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Department of Public Parks.
General Order for the Organization and Routine of Duty
of the Keepers’ Service of the Central Park.,
[March 31, 1873]
Branches of the Service.
The organization for attendance on visitors in the Central Park will consist of three branches, with the superintending officers.
First. — Patrol-keepers, whose duties will require much activity of movement, and who, besides attending directly on visitors, will act as sub-officers for the other two branches of the service.
Second. — Post-keepers, who will be chiefly stationed at gates and other posts.
Third. — Extra-keepers, who will be uniformed workingmen, for the most part charged with keeping in order each a certain division of the walks with the connected structures, and who will incidentally to this duty assist in preventing the misuse of the Park under their view. The number of extra keepers to be placed on duty will vary according to circumstances.
There will be a special body of watchmen for the care of the Park after visitors leave at night.
Patrol-Keepers.
Organization of Patrol-keepers. - The Patrol-keepers will be organized in three sections; one for morning duty, which will take the care of the Park from the night watchmen; one for evening duty, which will take the care of the Park from the morning section, and one for reserve duty, which will ordinarily be used to strengthen the evening section.
Each man will be specially assigned for each period of duty, some to a designated beat (“beat duty”); others to a designated route (“round duty”).
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Beat Duty.
“All-day Beats.” — There will be four regular all-day beats, as follows:
First. — The Harlem beat will be the drive from the Farmer’s Gate to Mt. St. Vincent, with all the ground to the eastward and so much to the westward as is under observation from the drive.
Second. — The Hill beat will be the drive from the Warrior’s Gate to the Glen Span, with all of the ground on both sides of it west of the Harlem beat.
Third. — The Ramble beat will be the whole of the Ramble.
Fourth. — The Terrace beat will be all of the ground from the East to the West Drive, between the Lake, on the north, and the walks north of the Green and south of the Music-stand, on the south.
Keepers assigned to the Harlem and Hill beats will make a close inspection of the gates upon them once every hour.
Other beats and posts of duty will be established at the discretion of the commanding officers.
Evening beats. - There will be a series of beats to be covered (by the reserve section) after 7 p.m., which will be designated on a map.
Round Duty.
Routes. — Routes for round duty will be respectively designated the West and East routes according as the keeper is required to pass northwards on the east or west side of the Park. Each will be more particularly defined hereafter. In each, the circuit drive is to be followed, with certain regular diversions (directed below) and such others, as it may appear to the keeper will enable him better to accomplish the purposes in view. Each route may be easily passed in two hours and a half, but not less than two hours and forty minutes is to be used. If regular time is made, ten minutes can ordinarily be occupied in rest at the stations. Between the beginning of one round and the beginning of the next there will thus be a period of two hours and fifty minutes.
Routine Inspections. — In the course of each round inspections will be made of two classes: close and passing inspections.
Each patrol-keeper on round duty will make a close inspection of one-half of the gates he passes, and a passing inspection of the other half. In the close inspection he will observe, in approaching the gate, if the post-keeper is attentive to his duties; he will see that the walk and border is clean within fifty feet of the gate each way, and, if not, direct it to be made so. He will see that the post-keeper is tidy in his appearance and wears his uniform properly, and require the correction of any faults. He will examine the post-keeper’s book and judge if he has been keeping correct accounts. He will write his number and the time of his inspection in the book. In the passing [283]
Central Park Keeper at Gate
Passing inspections will be made of all post and extra keepers on or near the route, as will be more particularly directed later.
The East Route. — Keepers assigned to the east route will proceed as follows: from the station southward along the walk to 64th Street gate (passing inspection), along walk to Scholars’ Gate (close inspection); thence by drive to the Children’s Gate (passing inspection); thence by drive and walk through Trefoil Arch and the Glade to the Miner’s Gate (close inspection); thence by walk through Greywacke Arch and the drive to the Engineer’s Gate (passing inspection); thence to the Woodman’s Gate (close inspection); thence to the Girl’s Gate (passing inspection); thence to Mt. St. Vincent Station, (report to Sergeant); thence to the Boy’s Gate (close inspection); thence to All Saints’ Gate (passing inspection); thence to the Mariner’s Gate (close inspection); thence to the Woman’s Gate, (passing inspection); thence to the Merchant’s Gate (close inspection); thence along walk to Artisan’s Gate (close inspection); thence under the Dipway Arch to Spur Rock and return; thence by walk to the Artist’s Gate (passing inspection); thence by drive to [284] the south end of the Mall; thence by drive and Museum walk to 64th Street Gate (close inspection); and thence to the Station.
The West Route. — The keeper assigned to the west route will make close inspections where passing inspections are above ordered, and will reverse the order of proceeding, with the following variations: After close inspection of the Artist’s Gate, return to Drive, by the Copcot Shelter, thence follow the Drive westward, making passing inspection of the Artisan’s Gate from the Dipway Arch, thence take the shortest way of the Drive to the Woman’s Gate, after close inspection of which, pass by the west branch of the Drive to the Lake shore, and so north. Also, in returning on the east side, from the Engineer’s Gate to the Miner’s Gate, and thence to the Children’s Gate, follow the Drive.
Assignments For Round Duty.
There will be six regular series of rounds for the patrol keepers, the first series beginning at 5:30 a.m., the last series at 7:40 p.m.
The morning section will supply keepers for three series of rounds, the first beginning at 5:30 a.m. The evening section will supply keepers for the three series of rounds beginning at 2 p.m. The reserve section will be used to increase the number of keepers on round duty from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., or for other duty, as occasion may require.
The keepers assigned to round duty will proceed in succession, one following another at an interval, the length of which will vary with the number of men available for duty, an adjustment for this purpose being made by the station sergeant as the different squads report for duty, according to the number of men reporting, as will be hereafter directed.
Daily Routine of Movements.
