Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

7. The demolition of the Centre Market, corner of South Pearl and Howard streets, was begun.

THE CENTRE MARKET.

BY W. D. MORANGE.

'Tis vanished! the thing is gone at last! | Considering what a town we are,
The noisome hulk is with the past!
The rat, the roach, the slut, the flea,
Must breed in some other locality.
The poisoned odors, that like a shroud
Hung over the square, and appalled the
crowd,

Must elsewhere stifle the public breath,
Invite the dogs, disease and death.
The worthy judges, whose legal lore
Hard pressed the bench, till the bones

were sore;

The motley crew that trod the stairs And muttered everything else but prayers;

And the bailiff, with stick, and summons and writ,

Have taken the popular notice to quit. The legal serpents, that writhed and hissed,

And bit a client at every twist;

And flourished amid the ooze and slime, Have crawled away, for at least a time. The gang that bullied around the place, And blasphemed law, and God, and grace ;

The shysters, that out of the German and Celt

Took pounds of flesh, till Justice smelt; Must belch their twaddle, and grab their fees,

Wherever their patron saint may please.
So much is sure, if they ever come back
To follow the ancient beaten track,
The circus wherein their feats are done
Will boast of human smells alone;
And the odor of onions and fish and meat
Won't mingle with hair and clothes and
feet;

For Justice, hereafter, wherever she dwells,

Will tolerate only common law smells; And the uncommon mixture of law and beets,

Fish, constables, cabbages, man and meats,

Have had their day, and will flourish

no more,

Except in a grog or a grocery store. 'Tis a fact, by jingo, the shanty's down! With its walls so yellow, and stoops so brown.

Where the bar once flourished, the crow

bar's thump

Has given the bricks a final dump, And the bloated vermin must fight and squeal

Elsewhere, for their usual daily meal. Hist. Coll. iv. 4

More slow to move than á barrel of tar,
And how attached we seem to be
To the things our daddies used to see ;
Tis marvelous how the shanty fell
That Erebus, Hades, Tophet of smell!
O say, was it progress, or was it a job
To fatten some alderman's sickly fob?
Who tumbled it over? And what does
it mean,

In a town where the fluid we drink is so

green,

And stinks so foul, that a body would think

'Twas a merit for everything here to stink

In a place, where a dark night raises a doubt

As to whether the street lamps shouldn't be out,

And out they go, and we learn full

soon,

That the gas has a contract with the

moon

I say, in a place like this, so slow,
What hurried this brick and mortar so?*
Why didn't they wait a score of years,
In spite of public jeers and sneers ?
Why didn't they let the hulk remain,
All filthy and foul as it long has lain?
'Tis the way our people commonly do,
Although complaints be ever so true.
We guzzle each day a stagnant slime,
That, nicknamed water, is liquid crime.
We revel and plunge our noses in
The nasty, sickly, fluid sin,
And no matter what moans and groans
we make,

The dreadful dose we're bound to take. No matter how much we swear and frown,

Our hopes go up, and the stuff goes down!

How public opinion could so combine
As to cause this castle's quick decline,
And not be able to move a jot
Towards straining the dirty drink we've
got,

I don't suppose we shall ever know
Till some of the Water Commissioners
go.

In the meantime, let us abound in praise

For all that turns up in these turn-down days,

And thank our stars when time pulls

down

A single nuisance that spoils the town.

Let's greet our Market Mulhall with Good-bye, old codfish, porgies, and bass, That shone on the basement stands like

cheers;

And trust that the next six thousand

years

May bring us a Water Mulhall, whose aim

Will be pure water that's worth the

name,

And so, good bye to the famous walls, The courts and cleavers, and juries and stalls.

Farewell, old mutton, and beef, and veal,

That furnished the past with its daily meal.

[blocks in formation]

One more endeavor at something new. Eve Elizabeth Nehemiah, wife of Jacob Van Aernam, died, aged 27. William Mascraft died, aged 82. He has been at all the periods of his life well known to many of our citizens. For many years he held the office of superintendent of streets, and in that capacity he evinced industry, intelligence and a stubbornness of honesty that no improper influences could shake. Underlying a blunt exterior of manner, he possessed generous impulses, and friendly sympathies. He leaves behind him the record of an unsullied integrity as a public officer that may usefully be held up as a model for men to study and imitate.-Journal.

