OLD NEW YORK (1896-1919) MOTION PICTURES View Two and a half hours of actual footage of life in New York City at the turn of the century in 80 motion pictures. Disk 1 - 74 mins (40 motion pictures) Disk 2 - 77 mins (40 motion pictures) TOTAL: 151.76 mins Note: The copyright date is listed at the beginning of each film on the title page. The actual date the footage was filmed is included within each file name, as well as in the text descriptions of each film as listed here. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ OLD NEW YORK (1896-1919) MOTION PICTURES - DISK 1 of 2 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 104TH STREET CURVE, NEW YORK, ELEVATED RAILWAY Taken from the front platform of a special train run backward over the celebrated S curve. Not only are the passing trains and crowded platforms of great interest, but the view of up-town New York is an excellent one, showing acre upon acre of roofs, towers, steeples and towering apartment houses. As the "special" slows up at 92nd Street, a Harlem express dashes by, the engineer leaning out of his cab, and waving a good-bye. Filmed: ca. late March to mid-April 1899 Location: New York, New York. Duration: 2:18 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 22Apr1899 _______________________________________________________________________ ADMIRAL DEWEY LEADING LAND PARADE From Edison films catalog: On Riverside Drive; showing Naval Brigade of North Atlantic Fleet, followed by Schley, Sampson, Miles, and other celebrities. The Admiral is in carriage with Mayor Van Wyck. "We equipped eight parties on the occasion of Admiral Dewey's arrival in New York Harbor, Wednesday, September 27th, 1899, and secured the following excellent moving pictures of the Admiral and his great ship, together with the stirring events of Dewey Day, September 29th, the day of the Naval Parade, and Dewey Day, September 30th, the day of the Land Parade. Ours was the only photographic apparatus on board the U.S. Cruiser Olympia on this memorable occasion. The Admiral posed especially for our camera." Filmed: Sept. 30, 1899 Location: On Riverside Drive during the Dewey land parade in New York City. Duration: 1:19 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 5Oct1899 _______________________________________________________________________ ADMIRAL DEWEY LEADING LAND PARADE, NO. 2 From Edison films catalog: Showing Central Park in back-ground. Filmed: Sept. 30, 1899 Location: On Riverside Drive during the Dewey land parade in New York City. Duration: 4:20 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 7Oct1899 _______________________________________________________________________ ADMIRAL DEWEY RECEIVING THE WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK COMMITTEES From Edison films catalog: Showing Committee of Arrangements' visit to the Admiral on board the U.S. Cruiser Olympia. According to Edison film historian C. Musser, committee members seen in this film include General Nelson Appleton Miles, Admiral William T. Sampson, and President McKinley's clerk Octavius [sic] L. Pruden. (Edison motion pictures 1890-1900, p. 536-537) Filmed: Sept. 28, 1899 Location: On board the U.S. Olympia in New York Harbor, New York. Duration: 1:24 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 2Oct1899 _______________________________________________________________________ ANNUAL PARADE NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT Dignitaries are shown as they alight from a horse-drawn brougham and enter the speaker's bleachers. Next, personnel of the New York Fire Department walk by the camera. One of every piece of fire-fighting equipment then used by the department passes. Filmed: May 14, 1904 Location: New York City Duration: 4:43 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison, Inc.; 17May04 _______________________________________________________________________ ARRIVAL OF EMIGRANTS ELLIS ISLAND Depicts scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island. Appears to show, first, a group of immigrants lined up to board a vessel leaving the island, then another group arriving at the island and being directed off of the dock and into the Depot by a uniformed official. Filmed: April 27, 1906 Location: Ellis Island, New York Duration: 3:27 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 9May1906 _______________________________________________________________________ ASTOR BATTERY ON PARADE From The Phonoscope, January 1899, p. 15: As they appeared in New York on Saturday, January 21 [sic], 1899, on their return from active service in the Philippines. The picture is taken as they cross Broadway, Union Square, north. First come the mounted police, proud and prancing, then the band, then the famous Astor Battery, marching twenty-four abreast. As the second file approaches, the order is given to "change arms" and the rifles shift from right to left shoulder. The men march well, with rapid gait, and present a fine spectacle, dressed in their long dark overcoats. A group of ladies on a balcony wave their handkerchiefs, and the crowds that line the sidewalks show their enthusiasm. As the Battery passes out of sight, men and boys run across the street, and a hansom cab brings up the rear. The picture was taken late in the afternoon, and the exposures were slow; consequently the film must be reproduced slowly to give the best results. (C. Musser, Edison motion pictures 1890-1900, p. 483) Filmed: January 23, 1899 Location: Union Square in New York City. Duration: 0:46 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 27Jan1899 _______________________________________________________________________ ASTOR TRAMP A side splitting subject, showing the mistaken tramp's arrival at the Wm. Waldorf Astor mansion. He is extremely humorous, as he uses a puff box and powder, standing very vainly before a mirror as he makes himself up. The lady of the house discoveres him comfortably asleep in bed. He was arrested, but is discharged. Filmed ca. June to September 1899 Location: Probably in Orange, New Jersey. Duration: 1:57 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 27Nov1899 _______________________________________________________________________ AT THE FOOT OF THE FLATIRON This street level view is of the Broadway side of the Flatiron, or Fuller Building, near the narrow north corner. Filmed on a very windy day, pedestrians of various descriptions are seen passing by the camera, clutching hats and skirts against the wind. According to some New York City historians, this corner was known as the windiest corner of the city, and in the era of the long skirt, standing on it was considered a good vantage point for a glimpse of a lady's ankle. Policemen would chase away such loungers from the 23rd Street corner, giving rise to the expression "twenty-three skidoo." Filmed: October 26, 1903 Location: Broadway and 23rd Street, NY, N.Y. Duration: 2:19 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 2Nov1903 _______________________________________________________________________ AUTOMOBILE PARADE This may be the first annual automobile parade, held on November 4, 1899 in downtown Manhattan. At least ten different makes and models are seen, including electric and steam powered machines. Only three years earlier, in 1896, Henry Ford, Charles Brady King, Alexander Winton and Ransom Eli Olds had each introduced their gasoline cars. In 1900, the first National Auto Show was held at Madison Square Garden and the favorites were the electrics and the steamers. In 1901, new oil fields in Texas made gasoline affordable. That same year, mass production techniques were introduced into car manufacturing. These two factors would prove to be key developments in the rapid growth of the American automobile industry. Filmed: November 4, 1899 Location: Downtown Manhattan Duration: 