mi I ffllilL MILll &1I lA I D OF THE ooiiyciPiiiiED :Bl^r I^I^o:F- Xj. i^. h^^tji^t, o. e. I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, #i' w^ fi ■ UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. f^P* =s^/«^ .E.a;. ^' Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof." PUBLISHED BY CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, Nos. 624, 626 and 628 Market Street, Philadelphia, Exhibits distinctly the routes passed over by the various colored cars, in lines of a cor- responding color. It shows the position of all railroad and street car depots, hotels, places of amusement, parks, cemeteries and public buildings. ^ Secondary streets are omitted to avoid confusion, and the width of those remaining is increased, that the routes may be more readily followed. The scales are expressed in miles and metres. It is a compact pocket manual which for clearness and interest is not surpassed by «any popular map of its kind in existence. It makes an excellent reference map for offices, when mounted upon the spring balance roller. The reverse side contains a MAP OF THE CITY AS IT WAS ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, thus marking the progress of a century. It is accompanied by a tabular statement of all the important data concerning the horse car lines, and an explanation of the map in English, French and German. Size of Map 28 by 28 inches. Price, in pocket form, 75 cents; mounted on spring map roller, ,^4. j^^ Efficient canvassers wanted. Apply to the Publishers. THE CENTENNIAL CITY. SYCKELMOORE'S ILLUSTRATED CONTAINING ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS, A MAP OF THE CITY, AND ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PAGES OF DESCRIPTIVE MATTER. Price Fifty Cents; or, bound in fine cloth, one dollar. This work contains more descriptive matter, combining a greater amount of inte- resting detail than any work relating to Philadelphia heretofore published. RESIDENTS of our city should buy a copy for their own use, because it contains an account of many matters of interest not generally known. STRANGERS should have it, because there is no work in existence from which they can learn so much. MERCHANTS should send copies of it to their correspondents, to show them the great attractions of Philadelphia. All anticipating a visit to the CENTENNIAL should have a copy forwarded to them, to show them the capacity of our city for the Great World's Fair of 1876. :ptjbxjIs:e3:e3d b-y- GLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER. Nos. 624, 626 and 628 Market St., Philadelphia. W. SYCKELMOORE, PRINTER, 506 MINOR STREET. AND The International Exhibition AT PHILADELPHIA, By CHARLES S. KEYSER. )i^tl| Wilion. PHILADELPHIA: CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 624, 626 & 628 MARKET STREET. 1875. Contains a full description of the Grounds and the Exhibition Buildings, with Illus- trations. Price, in fancy paper cover, 75 cents, and in cloth ornate ^i.oo. Sent by- mail postage prepaid, on receipt of the price of the book, to any part of the United States. Efficient canvassers wanted. Apply to the publishers. S. W. CORNER FIFTEENTH AND CHESTNUT STREETS. From Pennsylvania R. R. Depot, and from Delaware River, take the iViarlcet Street Cars to Fifteenth Street, for the Colonnade. From Baltimore R. R. Depot, take Fifteenth Street Cars to the Hotel door of Colonnade. ^f«i Terms, S3. 50 per day. JESSE B. KIMES. CHAS. W. WALTERS. PHILADELPHIA No.1215 RACE STREET, MANUFACTURERS OF Marbleized Slate Mantels, Registers^ Grates, Pedestals, Hearths, Roofing Slate, Pier-Slabs, Cisterns, Refrigerators, Register Frames, Cemetery Stock, Black Boards, Curriers' Slabs, Color Slabs, Filters, Kitchen Sinks, Grave Boxes, Urinals, Head-Stones, Billiard Beds, Carving Tables, Wainscoting, Paving Slabs, Vault Covers, Slate Flour, Troughs, Pastry-Boards, Steps, Tiles, &e., &e. DEALERS IN Sunnyside, Baltimore, and all other Fireplace Heaters, The " Old" Franklin Fireplace, Sacks and Jambs for Wood Fires, AND AT MANUFACTURERS' PRICES. Estatilistied 1838. GRASS, Vegetable SEEDS. Plants, Bulbs ETC. SEEDS AND PLANTS FOR THE DECORATION OF THE GARDEN, LAWN, OR PARK. I^AWX GRASS SEED, GARWEX IMPI.EIHENTS, Etc. DBEJEB'S GAUDEN CAIjENDAR, \rith full descriptive lists, prices, &c., is published annually for free distribution, and mailed free to applicants. J. A. STAMBACH, me irurs, M ^ac 826 Arch Street, . BEDICHIMER, ■mm iii HanufEture; of m:^sonic ]VIa.rk:s, * |«s JWfif. f IIS ill iPiifw^ 1874, DEALEK IH Watches, Je^velry, ISTortli Second Street, IPHIL^IDELiFiariJ^. ORDERS BY MAIL TROMPTLY ATTENDED TO. SILK, ALPACA AND GINGHAM x % CD I O CD > o -r-l •I ciT .& •^ ^ ^ SUPERIOR TO ANY OTHER MAKE. MANUFACTURED AND FOR SALE BY I J a ce o m o3 o3 pi pi % % «? 245 Harkot Street, Fhiladelptiia, AND i93 SI SOO Broadway, He^? York Mansfield & Baird, I 1 Kr JL (Kt JK \ IsTo. 141S OHIESTnsrXJT STE.EET. We begrto call attention to our splendid stock of Fine, First-class Goods, such as S-^MTiffig B-IiM4I»S, WiTCHlS W khh €EiM& ^ >^>- ^ [&\ r/ ''^^ ?;<■■ A FULL LINE OF 'he "^est |}lated 1|}ares in ^very "I^ariety, AGENTS FOR THE Gorham Co.'s Sterling Silver aid Plated Wares. STRANGERS are cordially invited to visit our Store. AND aAsaapsiA. And Sundries for Gas and Steam Fitters, Plumbers, Maeliinists, Railing Makers, Oil Refiners, etc. ■VT" o E. k: S, nty-Third and Filbert Streets. OFFICE AND WAREHOUSE, Vv^issahiekon and Han^vell MANUFACTURERS OF ine ^ook and l^rinting ^aper, CHAS. MAGARGE & CO, Nos. 30, m & 34 S. Sixth Street, The Penn Mutual Office, 921 Cliestnut St, C5»'HE PENN is the only entirely Mutual Life Company chartered by the State of Pennsylvania. &8 All of its surplus premiums are returned to its members every year, thus furnishing them V / Insurance at the lowest possible cost. All of its Policies are Non-Forfeitable for their value after the third annual payment. Particular attention is called to the Life-Rate Non-forfeitable Endowment Policy, which, while giving protection to the family of the insured in case of his earlv death, also provides, at mode- rate rates of premium, a fund for future support should he reach old age. SAMUEL C. HUEY, President. - SAMUEL. L STOKES, Vice-Pres't. JAMES WEIR I\:AS0N, Actuary. H. S. STEPHENS, 2d Vice-Pres't HENRY AUSTIE, Secretary. I OIF i^h:ii_,^id:e]i_.:ph:i^. WEEKLY MAIL STEAMSHIP SERVICE BETWEEN 'HILADELPHIA AND "^IVERPOOL, CALLING AT QUEENSTOWN. Sailing ever) Ttiursdaj from Ptiiladelptiia, aod every Wednesda) from Liverpool, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, ^ABBOTSFORD, ^KENILWORTH. PRICES OF PASSAGE IN CURRENCY. First Cabin $75 to $100, A.ccording to A^cconimodations , Intermediate and Steerage tickets to and from all points at lowest current rates. Steamers marked with a star do not carry intermediate. Passenger accoinraodations for all classes unsurpassed. Ample attendance is provided. Every Steamer carries a surgeon and stewardess. These Steamers are supplied with Life-Rafts, in addition to the usual Life-Boats and Life-Preservers. Through Tickets and through Bills of Lading issued between all prominent points. For passage, rates of freight, and other information, apply to PETER WRIGHT & SONS, General Agents, 307 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. RICHARDSON, SPENCE & CO., Liverpool. N & J. CUMMINS & BROS., Queenstown. United States International Exhibition. Subscriptions to the Stock of the International Exhibition received by IN"o. 904 "Walniat Street^ Pliiladelpliia, Subscribers taking Five shares will pay only 40 per qr cent, of the amount in cash, balance in nine months. Each subscription of Ten Dollars will be receipted for by a Superb Line Engraving Certificate, executed in the United States Treasury Department. t Pae-Us of hmi Msirial MsU OBVERSE. REVERSE. ISSUED BY THE Centennial Board of Finance, k UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. i^ order that the cost of the Medals might be brought within reach of all, they are of three descrip- tious : In am $5 00 Tn silver 5 00 In Bronze fi OO The Illustrations approximate in size the first and third mentioned; the second is the size of the American Dollar. The design of the " Obverse," represents on all, the Genius of American Indepen- dence, rising from a recumbent position, grasping with her right hand the sword which is to enforce her demands, and raising her left, in appealing pride to the galaxy of thirteen stars, indicating the original Colonies. The " Reverse " displays the Genius of Liberty, with the sword buckled to her girdle, at rest. With either hand extends a welcome and a chaplet to the Arts and Sciences assembled, with evidences of their skill and craft, to do honor to the Centennial. FOR SALE BY AQENTS IN ALL THE STATES, And at ISTo. 904 Walnut Street. This is the most extensive Dry-goods Jobbing-house in Philadelphia. The structure occupies three fronts on Market Street, through to Filbert street, a distance of three hundred and six feet. It is five stories in height, and built of iron. The counting-rooms of the firm, on the first floor, are fitted up with every convenience for business. The annual sales of Messrs. Hood, Bonbright & Co. reach the enor- mous sum of seven mill- ion dollars. The busi- ness is divided into va- rious departments, each having its own head, its own buyer, and its own set of hands, and gov- erned by a code of regu- lations. It is very inter- esting to watch its work- ings in the height of the busy season, when the rooms are crowded with eager buyers and the army of salesmen are worked to their last ca- Hood, Bonbright & Co.'s Store, 8ii, 813 & 815 Market Street. pacity. This vast establishment may be taken as a moda of its kind, and deserves careful attention from the visitor. ^^■^ViW AND The International Exhibition AT PHILADELPHIA, By CHARLES S. KEYSER. PHILADELPHIA: CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 624, 626 & 628 MARKET STREET. 1875. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875 ^Y CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER. in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. AH rights reserved. Collins, Pkintkr. OFFICERS OF THE U. S. CENTENNIAL COMMISSION. President, HON. JOSEPH R. HAWLEY, of Connecticut. Vice-Presidents, ALFRED T. GOSHORN, of Ohio. JOHN D. CREIGH, of California. ORESTES CLEVELAND, of N. J. ROBERT LOWRY, of Iowa. ROBERT MALLORY, of Ky. Secretary, JOHN L. CAMPBELL, of Indiana. Director- General of the Exhibition, ALFRED T. GOSHORN, of Ohio. Assistant Secretary, COL. MYER ASCH, of Philadelphia. Solicitor- General, JOHN L. SHOEMAKER, Esq., of Philadelphia. Executive Committee, Daniel J, Morrell, Chairman ; John G. Stevens, Alfred T. Goshorn, , Alexander R, Boteler, Walter W. Wood, Richard C. McCormick, N. M. Beckwith, James G. Birney, E. A. Straw, George H. Corliss, James T. Earle, John Lynch. iii THE BOARD OF FINANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. President, JOHN WELSH, Philadelphia. Vice-Presidents, WILLIAM SELLERS, Philadelphia. JOHN S. BARBOUR, Virginia. Secretary and Treasurer, FREDERICK FRALEY, Philadelphia. Directors, Samuel M. Felton, Philadelphia. Daniel M. Fox, Philadelphia. Thomas Cochran, Philadelphia. Clement M. Biddle, Philadelphia. N. Parker Shortridge, Philadelphia. James M. Robb, Philadelphia. Edward T. Steel, Philadelphia. John Wanamaker, Philadelphia. John Price Wetherill, Philadelphia. Henry Winsor, Philadelphia. Henry Lewis, Philadelphia. iv Amos R. Little, Philadelphia. John Baird, Philadelphia. Thomas H. Dudley, New Jersey- A. S. Hewitt, New York. John Cummings, Massachusetts. John Gorham, Rhode Island. Charles W. Cooper, Pennsylvania. William Bigler, Pennsylvania. Robert M. Patton, Alabama. J. B. Drake, Illinois. George Bain, Missouri. ' THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE INTER- NATIONAL EXHIBITION. COL. S. C. LYLFORD, Chairman. Department of the Treasury, HON. R. W. TAYLOR. Department of War, COL. S. C. LYLFORD, U. S. A. Department of the Navy, ADD. T. A. JENKINS, U S. A. Depaj'tment of the Inte7'ior, JOHN EATON, Esq. Departfnent of the Postal Service, DR. c. F. Mcdonald. Department of Agriculture, WM. SAUNDERS. The SiniiliBOfiian Institute, PROF. S. F. BAIRD. THE COMMISSIONERS OF FAIRMOUNT PARK. MORTON Mc MICHAEL, President. JOHN WELSH, Vice-President. HENRY M. PHILLIPS, Treasurer. THEODORE CUYLER. ROBERT W. DOWNING. WILLIAM H. McFADDEN. A. WILSON HENSZEY. JAMES Mc MANES. • ELI K. PRICE. JONATHAN H. PUGH. GUSTAVUS REMAK. JOHN RICE. WILLIAM S. STOKLEY. THOMAS A. SCOTT. SAMUEL L. SMEDLEY. WILLIAM SELLERS, vi PREFACE. THE Republic of the United States having determined to commemorate the close of the first Century of its exis- tence by an International Exhibition, the City which was its birth-place was appropriately selected as the site of the Exhibition. But, for ulterior reasons also, the selection was wisely made. By a liberal provision for the health and enjoyment of her citizens, Philadelphia alone, among the cities of America, has reserved a tract of ground adequate for such a celebration and Exhibition. Vll viii PREFACE. If to this be added the further consideration, that the city was founded in deeds of peace, it appears necessarily and appropriately the place where our Nation's purposes of Peace should be given expression, by this assemblage of the people of the Nation, and the peoples and rulers of other nations. And, therefore, whatever proper desire there was to assemble this vast multitude around some other altar, dear to the memory of the people — when the delegates from the States and the Congress of the nation passed into the great natural amphitheatres of this pleasure - ground, a generous preference was given to Philadelphia as the place of the great Exhibition. The City has proved worthy of the selection ; recognizing this generous preference, in unity with the States and the Nation, she completes the preparation for the first assemblage in America of the nations of the earth in the interests of peace. FAIRMOUNT PARK. ^AIRMOUNT PARK, at Philadelphia, is the most extensive, and in natural advantages the most attractive, among the pleasure-grounds of Europe and America. (9) lo FAIRMOUNT PARK. It borders and includes the Schuylkill River for a distance of ovei seven miles, and the Wissahickon, a tributary stream, for a distance of over six miles. It begins at Fairmount, a point on the Schuylkill distant about one and a half mile from the Centre Square of the city, and termi- nates at Chestnut Hill, on the Wissahickon, a distance of nearly fourteen miles. Of the two principal sections of this Park, the one bordering the Schuylkill contains 2240 acres. The one bordering the Wissahickon con- tains 450 acres. The entire Park comprises nearly 3000 acres. ^ It will require for access to its several portions more than fifty miles of carriage road, and one hundred miles of road-way, paths, and connections. The Park contains a large number of native, many foreign trees, shrubs, and vines, and a great variety of indigenous flowers. A catalogue of trees in the Schuylkill section gives 34,000 ranging between eighteen and twenty -seven feet in circumference ; under eighteen feet, 70,000; and of hard-wood shrubs and vines, 200,000. The dense character of the woodland along the Wissahickon has pre- vented any absolute calculation ; it is estimated that there are over 200,000 trees in this section; it is heavily wooded for the distance of six miles. ^ Old John Holmes, who wandered over these grounds when their posses- sors were the aborigines, in 1689 quaintly and truly wrote : — "Here's store of timber trees of the best sort. Both for our use and also to transport, Cedar, birch, maple, and black walnut fine ; The ash, oak, hickory, and sweet-scented pine. With such abundance more both great and small, That scarcely any man can name them all." * Second Annual Report of Commissioners of Fairmount Park. 2 Eighty thousand imported Norway spruce seedlings are noticed in the 2d Annual Report in addition to these. FAIRMOUNT PARK. II Of herbaceous and cryptogamic plants, the catalogue gives 321 genera, and 655 species. Its principal river, the Schuylkill, has an average breadth of a quarter of a mile ; in some of its portions winding so as to present the appear- ance of broad lakes, at others showing a full silent flow for long dis- tances. The Wissahickon is one of, if not the most remarkable of all known waters, as a type of the purely romantic in scenery. The Park has, besides, twenty small streams, tributaries of these, with a medicinal spring and many others of pure cold water, ^ in some places found bub- bling through the greensward, in others trickling down the rocky hill- sides. It has every variety of scenery — cascades, green and wooded islands, meadows, uplands, lawns, rocky ravines, high hill summits, and open fields. The Park has also the remains of the primeval forests as they stood in the days of the aborigines, and old historic mansions which connect the present era with the days prior to the Revolution, and preserve the memory of the greatest statesmen, jurists, and heroes of America.^ The main carriage road from the Park entrances passes on the left hand a considerable elevation in terraces planted with lines of trees. This ele- ' One hundred and fifteen springs were located in the Park in 1870. — Third Annual Report. 2 In works of art very little has been done. There are at Fairmount five good speci- mens of wood-carving by Rush, a Philadelphia artist of the early part of this century ; and two colossal bronze groups, a colossal bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, executed by Randolph Rogers, Rome, and a small fountain of excellent design and finish, recent contributions of citizens of Philadelphia to the Commission. 12 FAIRMOUNT PARK. vation was originally a rocky summit, covered with the primeval forest, and called " Faire-Mount, " the name which it still bears and has given to the whole Park. n? r -*• t* \. I ■*•*'''*»- 3 ^Y r \ FAIRMOUNT. Fairmount has its first association with the Founder of our State. His eye contemplated this fair mount as his place of residence, and, though he did not execute the purpose, the selection assures us of a taste which here, certainly, has met the most universal approval ; and, among all the FAIRMOUNT PARK. men of those days, there is no one with whom our Fairmount could be more appropriately associated. The Founder was, with all beside for which we hold his name in veneration, a lover of nature ; for himself having most pleasure in the country life. He gave the hill beyond its first name, by causing a vineyard to be planted there. He designed Philadelphia to be and remain " a green country town j" and laid out its four open squares to be so forever ; he would have even kept the borders of the Delaware a grassy slope ; he called his State — Sylvania — and made the most blessed treaty the world ever saw (the only one that did not end nor begin a war), under the shadow of a tree. The principal attraction of Fairmount is the Water Works. THE FAIRMOUNT WATER WORKS.^ Philadelphia was first supplied with water from the Schuylkill in 1799; these works were commenced in 181 2, and were put in operation three years afterwards. They were originally run by steam-power. The Dam was commenced in 18 19. Water flowed over it for the first time in 1821, and in the fall of 1822 the first wheel started and the use of steam was discontinued. The building in which these steam-engines were erected is still standing, and since 1835 has been occupied as a saloon. Adjoining the saloon is ' During the occupancy of Philadelphia, Sept, 26, 1776, to June 18, 1778, the British had pickets in the Robert Morris Mansion. Their line of redoubts began in Kensington and extended by Bush Hill, terminating at Fairmount. The redoubts were visible on the Fairmount Hill until the completion of the last reservoir. 14 FAIRMOUNT PARK. the entrance to the first range of the water-wheel houses. A second range of wheel-houses, subsequently built at right angles with the first, extends towards the Dam. Very considerable changes have been made in the first range of houses since their erection, and all the old wheels are being replaced by turbines. The works when complete will have a pumping capacity of 34,191,619 gallons per twenty-four hours. The Dam was entirely rebuilt in 1842-3; its overflow is 11 48 feet 10 inches in length, and 12 feet 6 inches in height above low tide. The Hill at Fairmount contains four reservoirs supplied by these works, holding 26,996,636 gallons. The water-level is ninety-six leet above the city datum;' the stand-pipe is fifty feet high from its base, and thirty feet above the level of the reservoir when full. Analyses of this water, made in 1845 ^^^ 1S52, show a grade of purity higher than the supply of New York, and much higher than that of London. The monumental bust of Frederic Graff,^ the engineer by whom these works were designed, was erected here by the Councils of Philadelphia, June i, 1848. The fountain opposite the wheel-houses, Leda^ and the Swan, was brought from the Centre Square, where the first works were erected. The two colossal figures in the saloon. Justice and Wisdom, were carved for the occasion of Lafayette's reception in this city, in 1824, and were the supporters of the City Coat of Arms placed on a triumphal arch erected in front of the old State House, in Independence Square; when first done, they closely resembled marble. The east side of the reservoir gives a fine view of Girard College. 1 The datum is a grade based on a high-tide water-level of the Delaware. ' The father of the present Chief Engineer. 3 Modelled in 1 81 2 from a celebrated belle of that day, Miss Vanuxen. FAIRMOUNT PARK. j- The main carriage road, after passing Fairmount, descends into an open plaza ; in which are, a fountain, a pavilion which covers a mineral spring, the Park carriage stand, the barge houses of the Schuylkill Navy, the Steamboat Landing, and the Statue of Lincoln. THE LINCOLN STATUE. This statue was dedicated on the 2 2d September, 1871, in the pre- sence of a great concourse of citizens. It is of bronze, and repre- sents the President seated. The right hand holds a pen, the left the Emancipation Proclamation, The height of the statue is nine feet six inches. The pedestal is granite, with two four-sided plinths ; on the faces of the upper are crossed flags, the United States arms, the arms of the State, and crossed swords ; on the faces of the lower are these inscriptions : — To Abraham Lincoln, From a grateful people. Let us here highly resolve That the government of the people. By the people and for the people, Shall not perish from the eartH. I do order and declare That all persons held as slaves Within the States in rebellion Are and henceforth shall be Free! With malice towards none, With charity for all, With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, Let us finish the work we are in. i6 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE FOUNTAIN. This fountain occupies the site of an ancient fish-pond ; in this pond were many goldfish which found their way into the Schuylkill by canals dug through the plaza when the grounds were, some years ago, given over to speculative purposes. The fish now in the inclosure of the fountain are the lineal descendants of these, and were some years ago FAIRMOUNT PARK. 17 taken from the Schuylkill, where they have formed a very numerous colony. THE MINERAL SPRING. This spring has from a very remote period enjoyed a considerable reputation for the strengthening properties of its waters; they are chaly- beate. On summer mornings, visitors are found around this spring, sometimes in sufficient numbers to recall the scenes at the more popular waters of Saratoga and the Badens. THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER. An ancient fisherman of the State in Schuylkill, thus describes to the writer this river as it was until the building of the Fairmount Dam and the removing of their old fishing house from the Park limits in 1822. On the east bank, from Fairmount to the Falls, there were bold rocks — two remarkable ones at the Hills, and one at the Columbia Bridge. On the west bank,* above the Fishing House, there was also a large rock; but, for the most part, the shore on that side was shelving to the river. There were more islands than now, among them was one above the Fishing House, thickly wooded, a favorite resort for the people ; a narrow channel ran between it and the shore, and the trees on the island and along the shore interlaced their branches. The island known as Peters, at the Columbia Bridge, was larger. The feature which characterized most noticeably both the shores and the island was • Nothing can equal the beauties of the coup-d'ceil which the banks of the Schuylkill present in descending towards the south from the Falls to Philadelphia. — Chastellux (1780). 