The new parks beyond the Harlem. With thirty illustrations and map. Descriptions of scenery. Nearly 4,000 acres of free playground for the people ..

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Entered acoording to Act of Congrees, in the year 1887, by the

RECORD AND GUIDE,
In the Office of the Librarian of Ck>ngre68, at Washington, D. C.

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CONTENTS.

PAGX

The Court of Appeals decUuree the land ** appropriated," <*oon-

demned/' ** taken" 15

TheKewportof the Toilers 19

What the highefit tribunals in the State say of Felham Bay Park 20

A contrast between the Central and the new parks— Misapprehensions

and misstatements corrected • ; 21

Financial objections answered 22

Parks a profitable in vestment— Boston's experience •« 2tt

Testimony from other cities 27

Further testimony as to the effect of parks on real estate values 28

A shrewd scheme to get the advantage of the city 81

Why the work of appraisement should be vigorously prosecuted 82

Some telling facts from the history of Central Park • 88

The Sinking Fund and the city debt 84

The New York of the future 87

The remedy for a great evil 88

The tenement house problem . . . . - 41

New York's packed population • ,.. 42

The rapid transit question 43

Access to the new parks. 44

The parade ground and popular recreations 47

A permanent industrial e^iibition 48

A diversified park system— Area of parks and parkways 49

Van Cortlandt Park, parade fip^>und and rifle range 50

Gtoerous provision for our National Guard 58

Revolutionary reminiscences — The ancient mansion and mill 54

Sylvan scenery — A p ark contrast, New York and Paris 57

Ifemories of the past 58

Van Cortlandt vestas 50

A voice from Fairmount 60

Rare sylvan beauties 03

An iceberg's gift— The artists' haunt 64

That British fleet— A school of botany 65

An important question » 68

The right thing in the right place 69

Boundaries of Bronx Park 70

New York's great sea-side resort »• 78

Felham Bay Park • tt*.t t 74

vi CONTBNTa

Objectdons answered— A rare acquisition 77

Popular recreations 78

A grand site for a zoological garden , 7^

A retrospect 80

A profitable real estate operation 83

Pelham Neck and Hunter^s Island 84

The battle of the Neck 87

A naval prize— Mistress Anne 88

Park reyenues— A site for an observatory 91

The boundaries— Furnished and unfurnished parks 93

CrotonPark 95

Bt Mary'sPark 97

Claremont Park 98

The Parkways 101

The Mosholu Park way... i 108

The Bronx and Pelham Parjcways— The CroVma Parkway 10&

HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT FOE NEW PAEKS.

Its friends and foes— The contest in the Legislature and before the

courts 107

Suitable sites 108

TheNew York Park Association Ill

Preliminary work 112

A worthless resolution— Appointment of the New Parks Ck)mmiB8ion. 115

The report— Public meetings 116

The anti-parks war— The press for the parks 117

Now is the time 118

The Conunission endorsed— Support of solid men 121

The contest in the Legislature 123

The friends of the parks— Hon. L. R. Marsh 128

Hon. W. W. Niles— Hon. John B. Develin— Hon. W. Hutchins 124

Hon. O. B. Potter— Col R. M. Gallaway 127

An unjust charge repelled 128

Only natural park lands selected 181

Strong friends of the movement 182

Other friends— The work performed. » 138

AhostofaUies 134

Legislative champions and advocates 137

An overwhelming majority— The bill becomes a law 138

Renewal of the contest— Decision of the Court of Appeals 139

The Commissioners of Appraisal 140

A financial stumbling block 143

Hostile attitude of Mayor Grace 144

The second mayorally war against the parks..... 14!^

CONTENTS. vii

PAGE

A scheme to nullify the act of 1884 146

Mr. Grace^s *' mass meeting*' declared '* a dead failure'' 149

His purpose exposed— The opposition again defeated 150

Insidious attempt to involve the Real Estate Exchange 151

An adroit, but an unsuccessful scheme 153

The contest in the Board of Aldermen • 155

An eloquent protest 156

An attack from a new quarter 159

Final repulse and end of the war 160

Important correspondence 163

Emphatic endorsement by prominent citizens 164

Petition to the Legislature and the Governor in favor of the New

Parks, and asking that the Bill be passed and signed. 171

, '>j\ ■ ... V ... * . .

ILLUSTRATIONS.

ICap Bhowinq thb Looatioit of thb Nbw Fabxb.

PAGX:

Vior Gqbti<anx>t Park— Van Ck>rtlandt Mansion— Washington's

Headquarters in 1781 and 1788. . . .FrQntispieo»

Parade Groand 14

View of Palisades from Vault Hill 17

Northern end of the Lake 88

Old Mill of the Revolution and Ancient

Elms 2^

Tbm Bbonx Pabx— On the Heights above the River 85

TheCascade 89

Sylvan Point 45

Delancey's Ancient Pine 51

The Woodland Mirror 55

TheTrout Pool «1

The River Glade 65

Inthe Woods 71

The Lorillard Mansion 75

B& Mabt'b Park— Northeast view .. 81

Southeast view 85

Northwest view 89*

East view 93

Cbotona Park— Entrance to Park— North view 99-

Entrance to Park— South view 103

The Grove 109

The Dell 113

Fblham Bay Park— From Peiham Bridge, looking southerly 119

From Prospect Hill, looking westward 125

From Hunter's Island, looking south 129

From Bartow's, looking south 135

From Hunter's Island, looking easterly 141

East Chester Bay, south of Peiham Bridge 147

View of Upland 153

Picnic Point 157

I'.

\

INTRODUCTION.

Tbe anttun* of the following pages has presented, in a oompaet form, a
eomprehensiye history of the movement which, initiated in 1881, resulted
in the enactment of a law that has added 8,840 acres to the park area of
the city. Although the bill creating six new parks and three parkways
was passed by the Legislature of 1884, the efforts by which the opponents
of the measure sought to defeat its enactment have been carried on with
more or less obstinacy ever since. In fact the experience of the men to
whom the city is indebted for the existence of Central Park has been
repeated in the present instance.

Having failed, after a bitter and protracted struggle, marked by most
adroit tactics, to defeat the bill during the session of 1.884, in which it passed
by a vote of twenty-one to two in the Senate and of seventy-four to
tWMity-one in the Assembly, its enemies renewed the contest before the
Governor. At the end of the thirty days allowed for Executive considera-
tion, however, he resolved to give it his approval, and, affixing his signature
thereto, it became a law on the 14th of June, 1884.

It might reasonably be supposed that the fierce and prolonged assaults on
the New Parks Act would have ceased after the passage of the bill, which
was fully discussed before the Cities' Committees of the Senate and
Assembly, in both branches of the Legislature and before the Governor;
but the attacks were kept up with unabated virulence and pertinacity even
after the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals on the
constitutionality of the law. and the reversal finally by the last tribunal of
the decision of the Special and General Terms of the Court of Common
Pleas on the Sinking Fund question. Nay, so far was this spirit of rancor-
ous opposition carried that one of the most conspicuous in the unrelenting
and at times unscrupulous warfare against the parks defiantly said that he
would so "tie them up" in litigation that the city would not be able to
obtain possession of them for years to come— if ever.

It mattered not to the enemies of the parks that the movement received
tibe indorsement and in many cases the active support of a large number
of public-spirited citizens, extracts from whose letters will be found in
anolhar part of this volume ; that it had the approval of a great part of

X INTRODUCTION.

the city press ; that the bill was not only passed by the Leji^islatare of I88i,
bat that the Legislatures of 1885 and 1886 rejected the proposition to repeal
the law ; that the insidious attempt to place the Real Estate Exchange in
opposition to the measure had signally failed—all this had no weight with
the opposition ; they had resolved at all hazards to have the act repealed,
even though it subjected the city to the intolerable burden of vexatious,
expensive and endless litigation. And so the war has been kept up to the
present moment in defiance of two decisions of the highest tribunals in
the State.

However, it is now fair to presume, after six years of public, legislative
and legal controversy ; after the Court of Appeals has declared that " thb

STATUTE ITSELF CONDEMNS AND APPROPRIATES FOR PUBLIC USB THE PRECISE
LANDS SELECTED BY METES AND BOUNDS SO THAT EVERY OWNER AFFECTED
HAD MEANS OF KNOWING THAT HIS LAND WAS TAKEN," that We have

reached the end of the fight, and that the work of the three citizsns com-
posing the Commission of Appraisal, whose characters are above reproach
and whose ability has not been called in question, will be allowed to prose-
cute their work to the end without further embarrassment or inter-
ruption.

The intimate personal connection of the author with the movement, from
its inception to the present moment* enables him to give from the minute
data in his possession all the details herein set forth, and for the accuracy
and correctness of which he holds himself responsible. It is this thorough
knowledge, not only of the facts and circumstances, but of the true pur-
poses of the movement and of the motives by which it was inspired, that
justifies him in saying that it was conceived in an earnest, sincere, honeit
and unselfish desire to promote the sanitary welfare of the people, to secure
to them opportunities for physical recreation and out-door exercise, and to
add to the prosperity and embellishment of our imperial metropolis, des-
tined within the next half century to be first among the cities of the world
in population and wealth, first in culture, magnificence and power.

Not only was this movement begun and carried on in a spirit of generous
devotion to the one great purpose, and with unfiagging energy all through
the varying fortunes of the struggle, but it was also prosecuted at great
sacrifice of time and labor, and with a total disregard of all personal
interests or selfish considerations. This much the author cannot refrain
from saying, injustice to all, who, having no personal interest at stake, took
part in the movement, and aided it by vote, or voice, or pen. But the cause
of the new parks is in a special degree indebted for its success to the generous
and sustained encouragement which its promoters and advocates received
from the New York Press, which of all its promoters and advocates was
throughout among the most earnest and steadfast.

Those who Imagine that the extension of the park area of our metropolis
at the present time is premature, should consider its rapid growth and
future destiny. There are to-day within our municipal limits at least
seventeen hundred thousand souls. The increase, therefore, since the
census of 1880 has been half a million, and, at this rate, our population at
the beginning of the twentieth century will be over three millions. This

INTRODUCTION. xi

rate of increase would give at least six millions in 1917, or nearly two
millions more than there are in the British metropolis.

Nor should this be a matter for surprise when we consider the progress and
growth of the whole country which more than trebles its population every
forty years. Thus, while in 1800 the number was 6.308,483; in 1840
it was 17,060,458; in 1810 it was 7,239,881 and in 18:0 23,191,876; in 1820 it
was 9.633,822 and in 1860 31.413,321; in 1830 it was 12,886,020 and in 1870
38,558.371 ; in 1840 it was 17,069,453 and in 1880 50.155,783. Within the last
forty years, although we have passed through a great civil war, this three-
fold increase was almost wholly maintained. To-day our population is
estimated at 6),0C0.000, and if the same rate is kept up there will be in our
Republic nearly two hundred millions of souls in the year 1927.

New York must grow with the growth, must keep pace with the
marvellous development of the whole country. Its public works must be
carried on upon a scale commensurate with the progress of a city which is
destined to be the world's capital, a city to which a continent contributes
of its abundant wealth and resources. That a marked impulse has recently
been imparted to its growth is evident from the activity in building opera-
tions during the past two or three years. The concentrated strength of
tens of thousands of laborers is working through the inexhaustible power
of the steam-drill, levelling the hills, piercing the rocks, preparing the way
for the potent power of dynamite; both doing their share in the beneficent
work of clearing the ground for human habitations.

And what may not the prolific future have in store for us ? When new
forces and new powers will be discovered in nature and new factors and
appliances to develop and utilize them invented by man— for it is not to be
presimied that this generation has wrested all her secrets from the one and
exhausted all the intellectual activity of the other — then New York may
flee marvellous scientific revelations in her workshops and her factories;
wonders of art in her museums and her homes; creations of beauty in
ecclesiastical architecture that may equal, if tbey do not surpass, the famed
basilicas and cathedrals of the Old World. By that time the steam engine
will in all probability be a thing of the past, with all its din and rattle and
sulphurous gases, and its place will be taken by the noiseless and safer, but
not less rapid, electric motor. What has been already accomplished enlarges
the field of future possibilities.

In less than two decades the East River has been spanned by the grandest
and most graceful structure of its kind in the world, the elevated roads
with a carrying capacity of three quarters of a million daily have been
oonstructad; the gigantic Statue of Liberty holding in her hand the torch of
the imprisoned lightning has been upraised over the waters of our glorious
harbor; our charities, our libraries, our museums and our institutions of
learning have been multiplied beyond all precedent.

For the New York of the future, for the great metropolis as it is to be,
the new parks nuiy well be regarded as inadequate, and it would seem to be
the part of a wise economy even now to make such provision for the still
farther enlargement of the area of our public grounds as will save the
dzpenditure of miUiona hereafter. It is no exaggeration to say that even

ZU INTRODUCTION.

with the sapposed generous appropriation of ipaoe noured by tha
proyi8i<niB of the act of 1884, the present park area will be as inimfflfilmt
to meet the demands of three millions of inhabitants at the dose of the
century as the Central Fkurk has proved to supply the present wants of
seventeen hundred thousand inhabitants.

In this view of the case we can appreciate the extent of the damage that
would have been inflicted on the city had the attempt to eliminate
Peiham Bay Park, so correctly called the '* Newport of the Toilen." been
suocessfuL Fortunately, however, two successive Legislatures and the
Court of Appeals prevented the perpetration of that desigpi, and this
Court has put the seal of inviolability upon the act by declaring, as has
been stated, that '* it condenms and appropriates for public use the predse
lands selected by metes and bounds.**

Whatever apathy or indifference may have heretofore prevailed on this
important question it is now reasonable to suppose that the success of the
movement to increase the park area of the city, as described in these pages,
will render it easy to enlist the public interest and support in behalf of like
efforts hereafter. This is a g^reat gain, for it will act as a much needed stimu-
lant in the prosecution of the work that still remains to be done in this
direction.

NEW YORK'S GRAND PARK DOMAIN.

THE SCENERY DESCRIBED AND

ILLUSTRATED.

The Sanitary and Financial Question Discussed,

THE COURT OF APPEALS DECLARES THE LAND "APPROPRIATED," "CON-
DEMNED," "TAKEN."

Although the question of the New Parks has now been before the pubUc
over six years, there has thus far been no consecutive narrative of the
movement by w^ch the great system of pleasure grounds beyond the Har-
lem has been secured for the people. The earnest interest manifested in its
pro^'ress during the long contest, which, in view of the final decision of the
highest tribunal of the State, must now be regarded as at an end. justifies
the publicaticn at this particular time of a connected account of the move,
ment from its inception, with a more detailed description of the new parks
than has yet appeared in print.

It is now evident that whatever expectations our opponents may have
entertained of the success of the anti-parks war, they have been effectually dis-
pelled by the many signal defeats which they sustained both in the Legisla-
ture and before the courts. The struggle, therefore, is virtually over and
the erroneous impressions which* even up to a very recent date, had existed
as to the effect of the decision of the Court of Appeals and the present status
of the parks have at last been removed. That court to which the question
of the constitutionality of the law was carried, after a favorable decision
by the General Term of the Supreme Ck)urt, declared, as wiU be seen from
the special reference to the subj ct in another part of this volume, that
"the statute itFelf condemns and appropriates for the public use the precise
lands selected by metes and bound?, so that every owner had means of
knowing that his land was taken.''*

The opponents of tho measure insisted that the movement was pre-
mature, but the rapid growth of the city since the first meeting of
the promoters and friends of the parks, which was held in the Fifth
Avenue Hotel on the 11th of November, 1881, proves that it was not
commenced a day too soon. Up to that year there had been, in this
important matter of public parks, a strange indifference not only to

16 THE NEW PARKS.

the future wants, bat even to the present needs of our population. We
have been far behind not only the great cities of Europe, but the principal
cities of the United States as to park area. Had the wise and generous
policy of De Witt Ghnton prevailed when, in 1807, he mapped out a plan
of parks for the Island of ManhatCan, there would be little if any necessity
for the creation of email parks, so greatly needed in the densely crowded
districts. If New York could be constructed anew, at least one-sixth of its
surface might be appropriated for squares and parks with marked advan-
tage not only to its health, but to its attractiveness and embellishment.

The park area which Governor Clinton laid out when the population of
New York was less than 100,000 gave a proportion of one acre to every 160
inhabitants. The aggregate was about 500 acres in addition to those
already established, and the total pirk area, south of 40th street, was
nearly .400 acres. Of one park, the largest, which contained over 300
acres, and which extended from 23d to 34th street, and from 8d to 7th
avenue, nothing is left but the 6)^ acres of Madison square; while of the
40 J acres, shown on Glinton^s map below 40 th street, only 66 remaixL To
purchase the bsdance of 334, which have been lost through the negligence
or indifference of the authorities of the city, to remove the buildings and
■to construct the parks, would now involve an outlay of at least one hun-
dred and fifty millions of dollars— probably two hundred millions.

De Witt Clinton's parks gave, as stated, an average of 6ne acre to every
160 inhabitants. Before the passage of the act of 1381 the park area of our
city was in the proportion of one acre to every 1,363 of the population,
while the park acreage of London was in the ratio of 1 to 203; of Paris, 1
to 13; of Vienna, 1 to 100; of DubUn, 1 to 183; of Chicago, 1 to 200; of St.
Louis, 1 to 167; of Boston, 1 to 190; and of San Francisco, 1 to 211.

THE NEWPORT OF NEW YORK'S TOILERS.

It is evident, therefore, as intimated, that the movement to increase our
park area was not commenced a day too soon, and that a wise policy
dictated the selection of a park with an extensive frontage on the Sound,
which if not secured at once could not probably be obtained twenty or
twenty-five years hence, if at all, for ten times the price which it will now
cost the city. This park embraces the most desirable portion of the terri-
tory on Pelbam Bay, including Pelham Neck and Hunter's Island. It will
be the favorite suburban resort of the mass of our population— the toilers
of the great city ; it will be their Newport. The majority of our feUow
citizens, happily, is not made up of the very rich and the very poor, but of
the industrial classes, who are fully able from their accumulated earnings
to afford many a day (and hereafter they are to have a half -holiday every
week) for healthful recreation and social pleasure in the country. Of the
tens of millionsof dollars in the savings banks of New York the greatest
portionbelongstothe thrifty and provident workers, and it is for such
that Pelham Bay Park, against which the great force of the opposition has
been directed, is specially required. It is really one of the most important

THE NEW^ PARKS. 19

of the whole system on account of its water front, and its importance and
value justify special reference to the advantages which it possesses.

As the seaside park, and within easy reach by rail and boat of our east
side population, its popularity will increase year by year. It is but ten
minutes by rail from the Harlem River and two miles nearer than Qlen
Island, and will be a specially attractive point for all the trade and benevo-
lent societies, for rowing and yachting clubs, for swimming matches, for
fishing parties ; and what place so admirably adapted for the many ezour-
mons which are organized by benevolent societies and individuals every
summer, and through which tens of thousands who could never otherwise
hope to spend a day in the country are enabled to enjoy that pleasure and
breathe the pure air of heaven?

The wealthy and generous philanthropists of New York who get up
summer excursions for the sick and poor of the metropolis could find
no better plcu^ for the purpose than Pelham Bay Park. A sail up the
Sound would be, in itself, a satisfying pleasure ; but how that pleasure
would be intensified, how immeasurably the gain in health of mind and
body would be increased by every hour spent in these tranquilizing scenes I
How the tired muscles would relax, the unquiet nerves grow calm, the
dimmed eyes brighten and the plodding step become elastic under the
potent spell exercised by the combined infiuences of sea and land and sky
possessed by this park in perfection. Space, beauty and variety I Closed
in on three sides by " water waUs," roofed by '* ttie brave overhanging
firmament," how could such a spot fail to bring health to the body and
peace to the mind ? And what a sanitarium could be there established I
The ever-moving panorama of the Sound, with its fieets of steamers and
sailing vessels, yachts and fishing boats ; the happy throngs of picnic
parties, the games of athletic clubs, the merry shouts of romping children,
would infuse such an element of joyousness into the surroundings as to
make simple rest in itself a recreation. No more desirable or suitable spot
could be selected for a sanitarium. But we should not look to the effect of
the parks on the health of the people only ; we should not overlook th»
subtle infiuence they will exercise on the manners, the morals, the imagina-
tion, the creative genius and artistic instincts of the population— an infiu-
ence not less real because intangible, not less valuable because it cannot be
reduced to dollars and cents. CJommunion with nature not only educates
the eye and refines the taste, but it softens the manners and elevates the
moral perceptions ; and, thanks to the size of the most important parks of
the system, our people can enjoy that communion to th9 fullest extent
undisturbed by city sights and sounds—** can mingle with the universe and
enjoy the charms of solitude to their hearths content. **

Let us by all means have small parks. We cannot have too many of
them; but we should not confine the denizens of our tenement districta
exclusively to the city squares. It is natural that they should long to get
into the country, away from the dust and din and stifling heats of their
crowded quarters in the city, away out of sight of its scorching pavements
and the noisome odor of filthy streets and reeking gutters. Surely the
great metropolis can afford to give to its hundreds of thousands of workers

^ THE l^BW PAEKa

a park by the Bound, where they can drink in new life and health in iti
refreshing, invigorating breezes.

WHAT THE HIGHEST TRIBUNALS IN THE STATE SAT OF PBLHAM

BAT PARK.

Within three years that part of Westchester CJounty in which Pelham
Bay Park is located will be annexed to New York. This territory was
included in the original bill of annexation, the present northern line having
been continued from the Bronx to the Sound, which is the proper eastern
limit of the city; but as objections were raised at the time the bill was
introduced in the Legislature it was decided to compromise by making the
Bronx the boundary.

By embracing this tract in the new park domain prior to the proposed
-extension of the northern line to the Sound the city has saved hundreds of
thousands if not millions of dollars on the purchase. It is evident that the
Supreme Court does not believe its acquisition is either premature or
undesirable. Referring to the objections raised by the opposition, that
tribunal, in its decision on the 1st of December, 1884, declaring the act
constitutional, said: " At most the appropriation of this land is but a short
step into the future, and as it must soon be required for this object, if it Is
not wholly so at present, the time for obtaining it has already arrived.
For the recreation and enjoyment of the present inhabitants of the city it
will be advantageous, for those who are soon to follow them it will be
indispensable, and to meet the present and prospective wants of the city
prudence requires that the property should now be obtained." The Court
of Appeals, to which the case was carried, also made this park the subject
of special reference, affirming the decision of the Supreme Court. *' We
must,'* said the hig^Aest tribunal in the State, '* assume what we can see Is
at least possible and perhaps probable that the lands over the border are so
near, so convenient of access, so likely to be overtaken and surrounded by
the city^s growth, so desirable for the health and recreation of the citizens,
and so cheaply to be got in comparison with the consequences of delay, as
to indicate a primary and predominant city purpose in a matter itself
within the ordinary range of municipal action.**

But it has been urged that the expense of the maintenance of Pelham
Bay Park will be a heavy burden on the taxjmyers of the city. Why
should it be ? If six or seven hundred thousand persons visit Qlen Island
every summer, and probably over thrice that number go to other resorts in
the vicinity of New York, is it not evident that a large revenue would
be derived by the city from the letting of privileges, the granting of leases
and licenses to those who would cater in a multiplicity of ways to the vast
throng of pleasure-seekers who would resort to the great park by the
Sound ? Much more than the interest on the bonds, which is 3 per cent.,
would be derived from this source. There is no better paying investm«>nt
than that in parks. The parks of London and Paris are among their chief
attractions, and all their largest pleasure grounds are miles beyond the
limits of those cities. The Fairmount of Philadelphia, which contains about
2,700 acres, is eight miles in length and over two in width. Before the

THE l^BW PARKS. 21

movmnent to increase our park area commenoed London had 15,000
acres and this has been increased to 22,000, one tract alone, the great
Bpping Forest, having an extent of 6,000 acres, or nearly one-half the area
of Manhattan Island. Of these 22,000 acres, 2,000 only are within the city
limits. How is it with Paris? Of its 172,000 acres, less than 500 are within
its boundaries.

The opposition by which Pelham Bay Park has been assailed is but a
repetition of the war waged against Central Park. The opponents of the
Central contended that the expense would bankrupt the city, that it would
become the resort of thieves and vagabonds, and they sent delegation after
delegation and petition on petition, remonstrance on remonstrance to the
State capital protesting against the passage of the bill; but, fortunately,
they did not succeed. They insisted that it was too far from the centre of
population and that the city would not grow up to it in half a century. It
is now about thirty years since the land was acquired and to-day it is
dwarfed by the city's marvelous growth and in a few years more it will
be divided into sections by the streets which must intersect It to facilitate
the traffic and travel east and west

▲ CONTRAST BBTWEBir THE CBNTRAIi AND THR NEW PARKS.

The costly experience of the city in the case of Central Park will not be
repeated, for, with the exception of some necessary roads and walks,
comparatively little work will be needed in the new pleasure grounds.
When Central Park was acquired it was one of the most uninviting sections
of the island, and a considerable portion of it had been used as dumping
grounds. As far back as 1860, four years after the land was paid for, one
of the daily papers said *' it was neither a park, a stone yard, nor a piece
of waste land, and that after three years labor and an expenditure
of millions of dollars New York is almost as parkless as ever.*' It
was simply a space for a park and tb? city had to make one and put it
there at a cost of $20,000 an acre, in addition to the six millions six hundred
and odd thousands paid for the land. The woods had to be planted, the
large tracts of marsh filled in, roads and walks constructed, and the
BO-oalled lakes made. In the accomplishment of this necessary work
fifteen years were consumed before it was ready for use.

All of the new parks, created by the act of 1884 are not only required for
Che future, but for the present, and when they are formally declared open
they will be thronged by tens of thousands of our population eager to enjoy
that pleasure of unrestricted use denied them in our beautiful, picturesque,
showy and artificial Central, which has never been in the true sense of the
term the people's playground. Too far from the city ! from a city advanc-
ing with gigantic strides to its predestined position, to the first place among
the capiteds of Christendom. If its progress during the last half century
furnishes a fair basis on which to estimate its future growth, then within
iSbe lifetinie of many who are still in their teens it will have a population of
seyen or eight millions.

MISAPPREHENSIONS AND MISSTATEBfENTS CORRECTED.

It Is to be regretted that th9 wo-k (»f the Commissioners of Appraisal

^^ THE NEW PARKS.

should be retarded by the persistent efforts to repeal tha law, and that a
measure so beneficent in its character should have been attacked with such
virulence that in one flagrant instance it was made the cause of a malicious
personal persecution. The misapprehension, in many cEises doubtless
honestly entertained by some of the opponents of the movement as to its
true character and the motives of its promoters, has at last, happily given
way to a proper appreciation of the project, and of its vast importance to
the sanitary welfare of the people, independent of the flnancial gain to the
city. As to the assertion so freely, so unjustly, made that the movement
for new parks was a land speculation, and that this charge was especially
true of Pelham Bay Park, the writer knows absolutely whereof he speaks
when he states that not one of the owners of that park knew that his land
was included in the area first indicated, and which embraced all
that was finally selected in the location of that magnificent
pleasure ground. It is proper also to say right here that the most
determined opposition to the selection of this particular park was made by
several of the owners of property within its limits, that these property
owners got up and forwarded petitions to the Legislature against the pas-
sage of the bill, that they employed counsel who appeared before the
Legislative Committee and Gk>vemor Cleveland and used every effort to
defeat its enactment There never was a movement of the kind in this or
any other city so wholly free from speculation of any descrip^iion. It was
conceived in the best and purest of motives, having in view the one great
object, the public good.

And now a few words in conclusion as to the financial question. On that
point it is sufficient at present to say that the city will have this splendid
park domain entirely free of cost ; that, as in the case of the Central,
more than the amount of the bonds and the 8 per cent, interest thereon
will be paid back into the city treasury from the increased tax income
on the enhanced value of the surrounding lands — yes, more than enough to
pay for the smaller down-town parks which are to be created under the act
just passed.

If, in a monarchical country, the opening of *' The People^s Palace,*'
which took place in London the other day, was made the occasion of a
royal pageant, and the dedication of an additional park area of 7,000
acres a few years ago was celebrated by the civic authorities of
that city, should we not celebrate with appropriate ceremonies the
opening of the people's parks next year by a grand municipal holiday ?

FINANCIAL OBJECTIONS ANSWBBED.

One of the principal objections to the new parks was the great expense,
whibh, it was contended, would seriously embarrass the city, if it did not
actually impair its credit It was urged that the expenditure of millions
for this purpose would put a stop to necessary public improvements; that
the money required for the parks was needed for increased school accommoi
dations; that a new aqueduct and reservoir should be commenced immedi-
ately; that the rapid growth and extension of the city necessitated the
construction of miles of additional streets and sewers; that three or four

(i-

26 THE I9EW PARKS.

in proportion to the advance. Had the 120 acres which make up the area
of Riverside and Momingside Parks been purchased at the rate paid for
those in the Central, those ribbons of land and rocky ledges, less than one-
half the area of which is available for park purposes, they would doubtless
have reimbursed the city for the outlay. But these strips cost $7,250,000,
or at the rate pf $60,000 an acre I Small chance there for a return on the
investment. It was a losing transaction from the start, and they will cost
three or four millions more before they are fully *' improved."

PABKS A PROFITABLK INVESTMENT— BOSTON'S BXPBBIBNCE.

The area of the new parks and parkways beyond the Harlem is 3,800
acres, or a little more than four times that of tiie Central, Riverside and
Momingside combined, and requiring no outlay further than may be nec-
essary for a few additional roads, they will cost much less than was paid
for the land alone within those parks. Five years hence they will be worth
more than double the price to be paid for them and the city will then
possess parks worthy of the name, parks fully furnished by Nature with
every element of beauty, hills and streams and trees, the product of
centuries.

As to the ability of the city to bear the additional burden imposed by
these parks, even were the returns inadequate to the outlay, a few facts
will satisfy the most skeptical. The interest on the Central Park bonds at
7 per cent, amounted to $466,200 a year, which was raised on taxable
values of from three to four hundred millions of dollars. The interest on
the new park bonds, fixed by the act of 1884 at 8 per cent, will not
amount to $300,000 a year, and this will be paid from the tax imposed on
an aggregate value of about fifteen hundred nulUons, which wUl be mate-
rially increased by the influence of the parks themselves in the enhancement
of the surrounding property. Will the weight imposed by this burden be
more intolerable than that borne by the city thirty years ago, when it was
obliged to pay almost double the amount of interest on one-fifth the present
amount of real and personal estate? But there is no "burden'* and the
word has no plaoo in this connection except tor the purposes of illustration.

It has been already stated that the experience of New York and other
cities proved that parks, financially considered, are a profitable investment.
Believing that like causes produced like results the writer entered, in the
early stage of the movement, into correspondence with the Commissioners of
Parks in the principal cities throughout the country with a view of securing
corroborative evidence on this impoitant point. In every inptance the im-
mediate effect was a marked appreciation of real estate fronting on and in
the immediate vicinity of the parks. Mr. W. Harmon, the Secretary of
the South Park Commission of Chicago, wrote that " the immediate effect
of their location was to double and quadruple property." The report for-
warded from the Boston Commission stated that the Back Bay Park, which
was given as an illustration, " is not a tax upon the city at large, but the
increased taxes from the surrounding property pays its cost. The increase
of values is upon land alone^ and does not include the buildings. The
valuation of the land in the rest of the city during the same time, 1877 to

^ L.

unl-Ii,All1i(,illu7li'.ilioil£-"

11. L((tw*M,Pfl#.ffnitIs MitLApr

• rtite.ftriiniiitiiuilct ^WiitKfiim^

a» TH£ 3SW PABKSL

Thft property- owiun, h o iP ai»ei, aaw tfaafe b^hwinc tbar Irnad

fito v^tie of cheir pcopsTtj . 0€ eontafr tiiar gzun. wonU ha^v
dr^^ji lOAB for, had. chey socceedsi, tfa» city wQalil have been.
fkifon^ the forms of law of largft cnctt whiciL iiad acqniRd tqgher rwibm
by flMfir ttppropriatioii for ciuB fpecial porpaae.

^ttheaehenweoald noC hare meaaded even, if tfa» bin bad paaed,
i»le» by colIoiiioiL between, tba rasbantiesaadcbifr property owmra^ which,
tmder the admiiuBtrasioa of the preKofi Xayor. woold nvrer ha^e been
tolerstofl if brought to his notices, it u certua that hal the hiH pnnnrd the
Leg^Saletore the promoters ami frandi c f the parks would have made known
to the Ooyemor its real desga, mn»L if neceaairy, they wcizld finally
iippeal to that Court which declared that *' the atatnta itself carmdoMu amd
appropriaUa for fke public use tkt prteisa lands xUcted b>j wutes and
btmiuiSf 9t> that kvzkt owxca affected had miearts of fcnowimg thai his
land tMW TAEEsr.*^

The icheme, if •occeBfoI, would faaTe cauaed still farther delay enu post-
pooed, by TezetkxB and costly litigmtun, the day when the people coold
€(Bler Into fall powcarion and enjoyment of their own property. Bat the
Htlgpation which has already takoi tens of thtTosarais of doUan oat of the
efty ftrMWory, and through which hundreds of thooaands of oor fellow citi-
2MM have been depriycd of the use of the new parks for more than a year
beyofvl the time Decessary to ascertain the Taloe ofthe Tarioos tracts— this
litlji(atk>Ti was one of the means by which the parks were to be so '^ tied op,"
tm waA deflantty threatened by an actiTe and prominent opponent, that the
people coald not enjoy th»n for many years, if ever.

WHY TrtJB WORK OV APFRATSKmrvr SHOULJ) BE VIGOROUSLY PBOSECUTZDi

It was an aadacions and an empty threat, bat the delay that has already
(ftctnt^ tfaroogh the contests in the . oarts on the constitationality of the
Jaw and in determining tbe sinking fond question is a reason why every
etffjftt should now be mad3 to have tbese parks placed, as the law provides,
awler the JPark Department at the earliest moment and thrown open im-
mediately thereafter to the people.

To the three gentlemen who constitute the Commission of Appraisal the
day that sees the termination of their labor will, there is no doubt, be
heartily welcome. They may literally be said to give their time and
i!fnpf*t\mice tm a gratuity to tbe city, for the compensation allowed by law
for their mrrvlces is a mere bagatelle to men of their means. To the chair-
man of tbe (k)mmis6ion, Hon. Luther R. Marsh, Tvho freely and generously
gave hlH time, bis talents, his legal services, to the promotion of the project
from the iitart, who threw on that side the weight and prestige of his per-
witinl and professional character, the city is especially indebted. And
Iti Mining this no injustice is done to others who effectively aided a measure
the fiif^rit and value cf which will ba appreciated more and more as tbe
)rpArH n II by,

Hut (;f all this more hereafter end in its pre per place. The matter is

THE NEW PABK8. 88

referred to at this time especially, as showing the necessity for expedition,
in justice to all concerned, to the people that they may have the parks at
the earliest day, to the city that it may get all the financial and other
advantages flowing from them, and to tiie Commissioners that no more of
their valuable time than is actually required for the completion of their
work is consumed.

