The presence in the river,of the destroyer Cummings, commanded by Lieut. Commander G. F. Neal, U.S.N., and the torpedo boat Worden, commanded by Lieut. J. M. Smith, U.S.N., added interest to the celebration The first important event in the celebration was the meeting held in the auditorium of the Guardian on Friday evening, June 30, at which Congressman James W. Husted presided and the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew made the leading address. On Sunday, July 2, the religious phases of the anniversary were celebrated in the churches by special services. At midday on Monday, July 3, a luncheon was served at the Eagle Hotel, at which Rear Admiral F. E. Chadwick, U.S.N., and other distinguished guests were present. Early in the afternoon there was an automobile parade, marshalled by Mr. David B. Seymour, which moved through streets gay with national colors and other decorations. The civic and military parade which followed was considered the largest and best that ever took place in Peekskill. Mr. Fred A. Smith was Grand Marshal. He and his staff were followed by the village officers and official guests in automobiles. The First Division, marshalled by Mr. Melvin R. Horton, contained a band and drum corps, U. S. Marines from Iona Island, sailors from the U. S. S. Cummings, the Eighth Division of the First Naval Militia, the 47th Regiment N. G. N. Y., the Spanish War Veterans, and some symbolical floats and carriages. The Second Division, marshalled by Chief Engineer Clifton E. Forbush, included several floats, bands of music, fire engine companies, and symbolical groups. The Third Division included the Nagawicka Riding Club, other horseback riders, men and women, several symbolical floats, and marching cadets. Mr. George P. Wygant was Marshal. The Fourth Division, commanded by Mr. I. Olstein, included the float of the Junior Sons and Daughters of the Revolution, the United Hebrews of Peekskill, and decorated automobiles and wagons containing Hebrew women and impersonations of historical characters. The Fifth Division had as Marshal the Rev. Richard H. Tobin. It included floats and marching bodies. The Sixth Division was under the command of Mr. David Harlstein. Among the floats in this division was that of the Woman Suffragists. The Seventh Division was led by Mr. J. Coleridge Darrow. It included, among other features, exhibits of different branches of the public service of the village. The prizes for floats were awarded as follows: First. St. Joseph's Home float "Religion and Art." Second. Junior Sons and Daughters of the Revolution float. Third. Susan B. Anthony woman suffrage float. Honorable Mention. Patriotie Order of Sons of America, Daughters of Isabella, and St. Joseph's Home industrial. The parade occupied 55 minutes in passing the reviewing stand. In the evening there was a public concert at the bandstand near the Colonial Theatre, and a carnival parade to the bandstand. Mr. William J. Tice and Miss Rose Burger were respectively King and Queen of the Carnival. They were ceremoniously crowned at the Municipal Building and escorted to the band-stand where they sat in state and presided over the festivities of the evening. On the 4th of July, there was a great patriotic meeting in Depew Park, beginning at 11 o'clock. Two thousand people and a great number of automobiles were in the park. The program was as follows: Music, by the 6th Heavy Artillery Band. Music, "America," by audience and chorus, led by Dr. A. D. Dunbar. Address of Welcome, by Hon. Leverett F. Crumb, President of the Village. Historical Address, by William J. Charlton. Music, by the band. Address, by Hon. Lemuel P. Padgett, Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives. Address, by Rear Admiral F. E. Chadwick, U. S. N. Music, "Star Spangled Banner," sung by Madame Charlotte Lund. Address, by Hon. William Jennings Bryan. Music, "America," by the band. Other features of the day were a review of the 47th regiment at the State Camp; a reception by President and Mrs. Crumb in honor of Lieutenant Commander Neal of U. S. S. Cummings and officers of the fleet; a luncheon in honor of Hon. William Jennings Bryan; a base ball game on the Peekskill Military Academy diamond; and at night a band concert and display of fireworks in Depew Park. FORT MONTGOMERY Popolopen Bridge Opened. The opening of the new 600-foot reinforced steel arch bridge over Popolopen Kill, connecting the sites of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton, on July 15, 1916, was an event of importance in the work of developing access to scenic regions and historic sites on the west side of the Hudson river. The roadway is 140 feet above the water, and almost directly above the site of the pontoon bridge and landings of the revolutionary period. It commands two beantiful prospects-one westward up the glen toward the old "Hell Hole" highway bridge which formerly afforded an inconvenient crossing of the gorge; and eastward to and across the Hudson river to Anthony's Nose. The bridge connects two sections of the State Highway, and was built by the State Highway Commissioners and the Commissioners of the Palisades Interstate Park in cooperation. It is about a mile north of Bear Mountain Inn. (See plate 55.