40 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



the tangle of tall weeds, blackberry bushes, and green-briar which 

 grew up from the earth was met by the low-drooping branches 

 of the trees, and the breathing of the forest was seriously ob- 

 structed. The heat was intense, and the mosquitoes were very 

 troublesome. It was a rare sight to see in the Park any other 

 visitors than those of the kind parks are best without. 



Such was the condition of South Bronx Park last summer when 

 it passed into the control of this Society. Fairness to the De- 

 partment of Parks demands at this point the statement that in 

 view of the agreement existing between the Zoological Society 

 and the city, the Department had, during the first half of 1898, 

 purposely refrained from clearing the ground of weeds and sur- 

 plus undergrowth, as would otherwise have been done. This was 

 directly in the interest of the Society, and was due to the friendly 

 forethought of Commissioner Moebus, not to neglect. 



FIRST WORK ON THE GROUNDS. 



On August I, 1898, the Zoological Society assumed control of 

 the Zoological Park site by erecting at various conspicuous points 

 in and around the grounds a series of permanent signs, partly as 

 a notice of possession, partly as a warning against the infliction 

 of damage, and also as an invitation to the public generally to 

 co-operate with the Society in its efforts to preserve the natural 

 beauties of the Park. 



For many reasons it was indeed high time for South Bronx 

 Park to receive the diligent care which at present could come to 

 it only from a large body of individuals specially interested in it. 

 Previous to 1898 the very scanty attention available for it from 

 the Department of Parks, which had then its own police force, 

 caused it to suffer damage from the neglect of its forest growth 

 and also at the hands of malicious persons who regularly raided 

 it for firewood. Westward and southward of the Zoological Park 

 live many Italian laborers who during past years have become 

 thoroughly grounded in the conviction that it is right for them 

 to cut any tree in Bronx Park which they can cut without detec- 

 tion, and to remove anything that can be carried away. 



Finding that in their raids for fallen timber these parties did 

 not always respect lumber and living trees, it was forbidden that 

 any firewood should be removed from the Zoological Park. To 

 this the raiders paid not the slightest attention, until personally 



