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Show 1'fHBB' Could a panorama be prepared, starting with HHK the coming of Hudson's old stubby Dutch, ships, ffgfflBP followed by pictures of what have made the evo' ImmmII. lution since, it would surely be a picture worth flnH' First were the old Dutch families, and they liEfflHl! were a great old stock; the - Stuyvesants, Van tw BH1': Rensellers, Van Valkenburgs, Schuylers and tp uHI uo rest' a stoclc strong onough to found a colony ' '"w BBi 011 an uncultivated shore and in the face of sav-age sav-age tribes. Old Eclipse, the great race horse of "11 IHw England, was a sorrel horse with a black spot 'fit Hfii about as big as a dollar on his shoulder, and so ' jjl BBB virile was his indomitable make-up that he trans-SflE trans-SflE mitted that black spot down through nine general gener-al !mH ations of horses. But the old Dutch of Manhattan lf' HH dId better. Their characteristics still remain; 'ir that is, some of their characteristics. 1 Hn They were shrewd, industrious, self-contained ' ilaHfi anc f ruSnl wtn many of the old characteristics ' ' ,jflHfil' v of- tne Sreat general, and some of the great art-l art-l '-tillflljr lsts' and heredity has left some of those traits still j j " dominant in the great city where they built the ; ?UBBHe But from the very first the commercial spirit ' ''ll9flHl' was tlie one tliat rule(1 m New York. Those old "IffBHl Dutch loved to buy and sell, and they always VUmB' wanted to buy at the lowest price and to make a '!MB& profit when they sold, and that became a heredity, ' ifflBI' coming down through the Hudson city. It die-lIBIf die-lIBIf tated even the patriotism of the people, and so 'jjfljllt after they held the city fifty-five years their giving it up to the English was partly for a moneyed consideration. When the war of the revolution came on they were afraid that their great city would be despoiled, de-spoiled, hence there were more Tories In New York than there were of those old-time rebels. It was the same way when the war of 1812 came on. They were afraid their trade .would be interfered with and they were not grieved over the fact that occasionally a sailor was taken from an American ship and put in harness on a British ship. It was worse still when the great rebellion In 18G1 came on. New York's mayor at that time wanted to make New York a free Htv, that It might receive all the advantages of trade in the mighty war and accept none of the responsibilities, and that is the rule yet. Ariel when ' man gets rich anywhere in the country, that is, rich under the modern standard, he gravitates naturally to New York with the hope of getting richer, and the select circle in that city for the last fifty years has not been the brains of the city, has not been the high character of the city, but the first question ques-tion has been, "How rich is the candidate?" How he got his money has not worried them much. The' measure of his character has been in proportion propor-tion to his capacity to get a check cashed and the size of the check'-has been emblematic of his standing. And yet, that very love of money has enabled New York to make a transformation down on the lower waters of the Hudson that is a world won-der. won-der. There is no other such city. Its very piles of steel and stone and brick seem endowed with a life of their own. It is fair to say that more business is done In New York every day than in any other spot on earth. Fortunes are made and lost, hearts are made happy and hearts are broken; hopes are dashed to the earth or lifted to the clouds, and the great surging masses heed nothing, except to nurse the idea to make the business of today a little more extensive than it was yesterday. The new pace of the "city was set after gold was discovered in California. It was started by the Vanderbilt, Fiske, Drew, Gould and Roberts class of men. It has been gathering momentum and power ever since, until now it is a babel. It Is a good place for quiet people to keep away from; and yet there are some splendid memories connected with New York. Alexander Hamil grave is there, and just above the city on the highlands of the Hudson, in its steel casket, sleeps the dust of Grant. Other famous names are recorded re-corded there, all the way down through the his-tory his-tory of New York, famous from the very fi 3t and famous still. If it was founded in a commercial spirit, that spirit has never been retarded for a momcftt, ana mm faith, "HOPE" charity. jts triumphs make the second great commercial capital of the earth. . It is gd to link with the celebration of the coming of old Hendrick that of Robert Fulton. If the keel of Hudson's ship first" divideS the water's of the great river, it was Fulton who placed the river under subjection, and as the city as it stands is a monument of what energy crv rio, of how it can change a piece of gentle woodland, filled with the songs of birds, to a spot where commerce has built a central station, so compare Fulton's first little old steamboat with the warships that will pull into the harbor to celebrate the occasion, and the contrast will show that the old energy of the first settlers has never abated; that the old, impelling im-pelling force which caused the first Dutchman to make a settlement there has never abated, but has gone on increasing in energy and momentum for three hundred years. |