Morning: All-day beats. — Four keepers are to be sent from the station at 5.30 a.m. to occupy the all-day beats. In going north they are to proceed by different routes; one by the West Drive and one by the East to Mt. St. Vincent; one by the Dene Walk and the Mall to the Terrace beat, and the fourth by the Dairy, the Middle Drive, the Lake Concourse and Bow Bridge to the Ramble beat. Those assigned to the upper beats will report to the sergeant at the sub-station before going on them. (At 1.55 p.m. eight keepers are to report for duty at the station, and to be sent out to relieve the first on the all-day beats. These will hold them until the hour for closing the park.)
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Morning: Round duty. —At 5.25 a.m. one-half the keepers assigned to morning round duty are to report at the station. At 5.30 a.m. one is to be sent out, the rest following in a regular sequence, alternately on the east and west routes. The length of the intervals will depend on the number of keepers ready for duty, as many intervals of equal length being made between 5.30 a.m. and 6.55 a.m. (85 minutes) as there are keepers—thus, if there are five keepers, the intervals will be seventeen minutes; if four keepers, twenty-one minutes; if three keepers, twenty-eight minutes.
At 6.50 a.m. the second half of the keepers of the morning section are to report for duty at the station; at 6.55 the first is to be sent out, and the others in succession at regular intervals, dividing the time till 8.20 a.m. (85 minutes) by the number of keepers ready for duty.
At 8.10 a.m. the first keeper sent out will be due on his return; at 8.20 he is to be sent out on his second round; the time from 8.20 to 11.10 a.m. (170 minutes) is to be divided by the full number of keepers on round duty, and those returning from the first round are to be sent out on the second as nearly as practicable at the successive intervals thus indicated. The first round of the second series is to be completed at 11 a.m., and the third to begin at 11.10.
If, on account of making an arrest, or other necessity, any keeper on round duty is prevented from keeping his place in the sequence, his place is to be taken with as little delay as practicable by the next following.
In all cases of disarrangement of the sequence, the officer in charge of the station will shorten rests and hasten movements, so as to secure the nearest approach to the regular order in the disposition of the whole body of keepers on round duty as is practicable.
The keeper making the first round will, in regular order, complete his third round at 1: 50 p.m., and unless there is an extraordinary necessity for further service, will then be dismissed for the day; others of the section on morning duty will be dismissed as they return, in regular succession.
Evening: All-day Beats. — Three men will be taken from the evening section and three from the reserve section for the all-day beats, the Ramble and Terrace beats each being divided for evening duty into two. These will report for duty at 1:55 p.m., and between 2 and 2:05 p.m., will be sent out; care being taken that no two proceed in company after leaving the station.
Evening: Round duty. — At 1:55 p.m., one-half the remainder of the evening and reserve sections will report for duty. The keepers for round duty of the evening section will be sent out at intervals determined by the same method as before directed to be used for the morning section, the first at 2 p.m., the west and east routes being taken alternately, as before. If the reserve section is not required for special duty (as will be the case on concert days, etc.), it will be sent out in the same way on round duty—a keeper of the reserve section leaving the station one minute after each keeper of the evening [286] section, but taking the east route when the keeper of the evening section takes the west, and vice versa. Thus, one-half the keepers of each section will be sent on each route.
At 3:20 p.m. the remainder of the evening and (ordinarily) of the reserve sections will report for duty, and the process will continue as above, the first keeper for round duty of the evening section going out at 3:25 p.m. The second series of evening rounds will begin at 4:50; the third (for the evening section only) at 7:40 p.m.; the keeper assigned to the first evening round will end his last round at 10:20 p.m., and be dismissed, and the others as they come in, in regular succession.
Assignments for Evening Beats.
At 7 p.m. the keepers of the reserve section on round duty, wherever they may be, will discontinue that duty and proceed each man to the evening beat previously assigned him, where, until the hour for closing the Park, he will patrol the walks, from which, at 7 p.m., the extra keepers are to be withdrawn.
General Supervisory Duties.
Extra keepers, not in charge of houses, will each have a district of walks to cover. Outside the all-day beats, some part of each extra keeper’s district, and generally the larger part, will be open to view from the route of the patrol-keepers on round duty, and it will be the duty of the patrol-keepers, whether on round or beat duty, to watch for occasions to instruct or assist each extra and post-keeper whom he passes. The patrol keeper on round-duty, will try to make a passing inspection on every round of each extra keeper on the Park who is not within the all-day beats; but is not required to accomplish this purpose when it will involve a break of sequence. Short diversions from the drive, at the discretion of the patrol-keeper, for better observation of the walks, the meadows and the water, are allowed and desirable. Shelters and urinals on the beats are to be inspected by the beat-keepers every half-hour, and each of those within fifty paces of the routes is to be inspected by each patrol-keeper on round-duty at least as often as every second time he passes it.
Patrol-keepers are directed, for the most part, to follow the drive, because by doing so, and judiciously crossing from side to side, according to circumstances, they may observe, and may bring themselves to the notice of, [287] a larger number of walking visitors than in any other way, as well as because they will thus best superintend the post and extra keepers. Care must be taken not to let attention be drawn too much from their more important duties in these respects by the carriages on the drive. All necessary directions and cautions to drivers may, generally, be given by gestures and without stopping. So long as visitors are in carriages they are little liable to misuse the Park to its serious injury. They are, therefore, of secondary interest in park-keeping.
Shifting Sections.
A shift of sections will be made monthly, the morning section becoming the evening section, the evening section the reserve, and so on.
Shortening Field Force.
In stormy or extremely inclement weather, when there are no visitors for recreation on the Park, the Captain, and, in his absence, the Lieutenant, may put two beats in one, divide periods of beat duty, and lengthen the intervals of sequence in round duty at his discretion; all held at the station may then be placed under drill or instruction, and the usual time of dismissal for the day anticipated.
Leave of Absence.
