The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-24

TREATMENT OF J. s. T. sTRANAEAN.
perhaps. the only monument of its kind in the
country, erected to honor a man who is still
living. That monument stands as the answer Of
the people of Brooklyn to the outrageous treat
ment of Mr.. Stranahan by Seth Low when he
was Mayor of that city.
US. 7. Stranahan was to Prospect Park what
Col. Roebling was to tho Brooklyn Bridge. He
was the man who suggested the park; he was
the man who succeeded in getting through the
Legislature the bill that made the park possible,
and after that it was he who, more than any
other man or men, made that park the beautiful
place that it is to-day. Yet for all that Seth
Low practically dismissed Mr.. Stranahan from
the Park Department. as he tried to dismiss Col.
Roebling from the place of Chief Engineer OF
the bridge.
Mr.. Stranahan and Col. Roebling were not
lickspittles. They would not become the tools
of Seth Low; they would not give to him their
resignations in blank. as Seth Low required,
and Mr.. Low had no use for them. Mr.. Strana-
han had been identified with public works in the
city OF Brooklyn years before Low was born. 1t
was he who first saw the marvellous possibility
Of the South Brooklyn water front; it was he
who agitated its development and started the
movement which has resulted in the extensive
warehouse and Atlantic dock system of the
present day. 1t was he who organized the
Union Ferry Company.
As far back as 1913 Mr.. S.ranahan was hon
ored By the people of the city OF Brooklyn by his
election to Office. He was nominated for Mayor
Of Brooklyn before Seth Low was born. He
served in Congress before Seth Low was born.
lie was one of the fathe rs of the Republican
party; he was a delegate TO the National Re-
publican Convention which nominated Abra-
ham Lincoln, and he was a Presidential clcctor
when Lincoln was elected a second time. 1t was
Mr.. Stranahan whom the people of Brooklyn
-nu - ~-.-.l W. Ma
of One Hundred. and his wife was at the head of
the Women's Relief Association. Through ono
fair alone, in which Mr.. Stranahan was the lead
ing figure, moro than 500, 600 was raised for
the relief of wounded soldiers. There was no
great public improvement and no great public
movement of any sort with which Mr.. J. S. I.
stranahan was not identified up to the time
Seth Low WAS elected Mayor of the city. yet Mr..
Low turned him out when the opportunity
came with no more ceremony than if he had
been a ward politician, and he turned the park
over to men whose interest could not possibly
be as great as the interest of Mr.. Stranahan.
The people OF Brooklyn felt outraged at the
treatment Of this man. The monument at the
entrance to the park is an evidence of that feel
ing, as well as the evidence Of the respect and
the honor that they wished to show to the man.
Mr.. Stranahan obtained the right 10 lay out
and develop Prospect Park. in the city of Brook
lyn, in 1860. He was put at the head of tho
commission appointed to carry out the great
work that the Legislature contemplated. His
private interests at that time were tremendous,
but so interested was he that he sacrificed his
business and his pleasures, and gave almost his
entire attention to the great work. OF course,
his place was not salaried; his work was a
work of love for the city in which he was
bound up, and which no wanted to sec
become great and beautiful. Ho anticipated
the growth OF the city TO the sea, and it was he
who insisted upon the great boulevard which
now leads from the heart of the city to Cuncy
Island. 1t was through his efforts that the
great appropriation of So. 800, 900 for park pur-
poses was brought about, and every cent OF this
money was expended under his personal dircc.
ton, and expended. too. in such IA manner that
not ono cent OF it bought less than one cent
worth OF value. He laid out and su pcrvised the
building of the roads; he planned the lakes; he
beautifed tho forests; he planned the lawns
There was not one feature of the park in which
his hand was not visible, and he was bound up
in it. as Roebling was in the great bridge.
What little time outside OF his work in the
Park Mr., Stranahan had. by the way. he devoted
10 the bridge. Hc was one OF the original dircc
tors of the bridge; he was u trustee from 1875
on; he took an active and important part in he
management and the work Of construction
With Henry c.. Murphy and William G. Kings
ley he made up the Executive COMMITTEE,
which practically managed the details of thu
work. Upon the death of Mr.. Kingsley he be
came President OF the trustees. SO long as h,
was connected with the Park Board and tht
bridge trustees, there never was any politics II
either OF these institutions. 1t WAS after his en-
forced retirement by seth Low from the Parl
Doard that the appointment OF subOrdinates IL
that department became u matter Of politics.
Although always a Republican. Mr.. Strana
han had not been aggressive against Mr.. Low
when that gentleman was running for Mayor
At that particular time Mr.. Stranahan's tim
and attention were too much engaged in tn
work for the city oil Brooklyn to take an exceed
ingly active part in politics. so that there wa
no excuse in that line for Nj. Low to act as Ii
did. When Seth Low was elected. Mr.. Strand
nan WAS at the head OF the Park Department
rs h had been from the start. Prospect Par
at that time was in n state Of development
where 1t required n man like him, familiar wit
Gnt sort al ~sFE in all its details. y man VII