8. John Gibson died, aged 73.

9. Mrs. Margaret McDonald Cushman died, aged 90. Jane Maria Shepard, wife of James Kidd, died, aged 55. Caroline Van Buren, wife of Abram Billson, died, aged 80.

10. Michael McGolrick died, aged 45.

11. John Gardiner died, aged 72. Philip Carlin died, aged 74.

12. Thermometer 100° in Broadway.........Mrs. Catharine Moakler died, aged 33.

13. Thermometer ranged from 100° upwards. No parallel found to the heat of these days ........Thomas Meehan died, aged 28.

14. A morning of unexampled heat. Forty cases of sun stroke, six of them fatal; temp. 105° in shade in Broadway; at the office of Dr. B. P. Staats thermometer marked 100° for the first time since 1824 ........The Hon. Willis Hall died of congestion of the brain, caused by the extreme heat, at his home in New York. Mr. Hall was born in 1801, received a liberal education, and adopted the profession of the law. He entered political life in the year 1837, being elected a member of the assembly by the Whigs, who carried the state that year for the first time. He was a prominent member of the assembly. In 1838, he was made by the assembly attorney general of the state, filling the office for one year in a creditable manner. Having removed to Albany, he was elected to the assembly from this city, in the fall of 1842. He was for some time a lecturer in a law school in Saratoga, but resigned on leaving the country for a while, to recuperate his health. After his return he again took up his residence in New York, and was interested, although taking no prominent part, in the politics of the day. In 1848 he was one of the few who opposed the nomination of Gen. Taylor as the whig candidate for the presidency, and endeavored to bring forward the name of Hon. Henry Clay. After the failure of the effort Mr. Hall supported Van Buren and Adams, and this concluded his connection with political affairs. Retir

ing from professional and political life, he devoted his latter years to his personal and domestic affairs. He was very courteous in his manner and made many warm friends. Nathaniel S. Benton, Jr., died, aged 37.

15. The 5th day of intense heat; the heat still hotter. Thermometers ranged from 100° to 108°, in the shade.......... Edward Walsh died, aged 51. John McCready died at Fire Island. Margaret, wife of Thomas Lynch, died, aged 41. Jane, wife of Edward Donnelly, died, aged 63. Cornelius Buckley died, aged 40. Richard Gannon died, aged 50. Margaret Bulman died, aged 38. L. Charles Tuck died. Samuel Legget died, aged 31.

16. Temperature at the lumber yard in open air, 130 degrees....... Thomas Noonan died, aged 66. Mr. Noonan was one of our oldest and most respected citizens. He was upright in his dealings, and affable in his social intercourse. For several years he has pursued the avocation of a real estate agent. For very many years he has acted as such agent for the James estate, and commended himself to his employers by his industry and integrity.-Journal.........John Doughney died, aged 43. Ellen, wife of John Moakler, died, aged 72. James Ford died, aged 20. Mary McManus, wife of Timothy Driscol, died, aged 34.

17. Bridget, wife of Michael Murray died, aged 34. The body of John F. Dunne was found in his bed at the American hotel, in a state of decomposition. Robert Wainwright died in California.

18. Twenty-three members of St. Joseph's church died of sunstroke, during the week. Mrs. Michael Hughes died, aged 70.

19. A term of nine days of excessive heat terminated in the evening of this day. The thermometer ranged daily in the business portion of the city from 95 to 106° in-doors. The death record was unprecedented. .........James D. Wilson died, aged 26. Bridget Sweeney, wife of Thomas Ward, died, aged 21.