2* 1 8 FAIRMOUNT PARK. a great profusion of wild flowers, coloring them with their various hues. On the bluffs of the east bank, and along the ridges of the west, the land- scape-gardeners on the country-seats had changed the natural character- istics of the grounds to the formal style of the times, but between these and the river all was untouched. The river was then subject to the rise and fall of the tide ; this made at places, where its bed was irregular and rocky, falls or descents j there at the going out of the tide it ran or fell with some violence and shock, giving rise to one of its Indian names, **The Noisy Water;" this ceased with the building of the Dam, and it then assumed its present broad, even, silent flow; this, and the submerging of some of the islands by the back-water, and a decrease in the size of those which remain, are the most marked features of the change from that early time. Portions of the bluffs, also, are concealed by the bridges which now span the river. Other portions of them have been used by quarrymen, but many of those old landmarks — bluffs, islands, and shelving shores — are still clearly traceable ; and the placid beauty of its now broader and quiet waters is even more attractive than its rapid flow before the erection of the Dam. The grounds of the old country-seats have lost much by neglect, yet they have also gained by the removal of the narrower, separate designs and road-ways of the individual owner, and their absorption into broad general effects and avenues for the people. The flowers are also reveal- ing themselves again along the shores, while the grounds around the old mansions, so dear to our remembrance, have been preserved and are being restored, so that this beautiful river, then so attractive, is returned again with a heightened effect to the condition of its earlier era. As one of its names^ evidences that it was to the aborigines, so it is to us also, ^ Called by the aborigines "Ganshewehanna," the noisy stream; and " Manayunk," our place of drinking. The present is a Holland name, originating with the first settlers. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 19 "our place of drinking," and it is to the popular determination to retain it for this purpose we owe mainly the preservation of its shores as a great public pleasure-ground. And surely never before in the world had a people in any city, even in the remote East or classic lands, such ''flower-crowned bowl" from which to drink, as is this river; nor ever before beautified a common necessity of life with so perfect a measure of all its romance and poetry. THE SCHUYLKILL NAVY. *'The healthful and manly exercise of rowing." Boating on the Schuylkill begins with the light canoe of the Indian. From this rude though graceful origin, and following close upon it, came the boats which composed the squadron of ''the Colony in Schuylkill," and the bateaux of Fort St. David's. This squadron, called also "the Schuylkill Navy," was composed of the "Shirk" and the "Fly;" their 20 FAIRMOUNT PARK. successors, under an act passed in 1762, for the augmentation of ''the Navy in Schuylkill," were the ''Manayunk" and ''Washington," re- spectively fifteen and seventeen feet long, they were built of mulberry timber, with ash oars; these remained until 1822 within the Park limits. The barge of the Founder, also, sometimes appeared on these waters; it was one of much stateliness — had a regular crew and officers — pulled six oars, and bore the broad pennant with the Proprietary's arms. The Founder had enough of the great Admiral's blood in his veins to delight in boats, for this barge he always manifested much solicitude, and in a letter to James Logan, whose words go straight to the true waterman's heart, he says: "But above all dead things, my barge; I hope nobody uses it on any account, and that she is kept in a dry dock, or, at least, covered from the weather." After these came the pioneer clubs, which preceded the present organization; the first of which, the "Blue Devil," was organized 1833. ^^^ ^^^^ barge, the "Blue Devil" participated in the earliest regatta of which we have record (Nov. 12, ' 1835). ^^ t^^s regatta, the Ariel, Nymph, Dolphin, and another were entered, four-oared barges ; and the Cleopatra, Falcon, Sylph, Blue Devil, Metamora, Aurora, and Imp, eight-oared barges. The organiza- tion of the present Schuylkill Navy was effected in 1858, and the first re- gatta took place in 1859. It then numbered eleven clubs, the Bachelors, University, Keystone, Camilla, Independent, Undine, Neptune, Che- bucto, Quaker City, Nautilus, and Excelsior; and twenty boats, the Linda, Iris, Gazelle, Ariel, Lucifer, Arab, Spree, Atlanta, Gipsey, Naiad, Whisper, Undine, Fawn, Irene, Menanka, Cygnet, Spider, Nautilus, Intrepid, and Falcon. It is now, both in its appointments and organiza- tion, the most complete association devoted to rowing in the world. It numbers ten clubs and sixty-seven boats. It has four hundred and seventy-one members; and its boats and houses are valued at ^100,000. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 21 In addition to the regattas, and usual daily exercise, the clubs of this Navy sometimes make long excursions. One of these was made in 1861, by the Malta Club, on the Susquehanna to Havre de Grace ; another, to Easton, by the Pickwick Club, to which the Crescent is the successor. In May, 1859, the Bachelors Barge Club made an excursion on the Delaware River and Delaware and Raritan Canal to New York. And a double scull outrigger, the Fawn, of the Undine Club, made the same excursion, September 10, 1867; distance 105 miles, rowing time eighteen hours. An entire revolution is going on in the class of boats used by the Navy, which will have a very important bearing on the future of this organiza- tion and boating generally. The shell is superseding the others. This means necessarily an advance in the science itself, and, with the river best adapted in this country on account of its almost uniform quiet at all sea- sons, its width, length, and freedom from traffic, may ultimately render this organization the universal centre for test trials of skill and endurance. These trials in England, and to a great extent in this country, concentrate an interest which may be called national. 22 FAIRMOUNT PAR THE PHILADELPHIA SKATING CLUB. Incorporated 1861. Its objects are improvement in the art of skating, ana securing efficiency in the use of, and proper apparatus to rescue per- FAIRMOUNT PARK. 23 sons breaking through the ice. The active members in 1864 were 260, honorary 10; .they now number 350. The house occupied by the Club is forty feet front by sixty feet in depth, two stories high, built of fine gray stone, and pointed. The building is of Italian architecture, and ornamented with a handsome cupola and flagstaff fifty-five feet high. The roof is covered with slat- work, and encircled with a secure and handsome railing, and has a cupola. The first story, forty by sixty feet, is appropriated entirely for the life- saving apparatus and barge boats. The second story is divided as fol- lows: A Ladies' or Reception Room, fronting on the water, with a Retiring Room, the Members' Room, Executive Committees' Room, and the Board of Surgeons' Room. This room is furnished with all kinds of the most approved apparatus for rescuing and restoring suspended respiration to persons drowning, consisting of — i. Badges; 2. Cord and reels; 3. Ladders; 4. Hooks; 5. Axes; 6. Life-floats; 7. Station flags; 8. Caution flags; 9. Life-lines; 10. Air-hole guards; 11. Boats; 12. Blankets, grapnels, and drags. The boats are made of cedar, small and light, about one hundred pounds in weight, and sixteen feet long^ (see plate). The records of the Society show that two hundred and sixty-one lives have been saved through its instrumentality. Among its members is Col. James Page, who still, as he was half a century ago, is our most graceful skater, and linked with all the boyish memories of the passing generation. » All these are placed at the disposal of the Commission by the Society. 24 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Leaving the Plaza, the road ascends^ the second of these hills, the site of Robert Morris's home, known of late years as Lemon Hill.^ ^^ ^^ '>i;,^mf^^^ Near the mansion which stands there, ^ and of which this is a drawing, the road passes on the left hand two Tulip Poplars and Pines, which ' It passes on the right hand four deciduous (swamp) cypress-trees, the remains of a large group. 2 Called formerly "Old Vineyard Hill." The Founder sent a skilful gardener from France and introduced the culture of foreign grapes here, but with no great success. His contributions to the attractions of nature should also be mentioned: he sent from England walnuts, hawthorns, hazels, and fruit-trees; a great variety of rare seeds and roots from Maryland, also some panniers of trees and shrubs ; and directed by his letters that "the most ? beautiful wild flowers of t^e woods" should be transplanted to his grounds. 3 The late Mr. Pratt, a merchant of this city, was building here in the summer of 1 796, probably erecting this mansion. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 25 Stood there during the Revolution; and are noble representatives of the primeval forest. The general character of the grounds remains un- changed. The forms of the superb terraces are still visible, although the rare flowers, vases, and statues once there are gone. There is a good view of Fairmount, the river, and the city from the hall-door of this man- sion. In the old house, ^ which stood here, Robert Morris resided from 1770 to 1798, twenty-eight years — a period embracing the Revolution and the Presidency of Washington. He had a fine mansion in the city, but his house on these grounds was his home; winter and summer his hours of rest and enjoyment were passed here. In 1776 (Dec. 29) he wrote to Baltimore, where Congress, having fled from the city, was sitting: "I have always been satisfied with Philadelphia and the Hills. At the same time I have been constantly prepared ; my things packed up, horses and carriages ready at any moment ; I dine at the Hills to-day, and have done so every Sunday. Thus, you see, I continue my old practice of mixing business with pleasure; I ever found them useful to each other." ^ The cut is a fac-simile of Robert Morris's home, from a painting by the late Samuel Breck. 26 FAIRMOUNT PARK. And when the evil days came, in which he had no pleasure, still he clung to this place. From *'the Hills" he wrote (Feb. 8, 1798): "It is the only place of calmness and quiet my foot was in all day yesterday." ROBERT MORRIS. Robert Morris was the representative of the capitalists of the Colonies, the most honorable, and the most unfortunate. As such, he has left, of his public life, three records, intelligible to his own and to after genera- tions. His first record is a letter, a short extract from which follows; it was written on these grounds. From the Hills on Schuylkill: — **July 20th, 1776. . . . *'It is the duty of every individual to act his part in whatever station his country may call him to, in a time of difficulty, danger, or dis- tress." His second record is his signature to the great Declaration, and the pledge of his financial abilities and his private fortune to the cause of the Colonies. His third record is the ledger of his counting-house and the folios of the Government, of which he was the Treasurer from the year 1781 to the close of the Revolution. These show that he held the army together, from hour to hour, through the Revolution, by the credit of his individual name.^ Among the items of the accounts of this faithful steward are some which illustrate the whole. 1779 and 1780 were the most distressing 1 "The individual notes of Robert Morris circulated as cash through the Colonies," — Chastellux (1780), FAIRMOUNT PARK. 27 years of the war. On a pressing occasion, during this period, Washing- ton communicated to Judge Peters the condition of the public stores : his army was without cartridges, those in the men's boxes were wet ; if attacked, retreat or destruction was inevitable. In this emergency the Board of War, of which Judge Peters was Secretary, was powerless ; all the lead accessible was exhausted, even to the lead spouts of the houses, and the Board was then offering for it, without obtaining any, the equiva- lent in paper of two shillings in specie a pound. Judge Peters showed Washington's letter to Mr. Morris, who was with others at a reception at Don Juan Mirailles's, the Spanish Minister. By a fortunate concurrence, a privateer had that day arrived at the wharf at Philadelphia, one-half consigned to Mr. Morris. He said to Judge Peters, one-half the cargo of the Holka is consigned to me; she is at the wharf, take the one-half of the fortunate supply — it is ninety tons of lead; the owners of the other half are standing there; get theirs also. But, said Judge Peters, they will make no further advances to the govern- ment. Then, said Mr. Morris, I take myself their portion and deliver it to you. The arrangement was at once made. That night one hundred hands were employed. Before morning a supply of cartridges was on its way to the army. Again, December, 1776, from his broken army on the Delaware, Washington wrote that without specie an offensive movement could not be made. This letter was sent by a confidential messenger to Mr. Morris; but it seemed impossible, in the general confusion and flight of the citi- zens, to raise the sum required. Among his acquaintances, however, was a cautious but straightforward capitalist. To this man he made his wishes known. What is the security for this sum? said the capitalist. My note and my honor, was the answer of Morris. On that security I will loan 28 FAIRMOUNT PARK. the money, was his answer. With this money Washington was enabled safely to cross the Delaware and secure the decisive result at Trenton. At the most critical period of our nation's early history, 1781, Judge Peters, Robert Morris, and Washington were together at the Head- quarters of the Army, on the North River. Washington received on that occasion a letter from the Count De Grasse, announcing his determination to remain in the West Indies with the French fleet. Washington read the letter, which destroyed at one blow his plan of operations on the city of New York, and resolved at once on the expedition to Virginia. Turn- ing to Judge Peters, he said. What can you do for me? With money, everything; without it, nothing — was the brief reply, as he turned with an anxious look to Morris. Let me know the sum you desire, said the Patriot Financier. Washington's estimates were made that night. Morris placed, within the required time, the amount of the estimates in Judge Peters' s hands — the army moved. The result was the surrender of Lord Corn- wallis, at Yorktown — the successful close of the war for the Independence of the Colonies. Judge Peters gives the requirements of Washington, for this brilliant and final effort, as follows : *' Seventy to eighty pieces of battering cannon, and one hundred of field artillery, were completely fitted and sent on for service in three or four weeks, progressively; and the whole together, with the expense of provisions for, and pay of, the army was accom- plished on Mr. Morris's credit, which he pledged in his notes, which were all paid, to the amount of one million four hundred thousand dollars. Assistance was, 'tis true, afforded by Virginia and other States, from the merit whereof I do not mean to detract. We had no money in the War Ofiice chest; the Treasury was empty; and the expedition would never have been operative, had not most fortunately Mr. Morris's credit and FAIRMOUNT PARK. 29 superior exertions and management supplied the indispensable sine qua These are items in the account of this faithful steward. And when it is considered that bills of credit finally would buy nothing; that cattle died on the road to the army for want of public money to buy provender; that the Colonies themselves ceased to comply with the requisitions upon them; that clothes for the soldiers were sold to pay the more suffering needlewomen who made them — we may estimate how constant were those drains upon his private fortune, and how large was their aggregate. From the spirit and the word of that letter from *'the Hills," Robert Morris, from the first to the last, never swerved. The signature which he appended to the Declaration was repeated again and again to notes which were met as they matured, and which amounted to millions; but this ex- penditure of his private fortune, princely as it was, was not the measure of his service. The folios of the Government show a reduction of ex- penses, while its finances were in his hands, from eighteen to four millions annually, and this still was not the full measure of his service. These pledges of the individual wealth of a man, who was himself the national coffer, inspired zs> well as sustained the country; this completes the mea- sure of his services, for this he was called in his day the right arm of the Revolution. In that old mansion, which Morris so loved, and which was at last his refuge, have been assembled as his guests the most honored men in this land. Franklin, John Adams, Hancock ; many of the signers of the Declaration, members of the Continental Congress, and officers of the » Judge Peters to Alexander Garden, Esq., Belmont, Dec. 20, 1821, MS. John Adams was for some time his near neighbor. His house was at Bush Hill. 30 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Army and navy. On these grounds he received from all the States, and from patriotic hearts in other lands, tributes to his financial power and financial honor j resolutions and gifts which he preserved through all his after misfortunes. Here he originated those enterprises, evidences of which yet remain on this river, and which, far in advance of his age, extending over all the States and embracing the prominent industries of his time, culminated in his utter ruin. Here also took place that last sad scene in his life — the great financier bowed down with age, helpless to preserve his own fortunes, following an officer down these terraced grounds, to be consigned,, by laws now for the honor of human nature obsolete, to a common jail. And here remains forever the regretful remembrance, that the owner of land in all the States; of a palace, whose marble walls rose in mockery of his fate before the black stones of his prison; and of these fair grounds — a man whose money, as much as their strong arms, trans- ferred to the people the title and the lands of this great commonwealth, and the broader area of the nation, met such a fate. The palace mocks no more — the prison blights no more the earth where it stood — what was mortal of Morris moulders in the grave — but the results of his life remain for human happiness ; and these grounds, sad- dened while ennobled by their association with his name, remain his fit- ting monument. The air that blows about them is the common property of the poorest as of the wealthiest. Their verdure grows for the little child, ignorant of the meaning of property, and for the old man who has seen it swept away from him forever. The water that flows along them is the common heritage of all. Within them every man stands in every right the equal of his fellow-man. FAIRMOUNT PARK. ^j The main carriage road passes next over the third of these hills, formerly known as SEDGELEY PARK. This portion of the grounds, a tract of thirty-four acres, was purchased by contributions from citizens of Philadelphia, and presented to the city, in 1857, for a public park and to preserve the purity of the Schuylkill water. The acceptance of this gift by the city was followed by its im- mediate dedication to the people for their use and enjoyment. A tasteful little structure stands here, formerly a porter's lodge, for a mansion which stood here overlooking the river ; the view from this portion of the grounds gives the bridges — the nearer the Girard Avenue, and the farther the Railroad Bridge — the Solitude on the opposite shore with its fine grove, and the site of the old fishing-house of the State in Schuylkill. Here are found some trees worthy of notice — the most remarkable one the road passes on the right hand. The hill breaks off in bluffs along the margin of the river, and forms a ravine through which adittle rivulet runs ; and along whose border violets, spring beauties, quaker ladies, and the May apple, the first spring offerings, are found. This hill is about eighty feet above the river — it has been selected as the site for a monument to Humboldt. The most notable object in Sedgeley is an earthwork, yet traceable, constructed during the late war as part of the system of defences for Philadelphia ; it is on its highest elevation near the bridge. There is also on these grounds another relic of those days — 22 FAIRMOUNT PARK. GRANT'S COTTAGE. The small frame house which stands on these grounds was brought here, at the close of the late war, from City Point. It was there occupied by General Grant as his headquarters. The main carriage road gives a broad view of the river as it gradually descends the hill to the Girard Avenue Bridge. THE SCHUYLKILL WATER WORKS. These Works, brick buildings in the Egyptian order, stand in a ravine just beyond this bridge; they are operated by steam. Their pumping capacity is 22,947,000 gallons per diem. The storage room in the reser- voir, attached to the Works, is 9,800,000 gallons. The Connecting Rail- way Bridge crosses here. The road unites railroad lines for all sections of the nation. Near its east abutment is THE TUNNEL. The hill, which forms the farther side of the ravine in which these works are situated, terminates in a huge rock, which rises abruptly from the water's edge to the height of sixty feet; this rock. Promontory Point, is tunnelled through for a road along the river. The tunnel is one hundred and forty feet long, forty-one feet wide, and twenty-two feet nine inches high, and is throughout solid natural rock, without any lining whatever; it is elliptical in section, with straight sides and an arched roof. It was begun October, 1870, and will be finished June, 1871. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 3^ The old Fairmount Park here terminates and the new acquisitions begin. All this ground from Fairmount, Robert Morris's old estate, was secured mainly to preserve the water in the Fairmount Dam from contamination, and the several parcels into which it had become divided have, from time to time, been the subject of prolonged struggles, in which, however, the result was gained, at whatever cost, the last holders of the old proprietary titles yielding them to the people. In this civil revolution of titles and opinions the Cope family bore a most honorable part, both in individual expenditure and wise direction of the municipal affairs. The Commissioners appropriately acknowledge, in their First Annual Report, these till then unnoted services. Before reaching the Works, the road turns to the left, and crosses Girard Avenue Bridge to the west side of the river; it then turns to the right, and passes under the Railway Bridge and along the Lansdowne drive. A road, at the same point, turns to the left at a large tree close to the bridge; below this tree, and in former days, stood the most ancient court-house of the State in Schuylkill— a company of fishermen. Its site is marked by the remains of a group of trees which shadowed it, and by a spring whose waters these fishermen drank, and which flows up cold and limpid to-day as it did when they drank its cup of cool refresh- ment a century ago. 34 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE STATE IN SCHUYLKILL. " Atte the leest he hath his holsom walke and mery at his ease a swete ayre of the swete savoure of the meedt; floures that makyth him hungry, and if the angler take fysshe surely there is noo man merier than he is in his spyryte."' A tract^ beginning at Solitude, and extending to the Sweet Brier Man- sion, was formerly called ''Egglesfield." Its first owner, a contemporary with the aborigines, was one William Warner,^ an amiable and worthy man, and a member of the durable order of plain colors and rectitude. Nearly a century and a half ago (the year 1732), certain gentlemen, fol- 1 Book of St. Albans. 2 The estate was of late years the property of the Borie family, of Philadelphia. 