Caulfield

This is an action brought by the plaintiff as a resident and taxpayer of the city of Pacific Grove, to restrain the defendants, as the board of trustees of said city, from placing and maintaining tennis courts, croquet grounds, and children’s playgrounds upon and in a certain public park therein known as “Caledonian Park.” The facts of the case, are practically undisputed, and are briefly as follows: Prior to the year 1875 David Jacks was the owner of a large tract of land embracing the area now within the boundaries of the city of Pacific Grove. An association known as the Pacific Grove Retreat Association had been formed, chiefly if not wholly within the membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for the purpose of procuring a tract of land for the use of the members of that and other religious organizations as a seaside resort or retreat, and as a place for holding camp meetings and other assemblages of a religious and educational order. An agreement was entered into between this association and David Jacks, by the terms of which the latter was to set apart one hundred acres of his said land for the foregoing purposes, which was to be subdivided into lots and sold at not…