THE 
w** ■ *• JSf. 
Sanitary Topography 
OF 
NEW-YORK CITY. 
S. A. RABORG, M.D. 
i&epqinted Lioni he Catholic Ton December, 1860. 
New-York : 
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
126 Nassau Street. 
1869. THE 
SANITARY TOPOGRAPHY . 
OF 
NEW YORK CITY. 
S. A. RABORG, M.D. 
The rapid growth of New York 
City is at present exciting universal 
interest throughout the country; and 
as a place of residence, or in a busi- 
ness point of view, it would be diffi- 
cult to overestimate the vast advan- 
tages it possesses. Nature has lav- 
ished upon the island its choicest 
gifts; surrounded on one side by the 
East and Harlem rivers, on the other 
by the beautiful Fludson, the “ Rhine 
of America,” as an entirety, its ad- 
vantages for natural drainage and 
general healthfulness cannot be sur- 
passed. But eighteen miles from the 
Atlantic Ocean, with an admirable 
h-arbor, the nations of the earth 
already vie with each other in pour- 
ing into the lap of this infant giant 
their most costly productions and 
most beautiful works of art. It is 
now the most populous city and the 
greatest commercial emporium of the 
western hemisphere, and stands with 
its youthful vigor a proud rival of the 
largest cities of the old world. With 
the vast undeveloped wealth of free 
America, and the energy and ambi- 
tion of her sturdy sons to press it 
forward, is it not easy to foreshadow 
the prospective importance of this 
metropolis of the Union ? 
But one subject of uneasiness pre- 
sents itself in this glance at the future, 
and that is the rather limited space 
which nature’s barriers have allowed 
us, and which threatens eventually 
to stop the progress of the city. 
“ Manhattan Island is but thirteen and 
one half miles long, and has an ave- 
rage width of one and three fifths 
miles. This gives an area of twenty- 
two square miles, or fourteen ktmdre-cF 
acres.” # 
We may consider the city as pretty 
solidly built up as far north as Fifty- 
ninth street, the border of Central 
Park. The census of next year will 
probably show the population to 
number between thirteen and four- 
teen hundred thousand souls; and 
the rate of increase is estimated to be 
between six and seven per cent per 
annum. Thus the population of the 
island in 1880 will number far above 
two millions, and the city be extend- 
ed as far northward as Ninetieth 
street. There are but “37,244 lots 
of full size, that is, twenty-five by one 
hundred feet, between Eighty-sixth 
and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth 
street.” t This shows conclusively 
that before many more such decades 
of years roll round, every available 
* Encyclopedia. 
(■New York World, February 15th, 1868. The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
portion of the island will be built 
upon, and our further expansion ap- 
parently prevented. But this, we 
hope, will be obviated by the erection 
of the East River bridge, and other 
modes of rapid transit to our sister 
city, Brooklyn, and the Jersey shore ; 
thus enabling us to bring within our 
limits all the territory that will be re- 
quired. 
years hence; and besides, we are lur- 
ed past this portion by the many ad- 
vantages offered by the section north 
of it. 
We have now before us the Cen- 
tral Park, extending from Fifth Ave- 
nue on the east, to Eighth avenue on 
the west; and stretching out in pic- 
turesque beauty from Fifty-ninth to 
One Elundred and Tenth street. To 
the east and west of this, we find to- 
pographically a very different charac- 
ter of country. On the east side from 
Fifty-ninth to Ninetieth street, the 
surface is very uneven; in some parts 
ledges of rock run up one hundred 
and twenty feet above tide-water, 
and then abruptly descend into val- 
leys almost on a level with tide-water; 
and here are found the beds of old 
streams, so many of which formerly 
rolled their sluggish waters through 
this portion of the island into the 
East River. The general fall is east- 
ward, though not sufficiently so to 
make natural drainage into the river 
good. From Ninetieth street to the 
Harlem River, we have a perfectly 
flat plain; unbroken, with the excep- 
tion of Mount Morris Square, by any 
marked elevation. The land lies but 
little above tide-water, and presents 
every appearance of being to a great 
extent “ made ground.” This suppo- 
sition is further strengthened by the 
alluvial character of the soil. Many 
suppose that a branch of the Hudson 
once flowed across the island at Man- 
hattanville to Hell Gate; but we be- 
lieve that originally the upper portion 
of Manhattan was a distinct island, 
and have no doubt the waters of the 
Hudson washed freely between the 
two, and in time the amount of soil 
gradually deposited on either bank 
limited and eventually closed the 
gap, thus giving us our present for- 
mation. 
For the present, the rapidly in- 
creasing number of our commercial 
houses and the consequent greed for 
space shown by trade in the lower 
part of the city, as well as our con- 
stantly augmenting population, show 
conclusively that the better class of 
residents now occupying locations 
south of Thirty-fourth street will be 
obliged to look elsewhere for homes. 
That this is to be the case no one 
can doubt, who has studied the pro- 
gress of business marts in their up-town 
march, during the last two years. 
The invasion of Union Square, the 
magnificent buildings on Broadway 
between Eighteenth and Nineteenth 
streets, the “ Grand Hotel,” and, more 
than all else, the appropriation of the 
lower end of Fifth Avenue for public 
galleries, attest this fact, and warn us 
that no prominent location beiow 
Thirty-fourth street will,, in a short 
time, be safe from the all-powerful 
grasp of this insatiable demand. With 
this fact before us, the question arises, 
What portion of the island offers the 
greatest prospective permanency for 
private residences, and at the same 
time the best inducements for the 
happiness and physical well-being of 
the people ? 