1:52 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 6Feb1900 _______________________________________________________________________ BARGAIN DAY 14TH STREET The film shows hundreds of tightly packed people crowding into the front door of the Rothschild Co. 5 and 10 cent store. They are so closely packed it is difficult to tell one from another. The view is from across the street, looking down from the 2nd floor. Filmed: April 1, 1905 Location: 14th Street, New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:22 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 20Apr1905 _______________________________________________________________________ BEGINNING OF A SKYSCRAPER The scene is an excavation site in New York City. A large group of workmen with picks and shovels are digging. Carts drawn by pairs of horses can be seen emerging from the smoke in the background. From a contemporary American Mutoscope and Biograph Company catalog: Starting a Skyscraper--New York--26 feet. Taken in the immense excavation for the foundation of the new Macy Building at the corner of Broadway and 34th Street, New York. An excellent study of modern American push and enterprise. Filmed: January 18, 1902 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:25 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 18Apr1902 _______________________________________________________________________ BROADWAY AND UNION SQUARE NEW YORK This short film shows two horse-drawn streetcars, one approaching the camera and the other heading away. Passengers can be seen boarding and getting off of the crowded cars. Filmed: August 19, 1901 Location: Broadway and 14th Street, New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:22 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 8July1903 _______________________________________________________________________ BUFFALO BILLS WILD WEST PARADE The film shows a parade down Fifth Avenue, New York. In the foreground many children, both black and white, can be seen following alongside the parade. The participants in the parade include cowboys, Indians, and soldiers in the uniform of the United States Cavalry on horseback and riding horse-drawn coaches. Buffalo Bill can be seen on horseback, lifting his hat to the crowd. Filmed: April 1, 1901 Location: Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:52 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 2July1902 _______________________________________________________________________ CHILDREN IN THE SURF CONEY ISLAND Seven small children can be seen from the low angle camera position; the camera is pointed out to sea. The children are holding hands and wading in the surf. Beyond them can be seen three adults. At the end of the film, there is only one child in a white bathing costume holding a sailboat. Beyond the child toward the ocean is a large sailing craft. Filmed: August 3, 1904 Location: Sea Gate, Coney Island, N.Y. Duration: 3:39 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Company; 12Aug04 _______________________________________________________________________ CLOSE VIEW OF THE BROOKLYN NAVAL PARADE Schley's flagship at close range, showing shot hole in the middle of funnel, near deck. She flies a frayed and tattered battle flag. Filmed: August 20, 1898 Location: On the Hudson River in New York City Duration: 0:26 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 3Sept1898 _______________________________________________________________________ THE DANDY FIFTH Taken during the land parade in honor of Admiral Dewey, just before the turn into 72nd Street, with Grant's tomb and decorated residences in the background. This entire series of pictures [of the Dewey land parade] has a very high photographic quality, and the various organizations appear at their best. Filmed: Sept. 30, 1899 Location: The Dewey homecoming land parade in New York City Duration: 0:52 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 5Sept1902 _______________________________________________________________________ DELIVERING NEWSPAPERS The film shows a group of about fifty preadolescent boys running and crowding around a one-horse paneled newspaper van that pulls up in the foreground of the picture. On the side of the van is a sign reading "New York World." As they gather around the rear of the vehicle, a fight breaks out between two of the boys. The film ends as the crowd forms around the two fighters. Probably filmed at Union Square. Filmed: May 1, 1899 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:53 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 24Apr1903 _______________________________________________________________________ DEPARTURE OF PEARY FROM NEW YORK The camera pans to show the schooner "Roosevelt" docked at a covered pier on the Hudson River on Manhattan's west side. Then, from a camera position on board, men in straw hats and fashionably dressed ladies are seen boarding the ship. Next, the famous polar explorer Robert Peary appears on the gangway in a dark jacket, mustache and straw hat [Frame: 4552]. He tips his hat, consults his watch, then, just before the film ends, motions to order the departure. On this expedition he achieved the "farthest north" record, but failed to reach the North Pole. Completed only four months prior to this film, the "Roosevelt" was specially designed to withstand Arctic ice. She was 184 feet long, 35 and a half feet wide, with a hull over two and a half feet thick. Fully loaded the ship weighed 1,500 tons while drawing only 16.2 feet. In addition to sail power, the ship was driven by a 1000 horsepower steam engine, which could produce short bursts of even greater power to get the ship through thick ice. The "Roosevelt" served Peary on this expedition as well as the following one in 1908-1909. Sold numerous times to a variety of commercial concerns, the "Roosevelt" was abandoned to the elements on a mud flat in Cristobal, Panama in 1937, where she eventually rotted away. Filmed: July 16, 1905 Location: Dock on Hudson River, New York, N.Y. Duration: 4:14 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 28July1905 _______________________________________________________________________ THE DEWEY ARCH A view of the arch from Fifth Avenue,the day after the great Dewey parade, showing the crowd of sight-seers, traffic, etc. Filmed: ca. October 1, 1899 Location: New York City, New York Duration: 0:52 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 18June1903 _______________________________________________________________________ DICK CROKER LEAVING TAMMANY HALL A very lifelike picture of the famous New York politician and Tammany Hall boss. This picture was taken on Sunday morning as he was leaving the 14th Street Wigwam, accompanied by a number of prominent New York politicians. Filmed: ca. November 18, 1899 Location: 14th Street, New York City, New York Duration: 0:44 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 9Feb1900 _______________________________________________________________________ ELEVATED RAILROAD NEW YORK The film was photographed from the front platform of a train traveling over elevated tracks in New York City. Although many of the buildings alongside the tracks can be seen, it is difficult to determine the exact location of the scene. Filmed: ca. 1903 Location: New York City Duration: 1:10 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 24Feb1903 _______________________________________________________________________ EMIGRANTS LANDING AT ELLIS ISLAND The film opens with a view of the steam ferryboat "William Myers," laden with passengers, approaching a dock at the Ellis Island Immigration Station. The vessel is docked, the gangway is placed, and the immigrant passengers are seen coming up the gangway and onto the dock, where they cross in front of the camera. From a contemporary Edison film company catalog: EMIGRANTS LANDING AT ELLIS ISLAND. Shows a large open barge loaded with people of every nationality, who have just arrived from Europe, disembarking at Ellis Island, N.Y. A most interesting and typical scene. Filmed: July 9, 1903 Location: Ellis Island, New York Duration: 2:20 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 24July1903 _______________________________________________________________________ EXCAVATING FOR A NEW YORK FOUNDATION The scene is an excavation pit at an unidentified New York City construction site. A crew of six men can be seen shoveling dirt into a four-wheeled wooden cart. Then a full cart is slowly lifted out of the pit to street level by a steam-powered crane. These carts are similar in design to those shown dumping rubble at the end of the film New York City Dumping Wharf. Advertisements and campaign posters can be seen on the exposed wall of the building in the background. Filmed: ca. 