" The builders contracted for work to be done by the convicts of
Sing Sing Prison, and the city workmen, or Stonecutters'
Guild,--already strong for unions,--objected. In fact, they objected
so strenuously that the Twenty-seventh Regiment (now our popular
Seventh) was called out, and stayed under arms in the Square for four
days and nights; after which the disturbance died down.
The next important labour demonstration in the Square was in 1855,
when, during a period of "hard times," eight thousand workmen
assembled there with drums and trumpets, and made speeches in the most
approved and up-to-date agitator style, collecting a sum of money
which went well up into four figures!
In 1833 society folded its wings and settled down with something
resembling permanence upon the corner of the "Snug Harbour" lands,
which formed the famous North Side of Washington Square. Of all social
and architectural centres of New York, Washington Square North has
changed least. Progress may come or go, social streams may flow
upward with as much speed, energy and ambition as they will; the
eddies leave one quiet and lovely pool unstirred.
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