THE city's expenditure for the year amounted to $1,179,634.65; the receipts to $1,149,631.39; and the debt remained at $1,483,800. In the three city watch districts there were 468 men, 6 captains, and 12 assistants.

Washington Square was opened, great part of which had been occupied as the Potter's Field, the remainder, about 3­1/2 acres, being purchased for $78,000. As bearing on the value of city real estate at this time I quote the following passage from a letter with which Mr. Edmund Hendricks has obliged me. Mr. Hendricks writes: "I find an entry on the Ledger of my Grandfather, Mr. Harmon Hendricks, under date of June 4, 1827, 'Paid J.C. Hamilton, McEvers and S. Ward, Executors of Estate of J.C. Vandenheuvel for 66 full lots, and a number of strips adjoining my farm up to the centre of 78th Street, and half the front on 11th Avenue, $8,361.15.' " At a later date, in or about 1833, Burnham removed his noted hostelry from Broadway and Seventieth Street to this Vandenheuvel mansion at Seventy­eighth Street, becoming the tenant of Mr. Harmon Hendricks at a rent of $600 per annum. I cannot now give the period when Burnham first opened his hostelry, but it was anterior to 1825.

It was now seriously urged by many that the city could be supplied with sufficient pure and wholesome water from the Bronx River, since it was computed that it would furnish above four million gallons per diem; and by the lowering of Rye Pond and the aid of dams, etc., nearly nine million gallons could be obtained.

Hack fares at this date were twenty­five cents a single passage for any distance not exceeding one mile; for more than a mile, fifty cents; additional passengers twenty­five cents each.

Evan Jones of 53 White Street commenced running a line of stages from Broadway and Houston Street to Wall Street. Abraham Brower of 661 Broadway also put on a line from the corner of Houston Street and Broadway to Wall Street, corner of William. In a few years after he replaced his early stages with new, larger, and more convenient ones, drawn by four horses. When the streets were sufficiently covered with snow, the stages were replaced with large sleighs drawn by four or six horses, and the frolics of a country sleigh­ride were moderately indulged in. For full thirty years these great sleighs were a striking winter characteristic of Broadway.

January 15 Mme. Malibran appeared at the "Bowery" Theatre in English opera, again exciting the liveliest interest and attracting great audiences.

February 1 a ball was given at the "Bowery" Theatre in aid of the Greek Fund, and on the 22d another at the Park Theatre; they were well and fashionably attended, equalled in character and brilliancy only by the fete to Lafayette at Castle Garden in 1824.

The Common Council considered the construction of a market at the foot of Canal Street and one (the Clinton) was finally located there; it also proposed to close the sewer in Maiden Lane and lead the surface water to the side gutters.

February 8 Mme. Hutin, a celebrated danseuse from Paris, appeared at the New York ("Bowery") Theatre in "The Roaming Shepherds." Although, when compared with the dress of ballet­girls and nymphs of the stage of the present day, her dress might be held to be unexceptionable, and even be approved by a prude of 1896, yet its style was so different from that to which we were accustomed in this country as to cause a furor to see her. The novelty of her manner of dancing and the character of her dress were not only the theme of talk and discussion for a long while, but they led to a very general discussion in the newspapers. In fact, if she had appeared as some female characters do now (as early as 1880), the scene that was exhibited at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, a century ago, upon the first appearance of "The Beggars' Opera" would in all probability have been enacted here. The theatre at this date opened at half­past six.

March 5 an Arcade, which had been in course of construction for some months, was opened from Maiden Lane to John Street, in the block about one hundred feet east of Broadway; it had not the success that had been anticipated and survived but a few years.

March 12 Jacob Barker was tried for libel, and convicted on the 10th of the following month.

Andrew Colvin, who had operated a stage from Wall Street to the upper part of Broadway, was constrained to abandon the enterprise.

March 18 the "Greek Committee," as it was termed, that is, the association of citizens who were selected to solicit and receive donations for the benefit of the Greeks in their resistance to the Turks, despatched the ship Chancellor to Greece with provisions, etc.

March 23 the steamhoat Oliver Ellsworth, from Saybrook, Conn., to this city, collapsed a flue of her boiler and scalded several persons. When the boiler was repaired, her owner had a piece of the copper plate of which the furnaces were constructed heated and doubled, and displayed it in the captain's office as a sample of the copper of her boiler, leading to the natural inference with laymen that it was of the exceptional thickness shown, and consequently comparatively safe.