*) Restoration of Fort Montgomery During the summer of 1916, this Society had the pleasure of cooperating actively with the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in making an archaeological survey of the site of Fort Montgomery, the larger and most interesting part of which now forms a part of the Palisades Interstate Park. We will defer until next year a report of our work in identifying the lines of the old earthworks and other vestiges of military occupation. We take this occasion to express our pleasure at the interest which the Commission has shown in preserving and making accessible these historie landmarks. Although the work of clearing out the wilder * The replica of the Half Moon presented to the state at the time of the Hudson-Fulton celebration in 1909 had been placed in the mouth of the kill. ness of underbrush and making the fort site accessible was only begun in 1916, yet hundreds of people visited the site and expressed their deep interest in it. (See plate 54.) SLOAN'S MOUNTAIN REDOUBT Fort Montgomery, above mentioned, is only one of many sites in the Highlands upon which works erected during the War for Independence are still recognizable. On October 8, 1916, Mr. W. L. Calver of this Society and Mr. Oscar T. Barck, both of New York City, identified a rectangular earthwork on Sloan's Mountain, near Garrison, on the east side of the river. It is locally known as South Redoubt. Mr. Calver reports that on the summit of the mountain they found a rectangular earth work, which they did not measure but which was about fifty or sixty feet long, probably twenty feet wide, and surrounded by a ditch. About fifty feet or so to south of the earthwork they discovered two hut sites. They cleaned out the fire-place of one of these huts finding a large quantity of ashes, amongst which, by aid of a sieve, they discovered many forged iron nails, small fragments of burned bones, some bits of sheet iron and sheet brass, a well-formed iron pothook about seven inches long, a sheet brass plate which had served as a reinforcement for a waist-belt; and faces, or fragment of faces, of metallic buttons. One of these button faces was simply a plain round convex bit of brass, but the other two fragments were very interesting, being an index to the occupant of the hut. They were the uniform buttons of an Artillery officer of the American Army. One of the fragments showed only the wheel and the rear end of a gun carriage supporting the rear end of a cannon. The other button fragment was nearly the whole face of an officer's button showing a Coehorn Mortar on its "bed." This was a distinct addition to the list of military button designs worn by the American Army during the War of Independence. Mr. Calver, who is the foremost military button expert in the country, was already familiar with the buttons showing a cannon on a De Grabeaume gun carriage with a small guidon flag attached to the right side of the trail, having a specimen from the American hut camp at "Hempstead Huts" in Putnam Co., and another specimen from the site of Fort Washington barracks at Bennett avenue and 181st street, in New York city. About one hundred yards to the south of the Close up two huts above referred to they found a large rectangular excavation partly enclosed by a stone wall on the easterly side. to this work, on its westerly side, was a well or cistern. the solid rock and close to this again, a little to the north, was a small mound having a depression in the center-possibly an emplacement for a gun. In fact this gun-site covers the old military road leading up the westerly side of the mountain. WASHINGTON STATUE AT WEST POINT The first statue of George Washington to be erected in the reservation of the United States Military Academy at West Point was unveiled on May 19, 1916, with impressive ceremonies. The statue, representing Washington as a General on horseback, is a duplicate of Brown's famous monument in Union Square, New York. It was given to the Academy anonymously, the donor simply styling himself, "A patriotic citizen, a veteran of the civil war." The gift is said to have been the outcome of a conversation between Colonel Townsley and the donor, in which the latter, learning that there was no statue of Washington at West Point, offered to give the academy one of any model that the Colonel would suggest. It was unveiled by Miss Charlotte Delafield, a descendant of the late Major Richard Delafield of the Engineer Corps, who served three tours of duty as Superintendent of West Point. The Rev. Dr. Charles L. Slattery, rector of Grace Church, New York, presented the gift in the name of the donor, and Colonel Clarence P. Townsley, the Superintendent, accepted it for the Government. (See plate 56.) TILDEN MONUMENT AT MALDEN-ON-HUDSON On Saturday, October 7, 1916, a marble bust of Samuel J. Tilden by Kitson was unveiled at Malden-on-Hudson. The ceremony took place in the open, upon the terrace of the old Bigelow Homestead overlooking the Hudson and embracing beyond a view of the Livingston Manor of Clermont and the Berkshire Hills far to the eastward. It was a beautiful day, and in spite of the epidemic of poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) which frightened many on account of their little ones, some two hundred guests gath |