USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1882 > Part 10
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The COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS would deem that they had worn out patience, and exhausted importunity, were their faith in the People less entire. But they know that no expenditure would be more cheerfully sanctioned, by those who have to pay a larger moiety of the taxes, than that which should make prompt provision for convenient and suitable play-grounds- ample and accessible COMMONS, or PARKS. And they know, further,-what must be obvious to all,-that the opportunity to make such provision is rapidly passing away, as settlement
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encroaches upon vacant territory ; and speculation reaches out anticipating settlement. If the citizens of Worcester desire to convert their beautiful City into a mere pile of buildings; where the brick shop shall frown upon the wooden shanty, smoke and grime pervading and oppressing both alike ; where the blooming gardens, once so frequent, shall be given up, because they cost too much to maintain or the land is too valuable; where there shall be no COMMON, because it is coveted for Streets, and no PARKS, since there is no money in the Treasury wherewith to buy them, and the time will never come when there will be funds on hand for such a purpose ; then it would seem that their wish is in a fair way to be gratified. No man in authority manifests the courage of his convictions, in this matter, fearing, and by the very display of such fear ensuring, the loss of popu- larity. For the People ever detect and mistrust the man of infirm will, or weak purpose; and are invariably ready, and even eager, to follow an audacious, if wise, leader. No man will lose caste in Worcester,-more than in Philadelphia, New York, or Boston,-who appreciates and makes the most of his opportunity, when it occurs, to provide for an imminent public need. Are there none in the City Council, at present, who dare to initiate, and push to a successful consummation, such measures as shall result in a suitable supply of Public Grounds for this prosperous and rapidly-growing City ?
If such Grounds ;- call them Parks, as you elect, although this COMMISSION will ever prefer the explicit and time-honored title of-COMMONS -; shall not be acquired now, or measures taken for their timely procurement; when, in the name of any rational enjoyment this side of the grave, will occasion serve better ? You are ready to introduce a new Water service, insisting only that the supply shall be adequate : and may have, at any time, to spend untold sums, in the ordinary event of the casual fracture of a main ; or to secure from the plague of a Drought, which is only not extraordinary since it has ceased to be exceptional. You under-run,the earth with sewers, projecting them for miles ; pierc- ing channels for a sluggish stream, compared, not inaptly, to the Styx, and only dissimilar, because the principal channel of that
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fabled river in the classic hell was wofully lacking in dams ! Yon erect School-Houses, more or less, annually, buying gen- erous tracts of land for play-grounds : and, each year thereafter, you contract the open space by constructing new rooms to be added to the original edifice. It saves, in one sense, to cover the school-yard with brick and mortar. But, how is it with the Doctor's bill ? At this time of writing, the yard of the Winslow Street School-House is marked for further encroachment. Does- land cost so much, in that part of the City, that a new and sepa- rate lot cannot be obtained ? Why not take a lesson from the Highway Department, improving upon the instruction ? Why not purchase acres of gravel, skinning the surface for re-imburse- ·ment, and reserving the subsoil and fee-simple for an untaught generation !
Nothing can compare, in possible variety of use and enjoyment, with a Water-Park, which affords boating in summer and skating in winter. If, however, you can add to this the grove and lawn; the sunny nook or umbrageous copse ; what is left to desire ? Therefore has it been, for years, that this COMMISSION ceased not to urge upon the Honorable COUNCIL to lose no time in gaining possession of the western shore of Lake Quinsiga- mond, northward of the causeway : and influenced by such views. was it that the subjoined note was prepared and submitted :
COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS.