Whereas, the thinner the metal plates of a boiler, consistent with their resistance to a normal stress, the safer they are, as they then more readily transmit the heat of the furnace, and consequently are less liable than thick ones to be injured by the burning of the metal.

Third, Seventh, Tenth, and Twenty­first streets were ordered to be opened on May 1.

In April Levi Disbrow, who had been employed to bore for water for factories in neighboring towns, began a series of borings here, with a view to convince our citizens of the practicability of obtaining a sufficiency of water for their wants by such an operation, and a pipe was sunk in Broadway, opposite Bond Street.

April 2 the steamboat Washington, Captain E. S. Bunker, made the run from Providence here in eighteen hours, whereby Boston newspapers were received here in twenty­two hours; the performance was held to be worthy of public notice. A ferry­boat from Christopher Street to Hoboken, the Fairy Queen, commenced running about this time, but the exact period has escaped me; probably a year earlier, but not later.

May 1 the Merchants' Exchange building in Wall Street was opened. July 4 the Post office was installed in part of the basement of this building; rent of letter boxes four dollars per annum. Following the completion of the Exchange the marine telegraph previously communicating from Staten Island to the Battery was extended from Wall Street to Sandy Hook via Staten Island. My readers will of course understand not the modern telegraph familiar to them, but the old­fashioned instruments for signalling to the eye aided by a telescope.

May 8 Captain John B. Nicholson, U.S.N., presented the city with four granite balls which were alleged to have been taken from the ruins of Troy; they were set upon the four granite columns at the gates leading to the southern entrance to the Park.

The Legislature constructed the Thirteenth ,and fourteenth Wards.

May 24, in consequence of the unusual number of strangers visiting the city, from the somewhat diverse causes of the yearly meetings of the Quakers and the coming races at the Union Course, the papers of the day published a list of the places of interest to visitors. To illustrate the difference in the number and character of these between that time and the present I recite those that were given; viz., American Academy of Arts, Brouwer's Gallery of Busts, Scudder's and Peale's Museums, Spectaculum in Chatham Street, Athenaeum, City Library, Automatic Chess Players, Sea Serpent, Dwarf, and Wonderful Ox. There were two museums in full operation at this time; viz., Scudder's in the City Almshouse, before referred to, and Peale's in Broadway. Each sported a band of music with which to beguile visitors, and each vied with the other in the effectiveness and supremacy of their bands. When one opened with "The Star Spangled Banner," the other was sure to follow with "Yankee Doodle." Probably in musical quality these bands may not have been superior to the later one of Barnum, which daily blew with great persistency from the gallery of the American Museum at Broadway and Ann Street. Of the quality of that one, my readers who do not know it may judge from the following story, which is ben trovato, if not true. An ambitious young cornet­player applied to Barnum for an engagement and was agreeably surprised at finding little difficulty made by the great showman, and ready employment on liberal terms. The young musician played steadily for more than a week, when, receiving no hint of salary, he inquired of Barnum concerning that subject. "Pay!" said Barnum, "I pay you! Nothing of the sort. You are to pay me. You seem not to understand, my young friend, that my band is made up of men who are learning their instruments, and want a good outdoor place for practice and to get the hang of playing together. They are glad enough to pay, and of course they ought to be, for there is no such chance in America for an industrious musician to advance in his art as in the band of Barnum's great American Museum."

May 31 the circus in Broadway was converted to a Theatre and termed the Broadway, and subsequently converted to a stable and horse market and named Tattersall's (see illustration, page 217).

June 27 Mlle. Celeste,, a danseuse and actress from Paris, made her debut at the "Bowery" Theatre. The high reputation she acquired here was confirmed on her return to Europe, though she was then very young. She married an American gentleman, and was again at the " Bowery" late in 1834. In 1838 she was again here, and in the autumn of 1851, when she was at the Broadway Theatre.

Street gas­lamps were first lighted in this month

July 4 the "Bowery" Theatre was opened for a day performance for the first time, and this was the first theatrical matinee ever given in this country. On this day negro slavery in the State was abolished.

August 27 Cliff Street was opened from Ferry into Skinner, and both were known as Cliff Street thenceforth. Cheapside was changed to Hamilton Street.

Miss Suydam, daughter of John Suydam of this city, while on a tour to Trenton Falls, in passing around the amphitheatre fell into the basin below, receiving fatal injury. The youth of the lady, added to her social position and accomplishments, evoked regret and a very general sympathy for the parents.

September 11 Clara Fisher, afterward Mrs. Maeder, appeared at the Park Theatre as a "youthful prodigy," in the character of Albina Mandeville, in which she exhibited unwonted precocity and became a great favorite. Of her it was written:

"A charming young Fisher a­fishing has come

From the land of our fathers, her sea­circled home;

She uses no line and she uses no hook,

But she catches her prey with a smile and a look."

Clara Fisher became the fashion, and for several years enjoyed popularity without measure, and most justly. In the lighter characters of opera and comedy, and in boys' parts, she was unsurpassed. She was last at the Park in the season of 1840­41, but late in 1844 appeared there as Lydia Languish at the benefit of her sister Mrs. Vernon. Later Mrs. Maeder returned to the stage, and was seen during the fifties, or perhaps even later.

September 12 another mainstay of our stage-George Holland-made his first appearance at the "Bowery," and became a chief attraction at Mitchell's Olympic Theatre.

Boston Road from One Hundred and Twenty­fifth Street to Harlem River, was closed in this year. Henry Street was widened. The Manhattan Market at Goerck, Rivington, Stanton, and Mangin streets was built. This market was named after the neighboring Manhattan Island, and I may explain here to the young gentlemen from the country who furnish the "city news" for most of our newspapers, and in doing it betray no knowledge of the town earlier than that acquired the year before, that Manhattan island and the Island of Manhattan are very different things. The former title was given to a knoll of land lying nearly within the lines of the present Houston, Third, and Lewis streets, which at very high tides was insulated. For many years the name was by extension applied also to the near­by territory; that part of the city lying adjacent to the knoll being familiarly termed Manhattan Island.

The editorial staff of the New York Mirror and Ladies' Literary Gazette before referred to (1823), being added to by Gulian C. Verplanck, Charles Fenno Hoffman, and James Fenimore Cooper, the paper was popular and well patronized.

September 13. The Law Committee of the Board of Aldermen recommended the erection of an additional or Superior Court and the appointment of a Vice­chancellor. It was also proposed by the board to authorize a new ferry to Brooklyn from the foot of Whitehall Street to be known as the South Ferry, but it was so violently opposed by Stephen Whitney, Jacob Nevius, and many other residents of the lower part of the city, that the project was delayed for some years. The arguments or objections submitted were, first, that it was wholly unnecessary, and secondly, that in the winter season the slip would be so blocked with ice as to render it impracticable for the boats to enter. There was a force in this position that persons of the present day whose recollection does not include a period of fifty years cannot recognize, from the circumstance I have already mentioned, that at that time there were but few ferryboats and fewer steamboats running in the winter season, and no tow­boats; hence the ice­fields in the river were not broken up as they were even a few years later, and are still more at the present time.

September 29. The Lafayette Theatre was entirely rebuilt during this summer, with an imposing granite front and a stage 120 feet deep and 100 feet wide, the largest then existing in either England or America. The renewed house, thought to be the finest in this country, was opened.

October 3 Miss Kelly from London appeared at the Park Theatre.

At a meeting of citizens a committee of fourteen was appointed to select a delegation from its number to proceed to New Orleans on the 8th of January ensuing (the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans), and present its congratulations to General Andrew Jackson; and Messrs. Saul Alley, Thaddeus Phelps, and James A. Hamilton were selected.

October 9 Mme. Malibran began a brief final engagement here, at the "Bowery" Theatre. Mr. Malibran's financial distress had compelled her to resort again to her art as a means of livelihood, and for some time she had sung in the choir of Grace Church. Her last appearance here was the 28th, at her benefit. The few remaining who knew this artist will agree that not only her voice and grand style of singing, but also her face, form, and gesture produced an impression that will remain while memory endures.

October 28 a duel was fought under the bluff at Weehawken Heights on a spot then and for some time afterward well known as the duelling­ground; it was there General Alexander Hamilton fell in his duel with Aaron Burr, Richard Riker was wounded by Robert Swartwout, and General Swartwout and Wm Maxwell and others had fought. The parties were Wm G. Graham, associate editor with M. M. Noah in the New York Enquirer, seconded by Louis Atterbury, and a Mr. Barton of Philadelphia, seconded by Wm. F. McLeod. Mr. Graham falling at the second fire, his body was ferried across the river to about Forty­second Street, or the French tan-yards, as the locality was termed.

