g the most noticeable
features of New York, and offer many attractions to the visitor to the
city. They are Blackwell's, Ward's, and Randall's islands. Of these,
Blackwell's Island is the most southern. It is about a mile and
three-quarters in length, extending from Fifty-first to Eighty-eighth
street, and comprises an area of about 120 acres. It takes its name from
the Blackwell family, who once owned it, and whose ancestral residence, a
tasteful wooden cottage, over a hundred years old, stands near the centre
of the island, and is occupied by the Keeper of the Almshouse. The
island was purchased by the city, in 1828, for the sum of $30,000. A
further outlay of $20,000 was made in 1843 to perfect the title. The
land alone is now worth over $600,000. The island is surrounded by a
granite sea-wall, and has been made to slope gradually towards the water
on each side by a thorough system of grading. This labor was performed
by the convicts of the Penitentiary, and the inmates of the Workhouse.
There is an excellent dock near the Penitentiary for boats, but no
vessels are allowed to land here but the boats of the Department of
Charities and Corrections. Visitors must obtain a permit from this
department or they will not be allowed to set foot upon the island. The
institutions on this and the other islands are supplied with the Croton
water, a large main being carried across under the river.

[Picture: RESIDENCE OF THE KEEPER OF THE ALMSHOUSE.]

On the extreme southern end of the island is a stone building of moderate
size and handsome design. This is the Small-pox Hospital. It was
erected in 1854, at a cost of $38,000, and will accommodate one hundred
patients. It is the only hospital in New York devoted to small-pox
cases, and receives them from all the public and private institutions,
and from private families. The accommodations are excellent, the
attention the best. Those who are able to pay are required to do so. At
the water's edge, on the eastern side of this hospital, are several
wooden buildings designed for the treatment of patients suffering from
typhus and ship fever. These will accommodate one hundred patients,
though the number is often greater.

Immediately in the rear of the Small-pox Hospital, though far enough from
it to be removed from danger, is the Charity Hospital, a magnificent
structure of gray granite, said to be the largest hospital in America.
It consists of a centra