PAR K A A’ D C EU ET ER Y. 
3!lo 
MINNEAPOLIS MAKES 
The tenth annual convention of the' 
American Association of Park Super- 
intendents held at Minneapolis, August 
11, 12 and 13, was entitled to be known 
as a perfect convention. The attendance 
was good and an encouraging number of 
new members from the west were en- 
rolled. The papers were able and in- 
forming, the discussions lively and full 
of suggestion and the weather was of 
the made-;to-order kind; there was op- 
portunity to view great natural scenery 
of lakes and river and waterfall that 
comes seldom in a lifetime, and no- 
where else in three days ; there was the 
inspiration of seeing a wonderful and 
well-balanced park system in the making 
and of meeting a rarely public-spirited 
park commission, that has had the 
timely foresight to see the opportunities 
for parks, the unselfishness and energy 
to acquire them before it was too late, 
and the wisdom and the generosity to 
develop them on a scale befitting their 
importance. 
The entertainment was royal ; every 
member of the board of park commis- 
sioners — and there are fifteen of them — 
made himself into an entertainment 
committee and two former presidents of 
the board joined in to make things 
pleasant. There was the president of 
the Commercial Club, the president of 
the City Council, the president of the 
Automobile Club — seven presidents and 
ex-presidents of official bodies — and 
enough vice-presidents, secretaries, and 
other officers to give everybody one for 
his personal guide and have some left 
over. A list of those who ought to be 
personally thanked would be too long 
to print. In addition to the park com- 
missioners, the following professional 
employees of the department were pres- 
ent and useful : J. O. Rockwood, at- 
torney ; Andrew Rinker, city engineer ; 
W. E. Stoopes, Albert Graber, and A. C. 
Godward, park engineers ; C. N. Reud- 
linger, and Louis Bogelin, foresters ; E. 
Meyer, nurseryman, and C. T. Booth, 
supervisor of playgrounds. 
The first day’s session was called to 
order by President John F. Cowell, of 
Buffalo, in the mayor’s reception room 
in the city hall, and Charles F. Merrill, 
president of the city council, gave offi- 
cial welcome to the visitors in the ab- 
sence from the city of Mayor Haynes. 
He was ablj^ and heartily assisted in the 
welcoming process by President J. E. 
Northrup, of the Park Board, and Mr. 
Charles M. Coring, its first president. 
Mr. Northrup gave some interesting 
facts and history about the parks of 
Minneapolis, from which w-e quote as 
follows : 
GOOD to the PARK MEN 
Minneapolis Parks 
Minneapolis early realized the importance 
of securing land for park purposes, and it is 
twenty-five years ago that the first park 
commission was organized, with Charles M. 
Loring- as its president, and it is to him and 
his early co-workers that we owe in a large 
measure, on account of their enthusiasm and 
effort, the park system which Minneapolis 
now possesses. At that time our parks con- 
sisted of ttvo squares of ground, one triangle 
and a few city lots. Today we have, inclu- 
sive of our parkwaj's, nearly two thousand 
acres, of w'hich about five hundred acres are 
in water and the balance, fifteen hundred 
acres, in land. 
At present we have no large public park, 
but the board is now engaged in the acqui- 
sition of such a park, which it is hoped 
will approximate one thousand acres in ex- 
tent, and of which the natural beauties are 
such that, when suitably improved, it must 
become one of the noted parks of the coun- 
try. 
Minneapolis is fortunate in the possession 
of such natural and varied scenery as money, 
no matter how lavishly spent, could not pos- 
sibly provide. Up to the present time, with 
the means at our command, we have been 
able to do little more than acquire these 
strategic points and open them up to the 
view of our people, looking to the future 
for means with which to appropriately im- 
prove and develop. As you inspect our park 
system, with its wooded river banks, our 
beautiful lakes, falls and forests, connected 
as they are by easy and inviting drives, you 
will, we are sure, unite with us in the belief 
that if we of Minneapolis guard as we ought 
that which nature has bestowed upon us in 
such bounteous measure, we will, when they 
shall be glorified by time and improved by 
such skill as yours, possess a park system 
which will indeed be beautiful. 
President Cowell made a happy re- 
sponse and then called the meeting to 
business. The report of the executive 
committee was read and accepted and 
the following new members elected : 
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PANORAMIC PICTURE OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PARK SUPERINTEND!- 
