CIVIC IMPROVEMENT. 



371 



in the top and no handling or sorting of 

 filth is required. The floor of the crema- 

 tory is on a level with the top of the furna- 

 ces, thus making the dumping of carts and 

 wagons quick and easy. 



There is absolutely no 'excuse for hauling 

 ashes, garbage, swill, etc., through a city in 

 open wagons. The illustration below 

 shows a water-tight, steel wagon that is 

 easily cleaned and disinfected, making it as 

 nearly odorless as possible. It has also the 

 merit of looking well in service. 



Fig. 2648. Steel SaniTary Cart. 



This cart is water tight, almost air tight, and can be turned bot- 

 tom side up if necessary for a thorough emptying or cleansing. It 

 has two lids for easy loading, weighs 1,300 pounds, and carries 37 

 cubic feet. 



The women of Bethany, Missouri, called 

 a meeting at the court house and organized 

 a society which was called the Woman's 

 Improvement Association. In four months 

 the streets had been cleaned, the city coun- 

 cil requested to enforce with greater rigor 

 the various sanitary ordinances, and the 

 court house square has been made more at- 

 tractive by vases of growing plants. The 

 ladies solicited the necessary funds, and in 

 conjunction with the fraternity owning the 

 cemetery secured the services of a perma- 

 nent sexton. In addition to this flower 

 beds have been made in the cemetery and 

 the churchyards. This association also 

 opened a public waiting room, which is one 

 of the largest and finest rooms in the city. 

 It is light and airy, well furnished and pro- 

 vided with all the necessary toilet conveni- 

 ences. The tables contain plenty of good 



reading matter, which, with the beautiful 

 plants and pictures, makes the place seem 

 quite home-like. The women of this club 

 have employed a matron, whose duties are 

 the general oversight of the room, and to 

 make comfortable all the guests. Bethany 

 has a population of less than three thousand. 



^ •!* 'K *!* "i^ ^ , 



The improvement league of which I am a 

 member has, through the generosity of one 

 of its members, distributed to the school 

 children of the city twenty-five thousand 

 packets of flower seeds. Another member 

 has offered $50 in prizes to boys and giris 

 of fifteen years of age for the best kept 

 lawn and premises, and for the prettiest 

 flower beds. These flower seeds and prizes 

 have aroused a lively interest among the 

 school children, and cannot fail to help the 

 appearance of the town to a marked degree. 

 We have also induced the county fair com- 

 missioners to offer prizes for the best cut 

 flowers grown by children. We are trying 

 to induce the city school board to make an 

 exhibition of the drawings and water colors 

 of the school children at the county fair. 

 It is only a very few years until the ques- 

 tion of the centralization of the country 

 schools will be up before the people, and an 

 exhibition of some of their work will give 

 the country people an idea of the ad- 

 vantages of the graded schools. These are 

 a few of the things we are doing, and we 

 yet hope to have a botanical school garden 

 started near the city. 



The Fairhaven Improvement Association, 

 Fairhaven, Massachusetts' is eighteen years 

 of age, and has done a great deal in the way 

 of setting out trees (over two thousand), 

 establishing bath houses (over one hun- 

 dred), converting an old cemetery into a 

 park, instituting work toward another park, 

 reclaiming another old graveyard and mak- 

 ing it sightly. The association is now pro- 

 jecting the erection of a fine drinkiijg foun- 

 tain at the entrance of a new and beautiful 

 bridge. 



