ALBANY 



151 



ALBATROSS 



Y. W. C. A. Besides the state library there 

 are twelve libraries containing nearly 525,000 

 volumes. The city also has Albany Orphan 

 Asylum, Albany Hospital, built on the pavilion 

 plan and covering sixteen acres (see HOSPITAL), 

 and the new Saint Peter's and the Homeo- 

 pathic hospitals. 



Commerce and Industry. The importance of 

 Albany as a transfer point for traffic has been 

 considerably lessened by through freight serv- 

 ice, but it remains a prominent passenger cen- 

 ter, distributing point and lumber port. The 

 leading industrial plants of the city are iron 

 and brass-works and manufactories of shirts, 

 'collars and cuffs, clothing, knit goods and 

 tobacco products. 



History. On the site of Albany was planted 

 one of the oldest permanent settlements within 

 the territory of the thirteen original states. Its 

 historical interest is due to its strategic location 

 during the conflict between the English and 

 French in America and during the Revolution- 

 ary War. In 1624 some Huguenot refugees 

 from Belgium, known as Dutch Walloons, set- 

 tled here, and Fort Orange was built in the 

 same year near the spot now occupied by the 

 Capitol. In 1630 William Van Rensselaer 

 bought a large tract of land around this settle- 

 ment and sent a party from Holland as ten- 

 ants; this settlement was annexed to Fort 

 Orange in 1652. It was first named Fuyck, 

 meaning hoop-net, on account of the bend in 

 the river, where the settlement was made ; later 

 it became Beverwyck, and when New Nether- 

 lands was transferred to the English, the name 

 was changed to Albany, in honor of the Duke 

 of York and Albany, afterward King James II. 

 In 1686 a city charter was granted. The most 

 important of four Albany Conventions met 

 here in 1754 to form "a plan of a proposed 

 union of the several colonies." In 1797 the 

 city was chosen for the capital of the state. 

 From the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 

 the growth of the city was rapid, the popula- 

 tion increasing fivefold in less than four years. 

 Albany has several times suffered heavy losses 

 by fires, the most disastrous being those of 1707, 

 1848 and 1911 ; in the last-named year the state 

 Y of 500,000 volumes was destroyed. 



Wit Inn remit, years two city planners of 

 national p-puntum have been employed to 

 k out a general scheme for the l> .tutifying 

 of the city in building parks, boulevard* and 

 a water front, in modifying thr electric light 

 system, and in making other improvements. 

 The city 1ms cither completed or has now under 



construction improvements, including repaving, 

 to the value of $11,000,000. T.E.F. 



ALBANY RIVER, a Canadian stream, one of 

 the large rivers which drain the western part 

 of Omtario. The river has its source in Lake 

 Saint Joseph, about 180 miles north of Port 

 Arthur, and flows in a general easterly direction 

 for 600 miles, emptying into James Bay at 

 Fort Albany, on its southwestern shore. About 

 150 miles from its mouth the Albany is joined 

 by the Kenogami, its largest tributary, whose 

 branches extend west and south to the shores 

 of Lake Superior. The drainage basin of the 

 Albany covers an area of 60,000 square miles, 

 about one-sixth of the entire province of 

 Ontario. The lower part of the river is navig- 

 able, but is little used. 



AL'BATROSS, al'batraws or al' batrahs, 

 one of the largest of birds that fly, is found in 

 nearly all temperate parts of the ocean, but is 

 chiefly at home in the Southern seas. It is 

 regarded with superstitious veneration by sail- 



Great albatross ! the meanest birds 



spring up and flit away, 

 Wliilo thou must toil to gain a flight, 



And spread those pinions gi 

 I5ut when tlu-y on,-.- ; ir- fairly poi 



l-';ir <>Vr each chirping thing 

 Tin ui sal lest wide to other lands. 



E'en sleeping on the wing. 



CHAS. O. LBL.AND Perscvcrando. 



ore, and its destruction is supposed to be 

 avenged with terrible disaster to the destr< 

 The true albatross is a bird of great beauty. 

 nearly all white on the body, with darker tail 

 ..in I WIMUS; the latter have a spread of from ten 

 ourteen feet from tip to tip. Its power of 

 flight is extraordinary. Day after day it will 

 follow a ship, apparently never resting, fording 

 on refuse thrown from the vessel and on fish 



ise to the surface of the sea. 

 Its bill is heavy and powerful, more than 

 four inches long, and strongly curved at the 

 tip. Like most large birds, it is greedy in eat- 



