Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1955), Tuesday 8 November 1904, page 9


A NEW RECREATION GK0UND.

HANDING OVER THE TITJiES. A PLEASING} CEREMONY.

The negotiations which were coni. menced somo little while ago between the Perth City Council, and Mr. W. T, Loton, M.L.C., for the purchase of what is known as Loton's Paddock, . situated at the' .corner of Bulwer, Lord, and Brewer streets, for the pur? poso of forming a new recreation

reserve, were satisfactorily concluded on Monday, when the .Mayor (Mr. If. Brown, M.L.A.), several councillors, and chief officers of the municipality mot at the West Australian Club at the invitation- of Mr. Loton, and ,thc titles of the property . were fQrmally ?handed over to the Mayor. \ liotbri's Paddock has an area of 16^ acres,- and it was bought at the low price of'£S,oOO, the only condition attached to the olTer of the properly at tint figure boing .that it should be used in perpetuity, only for tho purposes of a recreation reserve or public park. ?;???' Mr. Loton, in a happy speech, detailed the particulars of the land which he was disposing of to the council. His only regret in handing over the titles, was that lip coidd not make the land a complete gift to the municipality. He had, however, done as much as he could in reducing the prico to\ nearly half the (value of the . block. He trusted that no time would be lost by the council in equipping the ground and throwing it open for the use of the various sporting bodies, . whom he understood were badly in need of extra accommodation. ' The Mayor thanked Mr. Loton on behalf of tho council and citizens for the generous prire at which he hnd submitted the land. :Ile felt sure, that the transaction would be, fully ap-. x predated by the citizens. He had not heard one single dissentient voice raised against tho proposition of tho purchase. Cr. Forstcr, the chairman of the general purposes committee, also Epoke, and ? expressed the hope that sufficient funds would be placed on the estimates of the ensuing year to defray the expenses of improving the ground, and making it ready for use by the vario'us sporting bodies. Several other councillors spoke, and the toasts of the 'Solicitors,' and 'Tho Mayor' were honored. Mr, Booker T. Washington, the famous negro writer anil educationist, has now added the Archbishop of Canterbury to his long list of friends. It is not long since there was quite a burst of indignation in the Southern States of America bepausc President Kooscvelt entertained Mr. Washington at the White House. Not that Mr. Roosevelt is the first American President to be numbered among the brilliant colored man's friends, for Mr. M'Kinley, Mr. Cleveland, and Mr. Harrison have all been on intimate terms with him.