AD VER TISEME~VTS. SEVENTH AND CHESTNUT STREETS, PHILADELPHIA. This old-established Hotel has long been favored- with a select patronage from all parts of the United States, especially of the Army and Navy. The location is central, rendering access easy to the various places of amuseisient and interest in the city. The business man or man of leisure will be pleased with the " Washington." TERMS, $3.00 PER DAY. 13 Th'I':'S H:O HARRISBURG, PENNA. GEO. J. BOLTON, Proprietor. The oldest established and largest Hotel at the State Capital. Only Hotel in Harrisburg affording free conveyance for guests and baggage. (OI TJ -IF:HiODTJ, CAPE MAY. GEO. T. BOLTON, Proprietor. A LARGE FAMILY HouSE. Located within 300 feet of the surf, with fine open view of the ocean. The only shaded hotel down at the Capes. Terms dependent upon length of stay and rnumber of persons in family. 1 4 0 W)ASRINGTQN HIQTEL, A D V-ER TISEMENTS. BAAS XX3M 0E:S. PARK AND OTHER CARRIAGES CAN BE HAD AT ALL SEASONS AND ALL HOURS. Stable, Twenty-eighth and Browtn Streets. A. REIMER, Proprietor. Park Carriages, Barouches, Close Carriages, Top and No-top Buggies, Pony Photons, double and single. Ladies' and Gent's Saddle Horses by the hour. RATES. Round trip, in East or West Park......................................................$0 50 One way, " "...................................................... 30 RATES PER HOUR. One person......................................................................................$1 50 Each additional person..................................................................... 25 Orders for Balls or Parties will be received at Residence, 818 N. Sixteenth Street; also, for Picnics, to be located in East or West Parks, on reasonable terms. rf AID VER TISEMENTS. HFN-RY F. MtTRPHY. CHARLES S. MURPHY. FRANK W. MURPHY. Wm. F. Murphy's Sons, STATIONERS, STEAM-POWER PRINTERS, AND 509 Chestnut Street, PHILADELPHIA. A specialty made of manufacturing to order for Banks, Insurance Companies, and Mercantile Houses. iI1'trbtrg. ADJOINING THE:PARE ARQLWRH STENRER T I tstaurattu t, Twenty-fifth and Coates Sts., in front of Coates St. Park entrance. PARTIES SERVED AT SHORT NOTICE. A LA CARTE ICE CREAM, &C. THE PLACE CAN BE RENTED FOR PICNICS, ETC. I I AD VER TISEME N TS. CORNER OF TWENTY-NINTH ST. AND PEr,NNSYLVANIA A. Terminus of Union Line, Park Accommodation, and starting point of Park Carriages. OPPOSITE PARK ENTRANCE. Lager Beer, Wine, and Ice Cream Garden and Saloon. Parties served at short notice with all the Delicacies of the Season. AQHAREIIEM R&G&RQ Ad QQ@,'t WHOLESALE DEALERS IN PAPER, RAGS, &dc., Nos. 30, 32, and 34 South Sixth Street, PHILADELPHIA. AD VE R TISEMEANTS. BR HRI -',CHUYLKXLL S )ALLS ~A RK. BREWERY, HOTEL, SUMMER GARDEN, AND TEN PIN ALLEY. All the Luxuries of the Falls made a Specialty. The place can be reached at any hour by Philadelphia & Norristown R. R., Ridge Avenue and Manayunk Railway Cars, and Schuylkill Steamers. This is the only and best place near the city for Excursions, Parties, Picnics, etc. etc. JACOB HOHENADEL, Proprietor. LOUIS TOURNY'S WARE:w:::L-I Z —H::0T.CE North Second Street, above Race St. Y AND GREENHOUSES, Allegheny Avenue and Frankford Road, (Second and Third Sts. Cars pass the place,) PHILADELPHIA, BECKMER & ENGLEMAN, HANUFACTURERS OF EA3GLE SCALE AND RaEAM W)QRKSO GOODS SOLD AT WHOLESALE. Ninth and Girard Avenue, PHILADELPHIA. 1* S E; E, D No. 20o AD VE R TISE MEN TS. I —~~~~~~~~~~~~ c. > ~~~~Established 1838. SEEDS AND PLANTS FOR THE DECORATION O:F THE GARDEN, LAWN, OR PARKr. LAWN GRASS SEED, GARDEN IMPLEMENT &. FLOWER, ~ ~~~~~~~~~AND ~~ffl VEGETABLE ________ SEED)S. PLANTS, - - -------------— BULBS, &C. SEEDS AND PLANTS FOR THE DECORATION OF THE GARDEN, LAWN, OR PARK. LAWN GRASS SEED, GARDEN IMPLEMENTS, &C. DJREER'S GARDEN CALENDAR, with full descriptive lists, prices, &c., is published annually for free distribution, and mailed to applicants upon receipt of a postage stamp. KOHL'S HOTEL, Belmont Avenue, above Falls Road, Fairmount Park, NEAR BELMONT MANSION, ,SljUP)?ERS,St)RVED) AT /;~~/ ~~~~~~ OftRRS,CVOI''S t ,.- L "-B E ~ ~~~~~ .(Lt,, %L ffi~~~~~~~~~~~~~I-t- St.' ~~~~~~ ~ j ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I I I. I T/,,, -., a, I'ffE ,-I -i LI - -.I", d, ,-. _,!:, 1, & - tl, yhz FAIRMOUNT PARK. SKETCHES OF ITS SCENERY, WATERS, AND HISTORY. BY CHARLES S. KEYSER. FIFTH EDITION. PHIL A DEL PH IA: CLAXTON, REMSEN, AND HAFFELFINGER. 1872. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year I87I, by CLAXTON, REMSEN, AND HAFFELFINGER, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All rights reserved. COLLINS, PRINTER. . I, 7- <(' c "i, t: 7 - 7 A Int iw, OBJECTS OF INTEREST. Mount Prospect........ The Trees at Rockland.... The Woodford Mansion.. Mount Pleasant Mansion.... The Ravines......... The Belmont Water Works.. Moore's Cottage....... Maple Spring Museum.... The Hermit's Well...... The Lover's Leap....... Mom. Rinkle's Rock..... The Monastery....... The Pipe Bridge...... The Devil's Pool...... Valley Green....... The First Fountain...... Fairmount........ Fairmount Water Works.... The Fountain....... The Mineral Spring..... The Barge-Houses...... The Skating Club House.... Lemon Hill Mansion..... Grant's House....... The Schuylkill Water Works The Tunnel........ The Solitude Villa...... West Philadelphia Water Works The Sweet Brier Mansion.... Lansdowne Concourse..... The Michaux Grove George's Hill....... The Belmont Reservoir Belmont Mansion... ( ) ( 5o RAGE 12 13 i6 17 19 22 24 32 32 32 39 42 43 49 53 54 56 57 PAGE 67 69 70 71 73 77 78 93 94 97 100 102 105 107 io8 log lio 112 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE I2 i6 I9 22 24 25 39 34 37 43 47 49 T. Moran, from nature........ From cut in possession of the Society... H. Faber, J. E. Sharp, from nature.... " from the painting by Samuel Breck. Th"Sld " picture in John Penn's poems T"Fhso " lithograph by C. G. Childs. T T P...............*.*.* H. Faber, from the painting by Samuel Breck. T. Moran, J. E. Sharp, from nature.... T" a nDrake, ".... H. Faber, J. E. Sharp, from studies and Birch's views.............. Th EgihAm............................... 5I H. Faber, J. E. Sharp, from studies and nature 57 T. Moran, from nature........ 59 H. Faber, J. E. Sharp, from nature.... 67 u P s.... 7I T. Moran, from nature........... 73 H. Faber, J. E. Sharp, from nature... 78 M.... " " composition.... 79 T. Moran, " from nature... 80 Schell, Crosscup, and West, from studies.. 85 T. Moran, T. M. W.,... 9I " from studies........ 93 ...................................................95 T. Moran, from studies........ I03 The'Bridge.a..r.s.i..C io6 Th......... 07 " Smithwick, from studies.... Io08 " Drake, ".... lO9 Chestnut Hid....112 (6) Fairmount........ The Fountain....... The Boat-Houses..... Apparatus of Humane Society Lemon Hill Mansion.... Robert lorris's House.... The Solitude....... The Fisher's House..... The rliree Perch Fish.... Sweet Brier Mansion.... The View at the Bridge... The Lansdowne Pines.... The Lansdowne Mansion 50 The English Arms.... Belmont in the Olden Time View from Belmont Mount Prospect - Mount Pleasant Mansion Sweet Brier Ravine.... Moore's Cottage..... Music........ View at the Falls.... Fort St. Davids..... The Wissahickon.... The Wissahickon Entrance The Hermit's Well... The Drive....... The Bridge at Cresbein Creek The Devil's Pool Valley Green...... The First Fountain.... Chestnut Hill...... THE COMMISSIONERS OF FAIRMOUNT PARK, I871. MORTON McMICHAEL, GEO. G. MEADE, DANIEL M. FOX, SAMUEL W. CATTELL, HENRY HUHN, FREDERIC GRAFF, STRICKLAND KNEASS, N. B. BROWNE, THEO DO RE CUYLER, JOSEPH HARRISON, JR., HENRY M. PHILLIPS, ELI K. PRICE, J. H. PUGH, GUSTAVUS REMAK, WILLIAM SELLERS, JOHN WELSH. (7) IV "I "THE Schuylkill, sacred to the barge of mirth, Its green banks consecrate to pleasure's paths." "Fairmount! on whose tall top the waters lie, Lifted as in a great baptismal font; The height from whence the river deity Pours, from his giant and refreshing urn, The stream which slakes a grateful city's thirst." "In the far landscape, winding slow, the silvery line Of tranquil Delaware." " Here, stranger, stay! these are the sacred grounds Which knew the patriots in the days agone. Here trod the noblest form the land has known." The New Pastoral. (8) FAIRMOUNT AIRMOUNT PARK, at Philadelphia, is the most extensive, and in natural advantages the most attractive, among the pleasure-grounds of Europe and America. (9) PARK. FAIRMOUNT PARK. It borders and includes the Schuylkill River for a distance of ovel 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 terminates 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 contains 450 acres. The entire Park comprises nearly 3oo000 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,ooo ranging between eighteen and twenty-seven feet in circumference; under eighteen feet, 70,00ooo; and of hard-wood shrubs and vines, 200,000. The dense character of the woodland along the Wissahickon has prevented 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 possessors were the aborigines, in i689 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." I Second Annual Report of Commissioners of Fairmount Park. 2 Eighty thousand imported Norway spruce seedlings are noticed in tte 2d Annual Report in addition to these. IO FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 appearance of broad lakes, at others showing a full silent flow for long distances. 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 bubbling through the greensward, in others trickling down the rocky hillsides. 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.2 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 I One hundred and fifteen springs were located in the Park in I870.- Third Annual Report. 2 In works of art very little has been done. There are at Fairmount five good specimens 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. I I 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 lwhole Park. 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 12 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;" 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.1 Philadelphia was first supplied with water from the Schuylkill in I799; these works were commenced in I812, and were put in operation three years afterwards. They were originally run by steam-power. The Dam was commenced in 18i9. Water flowed over it for the first time in I82i, 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 I835 has been occupied as a saloon. Adjoining the saloon is I During the occupancy of Philadelphia, Sept. 26, I776, to June iS, I778, the British had pickets in the Robert Morris Mansion. Their line of redoubts began inll Kensington and extended by Bush Hill, terminating at Fairmount. The redoubts were visible on the Fairmount Hill until the completion of the last reservoir. 2 I3 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,I9i,6i9 gallons per twenty-four hours. The Dam was entirely rebuilt in 1842-3; its overflow is II48 feet io 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 feet 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 I845 and I852, 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,2 the engineer by whom these works were designed, was erected here by the Councils of Philadelphia; June I, i848. 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 I824, 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. I 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 I812 from a celebrated belle of that day, Miss Vanuxen. I4 4 _ _ -ffi ~ _ __ ~ ii~~~~~il I t11 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 22d September, I87I, in the presence of a great concourse of citizens. It is of bronze, and represents 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. I5 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 I6 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. 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 chalybeate. 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 S1822. 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,1 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 t Nothing can equal the beauties of the coup-d'cil which the banks of the Schuylkill present in descending towards the south from the Falls to Philadelphia.- Chastellux (1780). 2* I 7 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 landscape-gardeners on the country-seats had changed the natural characteristics 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; 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 themi 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 revealing 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 beautifill 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, 1 Called by the aborigines "Ganshewehlanna," the noisy stream; and "Manayunk," our place of drinking. The present is a Holland name, originating with the first settlers. I8 FAIRMOUNT PARK. "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 I 9 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 lie 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. Its first barge, the "Blue Devil" participated in the earliest regatta of which we have record (Nov. I2, I835). In this 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 organization of the present Schuylkill Navy was effected in I858, and the first regatta took place in 1859. It then numbered eleven clubs, the Bachelors, University, Keystone, Camilla, Independent, Undine, Neptune, Chebucto, 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 organization, 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 $ioo,ooo. 20 FAIRMOUNT PARK. In addition to the regattas, and usual daily exercise, the clubs of this Navy sometimes make long excursions. One of these was made in i86i, 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, i859, 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 Io, i867; 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 organization 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 seasons, 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. 