Lights and Shadows of New York Life

J >> James D. McCabe >> Lights and Shadows of New York Life

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"In addition to the Printing Company, Tweed has a 'Manufacturing
Stationers' Company,' which furnishes all the stationery used in the
public schools, the public institutions, and the several departments of
the City Government. This concern receives not less than $3,000,000 a
year out of the city treasury. As an illustration of the way they do
things, we will cite one instance: During the month of April of the
present year, an order was sent to this company for stationery for the
County Bureau. In due time it was delivered, and consisted of about six
reams of cap paper, and an equal quantity of letter paper, with a couple
of reams of note paper. There were, also, about two dozen penholders,
four small ink bottles, such as could be bought at retail for thirty-five
or forty cents, a dozen small sponges for pen-wipers, half a dozen office
rulers, and three dozen boxes of rubber bands of various sizes--the
entire amount worth about fifty dollars at retail. For this stationery,
a bill of _ten thousand dollars_ was rendered soon after, and was duly
paid; and similar claims are presented for stationery for every bureau
and department of the government, almost every month throughout the
year--and are always promptly paid, although persons having legitimate
claims against the same appropriation could not obtain a dollar. But not
content with the enormous amounts that are thus obtained under false
pretences, Tweed even charges the city with the wages of the different
persons employed in these several establishments, and makes a large
percentage on the amounts thus drawn from the Treasury. For instance:
Charles E. Wilbour is President of the Printing Company and also of the
Stationers' Company, while Cornelius Corson is the Secretary of both
companies. Wilbour receives $3000 a year as Stenographer to the Bureau
of Elections, $2500 as Stenographer in the Superior Court, and $3500 a
year for 'examining accounts' that he has never seen. These several sums
are drawn out of the County Bureau alone, and he holds an equal number of
sinecure positions in the City Bureau. Corson is Chief of the Bureau of
Elections, for which he receives $6000 a year; and he also receives $3500
for 'examining' the same accounts, for which Wilbour receives a similar
sum; while, like Wilbour, he has never seen the accounts."

In order to carry on his immense operations, Tweed has had to avail
himself from time to time of the assistance of his partners. He has
always found them willing accomplices. These were J. H. Ingersoll,
Andrew J. Garvey, and E. A. Woodward, all of whom have sought safety in
flight.

J. H. Ingersoll is the son of a chair-dealer in the Bowery, and was
Tweed's principal tool in defrauding the citizens. He in his turn
"operated" through sub-firms, and was paid in 1869 and 1870 the enormous
sum of $5,691,144.26 for furniture and repairs to the new Court House and
the militia armories of the city. Much of this work was never done. For
the work actually done only the legitimate price was paid; the rest of
the enormous sum was divided between Tweed and Ingersoll.

Andrew J. Garvey is a plasterer by trade, and had a shop in the Third
avenue. He is also an Irishman, and was a "bunker" of the old fire
department. During the years 1869 and 1870 he was paid $2,905,464.06 for
repairing, plastering, painting and decorating the militia armories and
the new Court-House. But a small part of this sum represents work
honestly done. The rest is stolen money, of which Tweed received his
share. At the very first discovery of the frauds, Garvey fled from the
city, and it is believed sailed for Europe to escape the punishment he
dreaded.

E. A. Woodward was a deputy clerk to the Board of Supervisors, and as
such received a moderate salary. As far as is known, he had no other
means of acquiring money. He was at the beginning of the investigations
the owner of a magnificent estate near Norwalk, Connecticut, a partner in
the firm of Vanderhoef & Beatty, to the extent of $75,000; and the owner
of property variously estimated at from $500,000 to $1,000,000. It was
charged by the New York papers that the endorsements of the name of
Keyser & Co. on warrants amounting to over $817,000, and which
endorsements Mr. Keyser pronounced _forgeries_, were mainly the work of
Woodward. The money drawn on the fraudulent warrants was divided between
Woodward and Tweed. Conclusive evidence of this was afforded by Mr.
Samuel J. Tilden, who, by a happy inspiration, made a personal
examination of Tweed's bank account at the Broadway Bank, and there
discovered that Tweed, Garvey, Ingersoll, and Woodward had divided
$6,095,319.17 of the public funds between them.

