130 FIRST COUNTY PARK SYSTEM 
of the members—when a proposition to make some of the 
land purchases in that locality was agreed to. 
Some of the commissioners firmly declined the proposi- 
tion of paying par for the stock. It was agreed that an 
effort should be made to acquire it at a price nearer the 
current value. Negotiations were in consequence suspended. 
Those anxious to sell the stock, after three years of “great 
expectations,” got tired of waiting, and the Fair Associa- 
tion directors finally gave an option, No. 415, for the Park 
Board to consider. The association delegated H. B. Gaddis 
and H. H. Isham to close the sale, and on March 13, 1899, 
they had a conference with the commission on that subject. 
The question then before the board was: Would it be 
better to pay something like the asking price for the fair 
association stock, or go through an expensive and tedious 
litigation in an effort to acquire it. The former plan, on 
the recommendation of those in the board who were under- 
stood to be well informed on the subject, was agreed upon, 
and, in March, 1899, $75,000 of the available park funds 
were thus disposed of. 
The proposition to locate a park at Waverly had, in the 
meantime dragged along, and apparently evoked but little 
public interest in any direction. A small delegation from 
Clinton Township appeared before the commission at the 
meeting November 19, 1896, and spoke in moderation in 
favor of “park improvement of the district about Wee- 
quahic.” This was the only delegation or petition favoring 
the park there that I can now recall or find record of. The 
adverse comments were not so limited. Reference has al- 
ready been made to the statement of the West End Improve- 
ment Association’s delegation at the hearing March 12, in 
opposition to the “Waverly park site.” The press was also 
non-responsive; or, if any comments were made when the 
announcement was given out that a Weequahic Park was 
no longer a matter of doubt, they were either distinctly con- 
servative or positively chilling. One of the leading papers 
asked editorially if “mosquito bars were included in the 
purchase.” One of the old established New York papers 
a 