20. William Knower died, aged 18.

22. James Strain died, aged 82. Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Slane, died, aged 70.

23. Air, highest 82, lowest 66.

24. Air, h. 79, l. 71.........Patrick McCann died, aged 50.

25. Air, h. 75, 1. 70......... Elizabeth, widow of Peter Brinckerhoff, died, aged 91; She was born in Schenectady on the 3d of October, 1777, and had resided in Albany since 1814. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Bleecker. She was a sister of Mrs. Dudley and John R. Bleecker. Mrs. David E. Evans and Mrs. H. Pumpelly were her daughters, and Mrs. Tibbetts and Mrs. Gov. Seymour were her nieces. Her death was not unexpected. For many years she occupied a prominent position in society, and was always highly esteemed for her Christian graces, and her many acts of charity and kindness.-Argus..........Joseph McMurray, who had been flagman at the rail road crossing for many years, was run over and died of his wounds. He was a general favorite, and great sympathy was manifested for his misfortune. He was aged about 56......... John McCormick died, aged 49.

26. Air, h 81, 1. 61.........Maria Clark died, aged 76. Maria C. Mallick, wife of Wm. G. Taafe, died, aged 49.

27. Air, h. 74, 1. 60.......... Mary Conroy died, aged 76. Esther H., widow of W. J. Dunn, died, aged 35. Elizabeth Mary Richmond, wife of Dr. J. B. Rossman, died,

28. Air, h. 74, 1. 64.......... Francis Bray died, aged 53. Theodore Froment died, aged 30.

29. Mrs. Margaret Kelty died, aged 84. Patrick Rooney died, aged 44. Mary Kerwin died, aged 27..

30. John Ryan died, aged 52. Amos B. Townsend died, aged 27. Clark Fuller died, aged 53. Robert A. Walker died, aged 23. Michael Maginnis died.

AUGUST 1. Patrick Mulrooney died, aged 49. James Mullen, died.

Harriet Loretta, wife of

2. Grace Strover, wife of Charles E. Bleecker, died. Michael Brown died, aged 42. John H. McGraw died, aged 26.

3. Mary Geon died, aged 65. Susan G. Campbell died, aged 71. Catharine Snyder, widow of George Lawrence, died, aged 74.

4. Isaac Gifford died at Malta, Sar. Co., aged 64. Henry Gallagher died, aged 31.

5. John Searls died, aged 34.

Michael Donahoe died, aged 36. Thomas Hoffman died, aged 58. aged 83.

Thomas A. Finn died, aged 22.

7. George Hoyt died, aged 41. 8. James Powers died, aged 22. Thomas Carson died at Poughkeepsie, 9. Abraham Smith died, aged 29. 11. Patrick Gill died, aged 58. 12. Wm. R. Seymour died, aged 29. aged 69. Christina B. Landers, wife of George O. Peters, died, aged 34. Abigail Van Wie died, aged 58.

Bartholomew McAvinne died,

13. While workmen were engaged in digging the trenches for the foundation of the new edifice erected upon the site of the old Centre Market, they found five coffins at the north-east corner, and a great crowd was soon gathered there. This had formerly been the site of the Lutheran church, and these were undoubtedly bodies that had been buried under the church, and had lain there so long as to have been forgotten when the property was sold and demolished. Alderman Mulhall, chairman of the committee on the erection of the new building, and also of the committee on burial grounds, caused the remains to be put in new boxes, and placed in the State street vault until the first of September, with a view to their being deposited with the remains about to be removed from the State street cemeteries, if not claimed by relatives..........Mary L. Dexter died, aged 18.

14. Mary Halpin, widow of John Murtaugh, died, aged 30.

15. Thomas Carey died, aged 48.

16. Ann Small, wife of James Kerr, died, aged 25.

19. The steam boat Daniel Drew left the dock for New York with 9,000 boxes of cheese, 300 tons. It came from Herkimer, Utica, Rome and Fort Plain, and employed ten teams six and a half hours in taking it from the rail road to the boat. It was worth $90,000. It was mostly destined for Europe.......... Walter R. Page died, aged 22.

20. Kitty Bacheller, wife of James D. Wilson, died, aged 21. Edward Donnelly died, aged 49. James Coughlin died, aged 40. Patrick Brennock died, aged 31.

21. Rachel Montgomery, wife of Almon Brown, died, aged 63.

22. Great walking match between Payne and Weston to make 100 miles in 24 hours; Payne accomplished 84 miles, and Weston 71 miles in

eNW YORK

LIBRARY

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »