Among the "remarkable incidents" of early times mentioned by Eager, are the following: In 1803 the formation of a Druid society, composed, it was said, wholly of deists, whose proceedings were secret. In January, 1805, a son of Warren Scott, 14 years old, was torn in pieces by wolves in the west part of the town while feeding his father's sheep. The wolves at this time also came down and killed sheep near the village of Newburgh. In 1816 the owners of the Newburgh ferry first used a horse boat, and on August 13th of that year the boat _Jason Rogers_ crossed the river with two horses attached to a coach and a wagon, seventeen chaises and horses, another horse and fifty passengers. In 1817 government officers inspected ninety tons of cannon made by Mr. Townsend on Chamber's Creek, and all proved good. They were the first manufactured in the State, and were of sterling ore from the town of Monroe. November 24, 1824, the schooner _Neptune,_ on the way from New York to Newburgh, was upset and sunk, and the most of her fifty or more passengers were drowned. She had forty or fifty tons of plaster on board, and the heavy wind shifted it, which caused the accident. [Illustration: Aymar Van Buren.] CHAPTER XXV. CITY OF NEWBURGH. Newburgh, the chief city of Orange County, with a population of nearly 27,000, is also the largest commercial city on the Hudson between New York and Albany. It is located on the side hill of a bay, 57 miles from the river's mouth, has a deep and spacious harbor, with good docks, and its scenic views and contiguous territory are peculiarly attractive. The inviting bay and river are in front, and the mountains southward and westward have been characterized as "Nature's arm thrown lovingly about us." In the landward distance mountains are visible in several directions from the upper town, and adjacent are fruit and dairy farms on undulating fields, with a ten-mile plain known as "Highland Terrace." A recent local pamphlet says of the City of Newburgh: "As a home-city there is little to be desired. It is metropolitan and suburban. It has broad thoroughfares, good streets, and provision is now perfected for having $100,000 expended annually in new pavements. There are numerous breathing spots. One of the most magnificent views obtainable anywhere in the Hudson Valley is from Downing Park, where from the observatory the city appears to be almost beneath your feet. The Hudson River presents an unobstructed view for miles, and a half dozen ranges of mountains appear to view. The Catskills at the north, Fishkill and the Beacons on the east, Storm King and Crow Nest on the south, Schunnemunk at the southwest, and the Shawangunk range far to the west. At the north end of the city is LeRoy Place, one of the coziest and most inviting of the city's little parks. It is especially referred to as a resting place for those who find it convenient to take a walk to the famed 'Balm of Gilead' tree, one of