That tract of the island bounded 
'On the south by Thirty-fourth street, 
■on the east by Fexington avenue, on 
the west by Sixth avenue, and on the 
north by Fifty-seventh street, is un- 
doubtedly very desirable property; 
but with our rapid growth it is im- 
possible to tell what it will be twenty 
On the west side of the park we 
have a very different topography. The Sanitary Topography of ATcw York City. 
“ From Fifty-ninth to One Hundred and 
Fourth street, the Eighth avenue is near- 
ly the central ridge of the Island. Its ave- 
rage height is twenty to thirty feet above the 
Fifth avenue. At Fifty-ninth street, the ele- 
vation of the Eighth avenue above the tide- 
level is seventy-six feet four inches, increas- 
ing to ninety feet at Seventieth street, 
reaching one hundred and twenty feet at 
Eighty-fifth street and one hundred and 
twenty-two feet at Ninety-second street; 
descending, it is eighty-nine feet at One 
Hundred and Fourth street, and gradually 
falls off to the general low level of Harlem 
plains. 
Ninth avenue and Eighty-fourth street 120 feet. 
Ninth avenue and Ninety-first street 121 “ 
Ninth avenue and One Hundred and Fifth 
street “ 
Tenth avenue and Seventy-seventh street 98 “ 
Tenth avenue and Eighty-fifth street 109 “ 
Tenth avenue and Ninety-Second street 107 “ 
Tenth avenue and One Hundred and Fifth 
street 109 “ 
Tenth avenue and One Hundred and Seven- 
teenth street 145 “ 
“ Between these elevations, which (except 
a central ridge or terrace between the Ninth 
and Tenth avenues from Seventy-ninth to 
Ninety-fourth street) are not generally con- 
tinuous, are numerous hollows and valleys, 
the lowest having an elevation of fifty to 
sixty feet above the tide-level. The average 
elevation of this plateau is as much as sev- 
enty-five feet; in the more northerly por- 
tion, as much as one hundred feet. The 
surface drainage from this plateau finds its 
way to the river, through the valleys above 
indicated, at Sixty-seventh, Eightieth, and 
Ninety-sixth streets.” * 
“At One Hundred and Sixth street, the 
ridge extends north-westwardly, leaving the 
Eighth avenue, running nearly along the 
Ninth avenue to One Hundred and Twen- 
tieth street ; then bending westwardly, and 
forming the southern kill-side of the Man- 
hattan valley to the Hudson River. The 
new grade of* the Eighth avenue already 
established, by keeping up elevations and 
filling depressions, will gradually ascend 
to and then descend from its summit at 
Ninety-second street, and make the finest 
possible grade for any avenue on the 
island.” * 
With a view to the prospective 
physical health of the city, the au- 
thorities should do every thing pos- 
sible to destroy the extensively pre- 
vailing malaria found in it, which 
emanates from the large tract of made 
ground along the East River, and 
from the beds of the original streams, 
which covered acres of land in the 
primitive state of the island. Few 
people fully comprehend the insidious- 
ness of this poison which affects the 
system in such a variety of ways and 
shows such erratic developments that 
at times the skill of the physican is 
baffled in attempting to detect its 
presence. It is rendered more per- 
manent in many locations by the 
miserable condition of the sewers, 
and, where these have not been 
built, by the irregular grading of 
streets forming obstructions to the 
natural drainage of the soil. Again, 
in many places where sewers have 
been provided, as along the course of 
Seventy-fourth street between Third 
and Fifth avenues, they do not seem to 
entirely prevent the generation of the 
poison, as intermittent and remittent 
To appreciate, one must see the 
romantic beauty presented by the 
bold bluff of rocky formation against 
which the crystal waters of the Hud- 
son dash in ceaseless waves and 
eddies. At points forming ascents 
from seventy to one hundred and 
forty feet above tide-water, it stretches 
away, with varying elevation and 
constantly changing scenery until 
it reaches Manhattanville. There, 
as if to make space to cradle the 
village in its rocky embrace, for a 
few blocks it disappears, only to rise 
in more stately proportions beyond, 
forming its crowning glory of landscape 
grandeur at Washington Heights. 
“ There is a high table-land between the 
Eighth and Ninth avenue ridge on the east, 
and the Hudson River bank on the west. 
The surface of this table-land is broken ; it 
has high rocky ridges and mounds in cen- 
tral locations reaching these elevations. At 
Ninth avenue and Sixty-sixth street 89 feet. 
Ninth avenue and Seventieth street 98 “ 
* New York World, Feh'uary xsth, 1868. 
* New York World, February 15th, 1868. The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
fevers are still rife in the surrounding 
districts : not properly filling up the 
beds of the streams in many of these 
cases may, however, account for this. 
the west. The result is, that the inhabi- 
tants of the eastern parts of a city not only 
have their own smoke and miasmas, but 
also those of the western parts brought by 
the west wind. When, on the contrary, the 
east wind blows, it purifies the air by caus- 
ing the injurious emanations to rise, so that 
they cannot be thrown back upon the west. 
