THE OBELISK IN CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK.
"GREATER NEW YORK."
For a number of years, a prominent question among the inhabitants of the metropolis and outlying cities was that of their union under one government. The New York Legislature in 1890 appointed a committee to inquire into and report upon the subject. After several years of discussion, the Legislature provided for a referendum, the result of which showed a large majority in favor of uniting the cities referred to. A bill was carefully framed, passed both branches of the law-making body by a strong vote in February, 1897, and was signed by the mayors of Brooklyn and of Long Island City. Mayor Strong, of New York, however, vetoed the bill, but the Legislature immediately repassed it, and it was signed by Governor Black.
The expanded metropolis began its official existence January 1, 1898, the government being vested in a mayor and a municipal assembly, which consists of two branches elected by the people. The population at the time named was about 3,400,000, the daily increase being 400. Should this rate continue, the total population at the middle of the twentieth century will be 20,000,000, which will make it the most populous in the world, unless London wakes up and grows faster than at present.
The area of Greater New York is 317.77 square miles. Its greatest width from the Hudson River to the boundary line across Long Island beyond Creedmoor is sixteen miles, and the extreme length, from the southern end of Staten Island to the northern limits of Yonkers, is thirty-two miles. Within these bounds are the cities of New York, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Jamaica, all of Staten Island, the western end of Long Island, Coney Island, Rockaway, Valley Stream, Flushing, Whitestone, College Point, Willets' Point, Fort Schuyler, Throggs' Neck, Westchester, Baychester, Pelham Manor, Van Cortlandt, Riverdale, and Spuyten Devil.
REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT'S REMAINS TO MORNINGSIDE PARK.
The removal of the remains of General Grant to their final resting-place in the magnificent tomb on Morningside Heights, on the banks of the Hudson, took place during the first year of McKinley's administration, and was marked by ceremonies among the most impressive ever witnessed in the metropolis of the country. The final tributes to the foremost defender of the country were made by eloquent tongues, and pens, and by the reverent affection of the nation itself.
