DEPARTMENT OP PARKS. 57 



Prospect Park this year. There have been crowds of persons 

 on the ice, and there is every evidence that this winter pastime 

 has lost none of its old-time popularity. Skating is a particu- 

 larly healthy exercise, and if indulged in with a proper degree 

 of can 1 is perfectly safe. The accommodations for skaters are 

 not more than half sufficient to meet the demand, and an ap- 

 propriation should he asked for. 



walking. 



Year after year sees more and more regular walkers through 

 the park. These persons make daily detours of long distances 

 around the park, and in some instances it is continued as far 

 as Coney Island. 



More people should follow their example. The asphalt 

 walks and the green sward furnish a fine opportunity for the 

 prosecution of this splendid exercise. 



life, Goat Carnages 



Last, but not least, we must not forget to mention that one 

 object in the park which stirs many a fond mother's heart as 

 we recall it, the Goat Carriage. What an institution. Never 

 did a tourist climb an English diligence with such an unmis- 

 takable air of importance as these little tots climb up into 

 these goat carriages. And then how pompously they grasp 

 the lines, as if they held the reins of government. How the 

 baby crows and chuckles as the goats rash away. How he 

 plies the whip till they tingle with it. And how over it all the 

 mother hangs, following the little wagoii far down the broad 

 walks and the deer look up and sniff through the iron fence as 

 the tiny train speeds by. Let the goats alone for the sake of 

 the mothers and the babies, for like the merry swing of the 

 carousal, round which the happy children galop on their 

 dappled horses, they are the marks, and soon will be the 

 pleasant memories of days when childhood knew no care, and 

 sorrow and adventure were ghost stories told by some skilled 

 wonder-smith when the winter nights had grown heavy. 



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