As the vexed questions arising out of the contest for the parks-
one side endeavoring to hold them, the other determined to repeal the
law—are closed forever, a few details from the city^s records as to the
revenue obtained from the increased value of the land around the Central
Park before and after the acquisition of the various tracts, will prove of
special interest just now, when the question of advancing values in prop-
erty fronting on and contiguous to the new parks must necessarily attract
the attention of the public, of purchasers, and of officials charged with
the duty of assessing real estate.

SOML TELLING FACTS FROM THB HISTORY OF CENTRAL PARK.

In 1850, three years before the Central Park bill became a law, the
whole area of the 12th Ward, which a few years after was cut up into
the 12th, 19th and 22d Wards, was valued at $8,35C,265, and six years
after it was assessed on a valuation of $26,429,565, showing more than a
threefold increase. At this time 42d street, so far as population was con-
cerned, might be regarded as the limit of the city; all beyond, and in
fact some distance south of it, consisting of ** suburbs.^' It was in reality
out in the country; there were fields and orchards and gardens— in fact
the Central Park was as much in the country as Van Cortlandt and Pelham
Bay Parks — which are directly accessible by railroads that carry
the visitor not merely to the entrance, but right into the grounds. No
wonder if, under such circumstances, with a taxable value of less than
three hundred millions, some of the big property owners and taxpayers —
the Astors, the Goelets, etc.— should have taken alarm and raised a clamor
about bankrupting the city ; but the wonder is, that, with the experience
since acquired, such fears should now be entertained as to the expenditure
of an amount not one- fourth the whole cost of Central Park and all its
improvements.

Within the brief space of five years tbe taxable value of the three
Wards bounding the park advanced from $26,429,565 to $47,107,393, and
in 1866 it ran up to $80,070,415. To attribute this extraordinary rise in
ten years wholly to the increase of population would be absurd. That it
was partly due to that cause there can be no doubt, but the Central
Park had much more to do with it, and the boom that begun the year
the bill became a law continued for twenty years, wh^n the official figures
gave a total of nearly $250,030,030. Here was an increase little less than
tenfold from 1856 to 1876, far in advance of the growth of the popu-
lation, which showed much less than a twofold increase in the same time.
When it is understood that within this period we had the two great
financial revulsions of 1857 and 1873, the infiuence of Central Park in
the enhancement of values will be f uUv appreciated. And this impetus is

84 THE NEW PARKS.

rendered still more marked by contrant with the

rest of the city, which from l^CO to 1.S76 had gone up from $$l^

to |<Ki9,4.S2,ia9, very little more than a hundred per cent advanoet.

In view of these figures, in view of testimon j noless convin ^

conclusive as to the great and numerous a'l vantages derived from p«fc»fif
parks in other cities, can there be a reasonable doubt thatstmUar
will be reaped by the city and the people from the parks
beyond the Harlem, and which arc so admirably linked togetber bj
necting parkways as to form one beautiful and harmonious qrrtsm f la
the selection and purchase of proixsrty, whether fur inveslment or imme-
diate use, the lands adjacent to and in the vicinity of these open tpaomwOI
be preferred to those more distant One j sacisllod that the law oanaoi be
repealed— and it is now evident that any f urtluT attempt will not aoij be
futile but certain to entail heavy oxjicnM^ and 1ik« upon the city— the Atten-
tion of purchasers will be directed to the most d^irable pieces wlthla tUi
territory.

THE SINKlNij KrND AM> TUK I'lTY DKHT.

As to the financial cnndi'.ion of tho riiy, of wliioh the public has heard
so much of late, a few facts willdi^p^l (U^ (own t^xoiteii by alarmlifeiL
According to the Comptroilvr'M rop irt for l'<H> th« value of all awonribile
property was $l,4'J0,<.H>8,2St^ Of thin niuonut $l.V.HK{.l)41,(NV!» was in real,
$158,014,:^8 in pergonal ostato. and |M).01 J.M:) in bank »UK^k. UponfUi
the rate was 2.29, and tho t^tai taxo« o.'UiHMtiblo |i.\4Ul.550. ThegroH
debt— so called— as if thoro K\n\\x\ 1h> nnv (mo doN: v^thor than the net sum
for whir:h the city isUablo-w«^ on th.» :U«I of P,von»N»r. l!^S(J, $131,601,10a
The "gT'/w"' debt for the year lSS-\ x<,.*« |i PA*. 1 4\;!U, showing an increase
of |Si,4.0S,:;A whcreaR ther«» xKnn ivnllv a i>><Iuo(Uh\ of X\w debt in 1886
instuvl of an inrreaMo. Ki> much U^v <UU p.s>nlUi*mothiHlof keeping the
city a'yy^untx, and now for tht> <nit* *\m\^ o( \^o ^^'^h* Of tho ** gross" debt
for ISVi, l-'tt.OTT.KW.W tvnsi^tvsl of b.M»,U, UmiuM. »»=*id for and held by
the city until the day on trhii'h r\\A\ \^\^^\\^s^ \^\ ■%m«o i>a*vi many yean
away off in the futurp— whp« th.»x x< »U W» i'^mv-^U^*

The prucew of rea.«iMiing. \\\ « l^<i'U t»»»^»^ v^**^"^*=**** * Kmd* wi>re included
in the debt of the oity, wni «o? rt^^p^v^-^t^^^ ^^ **^** p»>%x«»or the busineiis
public, and the Court of lust 1'^%*^vr *« v^** ^x%-i\ ^U ih^ m\^^>iK^\* arguments
as worthless ami bnntghr th-» »<.^-»m, *^< «**>m.^>** •*«** ^mujufIvm down to
their bearings. Of \\\^ •' |in**«" doU* *•»» V^av U^.U i\» Uw value of |S8,-
2W.W5S.10 were held l^v tl^t* ^«»«\«« *m«'^ ^h^x*>u*vv%'( uuMHe^luwa which,
according to the dPi^Uion of t^.m" «^».^^ Ki«*^^t», a%xiiv*M*Kl ou the80thof
April. is^\ wen* im-m.-h.-^Hx »^.» ,m *^,»« •»-*«'-*»»• i^«» «*» i hat trlt»unal held,
"adebt ono<»|yi<d hi* xv^l^tUi^«».... ^*^ ^ o- ^» luiv »^«iiau bUab Caiiatiiui should

be refwteii t.Mn oi^«ov r •. • * i \" iiui .Kuvtum. .a- K*n^ which by re-

dempfiKVi i>»i e^.- > — c, ^ , i ... .^,.x» ua tho aiuouul of bonds In

the siukin^ uv^^ i\^ r^^ r» *^' -** * ••'^' »»■*•» *>.'^^^.^^^ ^^^ «'**^ actual debt of
the oitr TTT^* $»u :* V \\\ \' «»ii-.u .U'u . »k i,uUivtU»u \ii #7Ui,479.53 ontbe
debt «tate«\»»n? o«' t^-s* ■*•» * ** '*' '**^ **^ \%*i-^' oC o\ lU" two luiiliuiu.

In th^ n»pnnt^m.^ rx*,* ».»*.»\m» .^» »«i vU»» » U.\. «^-» iudu-aifd bv ih^« reocipli of

THE NEW PARKS. 87

the sinking fund, steadily increased. In 1880 they amounted to $4,951,«
237.04, and in 1886 to $8,7:7.435.47, an increase at the rate of $629,366 a
year ; so that the total amount from and including 1880 to and including
1886, a period of seven years, reached the aggregate of $48,592,241.6), or
more than one-half the true debt, and sufficient to pay for the parks five
times over.

The last tax estimate values the total assessible real estate at $1,208,-
941,065, and as the city, under the constitutional amendment, can issue
bonds to the amount of 10 per cent, of this sum, its debt is at present
$27,087,961 below the limit; so that this amount is all available for public
improvements if required. The future, of course, is provided for from the
same sources, and if the sinking fund should grow with the years, in five
years more its accumulating revenues will reach the Jiandsoms total of
$53,077,625. And as the fund increases the ascending scale of real estate
values will by 1893, in all probability, have reached the grand aggregate
of $1,400,000,030, or probably nearer $1,450 000,000.

It is evident from this estimate that there will hs within the time speci-
fied—by the year 1893— ample means, not only to pay for the land within
the parks, even if the law did not provide for its purchase by the issue of
bonds, but sufficient for the construction of the new Croton aqueduct and
dam, for new school houses, new docks and other public improvements.
All this could be done with the $53,077,625 which will be paid into the
sinking fund fr6m the increasing income of the next five years, and with-
out the addition of a single dollar to €he yearly tax budget.

THE NEW YORK OF THE FUTURE.

Nor is this an overestimate, if we take into account the marvelous
growth of our population, which to all appearances is increasing at the
rate of 6 per cent a year, as in the decades from 1800 to 1810, from 1830 to
1830, from 1810 to 1850, and from 1850 to 1860. Should the present accel-
erated speed continue till 1890, we shall have in that year over 1,903,030
inhabitants in New York, and this rate of increase gives us at present a
population of at least 1,700,000. By the close of the century there will, if this
progress is maintained, be 3,000,030 souls within our city limits. Who
can then say that we exceeded the bDunds when we insisted at the
commencement of the park movement in 1881 in appropriating not only
the large tracts within the city limits, but the park by the Sound ? Had we
laid out 6,000 acres instead of 3,8u0, the area would still be inadequate
before the end of the present century. Calling the attention of the public
nearly six years ago to the necessity of making ample provision in advance
by taking the most desirable and suitable sites the writer referred to this
marvelous growth of our population, and said that this country must exercise
a vast, a controlling influence on the civilization, the policy, the commerce of
the world, and the great metropolis, the commercial capital of the nation,
must be the financial centre around which the business interests of the
whole continent shall revolve; that London will no longer hold the balance
of power in the monetary world, and Lombard street and the Bourse will
be governed in their movements by the Wall street barometer.

88 THE NEW PARKS.

The New York of the fatare will be not only to the New, but to the Old
World as well, what London and Paris are to Europe— the great centre of
capital, commerce and enterprise, the arbiter of taste and fashion, th»
magnet to attract travelers from t he ends of the earth. Here the wealth of a
continent will find profitable fields for investment; here art and genios will
discover new forms of expression ; here invention will lighten labor, and
liberty will dignify toil; here, too, wealth will find its noblest work
in erecting homes and asylums for those who have been wounded in the
battle of life, and its most graceful use in founding institutions wherein might
be stored the products of the brain power of the world, whether in printed
volumes or illuminated manuscript?, in speaking canvas or in sculptured
marble; such institutions as the Astor and Lenox libraries. Cooper Insti-
tute and the Museum of Art.

Standing midway in the paths of commerce and trade between Europe
and Asia, between the active civilization of the one and the long dormant
but awakening civilization of the other, the most vivid imagination might
well shrink from foreshadowing the future of our imperial city. Nothing
can impede or delay its progress but the apathy or indifference of its
citizens; nothing impart to it such an impetus as their active interest in
every project designed to extend its boundaries and increase its attractive-
ness. Apprehensions of the decline of trade or the loss of this or that branch
of business from competition with rival cities may alarm timid minds, but the
true policy is to make our metropolis so invitiug that it will bring not only
pleasure seekers but profit seekers to enjoy its advantages and participate
in its pleasures. The New York for which we are now to provide is a city
whose population will, within the present century, surge in great waves up
to the northern and eastern boundary lines and into Westchester county.
In the next quarter of a century the new parks will be as inadequate to the
demands of the future as the Central Park is to meet the requirements of
the present.

THE REMEDY FOR A GREAT EVIL.

Heference has been made to the opportunity afforded our wealthy citizens
by the great park on the Sound for the exercise of their benevolence in
providiiig free summer excursions for the poor and infirm, for helpless
age, the children of our orphan asjlums and the inmates of similar institu-
tions. There is no enterprise of a charitable or benevolent character more
deserving of sympathy and substantial aid than the '* Fresh Air Fund,"
and where can fresh air be found in greater abundance than in the invig-
orating breezes that blow over Pelham Bay Park from the purifying waters
of the Bound. Were it possible to transplant the hundreds of thousands of
toilers from the sweltering, suffocating, poison-laden atmosphere of the long
miles of Ceaement houses to this great reservoir and bathe them in its
refreshing air and water during the Saturday half- holiday of each week,
there would be a decline in the death rate and a marked reduction in the
bills of mortality.

It is to be hoped that the creation of small parks in the densely-packed
sections of the city will not result in still more densely packing the huge»

THE NEW PARKS. 41

OYorcrowded, surrounding buildings, where the death rate is so largely in
excess of that in other parts of the city. Some twenty years ago the Board
of Health suggested that the only absolute remedy for this gpi'eat evil was
the removal ** of the overcrowded population to the neighboring county,
where cheaper and better dwellings can be procured. This,'Mt was said,
*^ could not be done until means are provided by which the laboring popu-
lation can return to their work expeditiously and at little expense.'* Of
course the dispersion of hundreds of thousands living in tenement houses can
only be accomplished in time and by other than compulsory means. One
of the most effectual of these is the extension of the business area of the
city, its encroachment on the residential portion and the consequent
displacement of the occupants and their removal to other parts. Another
is the strict enforcement of the law limiting the number of persons to each
house and prescribing the dimensions of the apartments. But the most
effectual, not only for the sanitary welfare, but for the moral well-being of
the people, is a change of locality, pure air and more commodious dwellings.
To effect the purpose for which they are designed the creation of small
parks should be accompanied by a revolution in the tenement house system.
Otherwise the killing economy of space, fatal alike to health and morals,
may go on increasing, and what was intended as a blessing may prove a
curse. However, as the chances are largely in favor of the proposed
and desired improvement the sooner it is carried into operation the better,
and it is to be hoped tha*: as the necessary power is conferred by the law
there will be within the next five years many small pai ks located and ready
for US8 in the most populous and the most unhealthy districts.

But what a pity it is that several years must elapse before the people for
whose recreation the small parks law was enacted can have the benefit of
them. The structures which now encumber the ground must be removed,
the vacant spaces filled in with new earth, the grounds laid out and the
trees planted— a work which will involve, in addition to the cost of the
buildings, a heavy expense. Nothing of this will be requirei in the
case of the new pirks in the northern half of the city, which are even
now ready for occupation.

THE TENEMENT HOUSE PROBLEM.

The costly experience which the city has acquired on this vitally important
tenement house question should suggest some practical means of preventing
the same evils in the 2jd and 24th Wards, the area of which is about equal
in extent to the twenty-two wards south of the Harlem River. As New
York has now not more than one fifth or one-sixth of the population which
will hereafter reside within its limits the legislation necessary to secure and
preserve the requisite sanitary regulations as to dwelling space for the
millic 0!t to come cannot be provided too soon. There is a large area yet to
be occupied, and on this area millions are to live. Shall they be packed at
the rate of 276,480 human beings to the equare mile, as they are to-day in
the 10th Ward; or, at the average of 225,280 to the same area, as in the
10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th Wards.

But the worst of this packing business is not told, the climax is only^

42 THE NEW PARKS.

reached whea we ascertain from the census of 18 S3 that thjre were in these
wards sections or blocks in which the average of pDpulation to the square
mile was, incredible as it may appear, 539,713. These are the fields from
which Death gathers his most prolific harvests; here infants and children
** fall like com before the reaper ;^' here the slaughter of the innocents goes
on from day to day and from year to year unchecked and almost unnoticed.
Space, air, salubrious and commodious habitations, parks, the lungs of
cities— these are the essentials to health and strength, to mental as well as
physical vigor and power. More laws to regulate and secure the essential
sanitary conditions, the proper distribution of space in the erection of
buildings, should be enacted at the earliest day possible, in order to prevent
the perpetuation and extension of the fatal tenement house system over the
yet unoccupied territory. New York should be built hereafter along the
ground, not into the sky; outward, not upward. In the sx>ace thus far occu-
pied by thousands of dwellings there is only room, under proper sanitary
conditions, for half the number.

NEW YOBK*S PACKED POPULATION.

The last census presented a striking contrast between New Tork and other
cities in the proportion of inhabitants to the area occupied. In 1880 the
population of our city was 1,206,299, who lived in 73,684 dwellings, an
average of 16>^ to each house. Brooklyn had a papulation of 566,663 in
62,233 dwellings, an average of about 9; and Philadelphia 847,170 living in
146,412, or an average of 6 to a house. Thus the great city on the Delaware,
with a little more than two-thirds the population of the great city on the
Hudson, had double the number of dwellings. No wonder if such unhealthy
localities as those on the east and parts of the west side of the city, where
the huge tenement houses, four, five and six stories high, extending for
miles and miles along the avenues and streets and looming up in unsunned
lanes and alleys, swell the death-rate of the city far beyond the mortality
of other sections. Pure air is as essential to the healthy growth and
development of a people as the food they eat. Pack them into boxes, not
room;), and their growth physically, mentally and morally will be stunted.

As far back as October, 1881, when earnestly urging on the New York
public the pressing necessity for an increase ot the park area of the city by
the selection of suitable sites in the 23d and 24th Wards and the adjacent
section of Westchester county, the writer referred to the opportunity
which would be presented by rapid transit for the distribution of the denizens
of the tenement house district, and their transfer to the healthier localities
beyond the Harlem. * ' Here,^' he then said, * ' land can be had at reasonable
prices, and dwellings fib for human beings can be built and rented at moderate
rates. Here, along the lines of rapid transit, will eventually be gathered by
tens of thousands the workers of the great metropolis, no longer cooped up in
wretched, foul and disease-laden tenements— living tomb^ of the toiling
masses. Here there will be no packing into close, narrow, pest-breeding
apartments, but neat, commodious cottages free from that mental and
physical contamination which U the curse of o^er-crowded cities. Rapid
transit furnishes the most practical solution of the tenement-house problem*

THE NEW PARKS. 48

and it is safe to say that the promiie of such a system as will meet all
requirements is near its fulfilment.'*

THE RAPID TRANSIT QUESTION.

Many of the difficulties which heretofore interfered with the practical
solution of this vexed question no longer exist; they have been removed by
the system of rapid transit, which, although not as perfect as could be
wished, will eventually furnish all the facilities of transportation necessary
to enable a large portion of the working classes to secure homes in healthier
localities and yet be placed, in point of time, within convenient reach of
their workshops, factories, stores and other places of business. For those
who are obliged to remain there will be less crowding, consequently
healthier dwellings; and when they can g^ve a day to recreation in the
country or desire to spend their half holiday in the large parks, the improved
facilities of transit will enable them to do so in a half hour at the utmost.
As yet rapid transit is only in its infancy, the present structures to
a certain extent experimental and destined in the near future to give way
to an improved system. The inventive genius of our people, so prolific in
resources, will prove equal to the demands made upon it, and as the old
stage coach gave way to the lightning express, and as the time of the
surface car has been reduced one-half by the elevated railroad train, so
the speed of the latter will be doubled to meet the public demand.

Who will say that in the near future some, as yet undiscovered, force,
acting tiirough new mechanical appliances, will not treble the rate oi! speed
with which one hundred and twenty millions a year are at present
carried over our elevated railroads. It is not yet ten years since these
roads were opened to travel, and so absolutely indispensable have they
become to the public that one week's suspension of the various lines would
literally paralyze business. Without them the parks would be much less
accessible; with them the great pleasure grounds can be reached in less
than an hour from the most distant parts of the city, and when we have
through travel and express trains this time can be reduced one-half.
They will be nearer to the great mass of our population than was Central
Park before the elevated railways were constructed and they will be what
Central has never been— the play grounds of the people. Moreover, they
will be a potent factor in keeping our population within our own borders
and in bring^g back tens of thousands who have been induced by the
superior facilities of transit presented beyond the city limits to seek dwellings
in New Jersey, Long Island and elsewhere. To this cause may be ascribed
in imrt the marked increase of population in these localities since the last
census.

The statistics of travel along all the lines — surface and elevated — may
well excite surprise. The extraordinary increase of business on the latter
evidently far exceeded the calculations of the companies themselves, and
after a few years they were obliged to employ more powerful motors, to
run longer trains and to reduce the time between them. If the following
table could be taken as a basis of calculation the population of the city

44 THE NEW PARKS.

must have doubled within the last ten years, and w\ have, instead of
seventeen hundred thousand, two millions of inhabitants:

Elevated R. R. Horse Railways Total.

1877 8,011,86-^ 160,9^4,436 163,986,298

1878 9,291,319 im952,832 170,244.151

.1879 46,045,181 142,088,88' 188,088,662

1880 60,881,757 150,390,692 2lt,2->2,349

1881 76,585,778 146,060,808 221,6^6,586

1882 86,861,029 166.510,617 252,871,646

1888 92,124,948 175,994.623 268,107,782

1884 98.702,620 187,413,24? 284,115,862

1886 103,854,726 191,165,085 294 625,764

1886 116,109,691 204,813,288 819,422,839

An inspection of these flf^u'es and a comparison of the number of passen-
gers carried by the horae cars and the elevated trains show that while there
was a falling off in the horse car travel during 1879, 1880 and 1881, the lost
business was recovered in 1882, '3, '4, '5 and '6, and largely augmented — the
travel of 1886 over 1878 being more than 25 per cent. This would indicate,
if the figures were accepted as a correct basis for estimate, a corresponding
increase in the population, and adding thereto the increase of travel by the
elevated roads from 1878 to 1886— about 106,003,030— we should have, as
stated, nearly two millions of inhabitants at present in New York. But we
cannot rely for accurate estimates upon these statistics, for it is a well-
established fact that as the facilities and accommodations for transporta-
tion are improved an increased business follows, independent of the growth
of population. It is in this case, as in every other — ^improved methods beget
an increased demand.

ACCESS TO THE NEW PABKS.

Particular reference is made to this question of rapid transit as it has a
special interest in relation to the new parks. In conneclion with the
progress of the city northward it is a matter of great importance. Within
a year the elevated road on Third avenue beyond the Harlem will have
been constructed as far as its terminus on the Bronx, and probably in less
than five years the various lines comprising the suburban rapid transit
system will be finished. The Harlem River improvement will g^ve a decided
impetus to the development, and growth of our two most northern wards
and to the adjacent portions of Westchester county, outside of the city
now, but certain in two or three years to be annexed ; and these wards
will have a population of halt a million by the time that improvement
is completed. While it is in progress new lines of travel will be opened,
new routes to the parks constructed, and the annexed district, so
called, will be traversed by as many means of transit as th9 other half
of New Tork below the Harlem. To Van Cortlandb Park there will be,
besides the northern road, branches from the Harlem and the Hudson
River, while the Bronx Park will be no less liberally supplied with means
of access, and the grand outlying park, the indented shores of which extend
in many curved and graceful lines a distanca of nine miles, will be no less
generously provided with tributary transit roads. There will be no lack
of means of transportation when the new park territory is opened
throughout its whole length and breadth The necessary facilities will be

THE NEW PARKS. 47

ready, are in fact ready now and only waiting the moment when the
lands shall be declared free to the public.

When that announcement is made the people will be at liberty to
wander over the green fields, up the grassy slopes, through the shady
woods, free from the restraints imposed on th3 visitors to the Central.
There they will not ba confined to dusty roads and asphaltum walks, but
can en joy themselves in picnics in the groves, athletic exercises on the
broad meadows, games of croquet, base-ball, tennis, polo or lacrosse, or
such other recreation or exercise as they fancy. Already eager thousands
throng every Sunday up to the very borders of the parks, gazing with
wistful eyes on the tempting scanes, and, when not stopped by the owners,
passing through the gates, or over the fences into the appropriated grounds.
The elevated roads during the summer season, and even into the fall,
carry tens of thousands into the new wards which are already known by
thedistinctive title of the park district; and these are but the precursors
of the greater multitude that will follow when all is accomplished — the
bonds issued, the Park Department in control and the people in acknowl-
edged possession.

Last year and the year previous there were unmistakable indications of the
impatient desire of the public to enjoy these great pleasure grounds. In some
instances the visitors denied the right of the occupants to exclude them,
forced their way in and insisted that as the lands were public parks they
had a right to remain.

THE PARADE OROUND AND POPULAR RECREATIONS.

In Van Cortlandt, Bronx and Pelham Bay Parks there have been
regular picnic parties, although in portions of Pelham Park prohibitory
notices warn trespassers off the land. In Van Ck>rtlandt Park curlers and
skaters have, through the courtesy of the proprietor, free use of the lake in
the winter, and the military are to be accorded the privilege next fall of
using the hundred and twenty acres which have been set apart for a parade
ground, without awaiting the report of the Ck>mmissioners, or its confirma-
tion by the Supreme Court. And what a magnificent parade ground that
level sweep of 120 acres will make! What Champs de Mars is framed in
scenery so exquisite ? On the west of it, and overlooking Broadway, rises
the picturesque range of hills, which form the eastern bank of the Hudson,
while on the other side the magnificent Palisades bound the norizon.
Away to the south is the valley of the Harlem, spanned by the high arches
upholding the tunnel which carries to the great city nearly a hundred mil-
lion gallons of pure water daily. To the north are the wooded hilLi of the
park, and beyond its limit, which is coterminous with the city line, are
to be seen from these hills glimjises of the Hudson and some of the finest
views to be found along the whole course of our American Rhine. A few
hundred yards to the east of the inclosed tract is a sylvan lake covering an
extent of fifty acres, which can be enlarged to eighty, and which is supplied
by the ever-flowing Mosholu and natural springs.

Besides the opportunity the parks afford for recreation and healthful
exercise, there are many varied features that can be introduced hereafter

48 THE NEW PARKS.

which will be appreciated by visitors— many uses to which they can b&
legitimately put and which would materially increase the revenues of the
binking Fund, and thus directly contributs towards the eztmction of ihe
municipal debt.

Capital and enterprise combined will be quick to find in such features
profitable investment, and pay liberally for the privileges and grants
which they may secure from the city. Every month, therefore, that the
people are deprived of these benefits is so much lost to the municipal treasury.

A PERMANENT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION.

One of the most valuable, one of the most important, and doubtless one
of the most popular attractions that could be engrafted on the parks, would
be a permanent industrial exhibition, for which buildings should be erected
in a style and on a scale commensurate with the character of the enter-
prise. Such a work, if properly organized, could be made to subserve the
industrial interests of the whole country, and be to the useful what galleries
of painting and sculpture are to the fine arts.

The value of an institution of this character can hardly be overestimated,
not merely as an instructor of the people, but as aflfording an opportunity
of presenting on a grand and comprehensive scale the progress of the
mechanic arts throughout the world, and especially as demonstrated in the
products of American genius. Classified according to the States which
have contributed to the development and perfection of this or that inven-
tion, the many labor-saving machines, and the multiplied and varied
applications of mechanical power, whether used in manufactures or in
commerce, in supplying human wants or facilitating travel and transporta-
tion — such an exhibition would practically illustrate the progress of
material civilization, and present in a historical form the vaiious stages in
each particular case from the earliest and crudest efforts to the latest
improvement, or the perfected machine. A large portion of the necessary
material could be duplicated from the Patent Office at Washington, but the
arrangement and classification in chronological order would be a task
requiring for its successful accomplishment the highest qualifications and
the ripest experience.

An exhibition of this character on Hunter's Island, in Pelham Park, would
constitute one of the most attractive features in the multiplying attractions
of our cosmopolitan city. There is no tract in all the new park domain so
well adapted for the purpose. The scenery is picturesque in the highest
degree, and it possesses what the Sydenham Exhibition lacks, an outlook
over one of the most beautiful sheets of water in the world.

As to capital, there U an abundance in New York for the promotion of
such a work, but the enterprise could justly appeal to the whole country, and
if carried out on the plan indicated it would necesdarily embrace every sec-
tion and include every State. The objection as to distance is without
force, for the means of access furnished by the Portchester and Harlem
road, which runs through the park, in which it has even now three stations,
and by the great fieet of steamboats ready for the task, would meet all
demands.

THE NEW PARKS. 49

A DIVERSIFIED PARK SYSTEM.

The visitor to the three great parks caaaot fail to observe the st. iking
contrast presented by their topography. It is doubtful, indeed, if viithin
an equal area anywhere in the United States such wide diversity could bj
found. The sites selected differ in a marked degree from one another, and
in this difference is to be found the particular charms of each. Our metrop-
olis has been especially favored in this respect, probably beyond any other
capital in the world. So rapid has been its development and growth that
had the movement through which these lands have been secured been
delayed for ten or fifteen years this magnificent park domain would never
have been acquired.

It is certain that if the precise tracts, located under the authority con-
ferred by the act of 1883 and taken by the act of 18S^, could be purchased
fifteen years hence they could not be obtained for quadruple the price
which the city will pay for them when the Conmiisioners of Appraisal
have determined their value.

It has been said that they are natural parks; but this, after all, does not
convey an adequate idea of their character as public pleasure grounds,
though it is of much importance to the city when the question of expense is
considered. It is a great matter certainly when it is understood that the
Central is a wholly artificial affair ; that it has been literally manufactured at
a cost of over twenty thousand dolUfs an acre, and that any expense beyond
that required for the laying out and construction of a few roads and walks
will be wholly unnecessary in the case of the new parks. And this is a subject
of no small account— in point of fact it is a question of millions, for within
the tracts appropriated are lakes and streams and hills and rocks and
meadows and glades and woods, the growth of centuries— in a word, all the
natural features necessary to constitute a park, and many of which, as in
the case of the Central, could only be furnished at an enormous cost. But
there is one thing which no amount of money could create— the natural
beauties of the sites selected, and which will be found on inspection to
justify all that has been said in their praise.

ABBA OF PARES AND PARKWAYS.

It is now nearly six years since the writer, as stated elsewhere, ccdled
public attention in a series of articles to the immediate necessity of securing
at least four or five thousand acres of land in the annexed district and the
adjacent territory of Westchester County, and the location of which he
indicated on an accompanying map. Referring to the two great parks
since taken under the act of 1881, he alluded to the difference in the topo-
graphy as one of the great advantages ta be secured in the location of the
sites at the points selected. It was then urged as an essential feature of
the system that the ** two great suburban parks might be connected by one
or more grand boulevards, which should be included in the general plan.'*

At that time it was hoped that when the importance of the subject was
fully appreciated and the deficiency of New Tork in the matter of parks
was thoroughly imderstood, a movement in favor of the addition of at
least four thousand acres would meet wi'h p jpular encouragement and sup-

50 THE NEW PARKS.

port. The result of the purk moveocent proved that the confidence felt in
the approval of the public was not unfounded. The area acquired under
the act of 18S4 was 3,848 39-103 acres, which were distributed as follows :

Ap.fftg

Van Cortlandt Park 1,06965-100

Bronx Park 653

Pelham Bay Park 1,740

Crotona Park 135 34-100

St. Mary's Park 25 35-100

Claremont Park 38 05-100

Mosholu Parkway 80

Bronx and Pelham Parkway 9u

Crotona Parkway '. . 12

Total 8,848 89-100

Added to the parks already established, this gives a total of about 5,000
acres.

VAN CORTLANDT PARK, PARADE GROUND AND RIFLE RANGE.

Of the area embraced in the new parks and parkways beyond the Harlem,
the tract of 1,069 acres included in the Van Cortlandt Park possesses in the
picturesque bsauty of the surrounding country, as well as in its diversified
smrface, a rare combination of all that is essential to a great suburban plea-
sure ground. Lying midway between the Hudson and the Bronx its great-
est width is a mile and three-quarters, while at its narrowest part it is about
a mile across, and its extreme length two and a-quarter miles. Of its area,
40 acres are highly improved and cultivated garden spots, 400 are in wood,
and 450 in meadow. Of the meadow land, 120 acres are so uniformly level,
that they can, at a comparatively moderate cost, be converted into a mag-
nificent parade ground. Probably there is not within the city limits a more
suitable or a more valuable tract for this purpose.

Reference was made to the subject of a parade ground, but as the alia-
gion was necessarily brief, the importance of this feature in the park, the
extent which it covers, and the fact that it will not be exclusively devoted
to the use of the National Guard, justifies more than a passing notice.

Our National Guard have for years been dependent on the courtesy of the
Brooklyn authorities on the occasion of special parades, and they will have
now, for th<) first time in the history of the First Division, a space sufficient
for tiieir proper education and training in the practical duties of the citizen
soldier. Heretoforeevery effort to secure a suitable tract has failed. The
Legislature has been af^ealed to again and again, and when at length, after
years of unavailing effort, an act was passed condemning a piece of land of
somewhat limited area; the law was repealed, and the city was involved in
tedious and expensive litigation— a specimen of the sagacity by which its
interests are protected. It has lost the land, and it has spent tens of thou-
sands of dollars to no purpose. When the Central Park was under consider-
ation, it was supposed that a portion of the ground would be set apart for
the use of the military, although it was not certain that any direct pledge
was made to that effect. Whatever hopes were then entertained by the
National Guard that their wants would be provided for have been rudely
dispelled by the fierce opposition made to the attempt to secure by legislation
the temporary use of a particular tract in the park. Without entering into

THE NEW PARKS. 58

the merits of the controversy, it most be admitted that the city should long
ago have acknowledged and made ample provision to enable them to ac-
quire that degree of efficiency so essential to the proper discharge of the
duties of the service in which they are enlisted, and to which they freely
^ive their time without compensation or reward.

Hereafter there can be no controvery as to a parade c:round, for the
right of the National Guard to the use of the 120 acres for this purpose, and
as ** a camp and drill ground,^' is fully provided for in section 6 of the act.
Not only has a parade ground been located in this park, but ** a rifle range
to be used for rifle and target practice: said parade ground and rifle range
to be used by the First Division of the National Guard of the State of New
York when required by the commanding officer of such Division.'*

This is certainly explicit enough, and moreover the Park Department is
directed within three months after it shall have obtained control to
lay out the parade ground in the portion of the pcurk designated for the
purpose. Of the rifle range, which is to the east of the Mosholu and at the
termination of whif'h is a natural butt of rocks, it is enough to say that it
is no less adapted to the use to which it is to be applied, and will require
little outlay for its improvement. It extends along the valley to a length
of twelve or fourteen hundred yards and the overlooking hill along whicli
runs the old aqueduct affords an excellent view of the entire range.

GENEROUS PROVISION FOR OUR NATIONAL GUARD.

It is, of course, desirable that the preliminary work of the Commission
shall be got out of the way as soon as possible; but in the meantime the
present owner of the property has courteously placed the tract appropriated
for the parade ground at the service of the Division, and will put it in
proper condition so that it can be used next September or October, as the
officers may decide.

As the parade ground will only be occupied on certain days by the
National Guard it will be free at all other times to athletic and other clubs,
and during the appropriate seasons it will doubtless be in constant demand.
There need, however, be no crowding, for there is " ample room and verge
enough " for base ball, polo, lacrosse and all kinds of physical recreation
and exercise, and should it in time be found insufficient to meet all the
demands that may be made upon it, abundance of space can be had in the
broad meadows of Pelham Bay Park.

The opportunity afforded by this extensive parade ground, which has
twice the area of that attached to the Prospect Park, of Brooklyn, for
military exercise on a scale unprecedented in this city or its vicinity will
attract tens of thousands of spectators on special occasions. Here it will be
possible to manoeuvre as many as ten thousand men of all arms, and their
movements can be witnessed by over a hundred thousand spectators from
the hills which bound and overlook the northern extremity of this extended
plain, while from the heights boyond the westerly side of the park double
that number can see the brilliant spectacle, as infantry, cavalry and
artiUery go through their exercises or are arrayed in mimio battle.

54 THE NEW PARK3.

REVOLUTIONARY REMINISCENCES.

From the commanding eminence known ns Vault Hill, and which has an
elevation of over a hundred feet above the parade ground, an extended
view of the park is presented on every side. On its summit is the ceme-
tery from which it has obtained its name. Within the walled inclosure
are the vaults in which repose the remains of several members of the his-
toric family who are still in occupation of the property and from whose
keeping it will pass, before the close of another year, into the possession of
the city with all the land now and hereafter to be known as Van Cortlandt
Park, the title conferred upon it by legislative enactment But the vaults
served another pm'pose than that of a place of interment, for in February,
1776, the Augustus Van Ck)rtlandt of that day, who held the office of
"Clerk of New York," reported to the Ck)mmittee of Safety that for their
security he had ** removed the public records to Yonkers," and as the safest
place of deposit they were secreted there, but it is supposed that they were
subsequently found by the British when- in occupation of this part of the
park and returned to the city.

This portion of the park is rich in revolutionary reminiscences and may
well be regarded as an object of special interest. Indeed this whole sec-
tion of the city and its vicinity, forming the 23d and 21th Wards and the
town of Yonkers, as well as the territorv stretching beyond the Bronx and
over to the Sound, witnessed many a scene of fierce < ncounter and san-
guinary strife, and every acre of it may be truly said to have been trav-
ersed and fought over by the contending forces. From Vault Hill to Kings-
bridge the tide of war ebbed to and fro with varying success throughout
the long seven years* struggle.

THE ANCIENT MANSION AND MILL.

The ruse de gtierre by which in 1781 Washington deceived the British
enemy lying at Kingsbridge while he withdrew his army to Yorktown,
was planned and successfully carried out on this memorable spot. On the
summit and along the slopes of Vault Hill he lighted illusive camp fires
and ostentatiously displayed the few remaining troops, while the great
body of his forces were on the march, under his immediate command, to
join Lafayette at Yorktown, where British supremacy received its death
blow. When in 1783, at the close of the war, Washington revisited this
place, he made his headquarters in the Van Ck>rtlandt mansion, where he
remained three days awaiting the evacuation of New York by the enemy^s
troops. It will not detiact from the historic interest attaching to the
building to add that it was also occunied, and for a much longer period,
by the colonel of the Hessian Yagers, for, the truth must be told, it was
more frequently in the possession of the red coats than of the patriots.
Such a relic must be preserved as one of the most valuable landmarks
within the park. Then there is also the ancient mill — over a century old —
which stands at the southern extremity of the lake, nestling in the deep
shadow of towering elms, and which will long be a favorite resort of the
lovers of the picturesque, for the retired nook in which it stands is one of
the most beautiful in the whole range of the park. This same old mill

THE NEW PARKS. 57

served both the friends and foes of American liberty, both red coats and
Continentals, as it changed owners in the varying fortunes of the contest.
At this point the overflow of the lake forms a miniature cascade and
rapids, which flow between banks bordered with great trees, as the stream
courses on its way to j .in the waters of the Spuyten Duyvil, a mile off in
the valley below. The Van Cortlandt Station of the New York &
Northern Railroad, which passes through the park, is within a few hundred
feet of the old mill and cascade, and as he leaves the station the visitor
finds himself in one of the most exquisite of rural scenes. Here he sees in
all their perfection— perfect in being wholly free from art —

"The Wonders of the lane,"

as wondrous, if not more wondrous, than those of which Elliott so sweetly
sung.

SYLVAN SCENERY.

All that art has done for the Central, and it has done everything for it,
can show nothing comparable with this lovely vista. Through the foliage
of great ancestral trees the lake is vLsible, and the sound of falling water
mingled with the melody of birds greets the ear as you cross the rustic
bridge that spans the brook. This is literally the home of the birds and
**the trees are full of song '^ the whole summer through. For them the
much-abused pugnacious sparrow has no terrors. Robins, blackbirds,
thrushes, orioles, catbirds, bobolinks, all build their nests

" Under the green roofs of trees,"

and raise their young fearless of the foreign foe. The thick, tangled sedge
and dense shrubbery that hide the Mosholu as it flows into the lake are still
the resort of wood duck, woodcock and quail, for here the park is a wilder-
ness, and in both brook and lake the '* lusty trout " is still to be found by
the skillful angler, a testimony more truthful than iron-clad affidavit of the
purity of the water. The writer has in his possession a well-preserved
speckled two-pounder, caught near the mill and at which point an occa-
sional capture is still made.

No danger from malaria here, as the lake is supplied by the ever
flowing Mosholu, which still holds its Indian title despite its more common
name of Tibbitt's Brook. The lake is not wholly dependent, however, for
its supply from this source, for it has springs of its own, and it receives
also the drainage from the range of hills on either side. At slight expense
its area can be almost doubled and the brook, freed from the rank growth
by which it is concealed, can be made a most attractive feature in the
landscape.

A PARK CONTRAST— NEW YORK AND PARIS.

I'here are so-called lakes in the Central, but no brook or rivulet, and in
this respect the Van Cortlandt has a decided advantage. In the Bronx Park
there is the stream from which it has its name, but the Bronx is more than a
brook, and in some of the histories in which it is described it is dignified with
the title of river. A brook, however, is an attraction >fhich very few
parks possess, and it is deemed so essential in the plans of the French land-

68 THE NEW PARKS.

scape gardeners that they have connected the lakes in the Bois de VinceDnes^
which has twice the area of Van Cortlandt Park, by an artificial stream
three miles long. In the Bois de Boulogne the lakes are filled from artesian
wells, and there is still sufficient to keep a cascade 40 feet high In constant
operation. Like the lakes, the cascade is also the work of human hands,
but nature is so closely copied that the imitation might well deceive the
inexperienced. Then there are islands in the lakes and restaurants on the^
islands, and on the ** mainland '* a theatre, a concert hall, a race course—
the celebrated Longchamps— and no end of entertainments and amuse-
ments for the young, who appaar to have been the object of special regard
in the designs of the great Paris playgrounds. The recreations and taste
of all classes have been C3nsulted in the arrangement and plan both of the
Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes, which, in addition to a race
course, a spacious parade ground, a rifle range and a model farm, has
several meadow tract? where the children can enjoy themselves without
hindrance or threats of fines ard penalties. There is, it is true, abundant
space within these two grand parks, the combined area of which is nearly
as large as that of all our paris Lorth and south of the Harlem; but there
is no good reason why we cannot reproduce in Van Ck)rtlandt and Pelham
parks all the attractions of the two great pleasure grounds of the French
capitaL Our Park Department can profit by the lessons taught by the
municipality of Paris, which derives a large revenue from the leases and
privileges granted to the keepers of restaurants and the caterers to the
various amusements within these and other public grounds.

With all the attractions of the Paris parks— and no expense has been
spared in their embellishment— they are inferior to the parks beyond the
Harlem in natural beauty and in the picturesque character of their sur-
roundings. Neither of them can boast of a valley like that of the Mosholu»
witli gently sloping hills, crowned in parts with denso woods, in which grow
nearly all the varieties native to this section of the country — many kinds of
oaks, stately elms, broad-leaved catalpas, evergreen pine and cedar, the
hardy locust, the drooping willow, the umbrageous chestnut, the graceful
maple, the valuable walnut, the wild cherry, and apple and plum, and the
wild grapevine— aU are to be found within the bounds of Van Ck>rt-
landt Park.

MEMORIES OF THE PAST.

Gloiioub, indeed, the revolutionary memories of this locality, but it ia
so crowded with incidents of ^'the days that tried men's souls" that four
large volumes have already been filled, and there are doubtless others yet

to come.

Looking from Vault Hill in a northeasterly direction the eye rests on an
opening in the woods which is known as ** the Indian Field," and there, in
one grave, unmarked by memorial stone, lie the remains of eighteen of the
forty Stockbridge Indians, steadfast allies of the patriots, who fell beneath
British bayonets and bullets. From this point there is an extended view of
the PaUsades of the Hudson over to the west, and here an observatory may
one day be erected which will still further extend the view and bring out

THE NBW PARES. 59

in fuller relief the charms of the surrounding scenery, for Vault Hill com^
mands not only a view of the whole park but of the great range of country
of which it may be regarded as the centre.

Immediately to the south, about a quarter of a mile away, stands the
square stone mansion of the Van Cortlandts of Kingsbridge, of which
Hon. A. Van Ck)rtlandt and his family are the present occupants. It is in
itself an antique relic, a piece of architectural brie 2i-brac of the last
century, and, as the quaint numerals carved in the stone tablet on its
front informs the spectator, it was built in the year 1748. And that old
tablet, if it could speak, could tell many a tale of fierce and sanguinary
strife that took place either here or in the immediate vicinity of this now
peaceful and lovely scene; for Kingsbridge, less than a mile to the south,
constituted the barrier of the British lines, and this was *Hhe debatable
ground."

An order of Congress, dated May 25, 1775, directed '* that a post be imme-
diately taken and fortified at or near Elingsbridge, and that the ground be
chosen with a particular view to prevent the communication between the
city of New York and the country from being interrupt^ed by land." Here
the outposts of both armies had frequent encounters, and the records of
many a deadly struggle are found in the bullets, bayonets, fragments of
muskets and other relics which are occasionally turned up in the work of
excavation. In fact, as already stated, all the country round, from and at
times below Elingsbridge up to and beyood White Plains, and from the
Hudson to the Bound, was one field of strife between the patriot forces
under Washington, Roohambeau, Qreene, Van Cortlandt, Heath, Parsons,
Clinton, Thomas, Lasher, Qraham, Berthier, De Lauzun, De Chastellux,
Deuxpoints, De Noailles, De Beville, Du Portout, Paulding, Nicholas,
Swartwout and Armand, and the British under Howe, Knyphausen, Cath-
cart, Tarleton, De Lancey, Simcoe, Emmerick, Van Wurmb and Rogers.

But the most protracted and determined fighting was done at and around
Fort Independence, erected on the seventy-five-acre farm of General Mont-
gomery, and within a few hundred yards of his dwelling. Portions of the
fort still remain on Tetards Hill, which can be seen from the Van Cortlandt
mansion. As to forts, every hill which afforded a commanding view of
the country was crowned by some sort of defense, for both the American
and English generals regarded the control and possession of this particular
section of the utmost importance as a means of keeping open com-
mimication.

VAN CORTLANDT VISTAS.

But, as has been stated, the history of this locality is crowded with
reminiscences of the Revolution, and to the space within Van Cortlandt
Park belongs a liberal share of those glorious memories. It has, therefore,
a distinctive value apart from that of its natural attractions as a public
pleasure ground, and with these it has been most liberally endowed. On
every side are views deserviog of the best efforts of the artist, and whether
on hill tops or in the valleys, on the lake, in the lane or along the brook,
some new beauty greets the eye as the visitor changes his position. From

60 THE NEW PARKS.

the door cf tho ancient mansion with its grotesque corbels and quaint
devices is seen the valley of the Spuyten Duyvil with its flanking hills and
occasional glimpses of the great city to the south. To the west is Riverdale,
the site of many a beautiful villa set in the midst of highly cultivated
grounds. Less than ten minutes by rail is the towering and graceful struct-
ure of High Bridge, a continuation of the Croton Aqueduct, which passes
directly through the Van Cortlandt Park from north to south. Another
cqueduct is now in process of construction, and will be completed this year,
on a line nearly parallel vrith the first, but at a depth of a hundred feet and
more at some points below the surface, and the direction of which is indi-
cated by the air shafts constructed at intervals along its couri^e.

The extensive and wide-spreading lawn in front of the dwelling descends by
a series of terraces into the valley below, a relic of the old Dutch style of
landscape gardening. This will be one of the favorite resorts in the park,
and the building itself, with its antique interior decorations, its curious old
parlor, fireplace and carved mantel are deserving of more than a passing
glance. To the east of the mansion there are several fine evergreens and a
line of grand old chestnuts thai were planted nearly a century ago and
that now sentinel and shade the path that runs through the meadow to the
railroad station beyond.

A VOICE FROM FAIRMOCTNT.

In the acquisition of this park the city has indeed secured what will be to
the present and future generations "a thing of beauty'' and "a joy for-
ever." To this, as well as to the Bronx and Pelham parks, the glowing
words of the Philadelphia Park Commissioners, in speaking of their own
magnificent Fairmount, may with equal force and truth be applied : " By
Philadelphia having the park in contrast with Philadelphia without the
park we shall soon have a value added to our real estate and taxable
resources more than commensurate with the purchase money of all the
parkj and that value will increase indefinitely. In this way the citr will
be more than a second time requited for her whole outlay. Conceive of
our approximate millions and coming n*illions as being without Fairmount
Park. Can any human imagination begin to estimate the sum of human
health and happiness that would be lost to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania— the
world I Who could make the trial to run the parallel of the value of $10,-
000,000, as the price of the park, invested and running at interest for the
city with the successive generations of her millions of people without the
cultcure, and health, and happiness of the pirk, and not feel humiliation,
and, withal, being shocked at the meanness of the suggestion ? Money is a
saci^ed trust, indeed, for its potency for good ; but life, health and happi-
ness and gratitude to God are worth more than all hoarded wealth. We
have,'' say the Fairmount Commissioners in a burst of resolute defiance to
those who had been conspiring to deprive their fellow citizens of this great
treasure, " we have and will keep this park ; we will improve and love it ;
it shall be our pride and perpetual enjoyment."

And so say we of our still more beautiful parks: we have and will keep
them, and they shall be our pride and perpetual en j lyment.

.^>

THE NEW PARKS. 68

The boundaries of Vaa Cortlan It as flseci by the act begia at the inter-
section of the easterly line of Broadway with the northerly line of the city
of New York, running thence easterly along the northerly line or boundary
of the city of New Yo.-k to the iacersection of said line with the westerly
line of Mount Vernon avenue; thence southerly along the westerly line of
Mount Vernon avenue t) the junction of said westerly line of Mount Ver-
non avenue with the northerly liae of Qrand (or Willard) avenue; thence
westerly along said northerly line of Grand (Willard) avenue, crossing
Jerome avenue to the westerly line of Jerome avenue; thence along said
westerly line of Jerome avenue, in a southeasterly and southerly direction
to its junction with the northerly line of Qunhill road; from thence westerly
aloug the northerly line of Ganhili road, following its windings, and extend-
ing on said line to a point two huadred and seventy-five (275) feet easterly
and at right angles from the easterly boundary of the Croton Aqueduct right
of way; from thence crossing the Qunhill road at right angles for the full
width of said Qunhill road ; from thence in a straight line southerly of west
to a point on the easterly side of Broaiway aforesaid, ten feet southerly of
the bridge over Tibbitt^s Brook on said Broadway; from thence along the
easterly line of Broadway in a northerly direction, following its windings
to the place of beginning.

RARE SYLVAN BEAUTIES.

The Bronx Park has an area of six hundred and fifty-three acres lying
on both sides of the "romantic Bronx ^' and extending from West Farms
to Williamsbridge. It is two miles long and its width varies from half a
mile to three-quarters.

It would be dilHcult to do justice to the exquisite loveliness of this tract
without seeming to exaggerate, for the character of the scenery is so
varied that every step is a surprise and the artist and ** the wayfaring man
might love to linger there. ^' It is novv in the height of its glory, in full
summer garb of green, '* the livery thit Nature loves to wear,'* and those
who have never seen it should go now and satisfy themselves as to the
value of the domain the city has secured and its suitableness for park
purposes. The Bronx runs through it from north to south, not confined
between parallel banks, but bordering curves, forming at intervals wide
lake-like roaches, then closing in until they are scarcely fifty feet apart,
where its waters are interrupted by the Lydig Dam, over which they are
precipitated in one broad foaming cascade that adds a new charm to the
landscape. The banks ri^e to the height of fifty, eighty and even
ninety feet; in some places abrupt and precipitous, in others easily sur-
mounted. Gigantic trees, centuries old, crown these summits, while
great moss and ivy -covered rocks project here and there at different heights
above the surface of the river, increasing the wildness of the scene. Among
those is a grand old tree that towers to the height of over one hundred and
fifty feet, a veritable monarch of the forest, which that predatory king
and tree robber celebrated by Marco Polo would have sacrificed half his
army to secure. It stands apart in solitary magnificence and has been

64 THE ^EW PARKS.

know to many past and will continue to be known to many future generar
tions as De Lancey's ancient pine.

** Where fcentle Bronx, clear, winding, flows,
The shadowy banks between.
Where blossomed bell or wilding rose
Adorns the brightest green.

Stands high in solitary state.
De Lancey^s ancient pine.^^

It is not only a conspicuous and beautiful object but it is interesting in a
historical point of view, and immortalized in verse it acquires added
interest for the poetic imagination.

AN ICEBBBG'S gift.

But De Lancey's ancient pine is not the only feature of special interest in
the Bronx Park, for it possesses in a huge boulder (evidently deposited on
its present resting place during the world's glacial period) an object of
peculiar value and attraction. This great stone, weighing probably a
hundred tons, is so balanced upon the rock upon which it was originally
deposited by the melting of some huge iceberg, from whose frozen embrace
it was, countless ages ago, released, that by an ordinary effort of human
strength it can be set rocking to and fro on its immovable base.

" Like that stone of the Druid race.
Which the gentlest touch at once sets movins."

C!ould such an attraction be duplicated by the most skillful appliance of
man's ingenuity f Ck)uld engineering skill poise it so deftly, balance it so
truly, and hold it so inexorably ?

THE artists' haunt.

The Bronx Park has a great attraction for artists, for it affords such,
opportunities of studying effects; it presents such varieties of color, such
mingling of light and shade, such blending of hues, such manifold forms of
growth and such opposite typ^js of beauty, f /om the stately oak to the

*' Creeping ivy that flings its graces
About the hchentd rccks,^^

that it is in fact a scenic reservoir to which they lo^e to resort for inspira-
tioci and artistic ** points." Little wonder that they got up a separate
petition to the Legislature in favor of the Park bill of 1884, for to them it
appealed in a special manner. To that petition was appended eighty of th&
highest names in the art circles of New York, and headed by Bierstadt,
Huntington and others equally well known to fame.

The Bronx was at one time a considerable stroam, draining the southern
part of Westchester County, and its winding course is accurately marised
out on a quaint old map preserved in the office of the Secretary of
State at Albany. Its volume of water has been considerably diminished
by tapping it for the new aqueduct, lut there should still be sufficient
to keep the river clear and to prevent a sta^foation in the flow. Failure to
attend to that vital point would, by con/ertiug the Bronx into a public
nuisance, destroy its beauty and its uiefulness together. To prevent the

THE NBW PARKS. 07

possibility of such a misfortune the upper waters of the Bronx should b»-
included in the park system as soon as Westchester is within the city
limits in accordance with the original plan of annexation. That would
secure the waters along many miles of its course. Future danger from such
a source provided against, what a magnifloent parkway could be laid out
along its banks.

THAT BRITISH FLEET.

The Bronx formerly abounded in trout, but these have giv«n way to the
black bass; its bordering woods were full pf game, and in the ** sequestered
leafy glades'* the feathered minstrels pipe their sweetest lays. Many a
gallant deed has been done and many a fierce fight fought in its vicinity —
the very atmosphere of the place is thick with Revolutionary memories.
It might have been the scene of a sanguinary naval battle that would have
painted its banks red, but for that peace-making participle that hath
•* much virtue in it," •* if" it had only been big enough. For Sir William
Howe ordered the commander of the British fieet lying in New York up^
the Bronx, ** to meander with his fieet and his guns and all that;" which
the commander would have done, says Mr. William Allan Butler —

*' If only the Bronx had been bigf^r/^

The three large i>arks in the new park system, as elsewhere stated, have
an individuality as marked as that which distinguishes one man from
another. Each has its characteristic excellences, its distinguishing p3cu-
liarities, and what we may call its physiognomical traits. The park
by the Bound has a character all its own; it is unique in position, and to
that fact it owes its pre-eminence. Van Cortlandt has its magnificent
parade ground; in itself an attraction that would be felt as far as the
Battery; its wide reaches, its running brook, its magnificent views, its
ancestral trees and its terraced garden; and the Bronx has a picturesque
loveliness that satisfies but never satiates. As said before, it is the haunt
of artists, for here they can find solitude profound enough to satisfy Zim-
mermana himself, and scenes as romantic as any in the Adirondack wilder-
ness. And this within less than a half -hour's drive of th3 Harlem River,
while New Yorkers scour the Continent and cross the ocean in search of
beauty ! And we laugh at Mrs. Jellaby who could see nothing nearer than
Africa I

A SCHOOL. OF BOTANY.

No better place could be selected for a model botanical garden t an
Bronx Park, and no better use could bd made of any of the parks than
to make them subserve educational purposes, practical schools of hor-
ticulture, zoology, arboriculture, etc., where children could learn with-
out studying, acquire knowledge without opening a book, and where
there could be levied '*a tax of profit from their very play." A dry-
botanical catalogue of names and facts might be committed to memory
and held retentively, but it would not arouse interest nor stimu-
late observation like the fiower, shedding its perfume on the air, or the
stately tree with its multitudinous leaves rustling in the summer breeze.
And no representative of animal life ever gave a boy, or girl, such pleasure

68 THE NEW PARKS.

as one glimpse of the same animal in motion or repose. What they have
read may be forgotten; what they have seen remains impressed on the
memory.

Philadelphia has a magnificent Botanical Garden in Fairmount Park, to
the maintenance and extension of which her citizens contribute with
praiseworthy generosity. In one year alone 1,000 plants, many of them
rare and costly specimens, and $6,500 were contributed. Who imagines
that our citizens would display less generosity or less public spirit ? Their
donations to the Musaam of Art and to the public libraries is conclusive
on that point. Still, ia spite of our municipal pride and civic esprit de
<iorps^ we must admit that in the Fairmount Park Association, a society of
citizens numbering over a thousand, who contribute annually a certain
sum for the adornment of the grounds and for embellishing them with
valuable works of art, Philadelphia has taken a step far in advance of the
Empire City.

In San Francisco the park authorities devote considerable space and
attention to rare and tropical plants and have succeeded in raising from
seed the gigantic water lily of South America, the *' Victoria Regia,"
whose huge circular leaves measure twenty-three feet in circumference.
In Boston an Arboretum has been added to the park system, which is com-
mended to the people as '* a museimi of living plants in which every tree
and shnib capable of withstanding the climate of Massachusetts is to find
its appropriate place,** *' as a school of forestry and arboriculture," and as
*^ascientifi3station for investigation into the relations of forests to cli-
mate and the fi)w of rivers, and inta the best methods of forest reproduc-
tion and management." Such an institution here would be of incalcu-
lable b3n3fit, for it would arouse public interest in the subject of forestry
andc^nsdqienTily draw attention to the rapid destruction of the woods of
the Adirondack3, which as a piece of blended vandalism and folly it would
be hard to equal.

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.

Such an institution would teach the true value of trees, show that they
liad a higher mission to fulfil than beautifying the landscape or affording
grateful shade to the exhausted traveler; that they added to the fertility of
our soil and increased th^ flow of our rivers, and thus made commerce and
agriculture their debtors. And not only asrriculture and commerce, but
chemistry, medicine, metallurgy, mechanics and manufactures, art and
science, owe to them not a few of their triumphs and most of their possi-
bilities.

" I feel,** says G-eorge Sand, adding her name to a petition of the French
artists for the protection of the Forest of Fontainebleau, *'that the
destruction of beautiful forests is a monstrous proposition, and that we
have no right, in an intellectual or hygienic sense, to remove large trees
from a public domain. They are as sacred as the fertilizing clouds with
which they hold incessant communication; they ought to be protected and
respected, never left to barbarous caprice nor to the egotistic want of the
individual. Beautiful and majestic, even in their decrepitude, they are as

THE NEW PARKS. W

much the property of our descendants a«i they were of our ancestors. They
are eternal tonsples, the mighty architecture and ornamental foliation of
which is constantly renewed; sanctuaries of silence and reverie, where
successive generations have the right tj assemble fjr meditation and for
the development of that sense of grandeur of which every man has a
consciousness and a ncod in the depths of his nature. '*

London and Paris have botanical gardens on a grand scale, that of Paris
extending over twenty -two acres, exclusive of the space devoted to forest
trees. All are carefully classified and ticketed, the poisonous plants in one
section, the medicinal in another, the bane and antidote in close proximity.

In our parks, botanic gardens, arboret:ims, zoological gardens and any
other desirable addenda to a public park, could be stocked with far less
trouble and expense than those in European capitals, for our own continent
oould furnish a great deal that is most rare and desirable and most difficult
to procure in the animal or vegetable kingdom. These, of course* could
be arranged as the gentlemen in charge would determine, but whether
arranged in consonance with variable geographical boundaries or unvary-
ing isothermal lines, they would teach the youthful student something
worth learning and something he would b3 likely to remember.

THE RIGHT THING IN THE BIGHT PLACE.

In the new parks tliere would be abundant space enough for these different
departments without crowding out the people. These would be attractions
not encroachments, and according to their different tastes some would seek
one and some the other : some hie to the bear pit, some to the lily ponds and
some to the deer paddock. But whoever has noticed how rapidly the love
of flowers is increasing among our people, growing stronger and spreading^
wider every year, must admit that a botanical garden worthy of the name
would be the most popular department in a park, for it ^!vould charm alike
the refined and the uncultivated, the old and young, the rich and the poor.
Itrequires no book learning to admire fiowers, they were admired in the
Garden of Eden; they are admired in the Jardin des Piantes. A grand
botanical garden in the Bronx Park would be the right thing in the right
place. Nothing more would be wanting to 'its completeness. Splendid
specimens of sylviculture on every side, a promenade of over two miles
on the margin of a river that equals in beauty Fairmount's famed Wissa-
kickon, on whose charms the Philadelphia Commissioners dilate in terms
not only eloquent but poetic. And yet the Bronx has all the attractions
they claim for their Indian stream and more; wooded slopes, rocky ravines,
sequestered glades, banks carpeted with vines, miniature mountains
crowned with trees, a placid, gurgling river that precipitates Itself over
Lydig^s Dam as if resenting its temporary imprisonment and falls a broad,
foaming cascade into its rocky channel, wh^re after a time it recovers its
equanimity and goes singing over pebbles as before. They lay stress on
the unbroken quiet ** that broods over the Wissahickon." Why 1 wandering
by the Bronx, New York seems leagues away, and the nineteenth century
yet in the womb of time. Soiitudo, lite a pervading spirit, reigns through-
out and the very atmosphere breaches repose. True, ** the murmurous

W THE KKW PARKS.

nound of bees " is beArd and ths masical ripple of ninniDg water and the
wild, sweet songs of wood birds that issue from the green gloom of trees,
bat

" Stillaess accompanied bj aoonds so sweet
Charms moiv than silence.**

No wooder that artists lore this farored spot Had it been hidden away
in the h«art of the AdinMidae.at, or in the depths of the Yosemite, or did
the AUaaatic tvUI l < 4a » m us and it» we would have known all about it long
4ie<'- < "vt^ wott)i bans jjumejed bj land or journeyed by sea to get a
i:Umf»f M iX b»l the curw of p.-x>puiqaity was on it— it was too near. If,
«i^ hM: Kmsi pivfKHiM. ooT pTsscnt northern boundary should be pushed
chT^ftr ^*«> fvwr anilM fttrtber into Westchester Ck)unty, a still more extended
>tn^ ^^ tt>^ l^-mx I^srk« narrower it might be, should be secured as soon as
^rvMvtj^M i:V» Uie esteoaion of the park northward would include the
:i|r^wr w«Nr» of Uie Bronx. That done the river could be made the line of
« A^ifC^ piurkwt^ and form a connecting link with another park, which
«».» ikHftbd wlU b* laid out north of the present boundary hereafter.

BOX7NDARISS OF THE PABK.

T^ neles and bonnds of the Bronx Park as fixed by law are as follows :
Bie^ittttioc at a point in the Twenty- fourth Ward of the city of New York,
fOnued by the junction of the north line of Samuel street and the west
b«nk of (he Bnmx Biver ; from thence westerly along the northerly line of
Sunuel street to the easterly line of Bronx street ; from thence northerly
along said easterly line of Bronx street to the northerly line of Ann street ;
from thence westerly along the northerly liae of Ann street to the easterly
line of Boston road ; from thence northerly along said easterly line of the
Boston road to a point in line with the northerly line of Kingsbridge road ;
trom thence westerly along the northerly line of Elingsbridge road to the
easterly line of the Southern Boulevard ; from thence northerly, along
and following the easterly line of the Southern Boulevard, to the north-
eziy line of St. John's College property ; from thence, crossing the South-
em Boatevard and following the northerly boundary of the St. John's
Ck)llege property northwesterly, to the easteily lin3 of the right of way of
the New York Sc Harlem Railroad Ck>. ; from thence along said easterly
line of said right of way, and following its course northeasterly to a
point about three hundred (300) feet northeasterly of the northerly line
ot Water street, to a point formed by the junction of the prolongation
westward of the northerly line of Morris street, as laid down on a parti-
tion map and survey made by Egbert L. Viele, Civil Engineer, under an
order of the Supreme Court, bearing date the 23d day of August, 1869 ;
from thenoe along said prolongation of the northerly line of Morris street,
crossing the Bronx River and along said northerly line of Morris street, to
a point about twenty (30) feet easterly of the eastern line of Duncomb
aTenue, as shown on the map aforesaid; from thence, in a straight line
southerly, and nearly parallel to and east of Monroe avenue, as shown on
said map, to the northwesterly comer of land formerly belonging to John
Hitchcock, as shown on said map; from thence, in a straight line south-

THE NEW PARKS. 73

erly, to the sontheastem comer of the LoriUard estate, as shown on map
aforesaid ; thence werterly along the southerly boundary of the LoriUard
estate, as shown on said map, to the lands belonging to the Bronx
Bleaching Company; thence southwesterly, southerly and westerly, along
the easterly and southerly boundary of the Bronx Bleaching Ck)mpany , to
a point two hundred (^00) feet easterly of the Bronx River; from thence
southerly and parallel with the general line of the Bronx River, crossing
the Boston road, to its southerly line; thence easterly along said southerly
line of Boston road about five hundred and twenty (530) feet; from thence
southerly, and parallel with the general courses of the Bronx River,
and conforming thereto, about seven hundred (700) feet easterly of the
^neral eastern line thereof, to a point formed by such line, and a pro-
longation of the southerly line of Kingsbridge road as now existing in
the Twenty-fourth Ward of the city of New York, between the Southern
Boulevard and Bronx street; eastwardly across the Bronx River to the
said line, as drawn parallel to the general course of the Bronx River, as
aforesaid ; from thence in a straight line crossing the Bronx River to the
place of beginning.

NEW TORK^S GREAT SEASIDE RESORT.

In the inception of the idea of the new parks a park on the Sound was
regarded not only as a prominent, but as an indispensable feature, essential
to the completion of the whole system. On the first map published of the
proposed sites it not only had a place, but in the accompanying descriotion
it was stated that ** a park site near or including: Hutchinson River, and a
little to the south of New Rochelle, might be so arranged as to include one
or more of the islands in the Sound which are now connected with the
mainland by causeways.''

In the petition which accompanied the act (chap. 253 of 1883) the special
attention of the Legislature was directed to the immediate necessity for '*a
^rand park with a water front on Long Island Sound ; one which should
be the people's own, a resort for picnicers and excursionists, a place where
they could enjoy the pleasures of boating, bathing, fishing, etc." The
advantage of such a park was strenuously advocated in the report made to
the Legislature of 1884 by the commission appointed under the act of 1883.
In this report it was stated that a personal inspection had been made of the
coast line and its indentations for ** the most suitable ground for such a
pcu*k, believing that this growing metropolis ere very many years will
embrace four or even five millions of inhabitants, and the citizens of the
State ^ho take a pride and an interest in the city's prosperity will not
much longer be content that its eastern boundary shall be defined by the
slender rivulet of the Bronx, but will insist rather that her territory shall
embrace all the land below her northern line, lying between the Hudson
and Long Island Sound — a domain that seems marked by nature for the
site of a city, which we hope and firmly believe is to be one of the proudest
cities of the world." It was then shown that '* the improvements now in
progress: the opening through the Harlem River, by the federal govem-
mfint, of a great commercial channel between the East and the North

U THE 3JBW PARKS.

Rivera, which will send thither the centre of our business city ; the stupen-
dous works of the national goyemment for the removal of obstructions in
the KTcat channel oonncctiog the Hound with the ocean ; the railroad facil-
ities which the last few jeara have developed and those contemplated in the
immediate future ; the improvement of the streams which lead into the
Sound : and the [nish of population and business in that direction, cannot
but have the effect of making the land bordering on the East River too
indispensable for domestic, commercial and manufacturing purposes to
permit the abstraction of the requisite number of acres required for the
park, and to interdict the location of such pleasure grounds along the shcn^
below Throgg's Neck.**

FBLHAM BAT PARK.

These lands, therefore, being destined for business purposes and the
bordering land above, too cultivated, consequently too costly to be
purchased by the city for a park, the conunission discovered no place suitar-
ble until th^ reached Pelham Park and found there and in the vicinity a
retdy-made park fit for use and admirably adapted for the designed
purpose. The waters surrounding it are pure and free from admixture
with the sewage of a large city, for the tide from the Sound sweeps before
it all contaminating impurities and leaves them clear and sparkling.

Pelham Bay Park has an area of 1,740 acres; it is two miles and a-half
long and two miles wide, and its coast line is fully nine miles in extent.
Picturef que inlets and bays of graceful curve indent the shore and the
contiguous islands are marked by the same uniformly charming irregu-
larity of outline. The sea that has been beating on these shores for
centuries has done its work well and fashioned a margin that satisfies the
imagination of the poet and the taste of the painter.

The surface of the park is varied in its character: green uplands and
rolling meadows alternate with stretches of woodland which form groves
overarched with meeting branches through which the mid-day sun sends
tempered rays. G-rassy fields slope down to the shore and shrubs soften
down the rugged sides of hills on whose crest stand stately tree9 that were
full grown before the Revolution.

Pelham Bay Park has not the strikingly picturesque loveliness of the
Bronx, nor the tranquil beauty of Van Cortlandt, but it has a charm and
an attractiveness all its own. Then it has its incomparable watery annex,
the Bound I Acd what a panorama that presents ! Life and motion every-
where. The waters lashed into foam by the breeze or seething under the
prows of passing steamers, the panting tugs, the graceful yachts, the
rowboats and the rhythmic stroke of oars, fluttering flags, swelling
sails, the joyous music of excursion parties and ozone in the air— that's a
picture worth going miles to see.

