500 



NEW YORK CITY. 



Alva H. Doty, and President Bernard J. York, of 

 the Police Board. The secretary of the board is 

 Emmons Clark, and the office is on the corner of 

 Sixth Avenue and 55th Street. The vital statis- 

 tics were as follow: The number of deaths in 1899 

 was 65,218, against 65,864 in 1898. There were 

 23,750 deaths of children under five years, 15,364 

 under one year, 8,922 sixty-five years and over, 

 15544 deaths in institutions, and 35,734 deaths in 

 tenements. There were 77,648 births and 30,470 

 marriages reported. The number of deaths from 

 pneumonia was 8,529, against 7,485 for 1898 

 more than from any other disease. There were 

 629 suicides, against 693 for 1898; and 131 homi- 

 cides, against 115 in 1898. The death rates for 

 the 5 boroughs are as follow: Manhattan, 18,49: 

 Bronx, 22.61: Brooklyn, 17.56; Queens, 18.67 ; and 

 Richmond, 18.79. The rate for the 5 boroughs 

 together is 18.37. The statistics give the esti- 

 mated population of the city for 1898 as 3,438,- 

 899; and for 1899, 3,550,053. 



Police.- This department is managed by a 

 board of four commissioners, appointed by the 

 Mayor for a term of six years, each member of 

 which receives a salary of $5,000. The board 

 during the year consisted of Bernard J. York, 

 president ; John B. Sexton, Jacob Hess, and 

 Henry E. Abell. The chief of police is William S. 

 Devery, and the Central Office is at 300 Mulberry 

 Street The report for 1898 shows the need of an 

 increase in the number of patrolmen. In 1876, 

 with a population of 1,075,532, there were 2,261 

 patrolmen, a proportion of 1 to 475; in 1896 the 

 proportion was 1 to 525, and in 1899 (Greater 

 New York) 1 to 555. The expense of the police 

 departments of the territory afterward consoli- 

 dated for 1897 was $10,235,280.14. For 1898 the 

 expenses of the consolidated city were $10,705,- 

 764.91. In 1898 141,745 arrests were made, in- 

 cluding 26,141 females. The causes of arrest were 

 elassitied as follow: Intoxication, 46,170; disor- 

 derly conduct, 31,460; violation of corporation 

 ordinances, 13,725; larceny, 8,824; vagrancy, 

 7,759; suspicious persons, 6,446; excise law viola- 

 tors, 2,128. Altogether arrests were made on 

 184 charges. Of those arrested, 70,865 were na- 

 tives of this country, 23,304 were Irish, 11,950 

 Germans, and 9,156 Russians. 



The report of the Bureau of Elections shows 

 that the amount expended in 1898 to carry out 

 the primary election law was $223,282.50. The 

 total expenditure for general elections was $454,- 

 746.06. The result of the first year of consolida- 

 tion upon the cost of a general election within 

 Greater New York boundaries shows that in the 

 items of salaries, storage, cartage, and ballots 

 there will be a saving of one fourth. 



Buildings. The construction of these is cared 

 for by a board consisting of three commissioners. 

 During 1899 these were President and Commis- 

 sioner of Manhattan and Bronx, Thomas J. Brady 

 (salary, $7,000) ; Commissioner of Brooklyn, John 

 Guilfoyle (salary, $7,000) ; and Commissioner of 

 Richmond and Queens, Daniel Campbell (salary, 

 $3,500). Offices, 220 Fourth Avenue, Manhattan, 

 and Borough Hall, Brooklyn. Their report for 

 Manhattan and Bronx for 1899 shows an esti- 

 mated expenditure of $135,982,960, against $78,- 

 484,627 for 1898. In 1899 there were 2.262 appli- 

 cations for building 4,933 new buildings at an 

 estimated cost of $128,798,576, against 2,083 ap- 

 plications for 3,592 buildings, costing $72.887,146, 

 in 1898. There were 2,854 applications for alter- 

 1.350 buildings, at an estimated cost of $7,- 

 84, against 2,137 applications for altering 

 * buildings, costing $5,597,481 in 1898. The 

 new building code is responsible for a consider- 



able part of these increased amounts, but, allow- 

 ing this, the officials say that the year was the 

 busiest in the history of the department. 