Leave of absence, except for less time than one period of duty, is to be granted only to keepers on the reserve section, but exchanges may be made between keepers of the morning and evening sections and the reserve, as a preliminary to leave of absence.
Temporary Vacancies.
When absences occur in the morning and evening sections without leave, as may happen from illness, the vacancies will be made good as soon as practicable by transfers from the reserve.
Vacancies occurring in the evening section will in all cases be immediately [288] filled. Vacancies in the morning section may be temporarily made good by transfers from the post-keepers; vacancies in the post-keepers being filled by draft on the extra keepers.
Post Keepers.
The post-keepers will be organized in three sections; one to cover the gates during the first half of the day; another to cover the gates during the second half of the day, and the third to cover such other posts, at and during such periods of time as may be designated from day to day by the officer in command, it being intended that the keepers composing it shall be generally posted during the afternoon at points within the Park where visitors are most apt to crowd, and to need assistance, advice and caution.
Revised and Additional Rules for the
Conduct of Patrol and Post Keepers.
The rules and customs of the keepers’ force heretofore established, not inconsistent with the present orders, will continue to apply to patrol and post keepers. The following are in part old rules, which have fallen to some extent into neglect, or which are now given a more defined form than they have hitherto had. They are hereafter to be exactly followed and rigidly enforced.
Note. — Keepers in uniform, waiting orders at the stations and elsewhere, and not called for, will be on “waiting duty.” After being dispatched from the stations, whether in proceeding to posts, on posts, on beats, on rounds, or carrying orders or messages, they will be on “active duty.”
I.
Wearing the uniform will signify that a keeper is on duty, and subject to the rules and discipline of duty in all respects.
II.
No outer clothing is to be worn on duty except the prescribed uniform.
III.
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No part of the uniform is to be worn out of the stations without all parts.
IV.
No keeper is to wear the uniform or any part of it out of the stations, unless he is prepared in all respects for active duty.
V.
No keeper is to wear any other clothing which is likely to be mistaken for a part of the uniform, even though his own property, and when off duty.
VI.
Post keepers, on whose posts watch-boxes are placed, may enter the boxes and remain standing in them, in a position suitable for observation, in stormy or very inclement weather, when few visitors are passing. They may shift and deposit over-clothing in the watch-boxes, as required by changes of weather. They may also enter and stand in them for a space of not more than ten minutes, while eating a lunch, once during each period of duty. They are forbidden to enter the watch-boxes for rest or shelter except as above authorized. They are forbidden when in the watch-boxes to sit or lounge. Patrol keepers, on route duty, will carry no food with them from the station, will receive none, and will eat none. Patrol keepers while on beat duty will receive no food, and if they find it necessary to take sustenance will temporarily exchange duties with post keepers on gate duty, and follow the rule applicable to that duty.
VII.
From the time that a keeper comes on active duty, until he reports and is dismissed, or returned by his officer to waiting duty, including all of the time in which he shall be in uniform, out of a station or office of the Department, he is to carry and deport himself in a vigilant, decorous and soldier-like way. When proceeding to a post or beat, or when on route duty, he is to move at a quick march, or if there is special need to move slowly for observation, he is to carefully avoid any appearance of sauntering or listlessness. He is to seek no shelter, and to occupy no position or locality unfavorable to his duty of preventing the misuse of the Park, and aiding and giving confidence to visitors in its proper use. Nor is he, without special necessity, to enter any building or take any position or action in which he may appear [290] to others to be seeking his own ease or comfort, or disengagement from activity and vigilance.
When illness, a call of nature, or any irresistible necessity would otherwise prevent a compliance with these requirements, he is to call on and temporarily resign his duty to some other member of the force; to an extra keeper if no other is available. This is to be done formally, and with a statement of the reason; he is at the same time to remove his shield and put it out of sight. He may afterwards return, if able, replace his shield, and resume his duty. The time of the resignation and resumption of duty is to be noted and reported, with other particulars, by both keepers.
VIII.
He is not to try to surprise visitors; is not to play the detective; is not to move furtively or use slyness, in any way, for any purpose.
IX.
He is not to suffer himself to be drawn into private conversation.
X.
He is not to engage in disputes or discussions on questions of his duty or that of visitors, or other matters.
XI.
To lessen the liability of falling into conversation, not required by his duty, and of an appearance of neglect of duty, he will, while in necessary communication with others, stand in the position of “attention,” or if in movement, will take special care to maintain a brisk and vigilant carriage.
XII.
He is not to address visitors in a loud voice, when occasion for doing so can be avoided by his own activity.
XIII.
He is not to exhibit ill-temper, vexation, impatience or vindictiveness in manner, tone of voice, words or acts.
XIV.
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The authority to make arrests is to be used with extreme caution; only when to refrain from using it will bring the law, as represented by the keeper, into disrespect, or be followed by other results harmful to general public interests.
XV.
Persons to be arrested, and while under arrest, must be saved from all unnecessary indignity.
XVI.
When the keeper is obliged, for the vindication of the law, to use force, he must be cautious to avoid unnecessary violence or harshness.
XVII.
The worst criminal having a right to a hearing by a magistrate before condemnation to punishment, the punishment of offenders can be no business of the keeper. No conduct or language toward a visitor, which conveys an intention of punishment, is therefore, under any circumstances, to be justified.
XVIII.
The Captain or Lieutenant will, as soon as practicable after every arrest, inquire into the cause and motive of it, the manner in which it was made, the language used, and the treatment of the prisoner from first to last.
XIX.
Keepers are not to carry clubs, unless by special order, and are not, under any circumstances to carry pistols, or other weapons, concealed or exposed.
XX.
Two members of the force will never move side by side in company, unless under orders of an officer, or to meet a special necessity. If, by chance, two come side by side, both proceeding the same way, the one who has the highest number on his shield will quicken, and the other moderate speed, until there is a space of at least one hundred paces between them.