Worcester, Mass., Dec. 19th, A. D. 1882. To the Honorable CITY COUNCIL-
The undersigned, Chairman of the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, respectfully sets forth that, A. D. 1873, a Decree was adopted by the Honorable COUNCIL locating and establishing what has since been known, by lawful denomination, as Lake Avenue :-
That a portion of said Avenue has been worked and converted to the public enjoyment and use ;-
That, although to some extent originally perverted from its direct aim; and, to a lesser degree, neglected in its immediate and obvious purpose; its construction has thoroughly justified itself, by the diversion, from the denser settlements of the City, of some portion of the population, which has been thus enabled to find, in the neighborhood of Lake Quinsigamond, pleasant resorts and cheaper as well as healthier homes. The aggregate municipality deriving a sufficient return in the resultant taxation upon the improvements
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that it invited, with the reluctance characteristic of all similar bodies politic :
And the undersigned would further represent that the Location of said Lake Avenue is binding and conclusive. As well upon the Commonwealth, which conceded the right of way through and throughout its domain; as well upon individuals, who granted like and equivalent concessions ; as upon the City which, having realized benefit from enterprise consequent upon its former action, is bound, alike in honor, and by a clear perception of its opportunities, to complete its engagements.
Wherefore the undersigned petitions the Honorable CITY COUNCIL to order the construction, during the current winter, of so much of Lake Avenue, as may be comprised within the Location, already decreed and on file, as extends from Belmont Street, northwardly; to its intersection with Lincoln Street ;
To the end that the western shore of Lake Quinsigamond may be thrown open once more to the People, and rendered as freely accessible as when the title to the land was vested in individual farmers !
And with the ulterior purpose and ultimate aim, when said Lake Avenue shall have been thus extended and constructed, of obtaining from the Com- monwealth, perhaps also from individual owners, all the land lying between said Avenue and Lake for the common enjoyment and use, in perpetuity, as a PUBLIC PARK, or COMMON.
Very respectfully, EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN, Chairman.
It is not so very long since that shore was a favorite resort of our whole community ; when the name and fame of Regatta Point was bruited throughout the Republic. Boating may have fallen into temporary disrepute : but the Lake and the landscape continue, in perennial beauty, enticing casual visitors and inviting the not infrequent picnic. Still it is felt to be an intrusion ; and only not a trespass because the land belongs to the Common- wealth. Now why should it not become the property of the People ? with absolute freedom to come and go ;- to stay, or keep away. Its use and enjoyment, as a PUBLIC PARK, would injure no one ; and need not diminish any essential privileges of the Hospital. The extension of Lake Avenue would supply a convenient and ineffaceable line of demarkation between the absolute territory of the Commonwealth, wherefrom it might be desirable to exclude the community. At the same time there would be provided a way of inter-communication, and transport, to and from the Northern and Southern extremities of that vast
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domain ; obviating, in a measure, the need of cart-paths and lanes, which are always a nuisance wherever they are not indis- pensable. Seeking no selfish or exclusive occupation, there can be no good reason why the City should not be able to acquire the title of the Commonwealth upon reasonable terms. It would be monstrous,-were our People to be debarred from an enjoyment, almost their own by prescription, because an edifice, upon a remote summit within those broad acres, is thronged with the irrational and demented ! A COMMON does not mean, and cannot be made to intend, monopoly. Every inmate of the Hospital, permitted to be at large and to mingle with his fellow- men, would retain all the rights that he now has : but the com- munity in general would feel a new and complete sense of freedom, where they are now galled by a perception, however faint or impalpable, of simple sufferance.
The most frequent objection to an extension of Lake Avenue, northward, is that the location of the road-way so far as con- structed, to the south of Belmont Street, was diverted to such a distance inland from the Lake. Without stopping to inquire into the fact, or its latent causes, it is sufficient to know that a remedy for that oversight, or deliberate perversion, is easily found. The Decree, establishing that Avenue, provides for a Bridle Path, forty feet wide, by the shore of the Lake, which can be built at any time and the main road discontinued upon its completion. In this way some expense of maintenance might be saved ; the original plan of this COMMISSION fulfilled ; while simultaneously the water-scape would be developed in all its natural beauty. The weakest occupation in which grown men can waste time is, - whining over mistakes that they have the power to correct and redress.
The reply to a request for certain views of the COMMISSION, as expressed in its Reports upon this whole subject, may be found subjoined : and, in said reply, a suggestion for the requisite legislative action. It would seem most advisable, however, should it be determined to establish a PARK along the Western shore of Lake Quinsigamond; obtaining therefor the super- fluous land of the Commonwealth; to make the project so
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comprehensive as to embrace the grander idea of a WATER- PARK : and to solicit, at one and the same time, whatever and all the legislation that might be necessary.
COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS.
Worcester, Mass., Dec. 17, A. D. 1881.
Col. E. B. STODDARD, Mayor Elect.
My Dear Sir :
I send you such Reports as I can find. If that which you want is deficient, you will find it in the City Documents.
LAKE AVENUE should be worked Northiwardly-towards the Poor-Farm. That will make it useful : now, it is not.
As to the WATER PARK; I think that something like the old Metropolitan Police District of New York will be found indispensable. Shrewsbury part- ing with jurisdiction in consideration of the order and supervision that Worcester; thus enlarged into a territorial district transcending its town lines ; should be required to maintain.
Wishing you all success in your arduous duties, I remain most sincerely yours,
EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN.
Judicious, if somewhat timid, citizens, sometimes urge that there would be difficulty in maintaining good order in a Public Park along the Lake Shore. It is not pretended that acts of violence are frequent, if committed at all, throughout the exist- ing solitudes. The contention would appear to be, that where multitudes assemble the spirit of misrule is dominant; and that a desert must be preferred, so that it is peaceful, to a charming landscape that might necessitate some moderate outlay, or effort, to cultivate the pinks of propriety. But this COMMISSION cherish a more abiding faith in human nature: taking no stock in the clerical disparagement that the old Adam is especially rampant among the people of Worcester. While mischief is occasionally detected, in ELM PARK, it is believed to be, oftener than not, the result of thoughtlessness or downright ignorance. Wanton injury grows more rare, as the community learn that it is their own property which is harmed; and that it is the interest of each to keep up a needful ontlook for all. Besides,-as a knowl- edge of flowers and plants gets more widely diffused, it is evident that depredations diminish in number' and extent. It would not be possible, were it at all desirable, to transform a Park, by the Lake, into a garden. The remarkable diversity of soil in
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ELM PARK; coupled with its capabilities for ornamental water ; enabled the COMMISSION to prosecute the design of a Flower- Garden and Shrubbery, such as they would never even attempt, in any spot less favored by nature. But the sloping shores and verdant lawns by Lake Quinsigamond, require no alteration ; are far better let alone; and may assuredly be trusted to the safeguard of a population, as owner, which never marred their unadorned beauty although admitted to their enjoyment by mere toleration.
" When Sir Francis Crossley presented a Park to the working- men of Halifax (Eng.) he said 'I attribute the great success, which has enabled me to make this gift to my fellow-townsmen, to this circumstance that, when we first passed through the gates of the big mill yonder, my mother said "If the Lord prosper us in this place, the poor shall taste of it !" How could the poor taste of it more sweetly than in a place of healthful rest and recreation ? Ought not such places to be multiplied, not only by individual munificence, but by public combination ? Surely one of the first anxieties of a government should be the physical, as well as the moral, condition of the people. Surely the commercial man, the employer of labor, must perceive in his consideration of profit and loss, if he have no higher motive, the prime importance of that power, which health alone can give, to see quickly, and strike strongly, and endure continuous work. How much more then, should the Christian, who pro- fesses to regard all men as brethren, who has been taught that if one member suffer all the members suffer with it, how much more should he strive to brighten the lives and lighten the burdens of the sons of toil ? "
Thus speaks the President of the National Rose Society of England, Canon S. Reynolds Hole, in an address to Working- men, at the Derby meeting of the Church Congress. Pervading, and to some extent corrupting, that address, runs the European theory of a paternal government, which would develop the human being into a more complete animal for the carrying of arms and the endurance of burdens too grievous to be borne. We, who form governments, and of whom they consist ; who are
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both ruled and rulers ; can discriminate, accepting what is good of that or other doctrine, nor less emphatically rejecting the bad. We may wonder, now and then, if the latter-day Pharisees whether by direct descent or fore-ordination ; intermitting their spasmodic deliverances prior to each municipal election in behalf of an enforced asceticism ;
Compounding sins they are inclined to By damning those they have no mind to ;
and contemplating the modern sons of men eating and drinking beneath the clear skies of June, in a temple not made with hands ; would echo the denunciations of their prototypes, declaring the great majority gluttonous and wine-bibbers, and, as such, having a devil ! But we will prefer to hope that the example of the great Teacher may not be wholly fruitless ; that, even as He wandered through the live-long days and lingering twilights of Judæa; affording no offence to the well-meaning, and taking none because they were civilly disposed, His living disciples may at last coerce their professions into harmony with His practice. Then shall every man mind his own business and find full occupation. Then shall the earth and its fulness indeed enure to the saints; even Pecksniff becoming as a little child and getting sanctified thereby. And thereafter shall ensue that peace of God which passeth understanding: but of which some faint comprehension illumines his mind, who looks forth upon the world as He fashioned it; and in a devout spirit of gratitude would fain enjoy ; nor, enjoying, scruple to derive pleasure from witnessing the innocent delight of others.
