of 1924-25, it pumped up a marble head of classic design which aroused much interest and speculation in art and historical circles. The work of dredging was being conducted by Quartermaster Christy Lund, whose account of the find is given in the New York Times of January 12, 1925, and other newspapers of about that date. The head, which was buried about ten feet in the bed of the river, is of Carrara marble and is complete above the chin. It is of classic design, and in the opinion of many artists who have examined it is Roman work. Whom it represented and how it came to the place where it was found are unsolved questions. It has been suggested that it was carried as ballast by a sailing ship from the Mediterranean long ago and was dumped overboard at New York to lighten ship. Mr. Isidor Konti, sculptor, is quoted as saying: "I understand that many of the old sailing ships from the Mediterranean used to pick up architectural fragments lying about the harbors there for use as ballast. Until within fairly recent years a fine Roman statue might have been regarded as junk. This statue might have been picked up fifty or a hundred or two hundred years ago, carried over here as ballast and dumped into the North River. It is the only plausible explanation that I can think of." Many people will find it difficult to believe that such a work of art could have been used as ballast. Another theory, advanced by Hon. R. O. Everett, member of the Legislature of North Carolina, is that it may be the head of the Canova statue of Washington which formerly stood in the North Carolina capitol building. When the capitol was burned in 1833, the head of this statue was saved without damage, but the authorities lost track of it. As the head does not bear the slightest resemblance to Washington's features, this theory seems to be equally untenable. Unhonored Statue of a Soldier From time to time various theories have been advanced to account for the existence of the statue of a Union soldier which stands, without sponsorship, near the Bronx river in New York City. An apparently authentic explanation of the origin of this figure is given by Mr. Thomas A. Wilson in a letter to the New York Times of July 8, 1924. He says the statue is the work of John B. Lazzari, a sculptor and monument maker having a stoneyard in 233d street adjacent to Woodlawn cemetery. Mr. Lazzari told Mr. Wilson that a long time ago he received an order from some historical society many miles from New York to make a figure of a Civil War hero, which was to be placed in the square of a certain town. The historical society complained that the monument failed in some way to fulfill its idea of what they desired and the sculptor thereupon made another figure which was satisfactory. The old statue was shipped back to his place in Woodlawn, and, not wishing to destroy it, he placed it where it now stands. JOAN OF ARC STATUE FROM FRANCE On September 21, 1924, a monument of public interest, although erected on private property, was dedicated when a war-scarred statue of Joan of Arc which stood in the parish court-yard of the church at Laveline, France, during the World War, was dedicated in the court-yard of the new parochial school of St. Joan of Arc at Jackson Heights, Long Island. The Rev. Ward Meehan, rector of the Church of Saint Joan, while in France as the chaplain of the Sixtieth United States Infantry, visited Laveline and held services there. The Abbe of the little church, Father Perriot, sent him the statue when he learned that Father Meehan was constructing a new school. The four buildings now in course of construction will contain a cathedral, parochial school, rectory and sisters' home. This is the fourth statue of France's patron saint in this country, so far as we know, the other three being the equestrian statue in Philadelphia (a replica of Fremiet's statue in Paris); the equestrian statue by Miss Anna Vaughn Hyatt (now Mrs. Archer M. Huntington) at Riverside Drive and 93rd street, New York City; and the standing figure of the Maid by Mrs. Huntington in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City. CENTENARY OF A PERUVIAN BATTLE Celebrated at the Bolivar Statue in Central Park A brief but impressive ceremony, of which the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society took cognizance by the presence of its President, Dr. Kunz, was held in Central Park, at the statue of General Simon Bolivar, during the noon hour of Tuesday, December 9, 1924, when the Pan-American Society of the United States observed the centenary of the battle of Ayacucho, Peru, the last victory of the patriot army under command of Gen. Antonio Jose de Sucre, one of Bolivar's generals, which brought to a victorious close the struggle of the southern republics of America for freedom. The president of the society, Mr. Severo Mallet-Prevost, introduced Hon. Elihu Root, an Honorary Vice President of the PanAmerican Society, whose memorable journey as Secretary of State to South America in 1906 ushered in an epoch of better understanding and more cordial relations between those countries and the United States. Mr. Root, in placing a wreath of laurel and flowers at the base of the monument, said: "The cause of true liberty is one inseparable cause the world over. In its name we pay homage to the great Liberator whose powerful personality gave essential leadership to patriotism in the critical period of South America's struggle for freedom." The card on the wreath bore the following inscription: In Commemoration of the Victory and in Honor of the Valiant The Peruvian Consulate representative also placed a wreath. Among the Latin-American Consular representatives present were Consul General Enrique Hayton of Argentina, Consul Genera! Ramon Pando of Bolivia, Vice Consul J. C. Muniz of Brazil, Consul General Gabriel Valencia of Colombia, Consul General Manuel A. Bonilla of Costa Rica, Consul General Rafael Diaz of the Dominican Republic, Consul E. A. Maullme of Ecuador, Consul General Delfino Sanchez Latour of Guatemala, Consul General Henri Gardere of Haiti, Consul General Toribio Tijerino of Nicarauga, Consul General Enrique Geenzier of Panama, Consul General William Wallace White of Paraguay, Consul General Eduardo Higginson of Peru, Consul General Jose Higginson of Uruguay, and Consul General Pedro Rafael Rincones of Venezuela. The officers and members of the Pan-American Society who served on the committee in charge of the ceremony were Mr. Severo Mallett-Prevost, President; Hon. John Barrett, 2d Vice-President; Mr. Spruille Braden, 3d Vice president; Mr. Robert H. Patchin, Chairman; and Messrs. R. L. Beausire, Henry W. Catlin, Daniel A. de Menocal, Charles V. Drew, Phanor J. Eder, Peter H. Goldsmith, Thomas Kearny, George F. Kunz, John L. Merrill, James