21 FAIRMOUNT PAR?T. 0 ~ j I I ~~~~~~<~<2j ~~~~~~/ _ " '~~~~'<' ''';jj<;;;~i;i;i L THE PHILADELPHIA SKATING CLUB. Incorporated i86i. Its objects are improvement in the art of skating, and securing efficiency in the use of, and proper apparatus to rescue per 22 ! i t 11,, I1 Ar Am FAIRMIOUNT PARK. sons breaking through the ice. The active members in 1864 were 26o, honorary io; 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 slatwork, and encircled with a secure and handsome railing, and has a cupola. The first story, forty by sixty feet, is appropriated entirely for the lifesaving apparatus and barge boats. The second story is divided as follows: 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; io. Air-hole guards; ii. Boats; I12. 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. I All these are placed at the disposal of the Commission by the Society. 23 FAIRMOUNT PARK. LEAVING the Plaza, the road ascends' the second of these hills, the site of Robert MIorris's home, known of late years as Lemon HilT.1 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 I 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 the woods" should be transplanted to his grounds. 3 Thie late Mr. Pratt, a merchant of this city, was building here in the summer of I796, probably erecting this mansion. 24 FAIRMOUNT PARK. stood there during the Revolution; and are noble representatives of the primeval forest. The general character of the grounds remains unchanged. 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 mansion. In the old house,' which stood here, Robert Morris resided from I770 to I798, twenty-eight years-a period embracing the Revolution and th-e 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 I776 (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." 1 The cut is a fac-simile of Robert Morris's home, from a painting by the late Samuel B3reck. 3 25 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 generations. His first record is a letter, a short extract from which follows; it was written on these grounds. From the Hills on Schuylkill: "July 20thl, I776. "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 distress. "' 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 178I 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 I780 were the most distressing I "The individual notes of Robert Morris circulated as cash through the Colonies."ChastclZix (I 780). 26 FAIRMOUNT PARK. years of the war. On a pressing occasion, during this period, Washingtoil 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 equivalent in paper of two shillings in specie a pound. Judge Peters showed WVashington'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 saidto 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 government. 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, I776, 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 citizens, 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 27 FAIRMOUNT PARK. the money, was his answer. With this money Washington was enabled sately to cross the Delaware and secure the decisive result at T'renton. At the most critical period of our nation's early history, i78I, Judge Peters, Robert Morris, and Washington were together at the Headquarters 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. Turning 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 Cornwallis, 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 accomplished 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 (o)ffice chest; the Treasury was empty; and the expedition would never have been operative, had not most fortunately Mr. Morris's credit and 28 FAIRMOUNT PARK. superior exertions and management supplied the indispensable sine qua ?/Z 7 7 I Thlese 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 expenditure of his private fortune, princely as it was, was not the measure of his service. The folios of the Government show a reduction of expenses, 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 as well as sustained the country; this completes the measure 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 I 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. 29 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; resolutions and gifts which hlie 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, transferred 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, saddened while ennobled by their association with his name, remain his fitting 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 ri-'ht the equal of his fellow-man. 30 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 I857, 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 immediate 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 a little 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 3I 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 reservoir, attached to the Works, is 9,800,000 gallons. The Connecting Railway 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, I870, and will be finished June, I87I. 32 4 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 uninoted 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 refreshment a century ago. 33 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 meede floures that makyth him hungry, and if the angler take fysshe surely there is noo man merier than he is in his spyryte."I A tract2 beginning at Solitude, and extending to the Sweet Brier Mansion, was formerly called "Egglesfield." Its first owner, a contemporary with the aborigines, was one WVilliam Warner,3 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 I 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. 34 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 utnder 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 trespassers of the stream; a Coroner, to view their inanimate forms after execution 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 fishermen, 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 35 FAIRMOUNT PARK. sciously sitting there, and that "an anathema"I fatal to fishermen had been levelled against them at Fairmount; 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,2 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 may be 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." I The Fairmount Dam. I In I745 there were but 2049 houses in Philadelphia; in 1871I, I22,75I. 36 FAIRMOUNT PARK. With the Revolution, this Colony, along with the others, rose naturally to the dignity of a State, ill which condition it now remains. The last Governor of the Colony, and the first of the Slate in Schuylkill, was Samuel Morris, known as "Christian Samuel," a member of the Society of Friends; he was Governor for forty-six years, a member fiftyeight years. He was also a captain of our City Troop. When the Revolutionary War l)egan, he quietly laid down his angle and took up a sword; lie laid down also his broadbrim hat, because it was, like his angle, unsuitable for warfare. When the war was over, he laid down the sword with sad memories of death and suffering that had come verv near to him, but with the quiet satisfaction of a duty done. He put on his hat, took up his angle again, and sat down beside this stream to fish as before. He was still sitting here when a very old man, seventy-eight years old. He died in I812, full of years and peace. -'-' The most memorable days of this company are The ioth October, I767. The great repast, when a turtle was served which cost, when beef was three cents a pound and Madeira thirty cents a bottle, four pounds and ten shillings, one-third the cost of their house. The I4th June, I787. The entertainment of his Excellency General Washington, with the officers of the army and navy, in their old court-house; its most memorable day. July 4th, I788. When the great National Jubilee was celebrated there with great pomp and circumstance. March, I789. When one of the members caught with a lay-out line a fifteen-inch trout. A marvellous feat for all time. Judge Peters, on this occasion, had a seat near General (President) Wharton. We want some wine, said the General to one of the 4 37 FAIRMOUNT PARK. younger members; please call John. I would suggest, said the Judge, that it would be safer to bribzg the demi-john. September 15th, I79I. When a sturgeon leaped from the river into one of their bateaux, and was captured by these steady-nerved fishermen, confirming, if it needed confirmation, what old John Holmes wrote about this fish (I689): " The sturgeon briskly through the waters bounce, And now and then they into boats do flounce." I 793. During a terrible fever, when there was fed from the fish-house table a multitude of persons, rich and poor, with fresh fish every morning. I825. When Lafayette completed the tour of all the States of the Union, as he said, by a visit to this State, and feelingly alluded to the time when he crossed this river in the dark days of the Revolution. iS86o. When the Governor of Pennsylvania (A. G. Curtin, now Minister at St. Petersburg) was received by the Governor of this ancient State in Schuylkill,, at the court-house, with such mutual formalities as befitted the representatives of these sovereignties; for no other of our States is more ancient nor has been so always honest, wise, and temperate in its counsels as the State in Schuylkill. May I, 1832. The day of their centenary, a great festive occasion, made beautiful with tributes of flowers gathered on the banks of this river, and song and honor to the dead of the Republic, and their own; and good Isaac Walton, of blessed memory. Among their toasts that day he was not forgotten, as never are forgotten the fathers of the Revolution. On the occasion of the reception of Lafayette, Judge Peters was present, and sang with the happiest effect, to the great delight of his old Revolutionary companion. Among the toasts that day were those which are always annually given: The Memory of their Governor, Morris; The Army; The Navy; Our Sister States; The State in Schuylkill; Our Country; and these: NATIONAL GRATITUDE-The brightest jewel in a nation's diadem. 1 The present location of the house is near Gray's Ferry. It is there the first botanic garden in America was laid out and planted by John 3artram, the pioneer botanist of this country. Near there also is the Woodlands, formerly the seat of the Hamilton family, the earliest and then the best specimen of landscape-gardening in this country. 38 FAIRMOUNT PARK. OUR DISTINGUISHED GUEST AND THE NATIONS-The name of LAFAYETTE is elngraven on every heart; a worthy associate of his great Military Father. THE HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION-Living or dead, their glory is imperishable. THE MIEMORY OF OUR FATHER —WASHINGTON. THE Solitude is a short distance beyond the site of the fishing-house, and is bordered by a wood. THE SOLIITUDE. The Villa, as its first owner described it, "near Philadelphia, built by me while I resided in America," was erected in I785 by John Penn-the poet, a grandson of the Founder. It remained in the Penn family until its purchase by the Park Commissioners. The house, except from age, remains quite as the builder left it, and is a pleasant poet's home. It 39 FAIRMOUNT PARK. has a small drawing-room; a room adjoining, which served both for a hall and sitting-room; a chamber with an alcove, for his hours of rest; a library, where at once he was his author and auditor; and deep and roomy cellars for his wine. This fortunate poet's old bookcases, set in the wall, give the same quiet to the room they did the days when he lived there. His sunny sitting-room is quite the same. The secret door by which he shut himself from visits of intrusive friends, closes as quietly to as it did so many years ago. The life of the builder of this mansion is in strong contrast with the severe and broad virtues of William Penn and the other great historic characters who have made these grounds memorable. John Penn, the poet, loved solitude, but he made this place an enviable solitude; and though he loved his own poems and read them all day long, and though they had no other reader, yet they show what guests assembled in his solitude. Dante was there; Chaucer, "the well of English undefiled;" Petrarch and Tasso; and Anacreon. Here he sat dreaming through the summer days, the leisure days of a life which all was leisure. In one of the volumes of his poems, printed in London in i8oi, he gives a view of this villa, of which the above is a fac-simile, and calls it "The Solitude." The white dove he has had the artist picture flying close along the lawn had been a favorite bird, and he there deplores, with Anacreon's pleasant thoughts and in these oldtime words and verse, its death. "Thine, oft I said (nor hopedl so near thy end), Are all things round,2 the grove, and cloudless sky; While cheers the enlivening ray, sport and enjoy; Thine are yon oaks that o'er the stream impend, And rocks that, as I stray with musing eye, Or wonder3 from the shed,4 can never cloy." l Hope, expect. 2 Round, around. I Wonder, admire. i Shedl, door. 4o FAIRMOUNT PARK. It is said he planted every tree about this house with his own hands; this there is reason to believe, and for the many trees which yet remain, and for that picture of the dove flying across the lawn, we keep his memory. GRANVILLE JOHN PENN. Granville John Penn, the great-grandson of the Founder, the last private owner of Solitude, and the last of the Founder's name, visited this country in I85i. His father in his time one of the most learned laymen of England, and himself a kindly old English gentleman, he was the recipient, from our old-time citizens and from the authorities, of suitable attentions. In acknowledgment of these attentions, he gave a collation at "The Solitude." It is interesting to remember that this house was the last property here of a family which was once the owner of the broad State of Pennsylvania; the descendants of a wise and good man, whose title, unlike so many others in this and other countries, was founded "in deeds of peace," kept with "unbroken faith." Mr. Penn wished that the city should become its owner, and keep it for the Founder's name. He did not live to see this pious wish fulfilled, which since his death, to our advantage, has been done. The sale of this property to the city, and the release by himself in 1852 of the render of a red rose at Christmas from the good people of Easton, closes the long account of that great Founder's name with ourselves; its own account on earth now also closed forever. Granville John Penn died at Stoke Pogis, England, March 29, I867. He was the last (save one since deceased) of that line. 4* 41 FAIRMOUNT PARK. ADJOINING the grounds of "the Solitude" are the West Philadelphia Water Works. WEST PHILADELPHIA WATER WORKS. These Works are not now in operation. The stand-pipe is a very prominent object in the Park. It is surrounded by a circular stairway from its base to its summit. It is one hundred and thirty feet high, and eight feet in diameter. Return from these Works to the main carriage drive, at the Lansdowne entrance;1 the road here passes under the Railway Bridge, first rises and then descends, and gives fine views of the river. At the lowest point of its descent it passes under a bridge, rises again, and so reaches I From July I to Nov. I, I869, a record of visitors, kept at this point, shows pedestrians, 86,250; equestrians, 5120; vehicles, 55,396; an aggregate of 257,558 persons passing into the Park by this entrance. 