New life has been infused into a formerly inacti\'e chamber of commerce, and whereas a few years ago business enter])rise was in many quarters somewhat conspicuous by its al^senc e, now there is e\'idence of more stirring activity. The first change in Albany's life occurred when the New England element came in and began to mingle with the Dutch and " the dogs began to bark in broken English." The second period ended with the appearance of the river steamboat; the third seems to have given place to a fourth, the cause or causes yet unknown.

Chapter XXXII Above Tide- Water

TROY and the Trojans were primarily of New England origin, and this difference in blood has perhaps been the cause of not a little of the lack of affiliation between the city that rests on Mount Ida and Mount Olympus and its neighbour of Dutch descent, six miles to the south.

ALONG THE RIVER BELOW TROY

Troy is the capital of Rensselaer County, the head of tide- water in the Hudson, the site of the State dam and of various manufacturing concerns. It is a busy place and owes much of its prosperity to the Erie, Hudson, and Champlain canals. Its shipping is considerable, and, with the neighbouring towns of Cohoes, Lansingburg, etc., its pojjulation reaches about the figure at which the census fixes that of Albany. Its first proprietor was one Vander Heyden, who re-

Above Tide-Water 551

ceived it from the Patroon Van Rensselaer in 1720. About 1787 the site of the future eity was laid out in town lots. At West Tro)-- or Watcr^dlet-- ui 181 3, the United States Government purchased groun d upon which was established an arsenal, near the presen t east bank of the Erie Canal. Sex'cral widely known educational establishments add interest to a city that is not devoid of beauty, though lacking the charm of man>- a Hudson River town.