Few cities in the Old World or the New could secure such a domain at any
price. Those inland capitals are at a disadvantage compared with New
York. We have in our other pirk^ nil that they can boast; but all their
means and energy, all their ta.ste and skill combined, oould not duplicate a
park like Pelham. There are but few seaside parks in the world, and of

THE NEW PARK3. 77

these Stockholm's is the only one deserving of being even mentionei in
connection with ours.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

Why there should have been such objection to this park is a marvel*
Every man, woman and child longs for the sea in the smnmer time. It is a
natural craving. Its very odor is invigorating, and a d^ish of the salt
spray is an actual pleas:u*e. This feeling is universal. The classes as well
as the masses share it, but the classes can gratify it at any time. If
the mountain does not come to Mahomet, Mahomet can go to the moun-
tain; the masses cannot. They cannot go to Newport or Long Branch;
they cannot go to Trouville or Ostend. To them, therefore, a 'seaside park
is a boon and a blessing. What crowds the excursion boats ? What drives
the people to Glen Island, Oak Point, Locust Grove ? What but the desire
to get away as far as possible from the dull routine of their daily lives.
This is the underlying, though it may be the unconscious, motive that
impels them seaward. Ever; thing aroundtabout and above themis in such
strong contrast to their city surroundings that life assumes a new aspect;
the wearisome monotony of their work-a-day week is broken up; their
minds are quickened, their thoughts freshened, and listlessness of mind and
languor of body disappear together.

The men who cater to the public taste, who nm excursion steamers, who
provide seaside resorts, make no mistake in this matter. They know what
the people want. They have felt the popular pulse and prescribed accord-
ingly. They know that the desire to inhale the fresh sea breeze, to listen to
the dash of the waves as they break on the shore, and to watch the sweep
and swell of the waters that even

** As Creation^s dawn beheld them rolleth now,^^

is natural and wholesome, and they apply themselves to gratify it;
and they have their reward. How comes it that private profit is more dis-
cerning than public spirit ? What makes a business man or a merchant
more clear-sighted than a Mayor ? And are these questions to be asked, or
not to be asked ?

A BABE ACQUISITION.

Chief among the objections to Pelham Bay Park and most strenuously
insisted on by its opponents was its distance from the centre of population
and its** inaccessibility." These objections are easily answered. A large
part of Pelham is not further than Van Cortlandt, against which no such
objection was ever seriously raised, and it is considerably nearer than Glen
Island, which last summer had 700,000 visitors, and to which the people
continue to resort in ever increasing numbers. Pelham Park ccui be reached
as easily both by land and water and as cheaply as Starin's. The Port-
chester and Harlem Railroad runs through it and has three stations within its
bounds, and on the water front there are three or four landing places where
large steamers can disembark their passengers. Moreover, there are points
from which docks can be built out into deep water. A glance at the map
shows that it is not only as near the Grand Central depot as Van Cortlandt,

78 THE 5EW PARES.

bat ttB neareflt point U only half a mfle abore a line drawn from *Ki »
northern extremitj of ths Bronx. In addition it is oonnectBd with the n^rid
transit system of New York city by the Bridge at Second ayenne, t^n^
when travel is established it can be reached from Forty-aecoiid street in
less than half an hour. Those who prefer the water roate can take the
excursion steamers and enjsy an hour's saiL

Those who love fishing can have it here, for all along tlM coast baaB«
blue fish, black fiih, fi sunders, snappers and other varieties abound in the
season, and in many a nook and curve where the shore dielves gently
bathers can disport themselves in perfect safety.

The opposite shore of Long Island, with its handsome private readences
built at unequal distances from the water, according to the taste or fancy
of the owner, with smiling skies above and dancing waters below, wM^fc^»i f
up a landscape that is pleasanter to look upon than any <m exhibition in
public gallery. In fact, the views obtainable from the park are not the
least of its charms; its beauties are not confined by its boundaries; the
Boand, in all its changing moods, belongs to it, is a part of it, and praise
lavished on it is but a tribute to the excellence of the site. For the
Sound is an outlying lake to the park, and is to Pelham what a lawn is
to a country mansion.

POPULAR RECREATIONS.

Beyond all doubt this will be the favorite park of the people; they will
not consider it too far, and their verdict on that point will be condusiYe.
Two or three miles nearer than Glen Island, too far I when steamers
plying thither are overcrowded and the insular resources are taxed to
the uttermost to satisfy the demands of each successive boat load of
hungry and thirsty visitors, and parties of lunchers take possession of
every available space and pre-empt every unoccupied seat in the grounds I
Too far I The idea is absurd. The distance is an added charm, it
infuses the fiavor of an excursion into a simple day's outing and lengthens
the pleasure by the time consumed in going and returning. Thus every
moment they are from home is utilized and turned to account The sail
up the Sound in itself is no small pleasure, and the majority would
probably elect to go by that route. There would be no difficulty in
landing the passengers, for, as before stated, there are three or four
suitable places along the water front for that purpose and if more were
required the owners of steamboat lines would in their own interest see
to it. And what opportunities for sight-seeing this nine miles of coast
would give in regatta time I Each jutting point would be a ** coign of
Tantage,^ and every rock and hillock would afford good standing-ground
for interested watchers. And whether it was a boat race or a yacht
race, whether it was to be won by skillful management of sails or vig-
orous play of human muscles, the city would send out its thousands and
tens of thousands to watch the struggle for supremacy— many indifferent
who won and who lost, more painfully interested in the result. And who
that has ever seen a yacht race, the graceful contestants quivering under
a full spread of canvas, speeding along apparently of their own volition,

THE NEW PARKS. 79

no human agency visible and yet seemingly under the influence of human
passion, struggling for precedence, straining for yictory, like a man or race
horse, can wonder. at its power of attraction.

The races, of course, will be only an occasional diversion; but the land
sports, the athletic games of all kinds, will be permanent, and can be
enjoyed throughout the year at their proper seasons. Base ball, tennis
and croquet can have special allotments; picnic and excursion parties
Sunday schools, benevolent societies, and school children will find room
sufficient without bespeaking it in advance, and trade, military and choral
societies can come here at their own option, fearless of being crowded
out.

A GRAND SITB FOR A ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN.

An aquarium and a zoological garden could be located hereto advantage
The marine animals would be in their native element and their habits could
be observed under more favorable conditions than in narrow tanks, which
give neither scope nor opportunity for free natural action and movement.
Aquatic birds, too, would thrive better in this atmosphere than in the
<lrier air of the inland parks, and they would harmonize more with the
surroundings. The savage forest animals would be less disagreeable here
than elsewhere, for the fresh sea breeze would dissipate and neutralize their
rank, offensive smell. Bovines and cervines could have roomier quarters,
and ampler space could be alforded to all the larger animals than in parks
of narrower dimensions. A zoological garden on a grand scale in Pelham
would not necessitate the removal of that attractive feature from Central;
it would not be a substitute for it, but a development of it — the idea per-
fected, the nucleus expanded to fuller proportions. Central without its
zoological adjuncts would undoubtedly lose its chief interest for children
and many others besides who take more pleasure in seeing different forms
of animal life, even the grotesque and repulsive, than the most graceful
specimens of vegetable growth. But the very imperfect collection in
Central requires to be largely supplemented before New York will have a
zoological garden worthy of the name, and in the park by the Sound there
will be no lack of the prime essentials— pure air, fresh breezes and
ample space.

Nor will the most generous allowance seem to curtail the people's portion
—nine miles of water boundary is a guarantee that bathing, boating and
fishing could be enjoyed without let or hindrance and that swimming
matches could be extended to any desirable length.

Turning from the wind-swept, searwashed coast, its manifold sinuosities
and its multiform curves, to the park it bounds and circumscribes on three
sides, the eye rests on a scene worth 7 of such a noble setting. No dead
level here like the great Viennese Prater or Berlin's gloomy Thiergarten,
bat every phase of landscape beauty, wooded eminences, sunny slopes,
grassy lawns, lanes walled by trees and roofed by branches, through which
son and rain find difficulty in entering, and undulations of billowy green
^iMtfr. look like an ocean ground swell. Add to this and to its beauty of
outline the charm of its internal configuration, its jutting peninsula, iti

no THE NEW PARKS.

brirlgfv connected islands, and every unprejudiced mind will admit that its
P'lfwftjwlon was worth struggling for. For Pelham Bay Park is no monot-
onou«* repetition of its inland contemporaries. Unique in position, fomi,
attnic!tir)n8 and posRibilities, a noble ezpanee of wato* almost endrdin^
it, a c'lpar unofistructed view of the heavens overhead, the glory of space
on evwy side, it was not only worth struggling for, bat it was well wortb
incurring offlrrial hostility, with all its attendant pains and penalties, in
order tr» fie<;ure it in perpetuity for the city and the next generation, who
will y)rizo it as it deserves, and hold in remembrance the men who workiBd
Hr> hard and po disinterestedly and made fo many sacrifises for soch an
unselflsh imnpose.

A RETROSPECT.

Even those who opposed the acquisition of Pelham Park by the city will,
after a few years have elapsed, and time has shown its value, recognise the
wiwlom of securing it and rejoice that their opposition came to naoght Bo
it was over thirty years ago in the case of the Astors and the Gk)el6tB and
others who prot^ted against the creation of Central Park as calcolated to
bankrupt the city and who now profit by the very measure they denounced
and were so solicitous to defeat. But one man never gains wisdom from
another man's experience, and so with generations, or how could history
repeat itself ? This generation of park advocates had the same argoments
to combat and the same obstacles to surmount ; moreover they had to bear
with misconstruction of their motives and misrepresentations of their facts.
Ic was the Central Park fight over again with more venom thrown in; the
same discordant strain d&, capo with harsher dissonance. Nor was the
misconception of results that marked the creation of Central Park lacking.
Five or ten years from now everybody will be satisfied and there will be dot-
capo to the harmony as there was to the discord. Then the parallel will be
complete.

In full view of the park is City Island, the name being all that remains
to tell of high hopes and ambitious projects entertained by the first proprie-
tors. Here they intended to establish a magnificent commercial city which
would carry on an extensive East India trade with the States of Holland.
The Revolution, however, changed all that, and though the idea was
revived after the War of Independence it fell through, and the grand
projected city dwindled down into City Island. Formerly its inhabitants
had no means of access to the mainland save by a ferry, but in 1873 a
bridge erected by a joint stock company was completed and thrown open
to the public, and of this structure the greater part of the materials used
in its erection were taken from the frigate North Carolina. City Island,
or ** Great Minniefords," as it was formerly called, contains about 230
acres of land and is quite an attractive feature as viewed from the park.

The great drive which is to be hereafter known as the Bronx and Pelham
Parkway, and which forms the connecting link between the Bronx and
Pelham Bay parks is 400 feet wide and will be one of the grandest avenues
in the world. It is a boulevard of splendid proportions and in every way
worthy of the magnificent pleasure ground to which it will be the principal

THE NEW PARKS. 83

entrance. As it approaches the southern boundary of the park and about
a mile from the bridge which spans Eastchester Bay a fine view is obtained
of the picturesque scenery of this part of the Sound with the opposite
shores and upland of Polham Neck or Annie^s Hoeck, so called after the
celebrated Anne Hutchinson.

A PROFITABLE REAL ESTATE OPERATION.

The ''Neck," as it has been termed for ganerations, has long been cele-
brated not only for the beauty of the landscape, its gently undulating hills
and the wide range of view which it affords of the surrounding country,
but it is particularly noted for its historical reminiscences. According to
the earliest traditions it was the great burial plac3 of the Slwanoys, a
branch of the Mohegans, and if further proof were wanted it is to ba found
in the many Indian mounds which still remain to attest its right to the
title. The original Pell, whose cognomen and " ham," or homo, have been
combined to give name not only to the Neck, but to the town, had bought
in 1C54 the whole section of country, including Pelham, Westchester and
New Rochelle, comprising 9,160 acres from the aboriginal owners for what
in poptilar parlance is called "a mere song." In the language of the
purchaser the title passed for ''a valuable consideration." In the royal
patent by which the purchase was confirmed it was called ** due satisfac-
tion," and for this patent the new buyer was " required to pay one lamb on
the first day of May for each ye€ir."

As the 12,000 and odd acres of the Island of Manhattan had been bought
of the red owners a little more than a quarter of a century prior tD this
transaction for $i4 worth of baads and trinkets, it is very doubtful if Mr.
Thomas ' ' Lord " Pell was a bull on real estate at that tim?, whatever his
nephew and successor, John Pell, may have been when h 3 sold 6,100 acres
of the Manor thirty-five years after for the same number of dollars.

It is doubtful if in all the records of our Real Estate Exchange there is
an instance of such marvellous and rapid increase in values. The Pells
were evidently a thrifty and speculative family. The first Pell bought it
from the Siwanoys in all probability for two cents an acre, the
price the Dutch paid for Manhattan Island, for between the Dutch and the
English the unfortunate red man was literally between the upper and
nether millstone. At the close of another century very few of the Indians
were left, and the remnant of the tribe had nearly all been laid to rest
beneath the mounds, traces of which can still be found on the Rapelyca
estate close to the water. Of these, two are said to be the sepulchers of Ann-
hook and Nimhan, the Siwanoy Sachems, who lived long beyond the scrip-
tural age. On the opening of several of these tumuli, skeletons, stone axes,
flint spears and arrow heads, specimens of native pottery, and other relics
were found.

These mounds should ba preserved, as they will ba objects of particular
interest to visitors. They should, indeed, be the special care of the Park
Department hereafter, as they doubtless will be, for they have a historical
value that will increase with time.

84 THE NEW PARKS.

PELHA3I NICK AND HUNTEK*S ISULND.

From the mounds on the 8outheast3rn point of Pelham Neck the vleir |»
one of the most beautiful to be found in the park. The shores on each 8ld»
of Eastchester Bay, and far beyond where its watera mingle with thoas of
Hutchinson River, are exceedingly jncturesque and worthy the canTBs of
our best artists. In the once prolific waters of this bay, which has always
been a favorite resort for anglers (who will Icng remember Dare Blizsard^
float by the bridge, and its inexhaustible supply of lines, rods, shrimps^
clams and crabs), the Indians found an abundance of fish; the dense woods
furnished a supply of other game and the iSiwanoy *s village on the Neck
was one of the most populous along the shores of the Sound. The w ater*
do not swarm with fish as of old, but there are still sufiicient to tempt the
skill of the angler and afford many hours of healthy pastime to the disdiilee
of " that quaint old cruel coxcomb,^' as Byron irreverently styled the gentle
Izaak. As to the woods they are, it is true, neither so dense nor so exten-
sive as they were, but Pelham Nock is well shaded and its groves afford
many a pleasant cool retreat from the fervid summer heat

Of Hunter^s Island, which has an area of l&l acres, it may be said with
absolute truth that it is without exception the finest tract to be found on
the whole line of the coast of Westchester of cr^ual extent, and it is doabt-
ful if any piece of land on the shore of Long Island, or the Connecticat-
coast, is equal to it in rural loveliness, or in the views presented from its
highest points. It is, indeed, a spot of rare attractiveness. From the most -
elevated summit, a grand prospect is spread before the delighted vision.
Looking beyond the magnificent woods, which cover nearly one-fourth the
surface of the island, the eye takes in the whole sweep of the Sound to the
horizon, the opposite shore of Long Island and the Westchester and Con-
necticut coasts. Hudson River, with its towering palisailes and lofty hills^
has a grandeur peculiarly its own ; but the eye must l>o satisfied to rest on
them alone, for its majestic banks bound the range of vision. On Hunter^
Island how different ! When the eye has taken in the wide expanse of the
Bound, it turns to gaze on the island itself, spread out beneath like a noap,
and sees within its 1G4 acres, and the eightocn-and-ahalf of the outlying
Twin Inland, many a scene on which ic might well love to linger by the
hou*".

ThfM) two lil'inds will be the favorite rcsortn within {\\o park, although
some taMt<'H tuny llnd more to admire in l*n)8ppot Hill and the views there-
from, or i\iti iUn'.iy cultivated tract, with its pplondtd old wix>ls and acres
of v«;] v«:t Iitwn, wUU'.h lio to thesjuth of IVlhnni Uridu:«». Still, themaj'^rity
will doiiblltThN pri-f'T liuntor^s and Twin isl-md «, *'j«|>ooially «»» there will be
found tIjM ifio:^!, hulfaiiluhites for the HtruoturrB if (h«» itront Kkrmaxknt
lM>i;;-,'ntiAi. J* xmunioN, which it i^ to bo \w\y<H\ ^pw York wi'.l h.ive in
th'j ij«'fir futrjni.

Ah lii'i Jlroiix J'ftik lum its I)olnn«^\ '« Ano<<3'n<- Tint^ nnd f (» ^vont movable
bould(;r, HO Iiuijl«;r^H Island p()?*ns«o'« nf \*9 p .^t<-li<Mta<- *»»iit. « vnvt^ owrii^sity of
itsowniutho grr^t Itidi.in r« oU "A'jtb.Mi." m**A r'.» f\\<^ oart nide still
another ralU-A tlm ** On»y iMrti-o." vthi^-h <^o ImiUaub t>^£ltl^t(>ll with special
vent^ruti' u ui IIim ^iti nf thfir Mnuii<'

I

THE NEW PARKS. 87

Like all parts of Westchester County, Pelham has its revolutionary mem-
ories and traditions. British raids were frequent, for a portion of the
fleet was always anchored in the Sound, and demands were constantly
made on the inhabitants for supplies in a way that admitted of no
debate. It was " Give or ^ and the unuttered alternative was a con-
vincing argument.

THE BATTLS ON THE NECK.

On October 18th, 1777, Pelham Neck was the scene of a flerce encounter
between the Americans and a largely outnumbering British force from
Throgg's Neck on their way to New Rochelle, a few days before the disas-
trous battle of White Plains. The British force numbered 4,000, and con-
stituted the van of the army under General Howe, whose brother, the
Admiral, controlled w ith his fleet the waters and shores of the Sound. To
oppose the landing of this large body of well-appointed, well-equipped troops
protecced by the British gunboats, the full strength of the patriots undei'
Colonels Shepard, Read, Baldwin and Glover was less than 8U0. These 800
were a detachment of General Lee^s army, the main body of which was
encamped at a distance of three miles, and took no part in the fight. But
the men who were intrusted with this hazardous enterprize were equal to
the emergency, and though the British effected a landing they little dreamed
of Dhe warm reception prepared for them. Drawing up his little force and
placing them in ambush behind stone walls and wherever the nature
of the ground afforded sufficient concealment. Col. Glover awaited the
progress of the enemy. As the British confidently advanced, a small
skirmish line of fifty men was thrown out as a mas v by Colonel Glover,
who, having completed his arrangements, took command and temporarily
arrested the progress of the foe. Then slowly failing back upon the ambus-
cade the patriots delivered a few volleys that put four of the redcoats hors-
decombatt the Colonel loiing two of his own men. Having swept this
seemingly flight obstruction out of their way, the Briiish advance was
continued till within thirty yards of the first stone wall, when the patriots
rising up delivered a galling, point blank fire right into its close ranks,
breaking it into fragments and driving the shattered remnants back on the
main body. An hour and a half was lost in gathering up and reforming
the broken lines before another advance was ordered.

Strength«»ned by fresh reinforcements the enemy now numbered 4,C0J
men of all arms, horse, foot and artillery, which kept up an incessant fire
as it again approached the ambuscade ; but Read and his men were still
there, and when the enemy were within fifty yards they were received with
volley after volley until seven well-directed discharges were poured into
their compact columns. As they still advanced. Read having successfully per-
formed his allotted part, fell back behind the second stone wall. Here
Shepard's men had been placed, and as the enemy came within the required
distance they were received with a storm of bullets which cut great gaps in
their ranks. Bewildered by this second and unexpected ambuscade, they
reeled as the deadly fire was delivered at short range, and repeated seven-
teen times before Shepard's conomand abandoned the second line of defense.

8S THE KEW PARKS.

Again, and for the third time, the British line was reformed, Shepard^
men falling back till the third and last line was reached, and here the aame
tactics were adopted and with heavy loss to the foe. This ended the fight.
the American commanders having accomplished their porpase in checking
the progress of the enemj, inflicting heavy damage and, what was still
more essential, seriously impairing his prestige and confidence in his own
powers. In this ** affair " he had lost, according to some estimates, one
thousand men, or about two to every American who actually took part in
the engagement. It was a heavy blow and prcduced a telling effect, at the
time, on the royalist cause. On this splendidly contested field, which has
made Pelham Neck as famous in our Revolutionary history as that of Ther-
mopylaB, and which is worthy of memorial monument, only twelve of the
patriots were killed.

A NAVAL PRIZE.

The same year saw another brilliant exploit, planned and exeoated by
common boatmen, carried out triuiuphantly. At that time BritiBh g^nn-
boats were stationed along the iSound as guard ships. The officers and
crew treated the villagers with ezasperatiog harshness and received the
natural return. Hatred and indignation incited the outrage people to
attempt the capture of their oppressors. A plan was arranged by Con-
necticut whaleboatmen and successfully executed. Across Pelham Neck
they carried their boat and took possession of a market sloop that traded
to New York and supplied the guardsbip with provisions. The Connectioat
men, ten or twelve in number, well armed, concealed themselves in the
hold while their leader remained on deck and obliged the owner to lay his
craft alongside the British vessel, as usual when furnishing supplies. In
the dusk of the early morning the two vessels touched. Up rushed
the boatmen, and in a twinkling the crew, only half awake, were prisoners
and forced to help navigate the prize into New London.

In 1814 two British men-of-war, after bombarding Btonington, appeared
in these waters and the shores of Pelham re-echoed to the roar of their
gtms. The Amei leans returned their fire, and after a sharp cannonading
on both sides the patriots returned to New York and the men-of-war to
New London. It was the last time the thunder of British guns disturbed
the tranquility of this quiet spot..

MISTRESS ANNE.

Traditions of Indian outbreaks and atrocities still linger around the place,
and Anne Hutchinson^s eventful life and tragic death impart to it an element
of romance and adventure. Driven out by the Puritans after a stormy
conflict with their authorities and a contemptuous defiance of their intol-
erant laws, she and her family settled down in this then uninhabited wfider-
ness to end her days in peace; and here she was massacred by the Indians.
Her family shared her fate with the exception of one little girl who was
carried off by the savages and lived with them four years, but at the end
of that time was ransomed and restored to civilized life.

The Hutchinson River, which forms part of the western boundary of

■' v>

THE NEW PARKS. 91

Felham Bay Park, keeps alive the memory of stately, heroic Mistress
Amie, whose death caused Boston to rbjoice, inasmuch as Gk)d had made
** a heavy example" of ** a woful woman;" for Acqueanouncke, its Indian
name, disappeared from popular use long since and is only seen now in
history or heard from the lips of book- worms.

There are persons who take more interest in curiosities of vegetation, or
freaks of growth, or nature, than in traditions however ancient or well
authenticated. ISuch will be struck with the curious spectacle of a tree
growing out of a crevice in the heart of a rock that stands on the cross
road between Felham and New York roads. There it has stood for years
without change. No one saw it as a sapling and no one has noticed any
signs of decay. It is quite a landmark and a very odd and picturesque one.

PARK REVENUES.

From the new parks the city will derive a considerable revenue through
the letting and leasing of certain previleges. Felham Bay Park will con-
tribute in dock rent paid by steamboats, and with the other parlu will swell
the income derivable from public restaurants and various kinds of enter-
tainments patronized by the visitors, as in the parks of Paris, Vienna and
Berlin, and on a more limited scale in Central Park. The aggregate
amount obtained from these different sources will increase year after year
as the population increases, and when within thirty years— a generation —
we shall have, as the past history of our city and the census returns fore-
shadow, 6,000,000 within its boundaries, the income from our parks, if they
are properly, conducted, should be sufficient to pay the whole of the
expenses of their support. Felham, of course, will contribute more to the
maintainance fund than the other parks, for the simple reason that being
sui generis it will attract larger crowds. It is our only seaside park, it is
the Newport ot the masses, not to be admired only, but to be enjoyed with
a clear perception of its worth and the serene consciousness of possession ;
and for these reasons, not to mention others, the people will flock to it and
patronize the different refreshment stands, the more pretentious restau-
rants, the bathing houses, ihe coasting steamers, the shows, the various
places of amusement that spring up like mushroons wherever crowds
resort.

A SITE FOR AN OBSERVATORY.

But in time other features of interest will be added besides those required
for purposes of recreation or amusement; monuments to commemorate
historical events connected with the locality, and works of art to preserve
the memory of dead, or perpetuate the fame of living celeb uCies. There,
too, might be erected a magnificent astronomical observatory on a grand
scale. The unobstructed view of the heavens from many of the elevated
points suggests it, the open space affords ample room for it. There no huge
apartment houses can blur the sky, and shut from view '' the turning about
of Arcturus," or the circumsolar stars as they go swinging around the
circle. Nowhere could "the stars in their courses'' be seen to greater
advaotage, nowhere could astronomy be more practically or profitably
studied than in an obseryatory located in Felham Bay Park.

92 THE NEW PARKS.

THX BOUNDABIBS.

The following are the boundaries as defined by the act: " Beginning cJi
Long Itlaud Bound at a point T?here a line drawn from the termination of
the northern boundary of the city of New Tork touches the Bronx River to
the furthermost northern point of the * Pass Rocks,* a ledge of rocks north
of Hunter's Island, would touch the shore line aud waters of Long Island
Bound; from thence westerly along said line t)etween the New York city
northern boundary and Long Island Sound to a point about 1,000 feet
easterly from the easterly side of the Old Boston Pose road, measmiag from
its Junction with the extended northern boundary of New York city; from
thence southerly to the nearest point on the northerly shore of Hutchinson^s
River; from thence southerly and easterly along the northern shore of
Hutchinson*s River to a point formed by a line drawn due northwest from
the most westerly point on Gk>06e Island, in said Hutchinson^s River on
Bastohester Bay, and touching the northerly shore line of said Hutchinson^s
River; from this point southerly in a straight line to a point formed by the
westerly line of the Harlem River and Portci ester Railroad Ckunpany's
light of way with the southerly shore line of Eastchester Bay or Hutchin-
eon'ft River ; from thence in a straight line to the northwesterly
comer of the property belonging to and known as the residence
of John W. Hunter, E^q ; from thence along said property
line of John Hunter southerly to the eastern line of the Eastern
Boulevard ; from thence along said eastern line of the Eastern Boulevard
to the southwesterly corner of lands belonging to J. Furman, Esq. ; from
thence easterly along the boundary line between the property of said Fur-
man and the lands of Lorillard Spencer and J. aL Waterbury to Long
Island Bound; from thence following northwardly the coast line along the
shores and waters of Long Island (Sound, Bast Chester and Pelham bays,
ai\>und and including Pelham Bridsce Island and Pelham Neck to the south-
erly line of thd causeway leading to Hunter^3 Island ; thence along said
southerly line of causeway to Hunters Island; thence southerly, easterly,
northerly and westerly, and southerly along the shore and waters of the
c«.>ast line of said Hunter*^ Island and the small island known as the Twin,
following said coast line entirely around said Hunter^ and Twin islands to
the northerly line of the causeway or bridge leading to the nudn land from
Hunter's Island; fn>m thence al<»]g said northerly line of causeway to
the sht^re and water line of the main land; from thence along said main
land shore and water line northerly to the place of beginning. Together
with all snudl islands^ rocks, etc., situate and lyiog within a line drawn
bet t%eien the extreme south^'ly bound herein described and the farthest
southeastern projection of Pelham R.x^k, and between the most easterly
pcxmt on IVlham Rock and tbe outermost southern and eastern point of
HunterVi and Twin islands: anri also including the rcH^ on the north and
east ci HunterV Island known as Pass Rocks.**

n"RSiSHXi> AXi* rsmwisnED pakss-a .jukstiox of kcoxomy.

In the jielectkm of the sites tbe =^n obj^^t, as before intimated, which
was kf pt sSMLiilr in view, ^ss tbe suitability <>f the land for the purpose to

THE NEW PARKS. 95

which it was to be applied. While it was desirable that parks should be
established at the most accessible points, it was also essential that the tracts
chosen should be of such a character as to reduce the expense of their
improvement hereafter to a minimum. In other words, it was deemed
advisable, in the interest of economy, that the land should possess all
the required conditions necessary to constitute a park— that it should
have a diversity of surface, be well wooded and the presence of water, in
the form of lakes or streams, was regarded as a specially valuable feature,
adding largely to its attractiveness.

The experience which the city had acquired in the construction of Central
Park warned against a repetition of that costly business, and it was decided
that it was cheaper to purchase parks already made than to select treeless
wastes, without water and devoid of thoie topographical features which
constitute the great charm of all parks deserving of the name. Thus the
city would be saved the expense of tree planting, and the water area could,
if required, be extended by engineering skill. Much precious time which
would be expended in this work would be saved and the people would enter
into the immediate enjoyment of the parks, instead of waiting at least half
a generation for their completion. If the choice could have been presented
to the public when the ground for the Central was appropriated between that
and a park already furnished, there could ba no question as to their decision.
They would doubtless have been most willing to have paid the difference
in the price, if, by so doing, they could have secured immediate possession,
and use.

It is, therefore, needless to say that such considerations had great weight
in determining the question of selection and location. One of the chief
elements in the value of any article is its suitability to the purpose for which
it is intended or required, and this rule was applicable in a peculiar
degree to the case of the parks. A hundred acres of well-wooded land,
with hills and dales, rocks and glens, with a stream or a lake to give the
desired variety, would certainly be worth more to the city than a hundred
acres of level waste. That might answer for a parade ground, or a huge
base-ball field, but it would never do for a people^s play ground.
Better pay two, or three, or four thousand dollars, or even more per
acre for made parks, than buy the required area at half those figures and
expend double, treble, quadruple the amount and lose years in the work of
preparing them for public use and occupation.

CROTONA PARK.

These were the considerations that prdvailed in the location of the new
parks, and in no instance were they lost sight of for a moment. The beau-
tiful tract known as Crotona was found to possess all the features of a
natural park, and to have the additional advantGige of location and accessi*
bility. It is situated on the ridge of land which forms the eastern crown
of the water-shed of Mill Brook Valley and commands an extensive view
of the surrounding country, bringing within the range of vision the Pali-
seudes and the piers of the Brooklyn Bridge. From its former name of
Bathgate Woods it is evident that in the essential matter of shade it is

96 THE NEW PARKS.

liberally provided. Of all the parks it is in fact conspicuous in this respecst,
and among its fine old forest trees, luxuriant in their foliage, can ba
reckoned the oak, the elm, the magnolia, the maple and a bewildering
variety of others of more or less value. There is many a cool retreat and
delightful vista within the depths of these grand old woods ; many a
favorite resort in which picnic parties have, through the kind indulgence
of the owner, enjoyed themselves, free from the oppressive heat of the long
summer day. Within its 135 acres are to be found commanding heights,
wide-spread undulating meadows, shady glades and glens, green with the
gloom of trees, soft cirpets of moss and lichens, springs and rivulets of
cool and refreshing water, and all this in the centre of a district that in
lees than a decade is destined to have within its bounds a large portion of
the population north of the Harlem.

From its location it will be seen that Crotona Park is the centre of that
portion of the city which lies beyond the Harlem, and that it is accessible
by the horse cars and by the Harlem and elevated railroads. As to the
means of access they are ample and bring the park within reach of all parts
of the city ; but, as intimated, it will not be many years before its area will
be found barely adequate to meet the local demand. In fact as it has been
considered necessary to provide for the education of the rapidly increasing
juvenile population, a grammar school was erected within the limits of
what is now the park, and it is one of the largest and finest structures of
its kind in the metropolis. Those limits as defined in the act are as follows :
Beginning at the junction of the northern boundary of the Twenty-third
Ward and the easterly line of Fulton avenue, as shown on the map of the
new system of streets as laid out by the Commissioners of Public Parks ;
thence eastwardly along said northern boundary of the Twenty-third
Ward, crossing Franklin avenue (Broadway) and continuing on said boun-
dary line to a point 320 feet westerly from the westerly line of Boston Post
road ; thence along a line parallel to and westwardly of the said westerly
line of Boston Post road, and distant therefrom 330 feet, to the junction of
the Boston Post road with the Southern Boulevard ; thence on a line 820
feet westerly and parallel to the westerly side of the Southern Boulevard to
a point 300 feet southerly from the southerly line of Fairmount avenue
as shown on said city map ; thence westerly 3)0 feet distant from and
parallel to the southerly line of Fairmount avenue, crossing Franklin
avenue (Broadway) to a prolongation southerly of the westerly line of
Broad street as shown on said map ; thence northerly along such pro-
longation of the westerly line of Broad street, and northerly along said
westerly line of Broad street to its junction with the southerly line of
Tremont avenue; thence westerly along, the southerly line of Tremont
avenue to the junction of said line with the easterly line of Fordham
avenue; thence southerly along said easterly line of Fordham avenue
to the northerly line of One Hundred and Seventy-fifth street (Fitch street) ;
thence easterly 280 feet along said northerly line of Fitch street; thence in
« straight line southerly to the place or point of beginning.

THE NEW PARKS. 9T

ST. MARY'S PARK.

St. Mary^s Park, the smallest of the tracts selected, lies nearest to the
Harlem River, so near, in fact, that it seems rather a city park than a
suburban. It is not connected with the trans Harlem park system by boule-
vards or parkways, but stands isolated and alone, perfect in itself, its
miniature loveliness challenging comparison with the largest and fairest of
its compaers. Its area is twenty-five acres and one-third, and within that
limited space all the points that constitute the charm of a public pleasure
ground are to be found in abundance: wood and water, trees and shrubs,
hill and valley, barren rocks and emerald meadows; and all these so
disposed that one form of beauty heightens the other by contrast.

Unlike Mount Morris Park, which is a level tract encircling a rocky
eminence, St. Mary^s is beautifully undulating; the ground sinks and swells,
rising in places to over a hundred feet, from which elevation an extended
view of the great metropolis can be obtained. Spread beneath the spectator
like an outstretched map it lies, from the bordering Hudson to the East
River and the Sound.

Like all the new parks, St. Mary's requires no outlay for improvements
or embellishments, ftature has been beforehand and done all that was
necessary. She has fashioned it in her own way, built the hills, grassed the
slopes, hollowed the valleys, and ranged the trees in social groups or
solitcuy units. Ck)nseqnently it is free from insipid regularity and formal
devices. Its topographical peculiarities have been preserved and the result
is a park that is a gem in its way without any artificial beauty about it.
And yet one cannot look at this tract without feeling that it is so out of
keeping with the surrounding land, that it seems to have been taken with
its beauty of configuration and charming diversity of surface up bodily
from some more favored spot and set right down here— a park superim-
posed upon an ordinary country tract, a flat, level surface fit only to be
built on or ploughed over, or for any of the ordinary uses of every-day life ; —
and inside this park natural springs, woodland and upland, the air redolent
with the odor of plant and fiower and musical with the song of birds.

St. Mary*s Park was included in the estate of Gouvemeur Morris, the
patriot statesman, whose name is inscribed in the early annals of the
country, who was a member of the convention that framed the Constitutions
of the United States and the State of New York, and who served the
country subsequently in the Senate of the Republic. ' Mr. Morris also
filled the post of Minister to France, and he now rests in the cemetery of
St. Ann's Church, a few hundred feet from the park. St. Ann's is an old
and picturesque edifice and its unmistakable air of antiquity contrasts strik-
ingly with the modem buildings in close juxtaposition and adds not a little
to the beauty of the landscape.

The people of Morrisania, long before it became part and parcel of New
York city, recognized the suitability of this tract for a public park and
proposed to set it apart for that purpose. Country picnic parties and city
sight-seers enjoyed themselves therein, the popular will outrunning ofi&cial
action and virtually ignoring ofi&cial tardiness. It was adapted for a park,
it was intended for a park, and a park the people determined it should be.