42 FAIRMOUNT PARK. i'~........,.....2",. ~, ~"~-~:......>-~.~,~~.~:~-~>_=i 7' ___~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~I~ '~ ~w7> % C s A;' - g _ THE CHILDREN'S PLAY-GROUNDS. These grounds, called Sweet Brier, are fitted up with flying-horses and swings for children, and especially set apart for them. There are many fine forest-trees here, giving an agreeable shade, and it is a great resort for the little ones on Saturday afternoons. The grounds command a fine view of the river and of other portions of the Park. The mansion which stands here was the residence for many years of SAMUEL BRECK. A golden link of the days of the Revolution and our own times. Mr. Breck was born in Boston, in I77i. He was educated near Toulouse, in ILanguedoc, in the Royal and Military School of Sorenze. His 43 FAIRMOUNT PARK. instructors were Benedictine monks. He remained at this school from his eleventh until his sixteenth year. His companions were the Prince de Carignan, ancestor of the King of Sardinia, several Italian and Spanish noblemen, Dessaix, and others, whose lives passed away into obscurity or ended in the violence of revolutions. His own life was kept for gentler and better uses. After a sojourn in his native place, he again visited Europe in the dark dawnn of the French Revolution. He saw the King, Queen, and the Dauphin, the prisoners of the populace, about to expiate their predecessors' crimes. He saw the old teachers and pupils he loved driven from their ancient seat of learning, some to perish in the September massacres, some themselves to urge on the tide of crime. These scenes made the quiet and calm progress of our Republic intensely dear to him. He lived at Sweet Brier thirty-eight years. In the leisure hours of his business he cultivated here the sciences, the arts of music and design, and was foremost in every good work.i "Farmer Breck," as his good friend and neighbor, Judge Peters, always called him, had here a model place; and while the Judge theorized, and saw the State rise through his theories to wealth, Farmer Breck, in their practical application, made his place a marvellous example of their value. He gave a due proportion of his life to public affairs. He served four years in the State Senate, where he laid the foundation of our system of internal improvements, and further made his name memorable by his bill for the final emancipation of the slaves in Pennsylvania. I HIe was accomplished in all the graces of his time, and thoroughly read in its literature. In his life he never passed an idle hour, nor uttered an uncourteous word. 44 FAIRMOUNT PARK. He served afterwards in the National Legislature (the i8th Congress), among the most memorable men our nation ever possessed, and in halcyon days of the Republic. He again served in the State Senate, and there drew the bill for the establishment of the Common School System of Pennsylvania. His services, from that time, were in positions of the very highest trust and importance in Philadelphia, and continuous to the year of his death. Although a business man, Mr. Breck knew what the legitimate claims of business were, by what means money should be made, how much time should be given to its acquisition, and to what uses it should be applied. At the outset of his life, rather than live where illegitimate gain was sanctioned by common consent, he deliberately sacrificed an easy, safe, and rapid road to wealth which lay before him, and began with a small capital to make slower gains through longer years. He was a gentleman of the old school, and he preserved its courtesies on the street, in the counting-room, at the social board, with child and man, servant and dignitary of the State, the same. His salutations were formal, yet under them a gentle kindliness shone which lifted up the hearts of all to him in affection and reverence. He was true to his party predilections, but with this preference ran evenly an earnest love for the whole country. He was careful in all formal religious observances, but within he kept burning brightly that inner light, without which all religious observances are vain. His life covered' the most momentous periods of our country's history. He welcomed Lincoln, the great representative of freedom of our generation, to this city in iS86i, where he had also stood in the august pres 1 Born July I7, 177I. Died August 22, 1862, aged 9i years and 46 days. 45 FAIRMOUNT PARK. ence of Washington. He had been held up a child in his nurse's arms to witness the smoke and flame of Bunker Hill, and he was yet living when Sumter's smouldering ruin lit the flames of civil war. Through all these long years he was changeless in his love and devotion to our institutions. His last words were (uttered among those dark days of civil war)-what of-my country. There is something peculiarly appropriate in the selection of Sweet Brier as the children's play-ground, not only because he first gave legal direction to our common school system, but was a dear friend to little children. He was a constant visitor to the parish school of his church (the Episcopal), took the most lively interest in its progress, and by the sprightliness and benignity of his manner completely won the hearts of all the pupils. They looked forward to the day of his coming as to a holiday. He was also one of the founders, for many years president, and to the last year of his life a visitor of the Institution for the Blind, and by these most afflicted of God's children best beloved. His step was recognized by them among all the others as he entered their hall. THE main carriage road, after leaving this mansion, passes through a grove of trees, some among them very venerable old forest monarchs, oaks and chestnuts; then, by easy grades, it winds along the open grounds, and so reaches a rustic bridge which crosses the river road. 46 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. The view from this bridge is certainly the best along all the middle ground of the west bank. A little below, and quite near it, stands the worn-out trunk of a large tree, solidly engirt with a new growth, a second life from itself, preserving its old form and existence. From this tree the Lansdowne ravine descends to the river; a fair landscape holds the eye with reliefs and harmonies of hill and lawn and woodland, and the imagination with historic suggestions of the residences of bygone days. Far up the river, set boldly against the sky, stand the dark hemlocks of the good old Belmont Mansion, endeared by the memory of Lafayette, Steuben, and Washington; and yet further 4t' FAIRMOUNT PARK. beyond and higher, Chalmouni, the type of our broader and further future: all first the abode of savage life, a wilderness; then the estate of a family and the dominion of a king; then a battle-ground for freedom; and last, the property of the people, for the happiness and good of all. The road, crossing the bridge,' passes first, on the right hand, a fine old relic of the forest, standing on a slight elevation alone; opposite this old tree is a group of young trees recently set there;2 beyond them, the road in broad curves passes along the Lansdowne Ravine, and around the head of this ravine; keeping close along its border, it reaches a tall branchless dead pine; near this trunk another pine of grand proportions, and beyond it a friendly group of six more, which, like hospitable hosts, invite rest: this point is the Lansdowne Concourse. I A road diverges from this road immediately after it passes over the bridge, and passes under the bridge; this is the river road elsewhere described. 2 Brought from the Centre Square, January, IS87I. 48 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 miniature 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. 5 49 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The noble estate of Lansdowne contained two hundred acres, extending from Sweet Brier to Belmont and George's Hill.1 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 conservatories, 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 LANSDOWNE MANSION. 1 During the occupancy of Philadelphia in the winter of I777, the British had an encampment on these grounds. 5~ FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 foulrtl of July, I854. JOHN PENN. "The Honorable John Penn," called "the Governor," was LieutenantGovernor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania and Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware from I763 to I771 and from I774 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 S.,litudc. 5 I An~. 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 Founrder 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 t 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 W1arner'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 I787. He d(lied in Bucks County in this State, February 9, I795, at the age of sixty-seven. His remains were taken hack to England. "The Penn estate," says the late Judge Conrad, "was the largest one ever sequestered in civil war; it was estimated at ~Io,ooo,ooo sterling. The heirs received as a comipensation from the British Government an annuity of 4ooo000; and the State of Pennsylvania, in remembrance of the founder, awarded them ~I30,000." 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, I795, devised Lansdlowne to his wife, Irs. Anne Penn, and by subsequent conveyances through her title it also became the property of the city. 5 2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. WITH the remaining portions of this Park begins a new era in its progress; 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 advanced 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 Philadelphia 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 developing 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 oaks1 and cedars, under whose shadows Bel I The Michaux grove, ultimately to contain a specimen of every oak which will grow in this climate. Oak-s embracing sixteen species have been planted there during the past year. 5* 53 FAIRMOUNT PARK. mont Valley descends to the river, and on the left a fine piece of English lawn marked by a very symmetrical solitary tree. A by-road leads through the grove to the Belmont vlansion. 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, SHIALL 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, anl aged and estimable member of the Society of Friends, who with his sister2 were then its joint owners. In the letter Jesse George stated that this property had been the uninterrupted 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 I See First Annual Report of Commission. I i I LP 54 2 'ince (Icceased. FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 hundred 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 greensward 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 atmosphere, the sails of vessels on the river Delaware. On fine afternoons this Hill is the grand centre for carriages; the whole st,nmit is crowned with equestrians and pedestrians, carriages, rich dresses 55 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. FRONI George's Hill, the main carriage road leaves the reservoir on the right, and passes over a high plateau to Belmont. 56 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 (I780) as "a BELMONT. I The grounds at their highest elevation, on this estate, are two hundred and forty-three fcet above tide-w;ater. 57 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. I745, 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 standing there a white walnut, which was planted by Lafayette, on his visit here as the nation's guest, in I824. 1 Washington and Judge Peters proposed walkling 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). WNashington 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 diningroom are its lineal descendants. 58 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. 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 siummer 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 w-inter, when a heavy snow has fallen, or a sleeting night been succeeded b,) a clear, bright morning, discloses a scene fairy-like and indescribable; L)but early summer mornings and afternoons it is the most enjoyable. WlhaL 59 FAIRMOLUNT 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 (I870). 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 -egrets 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."