ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 21 



the Commission passed out of existence and the state parks came under 

 the control of the Department of Public Works and Buildings. The 

 Acting Director of this Department is Thomas G. Vennum and Frank 

 D. Lowman is Superintendent of Parks. Governor Lowden appointed 

 a Board of Parks and Buildings Advisors consisting of Charles L. 

 Hutchinson, N. Max Dunning, Frank E. Davidson, Julius W. Hegeler, 

 and S. R. Lewis. A board composed of men of this type can but 

 inspire confidence in its work. Acting Director Yennum has made an 

 excellent record for his Department during his brief control of affairs. 

 It is Mr. Yennum and the Advisory Board that will pass upon the 

 petition presented by the Friends of Our Native Landscape. They 

 have before them as a legacy from the former State Park Commission 

 a number of contracts with concessionaires purporting to commit the 

 state to the maintenance of concessions as far in the future as 1925. 

 Offhand one would venture the opinion that no appointive commission 

 has the power to determine policies beyond the legislative term that 

 gave it existence. The decision of the Director and his advisers in 

 this matter will be awaited with much interest. 



A Confession 



I've been down to the city, and I've seen the 'lectric lights, 

 The twenty-story buildin's an' the other stunning sights ; 

 I've seen the trolley cars a-rushin' madly down the street, 

 An' all the place a-lookin' like a fairy land complete. 

 But I'd rather see the big trees that's a growin' up to home, 

 An' watch the stars a-twinklin' in the blue an' lofty dome ; 

 An' I'd rather hear the wind that goes a singin' past the door, 

 Then the traffic of the city, with its bustle an' its roar. 



I reckon I'm peculiar an' my tastes is kind o' low ; 



But what's the use denyin' things that certainly is so? 



I went up to a concert an' I heard the music there ; 



It sounded like angelic harps a floatin' through the air, 



Yet spite of all its glory an' the gladness an' acclaim, 



If I stopped to think a minute, I was home-sick jes' the same; 



An' I couldn't help confessin', though it seems a curious thing, 



That I'd rather hear a robin sweetly pipin' in the spring. 



