House and Garden 
PANORAMIC VIEW FROM EAGLE ROCK—LOOKING EAST 
the apex of the First and Second Mountains, and 
principally south of the Northfield road. Former 
Commissioner G. W. Bramhall had always advoca¬ 
ted this proposed reservation. 
Weequahic, or Waverly Park. The first that 
was heard of a Weequahic Park was the sugges¬ 
tion from Commissioner Murphy, soon after the 
organization of the Park Board in 1895, which 
was in effect that that was “one of the best loca¬ 
tions for a park in the county.” The first com¬ 
mission had already, as indicated, treated the pos¬ 
sibility of a park there, and without any prej¬ 
udice, with scant courtesy. If for no other 
reason, the mosquito pre-emption and unrestricted 
occupancy of the tract was thought a suffi¬ 
ciently serious matter to negative any favorable 
consideration of locating one of the county parks 
there. Moreover, the uncertainty as to the large 
cost and as to the future of the springs that fed 
the lake and water supply; the direct proximity 
to Elizabeth and Union County—neither of which 
would, under a county park' plan for Essex, contrib¬ 
ute to the large cost of acquiring or expenses of 
maintaining a park there—were all factors in the 
decision that, for many reasons, other park sites 
more within the county were deemed preferable. 
That Mr. Murphy entertained a decidedly different 
view, was apparent almost from the first meeting 
of the second commission. 
Fair Association’s Stock. One of the stum¬ 
bling blocks in the way of making progress in either 
direction toward any definite result was the prop¬ 
erty of the New Jersey Agricultural Society, better 
known as the Waverly Fair Association. This 
property consisted of a number of acres, a race¬ 
track and the usual paraphernalia 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 
incorporation in 1858. In good seasons the re¬ 
ceipts might result in a dividend on the ^90,000 of 
capital stock of perhaps five per cent. With bad 
weather and poor attendance, an assessment 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 extreme cases, 80. Transactions 
were few and far between, and if a holder must 
sell he was usually at the mercy of the buyer, some¬ 
what after the order of the unsuspecting merchant 
of old who once met that world-renowned individual 
who demanded “the pound of flesh.” 
There were 3,600 shares of the stock, of a par 
value of fc5 per share. It was “well distributed.” 
Nine stockholders, 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. 
A Serious Question. When the practical work 
of improving the Weequahic reservation was taken 
up by the Park Board, in 1899-1900, a serious ques¬ 
tion arose as to the treatment of the lake. In 1896 
the engineers of the department had advised that 
the raising of the lake for the purpose of improv¬ 
ing the appearance of the surface and retarding 
the growth of rushes, etc., from the bottom, was 
of doubtful utility. On May 14, 1900, Engineer 
M. R. Sherred, in a special report to the commission, 
recommended the raising of the lake level five feet 
by obstruction to be placed in the outlet. The land- 
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