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 2:28 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 25Nov1903 _______________________________________________________________________ FIREBOAT NEW YORKER IN ACTION A magnificent demonstration by the famous fireboat "New Yorker" making a run and starting the water from at least a dozen nozzles at one time, as it goes back and forth in front of the camera. In the middle of the picture the boat is seen throwing at least twenty streams, so enveloping itself in mist that it is almost entirely obscured. Put in service on February 1, 1891 as Engine Company 57, the "New Yorker" was stationed at the Battery near Castle Garden, where her crew lived aboard. She was 125 feet long, 25 feet abeam, with a tonnage of 243. The 800 horsepower triple expansion engine turned a single screw. With a total capacity of 13,000 gallons per minute from its Clapp & Jones and La France fire pumps, the "New Yorker" was the most powerful fireboat in the world. When Admiral Dewey came to New York with the flagship "Olympia" after the battle of Manilla Bay, the "New Yorker" led the water parade of hundreds of craft. Built at a cost of $98,250, the "New Yorker" remained in service until 1931. Filmed: May 10, 1903 Location: New York Harbor Duration: 1:59 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ THE FLEET STEAMING UP NORTH RIVER Shows the "Brooklyn," flying Schley's twin-starred blue flag. Every detail brought out with wonderful clearness. Excursion craft in the distance. Bow of the "Indiana" appears toward end of film. Filmed: August 20, 1898 Location: On the Hudson River in New York City. Duration: 1:52 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 3Sept1898 _______________________________________________________________________ FUNERAL OF HIRAM CRONK The film shows a city thoroughfare lined with crowds of people watching a military parade. The first group to come into view is a marching band, then a large formation of soldiers in the uniform of Rough Riders. Following them is a hearse drawn by four black horses, escorted by veterans of the Civil War, and horse-drawn open carriages. The camera position shifts and most of the paraders can be seen for a second time: the band, the hearse, and the Civil War veterans. Hiram Cronk, a veteran of the War of 1812, died at the age of 105. He was thought to be the last surviving veteran of that war. Filmed: May 17-18, 1905 Location: Brooklyn, New York, N.Y. Duration: 3:51 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 25May1905 _______________________________________________________________________ GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT AND STAFF From the Biograph picture catalogue: 65 feet. Taken during the land parade in honor of Admiral Dewey, just before the turn into 72nd Street, with Grant's tomb and decorated residences in the background. This entire series of pictures [of the Dewey land parade] has a very high photographic quality, and the various organizations appear at their best. Filmed: September 30, 1899 Location: The Dewey homecoming land parade in New York City. Duration: 0:53 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 21May1902 _______________________________________________________________________ HERALD SQUARE Showing "Herald" building, street and elevated railroad. Filmed: May 11, 1896 Location: New York City. Duration: 0:11 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ INTERIOR NY SUBWAY 14TH STREET TO 42ND STREET PART 1 OF 2 INTERIOR NY SUBWAY 14TH STREET TO 42ND STREET PART 2 OF 2 The camera platform was on the front of a New York subway train following another train on the same track. Lighting is provided by a specially constructed work car on a parallel track. At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today's east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbuilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913. Filmed: May 21, 1905 Location: Interborough Subway, 14 St. to 42nd St., New York, N.Y. Duration: 3:37 (part 1) and 2:41 (part 2) Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 5June1905 _______________________________________________________________________ LIEUTENANT COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT ARRIVES IN NY AFTER THE WORLD WAR Theodore Roosevelt Jr., suffering from a machine gun wound in the leg, returned as a casual from France to New York City aboard the Mauretania on March 6, 1919. Medium close shot of TR Jr., dressed in uniform, aboard what may be the liner Mauretania, docked at the Cunard pier, North River, New York City. Filmed: ca. March 6, 1919 Location: Cunard Pier, North River, New York City Duration: 0:09 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ LOWER BROADWAY The film shows a view which appears to be looking north on Broadway at the intersection of either Wall Street, in front of Trinity Church, or Vesey Street at St. Paul's Chapel. The sidewalk along Broadway is crowded with people, and the traffic in both streets is very heavy. A horse-drawn streetcar passes in front of the camera, with a sign giving its destination as the "Courtland and Fulton Street Ferry." Filmed: May 15, 1902 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:33 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 13Jun1903 _______________________________________________________________________ MOUNTED POLICE CHARGE From Maguire & Baucus catalogues: A troop of mounted police, in full dress uniform, are seen approaching the audience at full gallop; when within but a few yards of the camera they suddenly halt and each horse and rider appears full life size. Filmed: ca. late October 1896 Location: Central Park, New York, New York. Performer: Sergeant Eagan. Duration: 0:24 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 2Nov1896 _______________________________________________________________________ MOVE ON Filmed in New York's Lower East Side, the scene is a street where several pushcart vendors have gathered to sell their goods. In the foreground are fruit and vegetable carts. An elevated railroad track crosses over the street in the background. As the film progresses, two policemen can be seen heading up the street toward the camera and ordering all of the vendors to move. One of the policemen approaches the camera waving his nightstick, and the cart in the foreground begins moving. The film ends with a closeup of the policeman scolding the vendor. From a contemporary Edison film company catalog: MOVE ON. In certain sections of New York City large numbers of Jewish and Italian push-cart vendors congregate so closely along the sidewalks that they interfere with traffic. Policemen keep them moving. The picture shows how the frightened peddlers hurry away when a bluecoat appears. Some of the carts are piled high with fruits of all kinds, and it is interesting and amusing to see