PAEK SITES CHOSEN" 



129 



23roperty of the i^ew Jersey Agricultural Society, "better 

 known as the averly Fair Association. This property con- 

 sisted of a number of acres, a racetrack and the usual para- 

 phernalia of country fair grounds, and was the focal point 

 of the district. The association owning the property had 

 had financially a varied and varying career since its incor- 

 poration in 1858. In good seasons the receipts might result 

 in a dividend on the $90,000 of capital stock of perhaps five 

 per cent. With bad weather and poor attendance, an assess- 

 ment on the stockholders for the deficiency growing out of 

 the light receipts was not an uncommon occurrence. As a 

 result of these conditions, the price of the stock had for 

 years, up to 1895, oscillated between 30 and 60, or, in ex- 

 treme cases, 80. Transactions were few and far between, 

 and if a holder must sell he was usually at the mercy of 

 the buyer, somewhat after the order of the unsuspecting 

 merchant of old who once met that world-renowned indi- 

 vidual who demanded "the pound of flesh. 



There were 3,600 shares of the stock, of a par value of 

 $25 per share. It was "well distributed.'' Nine stock- 

 holders, however, with their combined holdings, controlled 

 the association. They held the majority of the stock. These 

 stockholders of record at that time were : P. Ballantine & 

 Sons, 60 shares; Franklin Murphy, 186 shares; E. A. Dodd, 

 70 shares; E. B. Gaddis, 122 shares; H. H. Isham, 721 

 shares; L. H, Jones, 230 shares; G. B. Jenkinson, 109 

 shares; Jacob Skinkle,' 125 shares, and E. A. Wilkinson, 

 139 shares. 



This was the situation when it was reported in the papers 

 that in all probability there would be a park at Weequahic. 

 As the indications and reports grew more favorable, the 

 price of the Waverly Fair Association stock increased pro- 

 portionately in value. What would have been considered a 

 good sale, at 60 or 65, at the time the reports were first 

 emitted, was no longer a fair price. The stock was soon re- 

 ported "worth par and none of the large stockholders would 

 sell for a penny less." The history of this enterprise was 

 not known in the Park Board rooms — certainly not to all 



