The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-07-10
Three Features OF Rnltimorn.


EV0NuAGu Vi
Balto. Cor. Of n. Y. TrIbune.)
Druid Hill Park Is probably the only
fine park In the United States which has
cost nothing to the city 10 which Ii be.
longs When the ordinance 70 establish
street railways in Baltimore was passed
by the City Council, ex.Gov. Swami, then
Mayor, took the ground that he would
veto every ordinance TO surrender the use
Of the public streets 10 private railway
company, unless the company would agree
to pay for the franchise, one.fifth OF its
gross earnings into the City Treasury for
the purchase and improvement Of a pub.
lie park. The Mayor being inexorablo,
the condition was agreed to, and the track
Of the street railways laid down, The
ground Of Druid Hill Park was purchased
at cost Of half million Of dollars, The
receipts from the railways, annually in.
creasing, arc now sufficient to pay the
interest on the Park stock and about
100000 each year for park improvements
besides, This is an example that every
new city should follow. Baltimore has
demonstrated that the profits Of street
railway companies are sufficient 10 PRO.
vide all cities with public parks. This
Is not all. Druid Lake, containing fifty.
two acres, Is utilized so as 10
supply the city with pure water. The
lake, which Is the most striking ornament
Of the park, Is the most useful appendage
to the city. The Park Commissioners
charge the Water Works Commissioners
nothing Tor the use Of 90 acres OF their
grounds, SO that, practically, water Is sup.
piled to the city by the street railway
companies without expense to the citi-
zens. The Park differs from other parks
chiefly in its advantages and adaptations
by nature. One.half OF It Is in the condi.
ton 1t was three centuries ago, save that
roads and paths have been cut through It.
ThiCkets, underbrush, rayines, moss.
coated rocks, forests primeval and almost
impenetrable, and solitude that would de.
light the saddest soul, are here brought
within six minutes Of the city. Every.
thing Is In an absolute state Of nature,
and q wild nature. The plants, shrubs
and flowers arc wild, the untouched fallen
trees and leaves look wild; the deep and
damp caverns and ravlnes are weird and
wild; in short everything Is wild except
the deer, squirrels, and birds, which, secure
under the protection Of the law, live lazy
lives, and look upon all urban mortals as
intruders upon their rights OF eminent do.
main.
The Washington Monument Is the work
of the eminent architect, Robert Mills,
who erected also the Bunker Hill Monu.
ment 1t Is more than % feet higher, and
Is incomparably grander and more sym.
metrically proportional than was the
famous Column Vendome in Paris. Il is
built Of the best material for memorial
shafts, white marble. lis proportions are
artistically perfect. The colossal statue
OF Washington, though almost 800 feet
above the tide Of the bay, CONVEYS in
plain language the story oil his surrender
OF his commission as. commander OF the
armies Of the United States. This was
the first and is the finest monument erect
ed to the Father oil his country on the
continent When VIC consider that the
Republic and the arts were in their imam
cy when this column was reared in 1915,
we arc struck with surprise that the city
authorities Numbered upon so fine q de-
sign.
The city residence OF Thomas Winans
is one of the striking features, third In
Importance, of Baltimore. 1t is not need.
full to rewIite Mr.. Winans' remarkable
personal history; how he labored for
years rs a mechanic in his fathers ma.
chine shops, how his display Of mechani-
cal genius attracted the attention of those
who constructed the eastern portion OF
the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, and sub
sequently the attention Of the Russian
ambassador and his august master; the
Emperor OF Russia, and how Mr.. Winans
was employed to build and equip the rail.
road from Moscow 10 st. Petersburg, and
to construct the bridge across the Neya.
1t is sufficient to say that Mr.. Winans'
net profits from his Is years labors in
Russia are estimated as amounting to
10000, 600, and that with this handsome
fortune he began to build princely home
for his children. He secured four acres
of ground in the heart of Baltimore.
Upon this he has built an Italian villa,
which is intellectually beautiful within
and without. 1t Is surrounded BY an i'm.
mense wall bIr. WInans' house has some
peculiar features of construction. The
music room, quadrangular apartment,
60 feet by 10, is filled with pianos, harps,
organs, paintings, statuettes, and gems of
art 1t is heated and ventilated bY means
OF innumerable holes in the polished floor,
under an original system invented by Mr..
Wi4ans, and has q recess and other con-
yeniences for an orchestra. The venti.
lating chimney or shaft, which is some.
what suggestiye.ofa smokestack to a gas
factory, is unsightly and inartistically tall.
Mr.. Winans' stables contain Is or 90 of
the handsomest Russian, Arabian, French
and American horses. Some Of the adorn-
ments Of his grounds are in questionable
taste, being perishable plaster casts, al
ready in q partly mutilated condition.