-ua?dge Peters's Letter lo A. Garden, I 82 I. Richard Peters, the beloved friend of Washington, was born in this mansion, and died here August 22, 1828, at the age of eighlty-four. lIe was the son of William Peters, and the nephew of Richard Peters, Secretary 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 improvements which restored the wasting farm lands of this State. He sang the 60 FAIRMOUNT PARK. best song,, grave or gay, was the most noted wit of his also the most genial and hospitable of men. I This fragment of a song in his clear handwriting lies before me; meeting of the St. George's Society, September 28, I774: When Britain first, by Heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main, This wvas the charter of the land, And 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. WVith justice and with wisdom reign, WNe 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 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, \Vith delight they'11 reflect on good Onas's Elz. For that patron of justice and peace there displayed His most welcome good tidings, beneath its fair shade, 6 6i times, ancl was it was writtcn at a 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 Elmi delights most in the mountains and dells, Where Rlan 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 Trealy held under our Eliz. Many anecdotes of Judge Peters are preserved in the manuscript of his biographer. They, were a constant glimnmer 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 walking away. When the Judge's health began to fail, a report of his death got into circulation and produced general sorrow. Hle was riding, and was met by a stranger, who told him tihe 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. 62 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 I824, was constantly with the Judge, and passed much of his time at this house. The Baron de Steuben,l InspectorGeneral 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,9 were his neighbors. I During Washington's administration, Thomas Jefferson lived below the Park limits at Gray's Ferry. He continued to reside there until he retired from public life in Deceniber, I793, and these fair shores witnessed an interview in those days of our transition from monarchical ideas following the close of the Revolution, which shows the influence 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, I793) 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 worndown 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. 63 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 recreative 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 harness 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 Revolution, sometimes with attendants, sometimes alone. 64 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. AMIONG 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 equipages moving palaces on the water and on the land as much grander and more costly, as those were than the lumbering wains 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* 65 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 likeness of the Leader of the Armies of the Revolution. FROMI Belmont the main carriage road passes over grounds which embrace 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 surface. Through this noble landscape you reach Mount Prospect. 66 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. 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. 67 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 mansions 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 impressive 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.2 But may they not better suggest the enduring companionship 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 I Built in 1802 by George Plumstead, a merchant of Philadelphia engaged in the India trade. 2 After Napoleon's fall. 68 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. day and generation, as these trees stand, changeless and mighty, in sunshine and in storm. 11... THE GREAT OF EARTH, GREAT NOT BY KINGLY BIRTH, GREAT IN THEIR WELL PROVED WORTHFIRM 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 continuation 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, beginning 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 69 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,2 the friend of Franklin. It was afterwards the residence of Daniel Franks, a gentleman with large business connections in Philadelphia and New York during and after the Revolution. His son, Major Franks, was aid-decamp 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. I 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 750,000ooo,ooo000 gallons. Erected 1742. 3 MIiss 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." 7o FAIRMOUNT PARK. MOUNT PLEASANT. The stately mansion on this estate was built by John Macpherson, who was its owner from 176i to 1779. William Macpherson, his son, was born in Philadelphia in I756. 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 I779; was made a major by brevet, and stood high in the confidence of Washington. He is famous as the organizer and commander of Macpherson's blues in the insurrection of I794, and served under General Mifflin. The mansion passed from John Macpherson to Benedict Arnold 7t FAIRMOUNT PARK. (March, I779), 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 forfeiture 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 b-arial-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. 72 p FAIRMIOUNT PARK. 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-shlaven, 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 7 73 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 b y 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 74 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE LANSDOWNE RAVINE. 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 Belmont. 1 There is a fine grove of the Angelica or Hercules club at the hlead of this ravine. 75 I 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 sunlight, 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, there is also a road along the river margin. 'Fhis 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. 76 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 Io,ooo,ooo gallons per twentyfour hours. A SHORT distance beyond these works the road passes a low one story cottage. #7* 77 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 sunshine, 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 "retreat so fair," as he has written "That his charmed soul forgot its wish to roam, And rested there as in a dream of home." 78 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 hullmble 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 thenm.2 AFTER leaving the cottage, the road shaded by an avenue of trees extends for nearly a mile; it passes under the Railroad Bridge, and terminates at the Falls Bridge;3 crossing which, we reach 1 I804 2 Celebrations in honor of MIoore were formerly given in this cottage; of a characteristic one of these, there is a notice in the Press of June II, I858. 3 The nearer of the bridges in the picture, on page So, is the Railroad Bridge, the farther the Falls Bridge. 79 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, forming 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 characterized by singular indentations, caused probably by ages of attrition; among them was the apparent impression of a human foot, showing the heel, the 8o FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 resorted 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 ISI7 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.2 They were caught, upon the authority of eye I 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 Philadelphlia 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 I722-32, were the subject of legislative action. The depositions of many canoe-men are in the archives of Pennsylvania (I732); 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 proceeding 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 Pensylvania was an act to make this river navigable, and for the preservation of its fish. 8i 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 I 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 "catfish 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 country; and, unlike them, are delicate in flavor and exceedingly good. These suppers are peculiar to JPhiladelphia. The fish are kept alive, winter and summer, in large covered boxes, through which fresh spring-water constantly runs. 82 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 neighborhood; he never had a book in his school, and could whistle through his fingers like a steam-whistle. 83 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 "home 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 borli 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 Pestalozzi9 which revolutionized and humanized education, and the good influence of which is felt to this hour in all the common schools of America. I Zerah Colborn. 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. 84 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 his 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 paraphernalia, 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. FORT ST. DAVIDS. 8 85 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The Society of Fort St. Davids, the builders of this house and its gastronomic 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 WTarner's, with whom they still dwell in indissoluble connection, capacious2 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,"3 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 I Their house, in ressence for the part they took in the Revolution, was reduced to a h]leap of ruins by Hessian soldiers, who were quartered near Rocl 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 tlhe 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 (I8S30) averages to one fisherman from five to twenty dozen white perch, and the aggregate catches, before their removal from the Baron WNVarner's, on fishing-days, ran fifty, eighty, and one hundred dozen. a John Adams's description of Mr. Dickinson. 86 FAIRMOUNT PARK. of the first official assertion of grievances which preceded the great Declaration. 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. 1 The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. 87 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 surrounding 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 position 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 20th 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, fnder 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 88 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 addressed to him the following letter: To THE MARQUIS OF LAFAYETTE. PASSY, August 24, I779. 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 conduct, 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* 89 I FAIRMOUNT PARK. In this section of the Park also was fought a portion of the memorable Battle of Germantown; 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 landmarks were destroyed. A monumental shaft, at Roxborough,2 commemorates 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. I General Armstrong, the Commander of the Pennsylvania Militia, wrote to President Wharton (October 5, 1777), "We cannonaded from the heights on each side the Wissahickon, 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. '5. 9o -W FAIRMOUNT PARK. 9x THE WISSAHICKON. This romantic stream, which still retains its Indian name,' lies between ranges of precipitous hills. I Wi.samiclkan, catfish creek; Wisaucksickan, yellow-colored stream. FAIRMOUNT PARK. Self-guarded by these rock battlements,1 it retains that primeval character 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, contrast 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. 92 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. 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 grotesque figures of animals, birds, beasts, and serpents; these are all the 93 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. 94 FAIRMOUNT PARK THE HERMIT' S WELL Is outside the Park limits; it is reached by crossing a bridge above Maple 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. 95 FAIRMOUNT PARK. JOHN KELPIUS. "M Iy food shall be of care and sorrow made, MIy 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." I According to the Chronicon Ephratense, I786, 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 namced them,elves "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 I698, January 3o0." B:artram, in I76I, makes this characteristic allusion to Dr. Witt, the favorite scholar of Kelplius, 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. 96 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 carriage 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. FROMr the rock a deep glen or gorge follows the stream. 9 97 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE HERMITS' GLI,EN. 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 peering 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 i690. 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. 98 FAIRMOUNT PARK. David Rittenhouse, the astronomer, was of Holland ancestry; he followed 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 othersmarvellous 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 verification by his own observation, gave him a wide-spread reputation in this country and in Europe. The life of David Rittenlhouse was mainly connected 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 generation. He was State Treasurer from I777 to I789, 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-taughlt; 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 aly 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 wellbeing 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. 99 FAIRMOUNT PARK. B3EYOOND 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 appropriate 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 woodspath, which in the spring has a continuous border of violets, youll reach a steep hill-slope through which the rock rises-a friendly tree-branch here I00 FAIRMOUNT PARK. and there to grasp, a few minutes' rest after passing some piece of ground which slil)s 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 thq 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 pageitself 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 building known for a century as 9* I0I 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 towver 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 manners 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. 