XXI.
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Patrol keepers meeting on the drive, and having no occasion of duty for verbal communication, will pass on opposite sides, each taking the left (because by so doing, each will face the nearest approaching carriages).
XXII.
When a section or squad is to move in a body, and no officer with it, the keeper having the lowest number on his shield will be in command, military order will be preserved, and no talking allowed.
XXIII.
A keeper finding visitors sick, swooning, sun-stricken, deranged, paralyzed, in stupor, or apparently drugged or intoxicated, may suspend all other duty in order to help them either to find relief or to leave the Park. If they can in any way be disposed of with more kindness to themselves and less annoyance to others or injury to the Park without bringing them to the station, that way is to be preferred. In urgent cases they may be taken to the nearest cottage, or other suitable shaded or sheltered place, and an extra keeper or other trusty messenger sent for a surgeon or to obtain a conveyance.
XXIV.
When persons are found not in their sober senses and inclined to disorder or violence, keepers are not to consider whether they came so by intemperance or otherwise, but to regard their condition as an infirmity, the evils of which it is their duty for the time being to skilfully restrict as far as they can.
XXV.
The action of the Commissioners in establishing different grades of responsibility and authority in the keepers’ force must be rigidly respected by all its members. That habits of subordination and respect may be cultivated and guarded, a proper reserve and formality of manner must be preserved in the intercourse between those of different ranks.
XXVI.
Conduct, language and manners tending unnecessarily to provoke or foster jealousies, prejudices or ill-will between different members of the [293] force, whether of the same or of different ranks, by which a spirit of mutual support and co-operation would be discouraged, are to be studiously avoided. The intrusion of personal interests, and especially of personal differences between keepers into proceedings of official duty is strongly reprobated.
XXVII.
Officers and keepers of each rank may suspend those of a lower rank, and may discontinue suspensions made by those of a lower rank, in every case reporting their action as soon as practicable to their own superiors. A keeper suspended while on active duty will remove his shield, and report at the station as soon as practicable thereafter. Suspensions are to be made only where there is an appearance of grave fault or incompetency for duty, and those making them are to be held to strict account for the grounds of their action.
XXVIII.
It is the duty of officers to watch for, consider and report errors or neglect of duty in the conduct of their subordinates. It is not the duty of keepers to watch for faults in their officers or in one another, and it is inconsistent with their duty to countenance useless grumbling, or idle reports, gossip or scandal tending to insubordination or the injury of their officers or comrades.
XXIX.
When a keeper, against whom no charges are pending, has knowledge of grave misconduct on the part of an officer, or reasonable grounds of complaint against an officer, it will be proper for him to make the same known to that officer’s superior without unnecessary delay: But after charges have been made against any keeper, and while they are pending, it will not be proper for him to bring accusations against those making them or the witnesses to be examined, unless this is necessary to his own vindication, in which case the accusations must be made in writing, formally and specifically, so that due notice may be given those accused.
XXX.
The resignation of no member of the force will be accepted while a charge is pending against him.
Conditions of Holding Appointments.
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By resolution of the Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks the following are established as conditions of holding an appointment as patrol or park keeper. Any keeper failing to comply with them will forfeit his position:
I.
A keeper shall be engaged in no other business, trade or calling, but shall hold himself ready for keeper’s duty, when required by his officers, at all times.
II.
Each keeper shall carry out all lawful instructions from persons placed in authority over him, in good faith, according to their true intent and meaning to the best of his understanding and ability.
III.
He shall not, upon any occasion, or for any reason, take money or any gratuity from any person without the express permission of the Commissioners.
IV.
He shall not seek to obtain promotion or favor from his officers or the Commissioners by the aid or interposition of others, or on other grounds than that of his just credit for intelligent and faithful service.
V.
He shall enter into no agreement, intrigue or understanding with others to bring about the discredit or the advance of any member of the force.
VI.
6th. He shall not seek to evade or prevent a fair trial of himself or other keepers when charged with delinquencies.
General Observations on the Conduct Required
of the Keepers of the Central Park.
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Among the circumstances which have obliged considerable changes to be ordered in the regulations for the keeping of the Park, are the following:
After the dismissal of more than a third of the force, represented by its officers to be its least promising members, and after much effort to secure improvement under existing rules, a satisfactory appearance of vigilance, discipline and activity in a keeper on duty has remained exceptional.
Moreover, although a keeper, while on his beat or post, rarely comes under the observation of an officer unexpectedly to himself, instances have continued to be disgracefully common of keepers seen by their officers under conditions raising a strong presumption of intentional neglect of duty.
It has been but too evident, from these and other circumstances, that a habit of disregarding the just claims upon them of the Commissioners and of the public, had been strongly established with many members of the force, and, that under existing arrangements, the Commissioners have been unable to enforce a faithful compliance with the contract which is, in effect, made between themselves and each keeper at his appointment, and which is renewed and ratified whenever the keeper puts on his uniform.
This being a duty resting on the Commissioners second in importance to no other, as will be later shown, the subject has, for sometime, been one of constant and close study, with a view to new arrangements on a sounder basis.
Most of the cases of apparent neglect of duty reported, have been found, after investigation, to divide more or less distinctly, into three classes:
First. — Those in which the keeper has frankly confirmed the statement of the officer, acknowledged himself at fault, and in which it has been probable that the error was a casual one, quite out of his usual habits.
Second. — Those in which the statement of the officer has been essentially confirmed by the keeper, and some reason given for the apparent neglect, which has been assumed by the keeper to be a justification of it.
Third. — Those in which the keeper has either admitted the facts, as represented by the officer, or has denied only some quite unimportant particulars of them, but has seemingly not recognized that they established any neglect of duty.
