PARK AND CC/nCTCRY. 
123 
< PARK NOTES. > 
Mr. Joseph Hill of Pontiac, Mich., has made a gift of a 
fountain to the Newton Park, for the citizens of Sussex Co., N. J. 
Mr. Hill’s proposal was to erect a drinking fountain for men, 
horses and dogs, and his suggestions have been carefully follow- 
ed. The architect is Mr. John J. Merriam, of Summit. 
* * * 
Among the many towns in which new parks are under con- 
sideration may be mentioned, Newton, Kan.; Riverside, Calif.; 
Contoocook, N. H., by gift of Mrs. C. L. George; Eureka, S. D,, 
by gift of the Milwaukee Co., ot that place; Oil City, Pa., by 
gift of Mr. Hasson; Carleton, Mich.; Menlo, la.; Greenfield, Mass. 
* * Hi 
Not long ago London, in order to open a breathing spot in a 
densely crowed neighborhood, cleared a space of less than two 
acres at a cost of more than a million dollars. The realization 
of the necessity of this kind of philanthropy which ihe closing of 
the nineteenth century demands as right, was never better illus- 
trated. 
‘ * * * 
Mr. S. C. Evans, a public spirited citizen of Riverside, 
Calif., has offered to the trustees of that city a tract of land for 
park purposes at Fairmount Heights. The grounds appear to 
be admirably suited for a park, a running stream making a lake 
of easy acquisition. Mr. Evans will need no further monument 
than Evans Park. 
* * * 
The Sheridan Road Association, which has in its cai'e 
the construction of the beautiful driveway from Chicago, north- 
ward along the shore of Lake Michigan, the length of which 
may be indefinitely extended, has been presented with nine 
fountains by different donors, to be placed along the road between 
Chicago and Lake Forest, a distance of some thirty miles. 
. * * * 
'Lhe bids for the construction of the wing of the Brooklyn 
Institute of Arts and Sciences, the portion of the great building 
to be at present commenced, were opened on August 20. They 
ranged between $257,926 and $252,320, a remarkably close 
showing. The work is to be completed by January i, 1897 under 
penalty. The architects are Messrs. McKim, Mead & White, of 
New York. 
» * -Sf 
The Association organized to make arrangements for a mem- 
orial to Serjeant Charles Floyd, the intrepid member of the 
Lewis and Clark expeditions, who lost his life in an exhibition 
which opened up a large part of the north-west, besides a mon- 
ument, propose to secure a park in which to locate the monu- 
ment. The headquarters of the Association is Sioux City, la., 
and E. W. Skinner is acting secretary. 
Chicago, like most of our large cities, is lamentably defi- 
cient in small parks — breathing places for its less fortunate in- 
habitants. It is a good sign, however, that attention is being 
centred on the fact, and it may be expected therefrom, that such 
a condition will not exist many years longer. The trading spirit 
to which the city owes its commercial position, has held undis- 
puted sway during most of its existence, which is perhaps well 
expressed in the regret of a citizen, that so much valuable space 
was wasted in the strip of green sward on the western front of 
its government bttilding. 
•x- * * 
Few people realize that a great park system is, in a certain 
respect, similar to other great enterprises for public necessities — 
it requires constant labor night and day. The pay-roll for the 
South Park system of Chicago for the month of August contain- 
ed 923 names, but this number is greatly reduced for the winter 
work. To keep the grass in order a force of over too men are 
engaged all night long for watering in the dry spells, and this 
constant care accounts for the comparatively fresh appearance of 
the parks of our large cities at all times. A water famine is a 
hard experience for the park. 
» * •» 
Dubuque, Iowa, has a project well started to commemorate 
its founder Julien Dubuque. His grave is on a bluff outside the 
town, it is arranged to create a park of thirty acres near the spot 
on the site of a village of the Sacs and Foxes. In laying out 
the park it is intended, in making roads and footways, to follow 
the trails and paths trodden by the red aborigines as far as poss- 
ible. There is a grove of natural timber, and a winding w'ay up 
from the river through a valley to the top of the bluff. A 
beautiful spot can be created. The monument is to take the 
form of a castle on the Rhine. 
« •» * 
As might have been expected the freedom accorded the 
bicycle, in the midst of our busy city life, has resulted in the 
necessity of restrictive regulations. The bicycle in our parks and 
on our thoroughfares has become really more dangerous than 
ordinary traffic, from the noiseless manner of its movement, and 
many fatal accidents are being daily recorded. Linfortunately 
for their future freedom, bicyclists have labored under the mis- 
taken idea that they can carry the privileges of the pedestrian 
into the roadways, and make the walking public take all the 
responsibility for its own safety; when undoubtedly the fact 
must be that when using the road on rapid wheels the cyclists 
place themselves on the plane of other vehicles, and must yield 
to the pedestrian what the law accords him. 
* * «• 
The liberal policy displayed by Boston in the development 
of its park system has made it a study for other large cities. 
The system was authorized by popular vote in 1875 and con- 
struction was well begun in 1879. Mr. F. L. Olmsted was given 
a partically free hand to devise the best practice his long exper- 
ience dictated, which resulted in a scheme involving a series of 
distinctive, individual parks, each united to the other by a chain 
of drives and walks, making a continuous parkway many, many 
miles in length. The characteristics of the landscape in the 
vicinity of Boston are so varied as to largely give special features 
to each of its parks and the genius of the designer was devoted to 
emphasizing them in each particular instance. Boston now has 
some 14,000 acres of park lands under its control and some $12,- 
000,000 has been expended, with no diversions and no politics. 
* » X 
The new parks of the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., for which 
some $2,000,000 have been expended are receiving their names. 
In the order of their importance, some have been designated as 
follows; Brooklyn Forest, The Dyker Beach Park, Canarsie 
Beach Park, Bensonhurst Beach,' Lincoln Terrace, Cooper Park, 
Irving Square, Saratoga Square and New Lots Playground. The 
largest is Brooklyn Forest, comprising 535 acres of land, much 
of it covered with fine woods, costing about $1,100,000. The 
Dyker Beach Park, on the shore of Gravesend Bay, comprises 
140 acres, and cost $300,000. Canarsie Beach Park, will be 
about forty acres in extent; the cost of this property is $110,000. 
Bensonhurst Beach Park, wall consist of seven acres of upland, 
and possibly an addi ional 20 or 25 acres of submerged land; 
cost $90,000. Lincoln Terrace Park will be eight acres in ex- 
tent, obtained at a cost of $120,000. Cooper Park embraces 
eight acres and represents a cost of $55, 000. Irving square is 
six acres in extent and has cost $70,000. Saratoga Square, also 
six acres in extent, cost $120,000. New Lots Playground will be 
laid out in the Brownsville section. It is the smallest of the new 
parks, covering only three acres, and has cost $16,000. 
