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322 BROOKLYN Atlantic Dock. occupy it at the same time, and 400 canal boats besides many other vessels have floated upon it at once. The pier line on Buttermilk chan- nel is 3,000 ft. long; the total wharfage is about 2 m. Surrounding the basin on all sides, excepting an entrance 200 ft. wide for vessels, are substantial brick and granite warehouses, from two to five stories high, and covering an area of 20 acres. Grain is the chief article stored here, for the reception of which nine steam elevators are employed, the largest of which will raise 8,000 bushels per hour. The value of merchandise stored annually in the warehouses of this company and those south of them to Red Hook point is estimated as fol- lows: Grain . . . $20,000,000 Sugar and molasses 15,000,000 Provisions 2,200,000 Flour 1,500,000 Lumber and stone 1,200,000 Cotton 1,600,000 Guano 1,500,000 Bags 500,000 Saltpetre and brimstone 100,000 Salt 500,000 Iron 2,000,000 Miscellaneous, including rosin, turpentine, &c. 4,000,000 Total $50,000,000 South of the Atlantic dock, on Gowanus bay, are the extensive Erie and Brooklyn basins, not yet completed. The property of this com- pany comprises an extensive water front with 28 ft. of water in the channel. These basins are separated by a pier, of which Columbia street forms the E. side. On the W. side of this pier is the Erie basin, containing about 60 acres of water and surrounded by spacious piers with extensive warehouses. E. of the Columbia street pier is the Brooklyn basin, 1,300 ft. long and 450 ft. wide, with an area of 40 acres. Near the Erie basin two exten- sive dry docks have been recently constructed, capable of receiving vessels of large size even when loaded. At the N. end of Washing- ton avenue is the Wallabout basin, recently formed from marsh land, with extensive piers and bulkheads. The basin proper extends from Washington avenue S. to Hewes street, 1,500 ft. Lumber, coal, and brick yards line the en- tire length of the basin on one side. The num- ber of vessels that discharged cargoes at these docks in 1872 exceeded 3,000. The cost of the Wallabout improvement has been about $1,000,000. By it an additional wharfage of three fourths of a mile is secured ; while the distance between the Eastern and Western Dis- tricts has been reduced three fifths of a mile by the extension of Washington avenue through the marsh from Flushing to Kent avenue. Be- tween the navy yard and Bushwick creek, in Williamsburgh, the shore is lined with ship yards, distilleries, sugar refineries, lumber, brick, and coal yards, and gas works ; while the Greenpoint water front, between Bush- wick and Newtown creeks, is chiefly occupied by large ship yards. The United States navy yard, on the S. shore of Wallabout bay, em- braces a total area of 144 acres, including more than a mile of the most eligible wharfage in the harbor. The yard proper comprises 45 acres, enclosed by a high brick wall. About 2,000 men are constantly employed here. Within is an immense dry dock, one of the most remarkable structures of the kind in the world, built of granite, at a total cost of $2,113,173. The main chamber is 286 ft. long by 35 ft. wide at the bottom, and 307 ft. long by 98 ft. wide at the top, with a depth of 36 ft. The dock can be emptied by steam pumps in 44 hours. Half a mile E. of the navy yard, on the opposite side of the Wallabout, is the marine hospital, a handsome structure with 21 acres of ground, and with accommodations for 500 patients. The United States naval ly- ceum, founded by officers of the navy in 1833, is situated in the navy yard ; it has a library, a large collection of curiosities, and valuable geo- logical and mineralogical cabinets. Fronting Flushing avenue, a short distance E. of the navy yard, are extensive marine barracks. Brooklyn contains numerous manufacturing