130 



FIBST 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 E. 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 

 w^ere 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 13, 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 



