PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 103 



by inch, leaving ideal conditions for the sports of bathers and where 

 children may play as secure from harm as if they were upon the 

 lawns of their cottage homes. 



If the visitor wishes to live under canvas, the wish may be gratified, 

 for ample space will be afforded upon which he may pitch his tent. 

 If, on the other hand, he desires a more conventional habitation, hun- 

 dreds of cottages stand invitingly open; as nlany homes will afford him 

 a welcome, and choice of hotels will minister to his need. 



There are the country club, the golf links, tennis and dancing. There 

 are drives and promenades, shady trees or open grass plots all pleading 

 for his attention. And with all these comes the rarest of all outdoor 

 diversions boating, bathing, fishing and picnicking. So, exhausted vi- 

 tality is coaxed back, if not in one way, then in another. 



Watercraft of all descriptions invite the visitor's indolence, his prow- 

 ess or his daring. Red-devil racers and sharp-keeled yachts stir his 

 sporting blood. Launches flit or sway with easy grace hither and 

 thither. Rowboats fleck the surface and respond to every effort at the 

 oarlocks. With generous courtesy the visitor will be shown the haunts 

 of pickerel and pike, where the rock bass hide and the croppy and 

 sunfish make their homes and where the trout and the bluegills and 

 kindred finsters may be angled. He can be sure that each season's 

 catch will not be less than the preceding, for care is taken to lib- 

 erally restock whenever the finny tribe show signs of depletion. 



And then for the daily plunge. No place along the shore boasts 

 of advantages over another. There is sure to be variety of depth and 

 the proverbial ishingly bottom. Tired of paddling around, he may take 

 the chuteis for a thriller or two. 



Then, camera in hand, you may go on a voyage of discovery. Kodak- 

 ing is now one of the common arts. The result will be some rare 

 gems of memory to keep green the lure of Iowa's happiest playground. 



IN THE SWITZERLAND OF IOWA. 

 By Edwin C. Bailey. 



The history of Decorah dates from June 10, 1849. On that day an 

 emigrant wagon, following an Indian trail, found its way to a large 

 spring near the banks of the Upper Iowa river. The dominating spirit 

 of that little band of pioneers was "Mother" Day, its other members 

 being her husband and three sons. "Uncle Billy," as the elder Day was 

 known, had chosen a location some dozen or more miles southeast on a 

 beautiful prairie, but when "Mother" Day saw it she would not locate 

 where running water did not exist. The trek was resumed, and this 

 may be regarded as fortunate for the present day residents of the lo- 

 cality that she chose as her home, for her arrival marked the beginning 

 of a settlement that in a few years became a thriving village and that 

 later developed into one of Iowa's most beautiful and prosperous cities. 