All which is respectfully submitted,
(by) EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN, Chairman.
Worcester, Massachusetts, January 22d, A. D. 1883.
APPENDIX.
PUBLIC PARKS.
AN ACT UNDER WHICH CITIES AND TOWNS MAY LAY OUT PUBLIC PARKS.
SECTION 1. Any town in this commonwealth which accepts the pro- visions of this act in the manner hereinafter prescribed may, at a legal meeting called for that purpose, elect three competent persons who shall constitute a board of park commissioners for such town, and may prescribe their terms of office; and the mayor of any city which in such manner accepts said provisions may, with the approval of the city council, as soon as may be after such acceptance, appoint five com- petent persons who shall constitute a board of park commissioners for such city, and who shall hold their offices until the expiration of terms of one, two, three, four and five years respectively, from the first Mon- day in May next following such appointment ; and the mayor shall, before the first Monday in May in each year thereafter, with like approval, appoint one such commissioner to continue in office for five years from the expiration of the term of the commissioner then next outgoing. No person shall be such commissioner who is at the same time a selectman or other officer of such town, or a member of the city council, clerk or treasurer of such city ; and any such commis- sioner may be removed by a vote of two-thirds of the legal voters of such town, at a legal meeting called for the purpose, or by a concur- rent vote of two-thirds of the whole of each branch of such city council.
SECT. 2. Any vacancy occurring in such board shall be filled for the residue of the term of the commissioner whose place is to be filled in the same manner in which such commissioner was originally appointed. Such commissioner will serve without compensation.
SECT 3. Such boards of park commissioners shall have power to locate within the limits of their respective towns or cities a public park or parks, and for that purpose from time to time to take in fee by pur- chase, gift, devise or otherwise, any and all such lands as they may deem desirable therefor, or to take bonds for the conveyance thereof to their respective towns or cities ; to lay out and improve any such park or parks ; to make rules for the use and government thereof, and for breaches of such rules, to affix penalties not exceeding twenty dollars for one offense, to be imposed by any court of competent jurisdiction ; to appoint all necessary engineers, surveyors, clerks and other officers, including a police force to act in such parks ; to define the powers and
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duties of such officers and fix the amount of their compensation ; and generally to do all acts needful for the proper execution of the powers and duties granted to or imposed upon such town or city, or upon such boards by this act ; provided, however, that no land shall be taken, or any other thing involving an expenditure of money be done under this act until an appropriation sufficient to cover the estimated expense thereof shall in a town have been made by a vote of two-thirds of the legal voters present, and voting in a legal town meeting called for the purpose, or in a city by a vote of two thirds of each branch of the city council ; and such expenditures shall in no case exceed the appro- priations made therefor, and all contracts made for expenditures beyond the amount of such appropriations shall be void ; provided, further, that in a town no taking of land otherwise than by purchase shall be valid unless such taking is reported to the town, filed, accepted and allowed, as provided by section seventy-one of chapter forty-nine of the Public Statutes in the case of laying out town ways.
