Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-16

Gr. r B. Carnahan, the member from the
Twentieth ward, has in his possession paper
from Mary E. Schenley, native of the United
States, now residing in London, England, giving
to the city of Pittsburg public park tor the
people. ] cannot at this moment recall any
similar gift to any city in the United states.
AN of the public parks in the country have be-
come the property of the people by purchase.
This is the only instance Of such great gener-
the people park, and gives it without any res
erTation or condition, save only that It snail
be park and be held for the use of the people.
Mr.. Carnahan will present his papers
Mr.. Carnahan said:
For the first time since have been member
of Councils appear on the floor OF the cham
Der in a dual character. am here as mem
Der of Cornell and as the representative OF the
lady who makes the gift to the city. 1 am like
Desdemona when she said to her father: Il
see here divided duty"
Appearing in this dual character, that there
may be no mistake in the future. have done
something have never found necessary before
and reduced what have to say to writing.
THE FORMAL STATEMENT.
Continuing, Mr.. Carnahan read from the
manuscript the following statement:
Mrs Schenley has transmitted to me from
London her deed conveying to the city OF Pitts
burg 800 acres of the tract of land in the Twenty
second ward, called Mt. Airy, for the purpose Of
q public park, with instructions to me, as her
represent ative in this behalf to the constituted
authorities of this city.
II IS hardly necessary 70 say that a more
agreeable duty could not have been deyolVed
on me, as citizen of Pittsburg, as member OF
one of the Councils of the city, or as person
standing in professional relation of trust and
confidence to the good lady whom nave the
honor to represent on this occasion. The deed
itself recites the motives and purposes OF the
donor so fully as to preclude any need OF Iur-
ther explanation, and no word of mine can
magnify the value of the donation. 1t viii be
more fitting for Others present to speak OF Mrs.
al and Ta11 xvrnTT n
hear who her ancestors were and what claims
they had to the gratitude of their countrymen
in their day and have on our gratitude now.
For me it remains only to perform the duty
with which have been charged by delivering
TO you, the properly constituted authorities OF
the city for and in the name of Mrs. Schenley,
the instrument of writing which now present
as her act and deed for the purposes therein
contained.
When he concluded he handed to Assis-
tant Clerk Martin the deed for the 300 acres
of the Mt AirT tract that Mrs. Schenley
gave to the city. 1t was acknowledged
before Consul General John c. New at Lon
don October 80, 1889.
RESOLUTION OF ACCEPTANCE
Mr. Heating offered the following:
Resolved, By the Select and Common Coun-
ellis of the city OF Pirsburg, that for and On be-
half of the city of Pittsburg we do hereby &C
cent the deed of Mrs Mary E. Scheniey for 800
this city sad deed being dated October 80:
1889. and agree that said property shall be used
Tor public park, and be designed and known
forever as Schenley Park.
Before the vote could be taken Mr.. Carnahan
said: The phrase Schenley Park in the deed
is there on my own responsibility. put II
there without Mrs. Schenley's knowledge, or
without consultation with her. She asked me
if it were necessary and 1 told her it was
proper am alone responsible for it
Mr.. Munroe, of Select Council, alluded to
Mr.. Carnegie's offer of public library, and
claimed that there were plenty great-souled
men and women in Pittshurg who would be
only too happy to advance her interests if
the way could be made plain. He hoped
that the example of Mrs. Schenlev would be
universally followed. Continuing Mr..
Munroe said:
There are large sections of this city that this
park will be inaccessible to, and hope and
trust that other parts of the city will be called
on to receive the lke-n not SO liberal, sufh-
cIently liberal for the uses of the people. We
have been struggling city. A park has been
wanted for years. Yet had we been left to our
own efforts, to put our hands in our pockets, it
would have been many years before PIttsburg
would have had park.
HER VALIANT ANCESTORS.
This lady's ancestors have been distinguished
men, known favorably here and all over the
United States The valor of the males as
soldiers and their ability as executive men
have been long noted. Who does not know
that James O'Hara built the first glass works?
He was the friend of Washington. On her
mothers side the ladys ancestors were the
famous Croghans soldiers all. But this lady,
it seems to me. has put the capstOne on by this
gift and is greater than them all. We thank
fully receive it. and no doubt in times to come
our children and our children's children will
remember with gratitude the grand gift of this
noble lady.
The resolution accepting the gift of 800
acres was then passed. Then Mr.. Heating
presented resolution accepting the option
on the rest of the tract at S125, 900. Before
the resolution was taken up Mr.. Carnahan
said that there was little over 800 acres in
the ground given. and little over 400 in
the entire tract. Exactly how much was
not known, as the tract had not been sur
veyed for over so years. Mrs. Schenley
does not want to sell the 100 acres left, and
will not sell it to any one except the city of
Pittsburg. She was not to be understood
as asking Pittsburg to buy. 1t was repre-
sented to her that Pittsburg wanted to buy,
and she offered to sell the remaining 100
acres for S125, 900, payable S62, 500 on May
l, 1890, and S62, 500 on May 1, 1891. This
option she offers to March 1. She has no
desire to sell, and only makes the offer be-
cause she was assured the city wanted to
buv. The resolution was then read:
Resolved. by the Select and Common Coun-
ellis of the city OF Pittsburg, that for and be-
half of the city Of Pittsburg, we do hereby &C
cept the option of Mrs Mary (. Schenley for
the purchase of 100 67-l00 acres of land in the
Twenty-second ward of this city, and that
when said property becomes the property of
the city of Pittsburg, it shall be added to and
become part of the public park known as the
'rSchenley Park"
LIKE A BOMB SHELL.
Mr.. Robertson was on his feet in an instant
and offered the following as substitute:
Resolved That SIS, 600 be paid as guarantee
for the purchase of this additional land the
same to be consummated within five years.
Resolved, That 500 600 be appropriated for
the purpose of buying the Point bridge, there
by showing that the city is willing t. carry out
the contract it made with the people of the
Southside when they consolidated with the
city.
Resolved. That committee of five. two
from Select and three from Common Councils
together with the Chief of the Department Of
Public Works, the Mayor and Controller of the
city, Oe appointed for the purpose of carrying
the above intentions into effect
Mr.. Robertson's resolutions caused a
small sensation. There was a faint hiss
when their drift became perceptible. The
men who worked SO hard to secure the parks
looked disgusted. Mr.. Duncan raised the
point of order that the substitute was out of
order, as it was not pertinent to the ques-
tion at issue, and President Ford sustained
him.
Mr.. Robertson became excited. But"
said he, "a point of order can be discussed.
1 won't be shut of In that way" President
Ford allowed Mr.. Robertson to have the
floor, and he continued:
The second resolution offered by Mr. Keat-
ing has nothing to do with the donation. That
is already provided for. This second resoiu-
tion is additional, and if my substitute is out
of order, so is this resolution. The substitute
only PROVIDES another way of accepting this
option. I believe the people ought to feel
proud, and no words are too commendable for
the men who brought about this gift; but we
are going beyond gift; we are going into
purchase that will require taxation, and that is