It is evident, then, that the inhabitants of 
the western parts receive pure air from 
whatever part of the horizon it comes. 
We will add, that the west wind is most 
prevalent, and the west end receives it all 
fresh from the country. 
Owing to its rocky formation, ma- 
laria has found a home in but few 
locations in the north-western section 
of the city; and if these are examin- 
ed, they will generally be found to be 
lots which, by the grading of the 
streets, have been made lower than 
the side-walks. When these are pro- 
perly filled, the deleterious influence 
they exert will disappear. In addi- 
tion to this, the level of this section 
is so much above tide-water that it 
possesses every advantage for natural, 
and, when that does not prove suffi- 
cient, every facility for promoting ar- 
tificial, drainage. 
“ From the foregoing facts, M. Junod 
lays down the following directions : First, 
persons who are free to choose, especially 
those of delicate health, should reside in the 
western part of a city. Secondly, for the 
same reason, all the establishments that 
send forth vapors or injurious gases should 
be in the eastern part. Thirdly and finally, 
in erecting a house in the city, and even in 
the country, the kitchen should be on the 
eastern side, as well as ail the out-houses 
from which unhealthy emanations might 
spread into the apartments.”* 
According to tire report of tire 
Board of Central Park Commission- 
ers for last year, “ the prevailing 
winds for tire year were west and 
north-west.” Let us see what com- 
parative difference this makes to the 
two sections of the city under consid- 
eration. The west side receives this 
wind in all its bracing freshness di- 
rectly after it has passed over the 
Jersey highlands, on the opposite 
side of the Hudson. It carries be- 
fore it all the exhalations from this 
side toward the east, and imparts a 
healthful vigor to all who come with- 
in its influence. The east side, being 
so much below the level of the west, 
receives but little of the benefit to be 
derived from this wind. Again : 
The absence of foliage is a great 
disadvantage in malarious districts, 
and here the east side of the city en- 
joys a marked superiority over the 
west in the ample and rich character 
of its soil, which, with proper cultiva- 
tion would produce trees of luxurious 
foliage. On account of the small quan- 
tity and the poor quality of the soil in 
many locations in the north-western 
section of the island, trees are not as 
numerous as they should be; but it 
becomes only a greater duty to foster 
those we have, and to constantly in- 
crease their number by planting others 
in every desirable location. Too lit- 
tle regard has in all ages been paid 
to that beautiful harmony established 
by the wisdom of God in nature, and 
but few persons consider how essen- 
tial the vegetable kingdom is to ani- 
mal life. With each inspiration of air 
which we draw into our lungs to obtain 
oxygen, a certain amount of blood 
is purified, and throws oft its carbon. 
“When the mercury in the barometer 
rises, the smoke and injurious emanations 
are quickly dispelled in the air. When the 
mercury lowers, we see the smoke and 
noxious vapors remain in the apartments 
and near the surface of the earth. Now, 
every one knows that, of all winds, that 
from the east causes the mercury in the ba- 
rometer to rise the highest, and that which 
lowers it most is from the west. When 
the latter blows, it carries with it all the 
deleterious gases it meets in its course from 
* “ Influence of Locality on Duration of Life.” 
Catholic World, April, 1569. The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
This carbon is rapidly absorbed by 
plants, and nurtures them; and in re- 
turn they liberate the oxygen which 
is absolutely necessary for our being. 
wind passing over the dreaded Pon- 
tine marshes. The salutary influence 
of foliage is not felt in the case of 
malaria alone; observers have notic- 
ed the comparative immunity from 
epidemic diseases also enjoyed by 
those whose homes are thus protect- 
ed. During the prevalence of cho- 
lera in Burlington, lowa, in 1850, 
this was strikingly demonstrated. 
“ Plants absorb their food entirely in a 
liquid or gaseous form, by imbibition, ac- 
cording to the law of endosmosis, through 
the walls of the cells that form the surface ; 
as when liquids of unequal density are 
separated by a permeable membrane, the 
lighter liquid or the weaker solution will 
flow into the stronger with a force propor- 
tionate to the difference in density ; but at 
the same time a smaller portion of the 
denser liquid will flow out into the weaker, 
which process is called exosmosis. The 
fluid absorbed by the roots is thus carried 
from cell to cell, rising principally in the 
wood, and is attracted to the leaves, or oth- 
er parts of the plants exposed to the sun 
and light, by the exhalation which takes 
place from them, and the consequent inspi- 
ration of the sap. Here the crude sap is 
exposed to sun and light, and assimilated 
and converted into organizable matter.” * 
“ In the houses on the west side of Main 
street, north of Court, more deaths took 
place than in any other portion of the city; 
and more occurred, in proportion to the 
number of inmates, in every other house 
than in the one in front of which were trees, 
and, what is still more convincing, the natu- 
ral predisposition to cholera existed to a 
greater extent among the inmates of this 
house, than in any other. Another and 
more striking instance occurred in the two 
houses nearest the ‘ old saw-mill.’ The 
house adjoining the mill was surrounded by 
trees, and not one of the occupants suffered 
from cholera; while, in the other house, 
which was exposed, and stood upon the 
bank of the Mississippi, three deaths took 
place ; and what is more to the point, the 
family which escaped were new-comers, 
and suffering from nostalgia, and the effects 
of a change of climate, which act as a pre- 
disposing and exciting cause of the disease ; 
while those who lived in the other house 
were old residents, and had been thorough- 
ly acclimated. Dr. Buckler notices similar 
facts in his account of the cholera, as it 
appeared in the Baltimore Alms-house, in 
1849.” * 
Man, in his ruthless desire to utilize, 
according to his weak appreciation, 
every thing placed within his power, 
destroys the very breastworks against 
disease and death with which the 
foresight of the Creator has surround- 
ed him. ■ Many instances are record- 
ed where the removal of a grove 
of trees has rendered entire villages 
for ever afterward a prey to the 
innumerable miseries produced by 
malarial poison. This fact has been 
recognized from the earliest days, 
and demonstrated so clearly by ex- 
perience, that the more intelligent 
inhabitants of rural districts, where 
marshes abound, build their homes 
so that winds passing over them, and 
consequently laden with their pesti- 
lential exhalations, shall be intercept- 
ed by some belt of forest-trees. Many 
parts of Italy would be uninhabita- 
ble without the protection of its luxu- 
rious vegetable productions, and it is 
well known that the citizens of Rome 
are thus shielded from the south-west 
Trees are useful to us in another 
respect; they moderate temperature. 