102 I'~~~~~~P FAIRMOUNT PARK. The scenery at this point is very attractive. The suggestive old building; 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 MIILE further (three miles from the mouth of the Wissahickon), on the west bank, are certain caves, interesting to the antiquary. I03 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 legendary 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 Dor6 would draw them, rising up along the verdure-crowned steep. Io4 I FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE PIPE BRIDGE. This bridge, finished last year, carries the water supply from the Roxborough to the Miount 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 I72 feet 9 inches; its whole length is 69i feet, and it is supported by three iron piers, 83 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 1 Dr. Franklin in his will (I780) recommends, "1 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 Wissahickon Creek into the town so as to supply the inhabitants." I-lis legacy remains unused, but the work, by the appropriation of these creekl borders and pipe connections, has now been completely done, and is a most appropriate tribute to his memory. ()~~ Io5 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 Io6 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE DEVIL'S POOL. A spot frequented first by the superstitious in the early days of the province, 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. I07 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 io8 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. archl and shadow on bright days (so clear is the reflection) seem one piece of masonry, an entire oval. lThe 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 stoppii,ng-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,-foiuntain erected in Philadelphia. It bears date IS54. A clear, cold miountain spring constantly fills the basin. On IO Io9 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 (I87I) 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 perpendicutlarly, and the place has the solemn stillness of the shores of some faroff 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, clotlhing the inclosing steeps, bury their shadows in its dark surface. The rock, plainly seen from the road, very wild, grand, and lofty, crowns the summits 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 iio FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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 savagewas 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 character of scenery, to the northern limits of the Park, at Thorp's mill lane, which crosses a bridge and by a steep ascent reaches I I I FAIRMOUNT PARK CHESTNUT HILL. This hill is the site of many of the best suburban residences of Philadelphia. Here all the wild scenery of the Wissahickon, so closely shut TI 2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 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. IO0 II3 FAIRMOUNT PARK. GALA-DAYS IN THE PARK. THE \NVINTER 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 restatzratezzr 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. II4 FAIRMOUNT PARK. MILITARY PARADES. In the original plan for laying out these grounds, adopted in I859, a parade-ground was reserved on thie 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. TIlE 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. II5 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 t/e 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 careful computation, were gathered on these grounds, he may realize a scene lwhich 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 Crcesus must pay a stum 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 picture I The nut-bearin, trees in the lower section of the Park number four thousand. ii6 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. at whose coloring no critic should ever fling his vapidities, its greens and umbers wNould 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 towun 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 representatives of that power which characterizes the age in which we live. Thie mechanics of our nation assembled most appropriately where Franklin 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. 11 7 FAIRMOUNT PARK. _ ~! THE CENTENARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. " The descendants of the old thirteen and their children will gather around the Independence altar of the country hallowed by Hanlcock, Morris, and Virginia's noblest son, and on that altar lay the fruits of peace." At Belmont Mansion, June I7th, I870, was received the Congressional Committee on the Centenary of American Independence. Their favorable report has now been sanctioned by Congress. Historic justice required 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, I876, will assemble in Philadelphia, and on these national grounds, the great Westthe 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, II8 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. 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 Fathlers of the Revolution, to renew their solemn vow to maintain and preserve the American Union. Ii9 FAIRMIOUNT PARK. EXCURSIONS THROUGH THE PARK. THE USUAL WATER EXCURSION. By steamboat, at Fairmount, to Sweet Brier, Columbia Bridge, Lansdown-e, 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 thlroutgh 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 Wissahickon; up the I20 FAIRMOUNT 1I)AR.12 i'ssalhickoni to Thorp's Miill Road, and by this road to Chlestnut Hill. RIcturn thlrotughll Germlantown and by School ILane, to the Falls. Cross the river at Falls Bridge; keepl) on the Falls road into the Park, an(l bv lellmont to George's Hill; thence to Lansdowne, cross the river at the Girard Avenue Bridge, and pass over the Hills to Fairmounilt eitrance, and by Green Street to Broad Street. TWO HOURS' PEDESTRIAN TRIP. Takle Park accemmodation train to Columbia Bridge; thence Walls from house to house, along the east bank, to Laurel Hill; tlhence b)y Ridge Avenue cars to the city. THREE HOURS' PEDESTRIAN TRIP. Take Park accommodation to Mount Prospect and walk back to Belmont, and from Belmont by the ravines to Fairmount. It is three hours' leisure walking, car time inclusive, from Thirteenlth and Callowhill Streets Depot z'ia as above to Fairmount. FIVE HOURS' PEDESTRIAN TRIP. Take Reading Railroad, Norristown branch, to Chestnut Hill; then descend the hill to thle Wissahlickon, and return along thle 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 citv. 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 1 2 1 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. WVALKING IS OUR BEST ENGLISH INHERITANCE; WITH MORE WALKING, IMEN AND WOMIEN WILL HAVE LONGER AND LEAD BETTER LIVES. I I 2 2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. TABLE OF DISTANCES. FROM FAIRMOUNT. To Girard Avenue Bridge... Lansdowne Entrance Lansdowne..... George's Hill, direct... " " " via Belmont.. Belmont, direct " " via George's Hill.. "Mount Prospect, via Belmont .. " George's Hill. The Falls, via River Road.. .. " George's Hill The Wissahickon, via River Road ".. " " " George's Hill ....."."' East Bank. From the Falls to Wissahickon.. To Maple Spring Hotel "The Pipe Bridge.... Valley Green The First Fountain... Indian Rock.... Thorp's Mill Road. Chestnut Hill.... 123 i mile. l'Y I I 2,Y, miles. 3 .' " 4 Y " 3 Y " 4 Y, " 4 Y. " 5 /'/" 4 Y. " 6 y, 11 5 y- " 7 Y, " 4 " i mile. ly 11 4Y, miles. 4 Y, " 5 Y, " 5 Y, " 7 " 7 Y- " -7 - FAIRMOUNT PARK. RULES AND REGULATIONS. SECTION I.-Penal. I. 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 Pairk 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 av-enues 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 within 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 affix any bills or notices therein. io. 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. I 1. No person shall throw any dead animal or offensive matter or slub I24 FAIRMOUNT PARK. stance of any kind, into the river Schuylkill, within the boundaries of Fairmounit Park. I2. 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. I4. No person shall injure, deface, or destroy any notices, rules, or regulations for the government of the Park, posted or in any other manner 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. I. 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 advertisement, 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* I25 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 5. No person shall take ice from the Schuylkill within the Park, without 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 pleasutre-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 Commissioners shall determine. SECTION III.-Prohibzitions. I. No gathering or meeting for political purposes in the Parkl shall be permitted under any circumstances. 2. No intoxicating liquors shall be allowed to be sold within said Park. SECTION IV.-Duzties 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 1 2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. sion of such offence, and to take the person or persons so arrested forthwithl 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. B)y order of the Commissioners of Fairmount Park. I 2 7 INN FAIRMOUNT PARK. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PARK-GUARD. I. 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 welldisposed citizens. I 28 FAIRMOUNT PARK. 9. The Guard will remember that they are numbered, to enable any respl)ectablle person to complain of their misconduct, which, when clearly established, will lead to their immediate dismissal. io. The Guard is required to make faithfully the weekly written report prescribed by the rules, and hand the same to the Chairman of the Committee on Superintendence and Police, stating at the same time all comlaints made by respectable persons concerning inconveniences or annoyances in the Park. I I. 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 Fairmount Water Works, or near any other water works of the city of Philadelphia, wvill duly respect the orders of the Chief Engineer of Water Works touching the property belonging to his department within the Park. I2. In cases of emergency, the Park-Guard is subject to the orders of the May-or of the city of Philadelphia. I3. 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. I4. 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. i6. 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. 129 2".? CLASS CHAMPION n p CLA$S CHAMPION UNIVERSITY PHILAD ELPHII [ ACI CPACIFIC VESPER -.TE U-L,.CTEAMLT. C. PHI. VI ~CE COMMODORE''4 i ICOMMODORE Q(UAKER CITY !1PENNSYLVANIA UNDINE CRE~$CEIJT IIA.LTA 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 40 inches, bunting. I boats, I2 X I8 " silk, to be carried at the bow. "racing, 6 X 8 ". " " " THE PACIFIC BARGE CLUB. Organized June I5, I859. 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. I-fP... 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; complete in every particular, and fastened with five hundred and four copper rivets. THE QUAKER CITY BARGE CLUB. Organized October 20, I858. Uniform: shirt blue, with white trimming and trefoil corners; cap blue, with name on front; jacket blue, with navy buttons; pants blue. Number of members, active thirty, honorary ( I3I ) FAIRMAIOUNT 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. BOATS. length, 48 feet; oars, 4; class, Ist; color, varnished. " 42 " " 4; " 2d; " white. " 25 " double sculls; class, 2d; color, white. S. 30 " single " " Ist; paper. "I I7 E" " ",, "' '" 40 " oars, 6; " 3(1; color, white body. " 40 " " 4; class, Ist; paper. These twio clubs occupy the first of the range of barge-houses going from Fairmount. It is of stone, and was built in iS6o. 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, i86i, as the Atlantic Barge Club, and subsequently 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. length, 42 feet; oars, 6; class, 3d; S 38 " ". 4; " 3d; " 42 " " 4; " 2d; " 20 " double sculls; class, " 34'2" single. 1. C T 32 " " ",1 " 33" ". "... FALCON.... STRANGER... ,\EIFR-AI D... CELIA..... Toir:,- ClL.. HE.NR-1Y COUL,TER jSo E...... 132 NAu,rILUS... CYG-Nl7,T.... 13ERTHA.... SWA —,'..... SPIDER.... IRIS.... - - IV" ASP..... color, red, gold stripe. 11 black, gold stripe. 11 varnisl-ied. I 2d; color, red, ])Iaclz stripe. ist; 11 varnisl-lcd. ist; 11 11 paper. ist; 11 I 11 11 FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE CRESCENT BOAT CLUB. Organized December ist, i867. Uniform: for winter —dark navy blue coat, shirt, and trowsers, sailor cap with the club name; summerstravw hlat, blue shirt and trowsers. Active members thirty-two, contributing eighteen. BOATS. INTREPID... length, 48 feet; oars, 6; class, 2d; color, green, black stripe. " 42 " " 6; " 3d; " " 25 " double sculls; class, 2d; T" I4~ I "'I " " 2d; . 22 1,2'' " 2d; " 33 " " " " Ist; " 42" oars,4; class, ist; color, " 25 " single " Ist; FRO~c.. " 28 " " " 1St; " 28 " " " Ist; " " I5 " " scull; class, 2d; l The Pennsylvania and Crescent Clubs own and occupy the same building (the second of the houses); it is of stone, fifty by forty feet, two stories in height, with a MNansard 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. 12 133 crimson -old stripe. color, crimson, gold stripe. varnished. I I 10-NE..... SYLPI-I.... TURTLE... '\-EREID... OWLET.... CP,ESCE —,-T... PETREL.... FROLIC.... AH SI-N.... CLA-L..... 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, I853; it is unattached to the Navy. Uniform: blue flannel shirt, bound with single white braid, gilt buttons on front and on the cuffs; 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. oars, 6; class, ast; color, varnished. "1 6; " 3d; " " O" 4; " 2d; " green, gold stripe. double sculls; class, 2c; color, varnislhed. one pair sculls cc Ist; " " "1 "1 "1 "1 ISt; 11 "1 BA-CHELIOR... len'th, 52 feet; LINDA.......... 50 " LOTUS...... C' 42 " GAZELLE.... " 25 " B RAT........... " 30 " CUB........... " 32 " ........- " -" oars, 4; class, Ist; color, varnislhed. 