Commenting upon this discovery, the New York _Tribune_ remarks: "Of the
total amount of these warrants, $6,312,541.37, three dependents and tools
of Mr. William M. Tweed deposited $5,710,913.38, and the New York
Printing Company deposited $384,395.19, making $6,095,319.17. Further,
$103,648.68 is believed to have been deposited by Ingersoll in a
different bank, so that the whole amount of the audit, except
$113,583.52, was really collected by persons in connection with or in
collusion with Tweed. Ingersoll collected $3,501,584.50 of the warrants,
and he received from Garvey, out of his collections, $47,744.68. Of that
aggregate he paid over to Woodward $1,817,467.49, or a little more than
half of his whole receipts.

"Garvey deposited warrants amounting to $1,177,413.72. He, Garvey, paid
to Woodward $731,871.01, or over two-thirds of the whole amount of his
receipts. Woodward deposited $1,032,715.76, and he received in checks
from Ingersoll and Garvey enough of these collections to make a total of
$3,582,054.26. Of this amount he paid over $923,858.50 to Tweed.

"Woodward was then, and is now, a deputy clerk to Young of the Board of
Supervisors, on whose certification, according to Mayor Hall's
resolution, as well as on that of Mr. Tweed, the bills were to be paid.
It is unknown to whom Woodward made other payments, but those he made to
Tweed are established beyond doubt. The tickets accompanying the
deposits are in the handwriting of Woodward, and the teller in the
Broadway Bank swore that they were generally made by Woodward in person.

"Including $104,333.64, Tweed received a handsome aggregate of
$1,037,192.14.

"The manner in which the city warrants were identified is explained in
the affidavit of Mr. Tilden. The first table is headed, 'County
Liabilities.' That is made up from the records in the Comptroller's
office and the warrants. The last contains all that there is (memoranda
and endorsements) on the back of the warrants. Nearly all the vouchers
of these bills were among those stolen on Sunday, September 10th, but the
warrants were kept in a different place, and are now in the Comptroller's
office. The next table headed, 'Identification of Parties who received
the Proceeds of the Warrants,' is made up, as to the description of the
warrants, from the books of the Comptroller's office, and from the
warrants themselves, and the identification of the persons who deposited
the warrants is made out from accounts of the entries, in the National
Broadway Bank. The asterisks against the amounts of the warrants in the
fifth column indicate those of the Keyser warrants on which John H.
Keyser alleges the endorsements were forged.

"All those warrants which fell within the period of this account were
collected by Woodward, _except one_, _and that one by Ingersoll_.

"Undoubtedly the transactions, taken together, were in the opinion of the
Acting Attorney-General, a conspiracy to defraud the county by means of
bills exaggerated many times, for work or services received, or for work
and services already paid for, or for accounts that were fictitious.

"The result throws great light both on the stealing and burning of the
vouchers by Haggerty, the janitor of the building, appointed by the
Chamberlain, and also upon the Keyser forgeries."

Woodward did not wait for the accumulation of evidence against him. He
followed the example of Ingersoll and Garvey, and took flight, and at
present his whereabouts is unknown.

Mr. Tilden's affidavit relating the facts of his discovery furnished
evidence sufficient to justify the arrest of Mr. Tweed. The Sheriff
performed the farce of arresting the "Boss" in his office at the
Department of Public Works. Bail was offered and accepted. The Sheriff
treated the great defaulter with the utmost courtesy and deference,
appearing before him, hat in hand, with a profusion of servile bows. No
absolute monarch could have been treated with greater reverence. The
moral sense of the community was outraged. On the same day a poor wretch
who had stolen a loaf of bread to keep his sick wife from starving was
sentenced for theft.

Mr. Tweed attempted to explain away Mr. Tilden's discovery, but was met
at once by that gentleman, who more than fastened his guilt upon him.
Said Mr. Tilden:

"The fourth act in the conspiracy was the collection of the money and its
division. (Laughter.) Who collected that money? We found upon
investigation that every time Garvey collected $100,000 he paid 66 per
cent. to Woodward, who paid Tweed 24 per cent. of it. (Laughter.)
Sometimes Woodward paid a fraction above 24 per cent. to Tweed, sometimes
a fraction below, but it never reached 25 per cent. nor fell to 23 per
cent. (Laughter.)

"Every time Woodward collected money he paid over 24 per cent. to Tweed.
The investigations in the Broadway Bank having begun without knowledge of
the specific transactions to which they would relate, extend back through
the whole of the year 1870, and it appears that about the same
transactions were going on in the four months of that year, and about the
same division was made. Something like $200,000 or $240,000 was paid
over to Tweed during those four months.