M. Motley, S. Z. Mitchell, George E. Roberts, and Mr. Carryl Ottmer, Secretary. Mrs. Sally James Farnam, the sculptor of the Bolivar statue, was a guest of the committee. OLD BARGE DUG UP In November, 1924, while workmen were deepening the cellar at No. 257 Washington street, at the corner of Murray street, New York City, for a new building, they discovered the remains of an old barge which must have been buried for over a century and a quarter. The original water front of Manhattan Island at this point ran approximately along the line of Greenwich street, a hundred feet east of Washington street, and in the latter part of the 18th century, Dean's dock occupied what was then the foot of Murray street. From records in the Common Council minutes, it appears not to have been unusual to allow the hulks of old vessels to remain in the slips and to rot away, sink, and finally to be covered up when the water front was filled in. In October, 1923, the hulk of another old vessel was uncovered in the block bounded by Vesey, West, Washington and Barclay streets, about three blocks farther south. (See our last Annual Report, pp. 195–196). STREETS AND STREET NAMES Name of Chambers Street The proceedings of the Common Council of New York City do not always disclose the origin of street names, and frequently the reasons for existing street names are left to conjecture. In June, 1924, newspaper correspondents discussed the subject of the origin of the name of Chambers street, and one writer inquired if the name was ever spelled without the final "s." So far as can be learned, the name was never so spelled unless in error. The street was named, apparently, after John Chambers, a distinguished citizen of New York, brother of Admiral Chambers and friend of Admiral Warren after whom the neighboring Warren street is named. The portion of Chambers street between Broadway and Center street, now forming the northern boundary of City Hall Park, first came into being as a thoroughfare, without a special name, in front of the soldiers barracks which were erected on the Commons pursuant to the order of the Common Council of October 21, 1757. These barracks, 420 feet in length, stood on the south side of the roadway just within the bounds of the present park. On Ratzer's map, surveyed in 1766–67, the thoroughfare appears extended westward to Greenwich street, the portion west of Broadway being called Chambers street, apparently in honor of John Chambers who had died two years before. Mr. Chambers had been conspicuous in the city and colony since 1726, as lawyer, corporation counsel, Alderman, member of the Governor's Council, Judge of the Supreme Court, etc. On June 27, 1796, the Common Council formally laid out the portion east of Broadway as a street 65 feet wide "opposite to Chambers street and to extend eastward from the Broad Way to . . the West side of Augustus street" (City Hall Place). Extended Use of Park Avenue's Name At the time of the preparation of this report a controversy exists between different property owners on the line of Fourth, or Park avenue, between 32d and 34th streets, as to the name of that thoroughfare. Fourth avenue was laid out on the plan of the Commissioners of 1807 from Astor Place and 8th street diagonally to 14th street and thence straight northward to the Harlem river at 134th street. Later, when the avenue was opened and park spaces were laid out along its center over the railroad tunnel, north of 34th street, the name Fourth avenue was restricted to the portion south of that street and the name Park avenue was given to the portion of the avenue north of 34th street. Park avenue developed into a choice residential thoroughfare, with a distinctive and characteristic name. After the improvements which were made between 32d and 34th streets a year or two ago, real estate owners between those streets applied to the City government and secured the extension of the name Park avenue so as to include the two blocks south of 34th street. As this involves the re-numbering of the block immediately north of 34th street, owners of property hitherto known by the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. have protested against the transfer of those numbers to other property. On February 3, 1925, the Committee on Public Thoroughfares of the Board of Aldermen reported favorably on the return to the original name of Park avenue, and the matter is now pending. CENTENARY OF FIFTH AVENUE In November, 1924, the centennial anniversary of the beginning of the construction of Fifth avenue in New York City was celebrated with elaborate exercises under the auspices of the Fifth Avenue Association. Fifth avenue, one of the most famous city streets in the world, begins at Waverly Place on the north side of Washington Square and runs northward to the Harlem river at 143d street, a distance of nearly seven miles. For two and a half miles of that distance, between 59th and 110th streets, it borders Central Park. Below 59th street it is a high class business district, and opposite the park it is a famous residential district. Above 110th street it is largely devoted to apartment houses. The Avenue was first laid out by the Commissioners appointed pursuant to the act of 1807 to lay out a street plan, and is shown on the map prepared in 1811 by William Bridges, City Surveyor, under their direction. Reference to the Middle Road, which at an earlier date coincided with portions of Fifth avenue, will be found in our 22d Annual Report in connection with the history of Murray Hill; and to the interruption of the avenue by Mount Morris Park between 120th and 124th streets in our 28th Report in connection with the history of that park. According to a publication entitled "Fifth Avenue, Old and New," issued by the Fifth Avenue Association, title to the southernmost section of Fifth avenue, from what is now Washington Square to 13th street, was acquired on August 2, 1824, but the actual work of construction did not begin until November 1, 1824. Title to sections farther north were acquired as follows: Thirteenth to Twentyfourth Street, May, 1830; Twenty-first to Forty-second Street, October, 1837; Forty-second to Ninetieth Street, April, 1838; Ninetieth to 106th Street, April, 1828; 106th to 120th Street, April, 1838; 124th to 129th Street, April, 1838; 130th Street to 135th Street, May 18, 1868; 135th Street to Harlem river, April 21, 1864. The centennial of the avenue was celebrated during the week beginning November 15, 1924, and the papers of that week may be consulted for particulars. An idea of real estate values on Fifth avenue may be had from the fact that on November 12, 1924, the Harriman National Bank, located on the southeast corner of Fifth avenue and 44th street, bought adjacent property at 523 Fifth avenue at an average of $304 |