«8 THE NEW PARKS.

And so it has been regarded and used by the people of Morrisania and the
vicinity for years. Nevertheless, when it form illy passes into the possession
of the city next year there will be greater crowds and keener enjoyment.
There will be no fear of loss, no dread of its being cut up into building lots
4uid becoming the centre of an up-town tenement-house system, interfering
with the enjoyment and threateiJng the health of the people. It is their^s
to tiave and to hold in saectUa scBculorum^ for it has been taken by the a^t
in which its boundaries are defined. These begin at a point formed by the
intersection of the southerly line of St. liary^a avenue and the easterly line
of St. Ann^s avenue; thence northerly along the easterly line of St. Ann^s
avenue to the southerly line of One Hundred and Forty-ninth street;
thence along the southerly line of One Hundred and Forty-ninth street
easterly to the westerly right-of-way line of the Port Morris Branch
Railroad Company^s property; thence southeasterly along said westerly
line of railroad right-of-way to the easterly line of a street forming a
southerly extension of Robbins avenue, as shown on a map of the new
system of streets as laid out by the Commissioners of Public Parks; thence
•flJong the easterly line of such street, extending southerly from Robbins
avenue about 150 feet; thence westerly and in a straight line to a point in
the southerly line of St. Mary's street, distant about 30 feet northerly and
at right angles with the northerly line of One Hundred and Forty-third street ;
irom thence along the southerly line of St. Mary's street westerly to the
point of beginning.

CLAREMONT PABK.

Claremont Park, like St. Mary's, U outside of the park system. It con-
tains thirty-eight acres, and Is situated about three-quarters of a mile from
flighbridge. It is thoroughly country-like and rural, and seems rather a
valley in the Catskills than a park in the city of New York. Nothing
reminds one of the busy, bustling life outside; the rush of business is unfelt
here, and the struggle for wealth and the strife for precedence appears an
absurd was^e of time and energy. But the shriek of the locomotive as it
rushes past soon corrects such ideas and brings with it thoughts more in
harmony with the restless energy of modem lifa

In one important particular, the conformation of the ground, Claremont
differs essentially from the other detached park— St. Mary's. In brief, it is
a lovely valley, lying between hills that border it on the east and west.
These bordering ridges are not of a uniform height: the most elevated
points rise over 100 feet and descend precipitously or gently some 50 or 60
feet, the irregularity of outline adding not a little to the picturesque effect
of the whola From these points a good view is obtained of the surround-
ing country, and at the same time the interlying valley, 100 feet below, is
visible through its entire extent The effect is pleasing, and the contrast
between the lovely vale sleeping in the sun and the wide-awake world
beyond its hill boundaries is striking, and reminds the spectator of the
happy valley of Rasselas.

Its surface is beautifully diversified; stretches of meadow land alternate
\ 'i eminences, and tracts well covered with flourishing stately

THE NEW PARKS. 101

trees of vigorous growth and magnificent foliage. Clambering vines drape
the rocks and beautify the rugged pathways, fling a green veil over Uie
gnarled roots and branches of decrepid trees evoking beauty from decay.
Like all the parks of the new system it is ready-made, fit for use without
loss of time or expenditure of money. We have, it is true, called attention
to that important fact in every instance with a persistence that savors of
monotony, but there ia nothing the people are more interested in knowing.
If , as in the case of thb Central Park, they had to wait ten or fifteen years
before it was ready, it would temper their pleasure considerably in the
possession. Fortunately it is not so, and the time gained and the
money saved are two important items to be added to the credit of these
parks. Claremont is admirably located, and every year it will be more
appreciated by the dwellers roundabout, as time makes its value more
apparent and its use more universal.

The boundaries of the park begin at a point formed by the junction of
the prolongation westwardly |of the southerly line of Jane street (old
name) with the easterly line of Fleetwood avenue; thence easterly along
said prolongation and along the southerly line of Jane street and con-
tinuing eastwardly said straight line to its junction with the westerly line
of (Grant Place) Elliott street; thence along the westerly line of Elliott
street southerly to the easterly line of Fleetwood avenue; thence along the
easterly line of Fleetwood avenue to the place of beginning.

THE PARKWAYS.

In the original design of the new park domain the great parkways were
considered not only a most attractive, but an essential part of the whole
plan. They were intended not merely as connecting links uniting the
great pleasure grounds, but as extensions of the parks, and as affording a
grand continuous drive from the Van Cortlandt through the Bronx over to
the Sound.

The financial gain which would be derived by the city from the extended
line of park frontage was also regarded as a matter of special moment
in the conception and execution of the plauj as it was believed that
the effect on the enhancement of the value of contiguous territory would*
be no less marked tban in the casei of the parks themselves. While the
parkways, therefore, i)ossessed all the advantages of boulevards their
greater width would give them the appearance of continous parks through
which broad avenues, bordered with over-arching trees, could be con-
structed, with shaded walks for pedestrians and graveled roads for
equestrians. It was also perceived that such a feature in the new park
system, while it would add to the increased taxable value of the adjacent
territory, was susceptible of embellishment in the highest degree, and, in the
future of the northern portion of the city beyond %e Harlem, would form
one of its chief attractions.

The pleasure grounds of Chicago embrace a system of boulevards that is
unequalled in the New World. With a width varying from a hundred to
two hundred and fifty feet, their aggregate length is over thirty miles.
But the magnificent parkway known as the Midway Plaisance, which con-

103 THE NEW PARKS.

nects the two divisions of the Great South Park, has a wi.lth of nearly
8G0 feet and is a mile long. The art of the landscape gardener has
contributed liberally tj the plan and adornment of this unique and
beautiful addition to Cbicago^s park system, and the result is seen in one
of the most valuable and attractive ornaments of the Lake City.

The four parkways which form the main approaches to the principal
pleasure ground of the Buffalo park system are 4 miles long and 200 feet
wide. They are handsomely laid out, with six lines of shade trees, and
have, at intervals of about 2,C03 feet, wide circular and tquare plazas taste-
fully laid out in parterres and shaded walks.

With very rare exceptions wherever parks have been established, the
parkway is now regarded as an indlspensible adjunct and, as in the case of
Chicago and Buffalo, a generous policy has prevailed in the appropriation
of the necessary area of land for their construction. In the chief Euro-
pean cities the approaches to the parks, the grand avenues and boulevards,
are as much the objects of liberal expenditure and artistic decoration as the
parks with which they are connected. And so will it be with the Moshola
and the Bronx and Pelham parkways, which unite our two great inland
and glorious seaside pleasure grounds.

THE MOSHOLU PARKWAY.

The Mosholu Parkway, which forms the connecting link between Van
Cortlandt and Bronx parks, has an area of 80 acres, is 600 feet wide and a
mile long. It is located on both sides of and includes Middle Brook Park-
way, Brook street, and a small tributary stream which courses nearly
through its centre, and which can be so utilized in the general design as to
form one of its most attractive features. There is no need to tax the
resources of landscape gardening for its ornamentation, or extravagant
expenditure in its construction at the commencement or for many years to
come. Tree planting in Unto bordering the roads, the avenues and the
walks that will be laid out with plots and grassy margins, will be all that
is necessary till with the lapse of time comes a taste and a desire for more
expensive cultivation and higher artistic embellishment. It would require,
of course, large appropriations to make the Mosholu and the Bronx and
Pelham parkways as magnificent approaches to our three great parks as the
Avenue de Flmperatrice is to that of the Bois de Boulogne; but the time
will come, and it is not far off, when our parkways will have statuary and
fountains and such other works of art as public or private taste may sug-
gest and provide. At comparatively small expense, the natural brook
which Mosholu Parkway already possesses can be enlarged, increased in
volume by the aid of an artesian well, carried quite through the centre of
the tract, and there is a sufficient descent to the grade to allow of the con-
struction of dams enclosing lakelets, the overflow of which might be made
to form miniature cascades, spanned by rustic bridges. Such ornamental
attractions are x)ossible in the plan of this broad parkway, which possesses
natural conditions that permit of a wide scope for the invention and fancy
of the landscape architect

THE NEW PARKS. 105

THE BRONX AND PELHAM PARKWAY.

The Bronx and Pelham Parkway traverses a tract of country differing
materially in its topographical characteristics from that through which
the Mo3holu has been laid. It passes through a comparatively level section
with gently undulating surface throughout almost its entire length of two-
and-a-half miles. It begins at] the junction of Fordham and Pelham
avenues with Pelham Bay Park and takes, on the southerly line of the
avenue, a continuous strip 300 feet up to the jtoint of crossing by the Kings-
bridge road. From this point to its junction with the Bronx Park it
extends along the avenue in such manner as to allow the avenue to cross it
diagonally from end to end between the Kingsbridge and the Boston Post
roads, from which x)oint a strip 800 feet wide is taken on the northerly side
of the avenue as far as the boundary of the park. Throughout, its uniform
width is 4G0 feet, in which is included the Fordham and Pelham avenue, -
the whole area taken being ninety-five acres, affording ample space not
only for two broad drives for all classes of vehicles, but a bridle path,
three or more walks and bordering margins of grass or shrubs as taste may
determine.

If entrusted to competent hands this parkway could be made one of the
finest avenues in the world, and when this part of Westchester is embraced
within the city limits the tax income which will be collected on the
increased cmd advancing value of the bordering lands will prove a prolific
source of revenue to the municipal treasury.

A glance at the map accompanying this work shows the extent of terri-
tory embraced within the wide sweep of these great avenues, which, with
the addition of the parks will afford a continuous drive of ten miles, extend-
ing in one unbroken line from the extreme northern boundary of Van
Cortlandt clear over to the eastern extremity of the Pelham where its
shores are washed by the waters of the Sound. And here along the
sea-girt margin of this, the greatest of our parks, will one day be constructed
a drive that should be a continuation of the Pelham Parkway and the
views from which will far surpass those of the much -vaunted Riverside Park
and Drive, that have already cost the city over $6,000,000, and still more
to ceme.

THE CROTONA PARKWAY.

The Crotona Parkway, which has a width of 200 feet anid a length of
three-quarters of a mile, unites the Bronx and Crotona parks and will add
largely to the value of real estate in this locality. It commences at the
junction of the Southern Boulevard with the Bronx Ft^k at Elingsbridge
road crossing, thence southerly along the easterly side of the Southern
Boulevard, and parallel with and touching the same, a strip of land 100 feet
wide, as an addition to the width of said Boulevard, said strip continuing
southerly, and of its full width of 100 feet to a point 100 feet south of the
southerly line of Fairmount avenue, from thence westerly widening Fair-
mount avenue on its southerly side by a strip 100 feet in width, to a point
100 feet westerly of the northeasterly comer of Tremont Park, and at right
angles northerly from said northeast comer of park aforesaid* from thence

106 THE I^BW PARKS.

in a Btjraight line parallel with said right angle 2C0 feet in width, toachinfl^
the park and the street running easterly of the park. In its oonne it abaorbs
the Boulevard, making as stated a width of 200 feet

If the improvement of this particular section of the city Is made oa a scale
commensurate with the character of this fine avenue and the parks of whidi
it is the connecting link, there should, as there doubtless will, be a marked
and rapid increase in land values along the line and in ttie Immediate
vidniiy of the parkways. With the exception of the Moshola and Pelham
parkways it is the broadest avenue in the city, exceeding by 50 feet the
widest boulevards south of the Harlem. It is, therefore, capable of agreater
degree of improvement than any of these, and property along its front will
reach higher values and contribute correspondingly larger taxes to tfae oily.

HISTOEY OF THE MOYEMENT FOR

mW PARKS.

ITS rRIENDS AND FOES.

The Contest in the Legislature and Before the Courts.

INCEPTION OF THE PBOJECT.

In June of 1881 the writer of these pages directed his special attention to
the question of public parks , in furtherance of a purpose which he had enter-
tained for several years of advocating an increase of the park area of the
metropolis, and organizing a movement to bring about a result so desirable
for its sanitary well-being and the promotion of its material interests.
With that object in view he collected from official and other sources a large
amount of statistical and general information on the subject, believing that
the time was propitious for the initiation of a movement in that direction.
The investigations which he made satisfied him that the park area for many
years prior to 1881 was wholly inadequate for the requirements of the popu-
lation and that an increase in the extent and number of our 'breatnh[ig
places was imperatively demanded by the present as weU as by the future
needs of our metropolis.

The data in his possession proved that New York was not only behind
the great capitals of Europe, but that since Central Park was established,
more than a quarter of a century ago, we have been left far in the rear by
Fhiladelphia, Cliicago, Boston, Buffalo and other American cities. His
investigation also elicited the fact that less than "200 acres had been
added to our park area since the passage of the Central Park act in 185S,
and that had New York public grounds proportioned to her population, as
compared with these cities, it would have from 7«000 to 8,000 instead of
1,100 acres.

As the matter, however, was financial as weU as sanitary, particular
inquiry was made into the question of expense, and with the most satisfac-
tory and conclusive results in favor of the movement. An examination of
official statistics proved that by the creation of Central Park the dty had
gained, in the enhanced value of surrounding property and the increased
revenue derivable therefrom, $17,000,000 over and above the natural

108 THE NBW PARKS.

Increase from the growth of population and the ordinary advance in real
estate values; and this despite the enormous outlay necessary to convert
the worst description of waste land into an ornamental park, to defray
the extravagance of its embellishment and its costly maintenance for many
year?. This $17)000,000, be it remembered, was in hard cash in excess of
aU expenses, and, in addition to this immense simi, the city was in posses-
sicn of 8G4 acres, worth, as estimated, two hundred millions of doIjLABS

WHOLLY FREE OF COST.

After a careful study of the whole subject the writer was convinced that
an enlargement of our park area would be attended by results no less satis-
factory and conclusive; in a word, that the city^s experience in the case of.
Central Park would be repeated on a larger scale : that the extension of
our park domain need not cost the city a single dollab, but that on
the contrary it would be a source of profit ; that it would add greatly to its
embellishment and attractiveness ; promote the health and physical develop-
ment of the rising and succeeding generations: improve our sanitary
condition, and contribute to the recreation and social enjoyment of the
hundreds of thousands of our toiling masses.

suitable sites.

Having collected and arranged this information in the form of newspaper
articles he was fortunate in securing, as a medium of conununication with
the public, the colimuis of the New York Herald, In the descriptions of
the sites, which were illustrated with a map showing the most suitable
tracts for parks, he advocated the acquisition of at least four or five thou-
sand additional acres beyond the Harlem River and in the adjacent terri-
tory of Westchester County. In one of these articles it was stated, in refer-
ence to the extension of the northern boundaries of the city, that "within
the newly-acquired territory and in that immediately contiguous can be
found available locations admirably adapted to the purpose and from which,
two sites containing from 1,5C0 to 2, COO acres each may be obtained at a
comparatively moderate cost.** It was further stated that " the withdrawal
of so much land from the real estate market would alone materially enhance
the value of the remaining territory, thus enabling the city to derive a
largely augmented income therefrom.''

The advantages of such parks was dwelt upon at length, and it was nrged
that in the selection of land for a park on the Sound the site *' should be
near, or include Hutchinson River, a little to the south of New Rochelle^
and that it might be so arranged as to include one or more of the islands on
the Sound which are now connected by causeways. These grounds," it
was added, '^should be rural parks, not artificial constructions requiring
the expenditure of millions of dollars without corresponding benefit to the
people. Extensive and well-shaded groves, running waters, widened here
and there in their course into miniature lakes, broad tracts of meadow land
for healthful exercise in athletic sports, camping, parade and rifle grounds ;
quiet little deUs and nooks for picnic parties ; in a word, great health-giving
resorts for the whole people. ** The sites selected and shown on the map
published at the time were the same as those subsequently chosen by the

*^w^

THE NEW PARKS. Ill

Commission appointed under the act, with such necessary modifications in
boundaries as were deemed adyisalile.

THE NEW YORK PARK ASSOCIATION.

In the course of his inquiries for a map showing the territory between
the Hudson and the Sound the writer made the acquaintance of Mr. Joseph B.
Wood, who took a warm interest in the success of the project and to whom
was communicated the intention to organize a movement for the increase
of the park area of the. city by the acquisition of the most suitable sites
north of the Harlem and the adjacent pai't of Westchester County. Mr.
Wood cordially offered his serrices in the prosecution of the work, and the
co-operation of seyeral gentlemen friendly to the movement having been
obtained, a call for an informal nieeting at the Fifth Avenue Hotel was
issued, about two hundred invitations being sent out The use of a parlor
was obtained through the kind efforts of Mr. Charles Crary, and at this
meeting the initiatory steps were taken for the formation of ** The New
York Park Association," which waer organized on the 26th of November,
1881, the following officers elected and Executive Committee appointed :
Waldo Hutchins, president ; L. R. Marsh, vice-president ; W. W. Niles,
treasurer ; John Mullaly, secretary ; Chas. L. Tiffany, John E. Develin,
H. B. Claflin, Major-General Shaler, W. E. Conner, Henry L. HogueC,
David Dows, S. R. Filley, Wm. Cauldwell, Chas. Crary, Qustav Schwab,
Lewis G. Morris, Franklin Edson, Geo. W. McLean, Isaac Bell, Leonard
Jerome, Augustus Schell. Jordan u Mott, Egbert L. Viele, Joseph F.
Wood, J. M. Carnochan, M.D.; John Fitch, H. P. De Graaf, Lewis May,
Chas. J. Stephens.

At this meeting the writer, officiating as secretary, read a detailed
statement, in which the reasons for the movement and *' the imperative
necessity of providing for the present and future wants of our rapidly
increasing population in the important matter of park area,'^ were set forth
at length. Facts and figures were presented showing the deficiency of
New York as compared with other g^eat centres of population, and an
addition to the park area of the city of at least four thousand acres
earnestly advocated. Stirring addresses were made at this and other
meetings by Messrs. Luther R. Marsh, Waldo Hutchins, W. W. Niles,
Joseph S. Wood, Chas. Crary and El L. Viele. The statement pre-
sented by the secretary was on motion adopted "as embodying the views
of the meeting," and he was "requested to prepare it, with such additional
matter as he might deem advisable for publication in pamphlet form.''

Ten thousand copies were printed a few weeks thereafter, and the
greater part sent through the mails to the press, to prominent citizens and
to representative man of all classes, to clergymen, school teachers, officers
and managers of benevolent institutions, presidents of banks and insur-
ance companies, members of the various Exchanges, State and city officials,
judges, athletic clubs, officers of trade and other societies, etc. In this
way and through the columns of the daily press, which gave a liberal por-
tion of their space to the proceedings of the Park Association and friendly

112 THE H^EW PARKS.

approval of its work, much valuable and interestiiig information on tli»
question was g^ven to the public.

PBELIMINABT WORK.

Encouraged by the general favor and support and the dedded interest
manifested in the progress of the movement, the Association determined
that an effort should be made during the legislative session of 1883 to-
secure, if possible, the passage of two bills, one appropriating the Van.
C!ortlandt Park and the other appointing a Commission " to seleot and
locate such lands in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards, and
vicinity thereof, as they might deem advisable, for one or more public
parks and a parade ground, and to make a report thereof at the earliest
day practicable."

The Law Committee, to which the preparation of those bills was
intrusted, consisted of Messrs. Marsh, Develin, Niles, Wood, Crary, McLean
and Mullaly.

In the performance of this important work several meetings were hiMy
and the proposal to locate a great park on the Sound was warmly dis-
cussed, and aroused a strong and persistent opposition. The fact that it
would be outside of the city limits and beyond municipal jurisdiction
was urged against any effort in that direction as a waste of time and
labor imtil that part of Vv estchester was annexed to the city. In reply
to this argument the friends of the waterside park sontended that as
this portion of Westchester was destined to become a part of New Tork.
in the near future, it was true economy to secure the land at once w|iile
it could be had at the minimum value, instead of waiting five or ten
years when it could not, in all probability, be purchased at thrice the
price. The affirmative of the proposition was sustained by Messrs. Wood,
Marsh, Crary, Filley and Mullaly, Messrs. Wood and Crary being partic-
ularly strenuous and unyielding on this point. A compromise was fioally
agreed to, by which, as stated, two bills were prepared, accompanied by a
memorial, which impressed upon the Legislature the policy of acquiring
at least four thousand acres for public parks, and the urgent necessity of
securing at once the tract described in the bill, and which has been appro-
priated by the act of 1884 under the title of Van Cortlandt Park. The
special attention of the Legislature was directed to the great advantage of
*' a grand park with a water front on Long Island Sound, one which," in
the language of the rcemorial, ** should be the people^s own, a resort for
picnics and excursions, a place where they could enjoy the pleasures of
boating, bathing, fishing, etc." Reference was also made to *' the advisa-
bility of constructing parkways " and of the utilization ** of some of th3
avenues and boulevards now existing for such purpose." The bills were
placed in the hands of Senator Treanor and Assemblyman Breen, and, after
several attempts to obtain a hearhig from the Committee on Cities, the
association arrived at the inevitable conclusion that nothing was to be
expected from the committees to which tho bills were referred, and they
decided to postpone the matter to tho next meeting of the Legislature.

THE NEW PARKS. 115

▲ WORTHLESS RESOLUTION.

Before the close of the session, however, Mr. Breen introduced a resoln-
tion appointing the Mayor, the Commissioner of Publis Works, the Presi-
dent of the Board of Aldermen and the President of the Tax Department,
a Commission to report on the advisability of a public park in the annexed
district and the adjacent portion of Westchester, such report to be made
within thirty days.

It is needless to state that such a Commission could not, even if it were
friendly to the measure, give it that consideration and attention which was
essential to a proper understanding and appreciation of the subject, and
so, after two or three meetings at the Mayor^s office, the affair resulted in a
report to the Legislature to the effect that the time allowed was *' inade-
quate for the examination of the matter, and to enable them to form any
fixed opinion as to where the park or parks should be located."

The meetings, of which three were held in March, 1883, afforded the
friends of the movement a chance to give much valuable information to
Che public, and it is needless to say they fully availed themselves of the
opportunity. At these meetings effective speeches were made by Messrs.
Marsh, Niles, Wood, Dr. J. M. Camochan and Judge Hall, and a new
impetus was given to the project, despite the pronounced opposition of its
enemies.

Although the efforts of the association to secure even the consideration
of the Legislature of 1883 had failed, the work was prosecuted with unwa-
vering vigor, and in 18S3, through the well-directed efforts of the Hon.
Leroy B. Crane, who represented the Twenty-third Assembly District, and
whose friendly services in favor of the measure were enlisted by Mr.
Marsh, a bill was passed authorizing the Mayor '* to nominate, subject to
confirmation by the Board of Aldermen, a Conunission of seven citizens'
whose duty it shall be to select and locate such lands in the Twenty-third
and Twenty- fourth Wards of the city of New York and in the vicinity
thereof, as may, in their opinion, be proper and desirable to be preserved
and set apart for one or more public parks for said city."

APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW PARKS COMMISSION.

The bill became a law on the 18th of April, and on the 1st of May the
following gentlemen were appointed by Mayor Edson and confirmed by
the Board of Aldermen : Augustus Schell, Waldo Hutchins, General Fitz-
gerald, C. Li. Tiffany, W. W. Niles, L. R. Marsh and G. W. McLean. As
Mr. Schell was on the eve of his departure for Europe, he resigned, and
Mr. Thomas J. Crombie was appointed in his place.

Having taken the required oath the Commission was duly organized by
the unanimous election of Hon. L. R. Marsh as president, in recognition
of his unceasing and active interest in the movement from the beginning.
C. L. Tiffany was elected vice-president, General Fitzgerald, treasurer, and
John MuUaly, secretary.

The Commission, being now organized, proceeded inomediately with the
work for which it had been appointed, and on the 26th of May visited in a
body and examined the various tracts of land which were considered suit-

118 THE KBW PARKS.

able for park purposes. Their tour of inspection took in the Twenty-third
and Twenty-fourth Wards and a part of the - adjacent territory of
Westchester.

THE REPORT.

On the Ist of June the Commission inspected the tract now known as
Van Ck)rtlandt Park, and adjourned on the 15th for the summer vacation.
During the interval the writer entered into correspondence with the
park authorities of Paris, London, Dublin, Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam and
Brussels in Europe; and in the United States, with the Park Commissioners
of Chicago, Washington, Boston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Buffalo
and San Francisco. Through the courtesy of these officials he obtained
much valuable and interesting information in the form of annual reports
and other documents. This information was turned to good account in the
preparation of the elaborate report to the Legislature of 1884, describing
and illustrating the sites of the ne^ parks and presenting in more extended
detail and with much additional matter the facts and statistics embraced in
the pamphlet issued in 1882.

The contrast, as shown in the report, between New York and Philadelphia
as well as other Amarican cities, was decidedly unfavorable to our
metropolis, while in comparison with the great European capitals its park
area dwindled into absolute insignificance.

This document contained 217 octavo pages and was illustrated with
thirty engravings of views in the new parks. It also included a
reduced copy of the map compiled by the engineer of the Commission,
General James C. Lane, who was appointed on the 11th of October, 1888,
and whose services were so inadequatelyrewarded with the meagre appro-
priation of a thousand dollars; but to General Lane the question of
compensation was of slight consideration in comparison with the importance
of the work with which he had been intrusted. His experience in the art
of civil engineering and landscape gardening, and the fine taste which he
broughc to the practice of his profession, qualified him in an especial degree
for the performance of this task. In speaking of his reputation as an
engineer it may not be out of place to add that he has a brilliant record of
services in the principal battles of the late civil war from Bull Run to the
surrender at Appomatoz.

PUBLIC MEETINGS.

The Commission, as stated in the report, announced, through the daily
press, that public meetings would be held, at which ample opportunity for a
hearing would be given to all who desired to present their views, or to offer
suggestions in relation to the proposed extension of the park area of the
city, the location of sites, the recommendation of particular tracts of land
and such other considerations as they desired to bring before them. Several
meetings were held in the City Hall and correspondence was freely invited
from parties interested in the subject. These meetings were largely
attended, and of the forty or fifty persons by whom they were addressed
all were unanimously in favor of the enlargement of the park area of the
city, although differing in opinion as to the location of the sites and the

THE NEW PARKS. 117

extent of land required. Local interests demanded parks in particular
sections, and while the majority evidently regarded the subject from a
metropolitan standpoint, favoring two or more large parks, others advo-
cated the distribution of the proposed increase in the form of many and
■smaller parks and squares.

During the progress of this public discussion numerous letters were
received containing suggestions and recommendations of particular tracts,
and several visits of inspection were made before the sites were finally
selected. The whole subject was fully and minutely discussed at the
executive meetings of the Commission and the report and map adopted by
a unanimous vote. Mr. Marsh, by whom the bill for the appropriation and
condenmation of the various tracts of land embraced within the several
parks and parkwavs had been carefully prepared and revised, proceeded to
Albany on the 23d of January, 1884, and placed copies of the report and
bill in the hands of Hon. U. W. Plunkitt, of the Eleventh Senatorial
District, and Hon. Walter Howe, of the Eleventh Assembly District.

THE ANTI-PABKS WAB. '

Up to this point the park movement had met with comparatively little
oppoiition. Much work, it is true, was Jiecessary to carry it on successfully,
even in the face of such opposition as had been manifested. But the pros-
pect was most encouraging and victory seemingly assured. Certainly
none of the friends of the measure were prepared for the bitter disappoint-
ment they had to encoimter.

As Mayor Edson had been and still was a member of the Executive
Committee of the New York Park Association, and as he had taken an
active interest in the distribution of the pamphlet issued in 18S2, advocating
an addition of four or five thousand acres to the park area of the city, his
fellow members reasonably expected his continued co-operation and
support Having appointed the Conmilssion and been invited to accompany
them in their tours of inspection, it was naturally inferred that he would
give the weight of his approval and official influence in securing the
passage of the bill before the Legislature. In fact, no doubt whatever was
entertained on the matter. This confidence, however, was rudely dispelled
by his unfriendly attitude after the presentation of the report and bill and
by his open and active hostility to its passage. He made it a matter of
discussion in the weekly meetings of the heads of departments held in his
office, which resulted in the adoption of two resolutions on the 15th of
March, the first of which objected to the *' location, extent and expense of
the proposed parks," the second favoring the acquisition of ** the whole or
any portion of the land designated by the Commission within the limits of
the city,*' provided the necessary power of approval were vested in the
*' proper authorities of the city and the Sinking Fund Commissioners."

THE PRESS FOB THE PABKS.

On this point, however, the Mayor found that the press instead of being
in accord were in direct conflict witli him and his Cabinet. The Herald
called attention to the fact that the Commission had *' received the approval

118 THE IHEW PARKS.

of the prominent financiers and business men of New York who represent
over a thousand millions of dollars in real estate and various other forms
of investment, and whose property will bear a large share of the burden —
if burden it can be called— which will be not only a great financial gain to
the city treasury, but a blessing to the thousands of the city's toilers and
workers." * * * * ** This bill provides, as in the case of the Central
Park, for the appointment of Conmiissioners by the General Term of the
Supreme Court, who are authorized to take the necessary proceedings to
secure possession of the land. Under such circumstances, of course, the
politicians would have no chance and so they are opposed to this beneficent
measure and have employed the Mayor's Cabinet as a convenient tool with
which to give it a death blow. But the public, they will find, will have
something to say in the matter yet."

The Times urged the immediate acquisition of the lands on the ground
that every year's delay would add to the cost. " We are forced," it said»
" to accept the mature and carefully studied conclusions of the Commis-
sion in preference to the off-hand judgment of the Mayor's Cabinet. Every
precaution should be taken against jobbery and land speculation at the
expense of the city, but this is no more necessary now than it will be
in the future. In fact, there will be a great advantage In taking the whole
domain proposed before a movement is produced in real estate values by a
beginning in park improvements and in the extension of rapid transit
facilities through the annexed district. Now is plainly the time to acquire
title to all the needed lands, and those designated by the Commission are
all desirable."

The World said that ** the approval of the bill relating to parks in the
new wards will give general satisfaction. It is wise to provide for ample
public groimds before the land is increased in value by improvements."

NOW IS THE TIME.

The Real Estate Record and Guidz was equally pronounced, declar-
ing that ** it is clearly unwise to wait until the price of land is high before
providing ourselves with plenty of park room ; " and in a subsequent article
it took still stronger ground, maintaining that *'a postponement of the
improvement for another year will cost the city a great deal of money,
for," it added, *' there is every indication that a rise of values is imminent
in all the suburbs of New Tork. The metropDlis of the United States has
really less park room than any of the leading sapitals of the world. We
have no parade ground for our militia, nor space for the open air sport?,
which have become an institution in this country. The boys and girls of
our public schools have no playgrounds. The young fellows in our New
York College are forced to go to Prospect Park to play lawn tennis.
* * * It is clearly unwise to wait until the price of land is high before
providing ourselves with plenty of room. It will be a red letter day for
the annexed district as well as a matter for congratulation for our people
generally when Grovernor Cleveland signs the admirable park bill passed
by the Legislature."

The Tribune took " exception to the opinion of the Mayor and the other

THE NEW PARKS. 181

city offldalB, that the plan of acquiring several thoosands of acrea of lands
for parks in the annexed district is unwise,** and added that, *' on the
whole, the bill was a good one. The Mayor^s Cabinet has a right to an
adverse opinion beyond doabt; but in discussing this matter the Senate
and Assembly Committees on Cities should not be entirely guided by it. They
should carefully consider also the fact that the plan has the earnest and
intelligent approval of some of the most prominent and public-spirited
citizens of New York."

THE COMMISSION ENDORSED.

The Mail and Express, which has been the constant and consistent
friend of the movement from the beginning, handled the enemies of the
parks without gloves. *' The oppdeition," said that papsr, '* to tha splendid
and well-conBidered scheme for new parks in the upper wards comes mainly
from a few * pernickety ' and narrow-miaded officials, and from persons
whose ' interests ' are not thoee of the people. Let the Iiegislature earn the
gratitude of the great mass of New Yorkers by passing the bill recom-
mended by the able and disinterested Park Commission, whose labors are at
an end. And let legislators remember that a single pig squealing under a
gate makes more noise than a thousand quiet people."

"We presume," said the Eoening Post^ ** that the protest of that curious
body, known as the *Mayor*8 Cabioet,' against the bill providing for
public parks in the annexed city districts will have little weight with the
Legislature. That bill was drawn up by a Commission appointed by the
Mayor under the provisions of an act of the Legislature and was the result
of tiiemost competent and careful investigation of the whole subject. The
Commissioners went about their work with commendable public spirit, and
their recommendations have met the warm approval of our most eminent
aod disinterested citizens." It added that the bill was a carefully consid-
ered measure and has met *4ts chief opposition from the politicians who
dislike it, because they are excluded from all possibility of profiting by its
provisions."

The Star was no less emphatic on the subject than its contemporaries,
insisting that "the localities chosen, after thorough examination, are
ample, accessible, beautiful, easy to care for, and for sale at a reasonable
QQgj; 4t « « « New York of the present needs more breathing room.
Shall New York of tho future ba stifled as now, by a foolish, niggardly
and short-sighted policy? Oil grounds of future morality, health, decency
and sound business judgment, the new parks should be secured at the
earliest possible moment."

SUPPORT OF SOLID MEN.

It was evident from the decided stand taken by the press on the work of
the Commission that the Mayor and his ofllcial aids could not look to that
quarter for encouragement or support. To add to the perplexities of bis
position he had received a letter from many of the real estate owners, bankers,
lawyers and business men , representing over a billion of dollars in real
ertate— subsequently swelled by additional names to two billions— directing

123 THE KEVT PARKS.

his atteition to the unaoswerable arguments and solid array of facts, pre-
sented in the report to the Legislature, pointing out the danger of delay,
insisting that the purchase of more psirk room was more imperative now
than ever, and that the sooner it was obtained the better.

Prior, however, to the reception of this communication by the Mayor,
circular letters had been addressed by Mr. Marsh and the author to a
large number of representative citizens, a copy of the report accompanying
each letter, inviting an expression of opinion on the question of the
enlargement of the park area of the meu*opolis. The response was prompt,
emphatic and decided. The writers expressed their warm approval of the
movement, and urged prompt action on the part of the Legislature.

In a hearing before the Mayor and the heads of departments Mr. Marsh
made a powerful argument, sustained by a formidable array of facts, but
the city government was not to be moved, and so the contest was carried
to Albany before the Senate and Assembly Conmiittees on Cities, and into
both branches of the Legislature.

THB CONTEST IN THE liKQISLATUBB.

The field of conflict having been changed from New Tork to the State
capitol the whole strength of the friends of the parks was concentrated at
this point, and throughout they were effectually aided by the press of the
city. Messrs. L. R. Marsh, W, W. Niles, Waldo Hutchins. C. D. BurriU,
the writer of these pages andx>thers, attended the several conmiittee meet-
ings, and during their frequent visits to Albany fortified their friends in
the Legislature, who were fighting the battle for the people's parks, with
an overwhelming mass of facts and arguments. Conspicuous among the
champions of the bill were Senator Piunkitt, by whom it was introduced!
Senators Ellsworth, Gibbs, Lowe, Nelson, Daggett, Gilbert, Otis, Cullen,
Thomas, Wilson, Kiernan, Newboldand Van Schaick. On the evening of the
passage of the bill there was a spirited and prolonged discussion, in which
Senator Ellsworth, who had from the beginning given the subject his earnest
attention and taken an active part in promoting the success of the measure,
made an eloquent, convincing and ringing speech in every way wo/thj
of the occasion. It was one of the most powerful arguments which this
distinguished Senator and learned jurist made during hij Senatorial term
and was listened to with markad attention and interest throughout. Senator
Ellsworth was ably sustained by Senators Piunkitt, Lowe and Thomas,
who were no less earnest in their advocacy of the bill and who guarded it
against the peculiar tactics of its enemies with untiring vigilance.