the expressions of combined fear and anxiety on the faces of the men as they hurry away; the fear of being arrested if they stand, and of losing some of their wares if the carts strike an obstruction in the street. Very fine photographically. Filmed: October 22, 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:42 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 27Oct1903 _______________________________________________________________________ NEW BROOKLYN TO NEW YORK VIA BROOKLYN BRIDGE From Edison films catalog: This is a new negative showing the entire trip from Brooklyn to New York, in which the immense towers stand out clear and distinct against the sky. The best picture of the Brooklyn Bridge yet secured. Filmed: ca. September 1899 Location: On the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, New York. Duration: 2:13 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 22Sep1899 _______________________________________________________________________ NEW YORK CITY DUMPING WHARF The film shows a wharf where a barge is being loaded with trash from two-wheeled, horse-drawn wagons. The trash is dumped off the edge of the pier onto the barge, where men with shovels are spreading the piles of debris. The camera pans left to the next barge, where four-wheeled carts are shown dumping excavation rubble. Probably filmed on the East River, this is one of several New York City Sanitation Department dumping wharves in operation at the time. Filmed: April 28, 1903 Location: New York, New York Duration: 1:21 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ NEW YORK CITY GHETTO FISH MARKET A fine panoramic view of this busy market on a Friday morning. Immense throngs of people are seen passing along the stands and making their selections of fish. A great character study. The view, photographed from an elevated camera position, looks down on a very crowded New York City street market. Rows of pushcarts and street vendors' vehicles can be seen. The precise location is difficult to ascertain, but it is certainly on the Lower East Side, probably on or near Hester Street, which at the turn of the century was the center of commerce for New York's Jewish ghetto. Located south of Houston Street and east of the Bowery, the ghetto population was predominantly Russian, but included immigrants from Austria, Germany, Rumania and Turkey. According to a description in a 1901 newspaper, an estimated 1,500 pushcart peddlers were licensed to sell wares (primarily fish) in the vicinity of Hester Street. At one point the film seems to follow three official looking men (one in a uniform) as they walk among the crowd. They may be New York City health inspectors, who apparently monitored the fish vendors closely. Filmed: May 1, 1903 Location: Lower East Side Duration: 2:53 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT RETURNING Shot at an unidentified location in New York City, the film shows several pieces of horse-drawn fire vehicles in motion: two hook-and-ladders; two steam pumpers; a rescue wagon. Note the kids hanging on the back of some of the vehicles. Filmed: May 11, 1903 Location: New York City Duration: 0:39 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 19May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ NEW YORK HARBOR POLICE BOAT PATROL CAPTURING PIRATES The "Patrol" is seen chasing a row-boat containing river pirates. The pirates are pulling at the oars with all their strength, but a few shots from the Police Boat weaken their nerves and they give up. When the "Patrol" comes up near them, it lowers a dory and a number of policemen make the capture. As the pirates are landed on the Police Boat a fierce fight takes place between them and the police, but the latter overcome the offenders and land them safely on the boat. This was probably filmed in the southern part of the Upper New York Bay looking towards the Narrows, with Fort Lafayette partly visible in the far background. The subject is a simulated capture by the police gunboat "Patrol" of three "pirates" in a rowboat. Puffs of smoke appear as the gunboat fires several rounds from the bow cannon, which can be clearly seen later in a side view of the boat. The "Patrol" was a steel, twin screw, 135 foot, 118 ton police boat, built in 1893 at Sparrow's Point, Maryland. Filmed: May 10, 1903 Location: Upper New York Bay Duration: 2:09 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ OLD NEW YORK (1896-1919) MOTION PICTURES - DISK 2 of 2 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NEW YORK POLICE PARADE From a contemporary Edison Company catalog: NEW YORK POLICE PARADE. An excellent view of "The Finest," on their annual parade and inspection, June 1, 1899. The head of the column is just turning into 14th Street from Broadway, the Morton House forming part of the background. Crowds line both sides of the cable car tracks, falling back as the band heading the first division swings around Dead Man's Curve and passes the camera. Chief Devery makes a fine showing, as also do his men, with their white gloves and helmets, shining buttons and spick and span appearance in general. The film shows members of "New York's Finest" parading at a crowded Union Square. There are members of the Bicycle Squad, mounted horses , and two regimental marching bands. At the time of filming, the New York City Police Department was still recovering from the corruption scandals of the early 1890's that had severely tarnished the reputation of the department. A State Senate appointed group known as the Lexow Committee investigated the department and issued a scathing report that detailed serious criminal activity within the department. In 1895, public opinion was so low that the annual parade wasn't held. That same year, Theodore Roosevelt was appointed president of the Police Board, and he is credited with initiating strict and effective reform measures that helped restore the public's confidence in the police. Filmed: June 1, 1899 Duration: 2:45 Location: 14th Street and Broadway, New York, N.Y. Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 10June1899 _______________________________________________________________________ OBSERVATION TRAIN FOLLOWING PARADE There were two freight trains standing on the tracks between the river and the Riverside Park, and they furnished a perfect impromptu observation train service to the men and boys who clambered up on the cars to get a view of the [Sampson homecoming naval] parade. They saw the vessels go up and then waited for their return. As the ships came back the engineer of one of the trains started it for the freight yards at Thirty-Third Street, and a crowd of about 2,000 was carried along, perched up on the roof of the cars. Filmed: August 20, 1898 Location: Near the Hudson River and Riverside Park in New York City. Duration: 0:30 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 3Sept1898 _______________________________________________________________________ OPENING OF NEW EAST RIVER BRIDGE NEW YORK The first view is from the roadway of the Williamsburg Bridge on the day of the opening. Close-ups of the parading dignitaries and members of the press are seen. From another camera position, taken over the heads of the crowd, buildings around the waterfront are seen, and the dignitaries, led by a standard bearer again pass the camera. The banner reads "MAYOR." Next, a covered platform, draped in flag bunting is shown, where the people previously seen have gone to begin the ceremonies. There is a brass band playing in front of the platform. Next, an unidentified speaker, probably Mayor Seth Low, can be seen addressing the crowd. Filmed: December 19, 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 2:28 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 28Dec1903 _______________________________________________________________________ OPENING THE WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE The film was shot on the roadway of the newly constructed Williamsburg Bridge. The first people to come into view are press photographers carrying large wooden "box" cameras. Next, a parade of dignitaries and military representatives, accompanied by members of the press, is photographed passing the camera position led by a standard bearer whose banner reads "MAYOR". The mayor of New York was Seth Low, a lame-duck at the time of filming, having been defeated in November, 1903 by George B. McClellan. The Williamsburg Bridge, a combined cantilever and suspension bridge, crosses the East River from Delancey and Clinton Streets, Manhattan, to Roebling and S. 5th Streets, Williamsburg. Built at a cost of twelve million dollars, it held two lanes of roadway, two "L" tracks, four trolley tracks, and two promenades. