The Evening Tribune August, 1891
Our Unsightly Park.
8/8
I want to tell you of a disappointment I experienced sometime since. I read in the TRIBUNE frequent notices of what good the ladies of our city are doing and going to do, to beautify and decorate "the Park". I rejoiced in this because whatever tends to make the city attractive makes a residence here desirable, and thus promotes its growth and prosperity.
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Naturally, as I walk about town, I look to see the improvements. But day after day and week after week, I looked in vain. I was disappointed. I did not see the improvements. I said to myself what does it mean? "The Park" that was to be improved and decorated was not the Central Park, but Highland Park. And I find the ladies have done good work there, and I am glad to see it.
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But my disappointment comes from seeing our Central Park in so unsightly a condition. First impressions are the deepest and most lasting. And when strangers come to town, one of the first things they see is the unkemped condition of this Park. It looks like we have set it apart and specially devoted it to the cultivation of weeds. It really is a disgrace to the city. If our Honorable Common Council could do no more they might employ a man with a scythe to mow the weeds.
JUVENIS JR.