NEW YORK 



483 



indnstry, and in the value of its manufactured 

 products New York is the foremost state of the 

 Union. Moreover, its geographical position and 

 its natural avenues of communication with other 

 parts of the country, together with the system of 

 canals and railroads, make it the leading com- 

 mercial state. There are several canals, of which 

 the Erie (see CANAL) is the most important. New 

 York is the centre towards which nearly all the 

 great railroads of the country tend, and within the 

 state there are over 8100 miles of railway. 



Previous to the coming of the whites the territory 

 now known as New York was occupied by the 

 Iroquois (q.v.) Indians. Almost simultaneously, 

 in 1609, Samuel Champlain discovered the lake 

 which lx?ars his name, and Henry Hudson explored 

 the Hudson River as far as the present site of 

 Albany. A few years later settlements were made 

 by the Dutch, but they were looked upon as in- 

 truders by the English, who in 1664 forced them 

 to surrender their city of New Amsterdam, which 

 had grown up on Manhattan Island. The name 

 was then changed to New York, and, with the 

 exception of a short period in 1673, the city 

 remained in the possession of the English till the 

 war for independence, in which, as in the war of 

 1812, and the civil war, the state played a prominent 

 part. The physical structure of the state has made 

 it a most important factor in the development of 

 the nation, and in population, wealth, and political 

 influence it has always held the pre-eminence. 



The school-system is among the most complete in 

 the country. The University of the State of New 

 York, through its regents (elected by joint ballot 

 of the legislature ), exercises supervision over educa- 



4s Hi rli i I 



tion in the state, and grants charters to universi- 

 ties, colleges, academies, libraries, and museums. 

 The university has in its membership 688 teaching 

 institutions, including universities, colleges, profes- 

 sional and technical schools, and incorporated acad- 

 emies, with a total of 81,471 students, male and 

 female, and 6446 instructors. The system includes 

 over 1 1 ,000 school districts, with an average daily 

 attendance of 820,254, not quite one-half the esti- 

 mated school population. 



Politically the state is divided into sixty counties ; 

 it returns the largest number ( 37 ) of members to 

 congress. No other state of the Union has so 

 many large cities and thriving, enterprising towns. 

 New York City is the centre of a thickly populated 

 district, which is second only to London in the 

 number of its people and the importance of its 

 commercial interests. The other most important 

 cities are Albany ( the capital ), Buffalo, Rochester, 

 Troy, Syracuse, Utica, Oswego, Kingston, El- 

 mira, 1'oughkeepsie, Auburn, Cohoes, Newburgh, 

 Yonkers, Binghamton, Schenectady, Lockport, 

 Rome, Ogdensburg, Watertown, Hudson, and 

 Dunkirk. Pop. of the state (1800) 589,051 ; (1850) 

 3,097,394; (1890)5,997,853; (1900)7,268,894. 



New York City, or officially (since May 4, 

 1897) THE CITV OF NEW YORK, is the largest and 

 most important city on the 

 American continent, and the 

 third wealthiest on the globe. 

 It is situated on New York Bay at the confluence 

 of the Hudson and East Rivers, about twelve miles 

 from the Atlantic Ocean, and embraces since 1897 in 

 its amplified area the former cities of New York, 

 Brooklyn, and Long Island City, and the suburban 



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Coptrijht 1891, 1897, nd 

 1900 In Ihe U. S. by J. B. 

 LlppiDOOtt l,'"Uj|ii,y . 



sections appertaining thereto. The City of New 

 York, as at present constituted (189S),'is divided 

 into five boroughs, designated respectively Manhat- 

 tan Ixirough, which includes Manhattan island and 

 various smaller islands in the adjacent bay and 

 rivers ; thelxirough of The Bronx, consisting of that 

 portion of the city lying northerly or easterly of 

 Manhattan borough, between the Hudson and Kast 

 KivciH, ami includingalso several islands; Brooklyn 

 Wougli, consisting of that portion of the city 

 formerly known as the city of Brooklyn ; the bor- 

 ough of (Jnccns consisting of a portion of Queens 

 county now lirst included in The City of New York ; 

 and Richmond borough, formerly Richmond county, 

 consisting of the island of Staten Island. Man- 

 hattan Island is 13J miles long, with an average 

 breadth of 1J mile, ami with the exception of a 

 mail portion of wild and stony space, which U 



being utilised for ornamental purposes, the entire 

 island is laid out in avenues andstreets. It includes 

 several greens cand parks, and its area has l>een con- 

 siderably extended by tilling in on the two river-sides. 

 The bar at Sandy Hook, 18 miles south of the 

 city, which divides the Atlantic Ocean from the 

 outer bay, is crossed by two ship-channels, from 

 21 to 32 feet deep at 'ebb-tide. The lower bay 

 covers 88 sq. m. for anchorage. In it are build- 

 ings for quarantine and hospital purposes, and 

 an anchored floating hospital-ship, in charge of 

 a health-officer. The Narrows, through which all 

 large ships pass on their way to the inner harbour, 

 is a strait lietween Long Island and Staten Island, 

 about a mile in width, 8 miles distant from the 

 city, in a south-easterly direction. This approach 

 is defended by Forts Wadsworth, Tompkins, and 

 Hamilton. T"here is also another channel leading 



