beyond which it is assumed that the plan of the ❘ the natural, will not be disposed to repeat the streets will conform to the irregular surface of criticism. the ground. For many years this extreme upper portion of the island will constitute a suburb of the metropolis. All told, the Park has, up to January 1, 1866, cost the city a little more than nine and threequarter millions of dollars; five millions for the ground itself, and four and three-quarter millions for construction.* Never; even in a mere pecuniary point of view, was money more profitably expended. The interest paid on the bonds issued The Central Park is bounded on the south by Fifty-ninth Street; on the north by One Hundred and Tenth Street; on the east by Fifth Avenue; on the west by Eighth Avenue. Its lower end is 4 miles from the Battery; its up-to defray this cost amounts to $581,400; the per end 5 miles from Spuyten Duyvel Creek. It lies almost exactly midway between the East and North rivers, and thus occupies nearly the geographical centre of the island. Its form is a rectangle, the longer sides being nearly 2 miles (13,508 feet); the shorter sides something more than half a mile (2718 feet). It covers 862 acres, of which the New Croton Reservoir occupies 107 acres, the Old Reservoir 35 acres; ornamental waters take up 44 acres, the principal being the Lake 20 acres, Harlem Lake 13 acres, the Pond 5 acres: in all, 151 acres of waOf the 711 acres of land, 115 are occupied by roads and walks, 24 by rock, 524 are laid out in trees, shrubbery, and lawns. There are 25 miles of walks, 9 of carriage road, 5 of bridle road; or 40 miles of roads and paths. There are 43 bridges and archways of various forms and materials, wood, brick, stone, and iron. ter. With the exception of the exterior wall, now in progress, and the eighteen gateways-four at each end, and five on each side-the work of the construction of the Park is essentially completed. When this was begun, nine years ago, a more forbidding, and, except for its proximity to a great city, a more worthless piece of ground, could hardly be found than the greater part of that now covered by the lower half of the Park. What are now ornamental waters were filthy mud-holes and swamps; the remainder was mainly bare rock and tangled brushwood. The few inhabitable spots were squatted upon by ragpickers, bone-gatherers, and pig-breeders, whose extinct shanties still find their counterparts in many places hard by. By what laborious draining and blasting, digging down and filling up, this unsightly patch of ground has been transformed into the Ramble, the Mall, the lakes and lawns, the paths and drives, can be appreciated only by one who has from year to year watched the progress of the work. Nature had indeed done more for the upper half of the ground; but throughout the guiding principle has been kept in view, to preserve every beauty and remove every defect which Nature had left. With what skill and taste this has been done becomes more and more apparent from year to year, almost from week to week, as the growth of trees and shrubbery harmonizes the work of Art with that of Nature. Four years ago the design of the Park was criticised, and justly if one saw it only as it then was, as an artificial collection of bridges and bare winding roads. We who now see it in a good measure as it existed in the mind of the architects, and note how the purely artificial has assumed its appropriate place in maintenance of the Park cost last year $221,166: the entire annual expense of the Park is therefore $802,566; say, in round numbers, eight hundred thousand dollars. The assessed value of the property of the three wards which immediately surround the Park was, in 1856, $26,400,000; in 1865, $61,000,000: an increase of $34,600,000. The taxes paid to the city upon this increased valuation amount to $1,034,000. It is true that a part of this increased valuation would have occurred had the Park not been established; but, on the other hand, the Park has greatly increased the value of property not lying within these three wards. It is quite safe to say, that the city received last year one million of dollars in taxes which it would not have received had the Park not been established. That is, the city during the last year paid out eight hundred thousand dollars on account of the Park, and received from it, in the way of increased taxes, a full million. Thus, the direct income to the city, as a corporation, derived from the Park exceeded its expenditures on account of it by two hundred thousand dollars. We dare not attempt to estimate the present actual value of the Park as a property; the sum, that is, for which it might now be sold in open market. But it is safe to say that, should the city so choose, it could within a year sell enough land within the Park to pay every dollar of the debt incurred on account of it, and that this would hardly be missed. Thus: cut off 130 feet from the lower end, fronting upon Fiftyninth Street. This would make about 100 "lots" of 25 × 130 feet, each one of which would be worth to-day $40,000-four million dollars in all. Yet this piece of ground would be less thanth part of the Park. Of course no such sale should or will be made; but the actual value of the Park, or any part of it, is not diminished