Federal Government for the purpose of public defense at Rockaway Beach, County of Queens, in the City of New York."

As soon as this had been issued the Governor sent the following telegram to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker:

"I desire to call your attention to the fact that the Legislature has passed, and I have this day approved, an act to amend the State law relative to the acquisition of land by the State for purposes of public defense. This act gives me power, after certain provisions have been complied with, to convey title of land, to be used for the purposes of defense, to the United States Government. Immediately upon approving the act, and pursuant to its provisions, I directed the commission created by the act, consisting of the Adjutant General, the State Engineer, and the Superintendent of Public Works, to acquire such land as is desired by the Federal Government for the purposes of the public defense in Rockaway Beach, County of Queens, in the City of New York. "CHARLES S. WHITMAN."

Work on the fort proceeded so rapidly that on Saturday, March 3, 1917, two six-inch guns were mounted and searchlights with a range of five miles were installed. Ammunition had already arrived, and preparations were going forward actively for the mounting of more guns in the near future.

NEW YORK CITY ARCHAEOLOGY

Results of Explorations in 1916

During the year 1916, a small group of archaeologists, among the leaders of whom are Mr. Reginald Pelham Bolton, a member of our Board of Trustees, Mr. W. L. Calver, a member of the Society, and Mr. John Ward Dunsmore, the historical painter, continued their exploration of historical sites on Manhattan Island which have not yet been occupied by modern buildings. To Mr. Bolton we are indebted for the description, given on pages 161-172, of excavations in which he took a leading part:

The Dyckman Farm-House

The year 1916 opened with interesting possibilities. The repair of the Dyckman farm-house at Broadway and 204th street, was proceeding and this afforded an opportunity for search in the soil around the building. There was some uncertainty as to the position of the old well, and a party was therefore organized to dig behind the house and endeavor to locate it. As it happened they missed it by a few feet, but found the rich soil filled with the débris of past occupancy of the place. They struck a place near the kitchen door where there had been a little pathway paved with Colonial bricks, and on either side were abundant remains of household materials, bones, broken crocks and china, nails and ironwork. They found a good Colonial shoe-buckle, a George II half-penny, and a Spanish silver coin of Carolus IV. Among a lot of material brought out from behind the plastering of partitions, they recovered a nearly complete cup and saucer of early English ware and some scraps of porcelain of good quality; also a bullet mould and an old skate. The workmen employed in grading the grounds were instructed to keep every object found, so that a large quantity of broken china and earthenware was recovered, sundry iron work of the farm, such as trace chains, a plow share and among other finds, a small cannon ball, a grapeshot, and a few bullets. Quite a handful of coins came to light ranging in dates to modern times. All these objects were turned in to the museum of the building, forming an interesting group, directly connected with the vicissitudes through which the old dwelling has passed.

The reconstruction of parts of the old building afforded an opportunity for utilizing some of the iron work found in the near-by camp, and such objects as hinges and latches were restored to domestic use after their long burial of 140 years. (See plates 11-15.)

The party also contributed the bricks taken out of the bakeoven in the British Camps which were utilized by Mr. A. M. Welch, the architect, in repair of the chimneys and the hearths in the kitchens.

This work led to the plan for reconstructing, out of available materials, one of the military dug-out huts, which Dr. Bashford

Dean suggested would add to the interest of Dyckman house park. (See plate 12.)

Mr. A. M. Welch, having asked Mr. Bolton to undertake this work, with Dr. Dean's request he marked and removed all the stones and bricks composing the fireplace in Hut No. 34,* on line of 203d street and about 150 feet west of Seaman avenue, which was opened in 1915. These were re-erected on April 21, 1916, under Mr. Bolton's supervision, as nearly as possible in the same order and place, set in cement and backed by stonework set by Andy McConnell of Ayrshire. The arch was made of hand-hewn oak beams brought from an old Long Island barn of 1740. Pothooks of Hut 34 were hung in place. The upper part of the chimney was built with stones from the fireplaces in huts contiguous to No. 34, especially selected for suitable shape. For this purpose and to construct the side walls of the hut, they dug out and dismantled the fireplaces in Huts 36 and 37 and took the stones of Hut "S" and also of Hut "A." While taking out the latter the explorers found a store of pewter buttons in a little pocket by the fire-place containing twelve specimens of the 52d Foot. They also took out the floor-stones in the Apothecary's hut, opened in 1916, for use in the flooring. In building the side walls they inserted here and there an old brick from the hut-sites and some of the bottoms of the glass bottles so frequently found in the huts. Later they dug into several hut floors and took up stones and bricks which had formed part of the surface and transported these to the reconstructed hut, which is paved over, and the door-step is the actual stone step of Hut 34 from which the fireplace was transferred. The work of construction was carried out by John Harden, Jr., and he and Mierisch did the ccarpenter work personally, showing great interest in the details.

