CHRONOLOGY : THE MODERN CITY AND ISLAND : 1876-1909    2073
 

igog    greeahle odors" shall be allowed in the puhlic parks.—Cosby, Code

—    af Ordinances afthe Cily afN. Y. (1909).

—          In this year, there were 2,300,000 persons (estiraated) living in
tenements. Of these 947,065 (estimated) were living in the 15,739
"New Law" tenements wliich had been erected since the passage of
the Tenement House Law of 1901 (q.v., Ap 12).—-51/1 Rep., Tene¬
ment House Dept., 101.

—          At this time, there still stood in tront of the following residences
formerly occupied by raayors of tbis city tbe so-called "lamps of
honor," which tor many years it had been the custom to erect as a
mark of distinction: tbat of Mayor Wickham, at Leiington Ave.
and 39th St.; Mayor Grace, 31 E. 79th St.; Mayor Strong, at 12
West 57th St.; and the mayor then in office, McClellan, at No. 10
Washington Square North. Mayor Van Wyck declined the hon¬
our, bdieving tbe lamps served no useful purpose.—The House
Beautiful, XXV: 58 (which states that there were nine such resi¬
dences, hut naraes only the above four). To these raay be added
that ot Mayor Hewitt, No. 9 Lexington Ave.

—          In this year, the governor'a room in the city hall was restored
to its original design under the direction ot the art comraission from
designs hy Grosvenor Atterbury and bis associate John Almy Torap¬
kina. The eipenae was defrayed by Mrs. Russell Sage (see 1908}.—
^reili. i(ee., XXXIX; 474-90; A?, r. Sun, Ag 18, 19IZ. The roora,
after its reconstruction, is shown on A. PI, 21-h, Vol. III. Sec also
descrips. ot Pl. 97, UI;  588, and Pl. loi-b. Ill:  598.

—          In this year, the N. Y. Public Library building, on Fifth Ave.
between 40th and 42d Sts. (see N 10, 1902), was completed.—
Lydenberg, H/ji. oftkeN. Y. P. L. (1923). After the interior finiah
and furnishing were corapleted, and the libraries and works of art
had been transferred to It trora the Astor and Lenox Libraries,
etc, the budding was formaUy opened on May 23, 1911.—171/1
Ann. Rep; Am. Seen. Sc Hist. Pres. Soc. (1912), 317-42; L. M.
R. K., Ill: 957.

This central library building cost the city $9,000,000, and has
a capacity ot 3,000,000 volumes. It Is operated hy the N. Y. Public
Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, with Its private
funds, pursuant lo an agreement raade in 1897 (q. v., D 8), with the
city, hy which, in substance, the city having contracted to construct
at its expense, from plans prepared by the Public Lifarary corpora¬
tion, a central library building, agreed to lease tbe building when
corapleted to the Public Library as long as the truateea ot the
library should maintain in it a library at thdr own expense. The
PubUc Library installed in the new huildlng collections aggregating
839,867 books, 302,274 pamphlets, 73,109 prints, 7,000 maps, and a
considerable number ot paintings and other works of art.—N. Y.
P. L. Bulletin, Feb., 1912. The buildmg Is shown on A. Pl. 30-fa,
Vol, UI,

—          In this year, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. building and
tower (see 1890) were completed, occupying the block bounded hy
Madison and Fourth Aves., 23d and 24th Sts. The total height
of the tower Is 700 ft. The ardiitect was Napoleon Le Brun.—
Met. Life Bldg. (pub. by the company). See dso L. M. R. K., UI:
967, and descrip. ot Pl. 168, III: 850.

—          Columbia University, as it appeared in this year, is shown on
Pl.i70,Vol.UL

—          In this year, Joseph Penndl, etcher, lithographer. Illustrator,
and author, was elected a Nationd Academician. He died April 23,
1926, at his residence in Brooklyn.—Fidding, Did. of Am. Painters,
etc. (1926), 278; N. Y. Times, Ap 24, 1926.

—          At this time, Howard Pyle was at the height of his fame as a
painter and illustrator. He died in 1911.—Fielding, Diet, of Am.
Painters, etc. (1926), 291; see also Hden W. Henderson, .rf Loiierer in

iv.r, (1917), 453.