from the fact that it is worth more to keep than to sell. A series of tables in this Report furnishes some curious statistics as to the visitors to the Park. Four persons come in carriages for three who come on foot. There is one equestrian for every thirty-four pedestrians. The average numher of visitors for every day, fair and foul, is a little more than 20,000. The largest number was on the 4th of July, when there were 75,000 pedestrians; on that day there were probably not less than 120,000 visitors. The smallest number was the stormy 21st of November, when there were but 74 pedestrians; but about 100 * Precisely $9,763,895 98: of which $5,023,844 10 were for ground, $4,735,051 88 for construction. sleighs ventured out, so that there were about | -two-thirds of the whole-go in by the four 400 people in the Park. The largest number entrances on Fifty-ninth Street, at the lower of pedestrians in any one month was in January, end of the Park. By the Fifth Avenue entrance when there were 658,000. The greater part of 368,000 go in; as there is no railroad in this these were attracted by the skating, the ball avenue these may all be assumed to have come being up almost every day. In January, 1863, on foot from various distances. By the Sixth there were but two days skating, and only 51,000 Avenue entrance 761,000 go in; by the Sevpedestrians entered. The largest number of enth Avenue, 450,000; by the Eighth Avenue, visitors on foot, in carriages, and on horseback, 671,000. It may be safely assumed that twowas in August, when there were 950,000. Then thirds of these come to and go from the Park come July, 914,000; January, 891,000; Sep- by the railroads in these avenues. Moreover, tember, 890,000. The smallest number in any 237,000 enter at various points on the Eighth month was December, 282,000; in this month Avenue; most of these come up by that railroad. the carriage people outnumbered the foot folks And nearly 650,000 come in by the entrances on more than three to one. More than one-third Fifth Avenue; most of these have come up by of the pedestrians come on Sundays, the Sunday the Second and Third Avenue railroads. Putaverage being nearly four times that of any week-ting these probable railroad passengers together, day except Saturday. The Sunday attendance we think that not less than a million and a half of carriages and equestrians is considerably above of passengers are brought to and carried from the week-day average. The entire number of the Park by these railroads. Hardly 50,000 Sunday visitors of all classes is about twice the pedestrians enter the Park at its upper end, on week-day average. One Hundred and Tenth Street. No account is kept of visitors between 11 at night and 5 in the morning. Hardly a person enters between these hours. From 5 to 6, during nine months of the year, from October till June, only two pedestrians appeared; during the other three months 2000 pedestrians, 500 equestrians, and 5000 people in carriages came. From 6 to 7 the equestrians come out to the number of 10,000, almost as many as during any other hour of the day. They keep up this number till 9, when there is a sudden falling off of half or two-thirds, which lasts until 3, when they again begin to appear in force, reaching 13,000 between 4 and 5. The horsemen thus are men of business, mainly engaged from 9 till 3. The pedestrians, during the year, increase from hour to hour, thus: From 6 to 7, 10,000; 7 to 8, 22,000; 8 to 9, 41,000; 9 to 10, 79,000; 10 to 11, 113,000; 11 to 12, 140,000; 12 to 1, 165,000; 1 to 2, 267,000; 2 to 3, 479,000; 3 to 4, 586,000. Here it reaches its maximum, and begins to decrease thus: From 4 to 5, 501,000; 5 to 6, 290,000; 6 to 7, 135,000; 7 to 8, 107,000; 8 to 9, 60,000; 9 to 10, 16,000; 10 to 11, 3000. The largest number during a single hour in any month was 112,000, between 2 and 3, in January. The rush of vehicles comes on later. They increase thus: From 5 to 6, 2000; 6 to 7, 12,000; 7 to 8, 22,000; 8 to 9, 30,000; 9 to 10, 38,000. Up to this hour there have been more carriages than pedestrians in the Park; and thus three or four times as many persons have entered in vehicles than on foot. From 10 to 11, 43,000; 11 to 12, 38,000; 1 to 2, 56,000; 2 to 3, 120,000; 3 to 4, 212,000. The next two hours are the great driving time: From 4 to 5, 301,000; 5 to 6, 305,000. Then the carriages fall off rapidly: From 6 to 7, 171,000; 7 to 8, 90,000; 8 to 9, 25,000; 9 to 10, 7000; 10 to 11, 2000. The points at which visitors enter the Park present some curious considerations. Of the pedestrians two and a quarter millions The Fifth Avenue is the favorite approach to the Park for vehicles and equestrians. More than one-half of these (716,000 carriages and 56,000 equestrians) passed through the entrance on Fifty-ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. In all, not less than two and a half millions of visits were made through this one entrance. One notable fact deserves mention and explanation. The main upper entrance at present is at the Sixth Avenue, on One Hundred and Tenth Street. Through this only 2300 equestrians and 36,000 pedestrians passed, while there were 450,000 vehicles, conveying fully a million and a half of individuals. In this neighborhood, but beyond the limits of the Park, are several rather