New-York tribune., 1891-05-03
WHAT BROOKLYN TALKS OF.
OBSERVATIONS HERE AND THERE IN THE
METROPOLIS OF LONG ISLAND.


snerally which has been formulated by the experts
who recently made hasy tour around that pleasure
c,Sonpd Is calculated to mislead people who not
exceptionally familiar with the Park and may lead to
The adoption Of measures by the Park authorities that
viii later meet with popular disapproval. The ex-
perts engaged to report upon the Park were G. S.
sargent and A. S. Fuller. 1t would that before
u,sstpg report they ought to have made careful
exanfhation The fact is that they drove about tho
Park Cor three hours in company with the Park
Commissioners and other officials, and thus arrived at
the conclusion that III the who have controlled
II he Park for the last twenty years had realized the
true meaning Of such park and had arranged it with
ordinary intelligence, its value to the people OF Brook
bn would have been much greater than it is to-day"
They also decided the result Of the glance they had
taken that "the number of diseased unsghtly and
worthless trees In all parts of the Park is large The
work of removal and restoration in their opinion ought
10 be begun at once, and at ought to be done In
ielngently and thoroughly"
On this last point there is not much room for
difference of opinion Whatever work is done In this
direction hereafter ought to be done at least
ipteligently. Whether it viii be or not under the
direction Of the present Park officials is another
oueson AS matter Of fact, II any intelligent person
viii visit the Park for himself and walk carefully
through it, giving close attention TO the trees and
plantations generally, he will fail to find any lusuh-
cation OF the sweeping condemnation which the ex
pers have pronounced OF course there are trees here
and there which partially decayed, and others
which crowd too closely against their neighbors Ihe
dsrabty of removing these evident TO the ordinary
observer; it requires no experts to determine that
pont and there would not seem to be any necessity
Of calling in experts if the officials in immediate charge
of the Park were endowed with the ordinary intell-
cencep which the experts appear 10 rate so highly.
The establishment Of a great park necessarily requires
what In after gears is found to be overplantng
dacir offs
shrubs II is indispensable TO plant large number OF
them, with the intention Of course, that later on
they shall be hnned out, and only the most vigorous
and satisfactory retained That has been the history OF
Prospect Park at least until within the last few years.
Ehe work Of removal and replacing has been going
ON all the time and must of necessity be continued
as the varying conditions from time to time require it,
That there been neglect under the different man
ayers in the last haldozen years is undoubted, but
that neglect not TO be made good by any wholesale
use of the axe at the present tme There is not the
slightest need of this Prospect Park is by no means
In the lamonable condition in which the reader Of the
experts report would be led to believe that 1t Is
On one point the experts went far astray. Such
park. they say, "ls not place to play games" Now
a. is well known TO the people of BROOKLYN that one OF
the main Meas in the construction and use Of Prospect
PARK was TO make it peoples pleasure ground To that
end great encouragement given TO the playing Of
croquet lawn tennis etc.. on the lawns as well as TO
nicn,c nay1es Families were virtually invited to 20
there for days outing and to take luncheon with tem
and OF one time could not be found for all the
tennis clubs which desired to play on the meadows.
No one dreamed that there anything wrong In this
nor indeed has any one entertained this idea until tho
experts delivered their pronunciamento On the same
principle "Keep off -the-Gras signs have been very
rare In the Park No harm can come from the pcncK-
ing which is popular feature OF the park. provided
that the grounds used for this purpose arc changed from
time to time. that the which has been rampld
out can have chance to get start and the trees
recover from whatever injury may have come TO them
from the pressure OF many feet the soil about their
trunks What the experts say about admlring Wild
beasts" inconeruous feature of tile Park Will meet
with approval IT 1t Is pity that theN olo NOT
say a word of condemnation about the removal OF the
few deer which the park from the OLD psddocA Oh
Fatbushave to the woody region now known as sulh-
van Heights. The ought to have been kept where
they we're and the bears placed in that neghDoroou
when the Park Commissioners went into the WiidDeaSV
business.
The sudden death of supervsor-atLarge Kretzschmaf
Is another severe blow to the Democratic party, io
lowing as it does closely after that OF Mr. Mu'
Dr. Kretzscbmar was a man OF ability ana loi'o Va
character and had the happy faculty OF making m"hS
and firm friends There Is little doubt that his course
I'm presiding over the Board OF supervisors was as
annointment TO the men who successful in having
a denomination denied to John a. Qulntard TWO years
ago next fall Mr. Quntard had opposed the JODS WHICH
flourish so rankly in this Board, and In consequence
had made enemies among the politicians, although ne
had won the favor Of the people The ring therefore
decided to set him aside and DR.. Kretzschmar' whose
only public service had been Civil Service Com
missioner received the nomination. AS supervisor
at-Large however DR.. Kretzschmar proved 10 De as
bgh-mindcd and as resoutely set against 1obbery as
his predecessor. It was found by the ioDbeTs thst
he was not to be controlled or mhuehceu III
any way improperly. His administration as "hoio
WAS marked by devotion to the public interest Es-
necaly did he labor zealously to bring about better
condition of things the administration OF the county
farm at ST. Johnland DR.. Kretzschmar was among
the men freely talked Of as possible cahdlda'e ior
Mayor this fall. Socially he had wide circle Oh
friends among whom he extremely popular. he
was warmly devoted to his family, and as heard one
OF his friends say the course of the week. ne
ALWAYS left politics and business behind when nc
entered tho door of his house" Dr. Krctzschmar was
a man Of learning and ranked well In MS proesson'
He undoubtedly had future OF usefulness beioie n
had he lived and his death cannot but be egaueo aS
most untimely.
The record of the Legislature so far as Brooklyn Is
concerned has both good points and bad. INC oli
In regard TO the terminals Of the present Bridge passeu
but the bill providing for new bridge in the casters
District failed probably on account Of the deadlock
h the senate AT least there was good chance that
would have passed, II there had been an opportunity
10 get vote on ii, m spite OF the 1act lidt eiio
Blrkett bill which covered substantially the same
ground as the Sullivan bill (which the Assembly ap-
proved, was rejected by very close vote senator
acobss bill to prevent the Union Ferry Company from
Increasing its tolls passed by the Assembly amos'
at the last moment, after having been held In commit
Tee so long that its fate seemed 10 be sealed manly
satisfactory measure is that authorizing the CITY au
thortes to issue bonds for the erection oil museum
cdln for t Brookyn Institute Of Arts and Sciences
fhe measures for the improvement Of affairs at 81.
JOhnland failed again. II is extremely unfortunate
that the present method Of mismanasng the
county farm is 10 be continued for another year. Ihe
loom OF the obnoxious Second-aye extension Dill Is
gratifying to everybody except the few polineans IN
South brooklyn who felt large interest IA sne !oo
and nut forth every possible effort TO force 1t through