There has really been but a single instance of the first class; that of [296] one of the oldest of the keepers, whose character has always been, and is, of the highest. Of the second class of cases there have been many. The following are examples of the grounds on which justification for an admitted relaxation from, or temporary putting aside of, duty, has been commonly claimed:
1st. — Compulsion of heat, cold, or storm; sickness, fatigue, or exhaustion from exposure or excessive tours of duty.
2d. — Calls of nature.
3d. — Hiding from visitors while eating, or when making some change or adjustment of clothing.
4th. — Receiving necessary food from home, and standing apart to converse with the person bringing it.
5th. — Communication with other keepers.
6th. — Civilities to a friend.
7th. — Trying to detect a visitor in wrong-doing.
It has been evident that if, in the comparatively few cases of neglect of duty which would come under official notice, it should continue the case that the keepers, called to account, had only need to assert that they were acting under some one of these classes of alleged necessities in order to clear themselves, men wholly unfit for the business, with no pride in it, and no sense of honor in relation to it, might remain in the force for years, and the requirements upon them be easier than they would be upon the true men.
One object of the changes now to be made is to debar such excuses for neglect of duty.
It will be readily seen that most of them are precluded under the new rules, and that they are so in a manner which involves no excessive requirement of self-control or endurance. The keeper who offers them, hereafter, will show either that he does not know his business or that he is incompetent for it.
As for the first, it is intended that every man appointed or retained as a keeper, shall have such strength of constitution, vigor, stamina and muscles, as he must have to bear his share in meeting all the obvious requirements upon the force as a whole, without excessive strain or discomfort.
The surgeon certifies that all who have been retained on the force are so at this time.
This being the case, in determining what the Commissioners may reasonably require of each man, it is to be remembered that they provide him with outer clothing more or less fitting to the season but that he supplies his own under-clothing, and can wear thick or thin; single, double or triple layers as in his judgment may most conduce to his comfort. No man is required to report for duty when he is unwell. Consequently, when a man reports for duty, he is supposed to be clothed as nearly as possible suitably for his period of duty, and to be in sufficiently vigorous condition to bear any exposure or discomfort to which a change of weather occurring within it would subject [297] him. If, then, he is found to be inactive; to be taking rest or shelter; to be throwing off or adding to his dress, except as regularly provided for, he makes one of two things evident; either that he is physically disqualified for his duty, or that he prefers to disobey orders rather than endure the measure of fatigue and discomfort which is involved in the obligations he has assumed with his uniform.
In either case he shows that he cannot rightly be retained in the employment of the Commissioners as a keeper.
Under the new arrangements, most of the patrol keepers will regularly call at a station, where, when necessity exists, they can be excused from duty by an officer, as often as once in every hour and a half. Special provisions are made in the rules for those who will not do so. Post keepers will be in communication with patrol keepers at least every half-hour, and will be constantly within signalling distance of an extra keeper. In case of real necessity, therefore, any member of the force can soon get another to take his place under the rules.
Failing to do so, suspension, abandonment or neglect of duty cannot be attributed to illness, unless it shall be of so sudden and prostrating a character as to require the immediate aid of a physician. Of this, the only evidence which can be considered conclusive will be that of the surgeon.
In the third class of cases it has been evident that, if the keeper’s statements were sincere, it had been possible for men to hold appointments for some time in the force with scarcely the least idea for what purposes it is maintained by the Commissioners, and whose conduct had, on the whole, probably tended to promote that which they had been paid for aiding to prevent.
Hereafter no man will be retained on the force who cannot be made to realize that it is the smallest part of his duty to avoid being absent from his place, and while in it to perform those few acts, for which he may find occasion as a common officer of the law. No man can be retained who fails to understand the special purposes of the system of park keeping, or how he may steadily contribute to those purposes without a moment’s intermission during all of such time as he is on active duty.
That there may be the less excuse for failure, the purposes of the system and the method by which they are chiefly to be promoted will here be explained in the most elemental way, at the same time the error of certain habits into which there has been much tendency to fall will be exposed.
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The Park Commissioners are trustees and managers for the whole body of owners of a large amount of public property. Their business with it is of two kinds, first, that of forming parks; second, that of keeping them.
The first of these duties employs many the more men, costs much the more money, and makes greatly the larger show to the eye, but the second is the graver responsibility, and the Commissioners are to be holden to a stricter account if the arrangements they make for it are ill-judged, or if they delegate it to faithless or inefficient agents.
What is here meant by the keeping of the Parks in distinction from the forming of them, and why it has so much more importance than the comparative extent of business would indicate may be suggested by an illustration:
A man may buy and fit up a costly house, but if, after he has done so, he finds coal and ashes scattered over his carpets, if decorated ceilings are stained and marred, if pictures are defaced, if books and dishes are piled on his chairs, windows and doors kept open during storms, beds used as tables and tables as beds, and so on, all that he has obtained for his expenditure will be of little value to him for the time being, and the possibility of its ever again being made of much value will lessen with every day that such misuse is suffered, through inefficiency of housekeeping, to prevail.
In the same way a park, as in the case of the Central Park, having been formed and furnished with a great variety of appliances, each, like chairs, and tables, and beds, and dishes, and carpets, and pictures in a house, designed to be used in a different way and for different ends, though all for the one general end of the comfort of the occupants, whatever value the owners are to enjoy for the twelve million dollars or more they have laid out upon the park will depend on the prevention of misuse, which again is a question of the efficiency of the park-keeping.
For example, rock has been removed, drains laid, deep soil formed and fine, short greensward gradually established upon the soil in certain places in order to secure that particular form of gratification which may be produced by a rich color and texture of turf, and by the contrast of this color and texture with that of other associated objects. To a limited extent and under certain conditions, the turf may be trodden upon without injury, but if walking upon it were generally allowed, the particular object for which much labor during many years has been thus expended would be wholly lost. Hence it is an imperative part of the business of the Commissioners to prevent this misuse of it.