November 8 a new version of "Der Freischutz" was produced at the Park, with Charles F. Horn as Caspar,, a capital performance. Horn was long admired here, while his voice lasted.

In December Mr. Youle, the proprietor of the shot-tower at East Fifty­fourth Street, advertised the sale of some lots in its immediate vicinity, and in order to advise probable purchasers of the locality and how to reach it he published that it was the Spring Valley property on the Old Post Road near the four­mile stone, and that conveyances would be furnished.

December 11 Timothy B. Redmond, proprietor of the United States Hotel in Pearl Street (not the present hotel in Fulton Street), who had been arrested on an indictment for robbery, was arraigned, and his trial postponed. This is mentioned from the circumstance that on his trial at a later date (January 17) it appeared that his arrest, imprisonment, and trial were solely due to his resemblance to a noted thief. From the time of his arrest to that of his acquittal the case was the cause of much discussion and speculation, as there was a large number of our citizens who were disposed to believe him guilty. He was honorably acquitted, however, in the January following.

Some hotel­keepers and friends subscribed and gave him a dinner, and some time afterward "Old Hays," as he was known, arrested a man who proved to be the one who had forged and presented the checks. On examination he proved to resemble Redmond in a very decided manner. In the interval between his incarceration and trial many stories were related of acts of Redmond, which were all construed as evidence of a previous course of criminality, and he was socially and financially ruined.

William C. Bryant, who came to the city in 1826, became a partner and associate editor in the Evening Post.

December 18 Henry Eckford, considering himself aggrieved by the manner in which the District Attorney, Hugh Maxwell, had conducted the prosecution against him and others (before referred to), and some subsequent offensive declarations as alleged, caused a challenge to be delivered to him, which was declined.

The widening of Nassau and Liberty streets was proposed by the Common Council.

The Journal of Commerce on September 1 was established by Arthur Tappan as a great moral and abolition paper, and it was announced that lottery and like notices and advertisements would be excluded. In 1828 it was purchased and edited by Hale & Hallock, absorbing The Times, which had been published for a brief period before. The publication office was at No. 2 Merchants' Exchange, and work was not permitted in it between 12 P.M., Saturday, and 12 P.M., Sunday. The Journal of Commerce and the Enquirer, in their competitive efforts to publish the first news of arrivals by sea, employed small sailing vessels to cruise off Sandy Hook, carrying reporters to board the incoming ships.

The principal hotels at this period were the Adelphi, corner Broadway and Beaver Street; Mansion House, at 39 Broadway (see page 394), by W. I. Bunker; City Hotel, site of Boreel Building, in Broadway, by Chester Jennings; National Hotel, 112 Broadway; Franklin House, corner Broadway and Dey Street, by McNeil Seymour; American Hotel, corner Broadway and Barclay Street; Washington Hall on Broadway, corner Reade Street; Park Place House, corner Broadway and Park Place; Pearl Street House, 86­88 Pearl Street; Niblo's Bank Coffee House, Pine, corner William Street; New York Coffee House, William Street, near Beaver; Tontine Coffee House, in Wall Street, corner Water Street; New York Hotel, Greenwich Street, between Dey and Cortlandt streets; Northern Hotel, West, corner of Cortlandt Street; Walton House, in Pearl Street, near Peck Slip; Tammany Hall, corner Nassau and Frankfort streets; New England Hotel, Water Street, between Fulton Street and Peck Slip; United States Hotel, Pearl Street, near Maiden Lane.

The schism in the Quakers between "Orthodox" and "Hicksites" resulted in the former building a house in Henry Street; the latter party retaining possession of the existing houses, which were subsequently sold and the present buildings erected on Rutherford Place and Sixteenth Street, and East Twentieth Street and Gramercy Park.

When the Exchange was completed, Exchange Street to Broad was named Exchange Place.

An association of ladies, members of the Wall Street Church, organized a Sunday­school some years previous to this; but it was in this year absorbed by the American Sunday­school Union.

In this year died Thomas Addis Emmet, the Irish orator.

The secretary of an insurance company in this city, who was afflicted with the gambling mania, lost in one evening a sum said to have exceeded fifty thousand dollars; soon after it was discovered he was deficient fully three times that amount; the directors caused him to be arrested and imprisoned and soon after he committed suicide.