, 1877-02-18
WORKING OFT THE ASSESSMENT,

NOHkINt tGI lAL ASSf-SsMEAIs
Work has already been commenced on Lincoln
Park, and Is progressing famously. Attention Is
confined exclusively to the lower eud, and the
landmarks Of the old cemetery are disappearing
before the continued attacks OF 100 men. The
Commissioners llaye seized upou the spring-ii like
aspect Of the past mouth and the availability ot
labor, and have furnished employment to quite
au army that would otherwise have been van.
dcring up and down the face Of the town Tor
Jobs. The frost is entirely out of The ground,
making digging practicable, and so the Com
1nissloners concluded to utilize the num-
erous applicants for. work, and prepare
the extreme southern end Of the park for the
hands Of the decorator. Three hundred men
we're employed and divided into two gangs, and
month, OF the 300, two-thirds, or 200, are tax
payers> living near the park They own small
patches OF property on which they arr taxed,
and yet, during the whole wiater, they have had
hard struggle for food. They proposed to the
Commissioners to employ them and pay their
to, aud their. wages liked at VI per. day
Of eight hours. By this they are
relieved VI their tax burdens and afforded IN op-
poEtuuitg to earn something besides for the
support Of the families. Mr.. O}of Benson, the
Superintendent, says he never bad better work.
men, or men who accomplish more ia given
space OF time. They apprcclate that there is no
lack Of Iaborers, anu TINT by rigid industry
alone they can preserve to themselves the up-
portunitiss they now have. and the result is
manifest in the rapid conversion Of the south
ern territory Of Lincoln Park from the ragged,
untempt appearance it presented last summer
to tue promise OF beauty it now extends.
THE WORK UNDER IMMEDIATE SUPERVISION
is bounded. nurth by the lower end OF the little
lake, aud south By North avenue The scrub
oaks and dead trees hare been removed, and the
soil turned over The surface Of the ground
was Of saul. and under It q heavy black earth.
This has been inverted aud the loan brought to
the top. Two long and graeefuIiy-curytng
lawns. following the bends Of the Boulevard
road on the east, and the lower Clark street
cntrauce-road On the rest, hare been laid out,
With broad straight mall or vista Dividing them.
The southern end Of the mali stops at terrace,
to be placed where the monument circle was
first intended to be. The mall is $50 feet long
and twenty-five feet wide, shaded on earl, side
by TONS Of trees. The lawns stretch away to
the main drives on either sioc. The pathways
along the bluffs on the east and lower on the
west are 10 be tunnclcd to afford direct access
to the vista, and carriage concourses On either
sue are planned to afford all visitors near
approach to the music on the terrace. The lawus
and the whole makes yista from the terrace
through the lawns and up the lake under the
bridges, almost the whole length OF the so-far
improved territory.
Wlth the completion ot the present work,
every vestige Of the old cemetery will have dis
appeared except Couch's tomb. Masons hare
carefully examined this structure, and say 1t
viii cost nearly 5000 to remove 1t to RosehiN,
aud the Commissioners have 1eter1ninedto let Il
remain, and plant trees thicsty around it.
Tic spade and pick work on the lower will be
finished in about sixty DAYS, and the decorations
completed about the 1st Of June. which will
find the park duished from North to Webster
are0ue.
1t has been suggested bv one Of the Comni=-
well for bathing house. His view Is that
handsome building might be erected, and water
furnished for bathing place similar 10 these In
Oriental cities 1t Ia proposed tt1at company
ion Of the Commissioners, and carry it through,
and there is nothing in the project to promise
want of SUCCESS.