minor places of amusement, generally of a special character
and devoted to exhibitions of art, curiosities, and other objects
of attraction. The first theater in New York was opened in
Nassau St. Sept. 17, 1753, and the first play acted was “The
Conscious Lovers.”

Capital......................................................... $68,324,657

Notes in circulation....................................... 7,845,947

Profits......................................................... 6,640,888

Due banks..................   27,251,889

Due individuals and oorp. other than banks .......531,061

Due Treasurer of State of New York................ 119,822

Due depositors on demand.............................. 80,679,650

Other sums due............................................. 471,666

Total liabilities............................................. 191,865,843

Loans and discounts  ......   123,983,075

Over-drafts.............................'...................... 59,467

Due from banks.........................................  5,357,188

Due from directors........................   4,119,438

Due from brokers.........................................  3,281,632

Real estate..................................................... 5,967,164

Specie .............................................. 25,068,132

Cash items.................................................... 17,481,781

Stocks and promissory notes........................... 12,020,306

Bonds and mortgages..................................... 523,869

Bills of solvent banks.....................   1,023,402

Loss and expense account.............................. 372,920

Total resources..............................   191,865,643

There are 16 savings banks in the city, with au aggregate

amount of $36,804,419 on deposit, and with $38,757,860 in
resources.—Report of Supt. Bank Department 1859; Assem.
Doe.,. No. 87.

The first movement toward a savings bank was made Nov.
29,1816, when at a public meeting the plan was discussed and
approved. The first deposits were made July 3, 1819, and
within six months $153,378.31 had been deposited by 1,527 per¬
sons, and of- this sum $6,606 had been withdrawn. Up to 1857,
$47,530,067.61 had been deposited in these institutions. They
owe their origin to the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism.—
Common Council Manual, 1858, p. 624.

The Clearing House Association was formed Oct. 1,18-53, for
the purpose of facilitating the settlements of banks with each
other. Its office is on Wall, corner of William St. The ar¬
rangements are so perfected that the entire daily settlements
of all the banks in their immense transactions with each other
are made in six minutes. The whole amount of bank funds
which passed through this institution up to Aug. 31, 1858, was
$30,675,933,556.56; and during that period so perfect has been
the. system of balances that the error of one cent has never
been made.

Fire Insurance Companies, to the number of 75, with an ag¬
gregate capital of $17,654,000, are located in the city. Besides
these, a large number of agencies for companies in other
States and in foreign countries are established in the city. The
amount of capital invested in marine, life, and other insurance
companies is not known, as no general reports are published.
A list of these companies is elsewhere given. There are also
several trust companies, with large capital, and a very great
number of companies, associations, and individuals engaged in
the business of banking and exchange, of which no statistics
are attainable.

The Chamber of Commerpe was instituted in 1768, and incorp.
by patent March 13,1770. It probably owes its origin to the
necessity felt toward the close of the colonial period, of con¬
certed action to proteot the interests of trade against the usurp¬
ations of the British Government. Its rights were confirmed
April 13,1784, and it has since continued in operation without
material interruption. Its objects are to adjust disputes and
establish equitable rules concerning trade, and to operate upon
public sentiment in the procuring of such acts and regulations
as the commercial interests require. Within a short time it
has commenced the formation of a library of statistical and
commercial works, and opened rooms sufficiently ample and
convenient for the wants of the association. Its first report
was published in 1859.

3 The Custom House, located on Wall St., on the site of the old
Federal Hall, is a marble structure, in the Greek order of archi¬
tecture, with a Doric portico at each end. It has a marble roof,
and is fireproof throughout. It was commenced in May, 1834,
and finished in May, 1841, at a cost of $950,000.

The Merchants’ Exchange, on Wall St., built of Quincy granite,
is 171 by 144 ft., aDd 77 feet high. A portico in front is sup¬
ported by 18 Ionic columns, 38 feet high, each formed of a single
stone weighing 45 tons. The rotunda is 80 ft. in diameter and
80 ft. high. The building is owned by an incorporated company,
and cost over $1,000,000.

The City Hall, on the Park, is 216 by 105 ft., with two stories
and a high'basement. It is built in the Italian style, and is
faced with marble except on the north side. It was begun Sept.
26,1803, and finished in 1812, at a cost of over half a million of
dollars. The upper story and cupola were burned Aug. 17,1858,
and have since been rebuilt. It is occupied by the Common
Council, County Clerk, and various city and county offices. The
first City Hall, built in 1698, stood on the present site of the
Custom House, at the head of Broad St.

The Hall of Records, on the Park, is chiefly interesting from
its historical associations. It was formerly the debtors’ prison,
and in the Revolution it was the prison into which American
prisoners were crowded, and from -which great numbers were
taken to execution. In 1832 it was a cholera hospital. The
pillars upon the ends are of modern origin.

The Rotunda, on the Park, was built by John Yanderlyn in
1818, for the exhibition of panoramic views, and is now an office
of the Almshouse. It reverted to the city at the expiration of a
ten years’ lease.

The Halts of Justice, or “ The Tombs,” on Center St., is a struc¬
ture built of Maine granite, in the Egyptian style of architecture.
It is a hollow square, 252 by 200 ft., with a large central building.
It was erected in 1838. Executions take place in the open courts
within its walls.

The New Armory, or Down-Town Arsenal, corner of White and
Elm Sts., is 131 by 84 ft. and 2 stories high. It is built-of blue
stone, and is supplied with narrow windows for easy defense
against mobs. It is used as a receptacle for a part of the artillery
of the 1st Division N. Y. State Militia, and as a drill room.

An arsenal was built by the State a few years since, on ground