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. 134 FAIRMOUNT PARK. UNIVERSITY BARGE CLUB. Organized April 25, I854, by classmen of the University of Pennsylvania. 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. UN,I-IVERSITY, length, 48 feet; oars, 4; class, Ist; color, varnished. HE,IsERIS 1" 36 " " 4; " Ist; " C LuCIFER. " 45 " " 6; " 2d; " white, blacl and red stripe. PHILADELPHIA BARGE CLUB. Organized December 8, i862; incorporated July I3, I870. Uniform: a plain double-breasted shirt of blue flannel, covered buttons, and white flannel trolwsers, pea-jacket, and skullcap of same material as shirt. Number of members, seventeen active, and nine honorary. BOATS. oars, 6; class, 2d; color, varnished. double sculls; class, 2d; color, varnished. oars, 4; class, Ist; paper; weight ioo pounds. "C "C' 3d; color, varnished. single scull; class, 2d; color, varnished. The University and Philadelphia occupy jointly the fourth of the ihouses. It is 42 x 57 feet; built of West Chester green stone, Mansard 135 FAUGI-I A BALLAGI-1, len,tl-l, 42 feet; I iNO NA —NIE.....' " 22 " .... 11 41 " ....... 11 37 " ....... 11 17 " 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, 186o. 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 addition to the boats as classified, this club is building two others. BOATS. length, 43 feet; oars, 6; class, 2d; color, green, gold stripe. " 35 " " 6; " 3d; " orange, gold stripe. " 45 " " 6; " 2d; " varnished. " 46 " " 4; " Ist; " I8 " double sculls; class, 3d; color, varnished. VESPER BOAT CLUB. Organized February 22, i865. 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. BOATS. oars, 6; class, 3d; color, white, gold stripe. " 4; " 3d; " varnished. " 4; " 2d; " red, gold stripe. double sculls; class, 2d; color, varnished. oars, 4; class, Ist; color, varnished. VESPER.... length, 42 feet; VENTURE... " 37 " ON -,WARD.... 3 7 " VAGABOND.. ~' 26 " VOLAN-T... ", 42 " Two single working boats. The house of the Vesper and Malta is the fifth in order. Is an ornate structure of stone. I36 HIA'%VATI-IA... '.,Nil-N.NEHAHA.. COLU.',IBIA... IDALIA..... '\VASP...... FAIRMOUNT PARK. THE UNDINE BARGE CLUB. Organized May 9, 1856. Uniform: blue flannel shirt with white trimmings, 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, i862, to January, i87I, shows anl actual dis tance pulled of over II,48I miles. The Club's record shows that its boats are out from five hundred to seven hundred times yearly. For the )ear i868, five hundred and fifty-one timies; i869, seven hundred and forty-five times; I870, six hundred and fifty times. The greatest number of miles rowed by a member was in I866, 1402 miles; in I867, 1224; in i868, I28I; in i869, 2643; in I870, 1202. In i868, twenty-four members rowed an average of 443 miles; in i869, eighteen members an average of 55I; in I870, twenty-two members an average of 4IO. This Club occupies a portion of the Skating Club's house. BOATS. SCUD......... length, 43 feet; oars, 4; class, Ist; color, varnished. " 42 " 4; " Ist; " 45 " 6; " 2d; " 40 " " 6; u 2d; " 40" " 6; " 3d; " 23Lt" double sculls; class C I7 I pair " " ' 31 hi C C i " " single' " C 20 ' 17't C C' " 34" double sculls; " I2* 131 '"'HISPER..... 11 11 11 11 11 blue, gold stripe. 11 11 11 11 I 2d; color, blue, gold stripe. 2CI; 11 11 11 11 ist; 11 varnished. ist; 11 11 11 19 11 2(1; 11 11 ,\-Ew ATALA —\-TA OI,D ATALA —,-TA 'U -N 1) I —,- E..... FAV —,-...... CRA-P SELAH...... RiPPLF-,. ,, C. ", TERRAPI-N.... 11 I I ist; FAIRMOUNT PARK. ROWING TIME. The best time as yet made on the Schuylkill is HESPERUS.... 4 oars, Ist class...20 min. 03 sec., 3 miles. BACHELOR... 6 " Ist "... 20 " 38.. IRIS.......... 6 " 3d "... I9 " 3... NEW ATALANTA. 6 " 2d "... I8 " 54. HIAWATHA.... 6 " 2d "... I8 " 02 " MI'NNEHAHA...6 " 3d "... I9 " 05 O C QUAKER CITY..4 " ISt "... 19 " 26 SINGLE SCULL. 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, Y 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 I400 feet; to the middle of Peters Island, IlS 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, 2Y miles; to the Falls Bridge, 2 miles and 46oo00 feet. The stake boat was'placed here at the race, October, I170. I38 June I, I867. is I, SC 11 I5, " July I869. Oct. I, I'870. "1 5, " LIST OF TREES AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN THE PARK WVHICH FLOWER IN MAY. TREES AND SHIRUS. A c E n. -ll3cl)le. saccharinum...... Sugar. d.i sycarpum...... Sil-er-leaved. platanoides...... Norway Maple. camnpestre......English Maiple pseudo platanus...... English Sycamore. rubrum...... Rel Malple. NEGU-N-,DO. Box Elle,o. fraxinifolium...... Ash-leaved. CELTIS. Beas-er q, oo(l. occidentalis......W estern. FR.XIN-us. Asrk. Amer icanpa......American. juglandifolia......Walnut-leaved. saminbucifolia...... Elder-leaved. fZEscuLus. Horse (/tcstslsst. hippocastanum...... Common. Ohioensis......Ohio. rubicunda......Ruddy. pallida...... Pale flowered. PAI-IA. Pia cia. flaa v... Yellow. humilis......Humble. CEansis. Cher s y. multiplex pendclula......W Veepingd fl. Virginiana...... Virginia Bird Cherry., CEnCIS. l.Jed,as Tree. Canadensis......Canadian Tree. BETULA. Bisclc. alba... heWhitew nigra...... Black. CAST'ANEA. Chestisett. vesca...... Common. CORYLUS. HIzel. Americana......American. HA LESIA. Silver Bell. tetraptera...... Four-winged. LAURUS. Laitrats. sassafras......Sassafras Tree. benzoin......Spice Bush. LIRIODENDisON. Tuli) Tree. tulipifera...... Tulip Flowering. MORu S. fIlber 4ry. alba..White. rubru....... Red. NYSSA. Soutr Gzcvz, Tree. vallosa...... II.Iilry. D)IOSPYROS. Pe-sinzy0zo72.. Virginiana...... Common Virginian. SALIXi. Tarillowa. fraigilis...... Brittle. nigra...... Bla ck. vitellina...... Golden. Russelliana...... Russell's. laurifolia...... Laurel -I eared. caprea pendula...... ilmar'k WVeeping. rosem rinafolia...... Rosemary-leatved. CYDON-IA. Q71i~zce. Japonica...... Japan. Japonica alba....... White. vulgaris...... Common. lAL 3I IA. I-aclnzii(t. Iatifolia,...... B road-leaved. FORSYTHIA. Gold(le~ Bell. viridissima...... Green-leaved. ZANTHOXYLUM. Tootha,che. fraxineum...... Ash-leaved. STAPHYLA. Bl.ctddere-gzitt. trifolium...... Three-leaved. SYZINTGA. Lil'ac 2-7ee. vulgaris...... Common. alba...... White. persicea...... Persian. CALYCANTHUS. Sweet Sltrztb. florida...... Flowering. EuoNYArus. B.t)-r2zzzg Btsht. atropurpureus...... Dark Purple. Americana...... American. LIGUSTRUAI. Pr'iv et. communis...... Common. RI BE S. Ribes. C.ureum...... Gol en-flowered Currant. CoRnus..Do1 ood. florida...... White-flowered. sericea...... Silky. CR ATEG US. Hlwthiornz. oxycantha...... English. crusgalli...... Coclispur. FAGUS. Beech. sylvatica...... Common wood. ( T3) ) FAIRMNIOUNT PARK. QU-EP(-'I-S. Oc7k. nigra.......Iaek. fa,leata...... Spanish alba...... Wlhite. discolor...... Two-colors. rubra.... Red. prinus...... Chestnut. qnercitron......y D er's. heterophylla......1 Various-leave.l. C A R PI_ LS. Io'zlcc- - S. Americana...... American. PLAiTAN- US. B]ttto)ii/oo(/. occidentlis....i.. Western. JUGL-L vNS. TT calti2t. regia......Royal. nigra......Black. comrpre-ssa...... Shelbark. macocai l pa......Large-fruitecd. alba..... Common Hickory. porcina......Pigfnut " TILI X. L[~zdcblz. Americana......American. rubra......Red. Europea......European. PA-LOW-IA. _c.'11)o1c/zica. imperialis...... Imperial. B]ROUSSO\ETIA. P. il-itlberry. papyrifera...... Pa per. GLEDITSCIIIA. LIocltst. tricanthos......Thiree-spined. inerinis...... Thornless. CIIIONANTnUS. V1Y. R si tTe. Virginica...... Virginian. GY-N-NOCLAItDUS. l3. Coffee. Canladense......Canadian. AL —US. Aider. glauca...... Mealy-leaved. M.,GNOLTX. NM;g,,oliCa. cordclata...... Ileart-shaped leaf,. tripetela...... Umbrella Tree. purpurea..... Purple-flowere(l. purpurea gracilis...... Slen. purple,fiow'd. A_MiYGDALUS. Al_o 2icld. persica flore pleno......D. Persian. AZALEA. ]losebay. i-iscosa...... Clamm lry. BERBERIS. B} ti-be}'ciy. vulgaris...... Common. 'atropurpurea...... Dark Purple. SPIrmEA. ~piriect. prunifoliumn...... Plum-leaved. Reevesii...... W hite-flowered. lVEI' RIA. ICerria,. Japonica...... Japan. DEIUTZIA. D)eitzia. scabra......Rough. gracilis...... Slender. crenata fl. pl...... Double Pink-flowered. VInunRuUr. ]ib~c?lrZt:tz. prenifolium...... Plum-leaved. lantanoides...... Lantana-like. oxycocus...... Tree Cranberry. WEIGELIA. ]4reiel a. areabilis...... Lovely. rose.. Rosy. PtILADI)E L PII US. M~OCk Oranige. coronarius...... Common. grandiflorus...... Grand-flowering. RH u s. _Mist Tiree. cotinus...... Wild Olive. LO-ICEIRA. lIobzeysatckle. tartarica......Tartarian. alba......White. xylosteum......English Fly. GLYCINA. } Glycinia. WISTARIX. lCz. HERBACEOUS PLANTS. ERIOGERON. PlaCIzCtaiz'. bellidifoliuni...... Daisy-flowered. PANAX. Giuseuci. cluinquifolia..... Five-leaved. pentstemon......Pentstemon.ll pIubescens...... Hairyv. OXALIS. TI%od S oTrel. acetosella...... Commnon. violacea...... Violet-flowered. stricta..... Upriiglit. C ARbAo.iIN F.E. L anic y S e nyo clk. - Pennsylvanica...... Pennsylvanian. DEXNTARIA. Tooth }Voi-t. laciniata...... Jagged. ArtAtIS. W. ll CreCSS. fitlcata. Sickle-pod. TRADESCANTIA. Spidler Tl'Fo-t. Virginica...... Virginian. rosea...... Rose-coloired. 140 Pennsvlvanica...... Fennsylvanian. IH(ERIO(,PHYLLUM..IlervIl. Viiginica V..... irginian. Canaclense...... Canadian. tiOUSTO\NIA. to0sstooi(. S3YNIiuAI. Alexanders. ceci ulea......Blue-flowered. trifoliattum......Three-leaved. CLa YTON-T\. Cl/cytooia7. purpurea......Purple. Virginica...... Virginian. TRILLIUM. TRIilliit7U. HErx TICX. He])oatica. cerneum......Drooping-flowered. triloba......Three-lobed. ARALIA. Aralia. ALSIN-E. Chickwee(l. nudicaulis...... Naked-stemmed. pubescens......Pubescent. TiALICTRU3I. E. Meadow It'te. media...ete...e. dioecium..... Dioecious. RYTHRoN- ILU-r. IViolet. CAULOPHYLLUM. C17tlophtyll/mn. Amne ricanum...... American. thalictroides....T. Thalictrumn-like. BAR,BAE,EA. hI~tst,-trd. asarum......Ginger Root. precox...... Early. Canadense......Canadian. CORYDALIS. Co0 ydlalis. COCHLEARIA. ScirtVyg,rass. I lutea...... Yellow. armoracea.... Horseradish. Fu-ArRI. RI l ict. LAlIu- L Ur. Arclazigel. officinalis..... Officinale.. ampelicaule...... Stem-clasp lien. SENE CIO. Gro ii(lsel. GALriur. BJedstrawn. st rea......Yellow. Aparine......Cleavers. VALERIANELLA-. Lasnis-lettuce. tinctorium....Dyers. ra4diata..... Radiated. PODOPIIYLLUM. lTklty Alp?e. olitoria......Sa.lad. peltatum..... Peltate- I eaf. AQUILEG1iA. CO/li tZsi'?e. ClRYS-OSPLENIU3[. Scxofrage. Canadense......Canadian. oppositifoliumn......Opposite leaved. VIOLA. Viol(-t. RAN',UNcULUS. Crowfoot. pedata......Pedate. Pennsylvanica......Pennsylvanian. bl.tnda......W Vhite. bulbosa......Bulbous. lanceolata......Lance-letaved. fascicularis......Bundled. hastata...... Ilalberd-leaved. abortiva.......Abortive. sa,,ggitata..... Snow-leaved. SYMIPLOCAIIRPUS. Skntki Cab/)age. rotundifolia......Round-leaved. foetidus.... Fetid. trifoliata lutea.......Three-le.a,ved Yellow. angustifolium.... Narrow-spathed. striata.... Striped. Aauxf. Arsin. airvensis....Field. triphyllum......Three-leaved. CIIELIDON IlU.. Celazndinze. atrorubens......Dark Purple Stalked. miajus......Large.. DRBA. Draba. AN-EON-E. A 2ienzosle. vernat...... Vernal. thalictroides...... Thalictrum-like. CIIRYSANTIIEMUE. C/irysa?theMiim: nemorosa..... Grove. leucanthemum......Ox-eye D.isy. pratense..... Common Red. repens..... White Clover. campestre..... Slender WAood. ANTENAnPRIIA. 42Zt. plantaginea...... Plantain-leaved. Ivrlta t..... L yvr e-shaped. X t XI S. l [. I, Ict.x, s'. lilifolium...... Lily-learved. LIST OF WVORKS OF ART. Statue of Justice, at Fairmount, carved by Rusli. 1" W isdom, " " The Graff Memorial, " Alarble antique, " Leda and the Swvan, " carved by Rusli. Emblematic comlposition on whleel-liouses, carved l)y Ius'l.. M'arble Fountain, copy from a celebrated fountain in Roe. The first fountain on the Wissahiclkon, marble. The Indian (roughly cut in wood). Two Pegasus Groups (to arrive in June). Venus risen from the Patlh, cast finished by Dr. Rush. COMIPARATIVE SIZE OF PARKS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. FROMI THE MIOST 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, I280 acres. Paltis Royal, i0 acres. Tuileries, 50 acres. Luxembourg, I6o acres. Champs Elys6e, 225 acres. The Bois de Boulogne, 2158 acres. Grosse Garden, Saxony, Soo acres. Sclwebgingen, near Heidelberg, 300oo acres. Schloss Garden, Stuttgard, 560 acres. I-of Garden, lMunich, 500 acres. Thier Garden, Berlin, 200 acres. Djurgard, Stocklholm, 48So acres. The Prater, Vienna, 2500 acres. The Summer Garden, near St. Petersburg, 480 acres. 3Boboli, Florence, 200 acres. Tzarsco Selo, near St. Petersburg, 350 acres. Sweetzingen, near M\annlheim, Ioo00 acres. Richmond Hill, 2468 acres. Lambeth, 250 acres. Kew Garden, 684 acres. Arboretum, Derby, 50 acres. Meadows, Edinburgh, 200 acres. Phoenix Park, Dublin, I752 acres. Birkenhead, Liverpool, I85 acres. Kensington Gardens, 35 acres. Buckingham Palace, 40 acres. HIyde Park, 389 acres. St. James's Park, 59 acres. Green Park, 55 acres. Regent's Park, 450 acres. Norfolk, Shleffield, 20 acres. Primrose Hill, 50 acres. Greenwich Park, 200 acres. Baxter, Dundee, 37 acres. Victoria, 300 acres. Crystal Palace, Edinburgh, 200 acres. Battersea, I175 acres. Albert Park, 409 acres. Kensington Park, 262 acres. Chiswick Gardens, 33 acres. Windsor Little Park, 500 acres. Windsor Great Park, I8oo acres. Hampton Court, 1872 acres. Green, Glasgow, 121 acres. Prince's Park, Liverpool, 9go acres. Washington, South Park, I50 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, io- acres; Washington Parade Ground, 9"2 acres; Union Square, 4 acres; Stuv-esant Park, 4 acres; Tompkins Square, Iot acres; Madison Square, 7 acres; St. Johln's Park, 4 acres; G(ramercy Park, IS acre. Brooklyn, Prospect, 550 acres. Baltimore, Druid Hall, 700 acres, and Patterson's Park, 351 acres. San Francisco has twelve squares of small extent-one improved. Cincinnati, Washington Park, 41/ acres; Lincoln Parkl, 7 acres; Hopkins, Iy acre; City Park, Iy acre; and Longw-orth's Garden of Eden, I56 acres. St. Louis, Tower Grove Parlk, 276 -7 acres; it has also fourteen others, containing II9 acres, and Shaw's Garden, the wonder of the West, ( I43) FAIRMOUNT PARK. 276 acres. Chicago, Lincoln Park, 50 acres; Washington Park 2- s, acres; Lake Park, 40 acres; Dearborn Park, Ii acre; Ellis Park, 3 acres; Union Park, 17 acres; Jefferson Park, 5Y acres; Vernon Park, 4 acres: in all, nearly 126 acres, in addition to the Riverside, I6oo acres. Boston, Common, 48 acres. New Haven, Wooster, 5 acres; the Green, I6 acres; the Brewster, 55 acres. Philadelphia, Hunting Parkl, 45 acres; Fairmount 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; WNashington Square 6 acres 2 roods; Independence Square, 4 acres 2 roods; Jefferson Square, 2 acres 2 roods. 