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The Harlem River, seven miles long, separates Manhattan Island from the mainland. It connects the Hudson with the East River and Long Island Sound, and Congress has made it a ship canal for approach to the Sound without going through Hell Gate. For much of its course it flows through a picturesque valley, and the natural attractions, together with the great bridges which span the river, make it a popular resort. All the points here named are on the west side of the city.
The Speedway is a road on the west bank of the Harlem, built by the city at a cost of nearly $3,000,000, for the special use of drivers of fast horses. It is four and one-quarter miles in length, beginning at 155th street and extending north to Dyckman street, where connection is made with the extension of Riverside Drive. The Speedway races on pleasant afternoons attract thousands of spectators.
High Bridge, at West 175th street, carries across the Harlem the original Croton aqueduct, which brings the city water from Croton River and Lake in Westchester county. The bridge is 1,46o feet in length; the crown of the highest of the fourteen arches is 116 feet above the river. The bridge footway affords fine views, and from below the arches gives many pleasing vistas. The grounds adjacent constitute the High Bridge Park.
The original Croton water works were completed in 1842; the aqueduct is thirty miles long, and has a flowing capacity of 9o,000,000 gallons daily. In 1890 a second aqueduct was opened, which extends from Croton Lake to 135th street, a distance of thirty and one-half miles, and has a capacity of 290,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. The average depth of the tunnel under ground is 170 feet, in some places reaching 350 feet. It goes under the Harlem through solid rock 307 feet below the bed of the river, and then rises 400 feet in a perpendicular shaft at the point where the stone water station is seen between High Bridge and Washington Bridge.
The Washington Bridge, just north of High Bridge, at West 181st street, is an imposing structure of steel, iron and granite, in size and grandeur of proportions second only to the Brooklyn Bridge. It is 2,384 feet in length, and 8o feet wide; the two central arches have a span of 510 feet each, and their crowns are 135 feet above the river. Bordering the east approach are the grounds of the Ogden estate. The river slope has been made a public park. On the east bank of the river are the tracks of the New York Central, and New York & Putnam roads; on the west side is the Speedway.
The view to the north is toward Kingsbridge. On the left are Washington Heights and Fort George, named from a Revolutionary redoubt. The Isabella Heimath, on the crest of the hill near Fort George, is a home for old men and women; it was given in memory of Anna Ottendorfer by her husband, Oswald Ottendorfer, founder of the Staats-Zeitung. On the east side of the river are Morris Heights and University Heights, where may be seen the dome of the University Library. Beyond is the tower of the Webb Academy and Home for Ship-builders, founded at a cost of $2,000,000 by the New York Shipbuilder, William H. Webb.
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is at University Heights, and is reached by the Broadway Subway to 181st street and trolley. The Hall, which is one of the buildings of the New York University, is a granite colonnade 500 feet in length, built about the Library. It contains 150 panels, in which will be set bronze tablets for the names of 150 great Americans.
The selection of the subjects to be honored is entrusted to a committee of too members, made up of college presidents, educators, professors of history, scientists, publicists, editors, authors and chief justices, the selection finally to be approved by the New York University Senate. Only persons born in the United States and deceased at least ten years are eligible. Fifty-one names were chosen in 1900, 1905 and 1910, and five will be added every fifth year until the roll of 150 shall be complete. With each individual's name is inscribed a quotation from his speeches or writings; and in the Museum of the Hall of Fame, portraits and other memorials will be preserved. A Hall of Fame for women was added in 1905. Some of the names which have been selected are:
AUTHORS—Emerson, Longfellow, Irving, Hawthorne, Lowell, Whittier, Holmes, Poe, Cooper, Bryant, Bancroft, Motley.
TEACHERS-Edwards, Mann, Beecher, Channing, Brooks.
SCIENTISTS—Fulton, Morse, Whitney, Audubon, Asa Gray, Agassiz.
SOLDIERS-Grant, Farragut, Lee, Sherman, Jones.
JURISTS—Marshall, Kent, Story.
STATESMEN—Washington, Lincoln, Webster, Franklin, Jefferson, Clay, John Adams, Hamilton, Jackson, Madison, Roger Williams, John Quincy Adams.
WOMEN—Mary Lyon, Emma Willard, Maria Mitchell, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frances E. Willard.
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