"Now I have heard it said in some of the public presses that a gentleman
who had an interview with Mr. Tweed had received the explanation that Mr.
Woodward owed him large sums of borrowed money, and that when, in the
course of his business arrangements with the city, he received these sums
of money from the city, he simply paid it over to Mr. Tweed in
satisfaction of his debts. That is a very fine theory. There is only
one difficulty about it, and that is, these loans are not entered on the
bank account. Examine Mr. Tweed's bank account, and there is not $1000
in it except in city transactions. His whole private business during
this time when he was depositing it--checks drawn upon city warrants
amounted to $3,500,000--did not amount to $3000; therefore it results
inevitably that whatever is taken from that account is city money, for
there was nothing but city or county money in that bank. There were no
private funds there. Where his 42 per cent. went I am unable to find
out. It was probably transferred to some other bank in large checks for
subdivision among the parties entitled thereto; but about that we know
not. Now, gentlemen, that disposes of the fourth act in the conspiracy,
and the events justify me in saying that at the time the City Charter was
passed I had no suspicion that the principal object in passing it was not
to preserve political power, with the ordinary average benefits that
usually accrue to its possessors. I had no suspicion that affairs were
going on in this way. But it seems that these transactions were about
one-half through; that there was about as much to be done after the new
charter as had been done for sixteen months previous under the old law;
and that therefore the motive and object of the new charter was not only
to secure political power with its ordinary average advantages, but also
to conceal the immense amounts that had been already stolen, and to
secure the opportunity of stealing an immense amount that was in prospect
before its passage. I say, then, that by the ordinary rules and
principles of evidence, looking back to the beginning of the
transactions, no man can doubt that all this series of acts were parts of
one grand conspiracy, not only for power, but for personal plunder."

We have not the space to dwell further upon the villainies from which the
city has suffered, but in parting with the Ring we cannot but regret, in
the forcible language of the Committee of Seventy, that, "Not an official
implicated in these infamies has had the virtue to commit suicide."

V. BROADWAY.

I. HISTORICAL.

To write the history of Broadway would require a volume, for it would be
the history of New York itself. The street was laid out in the days of
the Dutch, and then, as now, began at the Bowling Green. By them it was
called the "Heere Straas," or High street. They built it up as far as
Wall street, but in those days only the lower end was of importance. The
site of the Bowling Green was occupied by the Dutch fort and the church,
and on the west side of it was the parade and the market place. Ere long
several well-to-do merchants erected substantial dwellings on the same
side, one of these belonging to no less a personage than the
Schout-Fiscal Van Dyck. The east side of Broadway, during the rule of
the Dutch, was thickly built up with dwellings of but one room, little
better than hovels. Eventually, however, some of the better class
mechanics came there to reside, and erected better houses. Their gardens
extended down to the marsh on Broad street, and they cultivated their
cabbages and onions with great success, where now the bulls and bears of
the stock and gold markets rage and roar.

Under the English rule Broadway improved rapidly. Substantial dwellings
clustered around the Bowling Green. The first, and by far the most
elegant of these, was the edifice still known as "No. 1, Broadway," at
present used as a hotel. It was built by Archibald Kennedy, then
Collector of the Port of New York, and afterwards Earl of Cassilis, in
the Scotch Peerage. In the colonial times it was frequented by the
highest fashion of the city, and during the Revolution was the
headquarters of the British General, Sir Henry Clinton. Other noted
personages afterwards resided in it. This portion of Broadway escaped
the destruction caused by the great fire of 1776, and until about forty
years ago preserved its ante-colonial appearance.

This fire destroyed all that part of the street that had been built above
Morris street. After the Revolution it was rebuilt more substantially,
and many of the most elegant residences in the city were to be found
here, between Wall street and the Bowling Green. General Washington
resided on the west side of Broadway, just below Trinity Church, during a
portion of his Presidential term.

In 1653, the Dutch built a wall across the island at the present Wall
street. One of the main gates of this wall was on Broadway, just in
front of the present Trinity Church. From this gate a public road,
called the "Highway," continued up the present line of the street to the
"Commons," now the City Hall Park, where it diverged into what is now
Chatham street. In 1696 Trinity Church was erected. The churchyard
north of the edifice had for some time previous been used as a burying
ground.

