The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-11-05
Described.

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M2 /11 mails in a New Eng
WY Mo ~ land Game-Park"
N:WMWH@ to the Century. Mi.
N.MW(D Ferris says. in de-
AAM IL. scribing the late
S&W |IM Austi n G o rbin's
,LG !:WW New H a D shire
SSacitBVM preserves:
Blue M o untain
Forest park, as the preserve is called.
includes parts Of four townships, and
lies near the enterprising borough of
Newport on the Concord and Clare
mont branch OF the Boston and Maine
railroad. 1t is said to be the biggest
game park in the world, except the
one owned by the Duke of Sutherland
IN Scotland, and one or two royal
demesnes on the continent. OF course,
IN making comparisons one must ex-
clude those immense public preserves,
as Dig as provinces, where the British
government of India seeks to save the
elephant from extinction, and our own
national parks in the west.
The name of Blue Mountain attaches
to the entire spur of hills which hi
sects the park, while Croydon desig-
mates it's highest shoulder rising to the
height of nearly three thousand feet.
The steep and densely wooded heights
OF Croydon, curving like a hump,
break the skyline in the shape of a
cameps back; near by a skirting canon
opens a carriage route across the noun
tain. In characteristics it belongs
rather to the Green Mountain than to
the White Mountain range, though it
seems disconnected from both. The
verdure of an immense forest of spruce,
hr, hemlock, pine, birch, beech, and ma
pie infolds it to the very crest, with
here and there a brown patch Of clear
ing. The greater part of the Corbin
Enclosure consists of abandoned farms,
many of them already beginning to
bristle with saplings; for the woods
are on the march. Dismantled houses
with windows and doors gaping like
holes in a skull, r~amshackle barns rot
ten and weather-stained, the wreck of
stone fences thick-set with brambles-
these meet the eye at every turn.
The general outline of the Park is
that of an ellipse with respective diam
eters OF about four and a half aud
eleven miles, and the surface is cut
diagonally by a backbone of mountain
running northeast. The lower slopes
n the meadow-levels are diversified
with brooks and swamp land, while OK
fnnCjvn o1n1-nS Of cnnnrl crnut1, 49,
fusely dot the surface. 1t is in these
that the wild swine, the progenitors of
which FLASHED their tusks against the
boar-spears of medieval kings and
barons, root and propagate their kind
with a fecundity which is a marvel to
the keepers.
One can scarcely grasp the bigness of
the park by figures. But let the reader
fancy a demesne considerably more
than double the size of Boston and all
it's suburbs; thirty times the area of
Central Park, New York; almost ten
times bigger than Paramount Park,
Philadelphia: or fourteen times the
acreage of the whole park system Of
Chicago. Roads, many of them thor
oughfares Of days gone by, v~ariously
intersect the Enclosure, and an excellent
carriage track crosses the park from
east to west through the picturesque
notch. On the western side the decliv-
ity is more sloping and open, but has
the same agreeable diversity of scene.
A wire fence, partly mesh, partly
barbed, nearly eight feet in height and
twenty-seven miles in circuit, confines
the four-footed tenants within it's steel
barrier. The same posts which sup
port the fence until the trees which
have been set shall have grown to take
their place, string a telephone connect
ing the nine sub-stations at the differ
ent gates with the central station, the
home of the superintendent, the Cor
bin villa, and the town Of Newport.
The keepers and other employees of the
park vary from twenty-five to fifty, ac-
cording to the season of the year. It
need scarcely be said hat the needs Of
attendance compel a vigilance which
never rests. Merely to watch the
fence, lest it should have parted some
where by accident or wanton malice,
reqaires an inspection twice a week.