WEST KOXBUKY PARK. 83 



Franklin Park, the commifssioners did appreciate the 

 great natural beauty of the land for pai'k purposes, and 

 so, notwithstanding the owner's earnest protest, and to 

 his great regret, seized the land undei* the right of 

 eminent domain, and Mr. Peters is, as is too often the 

 case in lands thus taken, a sufferei", and all 



Pro Bono Publico. 



"The auction sale on Friday at the AVilliams estate, 

 of lots of land on Humboldt avenue and Crawford street, 

 at prices from 18 to 32 1-2 cents per foot, must lead our 

 formei' park commissioners to think that they under- 

 valued desirable land which they seized for the Frank- 

 lin Park, and must naturally alfect the values of the 

 numerous cases now pending in our courts." 



Glenroad ravine, the most important gateway to the 

 great Franklin Park, is noted for its picturesque beauty. 

 It was constructed substantially, at great cost, thirty 

 odd years ago, but always remained a private way, 

 never having been conveyed to town or city. The 

 neighbors and others have long enjoyed its benefits with 

 the slight excej:)tion of three days and nights' blockad- 

 ing to protect my interests according to the require- 

 ments of law. Its construction served to open and 

 make available contiguous land, without cost to the 

 owner, by which several sales have been made at fair 

 prices, say 25 and 35 cents a loot. 



When the citizens of Boston drive over the Park 

 roads or i-amble through the pathways, lounging in the 

 shade of the lovely forest, they may have occasion to 

 feel a sting of conscience that these charming estates 

 were wrung from the owners at bankrupt prices, by the 



