NEW YORK CITY. 



505 



was selected at One Hundred and Fourteenth Street 

 and Morningside Avenue. The statue is of bronze, 

 by Bartlioldi. and is a duplicate of that erected in 

 Paris. The figures are ten feet in height and rep- 

 resent Lafayette bringing Washington the news 

 that Prance has sent help to the American patriots. 

 The statue will rest on a granite base, the whole to 

 be 35 feet in height. The statue was presented 

 to the city through the Mayor on Feb. 18. 



Charter Day. A committee of citizens who had 

 undertaken to arrange for the establishment of an 

 annual " Charter Day " celebration, in commemora- 

 tion of the consolidation of the territory comprising 

 New York, met on Feb. 1. Various plans were dis- 

 cussed and the industrial and commercial organiza- 

 tions of the city were invited to join in the celebra- 

 tion. Subsequently a committee of 420 persons was 

 appointed by Mayor Van Wyck, of which William 

 De H. Washington was chosen president and J. G. 

 Garnett secretary. An appropriation of $50,000 

 from the city funds was promised and an elaborate 

 programme was arranged. The Legislature passed a 

 bill making May 4 a legal holiday ; but as the time 

 approached the impending war with Spain became 

 obvious, and it was voted to defer celebration until 

 after peace had been declared. 



Later in the year the project of honoring the re- 

 turning military, both of the army and navy, was 

 taken up by this committee. Sept. 17 was chosen 

 as the date and the consent of President McKinley 

 for a parade of the military was obtained, the naval 

 parade having taken place on Aug. 20. Finally it 

 was proposed to review the soldiers in camp at 

 Montauk Point as they returned to their homes 

 through New York, when they were disbanded, but 

 owing to their weak physical condition the celebra- 

 tion was abandoned. 



Naval Parade. On Aug. 16 the City Council 

 and Board of Aldermen, taking into consideration 

 that the Government of the United States had di- 

 rected that the cruisers and battle ships of the fleet 

 under Rear-Admiral Sampson, with their officers, 

 sailors, and marines, should come to New York, 

 adopted the following resolution: 



"That his Honor the Mayor of the city of New 

 York be, and he is hereby, requested to invite the 

 people of the United States to visit this city on Sat- 

 urday next to receive the victorious squadron of 

 Admiral Sampson on its return from Cuban waters, 

 and to give these returning heroes such a welcome 

 as will in a measure express the immense gratitude 

 that pervades the entire American people ; and he is 

 hereby requested to name a committee of 100 citi- 

 zens to arrange for the reception of the home-com- 

 ing fleet." 



In accordance with the foregoing resolution the 

 Mayor appointed a committee of 100 citizens, who 

 met at City Hall on Aug. 18 and elected the Mayor 

 as chairman, with former Gov. Roswell P. Flower, 

 former Gov. Levi P. Morton, and Gen. Louis Fitz- 

 gerald as vice-chairmen, and Alfred M. Downes as 

 secretary. A committee of arrangements and other 

 sub-committees were promptly appointed, who im- 

 mediately took up the various lines of work assigned 

 to them. 



It was not till 5.40 A. M. on the morning of Aug. 

 20 that the fleet coining from the south was sighted 

 from the Highlands. The sun was hidden by a 

 bank of heavy clouds, but as the light grew stronger 

 the six war ships could be seen sharply outlined 

 against the horizon, with great volumes of smoke 

 behind them. The vessels were in single file, with 

 Admiral Sampson's flagship, the " New York," in 

 the lead. The " Brooklyn " held fourth place in 

 the line. The '"Iowa" was second, the "Indiana" 

 third, the " Massachusetts " fifth, and the " Oregon " 

 lust. As the Narrows were reached, Fort Hamilton 



and Fort Wadsworth fired salutes, which were an- 

 swered by the fleet. As they approached Tomp- 

 kinsville they were greeted again by the admiral's 

 salute of 13 guns from the " Texas," which had been 

 at the navy yard, and by the auxiliary cruiser "St. 

 Paul." The fleet slowed down and the " New York " 

 received on board Secretaries Gage. Alger. and Wil- 

 son, Attorney-General Griggs, and Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral Smith, of the President's Cabinet. Scarcely 

 had the little tug pulled away when another ap- 



B reached with the family of Admiral Sampson, 

 rief greetings were exchanged, and then as the 

 fleet passed up the bay with the flood tide the tug 

 containing Mayor Van Wyck and the Citizens' 

 Committee was reached, and they were soon on the 

 " New York." 



Meanwhile more than 200 vessels of all sorts had 

 surrounded the fleet. At exactly 10.40 o'clock the 

 saluting station at Castle William fired a national 

 salute. The ships were close to the Battery, and 

 Hudson river was full of all sorts t>f craft. Every 

 one of these vessels, from an ocean-going steamship 

 to an antiquated sidewheeler, had a whistle, and 

 every whistle was used. Cheer upon cheer was roll- 

 ing over the water, and this, added to the din of 

 the saluting cannon and the cannon on yachts, made 

 a combination of noise that was more suggestive of 

 battle than of welcome. Every yacht strung its 

 signal flags from taffrail to truck, and the steam- 

 boats and tugs flew all the colors that they had. The 

 flags that attracted most attention were the battle 

 flags that flew at the foremasts and the taffrails of 

 some of the war ships. Slowly up the Hudson came 

 the war ships past the commercial districts, and then 

 the residential portion was reached. Still onward 

 past the Riverside Park, its green black with more 

 than 1,000,000 people, till the guns of ships and bat- 

 teries fired a salute to the memory of Grant. Then 

 returning down the Hudson to the bay over the same 

 route, the fleet came to anchor off Tompkinsville. 



Post Office. The care of the mails is a Federal 

 charge. The Postmaster is Cornelius Van Cott. 

 The Post Office building is at the junction of Broad- 

 way and Park Row. Besides the general post of- 

 fice there are 29 branch offices, of which the one 

 known as Branch S, at the corner of Broadway and 

 Howard Streets, was opened on May 11. During the 

 year there were handled in the mailing and dis- 

 tributing departments 619,941,178 pieces of mail 

 matter, an increase of 40,139,273 over 1897. The 

 total business of the money order department 

 showed an increase of nearly 18 per cent. During 

 the year 833,956 money orders, representing $11,- 

 525,919.66, were sent to Europe, and 190,101 money 

 orders, representing $4,187.100.37, were received 

 from foreign countries. The total receipts, exclu- 

 sive of the money-order department, were $8,560,- 

 206.86, an increase of $406,179.66 The expenses of 

 the office amounted to $3,405,721.85. giving a net 

 revenue of $5,154,485.01. During the year more 

 than 300.000,000 stamps, 75,000.000 postal cards, 

 and 50,000,000 envelopes were sold. There were 

 1,302,000 registered letters and packages mailed, as 

 compared with 1,262,848 in 1897. 



Customhouse. The collecting of the custom 

 duties is under the direction of the national au- 

 thorities. The Customhouse is in Wall Street, 

 between William and Hanover Streets. The col- 

 lector during the year was George R. Bidwell. 

 The domestic exports from New York in 1898 ag- 

 gregated in value $460,007,000, against $396.388,- 

 942 in 1897. The imports of merchandise were 

 $416.745,431 in value, as compared with $466,527,- 

 631 for 1897. The duties collected on merchandise 

 in 1898 (excluding miscellaneous receipts) aggre- 

 gated $122,103,530.46. against $119,648,652.79 in 

 1897. The imports of gold and silver were $109,- 