The bill was vehemently opposed by Senator Daly, and, on its passage,
his vote and that of Senator Jacobs were recorded in the negative, the
following voting in the affirmative: Charles S. Baker, Shepard B. Bo wen,
Henry J. Coggeshall, John J. Cullen, Andrew J. Davidson, Timothy E.
EJsworth, Edward S. Esty, J. Sloat Fassstt, Frederick S. Gibbs, John J.
Kiernan, Henry R. Low, Michael C. Murphy, Henry C. Nelson, Thomas D.
Newbold, James R. Otis, George W. Plunkett, James H. ]^obb, John B.
Thacher, Edward B. Thomas, John Van Shaick, Commodore P. Vedder.

The service rendered on this occasion, as indeed all through the prog-

THE NEW PARKS. 133

ress cf tho struggle in the Senate, by Senator Lowe, the consistent advocato
of the parks throughoat; the genial and earnest Otis, a host in himself; the
untiring Plunkitt, alert and watchful; the calm and convincing Gilbert,
and the steadfast and reliable Wilson, Newbold, Dfigficett, Comstock, Kier -
nan and Baker should long be held in grateful remembrance.

THE FBIENDS OF THE PARES— HON. L. R. MARSH.

Of the pre-eminent part which Mr. Marsh took in the work done at
Albany, as well as in the city, before the Committees of the Legislature and
in the duties of the Commission in New York; in his able arguments before
the Supreme Court; the May or^s Cabinet; the committee meetings of the
Real Estate Exchange; at the meetings in the City Hall; in the preparation
of cases and legEil documents, in which his name did not always appear; his
co-operation with tho author in the work of the report to the Legislature;
and, outside of this, the many friends he made and enlisted in the work— in
all this and still more that was essential and necessary to success, Mr.
Marsh's services were invaluable and indispensable. His high sense of per-
sonal and professional honor, his integrity of character, added to the
enthusiastic energy, and the cheerful, buoyant, hopeful spirit with which
he entered into the movement; the unfailing courtesy with which he
conducted his part of the controversy — a characteristic that has won for
him the well-deserved title of the Chesterfield of the New York bar— with such
elements enlisted in the cause and with the loyal co-operation of those who
were faithful throughout, refusing to be swayed by threats, or cajoled by
promises— with all these essentials to success, more potent than even official
patronage, there was substantial reason for the abiding confidence which
the friends of the cause had in its ultimate and complete triumph.

As to Mr. Marsh's share in the work, it is indeed doubtful if in the legal
ranks of the city there could be f oimd one who would have been willing
through six years of steady, unwavering, chlvalric devotion to give, with-
out compensation, his talents and his life-long professional experience to
the promotion and success of this great movement for the benefit of his
fellow citizens. It is very certain that no other volimteered, or was
discovered.

In paying this just tribute to Mr. Marsh's share in the prosecution and
completion of the work in which he had so freely and generously co-oper-
ated through years of contest and controversy, the author desires to add
the meed of his own personal admiration and respect. During all this time
Mr. Marsh's sole object was the public good, and, the bill once passed, his
chief solicitude was to protect the public interest and the rights which the
people had by legislative enactment acquired to this magnificent park
domain, to prevent its being wrested from them and to preserve it inviolate
as their property and the inheritance of the generations to come. To this
work he brought all the resources of a mind stored with the learning of a
profession in which, in his earlier days, he was associated as a partner with
Massachusetts' great stateman, the illustrious Webster. And now in his
advanced life, which has already passed the allotted term, like Gladstone
and De LesBeps, he still bears himself erect under the burden of accumu-

«U TilK NKV^ PARKIS.

i*A«/) /«»#«, ^i««w«tiiK thn phyiiiual activity and the nndinniiHwl tntwllaat of
« t**\/tt^mui vlxoroiiN inatikifXMi.

liO.t. W. W. NILES.

ti'/t nkni\i\i\ LliA liiiii(irl[ttit wjrk performed by that abl» lawyer, Hon.
VV. W. Mllm, who wmh oiio of the earliest, most earnest, active and infla-
ftfilUii a/tvffttaUM <if tliu iiuw p&rks, be forgotton, for his practical leglila-
ilv« tri|KiriHiir4i, aiMpilnMl while a member of the Legislature some xaan
t««foiii, Mild hl« eitaiiiHivu a&rtiuaintanoe among the leading members of both
Iffnii'-han, rMiiflitrwi his iwraoual attendance in the State Capitol at this
Jtifiiliire of Himclal value. In fac^t, all through the six years' battle wagied
f'if Urn |iMiiplii'« iMirks, Mr. Nlles was ever ready, not merely with his
iMillvMual nirorts and intluence, but he gave a large share of his time to
Uin woric iif Uiu Assoi^iation both in New York and Albany, writing letters
Ut and HMcuring the support of members of the Senate and Asseo&blj,
ami alillMg whore his hdp was most effective. Of all the advocates of the
iiMNUHirn iluim was none whose interest and confidence in its success was
ifiorn tMU'nmt and unllagging, and certainly none who was more efficient
111 making converts to the cause.

IICN. JOHN X. DEVELIir.

Aiiicing the first to take part in the new parks movement was Hon.
Jcilin Ifi. Uevelin, whose experience and thorough knowledge of muni-
t*l|Nil law has placed him deservedly among the leading members of the
logal prufession in a city didtinguii^ied for its able jarists. To those who
artt ac-(|uaiuted with this gentleman it is needless to sajthat from tiie
iiu)ini*ut the project was presented for his consideration he gave it hii
un« qualified, cheerful and hearty indorsement and support From the oom-
nieurenient it had the benefit of his valuable advice, personal infiuezoe and
prof dssional knowledge. Mr. Develin attended all the meetings of the Law
Committee of the New York Park Association and materially assisted in
the preparation of the first bills introduced in the Legiilatore, where he
rendered important aid, not only in the promotion of the measnre, but made
an effective argument before the (Governor the d^ on which ttiebill
received his signature. In fact, throughout the whole movement, and
iioubly in the parthe took in theSinking Fund case in the Oonrt of Oommon
Pleas, and in securing the necessary application of the Perk Department for
the appointment of the Commissioners of Appnisal, hit ssi il css were most
valuable.

HON. w. HUTCnnfS.

In the early stages of the movement, and as PrecidMit <vf the Kew York
Perk Association, Hon. Waldo Hutchins playM an fm)vMtant part^
although his official duties as member of Gongre«« made it impoedble for
him to give '^e much of his time and attention to the snivflw of the msasors
as he desired. Desoite of this, however, Mr. Hntohins rendered timsly
assibtauce at Albany, and spoke at one of the meetings of the Ansmhly
Committee in reply to the arguments of Mayor Kdftm and the Ocrpontion

THE NEW PARKS. 127

Counsel against the Park bill. On that occasion Mr. Hutchlns took strong
ground against the effort to amend the bill by the addition of a clause
assessing the surrounding lands, which he forcibly denounced as a vicious
principle and a great injustice that in many cases would result in the con-
fiscation of the property of small owners.

The movement had also the benefit of* the legal experience of Mr. Albon
P. Man, who in an able letter to Hon. Walter Howe exposed the utter
weakness and fallacy of the position taken by the opposition on the Sink-
ing Fund question, and pointed out with much force the urgent necessity
for an increase of the park area of the metropolis.

HON. O. B. POTTER.

There was another gentleman who, although occupied with his duties as a
representative in Congress and with the responsibilities inseparable from
the care of large business interests, found time to say and write many a
word in favor of the new park domain. In two strong and convincing
letters Hon. O. B. Potter insisted on the acquisition of the whole park area
taken by the act, and dwelt with particular emphasis on the value of Pel-
ham Bay Park as a most essential, indeed as an indispensable feature in the
system. To this welcome aid he added his personal influence, and Ia his
last letter he took occasion to say that he was in favor of the parks because
he was a large taxpayer and more than nine-tenths of his property were
below Fiftieth street. ** I do not own," said he, ** and have not the slightest
interest in any land in Westchester County, except my country seat in Bing
Sing. I know that the acquisition of these new parks will somewhat
increase taxes, but I am clear that they will add more to the value of my
property in New York city than the lossby taxation; I shall be much more
than repaid by the increased well-being of the city and its population."

COL. R. M. OALLAWAY,

To say that CoL R. M. Gkdlaway was an earnest supporter of the move-
ment even before the New York Park Association was organized would be
but a feeble recognition of his active and effective co-operation, the valuable
assistance which he rend«red at important stages of its progress, and the
friendly aid enlisted in its service through his efforts. He was not only one
of its earliest, most consistent and constant friends, but he was an enthusi-
astic advocate of Pelham Bay Park, especially on account of the great
advantages presented by its extended frontage on the Sound, which, he
believed, '* could not fail to make it one of the most attractive of our public
pleasure grounds, particularly," as he said in his letter to the (Governor
while the bill was awaiting his signature, ** for the great body of our work-
ing people, whose various trade and benevolent societies, in addition to the
atiiletic clubs, will throng it daily through the sununer season. Better," as
Mr. Gallaway sententiously remarked, *' for the city to buy grass lots now
than lots with improvements on them hereafter." Throughout the whole
contest he was literally a tower of strength to the cause.

Particular reference has been made to the connection of Mr. Joseph S.
Wood with the project, the prominent part he took as a member of the

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iJfi/j'i Uy Lj'cul wjUj jiiitl itfv/fii aixd 'ijnUsuiiAihH ui*mm in-fliiuaticmi bo free] j
ii«/liiJ^.i 'J iii iM L<i Uj4:Jj- iij//iiv«3« aixd Ui*s iiiJiy^rUtrji work tbej have accom-
jiJi^Ju:'! fof Ui^f ^.lUfcl «-ily of Ui/cir >jom«9s, aud in th^ signal mifxm» of whicdi
wi/iii Ijjcy UiliM laij liOfi</i'uMe af»/l a justiflaUo pride,

jLUtt. Juf:L|>iiiLi<'iiJiirJy dffiiervifjg of rjoU<M» n'f^ht here that amonj; the
iiji/ai. l/ii.U^f MiiiJ uiii-i/fjii;rofijj»inj{ ill their op{y>»i lion &> the new parks were
;>i//iH- 1//' l/iuiii: uilmbt: liimlH luid hftfn taken, many whose lands had not
iiLiJii Ukitii, oUiiii'ri whi« iiiui^liMl oil liuviijff p!Lrk4 fronting on or in the
iiiiiiiuiliuLij viriiiily of their property; and others, again, whose interests
uituswi.uiii wt.i-u likuiy, Lhuy liimgiiiMd, to \m injiirioutily affected by the
iiKpi'iivuitMiiiL lif livtti 1 i-.'«liti"H. 'I'ti'iii thttre werif, Imsidedthose. still others
wtm, hMviiig fiiiiiHl ilialtlii* pniiNiity on tlie line of thd parks had been
uiilmiiciul I'Y ll-H •^•'iiLlijiiity Ihnrntiiarti'r thu patwage of the act, hoped, by

THE NEW PARKS. 131

resorting to a certain kind of legijlative and official legerdermain, to so
smuggle their lands outside the parks as to secure the advantage of the
advanced value.

However conflicting may have been the motives of the various parties in
opposition, one conclusion was inevitable— they nearly all furnished irre •
f utable testimony in support of the argument that parks are a good invest-
ment and that they affurd a profitable return on the outlay.

ONLY NATURAL PARK LANDS SELECTED.

The question of economy was, of course, an all important one, and it
was, therefore, constantly kept in view in tbe determination of the various
sites. It was desirable that tbe tracta sbould be natural parks, requiring
the least expenditure possible to adapt them for public use, not like the
Central, mere waste ground, the improvement of every acre of which cost
thrice the original price of the land. A still further illustratioa of the
folly and extravagance which had hitherto prevailed in the purchase of
land for public grounds was exhibited in the case of the Riverside and
Momingside ** parks,** so called, which, in addition to the original price of
seven and a-quarter millions of dollars for 120 acres, will require an expen-
diture of three or four millions more to make them even presentable. At
the best they can never be more than ribbon parks, and nearly one-half
their surface consists of great ledges of jrock so precipitous in places as to
be impassable without danger to life and limb. When they are *' improved ^'
the whole 120 acres will have cost as much if not more than the 3,840
acres embraced in the area of the new parks and parkways. The difference
between the old and the new pleasure grounds is the difference between an
unfurnished and a furnished house, or rather between a vacant and an
improved city lot.

The lands taken by the act of 18S4 are natural parks, they are furnished
and ready for use, and, keeping in view the city's costly experience in the
three parks named, they will be worth more than thrice the amount that
will be paid for them. As to the future— if in thirty-one years the 864
acres of the Central have advanced from a value of $6,f)66,000 In 1856 to
$200,000,000 in 1887 what will be the value of the six new parks, embracing
8,840 acres, thirty-one years hence ?

A SUGGESTTVE COMPABISON.

But the contrast does not end here, for it has been a question, not only of
money, but of what is of as much if not more consequence— it has been also
a question of time. The new parks are now ready for occupancy, as much
so as the Central, which was fifteen years in a statie of preparation. How
is it with the two ** ribbon parks f ' They were bought seventeen years ago,
and the city has ever since been paying heavy interest on the bonds I Of
what use have they been to the public for purposes of recreation ? Have
they been — are they now '* things of beauty f * parks ? playgrounds ? And
yet, when a number of public-spirited citizens band together, give their
time and their talents freely and generously to the work of providing a
grand system of parks deserving of the nams, ani which ^ill add to the

183 THE NBW PARKS.

attractiveness, the health, the prosperity and renown of the great metrop-
olis, they are accased of mercenary motives in the prosecution of a work
which wiU not only not cost the city one dollar^ but which will place the
whole of this magnificent park area in its possession entirely free of
expense, and in all probability^ as in the case of the Central Park^ with a
large profit to its account on the .balance sheet

Unfortunately for the city, the fac£3 ani arguments presented in support
of the new park movement failed co convince Biayor Edson and his official
aids. They tiad determined to defeat the bill which provided for the appro-
priation of a park area of even less extent than he, as a member of the
Executive Committee of the New York Park Association, had approved,
indorsed and urged the Legislature to au^horiz3 and direct the city authori-
ties to secure. In their opposition the Mayor and the heads of depart-
ments were vigorously supported by several property-owners in Pelham
Bay Park, who employed counsel and circulated petitions to which they
obtained among their friends a large number of signatures. Happily their
opposition was counterbalanced by the support which the park movement
received from other property-owners, who, although they were, as stated,
wholly ignorant of the fact that their lands had been included in the area
first indicated, and which embraced all that was finally selected in the
location of Pelham Bay Park, were willing that their property should be
devoted to public use and ready to assist the promoters of the good work.

STBONa FRIENDS OF THE MOVEMENT.

Of these Mr. John Hunter deserves special mention, as also Mr. Chas.
D. Burrill, who acted as the legal representative. of several owners, and
who was unceasing in his efforts all through the struggle with the city
authorities. And certainly never was more effective duty performed by
lawyer in the interests of clients and incidentally in the promotion of a
great public purpose than that rendered by Mr. Burrill. From the fall of
1883 up to the enactment of the law, in the arguments before the Leg^ative
Gonmiittees, in the contests before the courts, in the defeat of the scheme
to repeal the act of 1884; in a word, in the constant and persistent work
required all thi^ough the years 1884, 1885, 1886 and 18S7, Mr. Burrill never
spared himself, but was idways on hand at the right time and in the right
place. Fortunate, indeed, the client whose case is intrusted to such able,
vigilant, devoted, judicious counsel as Mr. Burrill proved himself through-
out the four years of contention and strife during which he was connected
with the park movement In fact, Ms energy was irrepressible and his
vigilance untiring.

To Mr. Hunter, especially, who secured the hearty co-operation of
many influential friends and advocates in promoting the passage of the
bill, great credit is due. Always ready, and wherever his influence
was most required, this gentleman gave effective assistance to the
movement^ and throughout proved a most potent factor in the accom-
plishment of the result In justice to Mr. Hunter it must be said
that until the publication of the map, on which the suitable area
for the location of Pelham Bay Park was marked out, he was wholly igno-

THE NEW PARKS. 133

rant of the fact that any portion of his land would be taken for the
purpose.

OTHER FRIENDS.

Nor should the name of a strong friend of the parks be forgotten or
dropped off this beadroll— the late Hon. John Kelly, who, taking a broad,
comprehensive, generous view of the project, and satisfied that it would
conduce to the interests of the great city in which he held high official
positions, exercised his personal and political influence to secure the success
of the measure, exercised it too at a time when it was of special importance
at Albany. He did not ask what side was in favor of the bill, or what side
was to be benefited by its passage; once convinced that it was for the good
of the city he gave it his support. To him this tribute is justly due and
willingly paid.

Of ex-CoUector W. H. Robertson it is just to say that, from the moment
he read the report and wrote his letter of approval, his infiuence was
employed wherever it could be most effective. By letter, by personal effort,
and by every honorable means he gave the bill his hearty support, and to
Mr. Robertson no less than to Mr. Kelly are their fellow citizens indebted
in a measure for its success.

To several esteemed friends, particularly to Mr. John H. Farrell, editor
of the Albany Press and Knickerbocker; Hon. John W. Jacobus, Hon.
Wm. Purcell, of Rochester; Hon. Hiram Barney, Thos. B. Connery, Gen,
James R. O^Beirne, Hon. Joseph B. Carr, and Hon. Thomas B. Asten, the
author makes his sincere acknowledgments for timely and cordial support.
But the list of workers in the cause would be still incomplete without the
name of Mr. D. H. Watson, who was ever ready to give iiis welcome
co-operation whenever it was most required.

THE WORK PERFORMED.

Republicans, or Democrats, it mattered not— on this question there were
no party lines, and, with very few exceptions, they were found shoulder to
shoulder working for the enactment of the law.

Probably there never was a measure introduced into a Legislature which
depended so completely on its merits, and with which political considera-
tions had so little to do. It was, from the beginning, steady, unremitting,
persistent, untiring work, backed by a determination to succeed, and, of
course. Work & Will won the victory. It is a firm that seldom fails.

During the six years that have elapsed since the inception of the move-
ment the author gave to it his best efforts, with an unfaltering faith in its
ultimate success. In these six years of steady, continuous work many
thousand letters were written, several pamphlets and circulars prepared
and distributed, independent of the dry monotonous details of a secretary's
duties. All this, constituting a vast mass of work, was performed luithout
a dollar of expense tg the city^ or to any one except the worker. To this
was added throughout those years of contest and controversy unceasing
personal efforts among friends and all who were willing to promote the
fiuooees of the movement For the writer it was a labor of love, a self

134 THE $£W PARKa

impofed task, and his servioes money ooold neither purchase nor com-
pensate.

The information collected from official and other sources were compiled
in popular formi and scattered broadcast through the public press and
in various publications. In fact, the literature of the New Parks had
fprown into the proportions of a small library, and including the legal
arguments w;uld fill twenty ordiaary-iiz3d volumes. In the meantime
correspondence was kept up with unflagging energy. Wherever a friend
could be secured, an enemy converted, or an earnest worker interested, no
pains were spared either by letter or personal effort, to enlist theui
in the cause. They were furnished with batt dries of argum;nts, and
arsenals of facts. Whenever the influence of a public man who
believed in it could be obtained his co-oparation was solicited. In this
way men representing large interests in real estate^ the Astors, the Bel-
monts, the Tiffanys, the Claflins, etc., appreciating the effect of the New
Parks in the enhancement of values and profiting by the experience in
the case of the Central, gave their approval to the movement and united
in an earnest appeal to the Mayor, the Legislature and the (Governor in
favor of the bill

A HOST OF ALLIES.

The signers of the several petitions belonged to all classes— bauAers,
merchants, tradesmen, laborers, physicians, artists, numbering over seven
inland. The artists, as stated on another page, sent a petition of their
own to the (Governor, and the physicians followed their example, while the
General and Colonels of the First Division of the National Guard united in
a special appeal. This last was forwarded the day before the Governor
signed the bUl, and as It was a matter of special importance the writer
himself procured the signatures and placed the valuable document in the
General Fostofflce at twelve o'clock at night in order to secure its delivery
at the Bxecutive Chamber the following morning, being the last of the
thirty days allowed by law for signing bills.

As it was a project of particular interest to the lines of railroads which.
ran near or through the parks, and as the business of the roads would be
immensely augmented by the transportation to and from these great
pleasure grounds of millions of visitors hereafter, active support was
obtained from this quarter, while men of broad minds and benevolent
sympathies, regarding it ai| a beneficent measure in a sanitary point of view
and productive of great good, not only financially but physically, mentally
and morally, indorsed it warmly, and in many instances volunteered their
assistance in the circulation uf documents among their friends and
acquaintances. Among these friends was the brilliant and popular
historian Charles Edward Lester, who manifested a deep interest iu the
sucoess of the measure throughout, and who on the thirtieth of the
momentous days addressed an earnest letter to the Governor, imploring
him ** in the name of all my fellow citizens now living and of the innumer-
able millions yet to be, and the deathless fame which is alone within your
grasp, not to let to day's sun set over the grave of the park bill.''

188 THE NEW PARKS.

not only to forward its progress through the committee, bu*: to give it prompt
oonsideratioii when it came before the Assembly. These gentlemen were
among its ablest advocates, and the respect in which their views were hel()
among their fellow members, and their conceded personal integrity, secured
for the measure the fullest and fairest consideration.

When on the 6th of May the till cams up in the Assembly on its final
passage, the vote, after a warm debate, stood 74 to 21, as follows :

AN OVEBWHEIiMING MAJORITY.

Teas— Ij, R. Bailey, C. K. Baker, C. P. Barager, H. Becker, L. L. Boyoe^
N. C. Boynton, C. W. Brown, J. H. Brown, M. E. Butler, J. J. Clarke, G.
Clinton, A. B. Craig, N. M. Curtis, I. Dayton, G. A. Dean, J. M. Dibble,
J. H. Dinmiick, G^rge Erwin, J. W. Felter, P. Garbutt, J. (^eddes, James
Haggerty, C. S. Hall, H. C. Harpending, G. D. Hasbrouck, E. F. Haskell,.
8. S. Hawkins, H. Heath, F. Hendricks, D. P. Horton, P. B. House, W.
Howe, W. Howland, W. S. Hubbell. L L. Hunt, J. W. Husted, T. W.
Jackson, 8. W. Johnson, G. W. Jones, P. J. Kelly, J. Kent, Jr., A. J^
Kneeland, F. W. Kruse, De Witt C. Little John, L. R. Locke, S. D. Locke,
J. T. McDonald, D. F. Mullaney, E. A. Nash, T. Noxon, J. C. Odell, J.
Oliver, W. T, O'Neil, E. B. Osborne, N. P. Otis, T. J. Owen, S. S. Peirson,
C. R. Pratt, O. F, Price, W. B. WiUoughby, F. Rice, E. J. Seebar, C. Shoe-
maker, W. E. Smith, G. M. Sweet, T. H. Tremper, L. L. Van Allen, J. S.
Van Duzer, J. W. Veeder, M. Walrath, Jr., G. E. Whiteman, D. J. Wilcox,
J. Zimmerman, and the Speaker, Titus Sheard.

Nay9—J, Ackroyd, C. A. Binder, P. Burns, M". J. Coflfey, E. A. Darragh,
J. E. Donnelly, J. A. Driess, P. H. Duffy, M. C. Earl, T. F. Farrell, J.
Forsyth, Jr., G. R. Johnson, D. S. Kittle, G. H. Lindsay, B. S. McCabe,
R. Nagle, P. H. Roche, T. Roosevelt, S. D. Rosenthal, F. Sipp. D. M. Van
Cott

THB BILL BECOMES A LAW.

In due time the bill was engrossed and sent to the Governor, who had
thirty days within which to consider its merits and demerits, to hear argu-
ments pro and con, and its fate was suspended in the balance during this long
and trying ordeal. Arguments and petitions were showered upon him by
both sides. He had only to intimate his desire for more light on the subject
and it was given to him. Meisrs. Marsh, Develin, Burrill and the author
called upon him on behalf of the parks, and Mayor Edson, the Corporation
Counsel and others against them. He was in doubt on the question of home
rule as involved in the controversy, but Mr. Develin, who appeared at an
opportune moment, satisfied his scruples on that point, and on the morning
of the thirtieth day he received, as stated, a formidable petition, through
the author, from the cfficers of the First Division, in addition to the seven
or eight thousand names already forwarded, and a great portfolio of letters,
all of which proved irresistible, and so, after a thorough and minute con-
sideration of all the questions involved, Mr. Cleveland put his name to the
bill late in the evening of June 14th, when it became a law of the State.

It was reasonable to suppose that the war against the park movement
was at an end when the Governor signed the bill. Not so, however. Its

THE NEW PARKS. 139

enemies were resolved to renew tbe fight, and they next directed their
attacks upon the law itself. They dissected its various clauses, and they
discovered, to their own satisfaction at least, that it was not only defective
in its most essential provisions, but that it was unconstUutioncU^ and so the
objections were strung out and stretched till they filled rt&ge after page of
briefs that sadly belied their title.

The act directed the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the city of
New York, by and through the Department of Public Parks, to apply to
the next General Term of the Supreme Court for the appointment of Com
missioners of Estimate, and on the 14th of July Mr. Davelin appeared
before the Park Board and secured the adoption of the necessary resolution
requesting the Corporation Counsel •* to initiate and carry to conclusion
the proceedings necessary and proper to acquire title, pursuant to Chapter
522 of the laws of this State for the year 1884, of certain lands and premises
ia the Twenty- third and Twenty- tourth Wards of the city of New York
and the county of Westchester laid out and devoted by said chapter to and
for the purpose of public parks." .

RENEWAL OF THE CONTEST.

The epplication was accordingly made in due form, and at this point the
figbt was opened again with renewed vigor. The counsel enlisted on the
Bide cf the parks were Messrs. John B. Develin, C. D. Burrill, John H.
Miller and John L. Wells; and against, C. H. Roosevelt, J. C. Shaw and L.
M. Leavy. Mr. Marsh did not appear, but it is only just to say that he
furnished a large part of the most potent arguments. On the Ist of Decem-
ber, 1884, the Court announced its decision, which was delivered by Judge
Daniels, and it was so direct and conclusive that it hft no reasonable ground
on which to rest an appeal. But legal ingenuity was never at fault in such
an emergency, and where there was, even to the sharpest perception, no
ground, the well-known professional acuteness succeeded in discovering a
territory over which to spread itself, compared with which the parks were
a mere speck. No ground ! Why there was a whole continent, and with
such a broad fulcrum a legal lever was applied that moved the whole case a
distance of 150 miles and landed it right into the Court of Appeals. Here
Mr. Simon Sterne stood against and Mr. John B. Dillon for the act. The
Court, however, saw no reason why the decision of the General Term
should be reversed, and it said so in its decision on the 6th of October, 18S5,
which was one of the tersest, ablest and most admirable pieces of legal com-
position that has ever been handed down by that tribunal. In fact the
decisions of both Judge Daniels of the Supreme Court and Judge Finch of
the Appeals were masterpieces of legal literature, and the broad treatment
of the subject imparts to them an interest even for laymen, which is very
rarely found in such productions.

DECISI'^N OF THE COURT OP APPEALS.

Reference has already been made at somi length to the decision of Judge
Daniels, but as that delivered by Judge Finch should have ended the con.
test it is entitled to more thm a pisua:; notice. It covered all the

140 THE NEW PARKS.

points in the controversy and declared, as stated before, that ^Hhe statute
itself condemns and appropriates for the public use the precise lands
selected^ by metes and bounds^ so that every owner affected had means of
knowing that his land was taken." It farthermore declared that
'* while it is not necessary in advance of the taking to pay to the land-
owner his compensation, it is necessary that the act which invades his
oumership shall provide for a certain and definite and adequate source
and manner of payments As to the objection that *' the purchase of land
for public parks outside of the corporate boundaries is not a ' city purpose*
and so the creation of a debt for such purpose is forbidden by the constitu-
tion," the Court cited several cases in which public works had been carried
on outside the limits of the respective cities for whose use and benefit they
were not only desij^ned but for which they were absolutely essential and
necessary. The case of tha Brooklyn Park was referred to as bearing
particularly on that before the Court. In the act of 1884 the Commis<rion,
said Judge Finch—

** was directed to recommend parks within the city and the adjacent dis-
trict of Westchester County They were not left to stray at large. Tneir
auinority kept tUem neair enough to the city to subserve, in the judgment
of the Legi^tititure, tne city's use and convezilence. They were also directed
to act, having in view * the present condition and future growth and wants
of the city.' That an ordinary city may be, and often should be, planned
and executed with reference as well to future as present needs, cannot be
denied. The city may lay out a wide sireec when a narrower one would
answer present wants, and extend it beyond hdbitations and immediate
needs. The city may erect a public building, having in view future neces-
sities, and exceeding the demands of present use. That is often true
economy and wise municipal administration. The adjoining district of
Westchester County, in which a portion of the park was located, U a tri-
angle shut in between the city and the river on tbe east and west and an
extension to the river of the city's north line. That the current of city
population will soon ovei'flow this triangle, and the corporate boundaries
embrace it, the Commission judged, and the Legislature determined—
thoughtfully, with deliberation, after careful study and investigation upon
facts not before U9, and with the opportunity and the aid of personal exam-
ination. It would require a very clear and very strong case to justity &
Court in pronouncing such a conclusion to be but a fraudulent cover for
some ulterior design foreign to tha city's welfare. Such ii not the case
before us. We must assume what we can see is at least possible and per-
haps probable, that the lands over the border are so near, so convenient of
access, so likely to be overtaken and surrounded by the city's growtb, so
desirable for the health and recreation of the citizens, and so cheaply to be
got m comparison with the consequence of delay, as to indicate a primary
and predominant city purpose in a matter itself within the ordinary range
of municipal action."

The decision having minutely reviewed all the arguments presented and

carefully considered every point submitted by the appellants, sustained the

act and its interpretation by the Supreme Court. It was in fact conclusive

on all the vital questions raised ; so conclusive that opposition should have

ceased on its publication, and opposition doubtless would have ceased but

for the interests which were subserved by its continuance and which were

in direct antagonism with those of the city.

the commission of appraisal.

The Supreme Court in rendering its decision on the constitutionality of

THE NEW PARKS. 148

the- act announced the appointment of Messrs. Luther R. Marsh, G^rge
W. Quintard and J. Beaver Page as Commissioners of Estimate and
Appraisement. Having qualified by taking the usual oath, the Ck>mmis-
sion was organized by the election of Mr. Marsh as chairman, and th^
appointment of Gten. J. C. Lane and Mr. R. L. Waters as engineers for the
survey of the parks and parkways taken by the act.

Reference has already been made to General Lane^s qualifications. Of
Mr. Waters, it is sufficient to say that he has been engaged on some of the
most important survey work for the city, that he has had a long experience
in his profession, and that he is deservedly regarded as one of the most
skillful and competent civil engineers in the metropolis. Mr. Arthur Berry
was appointed clerk to the Commission, and Mr. Franklin Bartlett appeared
AS the representative of the Corporation Counsel on behalf of the city.

The first meeting of the Commission was held on the 80th of December,
and thus, by the fruitless efforts to defeat the purposes of the act, many
precious months were lost that could have been devoted to the work of
appraisement. But the vexatious delay was made still more vexatious and
protracted by the new ground of attack which had been discovered, and
which, though still more untenable than the first, caused the loss of over a
year in the business before the Commission.

So long as the constitutionality of the act and the very existence of the
Conunission itself was in doubt the property-owners naturally hesitated about
incurring the expense of employing lawyers to represent them before the
Conunission and of providing the necessary surveys of their land. But for
these causes of delay a year and a-half coull have been saved, an expense of
over a hundred thousand dollars avoided, and large tax incomes derived
by the city from theenhancdd values of the property surrounding the new
park?; for so long as litigation was kept up the public mind was in doubt
and uncertainty as to the constitutionality of the act and the issue of the
Sinking Fund case. Qnder such circumstancas all the benefits which
would otherwise result from the unobstructed disposal of the work of the
Commission have been lost, and the people have baen deprived of the use
•of the parks a year and a-half longer than was necessary.

This is what the opposition has accomplished ; besides the damage other-
wise infiicted on the city's interest by the preposterous theories and legal
49ophistries of the Sinking Fund controversy. Every petty device that
legal ingenuity coald suggest was employed to retard the progress of the
work at the beginning. The Commission had hardly been organized before
an attempt was made through the Supreme Court, after its decision on the
constitutionality of the act, to direct and control the manner in which it
should perform the duty with which it was intrusted. The opposition insisted
that the small parks shjuld be the first appraised, and as the Commission,
with a proper sense of self respect and a thorough kn )wledge of its own
powers, refused to submit to such dictation, the niHtttu* was carried into
Court, and the intermeddlers, after a brief c nit^t, dofoaUni.

A FINANCIAL HTltMUUNU UlAH'K.

The year 18S5 has been made memorable iii tht> hlitury u( the New Parks

144 THE I^EW PARKS.

movement by the persistent effort on the part of Mayor Grace to repeal the
act of 1884. His predecessor, after thepassai^e of the Ck>n8titational Amend-
ment limiting the right of New Tork and other cities to issue bonds in.
excess of 10 per cent, of the assessed value of taxable real estate, contended
that the debt of the city had passed that limit.

At that time the actual municipal indebtedness amounted to $93,047,403,
and the assessed value of city real estate to $1,175,057,885, leaving a margin
of $25,458,885, to the amount of which bonds might be issued for public
improvements.

As there were in the Sinking Fund bonds to the value of $84,828,735, which
had been purchased by the revenues of that fund, and were, therefore, owned
by the city, this amount by a strange perversion of language, or obliquity
of reasoning, was construed as a portion of the city debt^ so that if the
total bonds thus held reached a hundred millions the city would be indebted
to that amount^ and thus it followed that the more the city paid the more
it owedy as all these bonds were to be regarded as so much of the debt until
they had matured.

This view of the matter was held by Mayors Edson and Grace, the
Ck>rporacion Counsel and by the Special and General Terms of the Ck>urt
of Common Fleas.

So long as this new stumbling block lay in the way of the Commissioners
of Appraisal their proceedings were seriously embarrassed and delayed,
and it was not until this last obstruction was swept away by the deci ion
of the Court of Appeals on the 20th of April, 1886, that they were left free
to perform their work without farther interruption or delay.