Along the east side of Broadway, from Maiden lane to a point about 117
feet north of Fulton street, was a pasture known as the "Shoemaker's
Pasture." It covered an area of sixteen acres, and was used in common by
the shoemakers of the city for the manufacture of leather, their tannery
being located in a swampy section, near the junction of Maiden lane and
William street. About 1720 the pasture was sold in lots, and Fulton and
John streets were extended through it. That part of the tract bounded by
the present Broadway, Nassau, Fulton and Ann streets, was for many years
occupied by a pleasure resort, known as "Spring Garden." The tavern
occupied the site of the present _Herald_ office. It was here, during
the excitement preceding the Revolution, that the "Sons of Liberty" had
their head-quarters. They purchased the building, and named it "Hampden
Hall." It was the scene of many a riot and public disturbance during
those stirring times. It was occupied as a dwelling house from the close
of the Revolution until 1830, when it was converted into a Museum by John
Scudder. In 1840 Phineas T. Barnum became the owner of the building and
Museum. After the destruction of the Museum by fire in 1864, Mr. James
Gordon Bennett purchased the site, and erected upon it the magnificent
office of _The Herald_.

Trinity Church Farm lay along the west side of Broadway, north of Fulton
street. It was divided into lots in 1760, and between that time and
1765, the present St. Paul's Church was erected on the lower end of it.
The street forming the northern boundary of the churchyard was named
Vesey, in honor of a former pastor of Trinity.

In 1738 a public market, 156 feet long, and 20 feet 3.5 inches wide, was
erected in the middle of Broadway, opposite the present Liberty, then
Crown street. It remained there until 1771, when it was removed as a
public nuisance.

By the opening of the present century, Broadway had extended above the
present City Hall Park, which had been enclosed as a pleasure ground in
1785. It was taken up along its upper portion mainly with cottages, and
buildings of a decidedly rustic character. In 1805 the street was paved
in front of the Park, and in 1803 the present City Hall was begun on the
site of the old Poor House. It was completed in 1812. The principal
hotels, and many of the most elegant residences, were to be found at this
time on both sides of Broadway between Chambers street and Wall street.
In 1810-12 Washington Hall was erected on the southeast corner of Reade
street. It was the head-quarters of the old Federal Party, and was
subsequently used as a hotel. It was afterwards purchased by Mr. A. T.
Stewart, who erected on its site his palatial wholesale store, which
extends along Broadway to Chambers street. About the year 1820, the dry
goods merchants began to locate themselves on the west side of Broadway
near Reade street.

On the west side of Broadway, above Duane street, was the celebrated
Rutgers' estate, consisting of a fine mansion and large and elaborately
laid out grounds. The house was built by Anthony Rutgers in 1730, and
occupied by him until his death in 1750. After his death the property
was converted into a pleasure garden, known as "The Ranelagh." It was
kept by a Mr. John Jones until a few years before the Revolution. It was
a famous resort for the better classes. A complete band was in
attendance every Monday and Thursday evening during the summer, and
dancing was carried on in a large hall which had been erected in the
garden. In 1770, the estate was sold. Five acres, embracing the
orchard, were purchased by an association, and in 1773, the New York
Hospital was begun on this site. In 1869 the hospital was removed higher
up town, the land was sold, and Pearl street was extended through the
hospital grounds.

Between 1774 and 1776 a reservoir for supplying the city with water was
erected on the east side of Broadway, near the southeast corner of White
street. The water was pumped into the reservoir from wells, and was
distributed through the city in wooden pipes. At this time the streets
were not opened in this vicinity, and the reservoir is described as
standing on an "elevated hill." In 1810 the reservoir property was sold
in lots, the highest price paid per lot being $3000.

By 1818 Broadway was built up to above Duane street, and in 1826 the Free
Masons erected a handsome Gothic Hall, on the east side, between Duane
and Pearl streets. The street continued to grow, and about 1830 extended
above Canal street. In 1836-39, the Society Library erected a handsome
building on the west side, between Howard and Grand streets. In 1853,
they sold the building, which fronts sixty feet on Broadway, to D.
Appleton & Co., Publishers. By the year 1825, when gas was introduced
into the city south of Canal street, the west side of Broadway above
Chambers street was the fashionable shopping mart. The cross streets
were used mainly for residences, and these daily poured a throng of
pedestrians into Broadway, making it the fashionable promenade. At this
time long rows of poplar trees lined the sidewalks. The principal hotels
and theatres, restaurants, and pleasure resorts were to be found along
the street, and Broadway became what it has since been, a miniature of
the great city of which it is the chief artery.

