Magnus, an educated, skilled mariner writing in the mid-16th century of a THE PROGRAM OF THE INSTITUTE sea serpent seen on a number of times off the coast of Norway. The Seamen's Church Institute of New York, an agency of llE.Vil He wrote, "They who sail along the the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New York, is a unique shores of Norway relate with concur­ organization devoted to the well-being and special interests O~ THE"" ring evidence an account of a very large of active merchant seamen. serpent of a length upwards of 200 feet More than 753,000 such seamen of all nationalities, races STaRl'olllm -SO,,, and 10 feet in diameter living in rocks and creeds come into the Port of New York every year. To and holes near the shore of Bergen; it many of them the Institute is their shore center in port and by Dane John comes out of its caverns only on sum­ remains their polestar while they transit the distant oceans Recently a fisherman fishing off mer nights and in fine weather to de­ of the earth. Thursday Island, in the Torres Straits, vour the calves, lambs and hogs, or First established in 1834 as a floating chapel in New York between Northern Australia and New goes into the sea to eat cuttles, lobsters harbor, the Institute offers a wide range of recreational and Guinea, saw a strange "creature" ap­ and all kinds of sea crabs. educational services for the mariner, including counseling proaching his boat. "It has a row of hairs of two feet and the help of five chaplains in emergency situations. Seamen's Church Institute State and Pearl Streets Seizing a spear, he flung this at it, in length hanging from the neck, sharp Each year 2,300 ships with 96,600 men aboard put in at Manhattan but missed. The creature leapt high scales of a dark color and brilliant Port Newark, where time ashore is extremely limited. out of the water and for a few seconds flaming eyes. It attacks boats and Here in the very middle of huge, sprawl­ was in full view before it plunged back snatches away the men, by raising it­ ing Port Newark pulsing with activity of in the water and made off at great self high out of the water and then container-shipping, SCI has provided an speed. devours them." oasis known as the Mariners Internation­ The fisherman later described it as In the 17th century a Bishop Pontop­ al Center which offers seamen a recrea­ having a long, flat beak, fins shaped pidan described another mysterious in­ tional center especially constructed and like a flying fish, a barbed tail like a habitant, the kraken, supposedly living designed, operated in a special way for scorpion, and two legs, one on each side in the same area. This, he claimed, was the very special needs of the men. An out- of the body. This description fits no so big that when it raised its back out standing feature is a soccer field (lighted Mariners International Center (SCI) Export and Calcutta Streets marine mammal or fish known to sci­ of the sea it looked like an island and at night) for games between ship teams. Port Newark, N.J. ence, unless it was a new species of exuded a smell that attracted fish with­ Although 55% of the overall Institute budget is met by and the legs debar this, so in range of its jaws. income from seamen and the public, the cost of the special what was it? Another of those weird Similarly, the French naturalist, services comes from endowment and contributions. Contri­ and awesome sea serpents and similar Denys de Montfort, recorded how a butions are tax deductible. creatures supposed to lurk in the ocean kraken attacked his ship, the Helene, depths? on a voyage between St. Helena and Sea monsters, devils and serpents Cape Negro. While the ship lay be­ have been causing mystery and curi­ calmed, the captain, Jean Magnus The Rev. John M. Mulligan, D.D. osity almost since the first men set out Dens, ordered three of the crew to Director in primitive boats upon the seas. paint and scrape the ship's sides to Vol. 62 No.4 May 1971 Harold G. Petersen keep the men occupied. While so doing Edito,. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, Copy"ight 1.97 J in A.D. 79 described ships being at­ a kraken came to the surface and at­ Published monthly with exception of July-August and February-March when bi-monthly. Co ntributions to the tacked by "monsters" off the Libyan tacked the men. One of the crew man­ SEAMEN'S CHURCH Seamen's Church Institute of New York of $5.00 or more coast of North Africa. In one of his aged to cut himself free of the long, fNSTlTUTE OF NEW YORK include a year's subscription to Th e lookout. Single sub­ 15 State Street, New York, N.Y. 10004 scriptions are $2 .00 annually. Single copies SOC. Addi­ writings he refers to a serpent-like sucker-bearing tentacles of the crea­ Telephone: 269-2710 tional postage for Canada, latin America, Spain, $1.00; creature which emerged from the sea ture, but died that night in a crazed The Right Reverend other foreign , $3.00. Horace Vl. B. Donegan, D.D., D.C.L. and crawled ashore looking for prey delirium. The other two men were Honol"CLry President COVER: The seas were inhabited with on land. seized, dragged below the sea and ap­ John G. "Yinslow weird and strange monsters, judging parently consumed. Today the kraken PrcsidclIt from this ancient sketch. Down through the centuries many other reports of such sightings were is thought to exist but in the form of made, the majority of which were a giant octopus or squid and unlikely based on myth or superstition. The to grow to the immense proportions first account which might contain a previously claimed. grain of accuracy is that of Olaus But what of "serpents," "monsters"

