104 STATK POMOIvOGlCAI. S0CIE:TY. 



They formed an association and are doing splendid educa- 

 tional work through lectures, illustrated by stereopticon slides. 

 They offer prizes for the best kept lawn, the cleanest alleyway, 

 the prettiest back yard. Today, practically all South Park is 

 organized to fight dirt and disease and beautify the town as well 

 as the individual homes. Street vies with street, square with 

 square as to which shall be most beautiful. For obstinate cases, 

 the camera and stereopticon did the work pictured on the can- 

 vas. No one wanted to see the unsightly places pointed out as 

 his own. A certain street, peopled by washwomen, etc., was too 

 great a problem. So the superintendent invited them all to a 

 dinner at the rest rooms of the factory, gave them a course din- 

 ner, with waitresses and the stereopticon showed up their street 

 afterwards in contrast with other renovated places. It did its 

 w^ork and the washer ladies joined the association to a woman. 

 In this suburb every tall fence is covered with beautiful vines, 

 thus serving a double purpose, shutting out the omnipresent bill 

 poster and beautifying the town. There is not a lamp post or 

 telephone pole but is wreathed in vines. One street is pro- 

 nounced by authorities, the most beautiful in the world, size and 

 cost of homes considered. Think you that all this outlay of time 

 and money has not paid ? It has — and will. Social economists 

 in this country and Europe are copying their plan. 



All over the country, from Bar Harbor to California are these 

 societies being organized. Every state has scores of these organ- 

 izations. The women of Petaluma in California were ashamed 

 of local conditions, but what was everybody's business was 

 nobody's, yet the women organized the Ladies' Improvement 

 club. They have raised and spent $3,000. Their first work 

 was to redeem their plazas, two right in the heart of the town. 

 They planted palms, graveled the walks, grassed the whole, 

 placed seats. 



They asked the electric company to paint poles white, use only 

 good straight ones, water hydrants to be painted red. All these 

 things tend to enhance the beauty of the place. 



This work of civics is no new departure for women, for 200 

 years ago, in New York city, a woman had sole charge of street 

 cleaning, the widow of Andreas Down, who drew annually a 

 salary of eleven pounds sterling, but Chicago has the honor of 