Again, the Park is furnished with a bridle-road, the object being to have a place where horses can be ridden with a free hand and at a rapid rate of speed. This is forbidden by law anywhere else in the city, because nowhere else have arrangements been made by which it could be done with safety. In the Park they have been, at great cost. This bridle-road might be used by people in carriages or on foot but it is not necessary to the comfort of anyone [299] that it should be, as there are on the Park above nine miles of road much better adapted to driving, and nearly thirty miles better adapted to walking; and, as to drive or walk upon it would greatly injure its value for its special purposes, it is the business of the Commissioners to prevent such misuse of it.
Similar illustrations might be multiplied by the hundred, and keepers must realize that every foot of the Park’s surface, every tree and bush, as well as, every arch, roadway and walk has been fixed where it is with a purpose, and upon its being so used that it may continue to serve that purpose to the best advantage, and upon its not being otherwise used, depends its value.
There are ways, however, in which the Park may be misused, not so distinctly definable as those above illustrated, the general nature of which may be indicated as follows:
The Park is not simply a pleasure-ground, that is, a ground to which people may resort to obtain some sort of recreation, but a ground to which people may resort for recreation in certain ways and under certain circumstances which will be conducive to their better health.
Physicians order certain classes of their patients to visit the Park instead of prescribing medicine for them, because, they need first of all the tranquilizing influence upon the nerves which they may find in it, and the insensible advantage which is gained in this way by thousands who visit it without this purpose definitely in view, but whose strength and powers of usefulness are thus increased, and whose lives thus prolonged, constitutes its chief value.
Any conduct which tends on the whole to restrict this value is a misuse of the Park, and in considering what conduct would have this effect it must be remembered that a large majority of all the inhabitants of the city are women and children, sickly and aged or weakly, nervous and delicate persons, and that the Park is adapted to benefit none so much as those who have barely the courage, strength and nerve required for a visit to it.
Incidentally to the prevention of misuse in the two forms which have been indicated, it is required in the keeping of the Park, that such assistance should be given to visitors as is necessary to their profitable use of it.
Those most needing assistance (in the way chiefly of directions, information and advice) will be people of home-keeping habits, retiring disposition, helpless, sensitive, modest. The difficulty here is not in supplying all necessary advice that shall be asked, but in giving those most needing to obtain advice confidence to ask and accept what they need.
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From all that has been said it will be seen that the administration of this most important part of the Departments’ business does not turn simply upon the question, by what means can the misuse of the park be prevented? but that it must also be considered how the agencies employed for this purpose may best aid the proper use of the park, and especially how trustfulness in the means of prevention and confidence in the use of the aid to be provided may best be inspired.
There are apt to be certain preconceived ideas in the minds of those who have not studied the subject which stand in the way of sound convictions as to the methods by which the park can best be kept and, that they may be removed, it is desirable that the following considerations should be well weighed.
There are frequent occasions when the number of visitors on the Park is many times larger than is usual. The walks and seats being then crowded, the temptation to each visitor to pursue his pleasure out of the beaten tracks, and so to misuse the Park in various ways, is correspondingly greater than usual. To employ a sufficient number of keepers on such occasions to guard every point where these temptations will occur, and to give a caution or check directly and personally to everyone who might need it, would be wholly impracticable.
But even if it were practicable, it will be evident that the pleasure and value of a ramble in the Park would be destroyed, and, instead of a tranquilizing, an irritating effect would be produced if at every turn a visitor were to be made to feel himself superintended in all his conduct like a lunatic by his keeper, or a child by its nurse.
It is not, then, by the frequent overhauling of visitors that the park is to be successfully kept.
There have been many occasions when each keeper employed within the gates of the Park has had to cover a space on an average of fifty acres, most of these spaces abounding with bushes, hollows and rocks favorable to those wishing to escape notice while misusing it, and when there will have been on each such space three or four thousand visitors. If it could be supposed that any considerable part of these visitors were influenced by positive hostility to the purposes of the keeper, it will be apparent that the evidences of misuse which they would leave behind them would be much greater than they ever have been. To see this more clearly, however, let a common example of misuse be studied.
Certain spots have been prepared in a peculiar manner, with a view to secure a luxuriant growth of ferns and wild flowers in association with rocks [301] and other adjoining objects. There are some of the owners of the Park to whom the intended effect would give great delight, aiding them to forget their troubles, momentarily at least, and producing something of the good result which a visit to the mountains brings to a fagged-out man or a jaded woman. The places have been carefully selected and prepared so that it need be little, if any, inconvenience for visitors to avoid walking on them, and so that the plants, once well established, will in a great degree take care of themselves. The danger in this case that the intended result will not be attained, is chiefly this, that a few persons, perhaps one in ten thousand of all who pass near any such place, will tramp across it, and in so doing, stamp out the life of the plants, or will, one by one, pick and misappropriate the flowers to private use. They have no more right to do either than to pick their neighbor’s pockets, throw stones at his windows or vitriol at his coat. Yet, of the comparatively small number of visitors who will crush out the life of the ferns, or steal the flowers, it will certainly be a still very much smaller number who are capable of being led intentionally to do any such wrong to their neighbor.
The truth is, then, that even of the comparatively small number of those who would make such a misuse of the Park, much the larger part are capable of being tempted to it only because having had no occasion, under ordinary circumstances, in walking along the streets, or when in the country, through the woods and fields, to consider the rights of others in the way that is necessary in the Park, it fails to be clear to their minds that they will be wronging others when they feel the impulse to such misconduct.
There is the same explanation often to be made even for people who carry themselves’ rudely in the Park, disputing loudly with one another, using threatening, profane or obscene language, crowding others off the walks, excluding others unnecessarily from seats, and so on. It is not with intention of troubling others that they do these things, but in most cases from sheer unmindfulness that others are being unpleasantly affected by them.