3 A monster, it is said, and as sketched from memory by an eye-witness was seen under the stern of the Daedalus October 11 , 1848.

This huge creature was sighted off Cape Ann near Gloucester, Massachusetts, during the summer of 1817. There were many witnesses in this instance.

and other "sea devils"? In 1852 two whalers, the Rebecca Sims and Monon­ gahela were in the doldrums of the mid-Pacific when the crew of the latter sighted what was thought to be a sleep­ ing "whale" on the surface. Three boats were lowered over the side, Captain A depiction of the American Seabury himself commanding one of schooner Sally claimed to them. A harpoon was flung into the have been attacked by a sea "whale" and held firm. monster off Long Island But instead of the "whale" trying to in December, 1819. escape it turned and attacked the boats, capsizing two of them. Then the "whale" sounded, still held firm by the harpoon line. More lines were warped on to strengthen it as the "whale" con­ a muddy brown but there was a white tinued to sink deeper in the ocean. stripe along the length of the back. she was lost at sea. Years later one of washed up on the beach near the town When it was at 1000 fathoms it stop­ Captain Seabury, in order to keep a her nameboards was washed ashore on of Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland. The ped. record of what he had found, detailed the Aleutian Islands. Seabury and his body measured over 30 feet in length, Captain Seabury's boat picked up one of the crew who was an artist to specimen of a mysterious creature's had a giraffe-like neck, a camel's head, the survivors from the other two boats, make a drawing of the "whale." The head were lost forever. Only his letters and a horse-like mane, while the four then rowed back to their ship and made crew cut up the creature for the melt­ handed to the captain of the Rebecca legs were short and thick and the tail the line fast. The following morning, ing pot, bu t the head was kept and Sims told of this strange mystery. measured 12 feet! It soon began to as there was still no sign of movement pickled to preserve it. Shortly after­ In 1935, a "sea beast" was washed decompose, so oil was poured over the from the line, the creature was hauled ward, the Monongahela and the R e­ ashore on Henry Island, but unfortu­ corpse and it was burned. on board by using the capstan. When becca Sims, which had been standing nately it rotted before discovery. How­ But while this was happening, fish­ it came to the surface the "whale" was off all this time, parted and sailed to ever, its skeleton was identified as that ermen reported a similar "animal," dead. What came in sight struck fear different destinations. of a supposedly fossil creature, rhytina probably the dead one's mate, swim­ and awe into the crew. But just as if he had a premonition stelleri, a prehistoric lizard that was ming about in the sea nearby. Plans The "whale" measured about 110 of disaster and before the ships parted, thought to be extinct. were made to capture it but no one feet in length, with a circular body Captain Seabury handed over some let­ In 1950, another "whale" was found could get near it. Experts said it might over 50 feet in diameter at the thickest ters about the "whale" to the captain dead in the sea near Suez. The Times have been a Plesiosaurus, a supposedly point. The head measured 10 feet and of the Rebecca Sims, to deliver to the of reported that it was forty extinct prehistoric giant reptile. was shaped like an alligator, with rows owners. Strangely, the Monongahela feet long, had two 8ljz-feet-long tusks So, do "sea serpents" and the like of 3-inch teeth hooked backward in never arrived at her New England and a long dog-like snout. exist in the space age? Your guess is its jaws like a crocodile. The color was home port. For some reasons unknown Eighteen years ago a "monster" was as good as anyone's. 4 5 They're called the "D twins" around ister Extreme Unction. depend upon the stars above to guide lain is to maintain a person-to-person the U. S. Public Health Service Hospi­ Father Datty sits in a brightly light­ yoU where you are going," says Chap­ relationship with a patient. tal in Clifton, Staten Island. "D&D" ed office. Behind him on the wall hangs lain Daley a little dreamily. "Sailors "Needless to say," he explains, "the stand for Daley and Datty. a silver and wooden crucifix. On the are not religious but are very spiritual. doctors and nurses can't do that. They "I am English and he is Polish but other side