144 STATISTICS OF THE WATER DEPARTMENT, i87I. Contents of the reservoirs: Gallons. . 26,996,636 * 37,300,000 ~ 9,800,oo0 * 35,8~~,~~~ Iog,896,636 Fairmount.... Corinthian Avenue... Schuylkill (formerly Spring Garden) Belmont..... Roxborough... Germantown... Delaware, old reservoir. " new reservoir. new ~ reev*r... *......3X 0,0 35,775,442 A h Ir145,672,078 Pumping capacity of the works, Fairmount (water-power), about Schuylkill, about... Belmont, ".... Per twenty-four hours Roxborough. Germantown. Delaware.. I4,250,000 81,388,6g19 There are seven turbines and two breast wheels at Fairmount. I3 ( I45 )y I I All the reservoirs JUIY, I871: 34,191,6ig 22,947,000 10,000,000 7,138,6i96 . 21500, 750, . 11,000, All the works FAIRMOUNT PARK. Water-level: Belmont reservoir, when full, 212 feet above city datum. Corinthian Av. " " I20 " " Schuylkill " " 1 20 " " Delaware " 114 " " Fairmount " " 96 " " Roxborough " 365 Have 48821 miles of distributing pipes. The average daily supply for the month of July, From Fairmount....... Schuylkill.......... Delaware........... Belmont........ Germantown....... , I870, was:. 26, I91,6I9 1 0o,404,43 I . 5,2I0,439 . 3,424,059 ~- ~ 748,187 46,oo8,735 Equal to 68 gallons for each of the population, per revised census, or 83T2o% 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, From Fairmount............... 29,921,539 Schuylkill............... I4,856,940 Delaware...............5,I35,750 Belmont...............3,958,680 Germantown.............. 781,6oo00 54,654,509 Equal to 8i gallons for the total population, or 92T3 gallons for the total population supplied by the works; or 540 gallons for each water tenant. 146 FAIRMOUNT PARK. The supply delivered in the year 1850 was i8 gallons for each of population; in i86o, 48 gallons for each of population; and in 1870, 55 gallons for each of population. The increase in population from i85o to I86o was 38 per cent., whilst the increase in supply of water was 62 per cent. The increase in population from i86o to I870 was 19 per cent., whilst the increase in water-supply was 4t per cent. Supply of water: Poopulation. I 19,325 I 67,8I I 225,359 408,763 565,592 673,726 Gallons. . 1,537,200 ~ 3,074,644 4 4,922,257 * 7,432,337 ~ 27,345, I 76 . 46,oo8,735 Population, 673,726; houses in the city, I15,1I32, equal 5-99 per house. There were, January I, I870, 98,792 dwellings in Philadelphia; at 5 99 per dwelling, would make the number of persons supplied 554,030, equal to 87-' per cent. of the whole population who pay for the water. The reservoir in the east Park will contain 750,000,000 gallons. I47 I820. I 830 1840. I850. i86o. 1870. ,, 1 i. APPENDIX. INEDITED LETTERS OF ROBERT MORRIS. In I794, Mr. Morris was President of the Asylum Company. He began, with John Nicholson, of this city, to invest largely in land in I795. On the 20th February, I795, 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. Dundas, as surviving manager of the company (I859), and long after all connected with it were ruined and dead, amounted to nearly a quarter of a million dollars. We are permitted 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, I797. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: Here is a morning that will coot 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 intended 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 i5th 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 consequence whether I am taken or not. As yet I am furnished with victuals, 13* ( I49 ) 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, I797. 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 I5th 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 immediately. 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,oo000 acres of my land in North Carolina, which cost me $27,00ooo, is sold for one year's I50 FAIRMOUNT PARK. taxes. By Heaven, there is no bearing with these things! I believe I shall go mad. Every day brings forward scenes and troubles almost insupportable; 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. 2I, 1797. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: I have received your letters, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 of yesterday, 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 Iesson whereby to see the folly of humane and generous conduct. Yours, ROBERT MORRIS. HILLS, Jan. 22, I798. JOHN NICHIOLSON, 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 I5I FAIRMOUNT PARK. number of your visitors, but nowv 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, I1798. 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 thie 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, I1798. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: I did not hear from you yesterday, so that I am not acquainted 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. 15 2 FAIRMOUNT PARK. HILLS, Feb. 8, I798. 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 received 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 conceived 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 their account I feel it most tormentingly. On their account I would do anything to avert what I foresee must happen next week, except an act that would still affect them more deeply. I will try to see you before I go to prison, and in the mean time I remain your distressed friend, ROBERT MORRIS. THE FOLLOWING LETTERS ARE FROM THE PRUNE STREET JAIL: February 20, I798. To JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: My confinement has, so far, been attended with disagreeable and uncomfortable circumstances; for, having no particular place allotted to me, I feel myself an intruder in every place in which I go. I sleep on other persons' beds, I occupy other people's rooms; and if I attempt to sit down to write, it is at the interruption and inconvenience of some one who has acquired a prior right to the place. I am trying daily to get a room for a high rent, and now have a prospect of succeeding. I am now writing in a room which is the best in the house, and hope to have complete possession in a day or two; then I can set up a bed, and introduce such furniture and conveniences as will make me comfortable. February 2I, 1798. DEAR SIR: Your letters, Nos. I and 2 of yesterday, and No. i of this day, are before me. I have signed, sealed, and forwarded all the I53 FAIRMOUNT PARK. letters for the Trustees of the Aggregate Fund. But what shall we do for General Forest and Mr. Dunlop? Shall we give them a rider on the city property next to Jacob Baker. This would interest them to save it from destruction. Suppose you sound them on this point. I am yet in so unsettled a state here, that it is not pleasant to see anybody, although many have been to see me, some as complimentary visitors, others on business. I do not encourage either, because I mean to be master of my time, and to make what I may think the best use of it. As yet I have not the conveniences for doing business, and, perhaps, the less one does in such a situation the better. My little book of suits is yet at the Hills, as are a number of books and papers which must come here when I have a place in which they can be placed; but when that will be, God only knows, if he knows or concerns in anything that relates to prisons. By this, I do not mean any impiety; on the contrary, the expression of a doubt would appear to be justified by what you meet with in such places. ...... Charles Young is at me here, but he behaves very well so far. Adieu. I am called to dinner, by which you may learn that we eat "even here." Your obedient servant. ROBERT MORRIS. JOHIIN NICHOLSON, ESQ. July 5, I798. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: I have your three letters of yesterday, but as I made a frolic yesterday, I did not read them until this morning. At first I did not relish your letters to Law, Duncanson, and the Trustees; but, after a second and a third reading, I signed and shall transmit them all; those for Law and Duncanson open under cover to Cranch. I agree to Lovering as an arbitrator with Prentiss. I think you had as snug a frolic yesterday as Mr. Anybody, but I hope the future anniversaries of your birthdays will be numerous, and passed in full possession of liberty. I had a thought of writing in to Greenleaf about Duncanson's bills, but my soul revolted, and the right hand refused to perform its functions. Fitzsimons was here this morning, in a dreadful taking. All tle furniture I54 FAIRMOUNT PARK. must be sold. My family think this dreadful hard; they know the debt is not mine. ROBERT MORRIS. October I5, 1798, Monday morning. DEAR SIR: I received yours of last evening just after Mr. Hofner had come in sick. Mrs. Morris and Maria were sitting with me. He was pale and ghastly, horror in his countenance., and, I fear, terror in his mind. He sent for a French doctor, a Mons. Monges, who came, but will not yet pronounce whether it is or is not the yellow fever. He, however, has a fever, had last evening two or three slight spells of vomiting, and now complains of pains in his bowels. These are bad symptoms, and I fear he has it. Mrs. M. and my daughter left me with fresh anxieties on their minds, for here is a woman, wife of the man that cleans my room, makes my bed, etc., was taken ill on Saturday. Under these aggravated circumstances, Mr. Banks and myself have written this morning to the chief justice, and Captain Broadhead is going instantly with the letters. It is wonderful, but, notwithstanding the danger is now at my chamber doorfor Hofner is in the room I formerly occupied-I feel no kind of apprehensions, and my only anxiety is for my wife and daughter, and these poor sick people. I hope my life will be spared, for the sake of my family, until I get my affairs settled. I shall be glad that you tell me that Mrs. Nicholson is getting, and that you continue well, which will comfort ROBERT MORRIS. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. October iS, I798. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: As I have done everything in my power to get from hence, and have not succeeded, I now make up my mind to wait with composure my fate. Charles' wife is gone to the hospital. Hofner cannot be moved. His mother, I am told, thinks him past danger, but Dr. 155 FAIRMOUNT PARK. Jacob says he will die, and tells me that Dr. Monges, after seeing him at ii o'clock last night, said he despaired. I think of moving out of my room into that formerly occupied by Dr. Ruston, in the back part of the house; if I do this, it is to give some comfort to Mrs. Morris, whose distress pierces my heart. As to myself, I cannot feel afraid or alarmed at the neighborhood of this disease, although I have tried. Yours truly, ROBERT MORRIS. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. October I8, I1798. DEAR SIR: The scene is closed with Hofner; he is gone the journey from which no traveller returns. I am now quartered in Dr. Ruston's room, having just got there when the exit was announced. I hope we shall avoid infection, for, if once taken, there seems to be no escape. Yours, ROBERT MORRIS. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. January 2, I799. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: I think this is the day appointed for the sale of the Hills furniture, and I have not been able to see Mr. Cazenove yet on that subject, but expect him to-day. The year began with a terrible disappointment to me, as yesterday I received a letter from Messrs. Bourdieu & Co., telling me they could not accept my bill on them for,389 9s. 5d. sterling, because my moneys and effects in their hands had been attached by Mr. James Eyma, of Martinique, in consequence of his being holder of a bond in judgment from myself and Mr. Nicholson, in the sum of $7ooo. They believe the bond is in the hands of Paschall Neilson Smith, of New York, and if I can get them relieved of the attachment, they will gladly pay the bill, and lament that such an impediment should be in the way. This blow was unexpected; it is death to my hopes, for I was in daily expectation to receive I56 FAIRMOUNT PARK. the cash here, believing the bill would be paid. The bond in Mr. Eyma's possession is one of those we gave to James Seagrove for his Georgia lands, and I remember Mr. Smith applied to me for payment of the first instalment and interest, which neither you nor I could pay at the time, nor can we now, so that my money in London must go towards it; and in this, as in a thousand other instances, I must "grin and bear it." But what is to be done for subsistence? I counted on this as a means to carry me through 779. I hope you have cured your smoking chimney, that you have fuel, and the means to buy food and raiment for your family. I will make new exertions to attain the same for mine, and then, in despite of all disappointments, we will try and work cheerfully and arduously to ameliorate our situation. Prison bounds, if established, will do great things for us. That business progresses slowly, but we must not appear too active or openly in it, lest we injure instead of promoting it. McClenahan intends to make use of the bankrupt law, I am told, and therefore does not concern himself about prison bounds. I heard that Governor Mifflin is at the point of death, and am sorry for it. You are in my debt, I think, several letters or notes, such as they are, from Yours, etc., ROBERT MORRIS. August 7, 1799. JOHN NICHOLSON, ESQ. DEAR SIR: I return Mr. Ely's letter of this date to you, and the copy of your reply; these I received under cover of your favor of this date, and I send also a letter just now brought