In winter, the heat of the earth is 
constantly ascending their trunks to 
be given to the air. It is well known 
that large forests decidedly lessen the 
intense cold, and, in summer, mode- 
rate the extreme heat, by the great 
amount of moisture which they ex- 
hale from their leaves. Again, who 
has not felt the happy influence a 
forest has upon the mind ? How our 
petty troubles melt away, and our 
hearts expand with grateful homage, 
when we listen to the tuneful harmony 
* Public Parks. John H. Rauch, M.D., of Chicago. 
* Piiblic Parks. John H. Rauch, M.D. The Sanitary Topography of Neiv York City. 
of seolian sweetness, as the feathered, 
songsters of the grove, and the pass- 
ing breezes rustling through the ver- 
dant foliage unite to form nature’s 
orchestra, wafting upward one grand 
strain of praise to the Deity. And 
when, in the autumn of our lives, 
borne down by blighted hopes and 
ruined ambition, we seek the forest’s 
solitude, every fitful breeze sounds a 
low wail of sympathy, falling in gen- 
tle cadence on the crushed heart. 
rapidly erected along the line of the 
Second, Third, and Fourth avenues; 
and the suburban villages of Harlem 
and Yorkville have been most remune- 
rative to property-holders on that side 
of the park. The easy access to the 
points above named by the city rail- 
roads has drawn that kind of capital 
which invests in good substantial ten- 
ant-houses. These pay sufficiently 
well to prevent their being demolished, 
even with a prospect of better pecu- 
niary results from a higher class of 
property; and thus are always an 
obstacle in the way of first-class im- 
provements in a neighborhood. 
The young growth of the trees 
is particularly noticeable in Central 
Park, and in this respect it will be 
many years before we can rival Druid 
Hill Park near Baltimore, where the 
grand old trees, raising their majes- 
tic heads toward heaven, seem whis- 
pering to every passing zephyr hymns 
of adoration. Here, art may carve 
meandering roads, span the crystal 
streams with elaborate bridges, erect 
statues in honor of man, decorate 
and adorn to suit the taste of the 
most fastidious; but high above all 
these, the majestic oaks Avave their 
luxuriant foliage, and assert the supe- 
riority of the works of the Creator 
over the imitations of the creature. 
Thus it needs but a moment’s con- 
sideration to see what a material ad- 
vantage to our comfort, physical well- 
being, and happiness trees are; and 
to understand why our broad ave- 
nues should be bordered with them, 
and their growth fostered as much 
as possible in our parks; and we 
may rest assured that succeeding 
generations will bless us for the fore- 
thought which will add so much to 
the beauty and healthfulness of our 
metropolis. 
The east side possesses a great 
many advantages which will in time 
increase its commerce, and render its 
entire river-side most valuable. Al- 
ready numbers of manufactories, lum- 
ber-yards, and other business places 
occupy nearly the entire water-front 
as high as Fiftieth street; and the 
easy approach to, and gentle slope 
of its bank offering great facility for 
landing merchandise, will rapidly in- 
crease their number toward the north- 
ern extremity of the island. Again, 
should the attempt to relieve Hell 
Gate of its dangerous rocks be suc- 
cessful, a new era of prosperity will 
dawn for the East River shore, and 
every foot of its extent at once re- 
ceive increased valuation. Piers will 
spring into existence, and vessels of 
every description bearing the pre- 
cious wares of every clime, will seek 
this hitherto inhospitable channel, 
and thus lessen their tedious voyage 
by at least two hundred miles. 
North of Fifty-ninth street on the 
Avest side, with the exception of the 
squatter’s shanty, removable at a feAv* 
days’ legal notice, there is nothing to 
impede the numerous and beautiful 
improvements designed by the Cen- 
tral Park Commissioners, to A\rhose 
judgment this Avork is intrusted. 
These improvements consist in laying 
The eastern portion of all large 
cities is devoted to manufacturing 
purposes, and New York presents no 
exception to this almost universal 
rule. By reason of the comparative- 
ly level and easily graded character 
of the east side, buildings were The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
out parks and public drives, and in 
adding in every possible way to the 
natural advantages of this section. 
