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MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY

VOL. XXIV

SEPTEMBER, 1890

No. 3

IT

THEN AND NOW

THE TWO CROTON AQUEDUCT CELEBRATIONS, 1842, 1890

T was a notable event in the history of America when the first Croton aqueduct, a conduit of solid masonry forty-five miles in length, received the water of the Croton river and conveyed it into the chief city of the western world. The magnificent work was considered at the time worthy of being ranked with the old Roman aqueducts. It had been accomplished at a cost of some nine millions of dollars, in a period of unprecedented commercial embarrassments, and in the face of vast natural obstacles. In its course through Westchester county it crossed twentyfive streams from twelve to seventy feet below the line of grade, besides numerous brooks; and sixteen tunnels through solid rock varied in length from one hundred and sixty to one thousand two hundred and sixty-three feet to say nothing in this connection of the elliptical arch of hewn granite at Sing Sing and the famous High Bridge over the Harlem river. The completion of this first aqueduct was enthusiastically celebrated; an imposing military and civic procession seven miles in length presented features eclipsing in gorgeous display, magnitude, and invention, both of its predecessors-the great federal pageant of 1788 and that of the canal. celebration in 1824.

Although this pioneer aqueduct had capacity for carrying one hundred and fifteen million gallons of water per day, the public long since found that through the rapid increase of population, the extension of the city limits, and the growth of the fire department, New York was in imminent peril for the want of more water. Thus a second aqueduct was projected, which, after an expenditure of twenty-three millions of dollars and much delay, has finally become an accomplished fact with a full flowing capacity of three hundred and eighteen million gallons every twenty-four hours, and the Park reservoir has actually been filled with water for the first time in upward of fifteen years. As the day approached for the opening of the new aqueduct, it was generally expected the important event would be commemorated by a celebration. The newspapers talked about

VOL. XXIV.-No. 3.-11

it vigorously, and some of them made frequent allusions to what was done when the first aqueduct was finished. But one or more of the morning journals questioned the historic statement that an ode was sung on that occasion in City Hall park, beside the gushing fountain, because, while the verses are extant, no traces were discovered of any music adapted to them. We are fortunately prepared to respond with a fac-simile of the lost music -a precious relic-therefore the doubters will henceforward be enlightened. A curiously unique and interesting view of the procession in 1842 is attached to this sheet of music, and it is believed the original now in possession of the New York Historical Society, from which our illustrations are made, is the only copy in existence. The following account of the Croton jubilee, from the New York Tribune of October 4, 1842, conveys us back to that period in a very realistic fashion:

"The celebration of this day will long be remembered as second in importance, and in the splendor and rejoicing by which it was marked, only to that which heralded the union of the waters of Lake Erie to those of the Atlantic by the great Erie canal in 1824. The magnitude of the work, the municipal enterprise by which it has been so successfully achieved, and the importance of the object it proposes to secure, alike commend the construction of the Croton aqueduct to the gratitude of every class of our citizens. Its benefits will reach every inhabitant of the city. The poor by its means have brought to their doors, to be enjoyed without price, the pure water of a beautiful river, sufficient for health, cleanliness, and all domestic uses. The rich will have better water to drink than they have ever been able to procure heretofore, and the additional luxury of baths, fountains, etc. The streets of a crowded metropolis may be kept clean, free from dust and all foul impurities which have heretofore tainted the atmosphere and rendered it most unwholesome. All classes have cause to rejoice at the completion of this great work; and all seemed in reality to feel their obligations, for they poured forth en masse to share in the rejoicings of the day. Since the funeral procession in honor of President Harrison, no public display has taken place which will at all compare with that which has just closed. The whole city was alive with rejoicing and hilarity, and thousands of strangers from every part of this and the neighboring states were present to witness the magnificent ceremonies of the day.

At sunrise one hundred guns were fired, all the bells in the city were rung, and in less than an hour all the streets and public places were nearly filled. At nine o'clock the various military companies began to parade on the Battery, which was crowded with thousands of spectators.

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FROM THE ORIGINAL, PUBLISHED BY J. F. ATWILL, 201 BROADWAY, IN POSSESSION OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. [Engraved by the Magazine of American History to commemorate the opening of the new aqueduct in 1890.]

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