The three islands lying in the East River are among the most noticeable
features of New York, and offer many attractions to the visitor to the
city. They are Blackwell's, Ward's, and Randall's islands. Of these,
Blackwell's Island is the most southern. It is about a mile and
three-quarters in length, extending from Fifty-first to Eighty-eighth
street, and comprises an area of about 120 acres. It takes its name from
the Blackwell family, who once owned it, and whose ancestral residence, a
tasteful wooden cottage, over a hundred years old, stands near the centre
of the island, and is occupied by the Keeper of the Almshouse. The
island was purchased by the city, in 1828, for the sum of $30,000. A
further outlay of $20,000 was made in 1843 to perfect the title. The
land alone is now worth over $600,000. The island is surrounded by a
granite sea-wall, and has been made to slope gradually towards the water
on each side by a thorough system of grading. This labor was performed
by the convicts of the Penitentiary, and the inmates of the Workhouse.
There is an excellent dock near the Penitentiary for boats, but no
vessels are allowed to land here but the boats of the Department of
Charities and Corrections. Visitors must obtain a permit from this
department or they will not be allowed to set foot upon the island. The
institutions on this and the other islands are supplied with the Croton
water, a large main being carried across under the river.
[Picture: RESIDENCE OF THE KEEPER OF THE ALMSHOUSE.]
On the extreme southern end of the island is a stone building of moderate
size and handsome design. This is the Small-pox Hospital. It was
erected in 1854, at a cost of $38,000, and will accommodate one hundred
patients. It is the only hospital in New York devoted to small-pox
cases, and receives them from all the public and private institutions,
and from private families. The accommodations are excellent, the
attention the best. Those who are able to pay are required to do so. At
the water's edge, on the eastern side of this hospital, are several
wooden buildings designed for the treatment of patients suffering from
typhus and ship fever. These will accommodate one hundred patients,
though the number is often greater.
Immediately in the rear of the Small-pox Hospital, though far enough from
it to be removed from danger, is the Charity Hospital, a magnificent
structure of gray granite, said to be the largest hospital in America.
It consists of a central building with two wings, each three and a half
stories in height, with a Mansard roof. The entire building is 354 feet
long, and 122 feet wide. The eastern wing is occupied by males, and the
western by females. The hospital is divided into 29 wards, the smallest
of which contains 13 beds, and the largest 39. Twelve hundred patients
can be accommodated with comfort. There are separate wards for the
treatment of different diseases, and the medical attendance is the best
that New York can afford. The whole establishment is a model of
neatness, and is conducted in the most systematic and skilful manner.
About seven thousand patients are annually treated here, the majority
being charity patients. The average number of deaths is about four
hundred and fifty.
[Picture: SMALL-POX HOSPITAL.]
Back of the Charity Hospital, and extending north and south, or parallel
with the course of the island and river, is the New York Penitentiary,
the first public institution erected on the island. It is a gloomy and
massive edifice, constructed of hewn stone and rubble masonry. It is
four stories in height, and consists of a central building and wings.
The central building is 65 by 75 feet, and the wings each 200 by 50 feet
in size. The entire building is exceedingly strong. The floors are of
stone, and the stairways and doors of iron. It contains 500 cells for
men, and 256 for women, but the number of convicts is generally in excess
of the number of cells, and still greater accommodations are needed. It
is probable that a new and larger Penitentiary will be erected on Hart's
Island, in Long Island Sound, about twelve miles from Blackwell's Island.
The prisoners at this institution are sent here by the city courts, for
terms of from one to six months. Some, however, are sentenced to
imprisonment for several years. The convicts are all required to labor.
Formerly the men were required to engage in excavating stone from the
rich quarries with which the island abounded, but which have now been
exhausted. The erection of the new buildings on Randall's, Ward's, and
Hart's islands, furnishes constant employment to the convicts, who are
daily conveyed between the prison and these institutions. Those who are
able to work at the ordinary trades are allowed to do so in the workshops
of the Penitentiary. The women are required to do sewing, housework, and
the like.
[Picture: CHARITY HOSPITAL.]
[Picture: NEW YORK PENITENTIARY.]
No visitors are allowed on the Penitentiary grounds without a permit from
the Commissioners. Sentinels are stationed along the water fronts, and
guard-boats patrol the river to prevent the escape of the convicts. In
spite of these precautions, however, men have succeeded in making their
escape to the opposite shore.
[Picture: GUARD-BOATS.]
The convicts are clothed in a uniform of striped woollen garments, and
are supplied with a sufficient amount of bedding and with an abundance of
excellent but plain food. The allowance is about one pound of beef, and
a quart of vegetable soup at dinner, ten ounces of bread at each meal,
and one quart of coffee at breakfast and supper, to each man. In 1869,
the total number of prisoners confined here during the year was 2005. A
very large number of those sentenced to the Penitentiary are under the
age of twenty-five. The proportion of females is about one-fifth. The
foreigners are a little more than one-half of the whole number. A system
of evening schools, at which the attendance is voluntary, has been
instituted. The commutation system is also practised, by which the
prisoner by good conduct may receive a proportionate abridgment of his
term of confinement. Such conduct is reported every month by the Warden
to the Commissioners, who report it to the Governor of the State, who
alone has the power to shorten the terms in the manner mentioned.
