A tour around New York, and My summer acre; being the recreations of MrFelix Oldboy . he walls of mylibrary a painting which always exacts an inquiry asto the spot it has reproduced, and rarely does the in-quirer fail to express his surprise that such a scene ofpicturesque loveliness actually exists within the cor-porate bounds of New York. There is less of historic interest attached to this im-mediate locality than to other portions of the neigh-borhood. The reason for this is akin to the tragedyof the Three Wise Men of Gotham, who Avent tosea in a bowl, of whom leijends make this record : If
A tour around New York, and My summer acre; being the recreations of MrFelix Oldboy . he walls of mylibrary a painting which always exacts an inquiry asto the spot it has reproduced, and rarely does the in-quirer fail to express his surprise that such a scene ofpicturesque loveliness actually exists within the cor-porate bounds of New York. There is less of historic interest attached to this im-mediate locality than to other portions of the neigh-borhood. The reason for this is akin to the tragedyof the Three Wise Men of Gotham, who Avent tosea in a bowl, of whom leijends make this record : If the bowl had been strongerMy story had been longer. A TOUR AROUND NEW YORK 319 The quiet waters of the Bronx would have been thescene of a sanguinary naval battle had they been alittle deeper. For, during the British occupancy ofNew York, Sir William Howe ordered the commanderof the British fleet to sail up the Bronx with his fleetand guns, and annihilate certain Yankee gunboats oflight draught that were making things unpleasantlywarm for the Tory inhabitants thereabouts. After a. DISTANT VIEW OF THE PALISADES FROM VAN CORTLANDT PARK brief, inglorious cruise to the mouth of the little river,the disgusted British admiral was compelled by theshallowness of the water to retire as he came, withouthaving harvested his expected laurels. But there stillstands, solitary and alone, towering to the height of 150feet, a magnificent evergreen known as the De LanceyPine, to recall the time when stout old Oliver De Lan-cey led his regiment of loyalists out to battle for the 320 A TOUR AROUND NEW YORK rights of king and crown. Peace to the ashes ofthose brave men! The same fideHty to existing au-thority which made them defenders of the rights ofroyalty impelled their descendants nearly a centurylater to take up arms in support of the Union as itAvas. A novelty in the way of a free sea-side resort for theweary multitudes of a great city is Pelham Bay, witha coast-line nine miles in extent, gr
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnewyorknybuildingsst
