From the Richmond Dispatch, 11/10/1874, p. 1, c. 1

BOARD OF ALDERMEN.

…PUBLIC PARKS.

On motion of Mr. Williams, the report of the Committee on Public Grounds and Buildings in relation to public parks, &c., was taken up.
   Mr. Tanner moved that the report, in addition to the resolutions, be printed.
   Mr. Scott moved to lay the whole matter upon the table.
   Mr. Williams said that he would like to have a direct vote taken upon that portion of the report in relation to the purchase of thirty-five acres of land for $35,000 – Chimborazo.
   Mr. Scott withdrew is amendment, and Mr. Williams addressed the Board at some length in favor of an appropriation for the improvement of Chimborazo as a park.
   Mr. Tanner claimed that Chimborazo had been once stuck into the original resolution under a heavy pressure, and he hoped that the whole matter would be considered, and not any particular part of it. He was sorry to see that a sectional feeling was being engendered in this matter.
   Mr. Williams denied that there was any sectional feeling in the case; if there is any, it has been introduced by the gentleman from Monroe Ward (Mr. Tanner). He claimed that Chimborazo had peculiar advantages, and he thought it eminently proper that Chimborazo should be improved as a park.
   Mr. Carrington said that he was from that portion of the city designated as the West End, but he thought there was great force in what the gentlemen from Marshall Ward (Mr. Williams) had said. The people in the West End have Hollywood, which is as good a park as one wants; we have Monroe Park and the Capitol Square, Gamble’s Hill and the old reservoir, besides the land around the new reservoir, which is large enough for breathing space for the entire city. He thought that the Church Hill people were entitled to what they ask, and while he thought that the city was in no condition to appropriate the money, he would join the gentleman from Marshall Ward in his scheme.
   Mr. Manly said that he regarded the case under consideration as peculiarly meritorious, and he would vote for it with pleasure if he thought it could be separated from the other schemes.
   Mr. Scott, of Jefferson Ward, favored Chimborazo Park.
   Mr. Tanner regretted that he was not an orator; that he could not present the subject in a spread-eagle style – which style, by the way, sometimes does a great deal of good – but he claimed to be a business-man, and from a business standpoint he presented the subject in a clear and forcible manner, and in concluding hoped that the Board would allow the report to remain on the table and be printed.
   Mr. Bass wanted time to consider the subject, and moved to postpone it until the next meeting.
On the motion to postpone the vote stood: Ayes, 8; noes, 8.
   The Chair, being excused from voting, declared that the motion to postpone was lost.
The resolutions were then read.
   On motion of Mr. Manly, the resolutions were considered seriatum.
   On motion of Mr. Todd, the first resolution, for an appropriation of $150,000 in eight per cent. bonds for the purchase of 416 acres of land surrounding the new reservoir, &c., was laid on the table.
   The second resolution, appropriating $2,000 in bonds for seats, &c., in Monroe Park was adopted – ayes, 9; noes, 8.
  The third resolution, appropriating $14,500 in eight per cent. bonds for the purpose of purchasing five and a half acres of additional ground, included between Main, Rocketts, and Warehouse streets, and for fencing, hedging, and planting trees, and other improvements in Marshall Square, was tabled – ayes, 10; noes, 5.
   The fourth resolution of the report, appropriating $19,000 of eight per cent. bonds for the purpose of purchasing eight acres of additional ground between Arch street, Oregon Hill, and First and Fourth streets, and for fencing, hedging, plating trees, and other improvements to Gamble’s Hill Park, was tabled.
   The resolution appropriating $35,000 to Chimborazo, &c., was then adopted by the following vote:
   AYES. – Messrs. Bass, Carrington, Forrester, Kellam, Lipscomb, Scott, Smith, Tanner, Todd, Williams, and Zimmer – 11.
   NOES. Messrs. Beall, Manly, Spangenburg, Vandervall, and Wagner – 5.
The other resolutions embodied in the report were, on motion of Mr. Scott, laid on the table.
[remainder of article, on unrelated matters, was not transcribed. – MDG]

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