up to 15,000 horse-power. 

 She has accommodations for 480 first-class passengers. 

 To the I iiinaii line has been added the City of New 

 York, with longitudinal compartments and twin engines 

 which are expected to secure great speed. 



In 1883 what is known as the West Shore Railroad 

 was constructed along the western bank of the Hudson 

 River from Weehawken to Albany, and thence west- 

 ward to Buffalo. The road is now under a long lease 

 to the N. Y. Central Railroad. This road gives direct 

 access from Washington and Philadelphia to Saratoga 

 and the Adirondacks. The Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 

 road will have a terminus at Staten Island ; and it 

 promises quicker time to Philadelphia and Wash- 

 ington. 



Siri-rt /mil Elwited Railronds. There are over 40 

 lines of horse-cars in the city, with the uniform fare of 

 5 cents. The omnibuses which formerly crowded the 

 streets have been removed, and there is but one line of 

 stages, which runs up Fifth avenue to Seventy-second 

 street. There are four elevated roads, viz., the Sec- 

 ond, Third, Sixth, and Ninth avenue. All of them 

 extend the length of the city, starting from South 

 Ferry, which is at the extreme lower end There are 

 also branch roads to Brooklyn Bridge, the Grand (Jen 

 tral depot, and other points. The speed ol the trains 

 is about 15 miles an hour. The fare on all theelevated 



