4»'> REPORT OF THE 



its life and beauty for the sake of serving purely commercial 

 purposes. Such was the state of these once attractive but 

 now disfigured and deserted water courses, in which the Com- 

 missioners found them. 



They immediately set about their renovation. More than 

 one thousand wagon loads of black sediment were taken from 

 their beds, deposited in a remote part of the park, treated 

 with lime, composted and prepared for top dressing. The 

 removal of this large amount of debris from tho pools, smaller 

 lakes and waterways, the edging of the shores with white 

 pebble and gravel, together with the repairing of the 

 hanks and cascades, was no slight undertaking and required 

 time and persistent effort. It was completed, however, 

 early in the spring before the people visited the park 

 to any considerable extent. The connection with the Coney 

 Island system "f pipes being severed, tin- water was turned on 

 from the well, and when the visitors thronged at last through 

 the park they were surprised once more by the clear and ex- 

 hilarating spectacle of this wonted stream as it ran down to 

 meet them with its old bounding step for the first time in many 

 intervening years. The design of the architect was thus 

 restored and one of the finest charms of the park regained for 

 the tax payers in all its lines of grace ami beauty. There are 

 required for the use of the park, for its buildings, shelters, 

 small fountains and watering carts, during the heated term, 

 about 150,000 gallons per day. On the Ocean Parkway, in 

 former years, three watering carts have been in daily use during 

 the summer. These carts consume a fraction of the above 

 amount. Along this parkway is laid a six and four-inch pipe 

 to supply the hydrants at which these carts are fed. The 

 capacity of this pipe is sufficient to supply several times this 

 number of watering carts. Still the present Board of Commis- 

 sioners found, on examination, certain contracts in existence 

 with a local water company, permitting their system of pipes 

 to be connected with the park pipes. The pretext for such a 

 connection was that there was not a sufficient head of water 

 readily to rill these watering carts, when in realitv the head 



