NEW YORK CITY. 



563 



Domitian in commemoration of the taking of 

 Jerusalem by Titus. It stood 75 feet above the 

 street, and was surmounted by a Quadriga and 

 Victory by J. Q. A. Ward; the distance to the 

 garland in the hand of Victory being about 

 100 feet. The span of the arch inside was about 

 30 feet from pier to pier. The four groups on 

 the piers, two on the north and two on the 

 south side, were: Call to Arms, by Philip Mar- 

 tiny; Battle, by Karl Ritter; Return of the 

 Victors, by C. H. Niehaus; Peace, by Daniel 

 C. French. On the attic were full-length statues 

 of Paul Jones, by E. C. Potter; Hull, by H. 

 K. Bush-Brown; Perry, by J. Scott Hartley; 

 Decatur, by George L. Brewster; McDonough, by 

 Thomas S. Clarke ; Farragut, by W. 0. Partridge ; 

 Porter, by J. J. Boyle ; and Gushing, by Augustus 

 Lukeman. Also medallion heads of the follow- 

 ing naval heroes: Commodores John Barry, Esek 

 Hopkins, Dahlgren, Worden, Lawrence, Bain- 

 bridge, Preble, and Foote, by various artists. The 

 symbolical figure in the north spandrels was the 

 Atlantic and Pacific, by R. H. Perry ; in the south, 

 the North and East Rivers, by Isidor Konti. Over 

 the keystones to the arch were American eagles, 

 by A. P. Proctor; and in relief on the sides of the 

 arch were the groups Progress of Civilization, by 

 John Gelert, and Protection of Our Country, by 

 William Couper. The legend on the north side 

 of the attic was: 



" To Admiral George Dewey, 



Greeting, welcome, honor, 



From the people of New York, 



September XXX, MDCCCXCIX." 



On the south side was the inscription: 



" To the Glory of the American Navy 



In greeting to its Admiral, 



To signalize their triumphs 



A grateful city protected by 



Their valor 

 Has built this arch, A. D. MDCCCXCIX." 



On the east and west sides of the entablature 

 were the single words Santiago and Manila, re- 

 spectively. Double columns that formed a colon- 

 nade led up to the arch as the approach was 

 made from the north and from the south. These 

 consisted of sculptural decorations of a Victory 

 by Herbert Adams, repeated on each. The first 

 pair of columns as the approach was made from 

 the north or the south had a third or extra col- 

 umn in order to provide a broader front for dis- 

 play of statuary in groups. These were the Army, 

 by F. W. Ruckstuhl, and the Navy, by George 

 E. Bissell. The arch and the colonnades were 

 made in staff, and the work, other than the cost 

 of the materials and the labor of the workmen, 

 was the volunteer contribution of the American 

 Sculpture Society in honor of Admiral Dewey. It 

 has been decided to reproduce this arch in per- 

 manent form, and a committee of citizens has been 

 organized, with William C. Church as chairman, 

 who are collecting money for that purpose. 



Post Office. The Postmaster is Cornelius Van 

 Cott. The Post Office building is at the junc- 

 tion of Broadway and Park Row. Besides the 

 general post office, there are 32 branch offices, of 

 which the one known as Branch T, at 3319 Third 

 Avenue, was opened on Aug. 1. The revenue from 

 the postal department in 1899 amounts to more 

 than $5.600,000. Within the jurisdiction of the 

 post office are 32 railway stations and about 

 120 substations. The transactions of the money- 

 order department amounted to $135,000,000, an 

 increase of $10,000,000 over 1898. The increase 

 in the number of domestic orders in December, 



compared with December, 1898, was 2,000 a day, 

 and $1(5,000,000 of foreign orders were certified. 

 The sum of $9,200,000 was realized from the sale 

 of stamps and stamped envelopes, an increase of 

 $000,000 over 1898. There was much agitation in 

 favor of a new post-office building, and on the 

 recommendation of Postmaster Van Cott, Post- 

 master-General Smith, in his annual report, rec- 

 ommended a new building. 



Customhouse. Active proceedings for secur- 

 ing the property comprising the block inclosed 

 by Bowling Green, State, Bridge, and Whitehall 

 Streets for the site of a new customhouse 

 building were begun early in the year. The sum 

 available for the purchase of the property is 

 $2,244,977.52. An average of the appraisal by 

 seven real-estate experts in the spring of 1892 

 gave the valuation of this block as $1,955,661, 

 which is equivalent to $30.45 a square foot. The 

 old Customhouse on Wall Street was purchased 

 by the National City Bank of New York on a 

 bid of $3,265,000. That corporation purposes to 

 remodel the interior and adapt the structure to 

 its own use. The building is regarded as one of 

 the best specimens of classic architecture in this 

 country, and has been occupied as a customhouse 

 since 1862. 



Hart Island. On March 23 Hart island, in 

 Long Island Sound, with its buildings and plants, 

 was formally transferred back to the city by the 

 State, for the reason that the State could not 

 advantageously use the property. A survey of 

 the island was made by members of the United 

 States Engineer Corps and the United States 

 Ordnance Board, and it is understood that it 

 will be fortified and used for protecting the en- 

 trance to Long Island Sound. Guns mounted on 

 the plateau of Hart island would command the 

 sound entrance for 8 miles. 



Political. The election this year in the city 

 was restricted to candidates for the offices of sur- 

 rogate and sheriff, and for judges of the general 

 session. For surrogate, Abner C. Thomas re- 

 ceived 148,566 votes, against 92,585 for James 

 M. Varnum. For sheriff, William F. Grell re- 

 ceived 147,615 votes, against 94,732 for John J. 

 O'Brien. Warren W. Foster received 146,999 votes, 

 against 94,430 for James C. Blanchard for judge 

 of the Court of General Sessions. The candi- 

 dates elected were the official nominees of Tam- 

 many Hall. There were Democratic, Republican, 

 Socialist, Prohibitionist, and Labor tickets in 

 the field for Assemblymen, and out of 37 districts 

 33 Democrats were elected and 4 Republicans. 

 The chief interest centered on the Nineteenth Dis- 

 trict, where the Republican candidate, Robert 

 Mazet, was defeated by the Tammany candidate, 

 Perez M. Stewart. 



Events. On Feb. 12 a severe snowstorm vis- 

 ited New York city, which culminated on the 

 14th. In comparison with the great blizzard of 

 March 12 and 14, 1888 (see Annual Cyclopaedia 

 for 1888, page 612), the snowfall was not so heavy, 

 although the velocity of the wind was much 

 higher. The highest velocity of the wind was 58 

 miles an hour; the maximum temperature was 10 

 degrees, and the minimum 4 degrees. The total 

 snowfall was 14.4 inches. The Governor ordered 

 7 National Guard armories to be thrown open 

 for the sheltering of those who needed protection 

 from the storm. It was estimated that one tenth 

 of the city's population had no gas for fuel or 

 lighting, because of frozen pipes. The sum of 

 $20,000 was collected from various sources and 

 placed at the disposition of the Mayor, who or- 

 dered the Commissioner of Charity to purchase 

 and dispense coal and food to the needy. 