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world at the time. Filmed: December 19, 1903 Location: East River, New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:55 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 11Feb1904 _______________________________________________________________________ PANORAMA FROM THE TOWER OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE The view was taken from the tower on the Brooklyn side of the bridge. As the film begins, the camera is looking southwest, towards the southern tip of Manhattan (the Battery). The camera pans very rapidly north following Manhattan's East River shoreline, across the bridge span itself and the bridge's New York side tower, following the shoreline further north towards Corlear's Hook, where the film ends. Some visible landmarks include the Fulton Fish Market buildings at Fulton and South Streets (currently the site of the South Street Seaport Museum); north of the bridge tower is the Catherine Slip, where a Catherine Street Ferry is docked. Filmed: April 18, 1899 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:35 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 12Sept1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PANORAMA FROM TIMES BUILDING NEW YORK The view is from the top of the then newly-erected Times Building, at a height of approximately twenty stories. The film opens with a vertical pan, going from the street below up to the sky. The photographer then makes a pan to the north over the tops of the buildings from Bryant Park, south of 42nd Street (behind the New York Public Library) up 6th Avenue to the Hippodrome Theatre at 43rd Street. A marquee on the theater reads "A Yankee Circus On Mars." The camera continues to rotate toward 44th and 45th Streets between 6th and 7th Avenues, until coming to rest looking directly north up Times Square to 46th Street, where Broadway (left) and 7th Avenue (right) diverge again. Filmed: ca. April, 1905 Duration: 2:04 Location: Broadway and 7th Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 11Apr1905 _______________________________________________________________________ PANORAMA OF BLACKWELLS ISLAND NY This film was photographed from a boat heading south along the eastern shore of Blackwell's Island (known today as Roosevelt Island). The island lies in the East River, between Manhattan (which can be seen in the background) and Long Island City, Queens. It is approximately one and three-quarters of a mile long, extending from 51st Street to 88th, and at the time of the filming was the location for a number of New York City's charitable and penal institutions. The film opens showing the lighthouse at the north end of the island (Hallet's Cove). As the boat enters the east channel of the river, the stacks of a large brewery on Manhattan are visible in the distance. The camera pans along the island's granite seawall (built by inmates of the Penitentiary and Workhouse) and the following buildings, in order of appearance, are shown: the New York City Lunatic Asylum; the Workhouse; the Almshouse; piers for the Queensborough (or 59th Street) Bridge, which upon completion in 1908 will span 135 feet above the island; the Almshouse Keeper's House (originally the home of the Blackwell family, who had once owned the island); the Penitentiary; Charity Hospital. The film ends before reaching the southern tip of the island. Filmed: May 9, 1903 Location: East River, New York Duration: 2:23 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PANORAMA OF FLATIRON BUILDING This shows a view looking south from Madison Square, across the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and Twenty-third Street, to the famous Fuller (or "Flatiron") Building. The cameraman elevates his camera, going from street level to the roof. Designed by D.H. Burnham and Company, the Fuller Building is an important early skyscraper and a New York City landmark. Known as the first great steel-framed building, the exterior of the lower three stories is stone, with the remainder clad in terra cotta. Twenty-one stories high, it is considered the first tall building erected north of city hall. Its completion in 1902 marked the beginning of New York City's first skyscraper era. Filmed: October 8, 1902 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:00 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 4June1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PANORAMA OF RIKERS ISLAND NY The film was photographed from a boat going around Riker's Island. Located on the East River north of Hell Gate between the Bronx and Queens, Riker's Island was the site of a massive New York City landfill operation at the time of the filming (originally eighty-seven acres, by 1939 the size of the island had increased to four hundred acres). The film includes scenes of heavy equipment at work, including pile drivers constructing the seawall and steam shovels unloading rubbish from barges. On one of the steam shovels, a sign reading "Water Front Improvement Co., 220 Broadway, New York" can be distinguished. Near the end of the film, a narrow-gauge steam engine with five open cars loaded with landfill, comes into view. The island is currently the site of a New York City penitentiary. Filmed: May 9, 1903 Location: East River, New York, N.Y. Duration: 2:15 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PANORAMA WATER FRONT AND BROOKLYN BRIDGE FROM EAST RIVER This film depicts the East River shoreline and the piers of lower Manhattan starting at about Pier 5 (the New York Central Pier) opposite Broad Street, and extending to the Mallory Line steamship piers just south of Fulton Street and the Brooklyn Bridge. The film begins with shots of canal boats or barges (from the Erie Canal via the Hudson River) docked at and around Coenties Slip. As the film progresses, the New York Produce Exchange located at Bowling Green, Manhattan, with its distinct tower, comes into view in the background. Between here and the Wall Street ferry, there follows in order of appearance: steam tugs, a wooden hull barkentine with box barges alongside, a docked iron hull sailing ship, probably British, an ocean steamer with yards on the foremast, a derrick lighter laden with barrels docked at the end of a pier, and a fruit steamer. In the Wall Street Ferry slip (between Piers 15 and 16) there is a Wall St., Manhattan-to-Montague St., Brooklyn, double-ended steam commuter boat. The ferry is visible immediately before a shot of the large advertising billboards on Pier 16. The film next shows the Ward Line piers (J.E. Ward & Co., New York and Cuba Steamship Co.), a Pennsylvania Railroad tug, a derrick lighter, and the Mallory Line piers. A Mallory Line steamer can be seen on the south side of one of the Mallory Piers. The camera begins panning out into the East River after passing pier 20, catching the fog bell at the end of pier 21. A car float is visible passing under the Brooklyn Bridge. The