a palm from Palm Sunday Especially because sailors are loners. are too busy. I don't think it is inten­ we both sound Irish," chuckles the Rev. sticks out from under a statue of a Jap­ They are not used to doing things to­ tional but I think that is the way it Francis D. Daley, the official Protest­ anese madonna. The priest, who grew gether." works out." ant resident chaplain at the hospital up outside of Philadelphia, in a little Father Datty claims that sailors Chaplain Daley adjusts his glasses for the past two years and from the town called Clingdale, was a missionary might be "tough as nails" but eventu­ and lights another cigarette. chaplaincy staff of Seamen's Church for 18 years in Yokohama. He received ally they are very warm and human and "A guy in the hospital is isolated Institute of New York. theological training at Graymoor in looking for that little nudge to help from everything that is stable to him His "twin" is the official Catholic New Jersey with the Franciscan Friars them return to their faith. in this world," he says. "And so many chaplain, the Rev. Edward J. Datty. of the Atonement. "Then when they come up with a real come from afar and have no family and illness, some come back to the sacra­ friends to turn to and naturally turn They work and live on the grounds Chaplain Daley has his office down ments after 40 or 50 years," Father to the chaplain to take care of things in an atmosphere filled with institu­ the hall. Here a shaded lamp casts a Datty says. "They are so happy about like that." tional rules and regulations. Each of­ soft light onto two modern paintings that." Others more reticent about re­ The hospital has no official Jewish fers religious services at a set time. on the walls and on the old sailing ship turning to the faith may try to appease representative living on the grounds. But as people performing God's work model on a bookcase. The Episcopal the priest by saying, "Don't worry, However, Rabbi Benjamin B. Wykan­ in attending to the sick and the afflict­ minister, in a dark pin-striped suit father, I will think about it," to which sky of Temple Emanu-El, Port Rich­ ed, they are flexible. with a clerical collar, is an ex-news­ paper reporter. the priest frequently replies, "I don't mond, has made hospital rounds for the Confessions are heard regularly on want to die of old age waiting." past 20 years. Through the years he has gained a Saturdays but Father Datty admits he Fear of death and fear of cancer plus The 60-year-old rabbi, who was little weight and wears glasses but has doesn't have any scheduled time. worry about one's family are the fore­ trained in his native England, is the a full crop of white hair. His wife does "I hear in the hallways, in the wards, most nonphysical problems facing pa­ voluntary and honorary Jewish chap­ volunteer work at the hospital now even in the treatment room. In the of­ tients, according to the "D twins." lain on Staten Island. Every Thursday that their cbildren, grown up, live else­ fices. Anywhere." Anywhere people Chaplain Daley tries to dispel these morning he visits the Clifton hospital where. A southerner, Chaplain Daley stop him and ask, "Father, can I go to fears so that the patient will respond and frequently leaves a booklet of pray­ took his undergraduate and seminary Confession ?" better to treatment. Almost everybody ers with patients. The booklet contains work at the University of the South in The patient and employee population who comes to the hospital for surgery, selected prayers for the morning, af­ Sewanee, Tennessee. at the hospital is more than 50 per cent he has observed, fears cancer will be ternoon and evening. Catholic. Father Datty averages about He hears Confessions, too, at any discovered. Fear of crippling is also A line of the evening prayer reads: 50 to 60 communions a day, 20 bap­ time of day or night. He has no rigid common among men who have always "Praised be His name, Whose glorious tisms and marriages each year of the schedule. been active. Kingdom is for ever and ever." past four he has been at the hospital. Both clergymen describe the faith of Both "twins" try to make the patient He may be called two or three times or the seamen, their primary concern. feel less alone. Chaplain Daley contends Reprinted from S taten Island Sunday Advance. by permission. Photos courtesy The Advance. Original more a week after midnight to admin- "Y ou can't sail the Seven Seas and that the core of being a hospital chap- story condensed because of space limitations.

