The Secrets of the Great City / A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City

by James Dabney McCabe

The City makes a liberal provision for the poor, and the charitable associations do much more, but still it is impossible to relieve all the suffering. The reader will find in one of the engravings of this work, an instance of the manner in which the poor are provided with food at the Tombs.

CHAPTER XXIX.

EMIGRANTS.

Nine tenths of the emigration from Europe to the United States is through the port of New York. So large is the number of emigrants arriving here, that the authorities have been compelled to establish a depot for the especial accommodation of this class. This depot is located at the Battery.

THE BATTERY.

The Battery was formerly one of the most delightful spots in New York. It occupies the extreme lower end of the island, and commands a fine view of the bay and harbor. It had formerly a granite sea-wall, along which was the favorite promenade of the city, and was shaded by a grove of fine oaks which the Dutch settlers had been wise enough to spare. It was almost triangular in form, and on two sides was built up with stately mansions of the old style, which were occupied by the elite of the metropolis. It had an elegant and aristocratic air, which made it very attractive to both native and visitor.

The houses and trees are still standing, but the dwellers who made the place so gay, twenty years ago, have flown up the island, and the buildings are occupied with the offices of the various shipping lines, that ply between this and other ports; and by cheap hotels, bar-rooms, and sailors' boarding houses, the grass in the enclosure is trodden down, and the place is both dirty and repulsive. The railing is lined with long rows of street-venders' stalls, and the gates have been taken away. Crowds of emigrants, drunken men, slovenly women and dirty children are to be seen at all hours of the day in the old park, and the only beauty still clinging to the scene is in the expanse of blue water which stretches away from it seaward. At night the Battery is not a safe place to visit, for its frequenters respect neither life nor property, and the bay is close at hand to hide all traces of crime.

CASTLE GARDEN.

The emigrant ships, both sail vessels and steamers, anchor in the river after entering the port. They generally lie off their own piers, and wait for the Custom-House boat to board them. As soon as this is done, and the necessary forms are gone through with, preparations are made to land the emigrants, as the ship cannot enter her berth at the pier till this duty is accomplished. The emigrants and their baggage are placed on board the Custom-House steamer, and are at once conveyed to Castle Garden, a round building which juts out into the water at the extreme end of the Battery.

In the year 1807 work was commenced on this building by the General Government, the site having been ceded by the city. It was intended to erect a strong fortification, to be called Castle Clinton, but, in 1820, it was discovered that the foundations were not strong enough to bear heavy ordnance, and Congress reconveyed the site to the city. The building was then completed as an opera house, and used for operatic and theatrical performances, concerts, and public receptions. It was the largest and most elegant hall of its kind in the country, and was a favorite resort of pleasure seekers. Jenny Lind sang there, during her visit to the United States. It was used for this purpose until the year 1855, when, the fashion and wealth of the city having removed too high up town to make it profitable, it was leased to the Commissioners of Emigration, as a landing-place for emigrants.