Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 11, No. 26, May, 1873Various
Science
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 11, No. 26, May, 1873
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
The situation of our proposed Gardens is most admirable in every way.
Stretching along the west bank of the Schuylkill for nearly a third of a
mile; opposite the principal entrance to the Park on one side, and the
West Philadelphia approach by Thirty-fifth street on the other; directly
on the route to the Centennial Exhibition; contiguous to the great
railroad artery of the United States, the Pennsylvania Central, a
sideling from which will enter the receiving-house of the society
(marked D on the plan), and thus enable animals and curiosities from all
parts of the United States to be carried without change of cars directly
to the Gardens, or from the East Indies, China, Japan, South America and
the Pacific islands with but one trans-shipment, while the canal
alongside enables freights of all kinds and from any part of the world
to be deposited at the very entrance-gates; the ground rolling and
fertile, rising in the centre, and sufficiently elevated to be away from
the floods of the river; larger by some acres than the Zoological Garden
of London; interspersed with handsome trees, many of them of noble size,
planted by John Penn, whose family mansion, "Solitude," still stands
(35) within the proposed enclosure, and with slight alterations will
make a handsome museum for the society; the old West Philadelphia
Waterworks (20) only needing an engine to force the water into the lake,
around which will be the abodes of the aquatic animals, and from whence
the natural slope of the land will permit the irrigation of the whole
tract; the great sewer for the use of the western portion of the city,
now in process of construction, passing through the southern end of the
Garden, and running along the bank of the river to empty below the dam;
convenient to all parts of the city by means of the city railways and
the Reading Railroad;--these and many other advantages, which an
examination of the illustration of the grounds will naturally suggest,
produce a combination unsurpassed and unsurpassable anywhere. Is it
exaggeration to say that the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens, once
properly established, would not only be regarded with pride and
affection by the citizens, but very materially benefit the whole city?
Imagine the grounds handsomely laid out in walks and drives, bordered
with grass and flowers, terraced from the river; tables and chairs
scattered about on the green sward under the trees; a band of music; the
cool breezes from the Schuylkill; opposite, the beautiful Lemon Hill
Park, with its broad drive alongside the bank: could anything be more
attractive and wholesome to the hundreds of thousands who through the
hot months of this uncommonly hot city are obliged to remain within its
limits?
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