~q;fYkU}H/ by Elaine Hess Have you ever held in your hand a other version from old shellbacks which sparrow, or , perhaps, a canary? If you seems to me to be more likely to be have you must have been impressed true, for those hard-living men of the with how weightless and frail the little days of sail were not very spiritual, birds appear to be. Yet there is an and probably many of them had never ocean bird of about the same size that heard of the Virgin Mary. Or if they flies thousands of miles over the seas had in their childhood, they had for­ seemingly quite at ease in violent gotten during their ocean wanderings. storms that t oss big ships about. This version concerns a Liverpool Seamen in these ships know that they woman, known to thousands of seamen are more likely to see these tiny birds, who had shipped out of that famous The Right Rev. Paul Moore, fluttering close to the r oaring waves, in English port as "Mother Carey." She Jr., Bishop Coadjutor of the stormy weather, and should they be was the widow of an English wind­ Episcopal Diocese of New York, jammer captain. He had sailed his ship was the Celebrant at the tradi- , seen when a moderate wind blows un­ tional Maundy Thursday serv- der fair skies, then the men are fairly from Liverpool into oblivion-disap­ ice of Holy Communion held in cerbtin that a gale is coming. peared at sea with all hands. the Institute chapel. His wife had made two voyages with He was introduced and as­ him in the early days of their marriage, sisted by the Rev. Dr. John M. \ Mulligan (left), Institute direc­ MIDG£T and she knew at firsthand of the pit­ tor. The occasion marked the falls which sailors encountered in port. first official visit to SCI by Bish­ OC£AN She knew of the boardinghouses where op Moore who will become most of them lived when ashore. Many Bishop of the Diocese when the Right Rev. Horace W. B. Done­ of these, especially in Liverpool, were gan retires. ROAMERS dens of iniquity that catered to the baser desires of the men of the sea, and robbed them of their money while do­ ing it. After Captain Carey was lost she opened a boardinghouse for seamen, by GeorgeR.J3erens one that provided them with good rooms and meals. And she worked as­ "The st ormy petrels seem far too siduously to protect the men from the fluffy to live in such a merciless envi­ man-traps of the waterfront. She was ronment as the Roaring Forties, yet so kind and considerate of their wel­ even in the roughest weather they are fare that it is no wonder that those to be seen skittering low across the hard-bitten old shellbacks, and youth­ Receptionists of SCI's Seamen's In­ the Club noticed a troubled-looking wo­ water," wrote Robin Knox-Johnson, the ful apprentices gave her the appellation ternational Club always try to be help­ man standing nearby and engaged her English merchant marine officer who "Mother." (One is reminded of Mother ful when seamen approach them for in conversation; it developed that the sailed his small Suhali non-stop around Roper, famed in New York for her sim­ various forms of assistance, informa­ woman, her two small boys and seaman the world in 1967. ilar work in the Seamen's Church In­ tion or guidance. But sometimes a husband had just arrived in the city Stormy petrels are one of over sev­ stitute.) problem is insoluble. via automobile from the west coast enty-known species of petrels that No wonder, either, that sailors, with One night recently a Greek seaman earthquake disaster area; the seaman spend almost all their lives over the their trend for superstition, claimed asked the receptionist for assistance in hoped to find work on a ship here. oceans. They never come on land ex­ that the tiny stormy petrels that flut­ contacting his brother in Boston by But their money had run out; none cept during their breeding season, sel­ tered in the wake of their gale-driven telephone. Guess what - the brother, of the family had eaten all that day; dom even approaching the coast at ships were Mother Carey's Chickens it turned out, had an unlisted phone they were without lodgings for the other t imes. Old windjammer seamen that she had sent to watch over her number unknown to the seaman; and night. Very quickly, though, t heir sit­ gave them the name, Mother Carey's "boys" at sea. Perhaps, though, it teams of wild horses cannot tear an uation changed. The family was fed, Chickens. wasn't superstition, but sentiment, and unlisted number from the corporate given a room, and a day or so later the Some claim that this name is derived the expression of affection and thank­ bosom of Ma Bell. group was able to depart, grateful in­ from "mater cara," the Divine Mother, fulness to the woman who had done so On another night the receptionist at deed for the kindness of t he Institute. or Virgin Mary. But I have heard an- much for them.