Jan.         In  his  annual  message  to  the  hoard  ot  aldermen.  Mayor

4 McCleUan gives a summary of the progreaa raade hy the city during
the five yeara ot his administration. He says, in part: "The City
Budget for 1909, eidusive of the County Budgets and the Item for
the deficiency in the colleclion ot taxes, exceeds the City Budget
for 1904 hy $45,483,644, This is a great sum, and if there were
reason to believe that the expenditures of the City must continue
to increase at the same rate, there might he cause for darm. There
is, however, no ground tor such tear, it the same care continues to
fae exercised in estimating City expenses aud preparing the Budget.
 

"The laat five years nas oeen a periot
nsion rendered necessary by the eipansi
 

has been a period of development and ei-
--------■-- of the territory ot the
 

old City of New York trora siity-two square railes to three hundred Jar
and twenty-seven, and the eitension ot City methods and con- 4
veniencea over a large part of this vast area.   .  .  .

"While tbe increase in expenditure has been very great, the
growth in the actud value of real estate, together with certain
changes in financial methods, have reduced tbe average tax hurden
on the true value ot property below what it was before or Immedi¬
ately after consolidation. .   .   .

"Criticism of the work of obtaining an additiond water supply
in the CataklU Mountain ahed should not be that it is extravagant
and unnecessary but that The City ofNew York should have begun
the work long before It did. We should be actually getting water
now from the Catskllls or some equally good aource. Our ahortage
to-day would be tar more serious but tor the plentiful rainfall ot
1907.

"The water shortage danger is an ever Increasing one, not only
because of the demands ot a constantly increasing population, but
because of the indications ot a diminution In tbe abnormally abun¬
dant rainfall of recent years. On account ot tills situation the City
is not only hastening the construction of the Catskiil Aqueduct be¬
tween Ashokan Reservoir and the Croton watershed, but Is work¬
ing on the teraporary development of a supply from sources east of
the Hudson River. . . . The Catskiil supply and the Suffolk
County well syatem, will, when fully developed, turniali without
detriraent to the locditlea in which they are altuated 1,000,000,000
gallons ot water daily. With as mucb ot the present supply as will
then remain sate tor use, the City ot New York wUl have a daily
supply of 1,500,000,000 gallons.  .  .  .

"While the instdlation of the high pressure syatem has been
the conspicuous accomplishment In the direction ot fire protection,
the natural units of fire-fighting have not been neglected. The uni¬
formed force has been increased in the last five years from 2,974
officers and raen to 4,210, an Increase of 40 per cent. In the same
period twenty-four new engine companies, twenty-four hook and
ladder companies and seven hose companies have been organized
and seven aingle corapanles in service have been reorganized and
added to the liat of double companiea, which now number twenty-
six. The hose companies include those now specially drIUed to
handle the high pressure service, so that there Is now in Greater
New York a combined force of 249 engines and hook and ladder
companies,  .   .   .

"During this administration nineteen new apparatua houses
have been built and aixty-four old houaes have been altered and
repaired, with sanitary improvements tor the benefit ot the force-
Nine new houses are in course ot construction and thirteen others
are being rebuilt. A new and well equipped repair shop offers every
advantage tor the quick repair of hose and other apparatus. .   .  .

"The paid systera has been carried into Rockaway Beach, Far
Rockaway, Jamaica, Richmond HiU, Flushing and College Point
In tbe Borough of Queens, reducing the number ot volunteer com¬
panies to forty-two. Of the original fifty-seven volunteer companiea
in Richmond only thirteen remain, the paid service being now
general in that Borough.

"Since January 1, 1904, the lighting ot the City has been almost
entirely changed. The first decided improvement was made in
1904, when some 16,000 of the old gas lampa in Manhattan and
The Bronx were changed to mantle lamps. A beginning was also
made In adding to the arc Ughting dong the main streets. This was
somewhat difficult on account of the high prices deraanded, but
early in 1905 prices were reduced by statute, and since then this
work has gone on rapidly. .   .  .

"I especially desire to call the attention of your Honorable
Board to the work ot the Health Department during the past
five years. There is no other Department ot the City governraent
the operations ot which arc of such vital concern to our people.
Since 1903 the work of this Departraent has increased treraendously,
but the results achieved more than justify the expenditures of
money that have been made.  .   .  .

"In 1903 there were 997 employees In the Department ot
Hedth. There are now 2,351. . . . During the firat eleven
raonths of the present year the death rale was the smallest ever
known in our history. . . . It is only fair to the Tenement
House Department, the Charities Department, the Street Clean¬
ing Department and Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, to give each
its share in this. The functions of these Departments ally them
dosdy with the Department of Health, and much ot what the