But a little further thought will satisfy the keeper that not only is it to be fairly presumed that visitors, as a rule, are indisposed to misuse the Park, but that they have an active desire and intention to avoid its misuse. Consider, for example, how much pleasanter it is in a hot summer’s day to step on turf than on gravel or concrete walks, yet how few, comparatively, make a practice of stepping off the walks upon the turf whenever they have reason to think they might do so without danger of reproof from a keeper.
Even of the more lawless class a larger number commonly keep within the bounds of decent use of the Park than, when it is an easy matter to keep out of the sight of a keeper for hours together, can be accounted for by the mere danger of reproof or arrest. In what other way can it be explained that bad men, abandoned women and mischievous boys make no more misuse of the Park than they do?
Let the keeper who is at all doubtful of the answer ask himself if he were going with a friend to a theatre, or a church or a funeral, and while [302] walking in the streets should be smoking or engaged in a warm debate and talking loudly with his friend, whether he would be at all likely to continue smoking or talking aloud after entering the house? or, supposing that by any mischance he did so for a moment, whether he would continue long to do so? If not, let him ask himself again, why he would not wait until admonished or threatened with arrest by an officer of the law?
Reflection will satisfy him that he would be led by the silent and unconscious influence of others present to regard the custom and proprieties of the occasion and the place. A little more reflection will further satisfy him that no man however hardened, no woman however brazened, is wholly proof against such an influence. Remembering then, that, on the other hand, this class has not often much to gain by any marked defiance of custom or propriety in the Park, it will be seen that its protection rests almost wholly on the loyal disposition of the great body of visitors to side with the keepers in discountenancing its misuse.
Keeping this last consideration in mind, let the keeper imagine a man entering the Park, fully aware that he does so as one of its rightful owners, under obligations to no one; that, presently, through heedlessness or ignorance, he disobeys some rule for its proper use; that immediately a man whose livery shows that he is one of his servants, employed for his pleasure and paid with his money, accosts him, not, as it appears, with a purpose to respectfully aid him toward a better understanding of what is due to others, as one gentleman might manage to aid another who was a stranger to him, but as a watch-dog might accost a sneak-thief, growling, and with a look of seizing hold of him. Suppose that the visitor has not only been so treated himself, but has observed similar conduct on the part of other keepers toward other visitors, and that both experiences have been often repeated. Let the keeper consider whether a desire will not grow with this visitor to take care of himself when he is in his Park, and no thanks to anybody; whether a disposition to try conclusions with the whole force of keepers, to see whether they shall prevent him from going where he likes and behaving as he pleases, will not be established in his mind?
To fully realize the danger of thus enlisting the self-respect of visitors against the purposes of the force, it must be remembered that there are many Jacks-in-office who, commanding but little of the respect of others in their own proper persons, enjoy to presume on the respect of others for any slight authority of law with which they may be briefly clothed, and that, consequently, there has grown up a common and not unreasonable predisposition in the public mind to find all public servants, more or less officious and meddlesome.
Now, if the keeper sees that it is not by activity in reproof of misuse, or by exciting fear of his authority to arrest, that he is chiefly to contribute to the efficiency of the force for its purposes, it must also be plain to him, without argument, that the occasional sight of a man who is simply distinguished [303] from men in general by a badge and some peculiarities of clothing, is going to check misuse of the park very little. It will also be plain to him that a visitor, knowing that men so distinguished are the only representatives of those who are charged with the duty of keeping the park, and who sees one of them lounging listlessly, talking with friends, making himself comfortable, and who reflects that he is maintained in this way of living at public expense, is likely to have his respect for the ordinances established by the Commissioners to prevent the misuse of the park in no way increased.
But, now, let the keeper who cannot see what way is left to him for contributing to the object of the force, suppose that a visitor has, through some previous observation, come to be aware that there is an organized system for aiding visitors to avoid its misuse and for giving them all needed directions for its use; that in whatever part of the park he has been he has, at intervals, found agents of this system, and has observed a striking uniformity not only in their attire but in their carriage and manner, making it evident they were acting under common authority, common instructions, and with a common responsibility strictly enforced.
Suppose that they had invariably appeared to him watchful, vigilant, active and with their minds so fully occupied with their business of keeping the Park that they could think of nothing else. That whenever anyone of them had been seen addressing a visitor, it had been obviously because it was his duty to do so, and that whomsoever he found occasion to address, a swaggering, impudent man, or a poor shrinking girl, and for whatever purpose, to check a misuse of the Park or to show the way to a seat, it had been with a manner of studied official respect.
Suppose that having himself had need occasionally for some information or advice, and having applied to keepers for it, it had been given with no more words than necessary, but with all desirable fullness, accuracy and clearness, and with perfect courtesy: not with an air as if it were a matter of grace with the keeper, nor with a hurried, irritated manner, as if he were impatient of it, but simply as if it were a constant duty for which he had carefully prepared himself, and in which he had no right to do otherwise than as well as possible.
It will be readily seen that one result of such an experience would be that, to this visitor, every Park-keeper would distinctly represent the general, permanent and legal interests which he possessed, in common with all other citizens, in the Park, in distinction from the momentary, selfish, illegal, individual interests which alone can be served through its misuse.
If then, at any time, such a visitor were carelessly misusing the Park, the mere sight of a keeper would be sufficient to recall those larger, deeper, nobler interests to his mind, and self-respect, instead of prompting him to persist in a spirit of defiance, would lead him to cease from the misuse, and to proceed in the proper use and enjoyment of the Park with more consideration.
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If, on the other hand, he were misusing the Park through ignorance, and the keeper should ask him to desist, the request, so far from being felt as a personal affront, would be received with all respect and cheerfully complied with.
But if this would be the result of such an experience of the keepers with one man, it would equally be the result with thousands — with the great body of fairly well disposed visitors — and thus the force of custom would act, out of the keeper’s sight, in resistance to the misuse of the Park, with a strong, constant pressure, upon even the more recklessly selfish class.
