Photograph from M. L. Alexander 

 THE WASHINGTON OAK, THE LARGEST LIVE-OAK IN THE WORLD: AUDUBON PARK, 



NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 



The gnarled, wide-branched oaks and the funereal Spanish moss are not confined to 

 Louisiana's vast virgin forests. They come right down into the city, and one who rides 

 through Audubon Park and feels its restful spell cannot but accept, at least in part, New 

 Orleans' proud boast that she is the "city that care forgot." 



of it as Como, the Englishman as Win- 

 dermere, and the Scot as Katrine, for it 

 possesses much of the enchantment of 

 each of these famous waters. 



In central New York are to be found 

 those . remarkable lakes which we know 

 as Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. 



The culminating spectacle of the East, 

 by unanimous consent, is Niagara Falls. 

 The Indians described it in a phrase than 

 which no word-painter has ever found 

 one more expressive. They called it the 

 "Thunder of Water." Niagara is with- 

 out a setting. Some scenes gather as 

 much from their surroundings as they 

 themselves possess; like a mirror, they 

 borrow some of the loveliness we behold 

 in them from other sources. But Niagara 

 has all its beauty and sublimity within 



itself. There is nothing of charm or at- 

 traction in the approach to it from what- 

 ever direction. 



Just as the United States is setting 

 aside national parks and national monu- 

 ments in the West for the benefit of the 

 generations that shall come after us, so 

 New York, in particular, is making reser- 

 vations, historic and scenic, for the bene- 

 fit of her people. 



The American Scenic and Historic 

 Preservation Society is incorporated 

 under the laws of that State and has been 

 intrusted with the custody of most of 

 these places. It annually makes a report 

 to the Governor, showing what steps are 

 taken, and has labored with unusual suc- 

 cess in its field. Letchworth Park and 

 Fort Ticonderoga, the one an example of 



354 