noted hostelries. It is quite common for those who ride through the Park to pass out here, stop for "refreshments" at these hostelries, and then re-enter the Park on their homeward way. Those also who rejoice in fast "teams," which they wish to drive at greater speed than the decorous rate to which they are necessarily restricted in the Park, take a "spin" on the smooth roads in the upper part of the island, and, returning, enter the Park by this gate. Probably 300,000 vehicles, conveying a million of persons, re-entered here, and so are counted twice in the record of visitors. A noteworthy fact in regard to the entrances here is that they are slightly affected by the season. In no one month were there less than 16,000, in only two were there less than 30,000, and in only two more than 50,000. We have thus far spoken of the value of the Park to the city of New York as a corporation. It brought last year into the treasury of the city a quarter more than it cost for interest upon capital invested and for current expenses. This profit will increase from year to year, for the annual expenditures have nearly reached their ultimate maximum, while the value of the surrounding property, and consequently of its taxation-that is, the revenue derived by the city therefrom-must go on increasing from year to year. Who will dare now to say what the tax- | trips to bring down the returning Park visitors. able value of the property immediately around The extraordinary value of the Eighth and Sixth the Park will be ten years hence? We believe Avenue lines, and, in a measure, of the Third, that the assessed value in 1866 exceeds that of is to be attributed directly to the Park. 1865 by several millions. But great as is this pecuniary advantage to the city and to individuals, it is the least of the benefits arising from the Park. Every thing is While the City of New York, as a corporate body, has gained thus greatly by the establishment of the Park, individual citizens have prof-useful just in proportion as it in some way adds ited still more largely. Let us suppose that of the increased valuation of $34,000,000 within ten years of the property immediately around the Park one-half has been owing to direct expenditures by the owners in the way of building and the like, and to the natural advance which would have happened independent of the Park, and there still remains $17,000,000 of increased value arising wholly from the establishment of the Park. This is not a mere hypothetical increase of value-as when a speculative stock which last year sold at 50 per cent. is now quoted at 100 per cent., the real worth, based upon the ratio of receipts to expenditures, being unchanged-but a substantial increase of value. The actual worth of a plot of land or a building is as truly increased by the Park being brought to it as the actual worth of a bushel of corn is increased by its being brought from the prairies of Illinois to a storehouse in New York. to human enjoyment. A good dinner, a convenient house, elegant furniture, fine clothing, ornaments, a swift horse, or a fast yacht, are useful in this respect, and no other. So pictures, statuary, and music are useful. In fact, the common distinction between the useful and the ornamental is really baseless. The Park is useful, because it adds to human enjoyment. But the amount of enjoyment derived from any thing is not unfrequently wholly incapable of being expressed in dollars and cents. If we could somehow find out just how much each of the eight million visitors to the Park would give rather than not have the Park open to them, we could approximate a little toward its value. Even this would be only an approximation, for not unfrequently people derive more benefit than they dream of from enjoyments for which there is no monetary measure. No man can say, for example, how much the health of the city is ow Its civilizing and humanizing influence is something wholly incalculable. The visitors belong to every class and grade of society, and yet every one seems there to be on his good behavior. For ourselves, in hundreds of visits, we have never seen a single instance of misconduct. There were, indeed, during the year 115 arrests; but of these 63-almost three-fifthswere simply for fast driving: the temptation of a fast horse and smooth roads was too great for the virtue of threescore and three persons, and, in consequence, 61 of them found themselves mulcted in a fine of ten dollars or less each. There were 45 cases of "disorderly conduct" and "other offenses." These could not have been very aggravated, for we find that just that num The business directly arising from the estab-ing to the Park. lishment of the Park spreads so widely in every direction as to be beyond the reach of direct analysis. Let us look at two branches, for which the Tables to which we have referred furnish materials for an approximate estimate. We may assume that of the nearly a million and a half of vehicles which entered the Park a million were hired. Three dollars for each trip would be a low estimate. Here, then, is a business of $3,000,000 created wholly by the Park, and which without it would have had no existence. Ultimately the profits of this great business are shared in small portions by many thousands of persons all over the