pan follows the line of the Brooklyn Bridge eastward to Brooklyn Heights, where the Hotel Margaret (tall building in background) is visible just before the end of the film. This film continues the view begun in the film Sky Scrapers of New York City From the North River. Together they comprise a sweep around the southern tip of Manhattan, from Fulton Street on the Hudson to the Brooklyn. Filmed: May 9, 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 2:28 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PARADE OF EXEMPT FIREMEN The film shows a large group of people watching the approach of a color guard followed by a number of elderly marching firemen pulling antique fire equipment. In the background is the white marble Washington Arch, designed by Stanford White and completed in 1895 to commemorate the first inauguration of George Washington. Filmed: September 21, 1903 Location: Washington Square Park (Greenwich Village), New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:29 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 1Oct1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PARADE OF HORSES ON SPEEDWAY The film is of a parade of fine horses and fashionable carriages taken along what is now the Harlem River Drive, in the Highbridge section of northern Manhattan. The view is from the Manhattan side of the river looking north. On the right is the Harlem River and on the opposite bank, the Bronx. Prominent in the background is the High Bridge at 175th Street, an important landmark completed in 1842 as part of the Croton aqueduct system. Beyond the High Bridge is the Washington Bridge at 181st Street. The "Speedway" was built in 1900 at a cost of over three million dollars. Filmed: May 15, 1902 Location: West bank of Harlem River, New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:52 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 8July1903 _______________________________________________________________________ PENNSYLVANIA TUNNEL EXCAVATION This film employs a 180-degree pan shot of the excavation site of New York's Pennsylvania Station, and includes shots of the narrow-gauge train used to haul debris from the tunnels under construction. Work began in 1904, and when completed in September of 1910 the station would span from 31st to 33rd Streets, and from 7th to 8th Avenue, an area of approximately 300,000 square feet. It would connect a massive rail tunnel system, bringing the Pennsylvania and Lehigh Railroads under the Hudson River and the Long Island Railroad under the East River to a terminal in the center of Manhattan, accommodating a network of twenty-seven tracks. Filmed: July 19, 1905 Location: Seventh and Eighth Avenues, New York, N.Y. Duration: 3:22 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 30Aug1905 _______________________________________________________________________ A PERILOUS PROCEEDING The film follows a group of approximately ten men who are suspended on the cable of a large crane atop a building under construction. As the men are lifted over the site and gradually lowered, they wave to the camera. Filmed: October 21, 1901 Location: Broadway and 13th Street, New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:19 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 16Apr1902 _______________________________________________________________________ PILOT BOATS IN NEW YORK HARBOR A close view of an eighty footer, schooner rigged, trim as a private yacht, skimming over the waters of the harbor near Robin's Reef, where a picturesque little lighthouse is seen in the near background. A steamer decked with bunting also passes by at close range. A New York harbor pilot boat passes close enough for four members of the crew to be seen. Following the sailing vessel is a steamship. Filmed: ca. 1899 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:48 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 22Apr1899 _______________________________________________________________________ RACING AT SHEEPSHEAD BAY The finish and weighing out of a running race with nine starters. Won by famous Clifford, Sloane up. Filmed: June 22, 1897 Location: Sheepshead Bay Race Track, Coney Island, New York Duration: 0:25 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 31July1897 _______________________________________________________________________ RMA FLAG SERVICE ON THE STEPS OF NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY On October 27, 1919 the Roosevelt memorial flag, which has been carried across New York State in TR's honor, is brought to rest at his grave in Youngs Memorial Cemetery, Oyster Bay, N.Y. Views of Samuel Abbott, originator of the memorial flag idea, placing the flag on TR's grave. Sequence of two young girls and a boy placing flower bouquet and flag through fence surrounding TR's grave, event may not be part of flag ceremonies. Final scenes of flag ceremony sponsored by Roosevelt Memorial Association on the steps of New York Public Library, Oct. 25; long shots of notables standing on platform, possible identifications from right to left are: Henry Cabot Lodge, honorary vice-president of RMA; the man next to Lodge is probably Henry J. Allen, Governor of Kansas; William Boyce Thompson, president of RMA, is holding the flag with the help of a man who appears to be Henry D. Lindsley, chairman of the event; William Loeb Jr., vice-president of RMA, is visible in back of Thompson; next to Loeb is probably William Gibbs McAdoo; and the man to the far left with hands to his side may be Elihu Root, an RMA trustee. Sequence of Boy Scouts and members of the Naval Reserve hoisting flag up flagpole as an unidentified man leads the crowd in singing. Filmed: October 27, 1919 Location: Steps of the New York Public Library, New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:10 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ RUBE AND MANDY AT CONEY ISLAND PART 1 RUBE AND MANDY AT CONEY ISLAND PART 2 RUBE AND MANDY AT CONEY ISLAND PART 3 The first scene shows this country couple entering Steeplechase Park. They proceed to amuse themselves on the steeplechase, rope bridge, riding the bulls and the "Down and Out." The scene then changes to a panorama of Luna Park, and we find Rube and Mandy doing stunts on the rattan slide, riding on the miniature railway, shooting the chutes, riding the boats in the old mill, and visiting Professor Wormwood's Monkey theatre. They next appear on the Bowery, where we find them with the fortune tellers, striking the punching machine, and winding up with the frankfurter man. The climax shows a bust view of Rube and Mandy eating frankfurters. Interesting not only for its humorous features, but also for its excellent views of Coney Island and Luna Park. Filmed: ca. 1903 Location: Coney Island in New York, New York Duration: 3:55 (part 1), 3:44 (part 2), and 4:20 (part 3) Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 13Aug1903 _______________________________________________________________________ SARAH BERNHARDT ADDRESSES CROWD IN PROSPECT PARK BROOKLYN On July 4, 1917, French actress Sarah Bernhardt speaks in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y., on behalf of French-American cooperation in the war effort. Addressing more than 50,000 people gathered around a decorated music platform, Mme. Bernhardt stands and speaks from an open touring car parked in front of the platform. Medium close shot of Mme. Bernhardt speaking and gesturing, with man who may be her personal physician, Dr. Felix Marot, and woman who is probably her secretary and translator, Miss Elizabeth Ormsby, seated in car. Filmed: July 4, 1917 Location: Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York Duration: 0:10 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ SHOOTING THE CHUTES A lively scene on the famous water chutes at Coney Island. Filmed