3 William Warner died Sept. 12, 1794. FAIRMOUNT PARK. -^ lowers of ''Walton," leased^one acre of this tract; this they inclosed with a worm-fence. For the ground, they formally delivered on a large pewter plate to William Warner, as a yearly rental, every spring, ''three sun perch fish," and they elevated him to the dignity of a Baron, so that he might be the more worthy to receive the service of this feudality. After securing the title to the one acre of ground, it is said they got together some of the same Indian chiefs who signed "the Treaty" with the Founder, and as they had no Elm trees, they sat them down under their Black Walnut trees. They smoked many calumets of peace with them, and entered into a similar solemn treaty for the privilege of hunting and fishing at all times forever along these shores. The consideration for the privilege they ladled out to these swarthy granters from a large bowl, and if the courses of their signatures along the parchment were devious ones, it would assure, what we might credit without the assurance, that no advantage was taken of them in the consideration. The preliminaries thus arranged, these fishermen, with their sturdy arms, hewed down trees enough and erected themselves a hut. Then they constituted themselves, by letters patent, a colony, by name "The Colony in Schuylkill." For the Colony they elected a Governor, to order its general affairs ; a Sheriff, to serve writs of execution on the feathered denizens of the forest and the restive tres- passers of the stream; a Coroner, to view their inanimate forms after exe- cution and pronounce them dead and edible. Having done all this, they then sat down to fish; and what is an incredible thing to all but fisher- men, they continued to sit there ninety years; at the end of this time, one morning their spirits became sorrowful, their corks rested on the water motionless. Looking around them, they perceived that civilization had been advancing steadily towards them, while they had been uncon- 36 FAIRMOUNT PARK. sciously sitting there, and that ''an anathema"^ fatal to fishermen had been levelled against them at Fairmoimt ; a barrier through which their faithful fish could reach their hooks no longer. Then they got up, and, carrying their house with them, followed the course of the finny tribe further down the stream, and beyond the Park limits, where they and the house still remain, but where the limits of this book forbid us to follow them. When these patient fishermen sat down to fish, one hundred and forty years ago, from the old Independence Hall to the borders of this Park was one unbroken wilderness. The canoe of the Indian was still there, and the deer drank at the borders of this stream; now, a city,*^ with nearly a million of people, covers this whole area; the silver shad come to them no more, the rock more and more rarely, and the memory of the one trout fish they caught in this stream, a century ago, grows dimmer every hour, but they still sit quietly beside its borders, and they say to us, in their master's words, ''No life is so happy and so pleasant as the life of a well-governed angler, for when the lawyer is swallowed up in business, and the statesman is preventing or contriving plots, then he possesses himself in quietness;" and it is truly said of angling, what Dr. Boteler said of strawberries, "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did." And so, if we maybe judges, God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling, nor, it may be well added, worthier types of the good virtues of the angler than themselves. May they long continue to enjoy the savory shad upon the smoking board, the crisp, white catfish, and the steaming rock, "dishes of meat too good for any but anglers, or very honest men." * The Fairmount Dam. ^ In 1745 there were but 2049 houses in Philadelphia; in 1871, 122,751, FAIRMOUNT PARK. 37 THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN. The entire tract, embracing "The Solitude," the grounds of the old Fishing-House, and an estate formerly known as Spring Hill, was trans- ferred by a lease from the Park Commissioners to the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. It covers thirty-three acres ; its boundaries are the River Road and the Pennsylvania Railroad, Thirty-fifth Street and Girard Avenue. The Garden has every variety of surface ; it has a piece of old woodland — the Solitude Grove, large water supply, and the 38 FAIRMOUNT PARK. most complete drainage. The Solitude Villa — the former residence of John Penn, has been restored and preserves an interesting association of the grounds. The improvements are of a very ornate, as well as durable, character. The collection of Birds and Animals is already large, and constantly increasing by the private agencies of the Society, donations, and contributions from officers and others in the army and naval service, made by permission of the Government of the United States. The Society was incorporated March, 21, 1859. The Garden was first opened July i, 1874. It is open for visitors every day during the entire year. A moderate charge for admission is made. OFFICERS. President. WILLIAM CAMAC, M. D. Vi ce~jP residents. J. GILLINGHAM FELL. " GEORGE W. CHILDS. Corresponding Secretary. JOHN L. LECONTE, M. D, Recording Secretary. JOHN SAMUEL. Treasurer. FRANK H. CLARK. Actuary, CHARLES L. JEFFERSON. Managers. William S. Vaux, S. Fisher Corlies, Frederick Graff, Theodore L. Harrison, William Hacker, Henry C. Gibson, J. Vaughan Merrick, Isaac J. Wistar, John Wagner, Edward Biddle, William H. Merrick, Charles W. Trotter. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 39 THE EXHIBITION GROUNDS. The visitor leaving the Garden may either continue on Girard Avenue to Ehn Avenue, or under the Railroad Bridge.^ By the latter he passes over Eaglesfield, a knoll of land partly covered by a wood, over which the road rises and descends to a bridge, then winds around a second knoll, passing over grounds formerly known as Peterstone ; these contain ^ The Pennsylvania Railway, connecting lines throughout the United States. 40 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Sweet Briar Mansion f passing again by a wood, the visitor enters the Exhibition Grounds. These grounds were formally transferred by the Park Commissioners to the Commissioners of the International Exhibition on the 4th day of July 1873; ^^^ t^^ Proclamation of the Exhibition made by order of the President of the United States, The reservation contains 450 acres; it extends from this point to George's Hill and Ridgeland, em- bracing two tracts, Lansdowne and Belmont; the first, Lansdowne, is bounded by the river, Elm Avenue — the Park's southern boundary — George's Hill, and the Belmont tract. It is a plateau known as the Lansdowne Plateau, and a second plateau lying north and westward — Lansdowne Terrace, separated by a ravine from the other. This first tract is the site of the National Memorial, the Main Exhibition Building, Agricultural and Machinery Halls, and the Horticultural Hall and grounds. Belmont, the second of these tracts, is bounded by the Lansdowne tract, Ridgeland, Elm Avenue, and the River; it is the reservation for Agriculture. 2 Erected 1791, by John Ross, a merchant of Philadelphia. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 41 THE MAIN EXHIBITION BUILDING Is located on the Plateau east of Belmont and north of Elm Avenues. It stands 170 feet back from the north side of Elm Avenue, and 300 feet from the south side or front of the Art Gallery. The building is in the form of a parallelogram, extending east and west 1,880 feet, and north and south 464 feet. The larger portion of the structure is one story in height, and shows the main cornice on the outside 45 feet above the ground. At the centre of the longer sides of the building are projections 416 feet in length, and in the centre of the shorter sides or ends are projections 216 feet in length. In these projections are located the main entrances, which are provided with arcades upon the ground floor, and central facades extending to the height of 90 feet. The East Entrance forms the principal approach for carriages. The South Entrance for street-cars ; the ticket-oflices being located upon the line of Elm Avenue, with covered ways provided for entrance into the building itself. The North Entrance communicates directly with the Art Gallery. The West entrance gives the main passage-way to the Machinery Hall. Upon the corners of the building are four towers 75 feet in height, and between the towers and the central projections or entrances, a lower roof, showing a cornice 24 feet above the ground. 42 FAIRMOUNT PARK. DIMENSIONS. Measurements taken from centre to centre of supporting columns. Length of Building 1880 feet. Width of Building 464 " Central Avenue or Nave. Length Width 1832 120 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Height to top of supporting columns Height to ridge of roof Central Transept. Length ............ Width ..,".'.'.", Height to top of columns . . . . . . . . , 4"^ " Height to ridge of roof . . . . , , . , , ^ 6ii " 45 feet 70 <( 416 (( 120 le 44 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Side Avenues. Length 1832 feet. Width 100 « Height to top of columns 45 " Height to ridge of roof . . . 65 " Side Transepts. Length . • 416 " Width icx) " Height to top of columns . . . . . . . . . . 45 " Height to ridge of roof . . . . . . . . . . 65 " Central Aisles, Length at east-end . . . . • . . • • . 744 feet " at west-end ......... 672 " Width . . . . . . 48 " Height to roof . . . , . , , . . . 30 " Side Aisles. Length at east-end 744 '* " at west-end ......... 672 " Width . . . . . 24 " Height to roof 24 " Central Space or Pavilion, Ground Plan 120 " square. Height to top of supporting columns . . . . . . 72 " Height to ridge of roof ......... 96 " Towers over Courts. Ground Plan . . 48 " square. Height of Roof . ......... 120 " Corner Towers, Ground Plan , . . • • 24 « square- Height to roof . . . . . . . . . k 75 " The foundations consist of piers of masonry. The superstructure, of wrought-iron columns and wrought-iron roof trusses. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 45 The columns are placed lengthwise the building, at the distance of 24 feet apart ; and the sides of the building, for the height of seven feet from the ground, are finished with timber framed in panels between the columns, and, above the seven feet, with glazed sash. Portions of the sash are movable for ventilation. The wrought-iron columns are composed of rolled channel bars with plates riveted to the flanges. The roof trusses are similar in form to those in general use for Depots and Warehouses. Upon the exterior of the building, around each corner column, is placed a light casing of galvanized iron, octagonal in form, and designed to appear as a slender turret extending from the ground to above the roof. The roof over the central part, for 184 feet square, is raised above the surrounding portion, and four towers, 48 feet square, rise to 1 30 feet in height at the corners of the elevated roof. The areas covered are as follows : Ground Floor 872,320 square feet. 20.02 acres. Upper Floors, in projections . , , . , 37,344 " " .85 " " " in towers 26,344 " " .60 " 936,008 21.47 GROUND PLAN. The Ground Plan shows a central avenue or nave t 20 feet in width, and extending 1,832 feet in length. This is the longest avenue, of that width, ever introduced into an Exhibition Building. On either side of this nave is an avenue 100 feet, by 1,832 feet in length. Between the nave and side avenues are aisles 48 feet ; and, on the outer sides of the building, smaller aisles 24 feet in width. Three cross-avenues or transepts of the same widths, and in the same 46 FAIRMOUNT PARK. relative positions to each other as the nave and avenues, run lengthwise ; viz. : a central transept 120 feet in width by 416 feet in length, with one on either side of 100 feet by 416 feet, and aisles between of 48 feet. The intersections of these avenues and transepts in the central portion of the building result in dividing the ground floor into nine open spaces free from supporting columns — covering in the aggregate an area of 416 feet square. Four of these spaces are too feet square, four 100 feet by 120 feet, and the central space or pavilion 120 feet square. The intersections of the aisles result in four interior courts 48 feet square, one at each corner of the central space. The main promenades through the nave and central transept, are each 30 feet in width, those through the centre of the side avenues and transepts 15 feet each. All others are 10 feet wide. The Private Offices for the various Foreign and State Commissions are on the ground floor and in the second story on either side of the Main Entrances, in close proximity to their exhibited products. Bufl'ets or Restaurants for light refreshments are at four prominent points. Water is supplied freely throughout the entire building, the most com- plete provision being made for protection against fire. Sanitary arrangements, easy of access, are located at six different points. The Engineers and Architects of the structure are Messrs. Henry Pettit, Consulting Engineer U. S. Centennial Commission, and Jos. M. Wilson, Civil Engineer. Constructor, Richard J. Dobbins; Engineer of Construction, Alex. B. Barry. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 47 THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL. ART GALLERY. This structure — one of the affixes to the Exhibition, is located on a line parallel with, and three hundred feet northward of, the Main Building. It is on the most commanding portion of the Lansdowne Plateau, and is elevated on a terrace six feet above its general level. The materials are granite, glass, and iron. The structure is 365 feet in length, 210 feet in width, and 59 feet in height, over a spacious basement 12 feet in height. The Main Front looks southward ; it displays three distinctive features : A Main Entrance in the central section j a Pavilion at each end ; and two xArcades connecting the Pavilions with the centre. The Central Section is 48 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 95 feet long, 72 feet high; Pavilions, 45 feet long, 60 feet high; Arcades, each, 90 feet long, 40 feet high. The front, or south face of the Central Section, displays a rise of thirteen steps to the entrance 70 feet wide. The entrance is by three arched doorways, each 40 feet high and 15 feet wide, opening into a hall. Between the arches of the door-ways are clusters of columns terminating in emblematic designs. The doors are relieved by bronze panels, having the coats-of-arms of all the States and Territories. In the centre of the main frieze is the United States coat-of-arms. The main cornice is surmounted by a balustrade with candelabras. At either end is an allegorical figure. A dome rises from the centre of the structure to the height of 150 feet from the ground. It is of glass and iron ; from it a colossal figure rises. Groups, also of colossal size, stand at each corner of the base of the dome. The pavilions display windows 30 feet high and 1 2 feet wide. The arcades are intended to screen the long walls of the gallery. Each consists of five groined arches, looking outward over the grounds and interiorily over open gardens, which extend back to the main wall of the building. The gardens are 90 feet long and 36 feet deep, ornamented in the centre with fountains and designed for the display of statuary. From them stairways reach the upper line of the arcades which forms prom- enades 35 feet above the ground. The balustrade is ornamented with vases, and is designed ultimately for statues. The cornices, the atticas, and the crestings throughout, are highly ornamented. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 49 ='^: n iflKe. LANSDOWNE CONCOURSE. This point is very attractive. On one side rest the grateful shadows of the Lansdowne Valley, to the foot of which, from these pines, a minia- ture Alpine zigzag descends ; and on the other, a broad open ground, bordered by the Belmont Valley, commands a view of the river and the opposite shores. A companion group of pines, the survivors of twelve, stand a little further on. At equal distances from the groups of pines a mansion formerly stood, built by John Penn, the Governor. 50 FAIRMOUNT PARK. VC =^^ ■^t.'aVXKK? LANSDOWNE MANSION. The noble estate of Lansdowne contained two hundred acres, extend- ing from Sweet Brier to Belmont and George's Hill.^ The mansion was built before the Revolution. It was a grand structure for those times. A broad carriage drive led to it from an entrance beyond the Belmont Road, where formerly stood a large gateway. It had extensive conser- vatories, and the grounds were adorned with vases, fountains, and box cut in the formal style of the period. A private passage led from the mansion to the river. It was in later times the residence of Joseph » During the occupancy of Philadelphia in the winter of 1777, the British had an en- campment on these grounds. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 51 Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain. Its last owner, prior to its purchase by the city, was the late Lord Ashburton. The mansion had been much neglected, although still in good preservation until a recent period. It was accidentally destroyed by boys with fireworks, celebrating the fourth of July, 1854. \ JOHN PENN. " The Honorable John Penn," 'called ''the Governor," was Lieutenant- Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania and Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware from 1763 to 1771 and from 1774 to 1776. He was a not unworthy representative of ''the Founder;" his first act, followed by many like actions, was to carry out ' Cousin of John Penn, of Solitude. ^2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. that great man's intentions to the Indians who remained in the Province, and to protect them from outrage and violence. But his good record does not end there; during the whole term of his office, a prolonged one, he gave a wise and serious attention to the public affairs, and supported the honor and dignity of his family and of the Province. He maintained royal state on these grounds, and sumptuous surroundings, but also a clear record of wise government. His times were troublous ones ; he was the last representative of the Founder who had authority here, and the last representative of kingly power in Pennsylvania. He bore up bravely against the coming violence of the storm of the Revolution, but, like some stately and unyielding tree, broke down before it. The bold free airs which swept about our land those days made sad havoc among the royal oaks transplanted to this uncongenial soil.^ 1 He retained throughout that season of trial the good-will of the worthy of all parties. After the dissolution of the government, though politically restrained, he was treated with the respect due to his exalted station and private worth. His successor was the sterling fisherman and patriot, Thomas Wharton. He was called from the old court-house, at the Baron Warner's, to preside over Pennsylvania, vice the fallen governor, in 1776. John Penn resided in this mansion after the war; was visited by Washington in 1787. He died in Bucks County in this State, February 9, 1795, at the age of sixty-seven. His remains were taken back to England. "The Penn estate," says the late Judge Conrad, "was the largest one ever sequestered in civil war; it was estimated at ;^i 0,000,000 sterling. The heirs received as a compen- sation from the British Government an annuity of Aooo; and the State of Pennsylvania, in remembrance of the founder, awarded them ;^i 30,000." Their private estates were not divested, but have been held and inherited by succeeding members of the family down to our own day. "Solitude," as stated before, was purchased from them by the city. The governor, by his will, dated January 2, 1 795, devised Lansdowne to his wife, Mrs. Anne Penn, and by subsequent conveyances through her title it also became the property of the city. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 53 With the remaining portions of this Park begins a new era in its pro- gress; they were acquired under the direction of the present Commission and by authority of the City and the Commonwealth. From acquisitions of ground by thirty, forty, or even one hundred and forty, the work ad- vanced to three thousand acres; but yet always with the same objects with which the prior purchases were made and gifts of these estates accepted by the city — ^^the health and enjoyment of the people of Phila- delphia and the preservation of the purity of its water supply. ' ' This little book is not the place to do justice to the liberal conception of this act, less to the labors of the members of this Commission and their satisfactory results. It is their good fortune to be chosen guardians for the people of a trust of inestimable value, the preservation of old historic landmarks fast passing away, and of nature as rapidly being destroyed ; the develop- ing also of the Park idea into one of such colossal proportions as to place Philadelphia in the van of all the cities of Europe and America. The main carriage road from the Concourse passes first on the right hand the survivors of the Twelve Pines ; immediately beyond these the river opens like the broad and placid bosom of a lake, with the city's spires, Fairmount, and the bridges for its boundaries. A little further, on the left hand, is the severed trunk of a once huge chestnut, from which have sprung a bower of sixteen young trees ; yet a little further, three large trees which stand like sentinels. Beyond these the road passes, on the right hand, a grove of oaks^ and cedars, under whose shadows Bel- * The Michaux grove, ultimately to contain a specimen of every oak which will grow in this climate. Oaks embracing sixteen species have been planted there during the past year. s* 54 FAIRMOUNT PARK. mont Valley descends to the river, and on the left a fine piece of Eng- lish lawn marked by a very symmetrical solitary tree. A by-road leads through the grove to the Belmont Mansion. The main carriage road passes by the head of the valley, crosses the Belmont Avenue, ascends an easy grade, leaves on the right hand the Belmont Reservoir, and so rises to GEORGE'S HILL. As IN THE LONG PAST, SO IN ALL THE FUTURE THIS TRACT OF LAND SHALL BEAR THE NAME OF " George's Hill," and bearing it, shall BE a perpetual MEMORIAL OF THE HONORED grantors' NAME. Among the first and the most grateful of all the acquisitions by the Commissioners was this fine tract of ground. Soon after they began their labors^ they received a letter from Jesse George, an aged and estimable member of the Society of Friends, who with his sister'^ were then its joint owners. In the letter Jesse George stated that this property had been the unin- terrupted home of his ancestors for many generations, and had retained very much the appearance it bore from the first settlement of the country. That, with a view of preserving it to their memory in the same rural condition in which they occupied it, he had declined all offers to sell ; but that considering the benefits of a public Park, and that a disposition of the property by him for that purpose would carry out his wishes for its ' See First Annual Report of Commission. 2 Since deceased. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 55 preservation, he offered it to his fellow-citizens as a contribution to their pleasure-ground. Rebecca George joined with him in the same offer. The Commissioners accepted this generous gift, reserving for these estimable persons, at their request, the undisturbed enjoyment during their lives of the water of a little brook which runs along the foot of the hill. The tract comprises eighty-three acres. An oval concourse two hun- dred feet in diameter crowns its summit, which is two hundred and ten feet above the river. The Commissioners have erected there a commodious and tasteful music-stand and surrounded it by beds of flowers. A flag floats from the hill, visible from the principal parts of the Park. Under it a fountain of cold spring-water, artificially forced up from ''the brook," constantly flows. The view from this concourse is a very commanding one. The background is shut in by a wood; but looking southward and westward, the hill descends gradually and widens to a broad open reach of green- sward with trees — in clumps, separate, and in pieces of woodland — the remains of the primeval forests. Farther on, in the middle-ground of this fair landscape, ribboned through with floating lines of vapor from passing trains, flows the clear, broad Schuylkill — spanned with its bridges, dotted with pleasure steamers and the gay pennons of the navy barges. Beyond are wooded slopes and green open spaces; from them the eye wanders over the city's long-extending streets, spires, and domes, amid which rise in pure whiteness the pillars of the College. Farther yet, beyond these spires, these domes, these pillars, the eye defines the city's boundaries and the horizon's verge, and along this line, in a clear atmo- sphere, the sails of vessels on the river Delaware. On fine afternoons this Hill is the grand centre for carriages ; the whole summit Is crowned with equestrians and pedestrians, carriages, rich dresses 56 FAIRMOUNT PARK. and gay liveries. The animation of the scene, heightened by inspiriting strains of music, by the sense of health and enjoyment which breathes about the place, and, most of all, by its grateful memory, renders it to visitors one of the most attractive portions of the Park. THE BELMONT RESERVOIR adjoins George's Hill. It is supplied from the Belmont Works, on the margin of the river below. Its capacity is 35,800,000 gallons. The water-level, when full, is two hundred and twelve feet above the city datum. The arrangement by which the water passes from the main pipe into the basin is quite novel, and repays the short walk over from the Hill. There is also a very fine view from its east side of the city, and surrounding Park grounds on both sides of the river. From George's Hill, the main carriage road leaves the reservoir on the right, and passes over a high plateau to Belmont. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 57 BELMONT. On this place, ^ twenty-five years ago, was still standing what Downing describes as the grandest avenue of hemlocks in America. These trees were centenarians in the perfection of their growth, ninety feet high, some draped with immense masses of English ivy. This long and stately avenue extended from the mansion to a road beyond the Belmont Avenue, and was there terminated by an obelisk. Many of these hemlocks yet remain. The garden walks were finished with box and privet, the beds set with rare shrubs and flowers, and the grounds adorned with vases and statues. The mansion, which is described by Chastellux (1780) as ''a. ^ The grounds at their highest elevation, on this estate, are two hundred and forty-three feet above tide-water. 58 FAIRMOUNT PARK. tasty little box, In the most charming spot nature could embellish remains with little alteration, and is a very excellent specimen of the houses of that early period. Its principal characteristics are a broad hall and small dormitories, small window-glass and heavy sashes, highly ornamented and high wooden mantel-pieces, a comfortable dining-room, and open fireplaces. One of these in the hall is still used; the panel over it formerly held a landscape ; the coat of arms of the family remains perfect on the ceiling. Other ornamental devices about the mansion are recognizable as belonging to that early period. The roof has been raised ; the third story and piazza are modern. A library, which adjoined the main house, has also been removed since the Judge's time. The date of the erection of the main out-building is fixed by a monogram, T. W. P. 1745, cut on a slab set in the wall. There was a chestnut-tree near this mansion, planted by Washington, known as the Washington tree,^ and an object of great interest in former times. There is still stand- ing there a white walnut, which was planted by Lafayette, on his visit here as the nation's guest, in 1824. 1 Washington and Judge Peters proposed walking one afternoon. When a few steps from the back hall-door of the mansion, the Judge handed the General a large chestnut (a Spanish nut). Washington suggested planting it; thereupon the Judge, who carried a cane (Washington never carried a cane), made a hole with it in the ground, Washington dropped the nut, the Judge earthed it over. The shoot from it was watched and tended with care ; it grew to be a large tree, and bore nuts of extraordinary size. This tree stood on the right hand, a few steps outside the hall-door. The two trees near the dining- room are its lineal descendants. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 59 The view from the hall-door of the mansion is worth a journey across the continent — it is one uninterrupted and slowly descending vista to the river, greensward, woodland and water, sunlight and shadow, holding and never wearying the gaze. It is a very general resort during the spring and summer months, the rendezvous of a gay throng of carriages, and visitors by cars and boat. It is attractive at all seasons ; spring gives it an exquisite freshness and beauty; the changing leaves of autumn display there a season which belongs, in its perfection, only to our country; and winter, when a heavy snow has fallen, or a sleeting night been succeeded by a clear, bright morning, discloses a scene fairy-like and indescribable ; but early summer mornings and afternoons it is the most enjoyable. What 6o FAIRMOUNT PARK. Charles the Emperor said of the city of Florence, may well be said here, '^It is too pleasant to be looked upon, but only on holidays." A singular scene was witnessed by the visitors to these grounds last summer (1870). Near the mansion was found sitting a group of savages, twelve in number, in their native costumes. They smoked their calumets with satisfaction, and looked on the river and the hills, the old hunting-grounds of their forefathers, probably with regret, if regrets be possible for their nature. They were from Dacotah — one was Red Wing — they were braves and warriors, and had been to see the Great Father at Washington, and were on their journey back to the land of the setting sun. JUDGE RICHARD PETERS. " I, who was an humble laborer in planting the vineyard, rejoice in having lived to see the exuberant vintage it has produced." — ^tidge Peters' s Letter to A. Garden^ 1821. Richard Peters, the beloved friend of Washington, was born m this mansion, and died here August 22, 1828, at the age of eighty-four. He was the son of William Pete-rs, and the nephew of Richard Peters, Secre- tary of the Land Office under the Penns. The father and son in the Revolution severed in their opinions. The father adhered to the crown, returned to and died in England. Judge Peters at the outset ignored social, family, and business relations, assumed and adhered to the cause of the colonies. He was born in the den of the British lion, and in a good-humored manner bearded him there. Judge Peters filled the office of Secretary of the Board of War during the Revolution ; was a Representative in Congress, and had, at the time of his death, sat as a Judge of the United States District Court thirty-nine years. He was not alone distinguished as a patriot, a legislator, and a jurist, but in the department of agriculture he was the pioneer in those improve- ments which restored the wasting farm lands of this State. He sang the FAIRMOUNT PARK. 6i best song/ grave or gay, was the most noted wit of his times, and was also the most genial and hospitable of men. * This fragment of a song in his clear handwriting lies before me ; it was written at a meeting of the St. George's Society, September 28, 1774: — When Britain first, by Heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main. This was the charter of the land. Arid guardian angels sang this strain ; Rule, Britannia, rule the waves, Britons never will be slaves. Let us, your sons, by freedom warmed. Your own example keep in view ; 'Gainst tyranny be ever armed, Tho' we our tyrants find — in you. Rule, Britannia, rule the waves, - But never make your children slaves. With justice and with wisdom reign. We then with thee will firmly join To make thee mistress of the main. And all the shore it circles thine. Rule, Britannia, rule the waves. We're subjects still, but not your slaves. A portion of the Judge's song of the Treaty Tree may be also appropriately quoted re: — here : Whilst the natives our forests in freedom shall roam, Thy remembrance they '11 cherish through ages to come. Tho' sorrows their bosoms should oft overwhelm, With delight they '11 reflect on good Onus's Elm. For that patron of justice and peace there displayed His most welcome good tidings, beneath its fair shade, 62 FAIRMOUNT PARK. And furnished examples to all future times, That Justice and Peace may inhabit all climes. The Oak may be fam'd for its uses in war. Or wafting wealth's idols to regions afar; But the Elm bears no part in such objects as these, Its employment is solely in fabrics of peace. The Olive abounds where stern despots bear rule, And their slaves pluck its products in Poverty's school; But the Elm delights most in the mountains and dells, Where Alan is ne'er shackled, and Liberty dwells. Tho' time has devoted our tree to decay. The sage lessons it witness' d survive to our day, May our trustworthy statesmen, when called to the helm. Ne'er forget the wise Treaty held under our Ebti. Many anecdotes of Judge Peters are preserved in the manuscript of his biographer. They were a constant glimmer on the full deep flow of his earnest, enduring life. On the occasion of a brewer's death, when a dull man expressed surprise to the Judge because the brewer seemed to have been in good health : True, he was, said the Judge, a stout man. What could then have carried him off? said the dull questioner. Something aled him, and the beer carried him off, said the Judge. Ah ! said the questioner : I did not know he drank. Nor did I, either, said the Judge, slowly shaking- his head and walk- ing away. When the Judge's health began to fail, a report of his death got into circulation and produced general sorrow. He was riding, and was met by a stranger, who told him the sad news. Well, said the Judge to the astonished man, I, for one, am very glad to hear it. I have lived very long, but I never thought I 'd live long enough to hear that that man was dead. In his 76th year, dining with the Cincinnati Society, he saw that, of the 300 original members, but 40 remained. I am the oldest survivor, he said, cheerfully, and as this is a military association which places the senior officer in the rear of the procession, I shall take my place there, and so see you all out, and reach the dismal goal last. Seeing Smith, who had become entirely bald, he said: Smith, you must be a very happy man. Why, said Smith, innocently. Because, said he. Smith, there 's not a hair between your head and heaven. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 63 Among the guests of Judge Peters assembled in this mansion were the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the French Minister, whose house was at the Falls, Franklin, *' Christian Samuel," Rittenhouse the astronomer, Bartram, President Wharton, and distinguished men of science from Europe. Lafayette, while in Philadelphia, on his return to this country as the nation's guest in 1824, was constantly with the Judge, and passed much of his time at this house. The Baron de Steuben,^ Inspector- General during the Revolution, was on relations of much intimacy with the Judge, and, whenever he was in Philadelphia, visited his house. Here also Talleyrand and Louis Philippe were received. Robert Morris, the Count de Survilliers, John Penn the governor, Alexander J. Dallas the advocate, whose house was near the Falls, John Adams, and, before all these, the author of the great Declaration,^ were his neighbors. ' During Washington's administration, Thomas Jefferson lived below the Park h'mits at Gray's Ferry. He continued to reside there until he retired from public life in De- cember, 1793, and these fair shores witnessed an interview in those days of our transi- tion from monarchical ideas following the close of the Revolution, which shows the influ- ence Washington held even over this great man. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, had finally determined to resign his office; nor was it credited, so decided were the positions he had taken, that his determination was alterable. Washington, unbending from the place of his superior rank, visited him, and in a long interview (August 6th, 1793) beside these waters besought him to remain in the discharge of his office. Jefferson had then written to his life-long friend and companion Madison (June 9th, 1793), in a spirit of utter weariness of public affairs. " The motion of my blood," he said in this letter, " no longer keeps time with the turmoil of the world, my happiness lies in the lap and love of my family, in my books and in the society of my neighbors, in an interest and affection in every bud that opens and breath that blows around me. I am worn down with fruitless labor." To Washington he yielded. It is a pleasant recollection that this great instructor of his age, who so loved also the passing air and opening flower, had for that then worn- down spirit the relief of these fair scenes of nature, and that the scenes themselves are thus associated with his name and widening influence over our race. 64 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Washington's memory is the most sacred legacy of these fair grounds; the biographer of Judge Peters (the late Samuel Breck) writes: *' Whenever a morning of leisure permitted that great man to drive to Belmont, it was his constant habit to do so ; in its beautiful gardens, beneath the shadows of the lofty hemlocks, he would sequester himself from the world, the cares and torments of business, and enjoy a recrea- tive and unceremonious intercourse with the Judge." On occasions of ceremony, however, at receptions and entertainments, Washington maintained surroundings of state in keeping with his time and military habitudes, although incongruous with these later days. The old shell of the royal era remained long after the soul and heart of the thing were gone. In the details of his household, also, he was very stately, and among all the equipages which rolled up to the door of Judge Peters' s mansion, his was the most decisive in its appointments. His coach, which is still in good preservation, was of a cream color, drawn by six horses of the old dominion stock. His motto was engraved on the har- ness plates ; his crest on the panels ; his postilions wore bright tasselled caps, and his coachman maintained a dignity and style in perfect keeping with the whole. He rode here also on the white charger which bore him in the Revo- lution, sometimes with attendants, sometimes alone. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 65 -^^4 Among the purposes entertained by the Commissioners, that to preserve and restore the mansions on these grounds is most approvable. All that helps to realize to us the days and actors of the Revolution is of much importance to our future. The narrow glass windows of this mansion are more precious to patriotic eyes than the broad plates of our era. The small rooms, with their low ceilings, and their open fireplaces, contending with wintry draughts, are more grateful to patriotic hearts than any lofty chambers of our present residences — for their occupants were the foremost men of our race, and their great work was for all time. We have made marvellous advances in all appliances for material grandeur and convenience. We have substituted for their stately equi- pages moving palaces on the water and on the land as much grander and more costly, as those were than the lumbering wa,ins of the laborers of their times. We have overlaid by railroads, and broken down by battles, the narrow lines of the thirteen old sovereignties, extended their area 6* 66 FAIRMOUNT PARK. across the continent, and unified them to a nation. We have advanced higher the standard of freedom, until no slave toils on our soil. But we have given no better type of the uses of wealth, than the Financier of the Colonies. We have reached no farther in our theories of government than the Author of the Declaration. And among all our millions, and all the world's millions, there has never been reproduced a man in the like- ness of the Leader of the Armies of the Revolution. From Belmont the main carriage road passes over grounds which em- brace unquestionably the most noble scenery in the Park. Leaving the Belmont Mansion, a thick wood, which borders on the Belmont Glen, extends for a short distance and shuts out the view to the eastward. Passing this, the whole open country at once bursts on the sight, broad and grand. The College comes again into view, looming against the sky, and the river lightens up the landscape with its mirror-like sur- face. Through this noble landscape you reach Mount Prospect. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 67 _.,„Jf^0 t^ ^=^,, >J^' ,0' '/^J !l/.' MOUNT PROSPECT. -^ This portion of the Park/ unlike the rest, has no legendary or historic associations; but it requires none — as a natural throne, it asserts the authority of its position. In one field of view, it embraces the most distant sections of the city, widely separated villages, and still more widely separated ranges of country. 68 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The Schuylkill lies under its mountain-like side, here a lake and there a winding river. The Park, in its whole extent to Fairmount, spreads map-like beneath it. The waters of the far Delaware show from it, mile after mile, on their long journey to the sea. Beyond, pine forests stretch away in the dim distance, and hang a dark fringe along the horizon. From the mansion* extends a grand panorama; for its background, rocky ranges, deep glens, and dark woodlands, villages, and farm-lands; and for its foreground, all the broad acres of this pleasure-ground, the spires and domes of the second city of the continent, and the great rivers which are its wealth and life-giving boundaries. Mount Prospect has yet more to offer than this panorama ; as if to leave nothing wanting in which it should challenge supremacy, on its summit, the one beside the other, stand three forest-trees, larger and more im- pressive than any others through the whole Park limits; one of these trees is a Black Walnut, another a Chestnut, the third a Tulip Poplar. These giant old trees, the relics and remembrancers of ^'the times which tried men's souls," stand there, nature's noblemen, granting favors and asking none. They have suggested the famous meeting of the three allied sovereigns in Hyde Park.^ But may they not better suggest the enduring compan- ionship of three other and nobler sovereigns — the Black Walnut, with its rich solid wood, Morris ; the Chestnut, with its broad, liberal branches, Jefferson; the Tulip Poplar, the noblest of all the forest-trees of America, Washington — the purse, the charter, and the sword of the Revolution; men who loved these grounds, strong men who stood together, in their J Built in 1802 by George Plumstead, a merchant of Philadelphia engaged in the India trade. 2 After Napoleon's fall. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 69 day and generation, as these trees stand, changeless and mighty, in sun- shine and in storm. «* . . . The great of earth, Great not by kingly birth, Great in their well proved worth — Firm hearts, and true." THE EAST BANK. This section of the Park will be opened to the public this summer. A proposed road will make it accessible from Fairmount by a con- tinuation of the present river road on the east bank, which will turn to the right after passing through the tunnel. The section is a series of estates — among others, Fountain Green, Mount Pleasant, Rockland, Belleville, Ormiston, Edgeley, Woodford, and the Strawberry Mansion ; they lie in successive tracts along the river, begin- ning below the Columbia Bridge and terminating at Laurel Hill. Its principal advantages over the west bank are more commanding views of the river and a more absolutely natural condition. The thickets remain, and a greater wealth of flowers in the woods and valleys. There is not an inch of frightful smoothness in the whole distance along the river bluff from the present entrance at Columbia Bridge to the Cemeteries. Among the many attractions of this section of the Park there are three : the first, a grand ravine; the second, the splendid trees on the Rockland estate; and the third, a broad view of the river, which, once seen, will never be forgotten by any true lover of nature ; nor should such a one fail to find the young tree which stands, like a tower solidly set on a rock, in that yo • FAIRMOUNT PARK. ravine, or the gnarled chestnut, near Laurel Hill. This section* contains two mansions of historic importance. The Woodford Mansion, situated on the Ridge Avenue, was built by William Coleman, =^ the friend of Franklin. It was afterwards the residence of Daniel Franks, a gentle- man with large business connections in Philadelphia and New York during and after the Revolution. His son. Major Franks, was aid-de- camp to Arnold before his defection, but was himself a true patriot. His daughter, Miss Franks,^ was celebrated for her wit and beauty in the days of the republican court. It was also afterwards the residence of William Lewis, one of the most distinguished among the advocates of Philadelphia. The other of these mansions overlooks the river near the Columbia Bridge. ' The lake reservoir to be located in this section will be one hundred and six acres in extent, with ninety acres of water surface, and will hold 750,000,000 gallons. ' Erected 1 742. ' Miss Franks deserves to be remembered for her determined defences of her sister belles. In one of her letters she even says : " The ladies of Philadelphia have more cleverness in a turn of the eye, than the New York ladies in their whole composition." FAIRMOUNT PARK. 71 MOUNT PLEASANT. The stately mansion on this estate was built by John Macpherson, who was its owner from 1761 to 1779. William Macpherson, his son, was born in Philadelphia in 1756. He was at thirteen a cadet in the British army. While adjutant of the i6th Regiment in Florida, he tendered his resignation. On his return to New York, he obtained permission from Sir Henry Clinton to resign, declaring he would never serve against his countrymen. He joined the Continental army on the Hudson in 1779; was made a major by brevet, and stood high in the confidence of Wash- ington. He is famous as the organizer and commander of Macpherson's blues in the insurrection of 1794, and served under General Mifflin. The mansion passed from John Macpherson to Benedict Arnold y2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. (March, 1779), and through him, immediately afterwards, to trustees, as a marriage settlement for Mrs. Arnold, reserving to himself a life-estate. His defection took place the following year. It was followed by the for- feiture of his life-interest. The mansion then became the residence of General Von Steuben, known with us as the Baron Steuben. Of late years it has been the scene of many of those grand celebrations which distinguish the German Fatherland. Baron Steuben, whose residence here -associates his name with this mansion, was. a life-long soldier. As a boy, witnessing the Siege of Prague ; as a youth, ^serving through the Seven Years' War, a member of the personal staff of Frederick the 'Great. He came here a veteran from his strict .school, and encouraged by that great King's sympathies with the cause of the Colonies, It is his enduring remembrance that he created the discipline of the American Army, and his alone. Unambitious of fame, he retired after the close of the war, and in the far wilderness, near Trenton Falls, lived and died. At his own request, he was buried there; desiring only that he should be wrapped in his military cloak, and that the then unbroken silence of his burial-place should so remain. His name very honorably associates itself, on these grounds, with the many better remembered, but yet no more deserving of remembrance than this veteran disciplinarian. Through him the irregular bands of the Colonies became the armies of the Revolution, FAIRMOUNT PARK. 73 THE RAVINES. The ravines in the Park on the west side of the river are consecutively named the *' Sweet Brier," the *' Lansdowne," and the ''Belmont" ravines, and Belmont Glen. In these ravines, nature has been left to her own better hands. There are no close-shaven, sloping mounds of greensward, no formal groups of flowers, nor any exotic set out orderly to be the unnatural companion of the sturdy survivors of the old forest. The result is, that these ravines -4 FAIRMOUNT PARK. ^ are the most attractive places in the Park to real earnest lovers of nature. '* Unkempt and wild, she reigns alone." They may be visited separately by leaving the carriage and joining it at the opposite side of the ravine, as can be very conveniently done at Lansdowne. But for the whole tour, a most healthful and enjoyable one, set out leisurely with a good pair of shoes and a quiet conscience, from the Lansdowne entrance. The bridle-path from this point keeps between the carriage road and the river for some distance, giving fine views. It joins the carriage road again at the railway bridge, but soon leaves it and passes in front of the mansion, entering there the first of these ravines. SWEET BRIER RAVINE. This ravine is attractive all the year round. It has a brook crossed by a bridge — ** A hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night Singeth a quiet tune." The path descends to the bridge and rises from it by rustic steps, all in excellent keeping with the character of the way. On every side are wild flowers, shrubs, and large forest-trees, many covered with hanging vines. The path and road come out together at " the river road bridge." From this point it soon winds again, seeks the shade of the forest-trees nearer the river, passes under them through thickets of undergrowth, and so descends gradually to FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE LANSDOWNE RAVINE. 