8 9 "Glory of the Seas" The little stormy petrel, only seven it is very seldom they are seen t o settle inches long, often will follow a ship for on the surface of the sea. days. Usually they flitter only inches The rocky shores of desolate coasts above the sea, and often have their legs or remote islands are their favorit~ dangling, feet skimming the water. Be­ breeding grounds. Nests are made in cause it often looks like they were walk­ holes in cliffs or rocks. During the day ing on top of the waves is said to be they are seldom seen, remaining in the the reason they are named petrels, or cavities; but at night they fly out over "little Peters," after Saint Peter, who, the sea in search of food. the Bible tells us, walked on the water. The seamen venerate the midget They feed on some of the tiny crea­ ocean roamers who often follow their tures that inhabit the ocean surface, collectively known as "plankton." ships, and who remain unconcerned in Scraps thrown overboard from ships the wildest of the ocean's tantrums. will always attract them, and they par­ Sometimes seamen used to chantey, as ticularly relish fatty morsels. they raised the anchor leaving port: They travel thousands of miles in And we're off to Mother Carey, their wanderings; they are always seen Walk her down to Mother Carey; from ships as on the wing, and sailors Oh, we're bound for Mother Carey, often wonder when and how they rest; Where she feeds her chicks at sea. t}~~ One of the more popular recreation areas in the Institute, perhaps, is a large room adjacent to the Seamen's International Club. Here, typically, men gather to play billiards, to view television or to chat.

"The "

by Betty Rivera

"My father paid $31, when I was a apprenticed to Master Joseph Joyce. Boston lad of seventeen so that I could The Captain grinned as he further ship out on the square rigger Alice A. remarked, "Joyce hoped I wouldn't last Leigh, sailing from Liverpool, and get to collect the $31 which were to be used my sea legs," Captain Horatio Low as my wages for four years, and cagily McKay of Chathamport, Cape Cod told arranged for me to receive $3 for the me as he handed me a copy of the in­ first year; $4 for the second; $5 for the denture made out in 1898 when he was third; and $19 for the fourth. Joyce