country. They go first to the owners of the vehicles, through them to the drivers, the stable-men, the mechanics who build the carriages and construct the har-ber were discharged by the magistrate "with nesses, the breeders who raise the horses, and the farmers who produce the hay and grain upon which they are fed; and so on through every ramification of industrial life. Again, the four city railroads which approach the Park conveyed fully a million and a half of passengers each way, receiving by way of fares not less than $200,000, two-thirds of which sum must be considered as net profit; for it happens that the tide of travel to and from the Park sets in at just the hours when there is a lull in the ordinary business transit. Two-thirds of the visitors go up between the hours of 12 and 5, and come down between 4 and 7. Now the Companies would, in any case, be obliged to have their cars down town late in the afternoon to meet the current of up-town travel, they are obliged to run no extra cars, and make no extra This is merely the "assessed" value. The actual value is fully twice this amount, probably much more. reprimand or otherwise." One poor fellow was sent to the Alms-house; so that his offense, whatever it was, could not have amounted to a crime. Thus of the 115 arrests 107 were for offenses wholly venial. There remain eight cases. Six were for assault and battery; these offenders, and one other, were "temporarily committed." There was one thief, and he was "bound over for trial." So that out of eight million visitors, there were but eight-one in a million-charged with offenses of sufficient gravity to be fairly considered crimes. When a few other places show a like favorable record, we shall be prepared to believe that we have got far into the Millennium without knowing it. Not the least evidence of the civilizing influences of the Park is to be found in the fact that they have fairly mastered the national propensity to whittling. Every male American beyond the age of five is presumed to be the owner of a knife; and few of us but have felt | days, probably not twice in the same week, or the force of the impulse to try its edge upon any thing cutable. The juvenile George Washington yielded to the temptation to apply his hatchet to his father's favorite cherry-tree. Now, in all our walks through the Park, we have never scen a case where any one has whittled a seat, or carved his name upon a tree or railing; or even where an enthusiastic damsel has penciled the initials of her name and the date immortalized by her visit. Even the temptation to break a shrub or pluck a flower has been valorously resisted and finally overcome. In 1863 there were nine cases of such offenses; in 1864, one; in 1865, none. In managing the Park the Commissioners have kept steadily in view the one object of making it a pleasure-ground; admitting nothing which would interfere with this; prohibiting nothing which would conduce to it. Stretching for almost three miles between the two great bounding rivers, it was a necessity that provision should be made for transit across it of business traffic. This is attained by the construction of three "transverse roads," designed for traffic. These are so arranged that whenever it is necessary that a drive or walk should cross them, it is carried over by bridges. There can never be any choking up of the passage by one line of vehicles crossing another. The Commissioners have wisely resisted the importunities urged upon them to set apart a portion of the Park for a military parade-ground, and other portions for cricket and the "national game" of base-ball. A slight exception has been made by granting a ball ground for the students of the public schools and the "Free Academy." This, we think, should be rescinded. Space could by no possibility be given to all the ball-clubs who would like to play there; and as the claims of all are equal, we think that none should be allowed. go. The rules and regulations for visitors are of the briefest. Apart from the general one of orderly behavior, which holds every where, they may be summed up in ten words; "Do not pluck leaves or flowers," and "Keep off the grass." The latter regulation is modified on Saturdays, and a few holidays, by setting apart certain portions of the sward, designated by placards as "commons," upon which persons may Any one who has seen the glee with which men, women, and children, whose feet except upon such occasions touch only graveled roads or stone pavements, repose or play upon the soft velvet sward, will see how much the actual enjoyment of the Park is enhanced by this permission. So wholly free from abuse has been the exercise of this privilege that we suggest a further extension of it. Let a considerably larger space be set apart to be used from time to time as commons. Half the space now appropriated for Saturdays wauld be amply sufficient for any day; but let there be every day some part or parts thus made common, and designated as at present for that purpose. Of course the same parts would not be so used on two successive perhaps fortnight. Visitors would in a half hour find out any day where these places were, and the keepers could inform those who inquired whereabouts were the "commons" for the day. The proper officers of the Board