First, at the intersection of Broadway, 
Eighth avenue, and Fifty-ninth street 
we will have the Circle, with a radius 
of two hundred and sixteen feet. 
This will provide at once an opening 
to the grand Boulevard, and also 
add to the beauty of the entrance at 
this point to Central Park. The 
ground around this circle will un- 
doubtedly present one of the finest 
positions in the city for public build- 
ings, and will become as valuable for 
this purpose as that in the neighbor- 
hood of Union Square. In this con- 
nection we would express a hope 
that the commissioners will reconsid- 
er the great mistake they have made 
in closing Sixtieth street between 
Eighth avenue and the Boulevard, 
thereby cutting off the view of the 
park and its grand entrance from tire 
residents of that street. It would 
add much to the finish of the circle, 
and the beauty of the approach to 
the park, if Fifty-ninth street retained 
to either river the width it has be- 
tween Fifth and Eighth avenues. 
Eventually a ferry will be established 
at either extremity of this street, for 
the accommodation of persons desiring 
to visit the park; and this with other 
circumstances, combines to make it 
very desirable that it should be one 
of the wide streets. Several efforts 
have been made to have the Belt Rail- 
road running on this street removed 
to Fifty-eighth street, but so far with- 
out success. As this change is desired 
by the property-owners and residents 
in the neighborhood of the park, it is 
hoped it will be effected by the Legis- 
lature during their session this winter. 
feet wide, with twenty-two feet of its 
central portion reserved for a grass- 
plot, to be bordered on either side with 
shade-trees. It will extend along 
the line of the old Broadway road 
“ crossing Ninth avenue at Sixty-fifth 
street and Tenth avenue at Seventy- 
second street, and then passing about 
midway between the Tenth and 
Eleventh avenues to One Hundred 
and Fourth street, where it bends to 
the westward, following the line of 
the Bloomingdale road, and strikes 
the Eleventh avenue at One Hundred 
and Seventh street, and then follows 
the Eleventh avenue to One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-fifth street. Beyond 
One Hundred and Fifty-fifth street it 
continues as a part of the improve- 
ments of the Fort Washington dis- 
trict, which are now being carried 
out by the commissioners under the 
law of 1865,'”* framed for this pur- 
pose. 
Then we have the Zoological Gar- 
den, which is considered a portion of 
Central Park, and which is to occupy 
the space bounded by Seventy-se- 
venth street on the south, Ninth 
avenue on the west, Eighty-first 
street on the north, and Eighth 
avenue on the east. It should pro- 
perly be extended, taking in the 
same blocks from Seventy-seventh 
to Eighty-first street, as an arm 
of the park, and crossing the inter- 
vening avenues and boulevard by 
arched bridges, to the Riverside 
Park, which skirts the Hudson.. 
This last will be one of the most 
beautiful improvements on the island. 
Comraeneing at Seventy-second 
street, with the rocky highland, it 
continues along the bank of the 
Hudson as far north as One Hun- 
dred and Thirtieth street. It will be 
bounded on the east by the new 
River-bank avenue, which runs along 
the crest of the highland, and is to be 
From the north-western portion of 
the circle issues the boulevard men- 
tioned above. This will be in reality 
the extension of Broadway, and is 
designed to be one hundred and fifty 
* New York World, February 15th, 1868. The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
one hundred feet wide, and on the 
west by Twelfth avenue. It is diffi- 
cult to imagine a more charming va- 
riety of scenery than this park must 
present from its many prominent 
points. A continuous view of the 
Hudson for miles will be seen, with 
the bold highlands of New Jersey on 
the opposite shore, and the limpid Ava- 
ters of the river adding variety to the 
charming landscape. Turning toward 
the north, Fort Washington looms 
up in grand proportions against the 
distant horizon, covered Avith rich fo- 
liage, and studded here and there with 
princely mansions. Glancing east- 
Avard, the park, Avith its charming 
intermingling of natural and artificial 
beauty, stretches aAvay tOAvard the 
East River in endless variety of laAvn, 
shrubbery, and pebbly patliAAmy; 
Avhile to the south a grand panoramic 
view of the island city is presented, 
with its myriad toAvers and steeples of 
public buildings and of churches, all 
attesting the prosperity and Avealth 
of the people. We hope the Park 
Commissioners will consider the ex- 
tension Ave have above suggested. If 
made uoav, its expense would be light 
in comparison with the increased value 
of the property bordering the propos- 
ed connections; Avhile the combina- 
tion of the tAvo parks, the boulevard, 
and the Zoological Garden Avould 
form a succession of grand pleasure- 
grounds such as no city of the Avorld 
can noAv boast of. 
in this section has been changed, and 
the matter left to the option of the 
Central Park Commissioners. We 
may rest assured that excellent taste 
will harmonize their improvements, 
and every notable point be re- 
served for some artistic design, and 
thus no natural advantage be de- 
stroyed which would add to the 
beautiful symmetry of the whole. 