10 11 hoped that with this arrangement he Sailing, built America's finest announced in Durban that she would would collect the greater part for him­ ships (including the Flying Cloud ) call there. Now she was overdue. self." which stormed around the world set­ Shipping offices were besieged by "I almost didn't make it," the Cap­ ting speed records and carrying car­ relatives of the passengers and crew. tain said. "For I can recall one black, goes of everything from tea to mo­ Search ships were sent out, but they or 'dirty' night as we sailors used to lasses. found nothing. say, wishing I were back in Boston sit­ The Captain's father and uncle were N or, in this case, did the usual flot­ ting beside the kitchen stove. I remem­ successive commodores of the Cunard sam and jetsam of a foundered ship ber that, as I stood on the deck of the Line. His father, Commodore Alexan­ give some faint clue to the mystery. Alice Leigh, the whole world seemed to der McKay, was so well known in the Floating wreckage was found, but it be caught up in the dark fury of a British Isles that the Captain's gra­ was never identified as having be­ nor'easter. The sea was a mountain cious wife, Jane, mentioned as we longed to the Waratah. It was wreckage and the wind tore at the sails like a talked, "When I was a child in Liver­ which might be expected to be found tiger. pool, the name of Alexander McKay after any bad storm. "In the midst of brushing stinging was a household word." One search ship from the Blue An­ rain from my eyes and trying to see The Captain has many tales of the chor Line steamed 15,000 miles in what was going on, I was ordered to sea to tell; of being second-mate on the three months, looking for the Wara­ climb the rigging on the hazardous Pleiades at Port Arthur in 1904 when by Paul Brock tah, but she too returned without see­ windward side. Before I started, an old it was bombed by 17 Japanese vessels' ing any trace of her. sailor, who well knew my inexperience, of being Captain of the Esparata whe~ Both before and after the strange insisted that I take the safer leeward he and his crew towed in the $1,000,000 case of the Waratah over a score of side. I was so intent upon what I was crippled freighter, Mar Rojo, which There was no radio transmitter comparatively large vessels disap­ doing as I climbed that it was not until they found drifting in fog 96 miles aboard when the S.S. Waratah, a ma­ peared without a trace. The Royal Mail I was back on deck for a while that I south of Nantucket. jestic liner of 16,000 tons, vanished at Packet President sailed from New began to wonder about myoId friend. He takes particular delight in sea. Hers was one of the most baffiing York to Liverpool on March 11, 1841 He was nowhere to be found, and had saying in his clipped, brisk way, demises of a big ship in modern times. with 121 people on board. fallen unnoticed into the heaving sea "Those old seamen knew a thing or With a crew of 119 plus 92 passengers By March 31, the President had not as the Alice beat her way through it." two. Every time we crossed the equator she dissolved into nothingness as com­ arrived in Liverpool and was pro­ There was a certain solemnity in the in one of the square-riggers, they would pletely as if she had never existed ex­ Captain's voice as he recalled the catch a shark, take out its liver and cept in the imagination. nounced overdue. On April 7 the ship was described as "probably lost" and friendship of the old mariner who had hang portions of it in bottles from the The Waratah left Durban, South so truly "laid down his life for his bowsprit to season. When the odor be­ Africa, on July 26, 1909, bound for the full passenger list and crew list friend," and he commented further, came unbearable, they would remove London. She was a brand new vessel, published. It was taken for granted "There certainly was a deep sense of the bottles, slather the liver on their classed A-I at Lloyd's and this was her that sooner or later some wreckage friendship and loyalty among the sail­ aching joints, and lie in the sun. And second voyage. After leaving Durban would be washed ashore or found at ors of the old days. After such losses at this was long before modern medical she was seen by the Clan MacIntyre on sea, or that a survivor would be picked ~ea, the crew would auction off the vic­ men began using shark's liver for the the evening of July 27. The Clan Mac­ up. tim's clothing to provide a bit of help treatment of arthritis." IntY?'e had no radio either. The two But this did not happen. Like the for the widow and her family. At times, After years of sailing, the Captain ships signaled each other with Aldis Waratah, the President and all who the great hearts of these sailors led entered shore business. The sea-­ lamps and the Waratah passed on, sailed in her disappeared without trace. them to offer as much as a needed ed "touches" in his office are the Cap­ quickly overtaking the Clan MacIntyre The Allan Line steamer Huronian month's wages for the victim's shoes." tain's personal treasures. In one room, and leaving her behind. also vanished without trace sometime Perhaps this gesture of friendship there is a painting of the sailing ves­ The smaller ship ran into a bad head during February, 1902. She left Glas­ helped the Captain to stay on and make sel, "Glory of the Seas" hung above a sea later that day, and the next morn­ gow, Scotland, for St. John's, N ew­ him determined to become, in family table with a copy of a new marine his­ ing a gale of hurricane force hit her. foundland, on February 11, commanded tradition, a good mariner. tory also entitled "Glory of the Seas." The same gale could have hit the Wara­ by Captain John Brodie. Somewhere When the Captain was an apprentice, It is opened to this inscription by the tah but she was so big and new that" it between those two ports the sea swal­ family tradition was of particular sig­ Captain: "In 1903, I was second-mate seemed fantastic that bad weather lowed her up with all her crew. nificance to him, for the McKay name of the "Glory of the Seas" under Cap­ could do anything more than slow her The Huronian was a new ship of has long been a prominent one in ma­ tain Freeman. I was always proud of down a little. 4,500 tons, and perfectly sound when rine history. His cousin, Donald Mc­ the fact that I sailed on the last ship Yet the Clan MacIntyre arrived at she sailed. Kay, during America's Golden Age of built by Donald McKay ..." Cape Town first. The bigger ship had The sea often keeps its secrets. END