to me from Mr. Ely, who certainly wishes this affair was settled, but he cannot lose sight of his (expected) profits. You see he cannot forget "Shylock;" indeed, he does not act up to the character, being willing to abate of the pound of flesh, but the part he does require calls for blood with it, and more than we can spare, unless our veins were replenished from some of those sources that used formerly to supply them so copiously. Mr. Ely seems I4 I5 7 FAIRMOUNT PARK. disposed to make a settlement in the Genesee country, but he does not offer his debt for land, and if he did, I could not give him any in that country, as it is all involved in-puzzle the cause-I stopped here to answer Mr. Ely; you will receive it herewith, and, if approved, I must trouble you to seal and send it to him. I am sorry to learn that you are still beset; you must look out sharp, and keep from hence, except on Sundays. ROBERT MORRIS. The first commitment was made out for Robert Morris I8th January, I 798, and in February he was in prison. The late William B. Wood describes him as he first saw him in the prison-yard: " His dress, a little old-fashioned, was adjusted with care; he returned my salutation in silence; he continued his walk, dropping from his hand, at a given spot, a pebble on each round, until a certain number which he had in his hand were exhausted." He remained four years, I798-i802, in this jail. His will, made in I804, two years after his release, thus concludes: "Here I have to express my regrets at having lost a very large fortune acquired by honest industry, which I had long hoped and expected to enjoy with my family during my own life, and then to distribute it among those of them that should outlive me. Fate has determined otherwise, and we must submit to the decree, which I have endeavored to do, with patience and fortitude." He died May 8, i8o6, aged 73 years. I58 FAIRMOUNT PARK. MICHAUX. Francois Andre Michaux, son of Andre Michaux, author of the Flora Boreali Americana, was born in 1770. He is the author of the splendid work on the Forest Trees of North America, published in 1817. The following is an extract from a letter from Michaux to William Bartram: PARIS, March 12, 181 o. DEAR SIR: I am sincerely obliged to our common friend, Mr. Wilson, to have give me, in his last letter, news of you and family. The marks of friendship that you have invariable bestow on my father and me, will be constantly present to my memory. Since my return, not a day is passing away without working steady to my American Sylva. Drawers, engravers, type and copper printers, are busy about it; and the French edition, or at least the first number, is to appear by the ist of May; and by the same time, I shall send over the engravings to be added to the American edition, in case Mr. S. Bradford will be disposed to republish. I am very anxious to know how he will meet in America; and in particular your opinion respecting it. Also of Mr. Hamilton and Dr. Muhlenberg. Our great Emperor is about to marry. The only good that will do, at present, is to prevent a great effusion of blood, by preserving the life of many thousand; considering that event will afford a Continental peace, for some time. With respect, and an unalterable attachment, I remain your most obedient friend, F. ANDRE MICHAUX. I59 CONVEYANCES TO AND THROUGH THE PARK. To visit the Park from any depot or hotel, and return to the same or any other depot or hotel, take a hackney-coach by the hour, or FROM Pennsylvania Central Railroad Depot to Fairmount: take Market Street car, and change at Twenty-third Street; time, 20 minutes. North Pennsylvania Railroad Depot to Fairmount: take Sixth Street car, and change at Vine street; time, 6o minutes. Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad Depot to Fairmount: take Fifteenth Street car, and change at Arch Street; time, 45 minutes. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Depot to Fairmount: take Park Accommodation train; time, IO minutes. Reading Railroad, Germantown and Norristown branch, to Fairmount: take Union Line at Spring Garden Street; time, 20 minutes. New York Lines, West Philadelphia Depot, to Fairmount: take Market Street car, and change at Twenty-third Street; time, 20 minutes. New York Lines, Walnut Street wharf, to Fairmount: take Walnut Street car, and change at Twenty-third Street; time 45 minutes. New York Lines, Kensington depot, to Fairmount: take Sixth Street car, and change at Vine Street; time, 60 minutes. The Girard House to Fairmount: take Ninth Street Line direct; time, 30 minutes. The Continental to Fairmount: take Ninth Street Line direct; time, 30 minutes. The St. Lawrence, take Eleventh Street Line, change at Arch Street; and the Wash ington House, Eighth Street Line, direct; time, 25 minutes. The American Hotel to Fairmount: take Fifth Street Line, and change at Vine or Arch Street; time, 30 minutes. The Colonnade Hotel and La Pierre House to Fairmount: take Fifteenth Street Line, and change at Arch Street; time, 20 minutes. The Merchants' Hotel to Fairmount: take Arch Street Line, direct; time, 30 minutes. The St. Cloud Hotel to Fairmount: take Arch Street Line, direct; time, 30 minutes. AT Fairmount: take Park carriage, or steamboat for the various points of interest in the Park, and return to Fairmount. FROM Fairmount to Pennsylvania Central Railroad Depot: take Spruce Street car, and change at Market Street; time 20 minutes. Fairmount to North Pennsylvania Railroad Depot; take Green Street car, and change at Fifth Street; time, 6o minutes. i6o CONVEYANCES TO AND THROUGH THE PARK. i6i Fairmount to Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Depot: take Race or Arch Street car, and change at Thirteenth Street; time, 45 minutes. Fairmount to Wtest Chester Railroad Depot: take Spruce Street car, and change at Chest nut Street; time, 15 minutes. Fairmount to New York Lines, West Philadelphia Railroad Depot: take Spruce Street car, and change at Market Street; time, 20 minutes. Fairmount to New York Lines, Walnut Street wharf: take Spruce Street car; time, 39 minutes. Fairmount to New York Lines, Kensington Depot: take Green Street car, and change at Fifth Street; time, 60 minutes. Fairmount to Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Depot: take Park Accommodation train; time, Io minutes. Fairmount to Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, Germantown and Norristown branch: take Green Street car to Ninth Street; time, 20 minutes. Fairmount to Girard House, Continental, Washington House, and St. Lawrence: take Spruce Street car, and change at Chestnut Street; time, 25 minutes. Fairmount to the American Hotel and Washington House: take Union Line, direct; time, 30 minutes. Fairmount to Colonnade Hotel and La Pierre House: take Spruce Street car, and change at Chestnut Street; time, 20 minutes. Fairmount to MIerchant's Hotel: take Green Street Line, direct; time, 30 minutes. Fairmount to St. Cloud Hotel: take Arch Street Line, direct; time, 30 minutes. OTHER MODES OF CONVEYANCE. Reading Railroad, Park Accommodation train, from Thirteenth and Callowhill Streets to Fa,irmoutnt, time Io minutes; Columbia Bridge, 20 minutes; Belmont, 25 minutes. Reading Railroad, Germantown and Norristown branch, from Ninth and Green Streets to Wissahickon Station, time 20 minutes; and by same to Chestnut Hill Station, time, 60 minutes. Race and Vine Street cars, from Exchange to Fairmount, 31 minutes; to Thirty-Fifth Street near Solitude, time 42 minutes; to Hestonville, near George's Hill; time, 60 minutes. Union Line, from Navy Yard and Richmond to Fairmount; time, 50 minutes. The Ridge Avenue cars, from Second and Arch Streets to Edgely Point Lane, the entrance in the East Bank, 40 minutes; to the Falls and the Wissahickon, time, 6o minutes. AD VER TISEMENTS. DELIGHTFUL EXCURSIONS ON THE CHUYLKILL. The Steamers MAY QUEEN and STAR, now running from FAIRMOUNT TO THE FALLS OF SCHUYLKILL. LEAVE FAIRMOUNT aS follows, viz:-At 7.00, 7.45, 8.30, 9.15, 10.00, 10.45, 11.30, A. M.; 12.15, 1.00, 1.45, 2.30, 3.15, 4.00, 4.45, 5.30, and 6.15, P. M. RETURNING-Leave the FALLS at 7.45, 8.30, 9.15, 10.00, 10.45, 11.30, A. M.; 12.15, 1.00, 1.45, 2.30, 3.15, 4.00, 4.45, 5.30, 6.15, and 7.00, P. M. Fare to Laurel Hill and the Falls,. 15 cts. To Belmont and Rockland, fare each way, 10 cts. Round Trip Tickets,.... 25' Excursion Tickets,.... 15 Pic-Nics and Sunday Schools taken at a Reasonable Reduction. LAFAYETTE MARKLE, Superintendent, No. 3 Dock Street, or Ticket Office, Fairmount. PARK HOTELS. FALLS OF flal S+ SCIHUYLKILL. ALL THE LUXURIES OF THE FALLS MADE A SPECIALTY, And other Dishes prepared in his Incomparable Style. CATFISH, COFFEE, AND WAFFLES AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY. W'rEIS 3AN:I D l'C'X0S C. H. LIPPEN, Proprietor. MAPLE SPRING HOTEL AND MUSEUM. CATFISH AND COFFEE. WINES AND ICES. T':E -MOST REMARKABLE COLLECTION- OF C-IUROSITITIS IX AXE,RICA. JOSEPH SMITH, Proprietor. 4 0 test 0, 4a Et ll AD VER TISEMENTS. PARK HOTELS. o PROS~ 4 (JUDGE PETERS'S FARM.):MA:O, (JUDGE PETERS' PARle.) Parties Served at Short Notioe, A la' Uarte. TISSOT'S XOT L, FALLS OF SCHUYLKILL. MEALS AT ALL HOURS. An invariably excellent table, pleasant rooms, and attentive servants. LOUIS TISSOT, Proprietor. :-r'T,T,,.? -EIOT.MT7 (Formerly the ROCK FISH INN,) FALLS OF SCHUYLKILL. Celebrated for more than a Century for a regular Bill of Fare of {w?ATFISA, CEEESTEAK.ROILED XCKE -,A FLS, AND COFFE:E3 SAKUEL SMITHE Proprietor. n,e5tauraleur, "O AD VER TISEMENTS. D DUVAL & UNTER (Successors to P. S. DUVAL, SON & CO.) Nqo 2,SS So3 tta ]iztlh Street7 PIHILADELPHIA, LITHOGRAPHERS, DESIGNERS, AND PUBLISHERS. CHROMOS A sPECIAILTY Publishers of the following superior Chromos: "TEGNER'S DRAPA." Longfellow's Translation. Original by JAMES HAMILTON. The most perfect work of art yet produced in America. Size, 20 I-2 by 33. Sold only by Subscription. $50 per copy. A KEY TO THE CHlROO ENTITLED "WASHINGTON PRESIDING OVER A MEETING OF THE LODGE" AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. Convened preparatory to the laying of the Corner Stone of the National Capitol. Size, 20 by 26. Sold only by Subscription. $I2 per copy. "THE LIGHT OP TH'E COTTAGE."' A beautiful Lamplight Effect, after P. W. SEBES, of Brussels, equal in every art quality to the Original, and Superior to any Chromo yet produced in this country. Size, 14 by 17. "A BREEZY DAY," "MOONLIGHT AT SEA," "RUINS ON THE NILE," "A FOG ON THE THAMES." Companion Pieces. Size, 8 by 12. The above Gems are Copies of Originals, by the Marine Artist, JAMES HAMILTON, and are excellent imitations of the works of this celebrated master of effect. ". ITT "I.lT 9SPO5IFCX." A Snipe-Shooting Scene, with Pointer and Setters; an excellent picture, after J. S. HILL. Size, 16 by 241-2. "THE DISSATISFIED," "THE LITTLE PETS," "THE CHURCH MOUSE," 9 by 111-2. 9 by 111-2. 11 1-2 by 14 1-2. The above are copies of the Originals, by the celebrated French painter, LOUIS LASSALLE. "WAKE UP, GRANDPA," - - - - 10 by 133 "FPARM YARD SCENE," -.- 12 by 16 "BURIAL OF THE PET BIRD," - - - 8 by 1IG "DUCK SHIOOTING,". - 7Y2 by 11 T1h~o:utat St~eam 0-aurphc tmpaull. AD VER TISEMENTS. ROBERT WOOD & CO., PHILAD:E;LPHIA pq~~~~q ~~~ ~~_ P4 *._ C = New and Improved Styles of HAY RICKS, MANGERS, STABLE FIXTURES, STALL DIVISIONS &C. IPT:E:MT WIRE WORK, Railings, Store Fronts, Door and Window Guards, Farm Fencings, &c. DRINKING FOUNTAINS, For street ulses. A very Zarge assortment of Designs expressly for this purpose. ORNAMEXTAL IXRON GOO-ZDS. The largest assortment to be found in the United States, all of which are executed wit* the express view of pleasing the taste, while they combine all the requisites of beauty and substantial construction. AD VER TISEMENTS. THE OLDEST STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY IN AMERICA. (Established, New York, 1815; Removed to Philadelphia, 1823.) J. FAGAN & SON, 621 and 623 Commerce Street, PHILADELPHIA, Invite General Attention to the Capacity of their Foundry for the Manufacture of Stereotype and Electrotype Plates. Estimates given for Book-work in all Styles, Languages, and Type. J. E. SHARP, aleW an Fac 712 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Book Illustrations a Specialty. I.Mll. HERMANN FABER, artist, 2039 Brandywine Street, Philadelphia. Designer on Wood. Etching and Rouletting on Steel and Copper. REFERENCES: Messrs. CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER; Mr. JOHN A. BLACK, Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication; Mr. J. K. SHRYOCIC, Superintendent of the Lutheran Board of Publication j Messrs. PORTER & COATES. gl Tf AD VER 2'ISEMENTS. vS POPITLA~e < TE3XsX:EX:D BY e laxton, a E fffI n rt 819 and 821 Market Street, Philadelphia. STRIFE. A Romance of Germany and Italy. By Mrs. E. D. WALLACE. I vol. i2mo., cloth extra....... $ 75 AUREOLA; or, The Black Sheep. A Novel. By Mrs. ADELHEID SHELTON MACKENZIE. Izmo., cloth...... I 50 TRAVELS OF AN AMERICAN OWL. A Satire. By VIRGINIA W. JOHNSON. With I 2 Illustrations by Augustus Hoppin. Small quarto, cloth extra......... 2 50 CALLIRHOE. From the French of MAURICE SAND. Translated by Mrs. S. A. DA PONTE. izmo., cloth..... I 75 THE ROSE OF TYPHAINES. A Tale of the Commune in the Twelfth Century. By Count A. DE GOBINEAU. Translated by CHARLES D. MEIGS, M.D. I2zmo., paper..... I 0o STUDIES IN LITERATURE. Containing Sketches of the Lives of George D. Prentice, Victor Hugo, etc. etc. By G. W. GRIFFIN. New Revised Edition. Izmo., cloth..... I 75 LAURE; or, The History of a Blighted Life. By Mrs. L. C. H. I zmo., cloth.......... I 50 THE GREY BAY MARE, and other Humorous American Sketches. By HENRY P. LELAND. With 8 Illustrations. New Edition. I2mo., cloth.......... I 50 LOWLY WAYS; or, The Diary of a Poor Young Lady. After the German. By F. E. B. i6mo., cloth..... I oo OLD AND TRIED. INCORPORATED 1851. ~2BERKSHIRE BERKSHIRE 0 Life Insurance Company, OF PITTSFIELD IMASS. The Nox-]e rfeititre of Every eliey Is secured by Special Law of the COM: O NEA. LT H O1F1 9[A S S. TlHOS. F. PLUITKElTT, President. JAS. FRANCIS, Vice-President. L. H. GAMWELL, Secretary. EDIVARD BOLTWOOD, Treasurer, S. W. Cor. l1th & Chestnut Sts., Philad'a. GOOD AGENTS W'ANT1ED.