The chimney was extended up to a height of ten feet, and above ground field boulders were used, picked out of those forming fireplaces in other huts, notably Hut "S" and also No. 36 in the series. The flue is capped with a natural slab of native rock found at Seaman avenue and 207th street near the spot where Indian dog burials were discovered. The chimney drew very well.

This and following but number refer to designations on the landmark maps on which the explorers keep their records.

The lumber for the roof framing and front was part of the ancient barn on Long Island which was said to have been built about 1740 and was brought over to be used in reconstruction of the Dyckman dwelling. They used this lumber just as it came to hand, as it may be assumed was done in the original huts, mortising the joints, and using old forged nails on all visible work. The windows, sashes and doors were made of lumber brought from an old dwelling at Hackensack, and the roof sheathing from another old dwelling, leaving the old paint and color as found. The rafters and log covering are chestnut logs obtained from a sawmill in Morrisania and are not ancient. The roof was made water-tight by using sheet rubberoid under the logs.

Out of the old lumber Mierisch made a table, a bunk, and two seats. Hinges dug up in the camp were used, the party having the good fortune to discover two in a hut site while the work was going on. An old hasp found in the Dyckman yard was used for the door.

Two pot-hooks from Iut 34 were used over the fireplace and a bar was hung on them to support short hooks found in other huts. On the hearth are two 25-lb. bar shot, as fire-dogs, one of which came from the Simpson Collection and was found at Fort George. The other was discovered in the fireplace of Hut 35, which was next to the removed fireplace of No. 34. In the same hut were found two iron rings which had formed part of a "maul," and these were fitted on to a new wooden head and shaft by John Harden, Jr., who also fixed up a wooden tub with three old barrel hoops from the Camp. Mr. W. L. Calver fitted a handle to one of the bill-hooks found there, and Harden shafted a little axe-head found at the Arden Street camp site. One of the old bayonets found at the Nagel house (213th street) was hung up and a tallow-candle placed in the socket. Another tallow-dip was fitted into one of the whole rum-bottles from the camp.

On Sunday, June 4, 1916, Mr. Dunsmore brought a slip of English ivy, which came from George Washington's home at Mt. Vernon. This was planted at the rear of the hut, by the chimney.

Outside the hut a platform was laid of old bricks and flat stones from the Camp, and at one corner was set a pile of solid shot · 30 in number which are part of those found May 14, 1915, at Fort Independence. The top shot is a hollow bomb in which an

iron hook is set. The whole pile is cemented together, and there is a concrete block below the surface.

Three horseshoes are nailed over the lintel.

Two came from all of the Revolutionary

the Camp and one from Fort GeorgePeriod. On the shelf are placed a quantity of the ice-creepers found in the several hut-sites in the camp, bullets, molten lead, buckles, fragments of weapons, pipes, pipe-clay, bottles, bowls, buttons, tools, nails, straps and other iron work.

The Jumel Mansion

The Curator of the Jumel or Morris mansion, also called Washington's Headquarters, in 160th street, Mr. William H. Shelton, and Mr. Bolton, had often discussed the details of the lower part of the old building and had theorized upon the location of the kitchen. The largest space in the basement under the dining-room had no fireplace visible. There is a large open hearth in the southwest space, which is now known to have been the laundry, and by some this place had been supposed to have been the kitchen. Mr. Shelton had an architect measure the basement and prepare a plan for his new book, "The Jumel Mansion." In discussing this plan it seemed possible that the original kitchen fireplace must have been located under the dining-room fireplace and flue. Mr. Bolton and Mr. Shelton went together to the place and removed a work bench set along the wall, thereby disclosing a small hole in the wall leading into some space behind. They opened this by breaking out some bricks and finally could look inside, when they saw the old fireplace complete and could also see the mouth of a bake-oven at the south side. They then stripped the plaster off the wall and disclosed the arch and the beam for the mantel-board. The fireplace had been disused and the archway filled in with brick, apparently because the haunch of the arch near the oven had failed at some time. The bake-oven had projected out into the kitchen. It has been cut off and the wall replaced flush with the face of the fireplace. This interesting situation led to further inquiries. The rotten wooden flooring of modern material was removed in order to find the original floor level. In so doing it was found that the space below was filled with material which evidently had been brought in from outside to fill