Morning journal and courier., 1881-11-12
-->~--Asan----- The City's New Park.

The newly built road In East ROCK EarA connecting State street with the top of Mt. See All, or Indian Head, which is about $50 feet high, was informally inspected yester- day by His Honor Mayor Robertson, Park Commissioners Blatchley and Woolsey, ac- compaMed by several of the members of the city press. The Mayor and portion of the party started from in front of the City Hall, in one of Barker & Ransom's coaches. It was fine November afternoon, with just little frostiness in the air and the atmosphere but a trihe hazy,-a very good day on the whole for enjoying the wide diversity of scenery and extensive landscapes the new park affords The road enters the park from State street, short distance above the Basserman residence. For little distance 1t passes through condemned land livery good land though lying under condemnation. The land is not yet the property of the city, but Gin the works'' for transfer. The ascent is moderate,-in the steepest places being only eight feet in the hundred and usually only six feet The rise is therefore gradual enough for practical purposes, and His Honor the Mayor recalled seeing college professor, who was out for the pleasure drive with his family, trotting his horse down the road, most of the way and so with many other teams. It was well built road, and one of the splendid views is reached after few minutes jog. Here the carriages halted and the visitors revelled in 8 grand view of meadows, river, dales, villages and distant hills. Here were seen Peter's Rock
 with it's knob like crest far away, an eminence higher than East Rock the viii lage of Montowese nestling at the foot of hills the wide extent of meadow land,
 ''brown and sere," and dotted with innumer-
 able haystacks and the silvery Quinnipiac winding through it; beyond it the steeples of North Haven, and far to the north Mt. Lamentation and the Sleeping Giant and one edge of the town of Wallingford. These the party admired, also the fine road along which they came, and especially one part | blasted and built up out of the solid rock, on | one side overlooking vale deep strewn with | autumn leaves, on the other side of it a bold bluff of trap rock rising directly against the road like a massive bulwark, forty or fifty | feet high In this section the road further
 up takes an abrupt turn which, directly over | little fcrther up the visitor comes to another grand view, which includes all that has just
 been described of meadow, hill, vale, steep
 rock and winding river, and in addition
 could be seen through the near branches of
 young oaks and hemlocks Fair Haven lying
 broad scattered over the plain between
 the Quinnipiac and Mill rivers, with
 the annexed part looming up on the hillside
 and the. Heights" with it's goodly array of
 fine residences. Up little further and the
 party were landed on a plateau on top of Mt.
 See All, where the road ends and where MT. i Beebe, who has superintended the building
 of the road from the start, was found with
 his men busy at work. Here the party land
 ed from the carriages and took in the grand
 view presented, which included all before
 mentioned and view of the city of New Ha-
 ven, the harbor, Long Island Sound and the
 coast of Long Island; also on the west, MT.
 Bradley, proprietor of the Tontine who had
 driven up to see the view, deserted through a field glass what looked like ridge of hills be-
 yond the Housatonic and in the vicinity of
 the home of his boyho ood-Newtown. The l party viewed the scenery awhile and then walked up to the knoll at the top, only lit | tie distance, where is the clump of hemlocks | which give the name t'Indian Head" to the | mount.
 The Mayor, in response to remarks from ! Mir. Beebe and others, endorsed it as the ! spot for an observatory or lookout and re- l freshment stand where ladies could take a
 dish of cream or glass of lemonade. Here | I, 4<aI H. 1, ! ward afforded, and in the far distance de- | scried settlement of houses-a part of the town of Cheshire. Westward close at hand, | lay the steep sides of East Rock, and here was recalled and talked over the project of \ the next new road.
 The next new road 10 be built will strike 1 off from the road just built about half way ' up, and diverge around until it strikes the 1 road in the gap between East Rock and it's ! neighbor, Mt. See All. This road connects | with the road along the base of East Rock | which strikes the Orange street bridge
 road over Mill river. This Rock road Mayor Robertson has had much improved during the past year. It is much in vogue as 8 pleas
 ure drive The new road just built is about three-quarters of 8 mile long and cost $2, 500. | The new one to be built will be about the same length, the two thus making a continu ous drive of mile and a half and giving succession of fine landscape views, about as fine as any city in New England has at it's doors Had there been time this fall the pro- jected road would have been commenced. As
 it is, the work will be..commenced next spring. In looking seaward the breakwater in pro- cess of construction at the mouth of New Haven harbor already looms up from the standpoint as a conspicuous feature of the water view, reminding some of similar great helps to commerce at Cherbourg, France and Plymouth, England. A distinguished engineer said of this work to New Haven gentlemen recently that it is wonder it was not consummated fifty years ago.
 The extent of the citys new park is about $50 acres, of which 200 or so is already owned by the city The rest will 'tcome'' some day or other. The annual amount al-
 lowed by the city for the park is $6, ,O0O
 This has come for two years, making $12, 900 in all. The Mayor considers this annual sum was meant for the improvement of the park, but large part of this revenue and the money given by citizens has been used
 for the purchase of lands. By funny s'hap penstance'' wherever land cannot be obtained by agreement to price, and has to be considered, the proceeds from subsequent benefits assessed go not sto the
 Park Commissioners, but to the city treasu- ry. The Park Commissionerssannot con demn the land. The city, through it's Board of Compensation, has to do that, and what ever benefits over damages paid accrue go to the city treasurer. The Park Commission
 CTS think it should go to the improvement of
 the park.
 East Rock, the commissioners remarked,
 would have to be condemned, as Mir. Stewart
 said he would not sell at any price, and nam ed $1OO, 900 as no object.
 The party of visitors drove around the base of East Rock and into Whitneyville, passing over the Whitney bridge. This route was taken to point out the spot where the city will build bridge across. This point is at the base of the Rock, opposite the end of Rock Lane, where there was once a bridge across, as is still shown by the stone work on the Rock side. The new road to