26 DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL PARKS. 



free bathhouse. Three of these clinics are now in operation. The 

 doctors in charge not only devote considerable time to these clinics, 

 but make free use of their laboratories for tests and diagnoses which 

 entail, in many cases, considerable expense. The results of the 

 operation of these clinics have been most gratifying and they clearly 

 indicate that these waters, when used under experienced medical 

 advice, have not only given relief in the majority of cases but have 

 effected numerous complete cures. These results are the more re- 

 markable when one considers the conditions under which the indigent 

 must bathe on the reservation. The Government free bathhouse is 

 small, old, and inadequate to furnish the service for which it was 

 built. It is practically impossible to keep it sanitary, and notwith- 

 standing all that is done to keep it clean it always looks insanitary. 



The National Park Service will soon station a physician at the 

 reservation to supervise bathing at the free bathhouse, assist in the 

 free clinics, keep its records, make laboratory tests, etc. 



There is an urgent necessity for a detailed study of the Hot 

 Springs Reservation by a board to be composed of an architect, a 

 civil engineer of experience in designing and installing drainage 

 systems and constructing roads, and possibly a landscape engineer. 

 This board should suggest an adequate landscape development and 

 design a new free bathhouse. It should also plan a storm-sewer 

 system to carry away flood waters for the protection of the city from 

 the serious inundations which have caused considerable damage in 

 the past. It is estimated that $10,000 will cover the cost of such a 

 survey. The report of the proposed board would be a basis for 

 congressional appropriation for the improvement of the reservation. 



An estimate for a storm-sewer system, in amount $237,840, and for 

 other improvements, in amount $96,595, has been submitted to don- 

 gress by the department in three consecutive years, but it has never 

 received favorable action. All things considered, I believe that a 

 complete study of all of the needs of the reservation should be made 

 before appropriations are again requested for its broad-gauge 

 development. 



During my visit to Hot Springs I talked with many who stated 

 that they had been restored to health by the spring waters, and as a 

 layman I was deeply impressed with apparent evidences of their 

 curative value in several diseases. 



THE MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK 



Mesa Verde National Park possesses historical and scientific features 

 that should bring it a very large tourist patronage. There are no 

 facilities for the care of many visitors at one time, however, .and 

 neither has there been sufficient road improvement to make the im- 

 portant cliff dwellings and the scenic sections of the park readily 



