441 
P A RK AND C EM ETER Y. 
PARK NEWS. 
Oakland, Cal., is preparing for great 
park improvements in the acquiring of 
twelve tracts along the line of recom- 
mendations made in a report by Charles 
Mulford Robinson of Rochester, N. Y. 
The basis of the scheme is Lake Mer- 
ritt, where twenty-three acres will be 
drained and elevated with 300,000 cubic 
yards of earth taken from the bottom of 
the lake. A concrete retaining ^Vall is 
to be built to keep within bounds the 
outlet. This twenty-three acres marks 
the south beginning of the park scheme, 
and is separated from the lake proper 
only by the width of Twelfth street, to 
the north of which is a beautiful strip 
of lawn bordering the lake and adjoin- 
ing the boathouse. From this point on 
both sides of the lake there is a con- 
stant succession of little parks bound 
together into a harmonious scheme by 
the boulevards that wind, palm-border- 
ed, along the shore of the lake. At the 
head of the lake are three large parks : 
Adams Park is beautifully laid out and 
includes the city conservatory. To this 
park an addition has recently been made. 
What is known temporarily as Lake 
Shore Park is a level circle of eleven 
acres, nestling at the foot of hills that 
slope upward and away from it in every 
direction, bordered on one side by the 
great Lake Shore boulevard and on the 
other by the lake. 
A third head-of-the-lake park, and the 
biggest of them all, is known as Adams 
Point Park. It comprises gentle sloping 
hills and oak-clad hollows, bluffs with 
steep slopes running down to the edge 
of the lake, and high level spaces, shaded 
by ancient trees that are ideal for picnic 
parties. An elaborate stadium and amphi- 
theater for concerts is to be constructed 
here. A bond issue to start this park 
work has already been voted. 
* * * . 
The report, noted in this department 
last month, that tar sprinkling had dam- 
aged trees on the boulevards of Paris 
and was to be abandoned there, which 
has been received with much surprise in 
this country, has been investigated and 
proven to be a fake pure and simple. 
The Surveyor, of London, whose Paris 
correspondent made a personal investi- 
gation, says : “Dr. Guglielminetti, sec- 
retary of the French Society for the 
Prevention of Dust on Roads, stated 
definitely, in an interview with our cor- 
respondent — a report of which appears 
on another page — that not one tree had 
been cut down in the avenue on account 
of the tarring, while ‘the best proof that 
Paris does not intend to abandon the 
tarring system is that just ten days ago 
the avenue has been entirely retarred.’ 
Some delicate species of flowers, such 
as begonias, geraniums, etc., planted 
close to the high road may suffer from 
the effects of tarring. But one has only 
to choose more hardy plants, if it is 
considered absolutely necessary that or- 
namental stone urns containing flowers 
are flower beds shall line the roads.’’ 
* * * 
The grounds of the Alaska-Yukon- 
Pacific Exposition to open next year at 
Seattle, are part of the broad campus 
of the University of Washington and at 
least a million and a half dollars that is 
being expended upon the buildings and 
grounds goes into permanent work that 
will be utilized by the University when 
the fair closes. The buildings now fin- 
ished are : Agriculture, Manufactures, 
Machinery, Mining, Fisheries, Auditor- 
ium, Fine Arts, Administration, Hospi- 
tal, Fire Station, Power Plant, Oregon. 
It is announced that every building will 
be finished and all exhibits installed 
months before the exposition opens on 
June 1. Eleven miles of asphalt roads, 
acres of lawn and gardens, and many 
miles of cinder paths winding through 
the virgin forests and down to the shores 
of Lakes Washington and Union are 
planned to be ready long before the 
opening day. The total expenditure for 
the exposition will be about ten million 
dollars. 
* * * 
The alleged inability of the city 
council and the public to grasp the 
IMetropolitan Park idea which Bos- 
ton has so successfully carried out 
and which Chicago, Providence, R. I., 
and other cities have perfected plans 
for are given as reasons for the resig- 
nation of Jos. McC. Bell of the Met- 
ropolitan Park Commission of Mil- 
waukee. Mayor Rose recommend the 
abolishing of the commission and the 
city council has not yet acted on his 
recommendation. In his letter of res- 
ignation, Mr. Bell says that the com- 
mission has had a rocky road to trav- 
el, owing to the public’s inability to 
grasp quickly an educational idea, and 
that there has been misrepresentation 
of fact for political reasons. He says: 
“Milwaukee is passing through the 
slow process of disseminating the idea 
of the importance of a park plan, 
which after careful study and adop- 
tion shall become the park policy of 
the city to be carried out by the per- 
manent park board and the common 
council, as the city has funds for the 
purpose.” 
* * Jjc 
The third and fourth annual reports 
of the Metropolitan Park Commission 
of Rhode Island issued together, give 
a condensed history of that organiza- 
tion, including the state laws govern- 
ing it and a resume of the work ac- 
complished. There are many illus- 
trations of beauty spots or opportuni- 
ties for making beauty spots in the 
Metropolitan District, accompanied by 
suggestive notes pointing out the op- 
portunities. A large map of the dis- 
trict accompanies the report and 
shows in a striking way how like one 
city the whole district is coming to 
be with its plotted area and built up 
districts covering a distance from 
north to south of nearly fourteen 
miles and a closely welded chain of 
settlements in the river valleys and 
along the shores of the bay. 
* * * 
At the recent unveiling of a Revo- 
lutionary memorial in Fort Lee, N. J., 
President George W. Perkins of the 
Palisades Interstate Park Commis- 
sion announced that all the Palisades 
river front from Fort Lee to Nyack, 
N. Y., has been purchased except two 
parcels, title to which will be in the 
commission’s hands by the first of the 
year. More than $500,000 has been 
expended. The states of New York 
and New Jersey have contributed con- 
siderable sums, but the bulk of the 
money has come from private indi- 
viduals. Quarrymen have been ^for- 
ever banished from the Palisades, 
which the commission has converted 
into a public park with many drives 
and a boulevard which is intended un- 
der the new highway law to extend 
through the Highlands to Newburgh, 
N. Y. ' 
* * * 
A subscriber writes that he would 
like to see a collection of illustrations 
of band stands suitable for parks, city 
squares, and similar situations. We 
should be glad to illustrate photo- 
graphs or designs for such structures, 
whether built of wood, concrete, brick, 
stone, or ste'el, and will ask our read- 
ers to contribute such pictures for pub- 
lication, accompanied by brief descrip- 
tions, giving cost, material, methods 
of construction, and other interesting 
facts. 
