The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-04-24
PALACE
FOR new YORK
Madison Square Garden AS
a Civic Recreation Center
Its Threatened Loss
Wakes Metropolis-How
Besant Stirred London to
Action.
James p. Heaton.

tExciusive Service The Survey Press
Bureau.l
NOW, II this young heiress wanted
to do any good" declares Harry In
All Sorts and Conditions Of Men, "she
should build palace of pleasure"
Why should there not be for the peo-
pie a palace OF delight which should
contain libraries, reading rooms clubs,
music rooms for concerts. school for
music and dancing. athletic facilities
and room for, teaching all the arts and
aandicrafts asked Harry in the story.
This vision Of a peoples palace nearly
thirty years ago fired the magma
ton Of Walter Besant and James
Rice.
Tho suggestion in the novel which
was called on its title page AN I'M
possible Story almost instantly arous-
ed the city and The Peoples Palace
for East London became a reality.
After q delay of over dorty years the
fund left by J. T. Barber Beaumont in
1s41 for the intellectual improvement
and national recreational and amuse-
rnent for the people living at the East
End of London" together with money
contributed for the purpose by Queen
Victoria, the Duke Of Wales, Lord
Roseberry, the Duke of Westminister
and others was put to the use for
which il was set aside SO long ago.
The realization in the old world
: metropolis of Besant's dream, il an
air castle that came true.
New York City, the new world
metropolis, may become possessed Of
a palace of pleasure and delight
through chain Of events snI equally ;a ally
one block which is built over abso-
lutely solid 1t Is Madison Square
Garden where formerly stood a rail-
road station. For years the city was
treated to the amusing spectacle OF
passenger trains dragged down Fourth
thought unsafe to use steam power
in the heart, Of the city. After the
station was moved farther north,
Madison Square Garden became FAM
GUS for its six-day walking contests.
For the present building the pest
White owed much of his reputation
to the fact that he designed Madison
Square Garden. His name will al
ways be linked with it because it
was on its roof garden that he was
shot by Harry Thaw.
The traditions of the old garden
have been partly reproduced in the
new by the famous six day annual
bicycle races and the indoor athletic
meets and games held there. The gar
den IN famous. too, because 1t is prac-
tically the only building in America
large enough to house Barnum and
Bailey's Circus or Buffalo Bills Wild
West which else where use tents. But
TO hundreds of thousands throughout
the country the garden is associated
with the annual horse show, which
owes perhaps even greater interest to
the chance 1t gives to observe in the
boxes representative and labelled en-
tries of Americas aristocratic four
tries or Americas aristocratic four
frappings than 1t does to king horse
on the tan bark.
But with all these manifold uses
Madison Square Garden stands idle
much Of the time For most purposes
its very size makes the risk of rent
ing Il too great. A political candidate
must be sure of his audience else it's
expanse of empty seats carefully not
e dby opposition papers throws cold
water upon his ambition. The base
rnent with acres of space has scarce
" been opened save during horse
show week and in the spring when the
circus has used il for it's menagerie.
When the management this spring
announced that the building was to
be sold and suggested a concession in
the price IL the city would buy, every
body felt that were the garden to be