PARK AND CEMETERY, 
236 
terprises may continue in complete and 
greater prosperity, that many more visitors 
may be attracted by the combination of 
scenic beauty and industrial development, 
is our hope. 
“Toward such a settlement the frank 
conference which has proceeded this even- 
ing, including all the interests involved save 
those of Mr. Stetson’s companies, must tend 
strongly. I most heartily thank on behalf 
of the American Civic Association these 
gentlemen who have responded to our call 
and have so ably presented their side of the 
case. Their present attitude of sympathy 
with the movement for the preservation of 
the falls is most cheering. All the more so 
as it is clearly the result of the agitation 
for which, after all, this association is 
largelj responsible.” 
President John W. Langmuir of the 
Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park 
Commission followed. He said in part; 
"The. buildings erected by the several 
power companies for their power stations 
are considered by competent authorities to 
be models of artistic design and fitness for 
the positions they occupy in the park. 
Should the maximum amount of water re- 
quired to operate the various works to the 
full extent authorized be used a carefully 
prepared estimate would appear to show 
that there would be a reduction in the flow 
over the American falls of 14 per cent and 
over the Horse Shoe Falls 19 per cent. 
“The chief effect to be apprehended, will 
be in relation to the body of water flow- 
ing close to the Canadian shore, where the 
water at the present time is deep and 
swift all the way from above the head of 
the rapids to the cataract, with the excep- 
tion of the approach to the crest of the 
falls where it becomes shallow near the 
shore line for a short distance. 
“There are six other companies that have 
received charters to take water either from 
the Niagara river or from Lake Erie, three 
of these being on each side of the inter- 
national boundary line, but none of these 
companies has commenced construction op- 
erations. As none of these inchoate com- 
panies is restricted in the quantity of water 
which may be taken for its purposes it is 
quite impossible to foretell what the effect 
upon the falls would be should any or all 
of these franchises be actively exercised. 
Should their operations be carried on upon 
such a scale as to take in the aggregate 
as much water as will ultimately be needed 
to provide for the full requirement of the 
works now in active operation, the flow 
over the American fall, owing to the shal- 
lowness of the channel mouth, would un- 
doubtedly be reduced to a very small pro- 
portion of its present volume, and the Horse 
Shoe Fall would probably be lessened one- 
half. If, therefore, these charters are all 
permitted to become operative th*e scenic 
effect of the American Falls will be almost 
entirely destroyed and the force and gran- 
deur of the Canadian Falls most seriously 
impair#»d. 
“It should be borne in mind that the 
works now under construction provide for 
an ultimate output of nearly 700,000 elec- 
trical horse-pow'er, and should this enor- 
mous supply in time prove insufficient to meet 
the public requirements it is quite feasible 
to satisfy further demands without mate- 
rially injuring the falls by granting privi- 
leges in the lower river, where, both above 
and below the Whirlpool, advantage may 
be taken of the physical characteristic of 
the Gorge to generate power upon a very 
large scale and under very favorable condi- 
tions. 
‘T have only to add that it is of vital 
importance that no further grants of water 
for commercial purposes should be made 
until it is definitely ascertained, from actual 
observation, what effect the full authorized 
withdrawals to power companies now in 
active operation will have on both Ameri- 
can and Canadian falls. It is imperative 
that the franchises granted on both sides 
of the river should either be cancelled or 
restricted to the use of such volume of 
v/ater as will not impair the beauty and 
grandeur of either fall.” 
The last speaker of the evening was 
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., of Brook- 
line, Mass., who described the work of 
the McKim Commission. Mr. Olmsted 
was a member of the commission and 
is also one of the most energetic and 
enthusiastic workers of the American 
Civic Association. 
The McKim commission’s function 
was primarily advisory to Secretary 
Taft, as to the best steps to be taken 
toward preventing a further depletion 
of the waters of the falls and to de- 
crease the unsightly appearance of many 
of the surroundings. The American 
side was particularly criticised. Many 
of the recommendations made by the 
commission had been carried out, Mr. 