would, of course, have the absolute control of this; and if at any time the state of the soil rendered it inexpedient, no "commons" would be designated for the time. This, we think, would never happen at times when any one would wish to go upon the sward. On special holidays, like the 4th of July, when an unusual influx of visitors would come, a larger space than usual, and at various points, might be thus opened. The certainty that upon any day there would be access to the green-sward would form a great attraction to the Park, especially for those to whom of all others it is for the well-being of the community that the place should be rendered attractive. Let the toil-worn artisan, his weary wife, and pining children, be assured that on any bright summer or autumn day they would find sward and shade open to them, and their welcome faces would be yet more frequent in the Park. We think that the number of seats scattered about the walks should be largely increased. Two thousand stools or camp-chairs, so light that visitors could themselves shift them into the shady side of the walk in summer, or the sunny side in spring or autumn, would not be too many. The Park will become more and more attractive year by year. The Commissioners have followed the wise counsel of the Laird of Dumbiedikes: "When ye hae naething else to do ye may aye be sticking in a tree; it'll be growing when ye are sleeping." Besides the tens of thousands of trees and shrubs transplanted within the limits of the grounds a beginning has been made toward placing a continuous double line of elms along the exterior walks; these, in the course of time, will form a shaded avenue thirty feet broad around the whole Park. Publicspirited citizens will be continually presenting works of art; not a few of these have already been presented. Every such acquisition, whether of tree or statue, fountain or vase, will be an inheritance for generations. By wisely applying the principles of hydraulics to the natural drainage, fountains and jets d'eau can be constructed at many points without making any demands upon the Croton Works. The present zoological collection and museum are merely intimations of what is to be. We trust that before many years shall have passed there will be institutions of this kind here established which shall rival the most famous in the capitals of Europe. The planning of the Park has been conducted with such admirable taste and skill that it is only after mature consideration we venture to condemn so important a feature as the proposed boundary wall. This, as may be seen from the small portion already constructed, is to be a solid wall of rough-hammered stone, surmounted that it is to be regretted that its management was not placed in the hands of the Commissioners as well as that of the Sixth and Seventh avenues above the Park. It is not now too late to do this. Let it be done, and we venture to say that the work involved in the trust would be DAS MEERMÄDCHEN. by a pent-house coping, about four feet high, Unless there be some special reason to the contrary, connected with the police and maintenance of the Park, there should, in our judgment, be no exterior wall or fence. Had it been possible to have given a varied outline, it would have been far better; but as we are shut up to the rectangular outline it should be made as graceful as may be. To our mind the double avenue of elms is the appropriate boundary of the Park. But if a stricter line is for any reason necessary, we would have a low iron fence of graceful design, and so open as to present the least possible obstruction to the view from within outward, or from without inward. OH spring is blithe and summer gay, But the seasons come and the seasons go, Since the day I rode by the cheating sea And her fair yellow hair floated far and free "Knight, gallant knight, a boon I pray : "Oh, ships for the sea but steeds for the shore, "Nay, gallant knight, no charm has the sea; The present condition of the streets and avenues around the Park is simply disgraceful. With the exception of the half mile on Fifty-For her speech was fair as her face was fair ; ninth Street, not one of those which immediately touch it, and few of those which approach it, are decently passable. For this the Board of Commissioners is nowise responsible. The control of these streets is in the hands of the Street Department. The ground over which pass the Eighth Avenue, and most of the streets leading to the Park from the west, is so broken and rocky that a long time must necessarily elapse before they can be properly regulated. But there is no possible excuse for the condition of the Fifth Avenue, where it bounds the Park. The grade is fixed, and it would require but little time or expense to place it in a passable condition. For years this avenue will not in any case be used as a means of transit for heavy vehicles. Were it now built up continuously, it would be used mainly as a drive. To fit it for this purpose it need not be paved, or even macadamized. A wellconstructed earth-road would answer all present requirements better than any other. This avenue is so intimately connected with the Park Had she asked my soul it was hers, I swear. And that is the last, though the stars are old, But this brings not back my charger gray, |