Prospect Park is the largest

with 516 acres, including 77 acres of lakes and waterways, 70 acres of meadows, 110 acres of woodland, and 259 of plantations. It is situated on an elevated ridge and commands a magnificent view of the ocean, the Sound, Long Island, New Jersey, and New York city. It has been left to a great extent in its original wooded condition, making it one of the most picturesque parks in the United States. There are 8 miles of drives, 11 miles of walks, and 4 of bridle paths. The Flat bush avenue entrance, or the Plaza, is paved with stone and surrounded by gra . There is a Soldiers and Sailors’ Memorial Arch and a statue of President Lincoln at this entrance..Of the other parks, Washington Park, the site of extensive Revolutionary fortifications, of which Fort Green is the principal one, is the largest. Among the smaller re are the on Park, Carro} ’ Park, and Tompkins Park. The most notable and important navy yard in the United States is located here, and is always a place of large patriotic interest, because of its buildings, its relics, and the old and new types of warships that are generally to be seen here. i. Brooklyn has been widely known as the City of Churches. There are now nearly 470 of such edifices and chapels. The Roman Catholic, with 83 churches, is the strongest denomination. Then follow the Methodist Episcopal (60): Protestant Episcopal (54); Baptist Presbyterian (87); Congregational (33); Reformed (34); synagogues (18), and others of various denominations (about 70). In 1900 there were 130,- 811 church members; 138,136 Sunday School scholars, and, in the previous year, the churches expended for current expenses, debt, extensions, and mi ions, $2,119,485. The most important hospitals in Brooklyn are the Long Island College, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Homeopathic, General, St. Mary’s Methodist, St. John’s, and St. Peter’s. The city has 24 dispensaries, 5 training-schools for nurses, 25 orphan asylums and industrial schools, 11 homes fer the aged, and 6 nurseries, The public institutions are mostly at Flat bush, and consist of the Insane Asylum, Hospital, and Almshouse. There is an Inebriates’ Home in Bay Ridge. The city is noted for the number and standing of its educational institutions, both public and private. The Packer Institute for girls, the Polytechnic Institute for boys, Adelphi College, and The Pratt Institute have national renown. The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, an outcrowth from an a ociation founded in 1823, is another noted institution. It includes 25 departments with lectures, so that its teaching methods resemble those of a large university. Brooklyn was settled by the Dutch in 1636 at New Utrecht. In 1646 five small towns consolidated under the name of Breuckelen, from the Dutch town whence most of the settlers came, In 1666 the first Dutch church was built in Breuckelen. About this time the English came into po e ion of New York and Long Island, and Breuckelen became a part of West Riding. On Aug. 27, 1776, the battle of Long Island was fought in Brooklyn, and the village was held by the British till 1783. Brooklyn was incorporated as a village in 1816; and in 1834 it became a city. Several adjoining towns were annexed from time to time, and in 1896 Brooklyn comprised all of Kings county. On Jan. 1, 1898, Brooklyn was consolidated with Greater New York, under the name of the Borough of Brooklyn., Brooks, Elcredge Streeter, an American author; born in Lowell, Ma ., in 1846; died in Somerville, Ma ., Jan. 7, 1902.