After passing Canal street, along which, in the early part of the present
century, a considerable stream, spanned at Broadway by a stone bridge,
flowed across the island to the Hudson, Broadway grew rapidly. In 1820
the site of the St. Nicholas Hotel was occupied by a store, four dwelling
houses, and a coach factory, the last of which was sunk below the level
of the street. Back of the present hotel was a hill on which were the
remains of an earthwork, thrown up during the Revolution. The hotel was
erected in 1852. In 1823 the site of the Metropolitan Hotel was vacant.
The block between Prince and Houston streets, on the west side, was
occupied by two large houses, a garden, and several shanties.

On the east side of Broadway, above Bleecker street, was a fine pleasure
resort, called "Vauxhall Garden." It was opened by a Frenchman named
Delacroix, about the beginning of this century. The location was then
beyond the city limits. The Bible House and Cooper Institute mark its
eastern boundary. Lafayette Place was cut through it in 1837. Astor
Place was its northern boundary, and the site of the Astor Library was
within its limits. The entrance to the grounds was on Broadway.

From Astor Place, originally known as Art street, the progress of
Broadway was rapid. By the year 1832, it was almost entirely built up to
Union Square. In 1846, Grace Church was erected, the original edifice,
built about 1800, having stood at the corner of Broadway and Rector
streets, just below Trinity Church. In 1850, the Union Place Hotel,
corner of Broadway and Fourteenth street, and in 1852, the St. Denis
Hotel, corner of Broadway and Eleventh street, were built. Union Square
was laid off originally in 1815, and in its present shape in 1832.

Above Union Square, Broadway was originally known as the Bloomingdale
road, and was lined with farms and country seats. Madison Square was
laid off about 1841. The Fifth Avenue Hotel was built about fifteen
years later, and the remainder of the street is of very recent growth,
possessing but little local interest.

Broadway has grown with the extension of the city northward. The upper
blocks of buildings have always been dwelling houses or shanties, and
these have given way steadily to the pressure of business below them. In
a few years the entire street, from the Central Park to the Bowling
Green, will be taken up with substantial and elegant structures suited to
the growing needs of the great city. From the imperfect sketch of its
history here presented, the reader will see that the growth of the street
is divided into distinct periods. Under the Dutch it was built as far as
Wall street. The next 100 years carried it to the Park, from which it
extended to Duane street, reaching that point about the close of the
Revolution. By the opening of the present century it had reached Canal
street. Its next advance was to Astor Place. Thence it passed on to a
point above Union Square, and thence by a rapid growth to the
neighborhood of the Central Park.

II. DESCRIPTIVE.

The most wonderful street in the universe is Broadway. It is a world
within itself. It extends throughout the entire length of the island,
and is about sixty feet in width. Its chief attractions, however, lie
between the Bowling Green and Thirty-fourth street.

[Picture: BROADWAY, AT THE CORNER OF ANN STREET.]

It begins at the Bowling Green. From this point it extends in a straight
line to Fourteenth street and Union Square. Below Wall street it is
mainly devoted to the "Express" business, the headquarters and branch
offices of nearly all the lines in the country centring here. Opposite
Wall street, and on the west side of Broadway, is Trinity Church and its
graveyard. From Wall street to Ann street, Insurance Companies, Real
Estate Agents, Banks, Bankers and Brokers predominate. At the southeast
corner of Ann street is the magnificent _Herald_ office, and adjoining it
the Park Bank. Both buildings are of white marble, and the latter is one
of the grandest in the Union. Immediately opposite are St. Paul's Church
and graveyard, just above which is the massive granite front of the Astor
House, occupying an entire block, from Vesey to Barclay streets. On the
right hand side of the street, at the lower end of the Park, is the
unfinished structure of the new Post Office, which will be one of the
principal ornaments of the city. In the rear of this are the Park, and
the City Hall. Back of the City Hall, and fronting on Chambers street,
is the new County Court-House, which proved such a gold mine to the
"Ring." Across the Park you may see Park Row and Printing-House Square,
in which are located the offices of nearly all the great "dailies," and
of many of the weekly papers. Old Tammany Hall once stood on this square
at the corner of Frankfort street, but its site is now occupied by the
offices of _The Sun_ and _Brick Pomeroy's Democrat--Arcades ambo_.