12 19 man then lived in Hanover Square, ac­ subsequently a large collection of paint­ cording to the City Directories. ings, prints, maritime relics and other It was certainly standing exactly as decorations which had been loaned to we now see it in 1851, as the Hanover the Club when organized and had given Third of a series of brief articles Bank which occupied the property at it much of its unique atmosphere. on some of the organizations and institutions that time has a picture of the edifice These and other gifts from members established in very early in its which shows that it has remained al­ and friends have given the club a very history, all of them nearby to Seamen's Church Institute of New York. most unchanged since that date. fine collection of pictures, models and The Hanover Bank acquired the other articles connected with sailing property in 18,51 and occupied half of vessels and seafaring life. it for banking purposes. The other part Hanover Square was, originally, was used by the firm of Robert L. Mait· nearly at the water's edge, with a slip land & Company, tobacco importers. running out into the river. In Dutch Hanover Square was named in hon­ Colonial days it was in sight of the or of King George of Hanover, and The home of Governor Kieff and we learn Hanover Bank, when it was first or­ that in 1648, this official, wearied of ganized, planned to call itself the Han­ entertaining business guests at his over Square Bank, but later changed home built the city's first hotel, later its name to The Hanover Bank. on used as the Stadt Huys or City Hall. After The Hanover Bank moved out, In the early Revolutionary days, the property came into possession of Hanover Square was the smart shop­ Robert L. Maitland. He was a solid, ping center of the town. conservative figure in New York's af­ It is very probable that the building fairs of two generations ago. The prop­ now standing at is erty was subsequently used by the New really the first structure that was built York Cotton Exchange, 1870 to 1885, on this property as a whole. There were and later by W. R. Grace & Co. small houses there during the Dutch India House, as an organization, and Colonial period, but whatever stood came into being in 1914, when a group on this spot was, undoubtedly, burned of businessmen headed by James A. in the great fire of 1835, when a con­ Farrell and Willard Straight, decided flagration originating at Hanover and to found a meeting place in the inter­ Pearl Street and destroying six hun­ ests of foreign trade. The building at dred buildings, occasioned a loss of 1 Hanover Square was then vacant, W. $15,000,000 in the heart of what was India House at 1 Hanover Square is records showing transfers of t he real R. Grace & Co. having recently left the then New York's business district. one of the finest buildings of the Anglo­ estate involved, without describing the site to move into larger quarters else­ The fire was supposed to have start­ ltalianate Style in . buildings thereon, indicate that the where on Hanover Square. ed from the explosion of a gas pipe and Built for the Hanover Bank between present home of India House was built India House rented the building a Mr. Watson, visiting from Philadel­ 1851 and 1854, this building has played by one Richard Carman in a general from George Ehret, the then owner, ex­ phia, wrote to his home town-"This an important role in the commercial reconstruction which followed the big tensive alterations were made and the disaster certainly is a warning against life of New York, having served as the fire in 1835. rooms were fitted out in the spirit of foreign invention and embellishment." New York Cotton Exchange between The Carman family figured frequent­ the early American overseas trade. Mr. From his Philadelphia point of view, 1870 and 1886 and having later become ly in the records of Long Island. They Straight donated the Chinese art ob­ New York was certainly too advanced the offices of W. R. Grace & Co. Today were prominent, influential people in jects, Mr. James A. Farrell, the presi­ and dangerously venturesome. He India House is a clubhouse containing early New York history. Their names dent, gave, then and later, rare ship spoke strongly against buildings which a fine maritime museum, and it also appeared in the City Directories be­ models, engravings and pictures. had reached the great height of four or stands as a surviving example of the tween 1835 and 1837 - the only Rich­ The American Asiatic Institute gave five stories, "producing nothing but commercial life of mid-N ineteenth-Cen­ ard was Richard A. Carman of 42 a collection of pictures of Asiatic coun­ ugly deformity in the perspective, tury New York. Broadway. It is probable that the fam­ tries and of leaders of American com­ without no adequate counterbalancing While the tax records of New York ily built the structure for stores and merce, and Mrs. Straight donated a advantage." City do not go back to this date, other rented them, as no family named Car- collection of thirty-five ship models and 14 - 15 Sea:rnen's Church Institute of' N. Y. 15 State Street Ne1lV York, N. Y . 10004

Addres. Correc tio n Rpqu<"t('d

NO THRENODY Phoenicians leapt upon a wave making one world of east and west carving lettered history; Minos' labyrinthine cave I;)f mind, its hybrid harried beast still launch this driven world, this sky.

Pythagoras (Egyptian wise) reclaimed their lost Atlantis' lore and unearthed numbers' harmony, as Moses in his wilderness (Egyptian hierophant) who bore old sailors' stars through an old sea.

Oh Jew and Cretan, Celt and Frank (your tribes still increase year by year), God-crafters and you rocket-smiths, look backward from the fear you sank deep in your guts when you'd uprear new enterprise masking old deaths.

This world's their boat still, we the oars taxing that crude, envitaled heart to beat beyond all oceans' grave, shooting old map-runes toward new stars, straining past beast, mind, gods. Upstart, true man, it's you I love, the brave! -Howard G. Hanson

© John F. Blair, Pub ., Future Coin or Climber; used by permission.

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