June 18-23, 1896 Location: Bergen Beach, Coney Island, New York Duration: 0:23 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ SHOOTING THE CHUTES LUNA PARK CONEY ISLAND The camera was positioned to view the shoot-the-chutes concession from the best location. A special added attraction for the entertainment of the spectators is a man in a swimming suit who rides down the shoot-the-chutes on one ski. Filmed: July 3, 1903 Location: Coney Island, N.Y. Duration: 1:32 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Company; 13Aug03 _______________________________________________________________________ SKATING ON LAKE CENTRAL PARK The view is of a frozen lake in Central Park crowded with ice skaters. The film is of such poor quality that it is difficult to tell if the apparent "snow" is real or just scratches on the film. Filmed: February 5, 1900 Location: Central Park, New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:54 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 25Aug1902 _______________________________________________________________________ SKYSCRAPERS OF NEW YORK CITY FROM THE NORTH RIVER A Beautiful panoramic view of lower New York from Barclay Street to Battery Park, showing a beautiful stereoscopic effect of the sky-scrapers in the business section of the city. Old Castle Garden, at which place hundreds of thousands of emigrants have landed from time to time, but now used as an Aquarium, is also seen in the picture. One of the finest panoramic pictures of New York ever taken. Filmed from a moving boat, the film depicts the Hudson River (i.e., North River) shoreline and the piers of lower Manhattan beginning around Fulton Street and extending to Castle Garden and Battery Park. It begins at one of the American Line piers (Pier 14 or 15, opposite Fulton Street) where an American Line steamer, either the "New York" or "Paris," is seen docked. The camera passes one of the Manhattan-to-New Jersey commuter ferries to Jersey City or Communipaw. Proceeding south, the distinct double towers of the Park Row, or Syndicate Building, erected in 1897-98, can be seen in the background. A coastal freighter is next, then Trinity Church appears, to the left of which can be seen the Surety Building, as a tug with a "C" on the stack passes in foreground. Several small steamboats come into view, and the B.T. Babbitt Soap factory at Pier 6 is seen, followed by the Pennsylvania Railroad piers (#5 & #4), with a group of docked railroad car floats, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad piers (#3 & #2), also with car floats. Next are the Bowling Green Building (rectangular, with facade to camera), the Whitehall Building (vertical, thin side to camera), followed by Pennsylvania Railroad Pier #1. Pier A (with a clock tower) is seen with the New York Harbor Police steam boat "Patrol" at its end. The Bowling Green Offices and the Produce Exchange at Bowling Green are visible in the background. The breakwater (sheltered landing) and the New York City Fireboat House appears and the distinctive round structure, Castle Garden, once a fort and immigrant station, but at the time of filming the City Aquarium, comes into view. The camera then pans east along the Battery Park promenade: the Barge Office (with tower) is visible in the distance, and further out the Brooklyn shoreline with the grain elevators at Atlantic Avenue can be seen. This view is continued, with only a minor break in continuity, in the film Panorama of Sky Scrapers and Brooklyn Bridge From the East River. Together they comprise a sweep around the southern tip of Manhattan, from Fulton Street on the Hudson to the Brooklyn Bridge. Filmed: May 10, 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 3:23 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ SKYSCRAPERS OF NEW YORK PART 1 OF 3 SKYSCRAPERS OF NEW YORK PART 2 OF 3 SKYSCRAPERS OF NEW YORK PART 3 OF 3 This melodrama was filmed during the actual construction of a skyscraper in New York City, and includes several scenes of real work crews: a line of bricklayers, a man heating rivets in a forge, riveters assembling steel girders, men astride the steel framework maneuvering and setting a girder in place, and a group of men descending on a crane line. The story involves a construction foreman who fires one of his crew for fighting, which leads the disgruntled employee to steal. He causes the blame to be put on the foreman, who is finally exonerated when the thief is exposed. All of this conflict is woven in and around the actual construction of the building as the work is in progress. There is even one scene of a hand-to-hand fight between the foreman and the villain that takes place on the unprotected ledge of the steel framework of the building. Some New York City landmarks seen in the film include Union Square (between Broadway and 4th Avenue, 14th-17th Street), and the Everett House, opposite the northeast corner of the square at 17th St. and 4th Avenue. The film includes the original AM&B title frames at head of film. Filmed: November 8, 14, and 15, 1906 Location: 12th Street and Broadway, and studio, New York, N.Y. Duration: 4:00 (part 1), 4:32 (part 2), and 3:08 (part 3) Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 11Dec1906 _______________________________________________________________________ SLEIGHING SCENE A view taken on the snow-covered West Side Drive in Central Park. Shows a continuous stream of handsome rigs and turnouts passing in both directions. Pedestrians watch the gay carnival. Filmed: ca. 1898 Duration: 0:47 Location: West Side Drive, Central Park, New York, N.Y. Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 16Dec1898 _______________________________________________________________________ SORTING REFUSE AT INCINERATING PLANT NEW YORK CITY The subject is a group of about thirty men and boys who are sorting combustible refuse, mostly paper, and stuffing it into large sacks. In the background a man in a hat with an emblem on it can be seen unloading trash from a large wagon. Location may be the New York City Sanitation Department's East 17th Street facility, or possibly the incinerator at West 47th Street on the Hudson River. Filmed: May 9, 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:42 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903 _______________________________________________________________________ STAR THEATRE Using time-lapse photography, the film shows the demolition of the famous Star Theatre. Judging from the various exposures, the work must have gone on for a period of approximately thirty days. The theater opened in 1861 as "Wallack's Theatre," and was re-christened the "Star" in 1883. It was well known for it's excellent productions, and a number of celebrated actors and actresses worked there, among them Ellen Terry. The celebrated English actor Henry Irving made his first stage appearance in America at the Star. Filmed: ca. 1901 Location: Broadway and 13th Street, New York, N.Y. Duration: 1:55 Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 18Apr1902 _______________________________________________________________________ STATUE OF LIBERTY A three-quarter front view of the Statue of Liberty. The statue was erected twelve years earlier, in 1886. Filmed: ca. 1898 Location: Bedloe's Island, New York Duration: 0:48 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 3Sept1898 _______________________________________________________________________ A STREET ARAB A preadolescent boy, dressed like a street urchin, performs acrobatic stunts for the camera. Shows one of New York's street gamins going through various acrobatic evolutions; he turns handsprings backward and forward, walks the crab, does cart wheels and other kindred feats. An exceptionally unique part of the performance is his standing on his head and twisting around like a