The decision sustained the view presented in a pamphlet issued by
Mr. Marsh and the author, the Court holding that the debt of the city was
** $92,090,000, or so much as is equal to its bonds, or stock, not including that
held in the Sinking Fund.^'' The argument was made by Messrs. J. E.
Develin and C. E. Miller for defendants, and Simon Sterne, counsel for the
Bank for Savings, by which the action was brought to prevent the issue of
bonds to the amount of $3,000,00J for dock improvements. Although their
names did not appear Mr. Marsh and Mr. Burrili here rendered important
service in aiding the preparation of briefs.

HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF EX-MAYOR GRACE.

While the legal warfare was being waged on the Sinking Fund question
the opposition rallied in force for a fierce and prolonged struggle under
Mayor Grace, whose hostility was unmistakeauly foreshadowed in his
annual message to the Board of Aldermen. In that document he stated
that the estimated cost of the parks *' as projected will be from $ 15,000, OjO to
$20,000,010.'' As the Commission that located the sites and that had given
the matter special attention placed the amount at about $8,000,000, Mr.
Grace's estimate, if not made with the premeditated design to mislead, had
that effect on a large number who were ignorant of the facts. He had
been informed as to the figures of the Commission especially, for the
writer had furnished the information on the personal request of his secre-
tary mcuiy days before the message was delivered.

THE NEW PARKS. 145^

The excessive estimate and the assertion by which it was accompanied,
that '* the recent Constitutional amendment would prevent the carrying out
of the plan for the present,^* dispelled whatever doubts the friends of the
parks might have had with regard to his attitude. His view of the Sinking
Fund question applied to ordinary financial or mercantile transactions
would be simply ludicix)us. As stated, according to this theory, the bonds
purchased, paid for and owned by the city, were still a city debt and con-
tinued a city debt till the day on which they matured. Thus, if a merchant
bought up his notes several weeks before they were due he would still be
indebted for the various amounts until the specified dates!

This financial reductio ad c^surdum was kept up to the suspension of
much needed public works till it was finally exploded by the decision of the
Ck>urt of Appeals. In connection with the exaggerated estimates of the
cost of the parks it served the purpose, however, of misleading many in
regard to the Epecial point of attack, the act of 1581, for the repeal of which,
under cover of these misstatements, a movement was organized. When,
therefore, the writer was requested to call upon the Mayor, about seven
weeks after his inauguration, he found that the parks were the particular
purpose of the conference.

THE SECOND MAYORALTY WAR AGAINST THE PARKS.

" As you are at the bottom of this trouble about the parks," said he, ** I
want to see if we can'c make some compromise."

" With pleasure, Mr. Mayor," was the reply. *' The friends of the parks
are most willing. But why not assist instead of opposing this great work?^
Why not do as the Mayor of London has done? Although the Londoners
had 15.000 acies when we began this movement he has been helping them
to secure 7«000 acres more."

The conversation, of which it is not necessary to enter into the details,
was somewhat protracted and embraced not only the new parks, but the
Sinking Fund question, the financial condition of the city, the Constitutional
Amendment cuid its effect on the power of the city to issue bonds for public
improvements, the justice of assessing adjoining proparty for parks, Mr.
Grace's plan of taking and paying for parks, and a comparison of New
York with other great cities in the matter of park area. He was very
emphatic in the expression of his determination to substitute a bill of his
own for the ^ct of 18S4, and strongly denounced the new parks movement.

** This whole thing," said he, '* is a swindle."

"A ewindlp?"

** Yes, a swindle."

'* Do you desire, Mr. Mayor, to have it go forth that you called this
movement a swindle, bustained as it has been and is by the press and by a
large number of our most respected citizens?''

** Well, no; I don't mean that exactly," was the reply; ** but it is pre-
mature; and, besides, the city cannot issue bonds under the ConstitutionaL
Amenament."

The conversation, as stated, was somewhat protracted, and at its close

146 THE NEW PARKS.

the Mayor aDnounced his intention to go to Albany and secure the passage
of a bill which would embody his plan.

The followiDg day, February 27, in pursuance of a previous understand-
ing, the author sent a letter t3 Mr. Grace, reviewing at length the Sinking
Fund question, showing the city's actual indebtedness, its paucity in park
area compared with other cities, the rapid increase of population and the
financial benefits resulting from tbe creation of parks. " In view of such
testimony,*' said the letter, * ' it is to be hoped that ycu will be able hereafter
to say that you did not retard, but participated in accomplishing this great
. result. I can not help thinking that an opposition to this measure would
be a serious mistake of your administration. » * » » One word more
in conclusion. I have said that these lands are natural parks, and the
moment they are paid for by the city the people can enter into possession. ■
In the case of Central Far>, which is almost wholly artificial, fifteen years
elapsedbeforeit was fit for public use; and its preparation and improve-
ment cost four times the amount paid for the Icuid— more than the entire
cost of the New Park system. The Riverside and Momingside parks, which
you alluded to in our conversation yesterday, could not be of any financial
benefit to the city, for they were bought at the highest figure— $60,000 an
acre— and their total area of 120 acres cost the city the enormous sum of
seven millions and a quarter. And even now they are not parks, but mere
ledges of rock, ribbons from 100 to 300 feet wide, which will cost probably
several millions more before they are fit for use. That was indeed a gigan-
.tic swindle, costing nearly as much for the 120 acres of rock as w^uld pay
for our 4,000 acres of natural and beautiful park lands. *'

A SCHEME TO NULLIFY THE ACT OF 1884.

Despite the facts presented in this letter it soon became evident that the
war was to go on. Ho»tilities were opened with the introduction of a bill
in the Senate on the 25th day of February, 1885, to amend the act of 1881,
so as to eliminate Pelham Bay Park, cuid materially alter the law in other
respects. In fact, the enactment of that bill, if constitutional, would have
resulted in the dedunction of the New Park system beyond the Harlem.

Mr. Qrace^s bill was accompanied by a memorial to the Legislature
setting forth his reasons why the Act of 1884 should not stand, chief among
which was the distance of the parks, particularly that on the Sound, from
the city, the justice of assessing on the adjoining lands a portion of the
cost, the obstacles presented by the Constitutional amendment to the i&hue
of bonds, €uid other points which had already been fully considered and
discussed.

Tbe errors and misstatements were exposed and corrected in a reply for-
warded by Mr. Marsh to the Legislature a few days thereafter. After
showing the superficial nature of the objections urged against the act, Mr.
Marsh concluded as follows:

" The Mayor, by his memorial and bill, proposes a slow acquisition of the
landsfor new parks; and at the rate of a million of dollars a year. If,
therefore, as the Mayor claims, these parks would cost tv^enty millions, it
would be twenty years before the last installment of lands would be bought.

THE NEW PARKS. 149

By that time, according to the unvarying rate of increase for the past sixty
years, the population of our city will be about four millions, having now
1,6'>0,000. By that time the area within these locations will be filled with
houses and people, and the value of the lands to be taken, probably a
hundred millions of dollars. How can the city afford to take these grounds
at this rapidly increasing value through all that time? The thing is absurd.
If, at that time, we should want large parks we would be pushed up
further into Westchester ; and, for her seaside parks, perhaps into Connec-
ticut. You cannot afford to take, for park purposes, a parft resp actable in
size for such a city, in its populous or business portions, purchase and raze
its buildings, and sweep away the inhabitants. An equal area cannot now
be obtained anywhere south of the Harlem River under four hundred mil-
lions of dollars at the prevailing prices; and, if bought, it would take
twenty years and an immense sum to remove the buildings, plant the trees,
sow the grass and prepare it for a park. But it would take too much space
to answer all the errors and misapprehensions which are crowded into the
narrow space of the memorial. Perhaps no other document of equal length
issofuUof them.^'

MR. grace's **MASS MEETING" DECLARED " A DEAD FAILURE."

To assist operations at Albany a movement was organized by Mr. Grace
and his adherents in New York, which culminated in a meeting at Chicker-
ing Hall on the 23d of March. This was preceded by the distribution of
thousands of circulars in several of the principal thoroughfares and at the
Elevated Railway stations. In some of these it was stated that the parks
would cose from ten to fifty millions of dollar.^— a wide range certainly—
and in others that the park on the Bound would alone be ten millions.

Agents were sent to the tenement houses with petitions and the occupants
were induced to sign by the false statement that, as the parks could only be
paid for by direct taxation, their rents would be increased until such time
as the whole expense was cleared off. Bo unscrupulous and mendacious
were some of the parties engaged in this business of falsification that one of
them had the audacity to tell a friend of the author that "Mr. Mullaly him-
self id in favor of the petition."

With very few exceptions the press of the city gave no countenance to
these efforts to overthrow the legislation of 1881 The New York Herald,
speaking of the " mass meeting "against the parks, said: ** The dead failure
of the carefully-nursed meetmg in Chickering Hall last evening, to foment
opposition to the new parks, is conclusive that the people want them and
are determined to have them, and that Mayor Grace is unreasonable.
Zealous efforts were made to fill the hall. The Mayor^s influence was
actively exerted to get up * a demonstration * to which he could * point with
pride.' But the floor was only moderately filled, and the gallery, except on
the front row of its seats, was dismally empty. Before the time the resolu-
tions were put to vote half even of the scanty audience collected with so
much pains perceived the situation and slipped out, and of the remainder so
many voted **No" thac it was fairly doubtful whether they were not
defeated, though the chairman (Mr. James A. Roosevelt) of course declared

150 THE 3SW PARCa

CAnied. • • * • If 3fAyor Gnoe if ftm ei lj ■■■ ti iii to pobli^
opinicn hii own meeting ia an argent wannng to him to ****g» Ui ooan»
about the new pikrkM.''

In a preriooa article the Herald, warning him *b**— t ba annuuB ced
Ofiposition, remarked: " Mr, Grace has been Sfajor fortj-fonr dajB» and
on not one of them has he omitted to asore the inhabitant! in some
or other that he is 'big with UeanngB' for the citj-. • * * If tiie
flee of the new parks is a specimen of the bkesings Sfayor Oraoe^ admin-
istration has in reserve for the citj, his sTtinn that he means to wrre ovft
his term at all hazards is dei^orable."

HIS PUBPOSB EXPOSKD.

An explanation was given bj the same paper, in a laterisBoe, of the
motives by which he was inspired in his opposition to the new Hiaiieni
River Bridge at One Hundred and Eigfaty-fint street, as well as to tiie new
parks. " It is not a secret," said that paper, ** that the ondertying motivB
of Mr. Grace's opposition to the new park) and the Harlem Bridge is polit-
inaL Be is bosily bailding a political machine within the city govern-
meat for his personal advancement, and cannot see a way to make the
Bridge act help that purpose, for he believes that his two aasociates in the
power of appointment will combine against him. Neither coold he see a
way to make the New Park act serve his purpose, for the New Park Com-
mission was already filled.'*

The NewTork World took strong gromid on the necessity for an
increase of our park area. * * New York's manifest destiny," it declared in
a leading editorial, the day after the meeting, *' is mmdstakeable. We are
making preparations for a city of four or five millions. Shall we commit
the mistake our ancestors committed, and fail to provide parks for tha
health, recreation and happiness of the coming generations ? As well
might we have heeded the selfish opposition of the tax-grudgers and have
refused to provide the future New Tork with a sufficient supply of water.
It is urged that we cannot incur any more debt under the Constitutional
restriction. We do not believe that any Court will decide our indebtedness
to be any more than our net debt. At all events, let us keep the new parks
in view and secure them as speedily as possible.''

The Times said *' that only one side was presented, and there was no
real discussion of the mooted questions. « * '^ It ought to be remem-
bered the while just what the question is. It is not proposed to provide
costly parks for posterity, to be paid for now, but to secure lands for parks
to be paid for in thirty years, and it would have been fortunate if those
whose posterity we are had exercised a little foresight in such matters."

THE 0PP08ITI0N AGAIN DEFEATED.

The Mail and Express declared that " the anti-park meeting at Chicker-
Ing Hall, last night, was a solemn failure. As a mass meeting it was an
utter failure. Free discussion was no part of the programme. Mr. Luther
R. Marsh applied beforehand for a hearing and was refused. Subsequent
application was made to the Mayor, and he said that he could do nothing,

THE NEW PARKS. 151

although the appeal was put on the ground that the audience themselves
might desire to know something of the other side.**

The Te^egrram said that the meeting was "not representative, and that
the demonstration was neither large nor enthusiastic.**

After the decision of the Court of Appeals, the New Tork World referred
to the subject in these emphatic words: **The good sense of the people
approves the acquisition of land for parks in the new section of the city at
once, while Icuid is cheap and unimproved. In 188^, the Legislature « in
response to public sentiment, passed a law providing for the acquisition of
land for a number of new parks in the annexed territory. Mayor Grace
obstructed the law and sought to overthrow it. He wanted a new law, with
Ck)mmissioner8 of his own selection.'*

While Mr. Grace's bill was panding an important meeting of the joint
Ck)mmittees on Cities of the Senate and Assembly was held in the Capitol.
At this meeting the argument on behalf of the new pirks was made by
Messrs. Marsh, Hinsdale cuid Joseph S. Wood, and a subsequent one was
addressed by ex- Judge Wells, Gleneral Tremaine, C. D. Burrill and J. S.
Wood, who illustrated his able and convincing arguments with several val-
uable maps, showing the comparative park areas of New Tork, Paris and
London. This closed the discussion, and the result was the defeat of Mr.
Grace in the field of his own selection, the Legislature of the State, the
committee absolutely refusing to stultify itself by interfering in any manner
with the legislation of the previous year.

INSIDIOUS ATTEMPT TO INVOLVE THE REAL ESTATE EXOHANOE.

Hostilities, however, were not confined to the State CapitoL The Real
Estate Exchange was, by the oonnivance of some of the members, involved
in the strife, much to the chagrin and mortification of the great majority.
This was, so to speak, a flank movement, and in a quarter fr )m which it
was wholly unexpected.

On the 80th of February, 1885, a resolution was presented by Dr. John T.
Nagle, of the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Health Department, directing
the appointment of a committee of five ** to furnish whatever information
they may be able to ascertain regarding the number of acres, the location,
probable cost of construction, etc., of public parks in the Twenty-third and
Twenty-fourth Wards and the vicinity thereof, which were authorized by
an act of the Legislature passed April 19, 1883, and also the methods by
which such parks are to be paid for.'* The committee appointed consisted
of John T. Nagle, M. D., chairman, Frank S. Alien, James Stokes, Jules E.
Brugiere and James L. Wells.

Dr. Nagle, without consultation with any of the members of the com-
mittee, prepared a " report," and presenting it at one of the meetings
requested some of the members to sign it, which they declined to do. Hav-
ing failed in this he thereupon, as chairman, but without the authority or
consent of the committee, sent to the daily papers printed copies of his
report from which a synopsis and extracts were published. In this docu-
ment he asserted that the cost of the land would be from $12,009,000 to
$20,000,000, besideB "a large additional purchase for Pelham Bay Park.**

152 THE >'EW PARKS.

He also stated that the money would have ti be raided by direct taxation,
whereas the law provided that the payments were to be made inthirtj-year
bonds bearing 8 per cent interest.

The Iiegislative Committee of the Exchange, as soon m it detected the
imposition practiced upon it, held a meeting and passed a resolution to the
effect ** that where a subject has been referred for consideration and report
to a special, or sub coiuniittee, that no report^ either majority or minority,
shall be issued by or on behalf of 8uc;h committee, or hj any member
thpreof^ unless such report shall have been previously made to and
received b\f this committee; and any report issued sh&li state at its head
whether it is a unanimous, majority, cr minority report."

The "report/^ so called, which cau^sed this trouble in the Exchange and
which roused it up to such a proper sense of indignation, was, in fact, a
tissue of misstatements from beginning to end— false in its estimate of the
cost of the land for the new parks, false in its estimate of expense, fUae in
its premises and false in its deductions ; false in its " facts'' and false in its
figures. And this ** report,^' which was a gross imposition on the institn-
tioii and repudiated as a piece of sliarp practice, wcls printed and dia^
tributed among members of the ExcJuinge, the taxpayers and property
owners of the city. The accuracy of its statements may be judged f!roni
the assertion that **in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards 177
small parks have already been laid ouf Of course a section so liberally,
provided with ^^parks"^ should be perfectly satisfied. Bat when it is
understood that the aggregate area of 170 of these 177 parks, which were
only laid out on paper and not taken^ does not exceed thirty acres, the
trustworthy character of the statistics presented in the ** report** becomes at
once apparent. Every triangle, every petty grass plot was dignified therein
with the title of **2?arfc."

AN ADROIT BUT AN UNSUCCBSSFUL SCHEME.

Accompanying this distorted and misleading presentation of the park
question was a letter dated March 12, in which an attempt was made to
alarm the public by the reckless and unwarranted assertion that the whole
expense of acquiring the new parks would be imposed by direct taxation.
Btill another docimient was added in the form of a printed letter, which was
to be signed by the person to whom it was sent and forwarded in a printed
and stamped envelope, of which this is a fac simile :

[Stams.**

HON. WM. R. GRACE,

Mayor of the City of New York,

CITY HALL,

New York.

The form of the letter which was to be transmitted to the Mayor
expressed the desire of the sig.ier ** to have his name enrolled as being in
favor of the bill now pending in the New York State Legislature.**

THE NEW PARKS. 155

The purpose of this scheme was to impress the public and the Legislature
with the idea that th& Real Estate Exchange was not only opposed to the
parks, but that it was most pronounced and active in its opposition. How-
ever, it was exposed in time, and the eff >)rt to falsify the position of the
Exchange in relation to the park question very properly and emphatically
rebuked by its Legislative Committee.

For the service rendered in this side fight on the parks, Messrs. James L.
Wells, D. G. Croly, J. W. Brugiere, James Stokes, Wm. C. Church and
Wm. C. Orr are entitled to special mention and grateful recognition.
These gentlemen took a firm stand against what Mr. Church justly stig-
matized as **an attempt to put the Real Estate Exchange in a false
position.^'

** Let me,'' said Mr. Church, in a letter to a friend, *' put you on your
guard against the attempt which has been made to represent the Real
Estate Exchange as opposed to the parks. The matter has been considered
by two several sub-committees of the Committees on Legislation of the
Exchange ; one of these presented an unanimous report, and the other a
majority report, advising that no action be taken by the Exchange. Both
of these reports have been adopted by the Committee on Legislation, which
in these matters represented the Exchange. One of these reports was
'^v adopted to-day. I do not believe there is any serious opposition to the
- parks, iS^nt what is being worked up, skillful use being made of the
doubt as t(^hether we may not have to submit to taxation to pay for
them in a lump. I knew nothing about the parks until I came to investi-
gate the subject, and have no interest in them, and I write now because
my sense of fair dealing has been outraged by an attempt to put the Real
Bstate Exchange in a false position. Dr. Nagle, in his pamphlet, quoted
the> summing up our committee gave of the arguments presented before us
against the parks. He did not quote our final conclusi >n, which w(zs not
to meddle with the subject.'^

Mr. Marsh addressed one of the meetings of the committee and with such
good effect that in their report they said ** they did not feel themselves at
liberty to re- discuss the matter so far, as it has already been decided by an
overwhelming majority of the Legislature and indorsed by Tnen of the
highest standing and experience in the community.^^

Thus ended the side fight in the Real Estate Exchange, a body which
from its character and the purposes of its organization would naturally
have been the very last institution in the city to array itself against a
measure so well calculated and adapted to promote its own special business
interests. It was certainly a novel idea to make use of such a body for the
purpose of arresting a great public improvement, the success of which, in
its enhancement of the value of real estate, must inevitably tend to its
advantage and the benefit of its members.

THB CONTEST IN THE BOABD OF ALDERMEN.

In 1S86 another onslaught was made on the parks. This time, however,
it was in the Board of Aldermen. On the 11th of January Alderman
Mooney offered a resolution instructing '* the Corporation Counsel to draft

IV' THS 52 TT PARSSl

mn tw.t %zA. in fc^fcftlf of itjt AIf<rz:<Ti. praec: tike ssk to dx Legidaiiire,
ftiMnrUVjfj of the 5«w ?vu a^^ «p<inffins itmi no «"■ gnaser *fc^~
tLx*^ mlUii-.n.) of doiian ihAli be ix,^jsed irpcn tbe Cirr Trc Muij for tiie
imV^w* of mid Art. ULd prj-rAin^ tcAC th« ComaikBOBen of Appraial
ilkAfJ l>&^ thji pcrdjuft of Iftikl fa£?2tted for pajfcs in dkoae ln*^Hti^
whir:t lift iMftnst to Hftrlesi Fdvtr.'*

TtlM wftx referred to th« Ccmrr.ittge on Lards and PteoeL tr^jdi iqiu r t B il
a bill fn ac'xrd&nce with the rESoIation— atd also ellminatmg Pelfaam Pay
Park— on tL« Sd cf ICarch, on wLkb occasiun Vice-Preodcat JaduM^
a rttident at Hinj; King, was calJcd to the chair and predded owm
dJAcaw'on which followed.

It is hLfR'ilet.t to eaj that, although the bill was introdooed into the Im^-
ifelatare, the Corp'iration Coansel refused his sanction to the attempted
repeal of the law and anthorized the statement that he was '* for the parks
M they Bn."

HtTUkU^r Traphagen presented still another bill, which was designed to
dispOM cf the whole question at ooe fell stroke by repealing the oitire act
of IhHi, As it was Dot poshed, however, it went the way of all moribund
legislation aod was consigned to the limbo of defunct bills.

To the Legislative Committee which had the Aldermanic bill under con-
dderatioD, Mr. Marsh addressed an argument, in which be presented the |
nnconstitutiouality of the proposed repeal with such force, oana .«jstained
his position with such a formidable array of authorities, that ^e commit-
tee decided by a vote of nine to two to make an adverse report, whidi was
subMquently done.

AN XLOQUENT PROTEST.

In his admirable and conclusive summiug up Mr. Marsh dwelt with par-
ticular emphasis on the trying and triumpliant ordeal through which this
great measure had passed, and as the principal attacks of its enemies had
been directed against the magnificent playground on the Sound, he said :

"To repeal this park would really seem like legislative boy's play —
give and take back again. Did not,** he asked, " the three former Legisla-
tures look thoroughly into the matter, the reasons for and the reasons
against this Pelham Bay Park ? Did not their committees, both of the
House and the Senate, listen to the most elaborate arguments on both
sides ? Did not Governor Cleveland study all briefs and pamphlets sub-
mitted to him on the subject and then sign the bill ? Did not these legisla-
tors know their own minds ? Did they not see that the great land owners
and taxpayers, as well as the people of the city, wanted this park with the
others 'i Were not these legislators and the Governor competent to form
Just judgments on this subject ? Shall their solemn action be now reversed ?
Is there no stability in or reliance on well-considered legislation ? Is there
any use in obtaining an act of the Letrislature if the next one, without
change or circumstance, is to repeal it ? This is not a question of forfeiture
for alleged misconduct or fraud, but of deliberate repudiation of the
deliltrfate acts of former Ijegialatures.

** I do not abate one jot or tittle of my concluding remarks on the rehear-

4

THE NEW PARKS. 159

ing of the Parks act before the corresponding Assembly Ck)nmiittee on
April 24th, 1884. They have been the rather strengthened and intensified
by experience since. I will repeat them here, with two years of confirma-
tion of their head :

Gentlemen of the Committee: I feel an absorbing and enduring interest
in this enterprise. It is not a sentiment of recent growth. We cannot
now know, we cannot now appreciate the greatness of the work and its
increasing valae and importance as the years go by. When some thirty
yeara hence (the purchase bonds then maturing) our city, by the inevitable
law which has ruled the past, holding within her limits more than five mil-
lions of people; with abodes lining these parks; the territory all below
packed with inhabitants; these recreation grounds inviting all classes to
their ample hospitality ; the fame of them having brought here for resi-
dence families of wealth and culture from other parts of the Union, and
visitors from all parts of thn world; the treasury of the city demonstrating
that all these parks are, in effect, a gift to the cityy bringing large endow-
ments besides; then will the men of that time begin, but as yet only begin,
to realize the magnitude and usefulness of this day^s work.

*' I put these facts and prophecies and arguments on record. I perpet-
uate them in enduring type, '* said Mr. March in a fine burst of melodious
prose—'* partly that they may the more conveniently and quickly be read
and appreciated by you, and partly that the people may see and ever know
some of the reasons why this park should stand as it is. And if, indeed,
the action of three Legislatures should now be reversed, and even if such
action could stand before the breath of the Constitution, this record will
enable the people, as years go and come, to see and know how much better,
richer, healthier and more prosperous and attractive our city would have
been if this cheap, magnificent and noble pleasure-ground had been saved
to them, somewhat — though then with much fuller knowledge, for the
records will be complete — as we now see, after the lapse of seventy-seven
years, how beneficent would have been the park enterprise of De Witt
Clinton had the authorities of that day seen with his eyes and judged with
his judgment^'

AN ATTACK FROM A NEW QUARTER.

The last assault upon the new parks was made in the spring of ^1887, at
the instance of some eighty residents and taxpayers of the town of Pelham,
Westchester Co., in the form of a petition to the Mayor, Aldermen and
Conmionalty of the City of New Tor k, '* entreating their assistance in
procuring the passage of an act repealing so much of the Park bill of 1884
as provides for the taking of Pelham Bay Park."

This demand was made on the ground that the appropriation of so much
land— about one- half of the whole area of Pelham— would, if taxes were not
paid upon the park by the city of New York, so increase the assessment as
to make the burden intolerable. It appeared, however, in the course of
the controversy, on a comparison of the names of the eighty taxpayers
with the tax and assessment roll of the town of Pelham, that only thirty
were on the list, while of the $36,957.03 levied on the town the huge sum of
$567.77 was paid by the petitioners! Yet, on the protest of these a bill
was prepared and introduced in the Legislature for the excision of Pelham
Bay Park!

V» THE

On tteM of ]f07, Mr. F R. Ooadot spfiesicd Ufbre JOut LesatelHv

CiMAir.ittft« en Citlo, ftad hi tiMr ccnrae cf aa Abfe and ry^nrfn^TeTginnent
ftf'OTed tUfct '^ftidkcvg^ tiift fee or fegal title will not peas fincm the
fTf^Mrnt owKitn t/> th« eitj astH the r»pr](rt of the Coizmi»oc«Fs shall be
Cfmfititi/^tif y«t tbe fauuis b*Te been iaJcem by tke cirj- and appropruiUd

Tb« efMMnitU^ Xf^A. the Mine Tlew cf the matter as tbe learned cuum e l
and r<rf a^ed t/> interftan in asj waj with the act. Thus, for the third tune.
tba Legiftlattire refmed t> acdo the work of ISSl,

nSAl. KCPTLSK AXD KSTD Or THE WAR,

While the bill was jet under discafskm in the State Capitnl, an
•ffiMt was made to teeare a report in its favor from the Committee on
the Law Department of the Board of Aldermen, of which Hon. D. F.
DowMnf is chairman. Tbe chairman, howerer, was reaolTed th^t a subject
of siM;h importance to the city should not be diqxned of without dne
consideration and that its merits riioald be fully dkcussed before his
committee,

A daj was, therefore, appointed, and Mr. Coudert made the argument
which cohered the esMntial legal, financial and other points of the subject^
and which produced a marlied effect on the committee. As there was a
decide difference of opinion among its members on the propriety and
wisdom of any further effort to interfere with the operation of the act of
18S4, in view of tbe decision of the Courts, the committee took no action in
the matter, and thus ended the second attempt in the Board of Aldermen to
effect a repeal of tbe law.

An independent, but, as it prored, an ineffectual movement was made by
a few property owners, whose lands lay inside and along the lines of the
parks, to secure the passage of a bill by which they would be enabled,
through tbe adjustment cf the exterior boundaries and the alteration of the
maps, to have their particular tracts placed outside and immediately in
front of the parks. As special reference, however, has already been made
to this adroit little manouuvre, it is unnecessary to say more tlian that it
was introduced in the Legislature, and that it shared the fate of every
other attack upon the integrity of the law.

TttB PAItKH AND PARKWAYS, THEREFORE, REMAIN IN THEIR ENTIRETY
AND A8 DE80HIVED BY METES AND BOUNDS IN THE ACT OF 1884.

But, as may well be conceived, this triumph was achieved only through
unflagKing seal, through many sacrifices, through determined, sustained
effort during six years, in two of which— 1885-6— the war against the parks
was carried on, as described, with a total disregard of the merits of the
«<ul)JO(^t, by Mr. Qraoe, who in one instance, with the particulars of which the
writer iis thoroughly familiar, debased his high office by using it as a means
of gratify tng his private revenge. Indeed, the contrast between the character
of the wartnre waged by ex-Mayor Grace and that of his predecessor was
most ninrkod, for it is due to Mr. Edson to say that, while his opposition
was strenuous, persistent and occasionally bitter, yet he never so far for-
got the dignity of his position as to descend to the low level of personal

THE NEW PARKS. 161

hostility, nor thought of inflicting, through his official power, a penalty for
a difference of opinion on a great public question.

To have won this signal victory for the people^s parks against a powerful
opposition; to have saved the movement from the pitfalls into which many
a noble and benevolent enterprise has fallen and been lost; to have upheld
the cause against a power controlling and wielding the official influence
and patronage of the municipal government; to have carefully and
constantly guarded that cause and preserved it from the taint and suspicion
of sordid, mercenary motives; to have prevented, above all, its perversion
to political designs and uses; in a word, to have maintained throughout
the long, harassing and oftentimes acrimonious contest the purity of
purpose in which this beneficent project was conceived; to have done all
this demanded, on the part of its promoters and advocates, unceasing vigi-
lance, unrelazing, determined effort, and a resolution that could not be
driven from its purpose either by menaces, so freely and unscrupulously
used, or the employment of insidious and questionable methods by the
opposition. The project of the New Parks was, as already stated, con-
ceived in the purest of motives— for the welfare of the whole people and
especially for the benefit of the tollers of the great city. For them, and the
millions to be, the battle was fougbt; for all the triumph was achieved.

The friends of the movement were not to be swerved from the prosecu-
tion of their grand purpose, confident that the success of their efforts
would confer a lasting benefit by promoting the welfare, the physical
culture and moral well-being of the people, and the prosperity, the
embellishment and attractiveness of our great metropolis. They believed
that it would accomplish for the New York of 1887 and succeeding years
what New York's most illustrious Mayor and Gk>vernor had desired to
effect over three-quarters of a century ago, but whose beneficent design
was defeated by the culpable apathy of his official successors; and in this
belief they persevered and worked till their efforts were crowned with a
glorious victory.

THE FRIENDS OF THE PAEKS.

IMPORTANT CORRESPONDENCE.

LETTERS OP REAL ESTATE OWNERS, CAPITALISTS, BANKERS^
LAWYERS, MERCHANTS, Etc. -REPRESENTING AN AG-
GREGATE CAPITAL OF TWO THOUSAND MILLIONS OF*
DOLLARS-.T0 EX-MAYOR ED30N.

The following letter was addressed to Mayor Edson, who had unfortu-
nately changed his attitude on the park question some time after his inaug-
uration, and although he was even then a member of the Ezecutive Com-
mittee of the New York Park Association, he had not only resolved to
oppose the bill, but, as stated in the history of the movement, he arrayed
the heads of the municipal departments in hostility to the measure.
However, if Mayor Edson was not to be convinced by the facts and fibres
submitted for his consideration, they had their effect in other quartBrs and
materially aided the good work.

When Mr. Grace assailed the legislation of 18S4, and announced his inten-
tion to substitute a plan of his own for the park system laid out in tha act
of that year, nearly all the gentlemen whose names are signed to this letter
united in a still stronger and more urgent communication protesting against
any farther interference with the law and emphatically expressing their
** desire that the act passed stand as it is "

New York, February 29, 1884.
To Hon. Franklin Edson, Mayor of the City of New York:

We considnr the enlargement of our park area so important a matter that
we beg respectfully to call your especial attention to a few of the salient
points in tbe very able report of the Commission appointed by yourself,
which report we most fully approve and indorse.

Ist. The Central Park cost the city $6,666,381

Constructicm account and maintenance 16,378 844

Interest at 7 per cent, during 35 years 20,755,92 5

Total $43,bul,150

Taxes collected during this period in the wards in
which the park is situated .' $110,000,000

Estimating fifty millions of this as an increase from ordinary causes,
there remain sixty millions, leaving a baiauce to the credit of the city of
seventeen millions.

The city thus has this magnificent domain for nothing, with the enormous
increase of tax income from the district in its neighborbood besides.

With the constantly increasing population, and the consequent imperative
necessity of providing more park room, there is no doubt ttiat a few thou-

THE ^EW PARKS.

163

sand acres secured now, north of the Harlem River (a portion in territory
not yet annexed, and therefore cheaper), when it can oe done for a few
miUions of dollars, would similarly prove a very wise and profitable pur-
chase, and save millions to the city.

If in the case of the Central Park the city could pay 7 per cent for twenty-
five years besides enormous expenditures, and have the land free and clear,
without cost, is there any room for doubting; that thirty-year bonds, issued
now at 3 to 3^ per cent., would at maturity be more than paid for by the
increased tax income from property in the neighborhood?

In the case of the Ceutral Park the increase cf values was in some instemces
about 300 per cent, within a year after the purchase, and for one large tract
near the park, which, in 1857, was sold for $40,000, the owner refused
$1,250.0€0 in 1869, twelve years later.

2d. The taxable value of the three wards in which Central Park is situ-
ated increased from twenty six and one-half to three hundred and twelve
millions from 1856 to 1881, and contributes about one-third of the whole
expenses of the city.

These facts speak louder than any words, and the silent argument of these
figures must be sufficient to convince the most skeptical. We must not
make the same mistake that the city authorities made in 1809, when none of
the pai k reservations then pruje^^ted were carried out, entailing a loss to
the city of several hundred mililous of dollars. The same opposition that
then proved so unfortunate was repeated in the case of the Central Park
and delayed the purchase several years, but all experience now demon-
strates that there can be no better financial undertaking for a large and
growing city than the purchaie of park sites.

3d. As to the sanitary considerations, they are too well known and too
generally admitted to be dwelt upon here — our object being merely to
recommend the purchase of the land now as a wise financial enterprise. We
would, however, remind you that in the matter of parks our metropolis —
one of the first in the world— is sadly behind the age, our entire park terri-
tory, even with the Central Park (considered by some so large), being only
1,094 acres, against 17<J,000 in Paris, 34,000 in London, 8,0 )0 in v^ienna, 5,000
in Berlin afid 3,00J each in even Philadelphia and Chicago. The purchase
of more park room seems imperative, and the sooner the better.

