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RAPID TRANSIT IN CITIES.

Showing miles operated by various kinds of motive power, single and double track, and increase for past decade, as shown by the Eleventh Census.

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From the above comparison it is seen to be a peculiarity of the Philadelphia roads, and to some extent of the Boston roads, that the tracks usually occupy different streets in going to and from a terminus instead of being laid upon the same street. The result of this is that roads in the cities named traverse a greater length of street in proportion to track length than in New York, Brooklyn and Chicago.

On December 31, 1889, 476 cities and towns in the United States possessed rapid transit facilities, and the total number of street railways in independent operation was 807.

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MARTYRS OF THE

After the battle of Brooklyn, Long Island, August 17, 1776, the British prison ships anchored in the Wallabout Bay were crowded with American naval prisoners, who underwent experiences of a horrible nature, probably unequaled in the history of modern warfare. The names of these ships were: Whitby, Prince of Wales, Goodhope and Old Jersey. They all lay in the channel between what is now the Cob Dock and the inner shore of the bay, the Old Jersey being at the west end nearly opposite what is now the west entrance to the Navy Yard. The prisoners were crowded together in these dismantled ships or hulks, poorly fed and badly treated, and they died by the thousands. It is estimated that between 11,000 and 12,000 prisoners perished on these vessels. For several years after the war was over the bones of those who suffered martyrdom in these ships were to be seen on the banks of the Wallabout, or strewn upon its shores. No formal movement was made to give the bones proper interment until 1792, when the citizens of Brooklyn, at a regular town meeting, resolved that the bones be removed and buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church. This was not carried out, but in 1808 the Tammany Society appointed a committee, and proceeded to take steps toward the longtalked of sepulchre. The public took hold zealously, and showed so much interest that the cornerstone of the tomb was laid on the 13th of April, 1808. An imposing military and civic procession formed at Fulton Ferry, under Major Aycrigg, grand marshal, and marched through Main, Sands, Bridge and Jackson (now Hudson) streets, Brooklyn, to the vault on Jackson street adjoining the Navy Yard. Benjamin Romaine, grand sachem of Tammany, assisted by the Wallabout Committee, laid the corner-stone of the vault, upon which was the inscription:

"In the name of the spirits of the departed free, sacred to the memory of American seamen, soldiers and citizens who perished on board the prison ships of the British at the Wallabout during the Revolution.

"This is the corner-stone of the vault erected by the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, which contains their remains, the ground for which was bestowed by John Jackson, Nassau

PRISON SHIPS.

Island. Season of blossoms. Year of the discovery the 316th, of the institution the 19th, and of American Independence the 32d. April 6, 1808." Ceremonies were completed by the interment of thirteen mammoth coffins, and orations by the most distinguished men of the day.

The "Martyrs' Monumental Association" was formed, and in 1873 an appropriate lot on Fort Greene was obtained and a brick vault 25 by 11 feet was built in the side of the hill facing toward the junction of Myrtle avenue and Canton street. On the 17th of June all that remained of the mortal part of the martyrs was quietly removed to the vault.

February 28, 1888, the Legislature of the State of New York, at the request of the Society of Old Brooklynites, passed a resolution urging the representatives of Congress to pass a bill providing for the erection of a monument to the memory of the "martyrs of the prison ships." A petition signed by 25,000 citizens of the United States was also sent to Congress. The matter was reported upon favorably by committee, but failed to become a law.

Revolutionary Forts.

The locations of Revolutionary forts in Brooklyn are as follows: Fort Stirling, about Pierrepont and Hicks street; Fort Putnam, a wooded hill near the Wallabout (now Fort Greene); Fort Greene, near the intersection of Nevins and Dean streets, on the land of Debevoise and Van Brunt; a small redoubt, a little eastward of Fort Putnam, near the Jamaica road; Fort Box, a small redoubt of four guns, upon the slope of Bergen Hill (also called Boerum's Hill), west of Smith street, not far from the termination of Hoyt and Carroll streets; Cork Screw Fort was on a high, conical hill, called Poukiesberg and Cobble Hill, occupying the space now bounded by Atlantic avenue, Pacific, Court and Clinton streets; Fort Defiance, at Red Hook, and the oblong redoubt which extended from Fort Putnam to Fort Greene. In 1812 Fort Box was called Fort Fireman; Fort Greene was called Fort Masonic; the oblong redoubt was called Fort Cummings; Fort Putnam was changed to Fort Greene, and Cork Screw Fort was called Fort Swift.

LONG ISLAND GAZETTEER.

ABBREVIATIONS: F'bush, Flatbush; F'lands, Flatlands; Gr'end, Gravesend; N. U., New Utrecht; B'klyn. Brooklyn; Fl., Flushing; Hemp., Hempstead; Jam., Jamaica, N'tn, Newtown; N. Hmp., North Hempstead; O. B., Oyster Bay; Bab., Babylon; B'hn, Brookhaven; E. H., Easthampton; Hunt., Huntington; R. H., Riverhead; S. 1., Shelter Island; S'tn, Smithtown; S. H., Southampton; S'old, Southold; Har., harbor; R. R., railroad station; P. V., post village; Sum., summer resort; Ham., hamlet; Loc., locality; Pen., peninsula; Isl., island; Vil., village; Inc. V., incorporated village; Pt., point. Air line courses are reckoned from Brooklyn City Hall.

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