It cannot, then, be too strongly borne in mind, that any conduct which tends to wound the self-respect of visitors tends also to promote a disposition to misuse the Park, and that, in so far as there is anything in the appearance of a keeper at any moment while he is on active duty, which seconds those general influences of the Park, by which the self-respect or civic pride of the citizen is gratified, he will at that moment be actively contributing to the general purpose of the organization.
Moreover, it may be fairly estimated that however slight such influence may be at any particular moment, on any particular visitor, the sum of all the influence which each keeper may so exert will be a larger contribution to the general end which he has undertaken, as the business of his life, to serve, than he will be able to make in all other ways.
It is very desirable that the officers of the force, especially, should realize that the great difficulty with which they have to contend is just here, in the proneness, that is to say, of keepers, in common with mankind in general, to have too little respect for or faith in influences which operate quietly and graciously, and to magnify the importance of acts of which the results are direct and obvious; in the proneness, also, of keepers to imagine that their usefulness lies in what each man accomplishes from day to day, by himself, rather than in the ultimate results of a system to which any contributions that anyone of them can make will be chiefly valuable in proportion as he sustains a general influence proceeding from all with whom he is placed in co-operation.
The points more important to be fixed in the keeper’s mind of what has been said may be recapitulated as follows:
First. — The most pressing responsibility upon the Commissioners, with reference to the Central Park, is that of the prevention of its misuse.
Second. — The degree in which the Park will be wilfully and gravely misused corresponds to the degree in which any misuse of it will be given the apparent sanction of custom, through thoughtless and slight misuse of it.
Third. — The keeper can do little towards preventing misuse of the park, by arrests or by threats or admonitions addressed personally to visitors.
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Fourth. — What is chiefly to be relied upon for keeping within necessary limits the thoughtless and slight misuse of the park, and through this all misuse, is the impression which may from time to time be produced on the minds of well-intentioned visitors by the mere presence and manner of the Park-keepers.
Fifth. — This impression will be valuable for the purpose in proportion as it is uniform, and as it manifests systematic vigilance, order, discipline, considerateness and courtesy.
Sixth. — The Commissioners cannot afford, in justice to their own responsibility, to retain men in the position of keepers who fail to contribute constantly, when on active duty, to such an impression.
Ordinances Applicable to the Ordinary
Use of the Central Park.
The Board of Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks, this thirty-first day of March, a.d. 1873, adopt and ordain the following ordinances for the use of the Central Park, to be observed by all persons not in the service of the Department.
I. No one shall enter or leave the Park except at the established entrance ways, nor shall anyone enter or remain in it after eleven o’clock at night, during the six months beginning May first; nor after nine o’clock at night during the six months beginning November first, except as, on special occasions, its general use may be authorized beyond the regular hours.
II. No one shall climb upon or in any way cut, break, injure or deface any wall, fence, shelter, seat, statue or other erection, nor any turf, tree, shrub, or other plant, nor throw stones or other missiles, nor discharge, fire or carry any firearm, fire-cracker, torpedo or fire-works, nor make a fire, nor play any musical instrument, nor offer or expose things for sale, nor post or display any sign, placard, flag, banner, target, transparency, advertisement or device of business, nor solicit business or fares, nor beg or publicly solicit subscriptions or contributions, nor tell fortunes, nor play games of chance or with any table or instruments of gaming, nor make any oration or harangue, nor utter loud threatening, abusive or indecent language, nor do any indecent or obscene act.
III. No quadrupeds except those placed in the Park by the Commissioners, and except dogs when controlled by a line of suitable strength not more than six feet in length, and horses and others used for pleasure travel, shall be driven or conducted into the Park or allowed to remain in it.
IV. The drive shall be used only by persons in pleasure carriages or on horseback; the ride only by persons on horseback; animals to be used on either shall be well broken and constantly held in such control, that they may be easily and quickly turned or stopped; they shall not be allowed to move [306] at a rate of speed which shall be alarming or cause danger, nor under any circumstances at a rate of speed on the drive of more than seven miles, nor on the ride of over twelve miles an hour; and when any park-keeper shall deem it necessary to safety, good order, or the general convenience, that the speed of an animal shall be checked, or that it should be stopped, or its course altered, and shall so direct, by gesture or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the rider or driver of such animal to follow such direction; and no horse or other beast of burden or draft shall be driven or suffered to stand anywhere, except on the drive or ride.
V. No hackney-coach or other vehicle for hire shall stand within the Park, for the purpose of taking up passengers, other than those whom it has brought in. No omnibus or express-wagon, and no wagon, cart or other vehicle, carrying, or ordinarily used to carry merchandise, goods, tools or rubbish, and no fire-engine or other apparatus on wheels for extinguishing fires shall enter or be allowed upon any part of the Park.
VI. No military or target company, and no civic, funeral or other procession, or a detachment of a procession, and no hearse or other vehicle, or persons, carrying the body of a dead person shall enter, or be allowed on any part of the Park.
VII. No person shall bathe or angle, or take fish, or send or throw or place any animal or thing in or on the waters, or disturb or annoy the birds or animals in the Park.
VIII. No person shall go on the turf except when and where the word “common” is posted as an indication that at that time and place all persons are allowed to go on it.
IX. No person shall bring into or carry within the Park any tree, shrub, plant or flower, nor any newly plucked branch or portion thereof.
X. When necessary to the protection of life or property, the officers and keepers of the Park may require all persons to remove from, and keep off any designated part thereof.
XI. On the arrest of a person in the Park, he shall be forthwith conducted to one of the keepers’ stations, the officer in charge of which shall determine whether he shall thence be conveyed before a magistrate or be discharged.
By order of the Board of Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks.
HENRY C. STEBBINS,
President.
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