NEW YORK. 



555 



shad; Fulton Chain, 790,750 brook trout, 55,000 

 brown trout, 199,000 lake trout, 1,500,000 frost- 

 fish; Pleasant Valley, 295,250 brook trout, 120,- 

 800 brown trout, 75,400 rainbow trout, 29,000 lake 

 trout; Sacandaga, 858,000 brook trout, 90,000 

 brown trout, 187,000 lake trout, 1,035,000 frost- 

 fish. 



Railroads. This department is cared for by 

 three commissioners, each of whom serves five 

 years and receives a salary of $8,000. Those hold- 

 ing office during the year were Ashley W. Cole, 

 George W. Dunn, and Frank M. Baker. The total 

 number of passengers carried by the steam sur- 

 face railroads for the year ended June 30, 1899, 

 was 149,926,184, an increase of 672,925. This in- 

 cludes passengers not carried in this State. The 

 number carried in the State was 68,720,642. The 

 gross earnings of steam surface railroads for the 

 year were $5,977,508.39 in excess of those of the 

 previous year. The operating expenses were 

 $2,855,613.34 in excess of those of 1898, making 

 the net earnings from operations $3,121,895.05 

 more than in 1898. The income from other sources 

 was $2,034,990.89 in excess of 1898. The com- 

 panies paid in taxes $506,051.74 more than in 

 1898, and declared dividends $534,692.90 in excess 

 of those declared in 1898. Capital stock increased 

 $8,977,400 over that of 1898, and funded debt in- 

 creased $11,983.01 over 1898. The percentage of 

 dividends to capital stock was 2.43, as compared 

 with 2.39 in 1898. Four more persons were killed 

 on steam surface roads in the State in 1899 than 

 in 1898, but the number of persons injured was 

 181 fewer. The total number of accidents on 

 steam surface railroads in \vhich persons w r ere 

 killed or injured during the year was 2,030 704 

 persons were killed and 1,326 injured. Three em- 

 ployees were killed and 9 injured through catch- 

 ing feet in frogs and guard rails. The number 

 of persons carried on the street surface railroads, 

 including the few remaining horse railroads, dur- 

 ing the year, including " transfers," was 920,365,- 

 560, an increase over 1898 of 71,054,890. One 

 hundred and twenty-six persons were killed and 

 589 wounded. The total number of passengers 

 carried by the elevated roads in New York and 

 Brooklyn during the year was 213,248,419. 



Forest Preserves. According to the report of 

 Yerplanck Colvin, superintendent of the Adiron- 

 dack Survey, the total amounts of land owned 

 by the State in forest counties are as f olloAV : Clin- 

 ton, 14,106.32; Delaware, 6,455.50; Essex, 208,- 

 729.47; Franklin, 88,868.64; Fulton, 17,061.87; 

 Greene, 507.50; Hamilton, 437,692.65; Herkimer, 

 123,629.71; Lewis, 3,008; Oneida, 3,013.70; Sara- 

 toga, 8,221.90; St. Lawrence, 27,451.66: Sullivan, 

 293.90; Ulster, 33,038.90; Warren, 84,314.81; 

 total, 1,056,444.53. The purchases made recently 

 are: Essex, 24,513 acres; Franklin, 24,909; Hamil- 

 ton, 150,438; Herkimer, 40,305; and Warren, 16,- 

 467. A large additional area is under contract 

 for purchase, but title has not been perfected. 

 The lands contracted for are as follow: In Essex 

 County, 310 acres; Hamilton, 16,545; Herkimer, 

 2,160; Warren, 1,154; total areas, 20,169 acres. 

 At the last regular session of the Legislature a 

 preliminary bill was passed, which has become a 

 law, under which commissioners have been ap- 

 pointed to make a survey of Watkins Glen and 

 such adjacent woodlands on either side as they 

 may deem desirable to have embraced in a pro- 

 posed park. They are to ascertain the prices 

 at which the Glen and other properties can be 

 purchased, and report their proceedings to the 

 next Legislature for final, action. 



National Guard. The charge of the State 

 militia is with the Adjutant General, who is chief 



of the Governor's staff. The incumbent during 

 the year was Avery D. Andrews, whose resigna- 

 tion was offered at the close of the year, and on 

 Dec. 26 Edward M. Hoffman was appointed his 

 successor. Gen. Andrews's report says : " The sys- 

 tem of staff administration adopted by the State 

 of New York, while entirely new in this country, 

 bears a general similarity to the staff organiza- 

 tion of many of the armies of Europe, there 

 known as the general staff. The Adjutant Gen- 

 eral, as chief of staff to the commander in chief, 

 becomes the directing agency not only of the line, 

 but of the staff, thus insuring harmony and co- 

 ordination of action. Under the military code 

 the major general commands the National Guard 

 and the captain commands the Naval Militia, and 

 to them and to their subordinate commanders 

 has been given the fullest authority and the most 

 cordial support in all matters relating to the 

 drill, instruction, discipline, and command of their 

 troops, while to their staffs and to the staffs of 

 the various brigades and regiments have been 

 assigned the duties relating to their various of- 

 fices. The National Guard consists of 15 regi- 

 ments and 5 battalions of infantry, 4 troops of 

 cavalry organized into a squadron of 3 troops, 

 and 1 separate troop, 4 batteries of light artillery, 

 and 4 mounted signal corps. These are organized 

 into 5 brigades, each commanded by a brigadier 

 general, and the whole under the command of a 

 major general. The organization closely resem- 

 bles that of a division. The separate companies 

 throughout the State (with the exception of the 

 Seventeenth, at Flushing) have been organized 

 into battalions and regiments, with headquarters 

 in convenient localities. The Naval Militia con- 

 sists of 2 battalions and 1 separate naval division, 

 all under the command of a captain." According 

 to the annual report of Major-Gen. Charles F. 

 Roe, commanding officer of the National Guard 

 of the State of New York, the strength of the 

 National Guard, as reported on Sept. 30, 1899, 

 was 795 officers and 13,439 enlisted men. 



Historian. The State Historian has charge of 

 the historical records. The incumbent during the 

 year was Hugh Hastings. His fourth annual re- 

 port was largely devoted to the work of New 

 York regiments during the war with Spain, in- 

 cluding a brief sketch of the policy pursued in 

 securing information and reports from the dif- 

 ferent organizations. A chapter described the 

 manner in which the colors of the One Hundred 

 and Fourth New York Volunteers (Wadsworth 

 Guards), lost during the civil war, were recov- 

 ered. The regiment lost two sets of colors, one 

 at Gettysburg, on Seminary Ridge, on July 1, 

 1863, and the other at the Weldon Railroad, Aug. 

 19, 1864. The colors lost at Gettysburg were 

 found in the War Department in Washington, and 

 by special act of Congress were restored to New 

 York and deposited in the Bureau of Military 

 Records. The State Historian recommended that 

 Congress should be requested to return to New 

 Y r ork the 12 remaining battle flags that were cap- 

 tured from State organizations during the civil 

 war, and that were subsequently found in Rich- 

 mond, Va., at the close of the war. On Jan. 12 

 the State purchased 33 acres of land on Stony 

 Point peninsula, on the Hudson river, in Rockland 

 County, the scene of Anthony Wayne's capture 

 of Stony Point from the British army in the 

 War of the Revolution. The purchase was made 

 on recommendation of the Society for the Preser- 

 vation of Scenic and Historic Places' and Objects. 

 The price paid was $21,500, and the land was 

 bought from the estate of Frederick Tompkins 

 and from Watson Tompkins. 