Religious services are conducted every Sabbath by Protestant and Roman
Catholic clergymen.
[Picture: ALMSHOUSE.]
To the north of the Penitentiary are two handsome and similar structures
of stone, separated by a distance of 650 feet. These are the Almshouses.
Each consists of a central story, fifty feet square and fifty-seven feet
high, with a cupola thirty feet in height, and two wings, each ninety
feet long, sixty feet wide, and forty feet high. Each is three stories
in height. Each floor is provided with an outside iron verandah, with
stairways of iron, and each building will furnish comfortable quarters
for 600 people, adults only being admitted. One of these buildings is
devoted exclusively to men, the other to women. Both are kept
scrupulously clean, and it is said that they are kept by a daily brushing
of the beds, which are taken to pieces every morning, entirely free from
vermin. The grounds are well laid off, and are in admirable order. In
short, the whole place is a model of neatness and careful administration.
None but the aged and infirm, who are destitute, are admitted. Each
newcomer is bathed immediately upon his or her arrival, and clad in the
plain but comfortable garments provided by the establishment. He is then
taken to the Warden's office, where his name, age, and bodily condition
are registered. At the same time, he is given a card inscribed with the
number of the ward and the class to which he is assigned, this allotment
being based upon an examination by the House Physician. The inmates are
divided into four classes, as follows: I. Able-bodied men. II. Those
who are able to do light labor and to act as inspectors or orderlies of
the different wards. III. Those who are able to sweep the walks or
break stones. IV. Those who are too old or infirm for any labor. Those
assigned to the first three classes are compelled to perform the duties
required of them on pain of dismissal. In the female house, the infirm
are more numerous than among the males. Those able to work are employed
in sewing and knitting, in keeping the wards in order, and in nursing the
feeble and cripples. In 1870, there were 1114 persons in the Almshouses,
from fifteen years of age upwards. A special provision is made in each
house for blind inmates.
Attached to the Almshouse are the Hospitals for Incurables, which consist
of two one-story buildings, 175 feet long, and 25 feet wide. One is
devoted to men and the other to women. In these buildings are quartered
those who are afflicted with incurable diseases, but who require no
medical attention.
The Bureau for the Relief of the Outdoor Poor is connected with the
Almshouse, though it conducts its operations in the city. The city is
divided into eleven districts, each of which is in charge of a visitor,
subject to the orders of the Superintendent of the Bureau. It is the
duty of these visitors to examine into the causes of sickness, crime, and
pauperism in their respective districts, and to report their observations
to the Superintendent, who communicates them to the Department of
Charities and Corrections. Temporary shelter is given to needy persons
in the winter, and money, fuel, food, clothing, etc., distributed to
deserving persons. In 1869, 5275 families were given money, and 7555
fuel by this Bureau; $128,000 being expended for these charities.
[Picture: THE WORKHOUSE.]
In the rear of the Almshouse is the Workhouse, one of the handsomest
buildings on the island. It is constructed of hewn stone, and consists
of a central building four stories in height, with a northern and a
southern wing, with a traverse section across the extreme end of each
wing. In these traverse sections are located the workshops. The entire
length of the building is 680 feet. Not counting the convict labor, the
cost of its construction was over $100,000. The stone of which it was
built was obtained on the island.
In the central building are located the kitchens, and storerooms, the
private quarters of the Superintendent and the other officials, and a
large and handsome chapel. The wings contain each a broad hall, on each
side of which are three tiers of cells, one above the other. Iron
galleries, with stairways, extend along the fronts of these cells, and
afford access to them. There are 150 cells in each wing. Each cell is
provided with an iron grated door, and contains four single berths. The
cells are separated from each other by brick walls. In the workshops,
the carpenter's, blacksmith's, wheelwright's, tinner's, tailor's, and
other trades are carried on. The men are also kept at work grading the
island, building the seawall, and cultivating the gardens. Gangs of
laborers are sent daily to engage in the works on Ward's and Randall's
islands. The women are made to do the housework and cleaning of the
various institutions on the island, and are employed in washing, mending,
sewing, knitting, etc. All the inmates are obliged to labor.
The number of persons annually sent to the Workhouse is from 15,000 to
20,000. The vagrant, dissipated, and disorderly classes are sent here by
the city police courts, ten days being the average term of commitment.
Drunkenness is the principal cause of their detention here. Very few are
Americans. Of the foreigners, the Irish are the most numerous, the
Germans next.
Back of the Workhouse, and occupying the extreme upper portion of the
island, is the New York City Lunatic Asylum. It is a large and
commodious building, with several out-buildings, with accommodations for
576 patients. A new Lunatic Asylum is now in course of erection on
Ward's Island. It is to accommodate 500 patients. It is one of the most
complete establishments in the country, and is built of brick and Ohio
freestone. It is a very handsome building, with an imposing front of 475
feet. The two asylums will accommodate 1076 patients, but they are not
adequate to the accommodation of all the afflicted for whom the city is
required to provide. Still further accommodations are needed. In 1870,
the number of patients committed to the care of the Commissioners was
over 1300.