CHAPTER XIV.
_The Crest of Murray Hill_ Stretches of the Avenue--The Crest of Murray Hill--The House of "Sarsaparilla" Townsend--A.T.

Stewart's Italian Palace--The Knickerbocker Trust Company--The Coventry Waddell Mansion--A House at Thirty-ninth Street--The Present Union League--A Tavern of the Fifties--The "House of Mansions"-- The Old Reservoir, and Egyptian Temple--The Crystal Palace--The Latting Tower--"Quality Hill." Although the name it now bears and has borne for four or five years is the Columbia Trust Company, the building at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street is likely to be known and referred to as the Knickerbocker Trust for a long time to come.

As such it was the storm centre of the great panic which shook the country in 1907, ruining many, shaking some of America's supposedly most solid fortunes, and involving a dramatic suicide.

The story of the site goes back almost three-quarters of a century.

There, at the beginning of the Civil War, was the residence of "Dr." Samuel P.Townsend.Originally a contractor, he had "discovered" a sarsaparilla, advertised it on an extensive scale, acquired a fortune and the nickname of "Sarsaparilla" Townsend.