top. It is safe to say he will be bald-headed at an early age. Filmed: ca. 1898 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 0:27 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 21Apr1898 _______________________________________________________________________ TR AND LEONARD WOOD AT THE NEW YORK FLOWER SHOW Shots of TR and Leonard Wood on March 20, 1917, at the 5th Annual International Flower Show, Grand Central Palace in New York City. Medium-close view of TR and Wood standing together and talking, facing camera; TR, seated, poses for photographer, with Wood and an unidentified man standing behind him. Filmed: March 20, 1917 Location: Grand Central Palace in New York City Duration: 1:55 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ TR AND MAYOR MITCHEL GOVERNOR CHARLES WHITMAN OF NEW YORK AND MYRON HERRICK Close-up view of New York Governor Charles S. Whitman (1915-1918), Myron T. Herrick, formerly governor of Ohio and United States ambassador to France, and New York City Mayor John P. Mitchel (1914-1917) reviewing a parade of New York National Guardsmen from the balcony of the Union League Club in New York City, Aug. 30, 1917. TR steps forward between Herrick and Mitchel and tips his hat, probably acknowledging applause. Appearing: Theodore Roosevelt, Governor Charles S. Whitman, Myron T. Herrick, Mayor John P. Mitchel. Filmed: August 30, 1917 Location: New York City Duration: 0:08 Copyright: reg unknown _______________________________________________________________________ TR ON FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK NEAR ST PATRICKS CATHEDRAL AFTER ATTENDING MAYOR MITCHEL'S FUNERAL As an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of former New York City Mayor John P. Mitchel on July 11, 1918, TR appears with other funeral participants on Fifth Avenue. Surrounded by men in formal dress, TR speaks briefly with unidentified military officer; standing in group are men tentatively identified as Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, and financier George W. Perkins, both pallbearers with TR at the funeral; close shot of TR speaking with woman; TR, Butler, and members of the crowd walk past camera. Appearing: President Roosevelt, Nicholas Murray Butler, George W. Perkins. Filmed: July 11, 1918 Location: 5th Avenue, New York City Duration: 0:15 Copyright: no reg. _______________________________________________________________________ TRS RETURN TO NEW YORK 1910 PART 1 OF 2 TRS RETURN TO NEW YORK 1910 PART 2 OF 2 On June 18, 1910, TR returned to New York City after a fifteen-month tour abroad, having travelled through Africa and western Europe. An elaborate city celebration drawing a million people marked his homecoming. Aboard the ocean liner Kaiserin Auguste Victoria ex-President and Mrs. Roosevelt were met by a revenue cutter, the Manhattan, carrying the Roosevelt children. TR then went aboard a larger cutter, the Androscoggin, and officially became a guest of the city. After boating up the Hudson River along the New Jersey shore to West Fifty-Ninth St., the Androscoggin moved back along the Manhattan shore to Battery Park, followed by a water parade of almost one hundred vessels. TR was greeted by Mayor William J. Gaynor at the Park, where both briefly spoke to an assembled crowd, with notables seated on a flag-draped stand expanded for the occasion to hold 600 people. Battery ceremonies were followed by a parade up Broadway and Fifth Avenue to the Fifty-Ninth St. plaza, where it dispersed. In the parade TR, Mayor William J. Gaynor, and chairman of the city's welcoming committee, Cornelius Vanderbilt, together rode in an open carriage, preceded by TR's regiment of Rough Riders, First United States Volunteer Cavalry. Also in the parade were approximately 2000 other veterans of the Spanish-American War. On the film are views of the open harbor, with various vessels assembled for TR's visit, including the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, the Androscoggin, and the Manhattan; TR alone on the lookout station of what appears to be the Androscoggin as it moves into port; street scene in which photographers scramble to get clear view of carriages as notables pass through street cordoned off with greenery; TR and Vanderbilt move toward Battery speakers platform, beside which is visible the stand erected for TR's family and dignitaries; TR and Mayor Gaynor, who steps forward to greet TR, ascend platform; men mill around base of platform; side view of TR speaking from written notes, with Gaynor behind him; scenes of crowds and tents in what appears to be Central Park south; parade moves toward camera and passes in front of decorated stands; TR, standing in carriage, pauses in front of stands; shots of mounted police, mounted band, carriages, marching band. Filmed: June 18, 1910 Location: New York City Duration: 3:49 (part) 1, 3:53 (part 2) Copyright: no. reg. _______________________________________________________________________ WHAT HAPPENED ON 23RD STREET NEW YORK CITY This is a winner and sure to please. The scene as suggested by the title is made on 23d street, New York City. In front of one of the large newspaper offices on that thoroughfare is a hot air shaft through which immense volumes of air is forced by means of a blower. Ladies crossing these shafts often have their clothes slightly disarranged, (it may be said much to their discomfiture). As our picture was being made a young man escorting a young lady, to whom he was talking very earnestly, comes into view and walks slowly along until they stand directly over the air shaft. The young lady's skirts are suddenly raised to, you might say an almost unreasonable height, greatly to her horror and much to the amusement of the newsboys, bootblacks and passersby. This subject is a winner. A street level view from the sidewalk, looking along the length of 23rd Street. Following actuality footage of pedestrians and street traffic, the actors, a man in summer attire and a woman in an ankle-length dress, walk toward the camera. As they cross a grate on the sidewalk they pause, and the escaping air blows the woman's dress to her knees. Filmed: ca. 1901 Location: 23rd Street, New York City Duration: 1:17 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 21Aug1901 _______________________________________________________________________ WHITE WINGS ON REVIEW A fine picture of the celebrated "White Wings" or street-cleaning department of one district of Greater New York, showing over 350 men in line, and over 100 carts that are used to carry the refuse away to the dumping wharf, marching through the streets of New York. Filmed on an unidentified street in New York City, probably Fifth Avenue. Rows of men wearing the white uniforms of New York City street sweepers (known as White Wings) march by the camera. Each row has a police escort. The parade of uniformed men continues until several hundred pass. Immediately following the marching men come approximately a hundred horse-drawn two-wheel carts of the kind used for hauling garbage. One four wheeled cart is seen near the end of the film. In 1895, under the reform administration of Mayor William L. Strong, New York City's Department of Street Cleaning was headed by Colonel George Waring. It was he who garbed his workers in the white duck suits (earning them the name "White Wings") seen in the film. He is also recognized as a brilliant sanitary engineer who marshalled the two thousand man force to clean four hundred and fifty miles of streets each day. According to Jacob Riis, "his broom saved more lives in the crowded tenements than a squad of doctors." By 1903, the date of the filming, a new city administration was in power and Waring had been replaced. Filmed: April 29, 1903 Location: New York, N.Y. Duration: 3:53 Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 20May1903