"Lucille, behold
our glorious flag that floats over America's greatest financial and
commercial city. I love the stars and stripes quite as much as Italy's
flag.
"Annually over thirty thousand vessels arrive and depart from this
harbor. New York is America's great gateway for immigrants. In a single
year nearly a half million land at Castle Garden. Sections of New York
are known as Germany, Italy, China, Africa, and Judea. The Hebrews alone
in the city number upwards of one hundred thousand, and have nearly fifty
synagogues and as many millionaires. The trees, lawns, and promenades
along the sea-wall, form the Battery Park. The settees are crowded with
people enjoying the magnificent marine views before them."
Alfonso pointed to the Suspension or Brooklyn Bridge beneath which
vessels were sailing on the East River. Its enormous cables looked like
small ropes sustaining a vast traffic of cars, vehicles, and pedestrians.
To the right of the steamer's track on Bedloe's Island stands Bartholdi's
"Liberty, Enlightening the World," the largest bronze statue on the
globe. From a small guide book of New York, Lucille read aloud that the
Bartholdi statue and its pedestal cost one million dollars; that the
statue was presented by the French people to the people of the United
States.
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