Education. The board having control of this 

 subject consists of 21 commissioners, who are ap- 

 pointed by the Mayor and receive no salary. The 

 president of the board on Jan. 1 was Charles B. 

 Hubbell, but on Feb. 21 he was succeeded by 

 Joseph J. Little. The borough superintendent is 

 John Jasper (salary, $7,500), and the headquar- 

 ters were at 146 Grand Street until removed to 

 the corner of Park Avenue and 59th Street. The 

 report for the fiscal year of 1899 shows that the 

 total number of schools and departments, not in- 

 cluding the Nautical School, is 496; number of 

 instructors or class teachers, 8,844; the number 

 of principals, principals' assistants, and heads of 

 departments not teaching, 650; the number of 

 teachers of special branches, 300; the number of 

 pupils registered, 385,474; the average daily at- 

 tendance, 347,670; the number of regular sittings 

 in school buildings, 407,423; the average number 

 of pupils to a class teacher, 44. The expenditure 

 for school purposes was $15,316,865.48, of which 

 $1,219,049.14 was received from the State. The 

 estimated school population is as follows: Man- 

 hattan and Bronx, 398,000; Brooklyn, 284,244; 

 Queens, 33,000; Richmond, 14,172; total, 729,416, 

 which is an increase of 27,254. The board, on 

 Feb. 20, 1899, awarded a contract for a new 

 schoolhouse in Manhattan, the first since consoli- 

 dation, and since then contracts have been 

 awarded for 8 other new school buildings and 4 

 additions in Manhattan and the Bronx, and for 

 3 new buildings and 8 additions in Brooklyn, in- 

 volving a total expenditure of $3,107,289. These 

 buildings and additions have 547 classrooms, and 

 accommodations for 27,300 pupils. Of the $7,- 

 673,640 of corporate stock issued in March, Man- 

 hattan and the Bronx received $4,083,640. During 

 the school year 8 new school buildings were opened 

 in Manhattan and the Bronx, containing 260 

 classrooms and accommodations for 12,000 pu- 

 pils; 2 in Brooklyn, with 57 classrooms and ac- 

 commodations for 3,037 pupils; 7 in Queens, with 

 35 classrooms and 1,400 seats; and 2 in Rich- 

 mond, with 36 classrooms and 1,640 seats; mak- 

 ing a total of 19 schoolhouses, 388 classrooms, and 

 seating capacity for 18,077 pupils. In the latter 

 part of the year much ill feeling and suffering 

 was caused by the refusal of the Comptroller to 

 pay the salaries of the teachers, and in explanation 

 he said that " there will probably be considerable 

 delay in paying the school-teachers of Manhattan 

 and the Bronx the balance of the amounts due 

 them for the year 1899. This is entirely due to 

 the inability of the School Board to state how 

 much of the amount claimed is due to the Ahearn 

 law." 



Rapid Transit Railroad Commission. This 

 body consists of Alexander E. Orr, president; 

 Woodbury Langdon, John Claflin, George L. 

 Rives, John H. Starin, and Charles S. Smith, to- 

 gether with the Mayor and- Comptroller ex 

 offlcio. Mr. Claflin withdrew from the "commis- 

 sion, and Morris K. Jesup was added to it. Of- 

 fice, 320 Broadway. At the beginning of the 

 year the commission was at work on a bill to ex- 

 tend its power so that it could let a contract for 

 building the underground road to a private cor- 

 poration. On March 27 a proposition to provide 

 rapid transit along the route and in the main 

 according to the plans adopted by the commis- 

 sion was submitted. It was favorably received, 

 and the commission directed its counsel to pre- 

 pare amendments to the rapid transit law that 

 would enable it to act on the bid, provided the 



