Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/408

 394 NEW YORK (CITY) ten divisions, in each of which a battalion is organized consisting of several companies. The force consists of a chief and 748 officers and men, organized into 42 steam engine com- panies, 18 hook and ladder companies, and 4 chemical engine companies. The chemical en- gines carry their own supply of extinguishing fluid. Steam engines used by the department are drawn by horses, except five, which are propelled by the steam they generate. There are four boats equipped for extinguishing fires on the water front, of which two belong to the department of charities and correction and one to the police department. The central office in Mercer street is connected with the different engine houses by telegraph wires, and there are 548 street boxes, from which an alarm of fire may be transmitted instanta- neously. The telegraph force consists of a superintendent, a chief operator, and six as- sistants. The fire department is under the control of three commissioners. The bureau of combustibles connected with it is charged with the duty of regulating and licensing the storage and sale of dangerous combustible ma- terial. The business of the fire marshal is to investigate the causes of fires and to secure the arrest and punishment of incendiaries. The following table gives the number of fires and the loss in each year since 1866 : No of YEARS. fires. Loss. YEARS. fires. LOBS. 1866.. 796 $6,428,000 1871... 1,258 $2,127,250 1867.. 873 5,711,000 1872 1,681 4,409,000 1868.. 1869. . 740 850 4,342,000 2,626,893 1873 1874 1,898 1,411 2,648,795 1,328,844 1870.. 964 2,120,212 New York is supplied with pure water from Croton river, a small stream in Westchester co., by an aqueduct completed in 1842. A dam was thrown across the river, raising the water 40 ft. and forming Croton lake. ^The aqueduct proper is constructed of stone, bVick, and cement, arched above and below, is about 7 ft. wide and 8 high, with an inclination of 13 in. to the mile, and has a capacity of 115,000,- 000 gallons daily. The water is carried across the Harlem river in cast-iron pipes on a bridge of granite (known as the High bridge), 1,460 ft. long, which is supported by 14 piers, the crown of the highest arch being 116 ft. above high- water mark. High bridge terminates on Manhattan island at 174th street, forms a wide footway, and affords magnificent views. The receiving reservoir in Central park contains 150,000,000 gallons, and the retaining reservoir just above it 1,030,000,000 gallons. The dis- tributing reservoir covers more than four acres on Murray hill, between 40th and 42d streets, fronting on 5th avenue, and holds 20,000,000 gallons. It is divided into two parts, is 45 ft. above the pavements and 115 ft. above tide water, and affords a fine view from the walks that surround it. The length of the aqueduct from Croton lake to the distributing reservoir is 40 m. A " high service " reservoir holding 11,000,000 gallons, 'and a tower to support a tank holding 55,000 gallons, have been con- structed in Highbridge park, for supplying the more elevated portions of the city. The water to fill the reservoir and tank is pumped from the aqueduct by powerful engines. The sto- rage reservoir at Boyd's Corners, Putnam co., completed in 1873, will hold 3,000,000,000 gallons. The cost of the works for supply- ing the city with water to the close of 1874 was $25,000,000. A water tax is imposed upon the buildings supplied, which in 1874 amounted to $1,361,857 43, and from 1842 to the close of 1874 to $24,717,017 50. Measures are in progress for supplying the new wards with Croton water. The number of miles of water pipes laid on Manhattan island in May, 1873, was 370-6 ; the number of fire hydrants was 3,136. There were laid out on the map of the island 448 m. of streets, roads, and ave- nues, of which 378 m. were legally opened, 303 m. regulated and graded, and 253 m. paved. For drainage purposes there were 288-54 m. of sewers, 6'02 m. of underground drains, 14'72 m. of culverts, and 3,854 receiv- ing basins. The number of public gas lamps was 18,910; miles of gas mains, 543f. The island is supplied with gas by six companies, and the new wards by two companies. Sev- eral free floating baths are maintained in sum- mer by the city for the accommodation of the poorer citizens. The number of plans and specifications for new buildings filed in 1874 was nearly 1,300, estimated to cost about $15,800,000; number of plans submitted for alteration of old buildings, about 1,400 ; esti- mated cost, more than $3,000,000. The death rate in 1872 was 32-6 per 1,000 ; in 1873, 29'08 ; in 1874, 27-59. The number of deaths in the last year was 28,597, of which 9,700 occurred from zymotic, 6,000 from constitutional, 9,900 from local, and 1,766 from developmental dis- eases, and 1,231 from violence. The chief causes were: smallpox, 466; measles, 317; scarlatina, 895 ; diphtheria, 1,672 ; croup, 583; whooping cough, 482; dysentery and diar- rhoea, 3,591 ; cerebro-spinal fever, 151 ; typhus and typhoid fever, 291 ; inanition, 301 ; intem- perance, 223 ; hydrocephalus, 616 ; consump- tion, 4,038 ; tabes mesenterica and marasmus, 579 ; convulsions, 675 ; meningitis, 557 ; bron- chitis, 1,039 ; pneumonia, 2,386 ; Bright's dis- ease, 814; premature births, 544; accidents and negligence, 996 ; homicides, 56 ; suicides, 174. The number of births registered war 25,663 ; of marriages, 8,397. The actual num- ber of births is at least 35,000 per year, and of marriages probably about 10,500. The num- ber of licenses granted by the board of excise from May 1, 1874, to January, 1875, was 3,827 ; license fees received, $263,702 61. The whole number of liquor and lager-beer saloons is esti- mated at 8,000. There are 12 public markets now in use, most of which are insignificant in