During the progress of these vast 
improvements a permanent system 
of seAverage should be devised for the 
comfort and convenience of the in- 
habitants of this district. At present 
this could be readily effected, as in 
many parts of the boulevard, Eighth 
avenue, and side streets, the grade 
Avill have to be raised several- feet 
above the present level. This is par- 
ticularly noticeable in the boulevard 
in the neighborhood of Eighty-fourth 
street, Avhere the old BroadAvay road 
must lie tAventy feet beloAv the grade 
of the grand drive. It should also 
be a question as to the kind of seAver 
to be adopted. We are convinced 
that throAving aAvay the contents of 
our seAvers is an irreparable error, as 
all the debris passing through them 
should be used as a fertilizing agent. 
Throughout the country, but more 
particularly in the South, is the reck- 
less abuse of the soil noticeable. 
Our farmers soav and reap their crops 
year after year until the earth is Avorn 
out, and loses its productive power; 
then they seek new fields. Our ter- 
ritory is so vast, that the effect of this 
Avretched mode of farming has not as 
yet been felt; but it must be, sooner 
or later. In many parts of Europe, 
the same ruinous policy has been 
pursued, and noAV the inhabitants are 
obliged to import guano to sufficient- 
ly revivify their impoverished land to 
raise even the lightest crop. We are 
happy to see that some of our public 
men have had their attention draAvn 
to this fact. Senator Sprague in a 
We ha\-e still to mention Morning- 
side Park, Avhich is to commence at 
One Hundred and Tenth street, and 
extend as far north as One Hundred 
and Twenty-third street. It will be 
somewhat irregular in form and its 
southern portion Avill be bounded on 
either side by one of the ucav avenues, 
and the northern extremity by Ninth 
and Tenth avenues. It is most for- 
tunate that the original intention of 
cutting down the made of the streets DIAGRAM OF THE WEST SIDE, AS AGREED ON BY THE CENTRAL! IPARK COMMISSIONERS. 
FIIOIVI “THE WOULD ” OF FEUKUARY 15th, 1 ,SGB. 
CENT a A L PARK The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
recent conversation said, “We are 
rapidly exhausting our virgin soil, 
without furnishing it the means of 
recovery in the shape of fertilizers, 
and extending our railroads to new 
tracts as fast as we wear out the old 
cultivated ones.” If we could de- 
odorize the material from our sewers, 
and put it to practical uses, we would 
be gainers in many ways. In the 
first place, our piers would be reliev- 
ed of the enormous quantity of de- 
composing matter which may con- 
stantly be seen festering under the 
sun’s rays, and emitting pestilential 
exhalations; and secondly, a vast 
amount of valuable fertilizing mate- 
rial would be garnered from this 
large city, which would go far to- 
ward enriching the lands around us; 
and we may add that this experiment 
has been tried, and proved not only a 
success, but also highly remunerative. 
the loss must be made up from other 
sources, or the lands become impover- 
ished. From the London sewers, re- 
fuse matter is thrown into the river 
Thames; and so fearfully does this 
immense body of filth pollute its wa- 
ters that it has been found necessary 
during warm weather to neutralize the 
impurity and destroy the foul gases 
by throwing large quantities of dis- 
infectants into the river, costing the 
city as much as in the 
summer of 1859.” They are now 
constructing an addition to their sew- 
ers which will carry their contents 
along the course of the river eight 
miles to Barking, into a reservoir a 
mile and a half long, and about one 
hundred feet wide by twenty-one feet 
deep. From this reservoir it will be, 
at high-tide, discharged, through nu- 
merous large pipes, into the middle 
and bottom of the river, at the depth 
of sixty feet below the surface. 
“ The estimated cost of this vast 
work is about f 4,000,000, and the 
time fixed for its completion five 
years.”* 
“ Sewerage has been advantageously de- 
odorized and applied to agricultural uses in 
localities in England, where it could not be 
conveniently discharged into the sea, by the 
process of Mr. W. Higgs, of Westminster, 
which consists in collecting it in large tanks 
and admitting with it a stream of lime-wa- 
ter, the effect of which is to cause the pre- 
cipitation of the organic matter with the 
phosphates, urates, sulphates, etc., and the 
expulsion of any free ammonia. Through 
the cover of the tanks the ammonia and all 
gaseous matters are conveyed by a pipe 
into a convoluted chamber, where they are 
fixed by various chemical reagents, and pre- 
served. The tanks, .when full, are allowed 
to remain undisturbed for an hour, when 
the liquids are drawn off clear and without 
odor. The pulpy sediments are then col- 
lected and dried, and rendered fit for the 
market. The expense of the process was 
rated at £l per ton, and the manure thus 
prepared was sold at Cardiff for per 
ton.” * 
As the river Seine divides the city of 
Paris into two parts, so it divides the 
sewers into two districts, which for- 
merly emptied their'contents respect- 
ively on the right and left bank of 
the river. In order to prevent the 
infection of the water of the river, the 
main sewer of the left bank was 
made to pass its contents through a 
tunnel under the river, and empty 
them at Asnieres, * the same point 
where that of the right bank emptied, 
thus avoiding the current which 
washed the discharged material back 
upon the city. 
It is an unquestionable fact that 
through the sewers of cities enormous 
quantities of the constituents of 
plants are conveyed into the sea, and 
unless saved and restored to the soil, 
Thus we see that the disposition of 
sewerage has always been a question 
of great import, even to cities situat- 
ed on large streams of water, into 
which it could be turned. While pro- 
posing a system for at once doing 
* New A merican Cyclopadia. 
