PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
Vol. XVII. Chicago, May, 1907 No. 3 
Is Memorial Day Declining? 
Memorial Day — What does it mean in your locality? Is it 
a day spent in reverent memory to our soldier dead; has 
it a narrower significance as a day of general decoration 
of graves, or has it degenerated into a mere holiday with 
picnic accompaniments? Thinking men and women are de- 
manding each year a saner Fourth of July; a more appro- 
priate celebration of Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. Will 
it be necessary to inaugurate a campaign for a saner Memo- 
rial Day, or is it being celebrated in the spirit in which it 
was established? Does the day mean to the general public 
what some of our other holidays mean — a few more shows, 
a few more ball games, larger crowds, and more disorder? 
And in the cemetery, the center of Memorial Day activity, 
how is it observed? Is it declining in popularity; are floral 
decorations more profuse, or in better taste; are the crowds 
orderly ; do they bring much damage to the grounds ; what 
preparations are made, and what exercises conducted? Are 
the grounds thronged with amusement seekers to the ex- 
clusion of the lot owners? We have addressed some of these 
questions to a number of cemetery superintendents, and have 
received some interesting and conflicting replies. One official 
suggests that the day be always observed on Sunday, and 
adds : “I would be Puritan enough to forbid by law, base- 
ball and other such exercises on this Sunday.” Another sug- 
gests that flowers be sent to the cemeteries by small commit- 
tees, and placed by the cemetery authorities. This, he says, 
“would do away with the rabble that generally follows the 
G. A, R. post and the band.” Another thinks it would be 
more a national day of mourning, “If we could stop all ex- 
cursions, street cars, ball games, etc., and impress upon the 
people that the day is set aside for honoring the dead.” We 
should like to hear from other.= on this subject. Tell us how 
the day is observed in your locality and send some photo- 
.graphs to illustrate it. Some of these contributions and pic- 
tures will appear in the next issue of Park and Cemetery. 
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A Billboard Law 
The bill of the American Civic Association, introduced 
a few weeks since in the Pennsylvania legislature at Har- 
risburg, Pa., seeks to give municipalities the right to reg- 
ulate and control the objectionable sign nuisance by ordi- 
nance duly passed and approved. Section 2 provides for 
the imposition of license taxes, regulated according to 
sizes and forms of advertising, but does not permit a 
display of advertising matter detrimental to public mor- 
als. Section 3 provides for fines for violations of regu- 
lations that may be established, or for the non-payment of 
taxes, and that taxes and fines shall be a lien upon the 
real property upon which any such advertisement shall 
exist. Section 3 prohibits the placing of advertisments of 
any nature upon highways, buildings, fences, or other 
structures, etc., upon the properties belonging to said 
boroughs or cities coming under the provisions of this act, 
and provides penalties, etc. The bill appears to be a 
comprehensive and practicable one and should enable any 
municipality of the state to control the billboard nuisance. 
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Now the Wild Flowers 
The California State Floral Society is taking up the 
question of the use and preservation of the wild flowers of 
the state in a thoroughly enthusiastic and practical way, 
and in a way that will vastly supplement the work of the 
National Society. It is well that California should begin 
a state campaign, for her wealth of wild floral beauty 
will inspire efficient and permanent activity, which will 
not only redound to the embellishment of her own cities, 
towns, and villages, but will lead other states to go and 
do likewise. The California Society, composed very large- 
ly of prominent women, proposes to take general action 
in the movement, and to make a wide effort to seek out 
and collect the choicest varieties of wild plants, shrubs 
and flowers, and to have them transplanted to the parks, 
gardens and cemeteries of the state. The movement is re- 
ceiving much commendation and encouragement. It is 
quite generally known that wild flowers when carefully 
transplanted into conditions as similar to the wild state as 
possible, and cultivated and cared for in an intelligent 
way, thrive as well or better than before, and grow ac- 
customed to continuous cultivation. This movement to 
preserve the wild plants and flowers of the state is a 
highly commendable one; in no better way can their pres- 
ervation be secured, because in the present state of hor- 
ticultural knowledge, conditions can- be created to ensure 
the health and vigor of the plants, and they can be so 
distributed as to help to this end more readily. The move- 
ment too could be so easily subdivided and the parks and 
cemeteries of every county in every state could be made 
to contribute to the preservation and care of the wild 
plants and flowers and to offer a centre of attraction and 
education to every citizen. The California Soclet}^ is to 
be congratulated on making such an important move. 
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The Pennsylvania Art Jury Bill 
Every step taken by any authoritative body to advance 
the cause of American art should be welcomed. Often 
such steps mean in their practical application some slight 
retrogression, as is the case with all poorly digested laws, 
but even this has the advantage' of spreading information 
on the subject, and good subsequently results, from a better 
appreciation of what is needed by the people at large, who 
finally compel progress. The necessity of art commis- 
sions in all our large cities has been long felt, and in many 
cases the question has been met, with the result of bet- 
ter public monumental art. But the state of Pennsylvania 
is taking a larger stride, and a bill to create an art jury for 
cities of the first class and prescribing its powers and du- 
ties was introduced in the legislature some weeks since 
by Mr. Robert R. Dearden and has been passed by the 
House. It prescribes that every city of the first class in 
the Commonwealth shall have an art jury, comprising the 
mayor, ex-officio, and eight other members, together with 
the head of any department of the city, the work of which 
comes within the jurisdiction of said jury. The jury shall 
comprise a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a member of 
the park commission and four other persons not practic- 
ing the above professions, but members of the governing 
body or teachers in corporations running under the laws 
of the state and conducting schools of art or architecture. 
The members of the jury must serve without compensa- 
tion, and shall elect its officers and make its own rides, etc. 
No work of art or location of same shall become the prop- 
erty of the city until the approval of the jury is obtained, 
and no public money shall be expended for municipal 
structures without the jury’s approval of such structures. 
These arc the main features of the bill. 
