Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/410

 396 NEW YORK (CITY) ers, 381. The following are the average quar- terly statistics : receipts, $693,759 45 ; expen- ditures, $288,229 86 ; city letters and postal cards delivered, 8,213,064; mail letters and postal cards delivered, 19,846,734; foreign let- ters received, 1,927,586; foreign letters sent, 2,092,383; domestic mail letters despatched, 25,300,000 ; newspapers received for delivery and despatch, 27,453,800; registered letters received for delivery, 95,000 ; registered let- ters and postage stamp packages forwarded, 125,000 ; domestic money orders issued, 8,559, amounting to $193,913 32; domestic money or- ders paid, 174,291, amounting to $1,768,668 26; amount of foreign money orders issued, $592,- 502 30. In the 23d and 24th wards there are 8 branch offices, under the jurisdiction of the general city post office. Three commissioners of public charities and correction have charge of paupers and criminals. The institutions under their care, in point of extent and excel- lence, compare favorably with any in the world. They are situated partly in the city proper, but chiefly on the islands in the East river and on Hart's island. The buildings are substantial and spacious, and the principal ones on Black- well's island are of granite quarried there by the convicts. In the city are Bellevue hospital, the reception hospitals in the City Hall park (closed) and in 99th street near 10th avenue, the city prison, four district prisons connected with the police courts, the free labor bureau and intelligence office in Clinton place, and the outdoor poor department in the central office of the commissioners, a handsome building on the corner of 3d avenue and llth street. Belle- vue hospital is at the foot of E. 26th street, and contains 35 wards, with accommodations for about 1,200 patients. The buildings, erected at different times, with various changes and ad- Mitions, now form a continuous line of 350 ft., four stories high, the central one being crowned with a lofty observatory. The grounds, several acres in extent, are finely cultivated. In con- nection with the hospital a building has been erected for the morgue, in which the bodies of the unknown dead are exhibited for identifica- tion. The bureau of medical and surgical relief for the outdoor poor affords aid to applicants who do not require continuous treatment in the hospital. Provision is also made for at- tendance upon the sick poor at their homes by dividing the city into 11 medical districts and assigning a resident physician to each. The ambulance corps affords prompt relief in case of casualties, the telegraph speedily summon- ing an ambulance with a competent surgeon. The outdoor poor department affords tem- porary aid to deserving applicants. The city is divided into 11 districts, for each of which a visitor is appointed, whose duty it is to in- vestigate the circumstances of applicants and report to the superintendent of outdoor poor. The free labor bureau has proved of great value in procuring situations for those out of work. The prisons are for the detention of those charged with crimes and offences pend- ing the disposition of their cases by the courts, and in the city prison persons under sentence of death are confined until execution. The county jail in Ludlow street is used for the de- tention and incarceration of persons arrested upon civil process, and also for the detention of persons charged with crimes and offences under United States law ; it is under the con- trol of the sheriff. The institutions on Black- well's island (all under the care of the commis- sioners) are the almshouse, epileptic and para- lytic hospital, charity, smallpox, and typhus fever hospitals, hospital for incurables, con- valescent hospital, penitentiary, workhouse, lunatic asylum (for females), and blind asylunu Admission to the almshouse is restricted to the old and infirm destitute, two wards, consti- tuting the blind asylum, being set apart for the blind. The penitentiary is for the confinement of prisoners convicted of misdemeanors, while the workhouse receives those committed for vagrancy and for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. In winter also able-bodied persons who solicit charity are frequently sent to the workhouse. On Ward's island are the ine- briate asylum, the soldiers' retreat, and the in- sane asylum (for males). The soldiers' retreat is a home for invalid soldiers of the late war who served in regiments raised in the city. On Randall's island are the nursery, the infant hospital, and the idiot asylum. These form the juvenile branch of the almshouse. The nursery receives children over four years old whom their parents have abandoned or whom they are unable to support. The children are apprenticed or placed in families for adoption at the expiration of three months, if not re- claimed by their parents, and no child is re- tained after he has completed his 16th year. There is a hospital connected with the institu- tion. Provision is made for the instruction of the inmates by the board of education. In the infant hospital provision is made for found- lings, orphans, and children attended by indi- gent mothers; here they are cared for until old enough to be transferred to the nursery, unless adopted or reclaimed by their parents. The idiot asylum has two classes of inmates, the hopelessly imbecile, and those capable of improvement; for the latter a special school is provided. (See IDIOCY, vol. ix., p. 175.) On Hart's island are the industrial school and the city cemetery for the interment of the pauper and unknown dead ; the island com- prises about 100 acras, and is situated in Long Island sound, 15m. from the city hall and 1 m. from the mainland. All except three acres was purchased by the city in 1868. The industrial school is designed for the reformation of vicious boys, who receive instruction and are trained to subordination and labor. There is also un- der the control of the commissioners of chari- ties and correction a nautical school, conducted on board the school ship Mercury, to which boys are transferred from the industrial school ;