The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-12-05

THE BArTIRy ENLARGIx4NT AND THE NEW
PARK We are, it appears, after all, to have the
Battery enlarged, upon Mr.. COnklin's contract Of
$27 600 for the ob-the city to have the privilege
Of dumping its rubbish into the vacuum which will
be made by the extension of the sea wall. Hsw
this immense job 10 to be done for the specified
in the contract Is o mystery; but from past OK.
perience in such large jobs it will be no mystery If
the CORPORATION in the end, is saddled with ten or
twenty times the amount of the accepted bid
Whether the extension will or win not operate to
fill up the North river docks with the sediment
from the city, the work itself will demonstrate. The
thing is now to become practical experiment, and
we must be content TO mark the beginning aad the
progress of the work, and its consequences when
the work is done.
In the meantime, the little breeze which was
raised awhile ago, in behalf Of the new Park, has
died away, and on that important subject now
there is great calm. But the city goes on OK
tending northward with giant strides, and very
soon, unless some steps taken to gain foothold
for the proposed Park, the last hope will be sTal
lowed up in bricks and mortar, and brown stone
fronts. Let the opportunity slip away now, and it
may be relnquiShed forever. A large and splendid
Park, which might now be secured for two or three
millions, will require outlay Of ten, fifteen, or
twenty millions, five years henoe-ani it is more
likely to be twenty than ten. At such cost, it is
safe to predict that there will be no Park for New
York until the whole island is a solid mass Of
bu ldings.
From present appearances, the prospect is gloomy
enough. At the end Of ten years We may expect
the population of the city to be swelled to million
of souls, to say nothing Of the swarmng suburbs Of
Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Jersey City and Hoboksn;
for, be it understood, that even Hoboken, yea, and
Weehawken, are going the way Of all our surround
ings. New, who can answer for the mortality Of
New York in the summer season, at the end Of ten
years, with population Of million crowded in be-
tween these two rivers, and with half million sur.
rounding it on the opposite shores, and breathing
place nearer than the salt water fats Of New Jersey,
or Greenwood Cemetery, or the windy waste Of
Copey Island! We may surely predict that Now
York, thus shut up, without air. and full of miasms
and contagion, will become VIGOROUSLY the most un-
healthy city north Of Charleston. The mortality of
eur infant population, especially, is even now, and
has been for Some years, sufficiently alarming; and
it cannot fail to be aggravated as the aggravating
causes IRE increased.
What is the Battery now! A receptacle of loaf
shocking What are all our public Squares I!
Mere patches, absorbing the dust and e.hala.
tions of tho surrounding streets. And what is
the great distinguishing charm Of London,
of Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and Madrid Their
grand public parks, gardens, and pazas. There is
not Spanish village on the American continent
without its plsza-its cathedral and its p!aza-the
two great pre- requisites for the preservation Of the
soul and the body. And on this continent, we
should bear in mind, the summers are much hotter
than in the ATTITUDES Of Europe, and that tho
decomposition and evaporation of animal and vege-
table matter is correspondingly increased. Thus,
too, in the same ratio, is augmented the necessity
for cleanliness and ventilatonfor clean streets and
public parks, where the hard laborng classes, par
ticularly may enjoy occasionally the great blessing
of fresh air.
This is the utilitarian view of the question. The
fashionable and ornamental admits, also, of some
elaboration but it would be a work OF superero-
CATION to discuss it. If upper tendon" does not
oonprehend the ornamental and fashionable uses sf
such place rs Hyde Park, or tae Gardens of the
Tuilleries, they have travelled to London and Paris
to less purpose than even we had supposed New
York is entitled to Park. The public health de-
mands tit is demanded as the very lungs of
great city like this, and as its chiefes and cheapest
attraction. Fashion requires it, and poverty and
restitution, dying in unwholesome holes and corners
pleads for the fresh air of Park Shall we not
the time.