* New A merican Cyclopadia. The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
away with the nuisance caused by it, 
and at the same time utilizing it for 
fertilizing purposes, we are happy to 
add that it is not the first time the 
plan has been brought forward for 
New York. Professor Lewis A. Sayre 
during his administration as Resident 
Physician of this city, had regular 
plans drawn up and calculations 
made as to the cost of the entire 
work; and also what return could 
with certainty be expected from the 
investment. The designs were made 
by the late John Randall, of Mary- 
land, one of the ablest civil engineers 
the country has ever produced. 
surveyor, until it has been handed 
over to the city as complete, by the 
last contractor, we think the plan will 
appear in a very different light. In 
the first place, take a street that re- 
quires filling up to a certain specified 
grade. Sealed proposals or bids are 
received from contractors for the work, 
and the party making the most ad- 
vantageous offer obtains the contract, 
and in due course of time completes 
the work. Then, in all probability, 
a second party obtains a contract to 
at once put down some kind of pave- 
ment. After this, houses are built 
upon the street, and a sewer must be 
laid. This completed, the gas and 
Croton mains must be put down. 
Then each house must have separate 
sewer, gas, and water connection. 
Thus the pavement is perpetually 
torn up and relaid, each removal 
rendering it more unfit for travel. 
Why not, when the street was low 
enough to lay the sewer without turn- 
ing out one shovelful of earth, put 
in the pipes for the sewer, gas, and 
water, and leave the laying of the 
pavement until it could be done with- 
out having it torn up four or five times 
for necessities which every one knows 
will arise ? Let any one calculate the 
vast sums of money spent on a street, 
in these various changes, and we are 
sure the amount will be larger than 
the cost of the plan above proposed, 
with this great difference, that when 
the work is completed, in the latter 
case, a yield of from six to seven per 
cent upon the outlay could be at 
once expected, while in the former 
there would be constant call for ad- 
ditional expense in repairs. Where 
the grade of a street requires to be 
raised several feet, it is doubtful if it 
would cost much more to put up the 
two walls of masonry and the iron 
girders than it costs to fill up the 
space with earth and rocks. Con- 
tractors, pay from forty to seventy- 
The professor’s idea was, to have 
the street excavated for some twelve 
feet below its grade. A substantial 
wall of masonry was to be built on 
either side to sustain the sidewalk, 
and a convex iron girder was to cross 
the entire width of the street, upon 
which the pavement could be laid. 
Within the inclosure thus made, the 
sewer, water, and gas-pipes could be 
placed, and trap-doors arranged at 
certain distances to make it possible 
to get at them without disturbing the 
pavement. Here could be carried 
on a vast laboratory for deodorizing 
the contents of the sewers. His plan 
also embraced a sort of trap by which 
the yard of each house communicat- 
ed with the main sewer, and an ar- 
rangement by which the fluid portion 
was allowed to drain away from the 
solids, which in turn were to be 
dumped from the temporary reser- 
voir in which they were received into 
a small car at the bottom of the ex- 
cavation, and then carried to the 
laboratory by a regular railroad in- 
tersecting every portion of the city. 
This general plan of subterranean 
sewerage may strike the eye of the 
uninitiated as very expensive; but 
when we consider the manipulation 
a street is subjected to from the time 
its boundaries are defined by the Ike Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
five cents per load for this filling; 
and every one knows how very few 
square feet the carts used for this 
purpose hold. Again, the question 
of an underground railroad has been 
much discussed during the past few 
years. With this plan of sewerage, 
it would be no more expensive to 
carry such a railroad over the entire 
city, worked from given points by 
stationary-engines and wire ropes, as 
is proposed for the overground rail- 
road, than to lay such a road in the 
streets of the city; excepting that 
arrangements would have to be made 
at certain distances to enable passen- 
gers to go down to platforms below, 
for the purpose of entering the cars. 
This project would at once put into 
the hands of the city authorities a 
subterranean city, and also the vast 
revenues to be obtained from its un- 
derground railroads, and does not 
present half the difficulties that must 
have been experienced in bringing 
the Croton water across the Harlem 
River- 
activity of the workshops and manu- 
factories. In a translation from Le 
Correspondant published in the April 
number of this magazine, the writer, 
speaking of this subject, says, 
“In visiting the ruins of Pompeii and 
other ancient cities, I have observed, as 
well as M. Junod, that this custom dates 
from the highest antiquity. In those cities, 
as is seen at Paris in our day, the largest 
cemeteries are found in the eastern parts, 
and generally none in the western, M. 
Junod, examining the reason of so general 
a fact, thinks it is connected with atmosphe- 
ric pressure. 
“ M. Elie de Beaumont has since mention- 
ed some facts which tend to prove the con- 
stancy and generality of the rule laid down 
by M. Junod. He noticed in most of the 
large cities this tendency of the wealthy 
class to move to the same side—generally, 
the western—unless hindered by certain 
local obstacles. Turin, Liege, and Caen 
are examples of this. M. Moquin-Tan- 
don has observed the same thing at Mont- 
pellier and Toulouse.” 