We are yours, re^pictfuUy,

Jno. Harsen Rhoades, Lewis G. Morris,

August Belmont,
William Astor,
Edward F. Winslow,
Jacob D. Vei milye,
Charles M. Fry,
Thomas L. James,
Frederick D. Tappen,
G. M. Hard,
John T. Agnew,
Francis Leland,
Eugene Dutilh,
Robert fcchell,
Wi'liam H. Cox,
Edward Schell,
John A. Stewart,
G^eo. 8 Coe.
Roswell G. Rolston,
Thomas Hillbouse,
Henry P. Hyde,
William H. Macy,
Samuel D. Babcock,
George H. Poits,
Columbus C. Baldwin,
William Dowd,
William Henry Smith,
John S. Crane,

James M. Brown,
Charles D. Dickey,
Jesse sSeligman,
Thomas C Acton,
Charles Lanier,
Eugene Kelley & Co.,
D. O. Mills,
Robert Winthrop,
Isaac N. Phelps,
Sidney Dillon,
Samuel JSloan,
Wm. B Dinsmore,
M. B. Fielding,
Edward A. Morrison,
Arnold & Constable,
H. C. Fahnestock,
Arthur Leary,
J. C. Johnson,
T. P. Earl,
Russell Sage,
John Sloan,
Julius Wadsworth,
Henry Clews,
George Bliss,
George T. Adee,

Hon. Charles Donohue,
Parkg Godwin,
George Jones,
William Cutting,
Geo. H. Andrews,
John A. Lowery,
Hon. James M. Varnum,
John Jay,

William M. Evarts,
Lloyd Aspinwall,
George Sloan,
Wm. A. Caldwell.
James F. D.- forest,
Wm. J. Halstead,
Robt. A. Livingston,
James L. White,
T. C. Eastman,
W. H. Webb,
Ambrose Hnow,
Edward Kemp,
Irving Putnam,
Steiaway & Co.,
Gustav Schwab,
John H. Watson,
Horace Porter,

164 THE NSW PARKS.

John Jacob Astor, Albon P. Man, Chaoncey M. Depew,
Morris Franklin. Hon. Francis C. Barlow, Hogh Aachindoss,
Aaron J. Vanderpool, (}eo. Deforest Lord, Elliot Rosevelt,
Ex-Mayor tjmith Ely, (Jeor^e McCoUoogh Mil- Backett M. Barclay,
Isaac Bell, ler. Edw^d Livingston Lad-
Samuel Raynor, Algernon S. Sullivan, low,
O. S. Schermerhom, Jr., Francis N. Baugs, David S. Banks,
Samuel H. Denton, Peter B. Olney, B. H. Van Aoken,
H. K. Tbnrber, Wheeler H. Peckham, Jamei M. Bailey,
Park & Tiiford, Fred'k R. Coud*^rt, D. Colden Murray,
F. F. GuDther, Hon. Benj A. Willis, T. Bailey Myers,
Huntinf? & Hammond, Hon. O. B. Potter, Hiram Barney,
Hawk & Wetherbee, B. F. Watson, Hon. Wm. H. Wickham,
Hitchcock & Darling, Sam. L. M. Barlow, Benjamin D. Sillman.

Messrs. Vermilye, Rolston, Seligman, Tappen, Hillhouse and Stewart,
whose names are among those of the signers of the communication to ex-
Mayor Edaon, addressed a letter to Mr. Marsh embodying the main points
presented in the foregoing, and elaborating its arguments in favor of the
New Park System. This letter was forwarded among the mass of corre»-
I)ondence laid before the Governor, while the fate of the bill was undecided.

EMPHATIC INDORSEMENT BY PROMINENT CITIZENS.

As allusion has been made to the support and encouragement which the
cause of the New Parks received from well-known citizens, who took a
strong interest in its success, the author feels that this history of the move-
ment would not be complete without special reference to the correspondence
which constituted one of its most interesting as well as one of its most
important chapters.

On the publication of the report to the Leerislature of 1884, Mr. Marsh
and the author, acting on behalf of the Commission, sent copies to a large
number of well-known citizens, with accompanying letters directing their
attention to the array of facts and arguments presented therein, and
requesting an expression of their views *' on a matter of such vital import-
ance to the well-being of our people and the best interests of our imperial
city."

The replies, which were numerous and voluminous, warmly approved the
report, and heartily indorsed the action of the Commission. As the letters
alone would fill a good-sized volume, the following extracts will suffice to
show the earnest and emphatic manner in which the writers responded and
their cordial Indorsement of the movement:

President Arthur.— 1 have not yet had time to give the document more
than a hasty exammation, but this brief inspection has suffi-*^ to impress
me with the thoroughness of the work of the Commission and the import-
ance of carrying out its suggestions. Trusting that your labors may meet
with a ready response from the Legislature, I am, with kind regard.

Hon. O. B. Potter.— 1 am so satisfied that the additional parks recom-
mended will at a very early date become necessary and important to the
heeJth, growth and attractiveness of that great metropolis, that I am will-
ins my estate shall be subjected to the taxation it will have to bear in
order that these parks may now be acquired. I believe this to be the
general sentiment of the principal property owners of tha city, cmd of

THE NEW PARKS. 165

men of all classes who feel a deep and intelligent interest in its develop-
ment, growth, attractiveness and beauty as the great commercial
metropolis of tne country. I know there are a few, and among them
our present Mayor, who do not think the acquisition of the parks at
present desirable, especially in view of the large indebtedness of the city.
Mayor Edson wad among the first in favor of the Park Commission, and
I certainly received from him the impression, in the early part of the
movement, that he was entirely favorable to it, and I am somewhat at
a loss to understand 'why it meets with his opposition now. At any rate,
I am quite clear that those equally interested with him^^elf in the welfare
of the city, and who will pay a much larger proportion of the cost of
these parks than he, do not agree with him in his present judgment.

Hon. W. H. Robertson.— T^o one familiar with that part of the city
would doubt for a moment the wisdom of the Commission, either in respect
to the location of those parks or to the amount of territory appropriated
for them. They will add much to the health and enjoyment of the citizen,
and to the beauty and fame of the city. The result of your labors will
have, I trust, the unqualified approval of the Legislature. Your report
will well repay perusal, it contains, considering its size, fuller and more
valuable information on the subject of parks than any other work I have
ever read.

Hon, S. S. Cox. — If there were any influence which I could exercise at
Albanv to induce proper legislation, so as to give New York its full
breathing apparatus in the shape of parks, I should be very happy.

Ex Judge Noah Davis. —While I am earnestly in favor of rigid economy
in the adminirtration of our municipal affairs and would guard the expen-
diture of public money by the strictest rules, yet I do not hesitate to say
that in my judgment the adoption of the system of public parks i)roposed
by the Commission will be in every sense a judicious and economical pro-
ceeding. A wise prudence dictates that it should be done without delay.
Both the property and the money required for its purchase are as cheap
now as they can ever be, and the growing wants of th'^city in the direction
of public parks can never be more advantageously supplied.

Stewart Dean., Esq. — ^Your benign project will be, I am confident, should
the wisdom of the i«e^islature put it through, the biggest jump New York
city ever took towards fitting herself for swaying the sceptre of ultimate
domain as the world's metropolis. Though having lived in your city, lam
here on the lovely marge of Lake Erie, with the freshness of Heaven on the
air, and the long stretches of blue under the eye, and health in the gale;
and I wish my crowded fellow-beings on the other edge of the State to have
something of the same blessings— to accomplish which your efforts seem so
earnestly bent. I hope the Legislature will commend itself to the grati-
.tude of all the future by a fiat which shall speak these pleasure grounds
into being.

Rev, Morgan Dix^ D. D,— That the city of New York is very far behind
the other great cities of the world in her provision for the health and happi-
ness of the people by means of pleasure grounds and parks is, unfortunately,
too well known. The views of your Commission on that point are stated
in a way which could hardly be more impressive; while their recommenda-
tions senm to me to be eminently wise and practical. What they propose
might, indeed, be regarded as the minimum; nothing less should bethought
of; and they are right In urging prompt, or rather immediate, action, in
order to secure inestimable ^vantages now within our reach, but liable
through delay to be lost to our citizens forever. I earnestly hope that
among our legislators at Albany there will be found the wi dom, the fore-
sight, the statesmanship, the enlightened public soirit, nay, the common
sense, which, if properly applied, will re$«ult in an approval of the recom-
mendations of this admirable and exhaustive report, and in making
provision for the speedy realization of the project.

H<m. Wm Dowd - I have received and read the report of the Conunis-

166 THE NEW PARK J.

lion to Locate Lands for Parks, which you so kindly sent mi, and I was
greatly interested in its contents, which are so plainly the result of thorough
research and the fullest consideration of the matter. It seems to me that
no language can too strongly set forth the absolute necessity of these parka
to afford the largest amount of breathing space to the greatest number of
people at the least cost. But now is the time to secure these lands, wheuC
the cost is probably at the minimum, and mooey is so cheap. Th*) authority
to purchase should be given by the present Legislature without fail, andna
means should be neglected to bring about this most desirable result.

Stansbury Norse^ Esq. — As an artist, familiar with all the localities men-
tioned in your report, I can understand the difficulties you have had to
contend with and have surmounted, and I congratulate you upon the
judicious selections you have made, and the picturesque sights deter-
mined upon.

Morris K. Jtssup^ Esq. — From my standpoint, the necessity of an increase
of our park area is so apparent and so great as hardly to need the advocacy
of a single person.

Hon. Ernest Hall. — I do not think that anything that I can say would
add any weight to your magnificent and comprehensive report in regard to
the parks in the annexed district, but if the hearty approbation of all
owners of property in that district can aid you, that you may rest assured
you have. It is rightfully considered that there is no subject of such vital
importance to the entire city of New Tork as this one in regard to parks;
it is a question to many of life or death in a physical sense, and the death rate
of the city, at present so large, must increase unless places can be provided
now for free air for the poorer classes. The work which your Commission ha«»
initiated must be completed at once, 'ihe people having obtained, through
your report, such a glimpse of Heaven, will never rest contented with tiie
present purgatory.

John E. ParsonSj Esq.— I have some right to an opinion upon the subject.
I was brought up in the lower part of Westchester County, at Rye, and all
my life I have been familiar with the country between the Connecticut line
and the Harlem River. It is all beautiful. From my father's house the
water view extended to Bands Point in one direction and as far as the eye
can reach in the other. A short drive reached the hill tops, from which the
whole Ime of the Palisades was visible. One of my earliest memories is of
a visit to a friend of my mother's, Mrs. Eiisha King, whose beautiful place,
with Hunter's Island, the finest gentleman's seat that I ever saw in this
country, you seem to incorporate in your Pelham Park. It always appeared
to me that the beauty of TV estchester County culminated at Pelham on the
shore, and at the Lydig property on the Bronx. Your committee must
have been of the same mind, to judge from the fact that you have selected
each for the site of a park. I still drive once in a while to New Rochelle
and beyond. Don't delay the parks. They will make the distance seem
only half as great. Let me thank you for your work.

Everett H. Wheeler^ Esq — Everything that makes the city of New
Yoi k more healtnful and mere beautiful will attract population, increase
taxable values, promote the comfort and the morality of our citizens.
If the parks which your Commi-sion advocate should be laid out, the
value of the whole annexed district will largely increase. The owners of
property there will thus contribute more and more to the public treasury.
This will be easy for them, because the improvements you propose will
make their land desirable for residence and in this way, before the bonds
which the city will issue to pay for our new parks shall become due, the
taxpayers of the wards north of the Harlem River will have paid for
them, principal and interest.

Isaac D. Cole, Esq —I have been very much interested in examining
your rt'port to the Legislature, and I feel that your enormous undertaking,
and the progress which has thus far been made, will have a successful

THE NEW PARKS. 16T

JBsae; also, that your labors, as they merit, will receive the sinoerest
thanks of your fellow citizens.

Ahijah Curtiss, Esq —In agreeing most fully with your report and in
your views of tbe nec^'saity of present action upon the same, I wish also to
add my thanks and coumidndation for the, to me, faithful manner in which

?rour work has been done. Having a most conversant knowledge of the
ands and topography covered by your report, I find nothing to suggest
that would add to the conclusions you have arrived at in regard to location
of tbe proposed parks.

Oen. W, H. Morris. — I beg to offer my entire approval of your admir-
able selection of sites. The arrangements for connecting the parks in the
annexed district are excellent.

Professor S. FTater^otise.— Certainly the State of New York will not
hesitate, in view of the urgent needs of its chief city, to authorize by legis-
lative action the acquisition of grounds so essential to the health and recrea-
tion of its citizens. A neglect of the present opportunity may forever
defeat an admirable system of public improvements. The legislators of
New Tork are too sagacious to be guilty of a remissness so fatal to the best
interests of their metropolis. And when under the prompt sanction of the
legislature, tbe desired tracts have been secured, the municipal council of
New York will scarcely be able to find better methods for the embellish-
ment of tbe new parks than those embodied in the excellent recommenda-
tions of your Ck)mmission.

Jas. F. Sutton. — There is not, nor can there be, anything more import-
ant to the preheat and future of tbis city than the question of beautiful
parks, and tbe larger and the more there are of tbem the better. The
more a i)eople of a great city can get of nature the better the people of
that city will be. It must, Indeed, be a small mind that would oppose this
movement, and I cannot believe tuere is any opposition to it by tbe people
of this. city.

John D. Toxmisend, — It has often occurred to me that our city from its
rapid inc: ease of population would soon require more breathing places for
the people, and I rejoiced when, in 1883, tbe Legislature passed tbe act by
whicU your Commission could be appointed. I have delayed my response
to your letter until I could get an opportunity of properly inspecting the
sub j 3ct, and now that I have done so, I take pleasure in adding my voice
to tne rest that the committee has performed its duty with extraordinary
care and discretion.

J. M Hard, Esq.—Flease add my name to the many "^frou ^already have,
in empbaiic approval of the proposed plan.

Austin Corbin. — As an individual citizen, interested as ali should be, in
anything ntfeciing tbe common weal, I regard the question of providing an
increased iiutiiber of parks as of paramount iuapjrtauce to a city like New
York. It has demonstrated such a marvelous capacity for growth, it needs
a generous provision in the way of breathing grounds, to meet tbe wants
ot tuture geaeraiions — a necessity which I think few of our citizens appre-
ciate as it deserves. Your views upon this question meet my cordial con-
currence, and tbe only criticism I have to mdke is that you have not pro-
vided half the space that ought to be provided for tbis purpose. Increased
taxation will more than pay tbe interest upon such acquisitions, but if io
should not the city will be tully compensated for tbe money so expended,
in the saving of health and life.

Jas. M. Constable, Esq.— The circular 'of the Commission and also tbe
reports in relation to tne system of park accommodation for the city has
been received, and I have read tbe same with much interest. I heartily
approve of the plan to give the people more breathing room.

Hon. John C. Develin.—l am in entire sympathy with the movement for
increased park area, and cannot write in too high terms of the labor, intel-
ligence and judgment devoted and displayed by the Commissioners to and

168 THE NEW PARKS.

iu the selection of sites. New York is nowhere so deficient as in the
paucity of parks.

Hon. Wm E. Dodgre.— It is a great encouragement to all thoughtful men
to tPiei that the authorities are willing to lo3k forward and to provide for
the future needs of tbis great city, while land can be procured and plans
perfected wisely.

D. Willis James, Esq.— 1 take great pleasure in saying that I am most
heartily in favor of prompt measures being taken to secure in the annexed
district a liberal amount of lands for public parks, b'^iieving them to be a
necessity for all great cities. I believe ihs lands should be secured at once,
while it can be done at a comparatively modest; c jst; that aay delay is both
expensive and hazardous. No one at all familiar with sanitary science can fail
to recognize that parks, open places, breathing spots are a necessity in any
great city, and als ) that while they are a necessity they are the chief
beauty and attraction any city can possess. I sincerely hope New Tork
will be wise enough to secure suitable sites in the annexed district and
secure ample space. No one familiar with our city can fail to regret that
the wise foresight of De Wict Clinton, in laying out ample open spaces,
failed of being carrie i out, and as a result, to day New Yoi k is suffering,
and must go on to suffer in thd future until suitable measures are taken to
remedy, as far as possible, the dire calamity. In many parts of our over-
crowdei city— notably the tenement-house districts— the necessity now
exists for providing open spaces for the health and well-being of our people.
A wise statesmanship must provide these, even though the expense be
great; but so costly a blunder should warn us not to repeat it in the annexed
district, soon to be a thickly populated city; but to act at once and secure
ample lands for open spaces while it can Le done at a comparatively
moderate expense.

Hon. D. McMahon. — Some years since I attended before Mayor Grace
anl ^p^ke decidedly against proposed new parks, but now frankly admit
mysBlf converted to your suggestions. I am aware that the city south of
the Harlem is not embraced within the limits of your powers as fixed by
the law creating your Commission, but some provision should be made
hereafter for smaU down-town parks, constructed in pestilential portions
of the city, which last would be for the very poor who cannot afford the
time nor money for the fresh air of the suburbs. If several blocks in the
4th, 7ch, 14th, 11th and 19th Wards were separately taken, the houses on
them demolished, open air spaces created, laid . ut in green gras3, the sani-
tary condition of the city would thereby be improved. No ^tter donation
to their fellow-citiz 3ns of the "toilers" could be given by our rich men
than to buy up in the tenement district several squares of buildings,
demolish the vile, polluted, pestilent, reeking structures on them, donate
one of them to the pablic, laying same ouc in an open space and erect
around same improved tenements for the very poor. As a business specu-
lation it would pay; as a b^^nevolenc enterprise the donors would stand on
the same place as Cooper, Lsnox, et id omne genus.

W. K. Thorn, Esq. — I can only say I entirely approve of the purchases
anl should favor au increase of the number of parks at)ove your sugges-
tions, as among the very best investments the city could m>*k'^. As soon as
parks are located, the property surrounding and near them will be selected
as residences, and so their value be much enhanced and the taxable prop-
erty of the cicy thereby very much increased in value.

Rev. Howard Crosby.— I most fully concur with all your views, and can-
not but believe that the) whole city will indorse your labors, and the Legis-
lature give efficiency to your plans. These parks must be secured now, as
you ably argue, and theyr cannot be more wisely located than they have
been by you. Your treatment of the pecuniary aspect of the question is
forcible and true.

H O. Marquand, Esq — I cannot see how any one having interest in the
welfare, present and future, of this city, can take any other view or be led

THE NEW PARKS. 169

by any proper motive to oppose the movement to secure them now. I
cheerfully approve oH your efforts and wish you success.

Messrs. H. B. Claflin and W. H. Dunn. — If it is any encouragement for
you to know that we heartily approve the work of the Commissiun, we are
glad indeed so to advise you, aud we siucerely trust that you will be able to
bring to a satisfactory conclusion your effort to provide for the future wel-
fare of our great and growing city, and if in any wise we can assist you,
we shall be glad to have you command us.

General Fremont, — Regarding the city as the exponent of the wonderful
growth of the country which is its background, and with which as well as
the growth of the city itself I have been familiar for years, it is with a
positive pleasure that I look upon the wise preparations which you are
making to render it worthy and fit for the commanding place which it is to
occupy in the future.

r. B. Coddington, Esq.— I am in hearty sympathy and accord with the
movement. Looking to the present and the future growth of the city, I
believe that its sanitary welfare will be best promote 1, and the intelligence,
taste and morals of the people fostered by an adequate provision in this
direction.

D. Connolly. Esq. — The report is highly interesting, and I trust it will
impress the L<egislature with the importance of taking action on the sub-
ject of providing parks in that section as soon as possible. They will be
greatly needed, and provision for them cannot be made too soon. New
Tork will gain many millions of dollars, and much sanitary advantage as
well, by prompt attention to this important subject. The information
furnished in this report is valuable and should be carefully studied.

Col, R. M, Gallaway.— In addition to the letters, from which the fore-
going extracts are taken, Vice-President Gallaway, of the Manhattan Ele-
vated Railway, addressed a communication to .the Gk>vernor, while he had
the bill under consideration. After a reference to the effect of parks in the
enhancement of the surrounding property, and his intimate knowledge of
the whole territory to a distance of twenty-five mQes around New York,
acquired while engaged in the work of surveying. Col. Gallaway expressed
his belief that no land within such easy reach (through the facilities
afforded by the present system of rapid transit) can be found so well
suited for public parks, considered in relation to adaptability, accessibility
and economy.

** This," said he, ** is true of the Van Cortlandt and the Bronx parks, and,
in a special degree, of the Pelham Bay Park, which has the additional advan-
tage of a front upon the Sound, that cannot fail to make it one of the most
attractive of our public pleasure grounds, pcuriicularly for the great bod/
of our working people, whose various trade and benevolent societies, in
addition to the athletic clubs, will throng it daily through the summer
season. I would say, right here, that this is the time to buy this seaside
park while it is outside the limits of the city, and before it becomes a part
of New Tork, for the moment it is annexed the property cannot be had for
treble, or even quadruple its present price. Better for the city to buy grass
lots now than lots with improvements on them hereafter. Then there would
not be money enough to pay for them. The land which now can be bought
for eight millions could not be bought ten years hence for fifty.

*' Today there are over a million and a-half of people in New York, and
the centre of population is moving so rapidly northward that ere many
years it shall have reached the Harlem River. That river, uniting as it
does the Hudson and the East Rivers, must, when the present system of
improvement shall have been completed, form an important artery of
commerce, its shores lined by storehouses, and its docks crowded by vessels

:r:i THZ 32W FAaas.

'if ail kinite. JL Imrs^'gme^ tt !iift ■nrnnifWTari. bmin— of fltoaty will

M <3nni*4atra(iHt «r -aim ryiinc £«: r«><i*u-9* oo '^^pHrwi flimig te id

nift ituunt \t 'SiXM Mrr.im if 'Jati ousc/jo iiisi. wmctt. ■» Z h«v» aud* wui Im a

^ jiliahiQuir.-i. mft sc u^t pr^a^ac -raij^ >^ incmiw. in. luif & eanfiBry ic wiil
ki«o<» 111. if Ml .'INI — mnn« ouui iuiinie rhe popntTtrinn ^f rrfiwinn. Loofciii^st
itM rapm xr-*w*.;i sntt :sb i?jzair<» prnivpfwca I i^animc tulp flhinking thmt tk»
Ounmiitau.a aa?4 «i:cuiiil/ '^«a ^iiurs ux auar vadcniAdan. of tt* park ans
thas w:U qa nef»ien. BiiuLi ^hev iia.7i mic. ami if chsf hKwm tafesn. mm
thaa t»UI Oft reqmrpfl. ic ia a iii&i'oicj ?taac -aa b» eaaiiy vasiBfiai and witk
aitvancag^ M the city by th» §mi» af & tsm hxmdnd, manm^ wtaick eaa ba
done as :tarti aa advance a* -inil mors oian paj tiw cos oC dtt wfcnia, aad
kitv« A g:x.il wrj&B. CO tiie eisy.

'* Ail &> c «'^ leflQcn of acr»flibilicj. I -^an ^peak. aa jon ac» aE»ar«iv fira^
praecU^ai «zp«neiif:a and an inmmuft^ kjuwiadga of tka asb jeet. Tke faoK-
li«s/if apprpaca ba.-v« been » jargBtyin* iiaaiiT wtBtim,*gBwjwiaitoiwnilBr
a«l thane park^ eaMiy auynwaihift co uu^ wHoia p ^puiaczoa of tteeisy botfc by
rail aarl iteamboas. A Lne dr^^mn .loe eaac axul w«k6 icrilcB dtt two
parka- ona on tba Hodaoa and the ocho' on tha SaaaA—Vmm Covtiaadt
fatbam Bmif, brtth. rjt wtucb ara in eomnrmnUatfion witk all aaetiaaaof
ricy by rail and Cba latcar by f^amiviat aa weiL ^j rapid tmarff tha
Van Cortiaiidt Park can ba reacfaad in thirty mrnntwi froaa Forty-aeeoad
•Craat and in frirty-flva minntea from, the Battery, tbacztrameaaattacra fimit
(A the city. When the i^eccwi Aweaut Bridge, which is bow in p r uc— of
f:yyiMtnictir>n, is competed, and the conaactkA on both adaa is tfanacffaetod
between the Elevated and the Fortcfaeater and the Hariam Railroad, which
miM tbroogb Falbam B^j Fark, it can be reached witiiia twenty ndnotea
from the caotra ci popaladno. Ihia railroad conneetioB will be compieta
witbin a yaar—eertainly before the procaedlngs for the aoquiatioa of tbm
•ite of thia park can be parfected."

Hen. W. W. NiU9,^Bttid€m the active paraonal aerrioea rendared bj Mr.
If ilea, who, it aboald be ttated, waa p r o a c nt on the erentfol idgfat wlien the
Mil paaied tlie Senate by a vote of twenty-one to two, that inflnpntial mam-
bar of tbe IVaw York Fark AaMidation and of the Commlwion appointed
oodar tbe act of 1883, addreased a fordhle and conyincing letter, dated
March 2^, 1886, to a large Dumber of his friends in tbe Senate and Aaaembly.

** I noilr^,^ gaid Mr. NUea in this eommonication, ** an effort to repeal,
or modify the act Icnown as tbe * New Parks bilL' None of ns have any
light for our guidance except the light of the past. I submit, therefore, a
few facts in regard to this measure, and they shall be yery few and briefly
statad, for life, and efjpeoi&lly official life, is too active and earnest to be
wasted U|K>n roetorlc." After referring somewhat in detail to the history
<if the park movenient Mr. Niles alluded to the coriflicc precipitated by
Ai-Mayor Grace and the signal defeat of his scheme, comluaiug as follows:

**()ne word only bv wav of prophecy: the lands selected aie almost with-
out Improvement. Within five years buildings would otherwise have been
are<it«f(l on them and Improvemeuts made which would each represent
with an acre, or half acre, tbe c<jet of ten to fifty acres of the land at
prepptit; and tbe extension of the surface railroads and the Rapid Transit
fi3rf>tpin and other t>ending inrprovements, would in some cases double and
<|(iiwlru{)le the (lasc of the laud. With this past and with this probable
iulurp, it Is submitted whether it is wise for the present Legislature to undo
the work so carvfuUy. so uatieutly, and after such earnest and long con-
ttnupd labor, aooomplisheti, and for tbe completion of which a large propor-
tion of the ex|)anio aud liability has already been incurred.**

THE NEW PARKS. 171

PETITION TO THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR IN
FAVOR OP THE NEW PARKS, AND ASKING THAT THE
BILL BE PASSED AND SIGNED.

The followiDg petition was signed by about seven thousand persons,
representing every trade and profession.

In addition to this petition there were separate petitions signed by
nearly one hundred of the first artists of the city, who urged the Governor
to approve the bill, on the ground that the lands selected were natural
parks, and especially on account of the beautiful and picturesque charac-
ter of their scenery.

Separate petitions were also signed by a large number of leading physi-
cians, setting forth the sanitary benefits which the whole people would
derive from the new parks.

FREE PABK8 FOR THE PEOPLE.

To OlTR RkPBBSKNTATIVEB in the SSNITB AND ASSBMBLT OF THB STATK OV

New York.

The People of the City of New York demand more Parks.
Thxt Want Free Playgrounds. It is a Necessitt.

The Parks recommended by the Commission appointed under the act of tiie
Legislature of 1833, have been wi^ly chosen, and we heartily approve of all of
them in respect to " location, extent, mode of payment, and method of acquiring
tlUe."

There can be no better financial undertaking for a large and growing dty than
the purchase of park sites.

They will coit the city nothing, but, on the contrary, will be a source of great
profit The experience of other cities proves (his.

The Central Park has not only repaid all its cost, but paid into the Treasury of
the City Seventeen Millions or Dollars, and left the city the owner in fee free
from all cost, of its 864 acres, now worth Two Hundred Millions or Dollaks.

We are convinced that similar results will follow from the parks laid out by
the Commission.

Tne Central Park, for the following reasons, has ceased to be, if it ever wai, a
park for the people:

They are not permitted to walk or play upon the grass, but are confined to its
dusty roads;

The lawns and meadows are for sheep and not for the people;

It is kept exclusive, like the baronial estates of European lords;

But were it all we could wish, it must soon xive way to the necessities of
trade and travel between the east and west sides.

Ample space is necessary for the proper training of our citizen soldiers and
for the athletic sports and exercises of our youth.

Such spaces are specially provided for in the great parks of Europe. We
have none.

The death rate in New York is larger than that of the other great centres of
population, and must go on to Increase unices remedied.

ITi THE KEW PARKS.

Id one ward alone, of half a square mile, there are twelve thotuand ni<»«
Ibhabitants than in the whole cit j of Albany.

Id one ward of one-sixth of a equira mile there are five thousand mere per-
sons than in Hartford, the capital of Connecticat.

In Rome parts of five or six \iards the populuion is packed at the rate of <Mier
thousand to an acre, and there is very little more int>und space allowed to the
Hvirg than is allotted to the dead.

Must this go ob>

New Yoric is behiud the world in park area.

Even with Central Park, New York has less than a thousand acres (without
lt« reservoirs) of pl-^a^u'e grounds, against

One Hundred and Seventy-two Thousand Acres belonging to Ftiria,

Tivf nty-two Thtnisand to London.

Eujht Thousand to Vienna.

Five TJiousand to Berlin

Three Thousand to Philadelphia.

Three TTiousand to Chicago.

Over Two Thousand to St. Louis^ and

Over Two Thousand to Boston.

Other cities are now increasing their park areas, London haTing just added
to its fifteen thousand acres seven thousand more, and these are outside of
her boundaries; and Boston has within three years increased her area with an
addivional nineteen hundred acres.

All the parks and parkways must be secured now before the growth of pop-
ulation and tbe advance of property values shall make any of them costly;
while money is cheap and before these natural parks are lost to us forever.

Th£ woods, the growth of centuries, unless secured now must soon give place
to bricks and mortar.

These parks are more accessible by road, by rail and by water than the Oen^
tral Park when it was laid out.

We don^t want expensive parks laid out by landscape gardeners, but parks
made by nature.

We must have not only inland parks, with meadows and woods, but the grand
one laid out on the Bound, with its miles of beach, its pure and cooling waves*
where we and our children can bathe and row and fish, and be free to enjoy
ourselves in its health-giving air and waters.

By the inevitable law of the past it is proved that the population of New
York city will in seventeen years be three millions.

These parks would not alone benefit the city— destined to be the greatest in
the world— and this grand Empire State, but the whole country.

GERMAN-AMERICAN

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CAPITAL. HALF MILLIOK DOLLARS

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23d and 24th Ward Property a Specialty,

— BY —

JAIES L. WELLS,

UCTIONEER CC BrOKER,

59 LIBERTY STREET,

MEW YORK.

J. THOMAS STBARKS. C. A. BERRIAK.

J. Thomas Stearns

J

Auctioneer, Real Estate Broker

and Appraiser.

Member of the Real Estate Exchange and Auction Room, (Limited.)

No. 59 Liberty Street, N. Y.

Personal attention given to Auction Sales
of Real Estate at the Exchange, or on the
premises. Legal Sales carefully conducted.

Subdivision of Large Tracts

into Villa Sites or City Lots, and disposing of
the same at private sale, or at auction, at the
Exchange or on the premises.

U am 24tli M Froiertf a Spcialtr.

BRANCH OFFICE.

Atheneum Building, Tremont, N. 7. Cit^

Mbmber op Real Estate Exchange and Auction Rooms (Limited).

OFFICES OF

JOHN R. FOLEY

9

AND

MANAGER OF ESTATES,

153 BROADWAY.

Branch Office, 278 WEST 125th STREET.

WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVES :
HEISKELL & McLERAN, 1008 F. Street, N. W.,

'Wasliiiistoii, D. C.

PROPERTY RENTED.

RENTS COLLECTED.

LOANS NEGOTIATED.

INSURANCE PLACED.

Telephone, Main Office. "JOHN 788." Branch Office, "177 HARLEM."

Specialty made of procuring Builders' Loans —
Money loaned on Bond and Mortgage at 4, 5 and
6 per cent, interest. Full charge of Estates taken.
Security in any amount if required.

IMPORTANT

— TO —

HaDQfactnrers. Builders and iDYestors,

THE

Offers for Sale on easy terms, very choice

East River Water Fronts,

lying between 132d and 138th Sts., on deep water,
for factories, lumber and stone yards, etc. Horse
cars running to foot of E. 138th Street. Branches
of New Haven and Harlem Railroads run through
the property, affording manufacturers all rail con-
nection (without breaking bulk) to all parts of the
Country.

Also, choice dwelling lots and plots for immediate
improvement and investment, on, and adjacent to,

Southern Boulerard, and St. Ann's Arenue, *

near St. Mary's Park, on streets already sewered,
curbed, flagged, guttered and paid for, and on direct
line of proposed cable road. Apply to

WM. REYNOLDS BBOWN,

RBAI. BSTATe broker: AND AVCXIONCRR,

No. 146 Broadway, New York.

THE RECORD AND GDIDE.

ESTABLISHED MARCH 21st, 1868.

SUBSCRIPTION, i^e.OO F»KIt ANNXJIMT.

The Great Real Estate, Building and General

Bosiness Paper.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY.

Besides its interesting editorial columns, it containg the following
STATISTICAL CONTENTS.

Mechanics' Liens, New York,

Mechanics' Liens, Kings County.

SatiMfied Mechanics' Liens, New york.

Satisfied Mechanics' Liens' Kings County.

All General News about Keal Estate.

Board of Aldermen.

Hoard of Assessors, etc.

liegal Sales, New York and Kings County.

Kings County, Lis Pendens.

Recorded Leases.

Building Material Market and Quotations.

Business Failures.

Satifefled Judgments, New York.

Satisfied Judgments, Kings County.

New Jersey Con ^., Mortgages, etc.

Sales of the Week.
New York Conveyances.
h ings County Conveyances.
Westchester County Conveyances.
New York Mortgages .
Kings County Mortgages.
Assignments Mortgages, New York.
Assignments Mortgages, Kings County.
Projected Buildings, New York.
Projected Buildings, Kings County.
Alterations of Buildings, New York.
Alterations of Buildings, Kings County.
New York Judgments.
Kings County Judgments.
New York Chattel Mortgages.
King County Chattel Mortgages.

The RKCORD ANO C^UIDH is continually referred to
by thousands of people to whom its statistical tables are invaluable.
Its advertising columns are daily consulted for advertisements of all
kinds of material used in the construction and adornment of buildings
required by its readers. It is therefore

A FIRST CLASS AEVE8TIS1E MEDIDM

for those who have such materials to put upon tlie market.

Copies of the paper and terms of advertisement can be obtained
from the Publisher,

191 Broadway, New York.

HENRY C. MAPES.

JOHN S. MAPEe.

H. C. MAPES £ CO.

AUCTIONEERS,

Heal [slate and liisuraniie Srolers,

REAL ESTATE

BOUGHT, SOLD AND EXCHANGED.

Fanns and Hots sut-divided and sold at
Auction on the Premises,

— OK AT TliE —

REAL ESTATE EXCHANGE,

59 Liberty Street.

Will conduct sales of Household Furniture
at residences.

59 Liberty Street, New York City.

BRANCH OI^FICKP.

l)lS(i Main St., WeNl Farms, Main St., Wet>t Chester.

GEO H. PCOTT. SINCLAIR MYERS.

SCOTT & MYERS,

EEAL ESTATE,

Anctioneers, Brokers, Agents and Appraisers.

Loans on Bond and Mortgage.
140 to 146 BROADWAY,

Cor. Liberty Street, New York.

Members of the Real Estate Exchange and Auction Room.

Particular attention paid to the sale of

Property in the 23d and 24th Wards.

Large tracts divided and sold in
single lots and plots, either at auc-
tion or private sale.

Geo. R. Read,

Real £state,

No. 9 PINE STREET,

(ASTOR BUILDING)

3srE"vsr ~z'oe:k:.

Geo. R. Read, .

Real Instate,

No. 9 PINE STREET,

(ASTOR BUILDING)