1932 VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT 



thoroughfares for the recej tion of rubbish such as 

 paper aud fruit rmdb bhopkeepeis are asked to keep 

 their premises m good order If they do not comply 

 with the request the Town Improvement Association 

 sends a man with a wheelbarrow (the ! ittci Hbeled 1 

 I A ), and with broom ii 1 ) t *•! pi I } i e 1 i n^ 

 takes place After tw 1 t I I I \ 



man the proprietor ^ei III II 1 



tends to his premises 1 i I II 



reports to the he xlth 1 1 1 ] II [ 



plj has been carefulh I 1 1 It i tl In in i t 1 

 and a map shonin^ the 1 iti us ot ill the lames 1 1 ictd 

 on file in the iffite of the tonn oleik where it nia\ 1 e 

 seen b> m^ h i 1 1 1 i 1 r to exiiuin it The 



ftna, 1 I I ( 1 \i I lues 



VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT 



i ement association 



^ to be older by a 



n of Stockbridge 



through 



'terw ar<ls 



kins 



u 1 ittei i\eur s if,ititi)ntl e L mrd Hill A 

 1 of btockbridge was formed The first ^ ear $1 000 

 used 400 shade trees planted the TilHge gietn 

 rrl 1 IT 1 in It . 1 f i 11 1 i„ stand best 



2670 A vista of 



upon the stations and sees that they are as neat as pos- 

 sible and the surroundings made attractive. The chil- 

 dren's auxiliary is formed of eleven hundred school 

 children, who have pledged themselves to "work to- 

 gether to make Montclair a happier place in which to 

 live, by doing everything we can to make the town 

 more healthful and beautiful." The different classes 

 from the school take charge of the flower-beds around 

 the buildings, attend to the i>l:inting and keep them in 

 order. All this fosters early the love of attractive sur- 



roundings 

 ops local 1 



The •;,„. 

 ties h:is in 



i.il.il 



of neatness, and devel- 



/../■ Ih<' pr. s, ri'Ktion of natural beau- 

 U'',-i, it liu,\. Its members watch the 

 fine trees .il' the inwii, ami if any are splitting, the 

 owners :ire luitilied to iiiuml them. Dead trees are cut 

 down, and the owners ot unsightly fences are requested 

 to remove them. The burning of hedge-rows is forbid- 

 den, as it destroys the wild flowers and leads to forest 

 fires. The duties of the committees for prevention of 

 cruelty to children and animals are self-explanatory. 

 They are auxiliary to the state association, aud have 

 full power to act. The park committee takes charge of 

 any waste pieces of ground, generally at the intersec- 

 tion of roads, keeps them in order, and plants shrub- 

 bery or makes flower-beds, as the case may be. 



Montclair boasts of the most humanely equipped jail 

 in the state, with a separate apartment for women, and 

 a sanitary and padded cell for the insane. The com- 

 mittee for the prevention of cruelty to animals has 

 placed the sign po.sts, "Please uncheck your horses 

 going up this hill," at the top and bottom of the moun- 

 tain road. The paving of the plaza in front of the rail- 

 way station is due to the efforts of the railway committee, 

 which visited the officials at least once a month for 

 three years before the work was undertaken. 



Newton Center and Stockbridge, Mass.. contend for 



vill ige had much t I 



tion of the famous 1 1 



part of which pa\3 t \ I 1^,1 



So pleased were the t ^ n ] i ] le md 

 summer visitors with the work of the as 

 sociation that it became necessary to ob 

 tain a state charter before the association 

 could legallj mheiit the funds parks and 

 othei gitts to the \alue of more than one 

 hundred thousand dollars left m its 

 chirge 



Bar Harbor Maine regards its im 

 provement association in the light of a 

 commercial in\estment The summer 

 visitors demand thtt the village be kept 

 clean and prett% anl tl \ l \ 1 1 i illy 

 to the association Tl i s 



paths over the isl m 1 ri 



repair It also kee; 

 paths in summei to j i 



well knowing that if tl i 1 r t n de 

 stro^ ed the charm of the island would be 

 greatly lessened 

 10 The value of an improvement societj s 



work as a commercial investment is 

 clearly perceived by Europeans. The 

 Schwarzwald Improvement Society of Germany num- 

 bers 3,500 members, who are assessed an annual due 

 of $1.25. This association was formed for the purpose 

 of "making the Black Forest known and accessible to 

 the public, of preserving and protecting ruins, of im- 

 proving pleasure-grounds, erecting pavilions, towers, 

 etc.. and generally promoting intercourse." There are 

 tliirt\ iniir ^..■ti.ins in this immense association, each sec- 

 tion '.\oikiii:j I. 1 its own interest after the manner of the 

 Aiih iir;,ii v.:,,:l :i ssdciatious. Both tho Gcrmau aud Eug- 



th.' tiiwi], |i,itlis are opened to point- ' i. iillul 



virws may l.i' li.-i.l. and cards in the I,. . ' i ; i-lie 



biiiMiii;,'s di'aw visitors' attention tu tli. ~ -.ami 



to the fact that comfortable seats will 1.. u.aial ti, ihcsc 

 places. German children are urged to be polite to 

 strangers, and in London the public schools have or- 

 ganized a League of Courtesy. English laws do not 

 permit the pollution of streams by sewage or factory 

 waste, and in Europe good roads and clean streets have 

 for so long been a national and municipal concern that 

 they are looked upon as a matter of course. In general, 

 European associations are not obliged to consider these 

 problems, but are free to ttirti lljiir aftmlion to the 

 promotion of civic beauty in till it^ \ at ion^ fcuras. 



It is the leading men and wc.im n ..f .ad tintry who 



are promoting these associiitii.ic^. Tli.- ^..li.-ty called 

 Scapn. the mission of which is the eheekiiigof the abuse 

 of |ail»lir ath '-ftising, has more than one thousand 

 niiiiili.i- I iiimII. .1. some of them members of Parlia- 

 UHiit T\ir w^nk uf this notable society has attracted 

 the f.aviirablc titteiition of almost every government in 

 Europe. 



In America, the "National League of Improvement 

 Associations " was organized at Springfield, Ohio, Oct. 

 10, 1900. It is now known as the "American League for 