SECT. 4. Such board shall, within sixty days after the taking of any land under this act, file and cause to be recorded in the registry of deeds for the county or district in which any land so taken is situated, a description thereof sufficiently accurate for identifying the same.
SECT. 5. Such boards shall respectively estimate and determine all damages sustained by any person by the taking of land, or by other acts of such boards in the execution of the powers vested in them respectively by this act; but a person aggrieved by any such determi- nation of the board may have his damages assessed by a jury of the superior court, in the same manner as is provided by law with respect to damages sustained by reason of the laying out of ways. If upon trial damages are increased beyond the award, the party in whose favor the award was made shall recover his costs; otherwise he shall pay costs ; and costs shall be taxed as in civil cases.
SECT. 6. The fee of any land taken or purchased by such boards in any town or city for a park under this act shall vest in the town or city in which said park is laid out; and such town or city shall be liable to pay all damages assessed or determined, as provided in the preceding section, and all other costs and expenses incurred by its board of park commissioners in the execution of the powers vested in such board by this act. Any town or city shall also be authorized to take and hold in trust or otherwise any devise, grant, gift or bequest that may be made for the purpose of laying out, improving or ornamenting any park or parks therein.
SECT. 7. The boards of park commissioners in their respective towns and cities shall have the same authority to determine the value of, and assess upon real estate the amount of betterments accruing to said real estate by the locating and laying out of a park or parks under this act that is conferred by chapter fifty-one of the Public Statutes upon boards of city or town officers authorized to lay out streets or ways; and the provisions of the first eight sections of said chapter relating to ways shall apply to such assessments by boards of park commissioners in respect to the location and laying out of parks as
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aforesaid ; provided, however, that no assessment shall be laid upon any real estate except such as abuts upon the park from the laying out of which the betterment accrues, or upon a street or way bounded by such park.
SECT. 8. Any town or city in which a public park is laid out under this act may raise, appropriate and expend such sums of money as may be deemed best for the purchase and improvement of such park or parks, subject to the laws of this commonwealth limiting municipal indebtedness.
SECT. 9. For the purpose of defraying the expenses incurred under the provisions of this act, the city council of any city shall have author- ity to issue from time to time, and to an amount not exceeding the sum actually expended for the purchase or taking of lands for a park or parks, bonds or certificates of debt, to be denominated on the face thereof the "Public Park loan," and to bear interest at such rates and to be payable at such times as said city council may determine. For the redemption of such loan such city council shall establish a sinking fund sufficient, with the accumulating interest, to provide for the payment of such loan at maturity. All amounts received for better- ments shall be paid into such sinking fund until such fund shall amount to a sum sufficient with its accumulations to pay at maturity the bonds for the security of which the fund was established.
SECT. 10. All lands taken or held under this act shall be forever kept open and maintained as a public park or parks. No building covering more than six hundred square feet shall be placed or allowed to remain on any such park ; and no street or way, and no steam or horse railroad, shall be laid out over any portion of a park located under this act, except at such places and in such manner as the board of park commissioners shall approve.
SECT. 11. No military encampment, parade, drill, review, or other military evolution or exercise, shall be held or performed on any park laid out as aforesaid, except with the consent of said board, nor shall any military body without such consent enter or move in military order within such park, except in case of riot, insurrection, rebellion or war.
SECT. 12. All such boards of park commissioners shall make reports of their respective doings, including detailed statements of all receipts, expenditures and liabilities for the preceding year ; such reports to be made in towns at the annual town meetings, and at such other times as the town may direct, and in cities to the city council annually in the month of December.
SECT. 13. This act shall not take full effect in any town or city unless accepted by a majority of the legal voters of such town or city present and voting thereon by ballot and using the check list, at a meeting or meetings notice whereof has been duly given at least seven days beforehand. Such ballots shall be "yes" or "no" in answer to the question, "Shall an act passed by the legislature of the commonwealth in the year eighteen hundred and eighty - two, entitled 'An act authorizing towns and cities to lay out public parks within their limits,' be accepted ?" In a town such meetings shall be called and
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