Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1897-10-01
A GREAT GANE-PARA.
BENlY-SlX THOUSAND ACRES
FENCED IN FOR 4 PRESERVE.
The Late Austin C>rbin's Experi nee IA
Preserv nQ Wlld Animals on HIS
New hampsL.re hstate.

PreserV n0 Wild Animal on HIS
New Hampshire Estate.
Mr.. G. +. Ferris contributes IN anti.
Gle ON WILD Animals IN "a New Eug.
ltud Gamc-Pmk" To the October Cen.
tary. Nh Ferris says, in descrb ~
t1- late. Austin Corbin', New Hamp-
SHE preserve:
Blue Mountain Iorest Park, as the
preserve Is called, includes part, OF
four townships. and ne, near the enter
pri,irg borough If Newport on the
Concord and Clarcmout branch Of the
Boston IN q Maine Railroad. 1t is said
t. be the biggest game-park in the
world, except one owned by the Duke
OF Sutherland mn Scotland. and one or
two royal dem,,nc, ON the Continent.
or course, i'm making comparisons one
must exclude those immense public
preserves, as bIg as provinces, where
the British government ot India seeks
To save the elephant from extinction.
aud on our own national parks IN the
west.
The name of Blue Mountain attaches
TO the enure spur of hills which biscci,
The park, while Croydon de,ignates H.,
highest shoulder rising to the height of
nearly three thousand feet. Inc steep
and densely wooded heights of Croydon
curving ike "a hump. break the skyline
in the shape of a camel's back near 10y
"a >kiruug canon opens a carr iage.routc
across the mountain. In characteristics
il belongs rather TO the Green Mountain
thau to the White Mountain range.
though il seems disconnected from
10th. The verdure Of AN immense for
est of spruce, fir hcmlock, pine, birch.
beech and maple iufolds it to the yer,
crest, with here and there "A brown
pa .ch of clearing. The greater part Of
the Corbin inclosure consists Of aban-
doned farms, many of them already
beginning 20 bristle with saplings; for
the woods are on the march. Disman-
tied houses with windows and doors
gaping like holes in a skull, ramshackle
barns rotten and weather-stained the
wreck OF stone fences thick-set with
orambles-these meet the eye at every
turn.
The general outline of TIE park j.,
that Of an eclipse with respective diam
eters Of about tour aud a half and
eleven miles. aud the surface is cut di.
agoually by a backbone of mountain
running northeast. The lower slopes
and the meadow-IeyclS are diversified
18th brook, and swamp land. while eN-
tcuslve groves of second growth pro-
fuscly dot the surface. 1t is i'm these
that the wild swine. the p%roGenitors OF
which clashed their ,usks against the
boar-,pears of medieval king, and
barons, root, and propagate their kind
with a |fecundity which is a marvel to
the keepers.
one can scarcely grasp the bigne>>
of the park by figures. But let the
reader fancy "a demesne considerably
more than double the ,lle of Boston
ard all It's suburbs; thirty times the
area of Central Park, New York al
most ten times bigger than Faimouut
PARK. Philadelphia; or fourteen time,
the acreage of the whole park system
of Chicago. Roads, many Of them
thoroughfares of days gone by, yari-
ously intersect the in%closure, and an
excellent carriage-track crosses the
park from east to west through the
picturesque notch. On the western
side the declivity is o sloping and
open. but has the same agreeable di-
verslty of scene.
A wire fence, partly mesh, partly
barbed, nearly eight feet in height and
twenty-scven miles in circuit, confines
the four-footed tenants within its 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 Corbln
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. 1t
need scarcely be said that the needs of
attendance compel a vigilance which
rests. Merely to watch the fence
lest it should have parted somewhere
kv acc;dont or wanton malice raouirps