75 Large forest- trees stand in this ravine, without any order. Some in friendly groups, some in separate dignities ; some rise from the bottom of the ravine, some start boldly out from its steep sides ; all in a very irregular but not the less most unimprovable manner. A brook begins its little journey from a spring at the head of the ravine,^ in some places hides itself under sprays of ferns, in others trickles and drops down broken ledges, and makes tiny mirrors over smooth-worn stones ; all along its way hang drooping vines. It is a very unpretentious little brook, but, to eyes that see clearly, it is very attractive. Crossing this brook, the path, by a miniature Alpine zigzag with rustic seats, reaches the Lansdowne concourse. Leaving the concourse, it passes along the lawn, giving a broad view of the river on the right hand and the Lansdowne tract on the left, and so enters THE BELMONT VALLEY. The path here turns at a point which gives a view of the river looking northward, and ascends a bluff close to a precipice formed by a quarry, and descends along the side of the ravine. The whole character of this ravine is wild and tangled with vines, ferns, trees, and wild flowers. It is a charming retreat for a summer morning or afternoon with books and leisure. Leaving the ravine, the path joins the main carriage way, and another path on the opposite side continues on towards George's Hill and Bel- mont. * There is a fine grove of the Angelica or Hercules club at the head of this ravine. 76 FAIRMOUNT PARK. At Belmont, opposite the front of the mansion a guide board indicates a path to the river through BELMONT GLEN. This path is the most frequented in the Park ; it descends by an easy grade to the Belmont Station on the Reading Railroad, and follows part of the way the course of a brook. It is shaded by forest-trees and vines, except where, in two places, it opens out for short distances to the sun- light, to which the grateful shadow quickly succeeds. The path crosses a rustic bridge half-way between the station and the mansion, and is good at all seasons. There are, besides these, three other ravines on the west side of the river, one above Belmont, one near Mount Prospect, descending to the river, and the third at Mount Prospect, descending west. These have as yet no defined pathway. On the east bank of the river there is a very romantic ravine on the Fountain Green grounds, and the grand ravine which descends to the river near Ormiston. All these ravines have springs of clear cold water. THE RIVER ROAD. In addition to the views afforded by the main carriage drive and the paths through the ravines, thete is also a road along the river margin. This road shows points as interesting as the others. On the east bank it diverges from the main carriage road in the plaza at Fairmount, passes the boat-houses, and under the two bridges through an artificial tunnel, whence it will extend to the Falls and Wissahickon. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 77 On the west bank it connects with the main carriage drive at the bridge beyond Sweet Brier, and there passing under this road, descends to the river, and comes out at the foot of Lansdowne Valley. It passes first THE BELMONT WORKS. These works supply the reservoir at George's Hill, and are operated by steam. Their pumping capacity is 10,000,000 gallons per twenty- four hours. A SHORT distance beyond these works the road passes a low one story cottage. *7^ 78 FAIRMOUNT PARK. TOM MOORE'S COTTAGE. "Alone by the Schuylkill, a wanderer, I strayed." This cottage, with the two old trees, which in the lyric poet's time threw their grateful shadows over its low roof and humble door, are well stricken in years. The vine, which one of these trees has lifted into sun- shine, still clings round it ; but the old tree itself every spring-time buds forth more feebly its leaves, and will soon be gone. These fair Schuylkill banks were to Moore, as to others whose troubles were more real than those which ordinarily afflict the poet's over-sensitive existence, a *' re- treat so fair," as he has written — "That his charmed soul forgot its wish to roam. And rested there as in a dream of home." X FAIRMOUNT PARK. 79 He has left tributes of his genius to these scenes, and composed while among them^ the sweetest of his ballads — " I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled Across the green elms, that a cottage was near, And I said if there 's peace to be found in this world, A heart that is humble might hope for it here." It is a pleasant thing in this poet's memory, that these fair shores, then the abode of wild flowers and merry warblers, an undisturbed tranquillity of shade, should have been after so long a period, and after many rude invasions of trade, restored again to the natural condition in which he knew and loved them.^ After leaving the cottage, the road shaded by an avenue of trees ex- tends for nearly a mile ; it passes under the Railroad Bridge, and termi- nates at the Falls Bridge f crossing which, we reach 1 1804 2 Celebrations in honor of Moore were formerly given in this cottage ; of a characteristic one of these, there is a notice in the Press of June 11, 1858. ' The nearer of the bridges in the picture, on page 80, is the Railroad Bridge, the farther the Falls Bridge. 8o FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE FALLS OF SCHUYLKILL. The Falls, a name now applied to a village, was in former days the name of a natural cascade. A long rock projected from the foot of a hill at this point, and extended two-thirds the distance across the river, form- ing a dam. In the spring the water poured over it in a beautiful cascade ; at other seasons it forced the river into a narrow channel, on the western side, with turbulence and great rapidity; the sound could be heard on still evenings a distance of several miles. The rock itself was character- ized by singular indentations, caused probably by ages of attrition ; among theni was the apparent impression of a human foot, showing the heel, the FAIRMOUNT PARK. 3 1 hollow of the instep, the ball of the foot, and toes; it bore name the Devil's foot. It was believed to be an evidence of his real presence here. Time has made great changes in this place ; factories have taken the place of fishermen's houses, paved streets of forest pathways, and the irregular and foam -bearded cascade, which gave the place its name, has yielded its inheritance to its smooth-faced younger brother, the steady-going mechanic at Fairmount. Tradition says this was the last place about Philadelphia deserted by the Indians. That it must have been much re- sorted to by them is proved by the fact that very numerous Indian relics have been and are still found here — stone axes, arrow-heads, and other instruments. As late as 181 7 it was a famous fishing-place for shad,^ perch, rock, and a migratory species of catfish, which came regularly about the 25th of May in numbers so numerous as to blacken the narrow passages of the river. ^ They were caught, upon the authority of eye- ' These were preserved by smoking, and were in great request in the winter. Our wise Founder did much belove them in this way, " Pray send us," he writes to his steward from Penn's Manor — "pray send us some two or three smoaked haunches of venizon; get them from the Swedes : also some smoaked shadds and beef — the old Priest at Phila- delphia had rare shadds.^'' 2 This fish-story, unlike many others, is reliable, and within well-authenticated limits. Old John Holmes confirms it in this wise : — " We plenty have of many sorts of fish, As choice and good as any man could wish; Eels, rockfish, trout, shad, herring, perch, and pike, So plenty that I never saw the like." The contests between the fishermen and the canoe-men, who traded on the river about 1722-32, were the subject of legislative action. The depositions of many canoe-men are in the archives of Pennsylvania (1732); among them, one Jonah Jones "Saith that in the month of February, it being extreme cold, he stroke fast on a fish-dam, and, to save his boat of wheat, was obliged to leap into ye river to ye middle of his body — afterwards pro- ceeding with ye said wet clothes, they were frozen stiff on his back, by means whereof he underwent a great deal of misery." The first law passed by the State of Pennsylvania was an act to make this river navigable, and for the preservation of its fish. 82 FAIRMOUNT PARK. witnesses, in nets often so full that the fishermen were unable to lift them into their boats. Shad were caught by dipping-nets ; as many as could be raised by the hand were frequently taken at one time; a thousand of these fish have been taken there in those days in two sweeps of the seine. Of rockfish, from thirty to eighty pounds were taken during a morning. The hotels at this point were then the most popular places of resort^ about the environs of Philadelphia, and are still much visited. Back from the Falls, on an eminence on the east side of the Ridge Road, stands the former residence of Governor Mifflin. The house is a noticeable object in this vicinity. THOMAS MIFFLIN. Thomas Mifflin was a member of the Society of Friends. When the news of the battle of Lexington reached Philadelphia, he immediately assumed the cause of the Colonies. He was the youngest and most effective speaker who addressed the people on that occasion, and left immediately after for Boston, and there joined the army. Although his name has got mislaid among their records there, he yet, by his cool and * Those ancient hotels, one of which was named in the old days Rock Fish Inn, still furnish regular meals — breakfast, dinner, and supper — having, except by special order, the same bill of fare as they served before the Revolution, and orderable always as " cat- fish and coffee." The bill of fare is catfish, beefsteak, broiled chicken, waffles, and coffee. These catfish are, like their progenitors, a distinct fish from those which bear their name on the Delaware, and other rivers of this covintry; and, unlike them, are delicate in flavor and exceedingly good. These suppers are peculiar to Philadelphia. The fish are kept alive, winter and summer, in large covered boxes, through which fresh spring-water con- stantly runs. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 83 intrepid conduct, much aided to establish the military reputation of that section of our country. He was engaged subsequently at the battle of Princeton, and his portrait is preserved in Trumbull's picture. He was the first Governor of Pennsylvania under the new constitution. On the same side of the road, until a recent period, stood an octagon building once occupied as a school-house ; its master was Joseph Neef, a pupil of Pestalozzi, of Switzerland. JOSEPH NEEF. •' The Jolly old Pedagogue long ago." For the school-children with whom once a year the city passes a day of unalloyed pleasure on these grounds, we wish to keep the memory green, of a man who taught school in this section of the Park, and in the octagon house. He first brought school-children to the Park, and was himself all his life-long only one of these of larger growth. And of all men who ever taught school, he was the best beloved by his scholars. He read the rules laid down by Solomon, backwards — spared the children and spoiled the rods. He built the Temple of Science at the foot of the hill, and made it as easy to get there as to coast on sleds in winter-time. He was out of doors with the boys all summer ; never had a hat on his head nor a cent in his pocket ; never got tired running up and down the hills ; was the best swimmer and the best skater, and his boys the best swimmers and the best skaters in the whole neigh- borhood ; he never had a book in his school, and could whistle through his finofers like a steam-whistle. 84 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The old octagon house was full from the garret to the cellar of boys of all kinds, sizes, and dispositions, and everything was as pleasant in the school as if it had been ^Miome in the holidays," and for many boys a great deal pleasanter. But what was best of all in that school, the smart boys grew smarter and the dull boys grew brighter, so that at last when a great prodigy^ who had been born with his head full of figures, came there to puzzle them, they gave him harder puzzlers in return, and when he grew angry and struck out boldly with a switch which he carried, they doubled up hands and whipped him, and the old man laughed all the while. So here is to the memory of ''the Jolly old Pedagogue" who first brought into this country the system of Pestalozzi'' which revo- lutionized and humanized education, and the good influence of which is felt to this hour in all the common schools of America. ' Zerah Colborti. 2 We are indebted to Mr. William McClure, the philosopher who endowed the Academy of Natural Sciences, for his sojourn and its good results here. He met him in Switzerland, and induced him to return with him to be his Master's Apostle in the New World. — Hagner's Sketch of the Falls. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 85 FORT ST. DAVIDS. Fort St. Davids was a rude but strong structure of heavy timber, cut from the opposite forests and erected long anterior to the Revolution. It was located at the foot of a hill, from which the rock forming the falls projected. On the hill a tall flagstaff was erected, from which floated King George's flag. In the interior hung a picture of Tiis majesty and Queen Charlotte, and of Hendrick, King of the Mohawks. The room was decorated with an immense hat four feet in width, and other parapher- nalia, dried fish, turtles, and Indian curiosities; a large bowl of ''the great Mr. Pitt," wineglasses and decanters of curious workmanship, and a set of china with the Schuylkill arms. The company had also a flag on which were a moon, a fish, and a crown. 8 35 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The Society of Fort St. Davids, the builders of this house and its gas- tronomic garrison, were companions of the Founder, and, like the former catfish of this stream, were accredited as a superior species ; but, like those steadfast fishermen below, they had immense good times on all suitable occasions, and they never failed to make all unsuitable occasions suitable. They ultimately voyaged down the stream* to their brothers, then at the Baron Warner's, with whom they still dwell in indissoluble connection, capacious^ both for good -humor and for fish. This garrison, during the Revolution, has a very noble record, in which good-humor was laid aside and its whole duty to the country sternly and fully done. JOHN DICKINSON. Among the names on the rolls of this Society is John Dickinson, the Author of "the Farmer's Letters.'* This '* shadow," rather than man, " slender as a reed, pale as ashes,'" this great writer, has been suffered to lapse almost into oblivion, yet it was in him God first lighted the fires of the Revolution. His letters made the cause of the Colonies heard before the throne of Great Britain, and it is his name only which is associated with Jefferson's as the writer ^ Their house, in revenge for the part they took in the Revolution, was reduced to a heap of ruins by Hessian soldiers, who were quartered near Rock Fish Inn, under Gen. Kniphausen. They remained here some time after the Revolution, and rebuilt their house. The print represents the second house ; it was destroyed by an accidental fire. 2 Godfrey Schronk, a noted fisherman, assured John Watson, the chronicler, that the small garrison at Fort St. Davids cooked and put away often forty dozen catfish at a meal. At the house at Gray's Ferry, a notice of catches (1830) averages to one fisherman from five to twenty dozen white perch, and the aggregate catches, before their removal from the Baron Warner's, on fishing-days, ran fifty, eighty, and one hundred dozen. 3 John Adams's description of Mr. Dickinson. FAIRMOUNT PARK. g^ of the first official assertion of grievances which preceded the great Dec- laration. His words were the battle-cries of the Revolution. On these grounds they gave evidence of their power; although gentle blood ran in the veins of the peaceful inmates of Fort St. Davids, and their meats were set before them on heraldic plates, and the flag of English George floated over their house, yet Dickinson's words swept through its hewn logs like a storm; the flag went down — they answered his appeal with the sword. Here he might be fitly honored, as he was in his day and generation. The historic troop, ^ four of whose captains have been Governors of the State in Schuylkill, and the bar of Philadelphia, of which he was so worthy a representative, might unite and place on these grounds his monumental stone; and the words once written in his honor might well be graven there. Pro Patria John Dickinson OF THE City of Philadelphia. The Author of the Farmer's Letters. Ita cuique eveniat Ut de Republica meruit. ^ The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. 83 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Leaving the Falls, and passing along the Ridge Road for the distance of three-quarters of a mile, we reach the mouth of the Wissahickon, marked by a high bridge, under which, crossing the stream, the road passes over THE BATTLE GROUND. The Ridge Road, from its intersection with Thirty-third Street to the south line of Laurel Hill, as also here, forms one of the boundaries of the portion of the Park lying on the east bank of the Schuylkill. Long before the Revolutionary War it was one of the principal roads leading from the city. While the British under General Howe occupied Philadelphia, the sur- rounding country was open to their incursions through this road. To check them, Washington, from his camp at Valley Forge, ordered two thousand two hundred men, under the command of Lafayette, to make a sortie; and if, as then appeared probable, the British should evacuate the city, to hang upon and harass their rear-guard. Lafayette took a posi- tion at Barren Hill^ on the Schuylkill, just above the upper boundary of the Park, and about ten miles from Washington's camp at Valley Forge. Howe determined to attack him without delay. On the morning of the 2oth May, 1778, a detachment of five thousand men under General Grant, marching by a circuitous road, succeeded in turning Lafayette's left wing, and established itself nearly a mile in the rear of his position; another detachment, under General Gray, followed this road along the Schuylkill; the rest encamped at Chestnut Hill. These movements were discovered during the night by Captain McClane, a vigilant partisan officer, who hastened to the camp of Lafayette and apprised him of his danger. With great promptitude the General took the only course to pre- FAIRMOUNT PARK. 89 serve his detachment. With a few men he showed a head of column as though moving on Grant to attack him, while, by a rapid movement of the flank, his principal column crossed at Matson's Ford to the opposite bank of the river. Grant, finding them advantageously posted, did not choose to attack them; and his whole army returned to the city, having effected nothing. It was to this incident of the war that Lafayette alluded while partaking of the hospitalities of the ancient and honorable fishermen. As a memento of the gratitude of the country for the services which he had rendered. Congress directed that a sword should be presented to him. It was prepared in France, under the supervision of Franklin. On the guard was engraved, among other memorable events in which Lafayette was distinguished by his prudence or his courage, ''Retreat of Barren Hill." On transmitting the sword to Lafayette, Franklin ad- dressed to him the following letter: — To THE Marquis of Lafayette. Passy, August 24, 1779. Sir: The Congress, sensible of your merit towards the United States, but unable adequately to reward it, determined to present you with a sword as a small mark of their grateful acknowledgments. They directed it to be ornamented with suitable devices. Some of the principal actions of the war, in which you distinguished yourself by your bravery and con- duct, are therefore represented upon it. These, with a few emblematic figures, all admirably well executed, make its principal value. By help of the exquisite artists France affords, I find it easy to express everything but the sense we have of your worth, and our obligations to you. I therefore only add, that, with the most perfect esteem, I have the honor to be, &c. 8* oo FAIRMOUNT PARK. % In this section of the Park also was fought a portion of the memorable Battle of Germantown j the British line of redoubts extended back of the Wissahickon Creek, along the east side, for a distance of two miles. During the battle the Americans occupied the hills, and until recently the remains of their temporary redoubts were visible, extending along the west side in a semicircle, a considerable distance.^ In building the Railroad Bridge which crosses here, these old land- marks were destroyed. A monumental shaft, at Roxborough,^ com- memorates some Virginia soldiers slain a short distance above this spot. Soldiers of other colonies moulder in the earth that lies between these sections of the Park. » General Armstrong, the Commander of the Pennsylvania Militia, wrote to President Wharton (October 5, 1777), "We cannonaded from the heights on each side the Wissa- hickon, whilst the riflemen on opposite sides acted on the lower ground;" and, again, <' One field-piece we got away, the other I was obliged to leave in the horrenduous hills of the Wissahickon." 2 In the Leverington Cemetery. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 91 THE WISSAHICKON. This romantic stream, which still retains its Indian name,^ lies between ranges of precipitous hills. ' Wisamickan, catfish creek ; Wisaucksickan, yellow-colored stream. ^2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Self-guarded by these rock battlements/ it retains that primeval char- acter in which let us hope it will be always preserved. Along its banks through its whole extent, trees and vines hang down to the water's edge, and frequent springs drip from the rocks. Except at times in the spring and autumn when swollen with heavy rains, its waters have in many places scarcely a perceptible motion; it seems to be the bosom of a lake. Its unbroken quiet, its dense woodland, its pine-crowned hills, its sunless recesses, and sense of separation from the outer world, con- trast strongly with the broad lawns, the open flowing river, and the bright sunshine which characterize the banks of the Schuylkill. It is a chosen spot for youth and for old age, for all those whom simple love of nature contents; and it has been the home of romance, the theme of song, the source of illusions and of legends accredited in places not always obscure, from the earliest times to our own days. ^ Until 1826 the Wissahickon was inaccessible except by by-roads and lanes. At the Ridge Road a mass of rock stood on one side and a precipice on the other. During that year the rock was removed, and the present road begun. Until 1822 it emptied into the Schuylkill over a very picturesque fall of water, ten or twelve feet high. FAIRMOUNT PARK; 93 Passing along the margin of the Wissahickon, the main carriage drive reaches first, WISSAHICKON HALL. At this saloon, which is a place of considerable resort, refreshments and ices are sold during the summer, and '^catfish and coffee" at all seasons. A SHORT distance further on, the road passes a second restaurant. THE MAPLE SPRING. The restaurant which bears this name contains a collection of very gro- tesque figures of animals, birds, beasts, and serpents ; these are all the 94 FAIRMOUNT PARK. uncut roots of the laurel, found in these forms in the earth. They are the labor of the proprietor's lifetime in the forests of this State. Bateaux may be obtained at this restaurant, as also at the lower one, by the hour or for the afternoon or day^ for excursions. The west bank of the stream at these points is most conveniently reached by this mode of conveyance. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 95 THE HERMIT'S WELL Is outside the Park limits ; it is reached by crossing a bridge above Ma- ple Spring, and passing along a lane which ascends through the woods. The well was dug by John Kelpius ; the stonework yet remains. A venerable cedar, believed to have been planted by his hands, still throws its grateful shadows over it. 96 FAIRMOUNT PARK. JOHN KELPIUS. *' My food shall be of care and sorrow made, My drink naught else but tears fallen from my eyes; And for my light in this obscure shade, The flames may serve which from my heart arise; And at my gates despair shall linger still, To let in death when love and fortune will." Among the stories of the former dwellers in this romantic region, and of which reliable record remains, that of John Kelpius^ holds a remarkable place. A scholar and a mystic, he came from Germany with his followers towards the close of the seventeenth century. They located themselves on this stream and dwelt in religious meditation, awaiting with anxious prayers the coming of the '' Woman of the Wilderness." Kelpius wore his young life away here, enduring to the end in patient expectation, fast and vigil, waiting morning and evening ^* the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and. the twelve stars on her forehead; she who had fled into the wilderness." » According to the Chronicon Ephratense, 1786, Kelpius was from Siebenburgen, and was of a wealthy family. He studied at Helmstadt under Dr. Fabricius, and was versed in the languages. His companions were all men in easy circumstances (freyen standes), and settled on the Ridge, which at that time was a wilderness, whence they named them- fjelves "the woman in the wilderness." He died at the early age of thirty-five years, sitting in his garden, and attended by his followers weeping as for the loss of a father. The title of one of Kelpius's hymns reads: " Colloquium of the Soul with itself over her long during purification. Set in a pensive longing in the wilderness. Anno 1698, January 30." Bartram, in 1761, makes this characteristic allusion to Dr. Witt, the favorite scholar of Kelpius, then eighty-three years of age : " Poor old man, he was lately in my garden, but could not distinguish a leaf from a flower." He was buried, at his own request, at the feet of Kelpius. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 97 Some of his followers, who were afterwards known as the Hermits of the Ridge, fell away from the faith, others never woke from the strange delusion that brought them so long a journey. They also waited on in their caves among these rocks, with ever-renewing faith, the sign and visible presence, until, their weary limbs shrinking down and their eyes wearing out with watching, they died there, and the foxes made their burrows among their bones. A QUARTER of a mile above the Log Cabin, and also on the opposite bank of the stream, a short distance above the bridge which crosses to the Hermits' Lane, is a high bluff; it is a striking object from the car- riage road. The rock which rises from the bluff is called THE LOVER'S LEAP. The Lover's Leap overlooks from its crest a wild gorge. It is the scene of one of the numerous traditions which survive here. There is an illegible inscription in Latin, said to have been chiselled by Kelpius, on the face of the rock, and at various places around it aspiring Vandals have cut their initials. This rock stands two hundred feet above the surface of the stream. From the rock a deep glen or gorge follows the stream. 9 98 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE HERMITS' GLEN. This glen was a favorite spot with the hermits, the scene of their wanderings. It presents some of the most striking natural features along the stream. Immense boulders of many tons weight lie on the hill-sides; and a short distance above the *' Lover's Leap," another rock juts out to the length of twenty feet. One feels, after climbing to the crest of this rock and looking far down upon the sharp stones in the gorge peer- ing up through the holes and branches of undergrowing trees, not unlike the adventurer who crawls to the edge of Table Rock to look at Niagara. Following the main road a short distance further, a half mile in all above the Log Cabin, we reach a bend in the stream. Here it is joined by a creek coming down from the north; this creek. Paper-mill Run, is scarcely less picturesque in places than the Wissahickon. It joins the latter by a series of waterfalls. The lower of these has a perpendicular descent of about twenty feet over dark shale-like rocks. Near it stands the old house in which David Rittenhouse was born, and near its source the first paper-mill in America was erected by his ancestors in 1690. DAVID RITTENHOUSE. Kelpius had long gone to his rest, and Dr. Witt, his beloved scholar, almost blind with age and watching, was bending hopelessly over his grave, when David Rittenhouse raised his eyes also to the heavens, and with a stronger vision, by faith and by sight, penetrated their remote recesses. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 99 David Rittenhouse, the astronomer, was of Holland ancestry ; he fol- lowed first the plough, but was found so often with the plough lying in the furrow, and the fence full of figures, that he lost that service, and took up the trade of a clockmaker. His first great work, among many others — marvellous in their time, constructed wholly at night, his idle hours as he called them — was the famous orrery now in Princeton College. His next was a series of calculations for the transit of Venus over the sun's disk. This wonderful mechanical contrivance, the universe in motion on a frame, and these accurate and profound calculations, and their verifica- tion by his own observation, gave him a wide-spread reputation in this country and in Europe. The life of David Rittenhouse was mainly con- nected with the world of science, and his fame there rests; but, yet, his mind was also an invaluable machine for the business uses of his genera- tion. He was State Treasurer from 1777 to 1789, afterwards Director of the Mint, and for many years President of the Philosophical Society. Of him Thomas Jefferson says: ^' We have supposed that Rittenhouse must be considered second to no astronomer living; as a genius first, because self-taught ; as an artist, because he has exhibited as great a proof of mechanical skill as the world ever produced. He has not indeed made a world, but he has by imitation approached nearer his Maker than any mere man who has lived from the creation to these days." And this is further said, he gave no time to earn money beyond the most simple necessities of life, and although called to high offices, he had interest in them only as the performance of duties which were necessary for the well- being of his fellow-citizens. He lived — the first and most famous of that illustrious line through which America is rising to pre-eminence among the nations — a devotee of science ; he died a sincere believer in the Christian revelation. lOo FAIRMOUNT PARK. Beyond these points, the road reaches a bridge, over which it crosses to the opposite bank of the stream — the Red Bridge. Beyond the bridge, half a mile further, on the opposite side of the stream, towers MOM. RINKLE'S ROCK. This is a precipice which begins at the stream's edge, and rises abruptly, a solid mass of rock, like a wall among the forest-trees. It has also its legendary story clinging around it ; doled out around old firesides to credulous ears, while there were yet firesides and credulous natures. That a poor old woman, as the story says, lived there, is very possible; that she fell from this giddy precipice, seems most probable; that she was a witch, drank dew from acorn cups, had the evil eye, and floated down the stream to the sea without sinking, is credible to witnesses only. Her name certainly survives, and adventurous boys, climbing this giddy height, shout it out to be called back to them from all the hills around, and so preserve it from generation to generation. The rock, with the exception, perhaps, of Indian rock, is the grandest monarch of them all, and should have a name and association more ap- propriate than this legendary one. To ascend to its summit from the stream is difficult, and requires care ; crossing the first bridge this side the monastery, turning immediately to the right, and keeping a woods- path, which in the spring has a continuous border of violets, you reach a steep hill-slope through which the rock rises — a friendly tree-branch here FAIRMOUNT PARK. lOi and there to grasp, a few minutes' rest after passing some piece of ground which slips the foothold, enables you with a little exertion to reach its summit. The rock juts out along its crest in an almost level ridge ; it overlooks all the surrounding country ; the lofty tops of the pine-trees show far below ; yet further below, the dark recesses of tliQ stream and the old monastery. All around, remote and near, is nature alone ; city and town and busy haunts of men are all shut out by trees and hills and fields, the rock stands over all in solitude — and here, at sunset, when the always shadowy stream and dark pine-trees and deep recesses of the woods lie in a deeper shadow, this high rock stands lit with the golden light of the declining day, like a rich illumination on some missal's dark page — itself and all the scene a greater page of nature — an . . . " elder Scripture writ by God's own hand ; Scripture authentic, uncorrupt by man." A quarter of a mile further, two miles above the mouth of the stream, the road turns abruptly and continues on the same side, overhanging a precipitous chasm ; another road at this point leaves the Park road, descends to and crosses the stream by a bridge ; at the summit of the rise of the Park road, you see below : the bridge — a deep gorge — the stream abandoning its customary quiet, rolling, tumbling, and plashing over rocks — a mill in the gorge — and behind the mill a steep hill ; on its summit stands an oblong stone build- ing known for a century as I02 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE MONASTERY. Some of the windows of this building have been closed up, but the three encircling cornices above each story, the durable character of its masonry, the tall chimney, and a sort of venerable expression which looks out from its rough faces, indicate that it is a landmark of a past generation. It was once used for a monastery. It stands upon high ground, but the tall ranges of hills tower high above it. A lane winds around the bend of the bluff and climbs up its steep side, forming in front of the house a semicircular lawn. In the valley below (^'Willow Glen") there is a spot known as the Baptistery. Here the monks immersed their converts. The yard in the rear of the dwelling was used by them for the burial of their dead. Three steps of stone, rounded by the rains of years, lead to a sort of elevated plot encompassed by an old wall. Here the ritual was said, and the brothers chanted their burial-service. This building has stood there considerably over a century. Some accounts affirm that its inmates were of a Baptist order ; others, which have a documentary attestation, that they were mystics, whose followers in man- ners and custom are still scattered along the region of Ephrata. Men certainly they were who came down close to nature, to the earth, and solitude, and sought out from the silence of desert places, however vainly, a pathway to the Light Illimitable. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 103 The scenery at this point is very attractive. The suggestive old build- ing ; the trees along the hill-side set on rocks instead of natural soil ; the road itself perched high above the chasm ; the roaring and tumbling of the waters below as you ascend the hill ; the change to silence as the carriage rolls along through a dense environing of forest-trees — are all impressive in a very remarkable degree. A MILE further (three miles from the mouth of the Wissahickon), on the west bank, are certain caves, interesting to the antiquary. I04 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE CAVES. The caves are situated in a lovely valley formed by the junction of a small stream with the Wissahickon. The most remarkable of them is referable to a certain period. It was excavated by miners led to the work by visions and witch-hazels indicating treasures there. Over it the rocks are about eighteen or twenty feet high, and much broken. Large forest-trees are growing on the summit. The cave or excavation extends into the solid rock thirty feet. It is five feet high, and five and a half wide ; at the back part a man can stand erect. Fifty years after it had been closed, a venturous antiquary succeeded in getting under the huge root of a buttonwood which had grown across its mouth, and threaded its dark and narrow passages. He there witnessed the useless labors of the men in whose imaginations heaps of glittering gold had lain, luring them on to waste the best years of their lives, and, in a certain sense, to dig their own graves. The others of these caves are natural, have legend- ary histories traceable to no certain origins, perhaps holes for the bears and foxes, the resorts possibly of Indians; it may be Logan's wild Irish hound made in them his home. A SHORT distance beyond (three and a half miles from its mouth), a bridge crosses the stream at one of the most striking pieces of landscape along this whole section of the Park. As you approach this bridge, on the opposite shore, in early spring, winter, and autumn, there is a strange effect of deciduous trees among evergreens ; skeletons, as Dord would draw them, rising up along the verdure-crowned steep. FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE PIPE BRIDGE. 105 This bridge, finished last year, carries the water supply from the Rox- borough to the Mount Airy reservoir at Germantown. It is a graceful structure, lifted a considerable height above the stream, and presenting the appearance of three light festoons hanging between the piers. The bridge is iron, and has four spans, each 172 feet 9 inches; its whole length is 691 feet, and it is supported by three iron piers, 8^ feet high, set on masonry 20 feet high; an altitude of 103 feet above the level of the stream. Two twenty-inch water mains form the top cord of the bridge.^ 1 Dr. Franklin in his will (1780) recommends, '« as a mark of his good- will, a token of his gratitude, and a desire to be useful to us after his departure," that a portion of the legacy left to accumulate for the benefit of the city of Philadelphia, be employed "at the end of one hundred years, if not done before, in bringing by pipes the water of the Wis- sahickon Creek into the town so as to supply the inhabitants." His legacy remains un- used, but the work, by the appropriation of these creek borders and pipe connections, has now been completely done, and is a most appropriate tribute to his memory. io6 FAIRMOUNT PARK. A HUNDRED yards above the Pipe Bridge, a wooden bridge crosses the stream ; leaving the carriage and crossing this bridge, turning to the left and following a pathway a short distance along the hill-side, your progress will be arrested by a stream, Creshein Creek, which joins the Wissahickon. At this point is FAIRMOUNT PARK. 107 THE DEVIL'S POOL. A spot frequented first by the superstitious i)i the early days of the pro- vince, and now, for more than half a century, by artists and all lovers of nature. It is certainly a wild place ; rocks are thrown together in great masses, and the long trunks of hemlocks and pines jut up from the darkness around the pool into the sunshine above. io8 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The waters of a small tributary of the Wissahickon run into this pool, whose depth has been very suggestive to the superstitious minds which gave it its name. The place is very readily accessible, and artists' sketches through our galleries have made it widely known. It was the scene of an engagement during the battle of Germantown, and its waters once had stains best now forgotten. The road reaches, a quarter of a mile beyond this bridge, VALLEY GREEN. Here the hills open out into the sunlight, and a stone bridge with strong buttresses winds across the stream. The bridge has one arch, and the FAIRMOUNT PARK. joo arch and shadow on bright days (so clear is the reflection) seem one piece of masonry, an entire oval. The transition from the close surroundings of the road below this point, to the widening hills beyond it, is very pleasing. The hotel here is a favorite stopping-place for carriages passing through this portion of the Park. Half a mile further, on the left-hand side of the road, under rocks, covered with ferns and wild-flowers, is a marble water-basin. THE FIRST FOUNTAIN. This is the first drinking-fountain erected in Philadelphia. It bears date 1854. A clear, cold mountain spring constantly fills the basin. On 10 jio FAIRMOUNT PARK. a slab above it are cut the words ''Pro bono publico," and below, ''Esto perpetua' ' ( For the public good ; Let it remain forever) ; which liberal desire and prayer the dedication of these grounds, after sixteen years, has invisibly, though not less really, lettered over every spring along the borders of the stream. ''Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days." This fountain was the joint offering, to public use, of John Cook, by whom it was erected, and Charles Magarge, the owner of the spring. They donated this summer (1871) the fountain, and ground around it sufficient for its convenient use, to the Park Commissioners. Half a mile further, on the opposite side of the stream, looms grandly up, INDIAN ROCK. Here the stream enters a deep gorge. The hills tower almost perpen- dicularly, and the place has the solemn stillness of the shores of some far- off waters in the yet unbroken wilderness. A few huge rocks lie in the bed of the creek, but make no eddies in the water. The woods, clothing the inclosing steeps, bury their shadows in its dark surface. The rock, plainly seen from the road, very wild, grand, and lofty, crowns the sum- mits of the eastern range of hills. It is shaped like a fireplace or a pulpit, square, with a deep cavity or hollow in its front. On its top stands the rude figure of an Indian, set there in remembrance of the last chief of the aborigines (the Lenni Lenape tribe) on these grounds. This chief, with forty other Indians, mostly women (the men had gone before), left this section about the time of the Revolution. They had remained long FAIRMOUNT PARK. ui after the others of their tribe on these old hunting-grounds, but they had kept their savage nature and costume unchanged. The chief, with his blanket wrapped about him, and his tall plume of feathers on his brow, strode before; and the women, with their packs strapped across their backs and across their foreheads, followed after. So they joined the others in their journey toward the setting sun, " To the land of the Dacotahs, To the land of the hereafter." Is it hard in this wild place still to imagine their light canoes stealing along through the evening or morning shadows ? Tedyuscung, whose name this rude figure improperly bears, was no true savage — was litigious, was frequently drunk, and showed also other evidences of a tendency to lapse into civilization. The road continues on a mile further, through the same general char- acter of scenery, to the northern limits of the Park, at Thorp's mill lane, which crosses a bridge and by a steep ascent reaches 112 FAIRMOUNT PARK. CHESTNUT HILL. This hill is the site of many of the best suburban residences of Phila- delphia. Here all the wild scenery of the Wissahickon, so closely shut FAIRMOUNT PARK. n^ in, opens outward over broad tracts of farm-land and distant mountains. It is a fitting terminus to this section, affording a view northward as grand in its character as from Mount Prospect over the lower section of the Park; each completing the idea, conceived in the appropriation of these grounds, to lead the visitor from attraction to attraction, and close with an effect in nature which leaves nothing to desire. 10^ 114 FAIRMOUNT PARK. GALA-DAYS IN THE PARK. , THE WINTER SEASON. Before the Revolution, if we may credit Graydon in his Memoirs, there were no graceful skaters outside of Philadelphia. * ' I have seen, ' ' he says, *'New England skaters and Old England skaters, and Holland skaters, but the best of them could but make the judicious grieve; and though they (the Philadelphians) have never reduced it to a science, like the Londoners, nor connected it with their business, like Dutchmen, I will yet hazard the opinion that they are the best and most elegant skaters in the world." This may or may not be true now; but certainly one of the most pleasing sights this river presents is in midwinter, during the season of their carnival, and the intricate and graceful evolutions of some of these voyagers on the iron keel would seem still to challenge rivalry in this fine accomplishment and most healthful and enjoyable exercise. What is of equal moment, their complete apparatus frees the pleasure from its ordinary danger. The sleighers have also a fine route over the grounds to Belmont, whose restaurateur receives visitors the whole year, and in this season keeps an open wood-fire in its ancient hall. THE REGATTAS. These days have been epochs of pleasure for half a century to our citizens and strangers. The skill and emulation of the bargemen, and complete appointments of the Schuylkill Navy, give them great interest. In other places, we have spoken of the picturesque effects of these barges on the river. A description of the boat-houses and clubs also has its place elsewhere. FAIRMOUNT PARK. MILITARY PARADES. 115 In the original plan for laying out these grounds, adopted in 1859, a parade-ground was reserved on the tract lying contiguous to the present Mansion at the Hills ; it was used for drill by the First City Troop, and other organizations at the opening of the late war ; other portions of the grounds are now used for military parades and reviews ; the favorite site being the Lansdowne estate. These are grand occasions, and attract large concourses of people. MUSIC DAYS. A band plays on successive days during the week at the Hills, George's Hill, and Belmont, and adds greatly to the pleasure of the summer afternoons. THE GERMAN FESTIVALS. Our German population, fathers, wives, sons, and daughters — the family — have been our best examples in the use of these grounds ; from a time long anterior to our Park era, and while Parks were believed to be unsuitable to our business age, they resorted here to celebrate their national anniversaries; and here the various societies, gymnasts, and singers were wont to pass days of much exhilaration and real pleasure. Every house on the grounds was, at one time, devoted to the sale of the beverages of the fatherland — the hotels at Fairmount, the mansion at the Hills, the Sweet Brier Mansion, the mansion which formerly stood at Egglesfield, and all the mansions on the west bank of the river, were devoted to the music, the dances, and the athletic sports of our Teutonic brethren. A grand festival to the memory of Baron Steuben was once appropriately held on these grounds; the centenary of Humboldt was their last celebration. Ii6 FAIRMOUNT PARK. NUTTING DAY. This most charming feature in the enjoyment of the Park takes place late in the month of October or early in November, governed by the character of the season. The very large number of nut-bearing trees^ within the Park limits suggested to the Commissioners this pleasure for the school-children which has become a gala day for the whole city. By admirable arrangements with the railroads passing through and near the Park, the children, ninety thousand, are by large trains set down in sections at various points at the same time. Early on the morning of this long-anticipated occasion, nature is startled from the proprieties fitting to those ^'melancholy days, the saddest of the year," and the whole Park becomes a moving panorama for miles of happy, singing, romping, laughing children. When the reader reflects that on the last of these favorite days, one-sixth of the entire population of Philadelphia, by care- ful computation, were gathered on these grounds, he may realize a scene which a genial writer in our sister city well describes : — ■ *' Old mother nature kept one of her kindest smiles on that autumn day for the little ones. The sun was warm, the air bracing, and a yellow October haze had turned the road dust into sifted gold, and every stubbly hill-top into the delectable mountains. '*To the children it was something which, in after years, would appear a big bright slice of their childhood. It was a new song in the dusty market-place, with a far-off echo of heaven in it, which they would learn by heart and we fancy will never forget. Even Croesus must pay a sum which gripes him for a picture by the old masters ; but every urchin took home with him from that nutting frolic a landscape of red-tinted trees and glancing rivers which Rembrandt nor Turner could paint; a p'icture ^ The nut-bearing trees in the lower section of the Park number four thousand. FAIRMOUNT PARK. I17 at whose coloring no critic should ever fling his vapidities, its greens and umbers would only deepen and soften into rarer truth with time. There is a great and beautiful idea here; no educator is so ennobling, so liberalizing, as the hills and the sea. Contact with God's world outside of a town is as necessary for the full development of the soul of a boy as fresh air is for his body. ' ' THE MASTER MECHANICS' CONVENTION. " Honors us the toil-worn hand," These grounds were last year the scene of an assemblage of the repre- sentatives of that power which characterizes the age in which we live. The mechanics of our nation assembled most appropriately where Frank- lin first effected that telegraphic connection with the clouds which now works by instant communication over the surface of the world ; and beside the waters of a river on which the first successful effort was made to move a vessel by that power which now rules all waters. In this age which moves on iron rails, thinks through iron