Olmsted said, especially by the Niagara 
Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufactur- 
ing Company. The so-called “milling 
district’’ below the cliff was the com- 
mission’s particular difficulty, but con- 
ditions there are steadily improving, the 
speaker said. Mr. Olmsted closed with 
a statement of his own views as to the 
future of Niagara, in order to get the 
greatest beneficial results, whether the 
falls were viewed as a source of poetic 
emotion or as a source of mechanical 
power. The speaker discussed both 
views. It appeared to be Mr. Olmsted’s 
opinion that a combination of the two 
functions was not the ultimate solution 
of the problem. With Niagara practi- 
cally alone in its glory as a grand spec- 
tacle, its aesthetic and highest value 
was not to be bartered or jeopardized, 
at least until all other water power ad- 
vantages elsewhere were exhausted. He 
recommended the gradual elimination 
of all unsightly structures at the falls 
within a reasonable time. 
Wednesday, November 20. 
The opening session was held in the 
auditorium, Brown Union Rockefeller 
hall, President McFarland in the chair. 
The first thing on the program was a 
round table conference on “Municipal 
Adornment and Parks.” Dr. John 
Quincy Adams, secretary of the Muni- 
cipal Art Commission of New York, 
described the work of the commission 
in New York City. Its power is abso- 
lute, he said, in relation to any building 
work on any public land in the limits 
of New York City, from the greatest 
of structures to the smallest, from a 
bridge over the Hudson to the style of 
a new fire alarm box. Its jurisdiction 
extended to works of art also. Among 
its successful efforts was the securing 
of new plans for the Hudson Memorial 
bridge, in order to make it the suitable 
and artistic monument which the com- 
mission desired it to be. 
A paper dealing with “The Railroad 
as a Factor in Civic Improvement,” 
prepared by Joseph T. Richards, gen- 
eral engineer of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road, was read by Graham Romeyn 
Taylor of Chicago. He said in part: 
“Many years ago the managers of the 
Pennsylvania road were convinced that im- 
provements about suburban stations which 
could be made on the ground where there 
was property surrounding the station were 
equally important with the station building 
itself. 
“I may mention as an example a railroad 
I have in mind along the seashore for a 
distance of about 40 miles. Years ago the 
manager was appointed to take charge of 
■this road and found the stations, with few 
exceptions, very much neglected. He soon 
discovered that the towns with stations 
having be.autiful surroundings were growing 
more rapidly than others, and, in taking 
the matter up with the property owners at 
the neglected stations it was mutually 
agreed that both the railroad and the prop- 
erty owners would join, and whenever there 
v.ms a disposition on the part of property 
owners to build houses the railroad com- 
pany would meet them and build a sta- 
tion — not necessarily an expensive build- 
ing — but would make the surroundings at- 
tra,ctive with lawns, shrubbery and flowers, 
providing a considerable area of ground for 
this purpose; and, while it was not all 
done in one year, the policy was continued 
and the manager of this road has stated 
that if he could add a halt-dozen new 
houses to a town it would pay the interest 
on ?5,000 or $6,000 expended for station 
purposes, if applied under what we would 
call civic betterments.” 
George W. Wildin, mechanical su- 
perintendent of the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford Railroad read a pa- 
per on “The Smoke Nuisance on Loco- 
motives.” 
Superintendent Wildin rehearsed the 
history of the road's efforts to have 
the smoke from its locomotives con- 
sumed. It was not a hopeless under- 
taking, he maintained, and the railroad 
was described as optimistic in its atti- 
tude toward the task. Thus far no 
great success in trying smoke-consum- 
ing devices had been achieved, he said. 
The only prospect of relief was through 
better trained firemen. The railroad is 
taking its firemen in hand and is doing 
its best to instruct them how to get the 
best work out of the coal and at the 
same time eliminate as much as possible 
the smoke. 
Harlan P. Kelsey, of Salem, Mass., 
vice-president of the public nuisance 
department, opened the discussion on 
the billboard question, presenting his 
ideas in a pertinent paper. The recom- 
mendations were embodied in the fol- 
lowing extracts from his paper : 
“Undor the police power granted the 
Ccmmon’W'ealth all billboards, signs, pos- 
ters or hand bills of the obscene nature, or 
tending to lower the morals of a community, 
where such advertising is displayed, may 
be quickly disposed of by local ordinance, if 
enforced, whether on private or public prop- 
erty. This is, perhaps, the first step to be 