In the first part of this article the 
influence of “atmospheric pressure'I'' 
was fully spoken of, as also the effect of 
the winds so favorable to residents 
on the west side. With these facts 
in view, it is easy to foresee that those 
who possess means will always pur- 
chase homes in this portion of the 
city, which offers * the best security 
against disease and the greatest guar- 
antee for continued physical health. 
It is curious to go back to the 
commencement of the present centu- 
ry, and to note the changes in loca- 
tion the growth of the city has oblig- 
ed the wealthy to make since that 
time. In the early days, State street, 
and then Bowling Green, offered to 
this class attractions superior to those 
of any other portion of the city. The 
ample shade of the latter, its stately 
forest-trees, verdant lawn, and beauti- 
ful walks, with the refreshing sea- 
breeze constantly blowing in from 
old ocean, and the magnificent mov- 
ing panorama in the harbor, made 
it a great favorite of our forefathers. 
Having shown that nature has par- 
ticularly favored that portion of the 
city which lies west of the park, and 
that, from present indications, the 
highest art will prevail in the magni- 
ficent improvements which are there 
going on, we will mention another 
cause, which will add weight to the 
many reasons already adduced, why 
it should in the future become the 
home of the fashion and wealth of 
the metropolis. If we look at the 
great capitals of Europe, we will* no- 
tice the general tendency the afflu- 
ent classes have shown to select their 
abodes in the western sections of 
these cities. Paris, London, St. Pe- 
tersburg, Berlin, and others show * 
this conclusively. In each, the west- 
ern section is covered with the ele- 
gant palaces of the rulers and the 
costly mansions of the rich; while on 
the east side is found the bustling The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
They whiled away their time in this 
charming resort, smoking their pipes, 
and watching the merry gambols of 
the children. It may be, they can- 
vassed the future of this goodly city, 
which under their thrifty influences 
already promised well, never dream- 
ing, however, of the gigantic growth 
its future was to develop. In time 
this garden spot changed into the 
great entrepbt, where emigrant ships 
daily landed vast numbers eager to 
obtain employment and homes in this 
new country where every thing pro- 
mised wealth and happiness. Green- 
wich street next absorbed within its 
precincts the votaries of fashion; soon 
after, it had for rivals in public favor 
East-Broadway and College Place. 
They, in turn, were deserted for the 
location between Fourth and Eighth 
streets. But the same agency being 
at work here as below, soon brought 
Union Square into requisition. After 
this, Fifth and Madison avenues be- 
came the grand centres of the opu- 
lent classes; and tO-day the entire 
course of the former, with its long 
line of brown-stone architecture and 
regal grandeur, attracts the attention 
and challenges the admiration of the 
world. But alter this avenue reaches 
Ninetieth street, its grade descends 
rapidly to the low level of the Har- 
lem plains, and is no longer so desira- 
ble for residences. At the rate it is 
now being built upon, it will soon be 
completed to this point, and then in 
what direction will this current turn ? 
The Harlem Railroad will always 
prove an insurmountable objection to 
Fourth avenue, which is behind it; 
and it does not require a prophet’s 
power to foresee that the Grand 
Boulevard, the garden parks overlook- 
ing the Hudson, and the great aids to 
general healthfulness possessed by 
the west side, will prove sufficiently 
attractive to cause the next move to 
be in the direction of the beautiful 
sites which border these improve- 
ments. 
The proposed widening of Broad- 
way from Thirty-second to Fifty-ninth 
street adds certainty to this predic- 
tion. We think it most unfortunate 
that this change did not commence 
as low down as Seventeenth street, 
and we hope it may yet be found ad- 
visable to do so. We would then 
have a noble thoroughfare starting 
from the Battery, crossing the various 
avenues diagonally until it reached 
the beautiful circle at the Eighth ave- 
nue entrance to the park; and then 
continuing as the Grand Boulevard 
to the upper extremity of the island. 
This measure, which seems to meet 
with the disapprobation of a large 
portion of the community, if carried 
out, would, we are convinced, prove 
a crowning glory to the metropolis; 
and it is but fitting that the thorough- 
fare which is to vie with any other in 
the world should have a continuance 
in the lower part of the city worthy 
its princely magnificence; for- it would 
then be a subject of pride not only 
to us but to the whole country, which 
would regard it as a national orna- 
ment. 
We may also look forward to an 
ever-increasing commercial impor- 
tance for the east side, with its long 
line of piers fronting the harbor, al- 
ways filled with vessels bearing the 
flags of every commercial nation of 
the world. 
Its shore will be covered with ca- 
pacious warehouses and immense 
manufactories, from which will re- 
sound the noisy bustle and unceasing 
activity of trade. 
A glance at the residences in .the 
different locations mentioned above, 
as being at various times the homes 
of those possessing wealth, will show 
that each successive change has been 
marked by an increase in the lavish 
expenditure of means for the purpose The Sanitary Topography of New York City. 
of producing architectural display. 
With this fact before us, we may form 
an idea of the palatial houses with 
which, by means of their rapidly in- 
creasing wealth, the rising generation 
will crown the hillsides of the west- 
ern section. 
completed, the whole, bounded on 
the one side by Central Park, with its 
many natural and artificial beauties 
appearing like a fairyland, and on 
the other by the dancing waters of 
the Hudson, will give to our metro- 
polis attractions superior to those 
possessed by the most celebrated 
cities of Europe. 
When the proposed improvements 
for this portion of our city have been