wire, and has its being by mechanical contrivances, the highest representative is the mechanic. The crystal roofs of his palaces are open on every side to the sunlight, and their iron walls have no trace of human blood ; they are more honored than the palaces of hereditary kings, and in them assemble the subjects of no single empire, but the kings and peoples of the earth. The nation has accepted him as its representative to do honor on these grounds to the memory of the fathers of the republic on the day of the centenary, and the erection of one of those palaces for the first time in a State founded in deeds of peace, and on grounds free to all races and conditions of men, celebrates most fitly this great event of the age and the century. Ii8 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE CENTENARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. *' The descendants of the old thirteen and their children will gather around the Inde- pendence altar of the country hallowed by Hancock, Morris, and Virginia's noblest son, and on that altar lay the fruits of peace." At Belmont Mansion, June 17th, 1870, was received the Congressional Committee on the Centenary of American Independence. Their favor- able report has now been sanctioned by Congress. Historic justice re- quired that this most memorable celebration in the relations of ourselves with the past, should be held at Philadelphia. Our city has the Hall of Independence, from whose steps the great Declaration was read, and from whose steeple the Bell of Freedom tolled ; and our State holds the decisive battle-field which extended the area of freedom so as to embrace all races of men, and secured an indivisible nationality for the States of America. Fittingly then shall the grander power of the present age be gathered at Philadelphia to do homage to its noble past, its soldiers, its statesmen, its philosophers, on whose work of hand and brain the nation and the age itself rest securely. On the 4th day of July, 1876, will assemble in Philadelphia, and on these national grounds, the great West — the future seat of the power of the nation ; the South — our brothers still, and more than ever now our brothers ; and the East — the seat of our most advanced intelligence ; with many earnest men, for freedom's sake, FAIRMOUNT PARK. up from other lands. It will be our privilege to make the City of Brotherly Love on that forever to be memorable day a hospitable home — a Mecca for the nation ; and, ** with malice towards none, with charity for ALL," on these grounds, endeared by associations with the Fathers of the Revolution, to renew their solemn vow to maintain and preserve the American Union. I20 PAIRMOUNT PARK. EXCURSIONS THROUGH THE PARK. THE USUAL WATER EXCURSION. By Steamboat, at Fairmount, to Sweet Brier, Columbia Bridge, Lans- downe, the Falls, the Wissahickon. BATEAU EXCURSION ON THE WISSAHICKON. At Wissahickon Hall, or Maple Springs, a bateau may be taken for the morning or afternoon. Return by Ridge Avenue cars to the city, or by boat to Fairmount. A BATEAU EXCURSION ON THE SCHUYLKILL. A bateau may be taken near the Park carriage stand at Fairmount, and points of interest visited along the shores. THE FAVORITE CARRIAGE DRIVE. From Fairmount to George's Hill, Belmont, and Mt. Prospect, return to Fairmount. A MORNING OR AFTERNOON TOUR. From Fairmount, by main carriage drive, to Mount Prospect, to the Falls Bridge, and by the Ridge Avenue to the Wissahickon, by the Wissahickon road to Valley Green ; return by Ridge Avenue into and through the east bank, or cross at Falls Bridge and by River Road, to Fairmount — time, four or five hours. A day's JOURNEY WITH CARRIAGE. From Fairmount, by the River Road, to the east bank; through this section to the Ridge Avenue, and by the Falls to the W^issahickon j up the FAIRMOUNT PARK. 121 Wissaliickon to Thorp's Mill Road, and by this road to Chestnut Hill. Return through Germantown and by School Lane, to the Falls. Cross the river at Falls Bridge; keep on the Falls road into the Park, and by Belmont to George's Hill; thence to Lansdowne, cross the river at the Girard Avenue Bridge, and pass over the Hills to Fairmount en- trance, and by Green Street to Broad Street. TWO hours' pedestrian trip. Take Park accommodation train to Columbia Bridge ; thence walk from house to house, along the east bank, to Laurel Hill ; thence by Ridge Avenue cars to the city. THREE hours' PEDESTRIAN TRIP. Take Park accommodation to Mount Prospect and walk back to Bel- mont, and from Belmont by the ravines to Fairmount. It is three hours' leisure walking, car time inclusive, from Thirteenth and Callowhill Streets Depot via as above to Fairmount. FIVE hours' PEDESTRIAN TRIP. Take Reading Railroad, Norristown branch, to Chestnut Hill; then descend the hill to the Wissahi^on, and return along the Wissahickon road to Ridge Avenue ; take Ridge Avenue cars to the city. Five hours from the city, via Chestnut Hill, car time inclusive, back to the city. A day's journey for a PEDESTRIAN. From Fairmount entrance, by way of the Park carriage stand, along the range of boat-houses, to the Skaters' Club house (the last house) ; thence ascend the hill, by the Pavilion, on the bluff, continue the walk II 122 FAIRMOUNT PARK. by Grant's house, cross the Girard Avenue Bridge; thence to Lansdowne entrance, and through Sweet Brier and Lansdowne valleys, and up the zigzag, to the Concourse, then through Belmont valley; cross to George's Hill, and from the Hill, by main carriage drive, to Belmont; thence to Mount Prospect, descend the hill to the river road; pass along this road to Falls Bridge, there cross to the Falls Village ; pass along the Ridge Avenue to the Wissahickon, along the Wissahickon to Thorp's Mill road; up this road to Chestnut Hill; return along the same route, by the Falls Village, to the Park entrance on the Ridge Avenue, then along the bluff of the east bank to Columbia Bridge, then by the Schuylkill Water Works, and across the Hills to Fairmount. This walk embraces all the objects of interest in the whole Park. It is a day's journey for a pedestrian, and a good, healthy one. Walking is our best English inheritance; with more walking, MEN and women WILL HAVE LONGER AND LEAD BETTER LIVES. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 12^ TABLE OF DISTANCES. FROM FAIRMOUNT. To Girard Avenue Bridge . . I mile. " Lansdowne Entrance . lii " " Lansdowne . 2}i miles " George's Hill, direct . ZVz " " " « via Belmont . . AY^ " " Belmont, direct . . . . . ZVz " " " via George's Hill . . AVz " " Mount Prospect, via Belmont . AVz " « " " George's Hill • sv^ " " The Falls, via River Road . • AVz " " " " George's Hill . ^Vz " " The Wissahickon, via River Road . SVz " " " " " George's Hill . 7X " " " « East Bank . . 4 " From the Falls to Wissahickon . I mile. To Maple Spring Hotel \X " " The Pipe Bridge . . . . . AM, miles. " Valley Green 4K " " The First Fountain 5>^ " " Indian Rock .... 5X " « Thorp's Mill Road . . . . 7 " " Chestnut Hill . . . . . IVz ** 124 FAIRMOUNT PARK. RULES AND REGULATIONS. Section I. — Penal. 1. No person shall drive or ride in Fairmount Park at a rate exceeding seven miles an hour. 2. No one shall ride or drive therein upon any other part of the Park than upon the avenues and roads. 3. No vehicle of burden or traffic shall pass through the Park. 4. No person shall enter or leave the Park except by such gates or avenues as may be for such purpose arranged. 5. No coach or vehicle used for hire shall stand upon any part of the Park, for the purpose of hire. 6. No person shall indulge in any threatening, abusive, insulting, or indecent language in the Park. 7. No person shall engage in any gaming, nor commit any obscene or indecent act, in the Park. 8. No person shall carry fire-arms or shoot birds in the Park, or with- in fifty yards thereof, or throw stones or other missiles therein. 9. No person shall disturb the fish or water-fowl in the pool or pond, or birds in any part of the Park, or annoy, strike, injure, maim, or kill any animal kept by the direction of the Commissioners, either running at large or confined in a close; nor discharge any fireworks, nor aflSx any bills or notices therein. 10. No person shall cut, break, or in any wise injure or deface the trees, shrubs, plants, turf, or any of the buildings, fences, bridges, structures, or statuary, or foul any fountains or springs within the Park. 11. No person shall throw any dead animal or offensive matter or sub- FAIRMOUNT PARK. 125 Stance of any kind, into the river Schuylkill, within the boundaries of Fairmount Park. 12. No person shall go in to bathe within the Park. 13. No person shall turn cattle, goats, swine, horses, dogs, or other animals loose into the Park. 14. No person shall injure, deface, or destroy any notices, rules, or regulations for the government of the Park, posted or in any other man- ner permanently fixed by order or permission of the Commissioners of Fairmount Park within the limits of the same. Any person who shall violate any of said Rules and Regulations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each and every such offence shall pay the sum of five dollars, to be recovered before any Alderman of the city of Philadelphia, as debts of that amount are recoverable, which fines shall be paid into the City Treasury, for Park purposes. Section II. — Licenses. 1. No person shall expose any article for sale within the Park, without the previous license of the Park Commissioners. 2. No person shall have any musical, theatrical, or other entertainment therein, nor shall any military or other parade or procession, or funeral, take place in or pass through the limits of the Park, without the license of the Park Commissioners. 3. No gathering or meeting of any kind, assembled through advertise- ment, shall be permitted in the Park without the previous permission of the Commissioners. 4. No person shall engage in any play at base-ball, cricket, shinney, foot-ball, croquet, or at any other games with ball and bat, nor shall any foot-race or horse-race be permitted within the limits of the Park, except on such grounds only as shall be specially designated for such purpose. II* 126 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 5. No person shall take ice from the Schuylkill within the Park, with- out the license of the said Commissioners first had, upon such terms as they may think proper. 6. No person shall be permitted to use the shores of the river Schuylkill within the boundaries of Fairmount Park as a landing-place for boats, or keep thereat boats for hire, nor floating boat-houses with pleasure-boats for hire, except by special license or lease granted by the Commissioners, to be paid for as the Commissioners shall from time to time direct, and only at places designated by and under restrictions determined upon by said Commissioners. 7. No regatta or boat-race by boat-clubs, whose houses are built upon any part of the Park grounds, shall take place within the boundaries of the Park without special permission granted by the Commissioners, or by their Committee on Superintendence and Police. 8. Every boat or skating club, whose house or building is built on Park grounds, shall be required to obtain a license or lease from the Commissioners, on such terms and under such restrictions as the Commis- sioners shall determine. Section III. — Prohibitions. 1. No gathering or meeting for political purposes in the Park shall be permitted under any circumstances. 2. No intoxicating liquors shall be allowed to be sold within said Park. Section IV. — Duties of Park- Guard or Police. I. It shall be the duty of the Park- Guard or Police appointed to duty in the Park, without warrant, forthwith to arrest any offender against the preceding rules and regulations, whom they may detect in the commis- FAIRMOUNT PARK. 127 sion of such offence, and to take the person or persons so arrested forth- with before a magistrate having competent jurisdiction. 2. It shall be the duty of the Park-Guard or Police appointed to duty in the Park, at the termination of each week, to make a written report to the Committee on Superintendence and Police of all infractions of these rules and regulations, the number of arrests made, the nature of each offence, the name of the magistrate before whom each offender was taken, and the amounts of fines imposed and paid in each case. By order of the Commissioners of Fairmount Park. 128 FAIRMOUNT PARK. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PARK-GUARD. 1. Neatness in dress, propriety in speech and demeanor, perfect sobriety, obliging manners, and courtesy towards every visitor of the Park, are essential requisites for a satisfactory discharge of the duties of the Guard. 2. The uniform of the Guard being furnished by the Commissioners, it is only to be worn when on duty, and is to be kept in a cleanly and tidy condition. 3. The Guard is expected to render all possible aid and assistance in case of accidents to pedestrians, horsemen, or carriages, and particularly to protect females and children against every kind of annoyance, rudeness, or insult from evil-disposed and disorderly persons. 4. Whilst the Guard is expected to repress every kind of disorder and misconduct on the part of visitors, and to arrest those who are clearly guilty of an intentional violation of the rules and regulations ordained for the government and protection of the Park, great care is recommended not to become over-meddlesome, and thereby create instead of avoiding disorder. 5. Arrests should only be made when either the Guard himself or some respectable person at hand can testify to a malicious violation of the rules and regulations. 6. No arrest should be made for mere trifling violations, when a quiet reminder or reprimand would suffice to prevent a repetition of the offence. 7. Great indulgence is recommended towards children ; but discreet, dignified, yet firm and decisive action towards gangs of unruly boys. 8. No officer of the peace should ever disgrace his position by abusing his authority, or by the exercise of tyranny make himself a terror to well- disposed citizens. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 129 9. The Guard will remember that they are numbered, to enable any respectable person to complain of their misconduct, which, when clearly established, will lead to their immediate dismissal. 10. The Guard is required to make faithfully the weekly written report prescribed by the rules, and hand the same to the Chairman of the Com- mittee on Superintendence and Police, stating at the same time all com- plaints made by respectable persons concerning inconveniences or annoy- ances in the Park. 11. The Guard is under the immediate direction of the Committee on Superintendence and Police. The Guard is required to obey the orders of the Chief Engineer of the Park. Such as are stationed near the Fair- mount Water Works, or near any other water works of the city of Phila- delphia, will duly respect the orders of the Chief Engineer of Water Works touching the property belonging to his department within the Park. 12. In cases of emergency, the Park-Guard is subject to the orders of the Mayor of the city of Philadelphia. 13. The Park-Guard is required to be on duty from 7 A.M. till sunset, during the months of May, June, July, August, September, and October. Those of the Guard who are on duty during the night, are required to report themselves half an hour before the day Guard is relieved. 14. Every member of the Guard is bound to report in person at least once during every twenty-four hours, at the office of the Chief Engineer, situated within the limits of the Park. 15. In case of sickness or other unavoidable inability to attend to his duty, every member of the Guard is required to have the fact immediately reported at the office of the Chief Engineer. 16. Room will be provided near the Chief Engineer's office for the convenience of the Guard to put on and take off the Guard uniform. By order of the Committee on Superintendence and Police. rLA\@s @FTmm COMMODORE VICE COMMOOORE PHILADELPHIA. MALTA CRESCENT II BACHELORS HE DUVAL STEAM UTH. CO PHIL^ PACIFIC VESPER THE SCHUYLKILL NAVY. The boats are classified as follows : — First Class .... Shells. Second Class . . . Outrigger Lapstreaks. Third Class .... Smooth Gunwale Barges. The regulation size of flags is as follows : — For boat-house, 30 X 4° inches, bunting. " boats, 12 X iS " silk, to be carried at the bow. <' racing, 6x8"" " " THE PACIFIC BARGE CLUB. Organized June 15, 1859. It is unattached to the Navy. Uniform: winter — pants dark blue cloth (Navy style), shirt black and scarlet striped, caps leather (skull) ; summer — pants white linen, hats straw. Number of members, active twenty, honorary four. BOATS. Imp . . . length, 42 feet; oars, 6; class, 3d; color, varnished Spanish cedar. Flirt . . " 38 " "4; " 3d; " white cedar, painted. Wren . , " 27 " double sculls ; class, ist; color, varnished Spanish cedar. The Imp is considered the best boat of its class on the river ; carries eighteen persons. The club has an elegant model of the Wren, made by one of their members. It is twenty-seven inches long, of six different woods ; com- plete in every particular, and fastened with five hundred and four copper rivets. THE QUAKER CITY BARGE CLUB. Organized October 20, 1858. Uniform: shirt blue, with white trim- ming and trefoil corners ; cap blue, with name on front; jacket blue, with navy buttons; pants blue. Number of members, active thirty, honorary (131) 132 FAIRMOUNT PARK. six. This club has held the first class champion flag for three successive years. It has also the second class champion flag for four-oared boats. Nautilus . Cygnet . . Bertha . . Swan . . . Spider . . Iris .... Wasp . . . BOATS, length, 48 feet; oars, 4; class, 1st; color, varnished. 42 25 30 17 40 40 "4; " 2d; " white, double sculls ; class, 2d ; color, white, single " " 1st; paper. oars, 6 ; " 3d ; color, white body. " 4; class, 1st; paper. These two clubs occupy the first of the range of barge- houses going from Fairmount. It is of stone, and was built in i860. It is fifty-five feet long and thirty-five feet wide, divided into two compartments. The house has balconies at each end. THE PENNSYLVANIA BARGE CLUB. Was organized June 4, 1861, as the Atlantic Barge Club, and subse- quently changed to this name. Uniform : dark blue shirt, dark blue pants, and leather cap. Active members twenty-five, contributors thirty. Among their boats is a twelve-inch paper shell, thirty -two feet long; weight, thirty-two pounds ; built for and named Henry Coulter. BOATS. Falcon length, 42 feet; oars, 6; class, 3d; color, red, gold stripe. Stranger ... " 38 " "4; " 3d; " black, gold stripe. Mermaid. ... " 42 " "4; " 2d; '< varnished. Celia " 20 " double sculls ; class, 2d ; color, red, black stripe. JohnCulin . . « 34H" single " " 1st; " varnished. Henry Coulter " 32 " " *' *' ist; " «' paper. JosiE " SSK" " " " 1st; " " " FAIRMOUNT PARK. ^33 THE CRESCENT BOAT CLUB. Organized December ist, 1867. Uniform: for winter — dark navy blue coat, shirt, and trowsers, sailor cap with the club name; summer — straw hat, blue shirt and trowsers. Active members thirty-two, contri- buting eighteen. BOATS. Intrepid . . . length, 48 feet ; oars, 6; class, 2d; color, gi-een, black stripe. loNE " 42 " " 6; " 3d; " crimson, gold stripe. Sylph .... " 25 " double sculls; class, 2d; color, crimson, gold stripe. Turtle ... " 143^" " " " 2d; " " " " Nereid ... " 221,/" '< " " 2d; " " " " Owlet .... " 35 " " " " ist; varnished. Crescent. . . " 42 " oars, 4; class, ist; color, " Petrel .... " 25 " single " ist; " " Frolic .... " 28 " " « ist; " « Ah Sin ... . " 28 " « " ist; " « Clam " 15 " " scull; class, 2d; black. The Pennsylvania and Crescent Clubs own and occupy the same build- ing (the second of the houses) ; it is of stone, fifty by forty feet, two stories in height, with a Mansard roof. Each club has entirely separate apartments, the boat-rooms on the first floor being separated by a stone partition-wall. In consequence of the higher grade on the Park front, the house is entered on the second floor, a six feet wide hall running between the dressing and reception rooms, on each side. The Crescent occupy the southwest side of the building. Their rooms are plastered alike, roughcast tinted, with gilt cornices. The dressing-room is furnished with closets for each member, a six-light chandelier, side lights, mirror, &c.; the wood-work finished in oak, and the floor oiled and varnished. 12 J -4 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The reception-room is finished in walnut, has a four-light chandelier, the furniture walnut and green rep ; the windows are curtained, the floor carpeted, and the walls decorated with paintings. A glass door opens out upon a balcony which extends along the entire river front of the house. The above-mentioned clubs were the first to introduce this style of building, affording the most commodious boat-houses in this country. BACHELORS' BARGE CLUB. Organized on the 4th of July, 1853; it is . unattached to the Navy. Uniform : blue flannel shirt, bound with single white braid, gilt buttons on front and on the cufls; blue cloth pants, heavy blue cloth pea-jacket, blue cloth navy cap lettered Bachelor, and black silk neckerchief. Summer : straw hat, black ribbon streamer and gilt letters Bachelor in front Twenty-nine active members, twenty-three honorary members. BOATS. Bachelor . . . length, 52 feet; oars, 6; class, ist; color, varnished. Linda " 50 " "6; " 3d; " Lotus " 42 " " 4 ; " 2d ; " green, gold stripe. Gazelle. ... " 25 " double sculls; class, 2d; color, varnished. Brat " 30 " one pair sculls " ist; " " Cub " 32 " " " " " 1st; " " " — " oars, 4; class, 1st; color, varnished. The house of this club is the third of the boat-houses ; a neat brown stone, Gothic edifice, two stories high, with balconies. It is fifty-five feet long, and twenty-five feet wide. It, as also the others, have the same general style and arrangements with the first of the houses. FAIRMOUNT PARK. UNIVERSITY BARGE CLUB. 135 Organized April 25, 1854, by classmen of the University of Pennsyl- vania. Uniform : red flannel shirt bound with black braid, jet buttons, and falling collar with black silk stars in the corners ; black pantaloons in winter, white in summer; black patent-leather belt with U. B. C. in raised plated letters ; black silk necktie ; black morocco jockey cap in winter, and in summer a white Mackinaw straw hat bound with black, with University in gold letters on the ribbon, and the initials of the owner painted in black on the crown. Forty-two active members, thirty-six honorary. It is now the senior club of the Navy. BOATS. University, length, 48 feet ; oars, 4; class, ist; color, varnished. Hesperus " 36 " "4; " ist; <' " Lucifer . " 45 " " 6; *' 2d; " white, black and red stripe. PHILADELPHIA BARGE CLUB. Organized December 8, 1862; incorporated July 13, 1870. Uniform: a plain double-breasted shirt of blue flannel, covered buttons, and white flannel trowsers, pea-jacket, and skullcap of same material as shirt. Number of members, seventeen active, and nine honorary. BOATS. Faugh a Ballagh, length, 42 feet ; oars, 6 ; class, 2d ; color, varnished. No Name *' 22 " double sculls ; class, 2d; color, varnished. '* 41 " oars, 4; class, ist; paper; weight 100 pounds. " 37 " " "3d; color, varnished. " 17 " single scull ; class, 2d ; color, varnished. The University and Philadelphia occupy jointly the fourth of the houses. It is 42 X 57 feet j built of West Chester green stone. Mansard 136 FAIRMOUNT PARK. roof; bay windows on the Park side, and is fitted up with dressing and reception rooms, balcony extending over the whole river front, and over the bay windows on the Park side. MALTA BOAT CLUB. Organized February, i860. The uniform is blue shirt trimmed with red cord, blue pants, blue sack-coat with navy buttons, and blue cap. Members, thirty-two active, three contributing, one honorary. In addi- tion to the boats as classified, this club is building two others. BOATS. Hiawatha . . length 43 feet; oars, 6; class, 2d; color, green, gold stripe. Minnehaha <( 35 " a 6; " 3d; " orange, gold stripe Columbia . (( 45 " "6; " 2d; " varnished. Idalia . . . Cl 46 " "4; " 1st; ." ti Wasp .... ti 18 " double sculls ; class, 3d ; color, varnished. VESPER BOAT CLUB. Organized February 22, 1865. It is unattached to the Navy. The uniform is dark blue flannel shirt (U. S. seaman's pattern), dark blue pants, cap, and pea-jacket. Members, thirty-six active, ten honorary. Vesper . . Venture . Onward . Vagabond Volant . BOATS, length, 42)^ feet; oars, 6; class, 3d; color, white, gold stripe. " " 37 " "4; " 3d; " varnished. " 31K " "4; " 2d; " red, gold stripe. " 26 " double sculls ; class, 2d ; color, varnished. " 42 " oars, 4; class, 1st; color, varnished. Two single working boats. The house of the Vesper and Malta is the fifth in order. Is an ornate structure of stone. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 137 THE UNDINE BARGE CLUB. Organized May 9, 1856. Uniform : blue flannel shirt with white trim- mings, blue pants, straw hat, black ribbon with word Undine in gilt letters. Members, fifty-eight active, ten honorary. A record of one of its members, from August, 1862, to January, 1871, shows an actual dis- tance pulled of over 11,481 miles. The Club's record shows that its boats are out from five hundred to seven hundred times yearly. For the year 1868, five hundred and fifty-onetimes; 1869, seven hundred and forty-five times; 1870, six hundred and fifty times. The greatest number of miles rowed by a member was in 1866, 1402 miles; in 1867, 1224; in 1868, 1281; in 1869, 2643; ^^ 1S70, 1202. In 1868, twenty-four members rowed an average of 443 miles; in 1869, eighteen members an average of 551; in 1870, twenty-two members an average of 410. This Club occupies a portion of the Skating Club's house. BOATS. Scud length, 43 feet; oars, 4; class, ist Whisper .... New Atalanta Old Atalanta Undine .... Fawn Crab Selah Ripple "C. V" .... Terrapin . . . 4; 6; 6; 6; double sculls ; class, 2d ; color, blue, gold stripe. 42 " 45 " 40 " 40 " 23 '4 " 17 " 31 u 20 '* " 17 " " 34 " double sculls ; 1st 2d 2d, 3d; color, varnished. blue, gold stripe. I pair single 2d; ist; 1st; (( 2d; 1st; " varnished. 12' I3S FAIRMOUNT PARK. ROWING TIME. The best time as yet made on the Schuylkill is — June I, 1867. Hesperus .... 4 oars, ist class Bachelor .... 6 Iris 6 ist (( T te '■> " 15, " New Atalanta . 6 " 2d " July 1869. Hiawatha .... 6 " 2d " «« " Minnehaha . . . 6 " 3d " Oct. I, 1870. Quaker City . . 4 " ist " " 5, " Single Scull. 20 min .03 sec. 3 miles 20 " 38 19 " 32 18 « 54 18 « 02 19 « 05 19 " 26 20 " The distance from Turtle Rock to Girard Avenue Bridge is 2060 feet ; to the rock just beyond the Connecting Railway Bridge on the west bank, ^ a mile ; to a point half-way between the lower end of the island and the steamboat landing on the west bank, i mile; to the Columbia Bridge, i mile and 1400 feet; to the middle of Peters Island, i)^mile; to Berkenbine's clearing, 2 miles ; to Laurel Hill landing, 2 miles and 2300 feet ; to a long white house on the west bank, half-way between the landing and the Falls Bridge, 2>^ miles ; to the Falls Bridge, 2 miles and 4600 feet. The stake boat was placed here at the race, October, 1870. LIST OF TREES AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN THE PARK WHICH FLOWER IN MAY. TREES AND SHRUBS. Acer. Maple. saccharinum Sugar. diisyearpum Silver-leaved. platanoides Norway Maple. campestre English Maple pseudo platanus English Sycamore. rubrum Red Maple. Negundo. Box Elder. f raxinifolium A sh-leaved. Celtis. Beaver wood. occidentalis Western. Fraxinus. Ash. Americana American . juglandifolia Walnut-leaved. sambucifolia Elder-leaved. ^SCULUS. Horse Chestnut. hippocastanum Common. Ohioensis Ohio. rubicunda Ruddy. pallida Pale-flowered. Pavia. Pavia. flava Yellow. humilis Humble. Cerasis. Cherry. multiplex pendula Weeping d fl. Virginiana Virginia Bird Cherry, Cercis. Judas Tree. Canadensis Canadian Tree. Betula. Birch. alba White. nigra Black. Castanea. Chestnnt. vesca Common. CoRYLUS. Hazel. Americana American. Halesia. Silver Bell. tetraptera Four-winged. Laurus. Laurus. sassafras Sassafras Tree. benzoin Spice Bush. Liriodendron. Tulii) Tree. tulipifera Tulip Flowering. MORUS. Mulberry. alba White. rubra Red. Nyssa. Sour G%im Tree. vallosa Hairy. DiosPYROS. Persimmon. Virginiana Common Virginian. Salix. Willow. fragilis Brittle. nigra Black. vitellina Golden. Russelliana Russell's. laurifolia Laurel -leaved. caprea pendula Kilmar'k Weeping. rosem rinafolia Rosemary-leaved. Cydonia. Quince. Japonica Japan. Japonica alba White. vulgaris Common. Kalmia. Kalmia. latifolia Broad-leaved. FoRSYTHiA. Golden Bell. viridissima Green-leaved. Zanthoxylum. Toothache. fraxineum Ash-leaved. Staphyla. Bladder-nut. trifolium Three-leaved. Syringa. Lilac Tree. vulgaris Common. alba White. persica Persian. Calycanthus. Sweet Shrub. florida Flowering. EuoNYMOS. Burning Bush. atropurpureus Dark Purple. Americana American. LiGUSTRUM. Privet. communis Common. Rises. Ribes. aureum Gold en-flowered Currant. CoRNUs. Degwood. florida White-flowered. sericea Silky. Crataegus. Hawthorn. oxycantha English. crusgalli Cockspur. Fagus. Beech. sylvatica Common wood. ( 139 ) I40 "FAIRMOUNT PARK. QuERCUS. Oalc. nigra Black. falcata Spanish alba White. discolor Two-colors. rubra Eed. prinus Chestnut. quercitron Dyer's. heterophylla Various-leaved. Carpinus. Hornbeam. Americana American. Platan us. Buttomvood. occidentalis Western. JuGLANS. Walmct. regia Royal. nigra Black. compressa Shelbark. macrocarpa Large -fruited. alba Common Hickory. porcina Pignut " TiLiA. Linden. Americana American. rubra Red. Europea. European. PatjlowniA. Fauloivnia. imperial is Imperial . Broussonetia. p. Mulberry. papyrifera Paper. Gleditschia. Locust. tricanthos Three-spined. inermis Thornless. Chionanthus. W. Fringe. Virginica .Virginian. Gymnocladus. Ky. Coffee. Canadense Canadian. Alnus. Alder. glauca Mealy -leaved. Magnolia. Magnolia. cordata Heart-shaped leaf. tripetela Umbrella Tree. purpurea Purple-flowered. purpurea gracilis Slen. purple-flow'd. Amygdalus. Almond. persica flore pleno D. Persian. Azalea. JRosebay. viscosa Clammy. Berberis. Barberry. vulgaris Common. atropurpurea Dark Purple. Spirea. kipirea. prunifolium Plum -leaved. Ree vesii W hite-flowered. Kerria. Kerria. Japonica Japan. Deutzia. Dentzia. scabra Rough. gracilis Slender. crenatafl. pi Double Pink-flowered. Viburnum. Viburnum. prenifolium Plum-leaved. lantanoides Lantana-like. oxycocus Tree Cranberry. Weigelia. Weigelia . amabilis Lovely. rosea Rosy. Phil ABEL PHUS. Mock Ora7ige. coronarius Common. grandiflorus Grand-flowering. Rhus. Mist Tree. cotinus Wild Olive. LoNiCERA. Honey Stickle. tartarica Tartarian. alba White. xylosteum English Fly. Glycina. ) „, . . Wistaria. ) ^ HERBACEOUS PLANTS. Erigeron. Plantain. bellidifolium Daisy-flowered. Panax. Ginseng. quinquifolia Five-leaved. pentstemon Pentstemon. pubescens Hairy. OxALis. Wood Sorrel. aeetosella Common. violacea Violet-flowered. striata Upright. CardAMINE. Lady SmocTc. Pennsylvanica Pennsylvanian. Dentaria. Tooth Wort. laciniata Jagged. Arabis. Wall Cress. falcata. Sickle-pod. Trade so ANTiA, Spider Wort. Virginica Virginian. rosea Rose-colored. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 141^ Veronica. Speedtvell. setigera Bristly. arvensis .Cornfield. serpyllifolia Serpyllium-leaved. CoNVALLARiA. Lily of Valley. majalis May. Smilacina. Smilacina. ^ raeemosa Racemose-flowered. trifolia Three-leaved. bifolia Two-leaved. POLYGONATUM. SolomOll's. multiflorum Many-flowered. Saxafuaga. Saxafraga. Pennsylvanica....,.Pennsylvanian. Virginica...... Virginian. HouSTONlA. Houstonia. cerulea Blue-flowered. Claytonia. Claytonia. Virginica Virginian. Hepatica. Hfipatica. triloba Three-lobed. Alsine. Ckickweed. pubeseens Pubescent. media Mediate. Erythronium. Violet. Americanum American. Barbarea. Mustard. precox Early. CoRYDALiS. Corydalis. lutea Yellow. FuMARiA. F2imaria. ofiicinalis Officinale. Sexecio. Groundsel, surea Yellow. Valerianella. Lamhs-lettuce, radiata Radiated. olitoria Salad. AquilegiA. Columbine. Canadense Canadian. Viola. Violet. ■ pedata Pedate. blanda White. lanceolata Lance-leaved. hastata Halberd-leaved. saggitata Snow-leaved. rotundifolia Round-leaved. trifoliata lutea Three-leaved Yellow. striata Striped. arvensis Field. Chelidonium. Celandine. majus Large. Anemone. Anemone. thalictroides Thalictrum-like. nemorosa Grove. SiNAPis. Mustard. nigra Common Black. Leontodon. Dandelion. taraxacum Common. HiERACiUM. Hawkiceed. venosum Veined-leaf. RuNEX. DocJc. crispa Curled. obtusifolium Obtuse-leaved. Krigia. Krigia. Virginica Virginian. MuscARiA. Grope Hyacinth. botryoides Botrys-like. Chcerophyllum. Chervil. Canadense Canadian. Smyrnium. Alexanders. trifoliatum Three-leaved. purpurea Purple. Trillium. Trillium. cerneum Drooping-flowered. Aral I A. Aralia. nudicaulis Naked-stemmed. Thalictrum. E. Meadow R^ie. dioecium Dioecious. Caulophyllum. Caidophyllum. thalictroides Thalictrum-like. asarum Ginger Root. Canadense Canadian. CocHLEARiA. Scurvygrass. armoracea Horseradish. Lamium. Archangel. ampelicaule Stem-clasp Hen. Galium. Bedstraw. Aparine Cleavers, tinctorium ....Dyers. Podophyllum. May Apple. peltatum Peltate- leaf. Chrysosplenium. Saxafrage. oppositifolium Opposite leaved. Ranunculus. Crowfoot. Pennsylvanica Pennsylvanian. bulbosa Bulbous. fascicularis Bundled. abortiva Abortive. Symplocarpus. Sliunh Cabbage. foetidus Fetid. angustifolium Narrow-spathed. Arum. Arum. triphyllum Three-leaved. atrorubens Dark Purple Stalked. Draba. Draba. verna Vernal. Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum. leucanthemum Ox-eye Daisy. 142 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Glechoma. Ground Ivy. rotundifolia Round-leaved hederacea Common. PoTENTiLLA. Ciuq^iefoil. sarmentosa Twigged. Canadensis Canadian. Fragaria. Strawberry. vesca Wood. Geranium. Crane'' s Bill. maculatum Spotted, Ornithogalbm. Star of Betlileliem. umbellatum......Umbenated. Epige^. Ground Laurel. repens Creeping. Saliva. Sage. lyrata Lyre-shaped. Malaxis. Malaxis. lilifolium Lily-leaved. Nasturtium. Nasturtiuon. officinalis Officinale. MedeolA. Indian Cucumher. Virginica Virginian. SiSYRYNCHiUM. Bliie-eyed Grass. anceps Iris-leaved. Heuchera. Arum Root. Americana American. Plantago. Tlantain. major Large. Virginica Virginian. lanceolata Lance-leaved. crassifolia Thick-leaved. Trifolium. Clover. pratense Common Red. repens White Clover. campestre Slender Wood. Antennaria. Ant. plantaginea Plantain-leaved. LIST OF WORKS OF ART. , Statue of Justice, at Fairmount, carved by Rush. " W^isdom, " « « The Graff Memorial, " Marble antique, " Leda and the Swan, " carved by Rush. Emblematic composition on wheel-houses, carved by Rush. Marble Fountain, copy from a celebrated fountain in Rome. The first fountain on the Wissahickon, marble. The Indian (roughly cut in wood). Two Pegasus Groups (to arrive in June). Venus risen from the Bath, cast finished by Dr. Rush. COMPARATIVE SIZE OF PARKS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. FROM THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCES. Park at the Hague, 200 acres. Alameda, City of Mexico, 12 acres. Park at Munich, 320 acres. Peel, Manchester, 32 acres. Petit Park, Versailles, 1280 acres. Palais Royal, 10 acres. Tuileries, 50 acres. Luxembourg, 160 acres. Champs Elysee, 225 acres. The Bois de Boulogne, 2158 acres. Grosse Garden, Saxony, 800 acres. Schwebgingen, near Heidelberg, 300 acres. Schloss Garden, Stuttgard, 560 acres. Hof Garden, Munich, 500 acres. Thier Garden, Berlin, 200 acres. Djurgard, Stockholm, 480 acres. The Prater, Vienna, 2500 acres. The Summer Garden, near St. Petersburg, 480 acres. Boboli, Florence, 200 acres. Tzarsco Selo, near St. Petersburg, 350 acres, Sweetzingen, near Mannheim, 100 acres. Richmond Hill, 2468 acres. Lambeth, 250 acres. Kew Garden, 684 acres. Arboretum, Derby, 50 acres. Meadows, Edinburgh, 200 acres. Phoenix Park, Dublin, 1752 acres. Birkenhead, Liverpool, 185 acres. Kensington Gardens, 35 acres. Buckingham Palace, 40 acres. Hyde Park, 389 acres. St. James's Park, 59 acres. Green Park, 55 acres. Regent's Park, 450 acres. Norfolk, Sheffield, 20 acres. Primrose Hill, 50 acres. Greenwich Park, 200 acres. Baxter, Dundee, 37 acres. Victoria, 300 acres. Crystal Palace, Edinburgh, 200 acres. Bat- tersea, 175 acres. Albert Park, 409 acres. Kensington Park, 262 acres. Chiswick Gardens, 33 acres. Windsor Little Park, 500 acres. Windsor Great Park, 1800 acres. Hampton Court, 1872 acres. Green, Glasgow, 121 acres. Prince's Park, Liverpool, 90 acres. Washington, South Park, 150 acres. Hartford, Central, 46 acres. New York, Central Park, 862 acres. The other New York public grounds are— The Battery, 30 acres; City Hall Park, 1014 acres; Washington Parade Ground, gH acres; Union Square, 4 acres; Stuyvesant Park, 4 acres; Tompkins Square, 10^ acres; Madison Square, 7 acres; St. John's Park, 4 acres; Gramercy Park, i^ acre. Brooklyn, Prospect, 550 acres. Baltimore, Druid Hall, 700 acres, and Patterson's Park, 35% acres. San Fran- cisco has twelve squares of small extent — one improved. Cincinnati, Washington Park, 4K acres; Lincoln Park, 7 acres; Hopkins, i]4 acre; City Park, i}i acre; and Long- worth's Garden of Eden, 156 acres. St. Louis, Tower Grove Park, 2763-'^'^ acres; it has also fourteen others, containing 119 acres, and Shaw's Garden, the wonder of the West, (143) 144 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 276 acres. Chicago, Lincoln Park, 50 acres; Washington Park 2^^, acres; Lake Park, 40 acres; Dearborn Park, i>^ acre; Ellis Park, 3 acres; Union Park, 17 acres; Jefferson Park, 5^ acres; Vernon Park, 4 acres: in all, nearly 126 acres, in addition to the River- side, 1600 acres. Boston, Common, 48 ajcres. New Haven, Wooster, 5 acres; the Green, 16 acres; the Brew^ster, 55 acres. Philadelphia, Hunting Park, 45 acres; Fair- mount Park, 2740 acres. The other Philadelphia Parks, or Squares, are — Logan Square, 7 acres 3 roods; Franklin Square, 7 acres 3 roods; Rittenhouse Square, 6 acres 2 roods; Washington Square 6 acres 2 roods ; Independence Square, 4 acres 2 roods ; Jefferson Square, 2 acres 2 roods. STATISTICS OF THE WATER DEPARTMENT, 1871. Contents of the reservoirs : — Gallons. Fairmoimt 26,996,636 Corinthian Avenue . . . . . . . . 37,300,000 Schuylkill (formerly Spring Garden) ..... 9,800,000 Belmont 35,800,000 109,896,636 Roxborough 11,407,567 Germantown . 2,083,875 Delaware, old reservoir 9,284,000 " new reservoir . . , , , 13,000,000 35.775.442 All the reservoirs , . , , 145,672,078 Pumping capacity of the works, July, 187 1 : — Fairmount (water-power), about 34,191,619 Schuylkill, about 22,947,000 Belmont, " 10,000,000 Per twenty-four hours 7,138,6196 Roxborough . . . . . . . 2,500,000 Germantown . . . . . . . 750,000 Delaware ....... 11,000,000 14,250,000 All the works 81,388,619 There are seven turbines and two breast wheels at Fairmount. 13 ( 145 ) 146 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Water-level : — Belmont reservoir, when fu]!, 212 feet above city datum. Corinthian Av. (( 120 Schuylkill (( 120 Delaware (( 114 Fairmount (( 96 Roxborough « 365 Have 488^ miles of distributing pipes. The average daily supply for the month of July, 1870, was : — From Fairmount 26,191,619 Schuylkill ......*•• 10,404,431 Delaware . 5,210,439 Belmont • • • • 3*424,059 Germantown 748,187 46,008,735 Equal to 68^q gallons for each of the population, per revised census, or 8syo% gallons for each of the population who receive a supply from the works, or 483 gallons per day for each water tenant. The greatest supply delivered in any one day was on July 20, 1870, as follows : — From Fairmount 29,921,539 Schuylkill 14,856,940 Delaware 5>'^3S,750 Belmont 3,958,680 Germantown 781,600 54,654,509 Equal to 81 gallons for the total population, or 92/^ gallons for the total population supplied by the works ; or 540 gallons for each water tenant. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 147 The supply delivered in the year 1850 was 18 gallons for each of population ; in i860, 48 gallons for each of population ; and in 1870, 55 gallons for each of population. The increase in population from 1850 to i860 was 38 per cent., whilst the increase in supply of water was 62 per cent. The increase in population from i860 to 1870 was 19 per cent., whilst the increase in water-supply was 41 per cent. Supply of water : — Gallons. Population, 1S20 . . 1,537,200 119^325 1830 3,074,644 167,811 1840 4,922,257 225,359 1850 1A32,Z31 408,763 i860 27,345,176 565.592 1870 46,008,735 671^726 Population, 673,726; houses in the city, 115,132, equal 5yYo P^^ house. There were, January i, 1870, 98,792 dwellings in Philadelphia; at 5 1^0% per dwelling, would make the number of persons supplied 554,030, equal to 87/0- per cent, of the whole population who pay for the water. The reservoir in the east Park will contain 750,000,000 gallons. APPENDIX. INEDITED LETTERS OF ROBERT MORRIS. In 1794, Mr. Morris was President of the Asylum Company. He began, with John Nicholson, of this city, to invest largely in land in 1 795. On the 20th February, 1 795, the North American Land Company was formed by Morris, Nicholson, and James Greenleaf, of New York. The capital stock consisted of six millions and forty-three and one quarter acres of land, in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The fragments of this vast estate, collected by the late Mr. Dun- das, as surviving manager of the company (1859), and long after all connected with it were ruined and dead, amounted to nearly a quarter of a million dollars. We are per- mitted to copy from the originals the following letters of Robert Morris; some from the Park and some from the Prune Street Jail ; they have not heretofore been made public. Hills, Sept. 6, 1797. John Nicholson, Esq. Dear Sir : Here is a morning that will cool you and your letters so quick, that I think you will dispatch the business they import, without further delay, Mr. Graham will of course soon have the letter you in- tended to prepare for him to be sent to the-Board of Managers of the North American Land Company. I hope Jesse Sharpless may get to a hotter place than my warm house before he can make a successful attack on you. We are hard threatened, but I hope that care and vigilance will disappoint all of them as to our persons. Whether you were right about the yellow fever or not, is not yet determined amongst the doctors ; and as to your being always right, I will not answer for the future, but for the past I answer, no. If you had, neither you or I should have been as we are. My Chestnut Street house and lot, these grounds (the Hills), and some ground-rents, are advertised by Mr. Baker for sale on the 15th inst., and what to do I am at a loss, not having heard from Allen, and not having time enough to write to and hear from Mr. Ashley, and whether he will be back in time is uncertain; so that I am in great distress, without as yet seeing relief at hand. If this thing takes place, it is of little con- sequence whether I am taken or not. As yet I am furnished with victuals, 13* ( 149 ) 1^0 FAIRMOUNT PARK. as formerly, by Jenny and a black cook, who does not come into the house, neither do any others, except my own family and such persons as I send for; except, also, that I admitted William Lewis, George Graham, and Hetty. I believe Hetty would like to come here if you could spare her, but this I do not ask Can you assist me to raise ^500 to send off Mr. Richard, otherwise his two years' labor will be lost. I have been scheming and trying, but without success. No man, it seems, can command — rather say, spare — so large a sum. Poor Sterett ! poor Sheaff! What shall we do? Powerful exertions must be made, for, at all events, we must relieve all who have served us, and all who may continue to serve us. This day will drive the yellow fever away, and relieve you from the heat you complain of. With best wishes, I am, Dear sir, your obedient servant, ROBERT MORRIS. Hills, Oct. 25, 1797. John Nicholson, Esq. Dear Sir : I am now possessed of your notes of this date, Nos. i to 6. I have received this day a notice from Greenleaf, that he has applied to the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas for liberation ; you will find herein a copy of the notice sent to me ; it is dated the 15th inst., and came to-day to my counting-house, with the curious indorsement on it in Mr. Elliott's handwriting. I shall take measures about my suits imme- diately. To No. 2, I say, O Kentucky, Kentucky ! is there any faith in thy goodly lands? My assent is with your No. 3 While I am writing, I receive your further notes of to-day, Nos. 7, 8, 9. I wish to God these notes would serve to take up those that bear promise of payments ! They are numerous already ; but if they would answer the other purpose, you would want more copying-presses and half a dozen paper-mills Your No. 8 I shall answer when I have more leisure. To No. 9, I answer, that they will have done advertising and selling our property after it is all sold and gone. 200,000 acres of my land in North Carolina, which cost me ^27,000, is sold for one year's FAIRMOUNT PARK. l^i taxes. By Heaven, there is no bearing with these things ! I believe I shall go mad. Every day brings forward scenes and troubles almost insup- portable ; and they seem to be accumulating, so that at last they will, like a torrent, carry everything before them. God help us ! for men will not. We are abandoned by all but those who want to get from us all we yet hold. Your fellow-sufferer, ROBERT MORRIS. Hills, Dec. 21, 1797. John Nicholson, Esq. • Dear Sir: I have received your letters, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 of yes- terday, and Nos. i, 2, and 3 of this date To No. 2, I say, I will starve before I will do what is therein mentioned I send herewith the letter from the Trustees of the Aggregate Fund, dated the 20th, which came to me this day. Pray what security do they mean, when they say the security we requested? I do not recollect any request of a particular security in their letters, and to me none has been made verbally, although I believe it has to you. We must see each other on this business. I wish you were here now ; I have a fine fire, and the night is so cold that the devil himself would not turn out to catch you going home. I have a choice of difficulties, and a number of troubles in various cases, but one that hits me hardest just now arises with Church and Hamilton in New York. Good heavens, what vultures men are in regard to each other ! I never, in the days of prosperity, took advantage of any man's distresses, and I suppose what I now experience is to serve as a lesson whereby to see the folly of humane and generous conduct. Yours, ROBERT MORRIS. Hills, Jan. 22, 1798. John Nicholson, Esq. Dear Sir: Yours, Nos. i, 2, and 3, of this day, are just brought out. I see you had a busy day yesterday ; I was very near adding one to the 152 FAIRMOUNT PARK. number of your visitors, but now I see it would have been of no use had I gone I have written to John Cunningham to inform me all he can of the proceedings against my lands in Cunningham's district. As you are a great lawyer, I mean to consult you about that affair. He said also that similar proceedings, ''he believed," were had against our lands under the management of Mr. Hoge, and against all your donation lands. So there is work cut out for both of us . There is a Frenchman intends to shoot me at the window if I do not pay a note he had protested on Saturday. I thank you for the paper inclosed in No. 3. The Secretary of the North American Land Company is here, and regrets that he was not in town when your note to him came there ; he received it here. ROBERT MORRIS. Hills, February 5, 1798. Dear Sir : I got safe here, and found it the only place of calmness and quiet my foot was in all yesterday. It has made me more averse to the city than ever, and I detest Prune Street more than ever ; therefore, keep me from it, if possible, my dear friend. ROBERT MORRIS. To John Nicholson, Esq. Hills, Feb. 7, 1798. John Nicholson, Esq. Dear Sir: I did not hear from you yesterday, so that I am not- ac- quainted with what has been fixed with George Eddy, or what is doing with the creditors for whom he is my bail ; neither has J. Baker been here. Is anything doing with his list of creditors ? Is Samuel Jackson relieved of the necessity of giving bail, and Sterett the same ? What is doing for John Allen ? Is there any chance of saving my furniture from the sheriff, and my person from jail, or are these things fixed ? Yours, etc., ROBERT MORRIS. P. S. — I have just received your letter of yesterday and its inclosures, and I read Prune Street in every line. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 1^3 Hills, Feb. 8, 1798. John Nicholson, Esq. Dear Sir : I return herewith the letters and copies of letters received under cover of yours to me of the 6th inst., which are the last I have re- ceived from you. Although I am expecting to hear what kind of reception and answers your circular letter has met with, I cannot say that I have con- ceived the smallest degree of hope from that measure ; on the contrary, I consider my fate as fixed : hard and cruel fate it is. The punishment of my imprudence in the use of my name, and loss of credit, is perhaps what 1 deserve, but it is, nevertheless, severe on my family, and on //^ • — *l — •— ^ — • • •■ » — tj* MANUFACTURED BY CENTENNIAL WATCH COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA. MANUFACTURERS AND IMPORTERS OF ALL European Watches, Diamonds, Jewelry, Silverware Mmi m&m, ^psEi -eMssM, spi-GTiCLM, it-g., 708 OHIESTn^rXJT STI^EET, ©ppositf &®asf;tn3ton It^d, PHILADELPHIA. FLINN'S '' .'•jfJdfuiiiJ'Sf.VMMUVMMir wmsnswmgf fami .!■■ n ■u^ Patent BED MAKE THE BEST SPRING BEDS IN USE. Thei/ are ComjJlefe in theinsefves^ find can he Aj^jjUed in a Fetv Minutes to ani/ Slat Bedstead. The attention of Housekeepers is respectfully called to the above BJiJD SPJRTIfflS. 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