Central Park

the name of a public pleasure ground in New York. It comprises 840 acres. The site was purchased in 1856 and subsequently at a cost of over $7,000,000. Thirty million dollars have been expended in converting a swampy, rocky district of pigsties and shanties into lawns, drives, fountains, and ponds. Two million dollars will not more than cover the cost alone of bringing in good soil from Long Island. When laid out the park was a northern suburb of the city, but it is now quite central and is a delightful breathing place in the New World metropolis. The original park contained 150,000 shrubs and trees, including some twenty kinds of maple, beech, chestnut, birch, walnut, oak, elm, poplar, sycamore, catalpa, etc. They were protected and many have now grown to be fine, shady trees. The main drives are a lively sight on pleasant afternoons, when the gay turnouts of wealth and fashion pass so rapidly and in such numbers that one can hardly count them. Seats and shady walks are provided for foot passengers. Fine collections of palms, orchids, and other interesting flowers and plants are cared for under glass and in well kept gardens. Numerous dens, caves, and cages, tanks, and wire enclosures confine all sorts of birds, fishes, and wild anmals, from a beaver to a polar bear, or a jack-rabbit to a giraffe. The general plan of the park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1857. It has been adhered to, in the main, ever since. The Metro-politan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History are handsomely housed in the park. Under the directorship of William T. Hornaday, a collection of wild animals has been formed, scarce second to any other in the world.