239 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
barren as it was a few years ago. 
The permanent planting of trees and 
shrubs has made most of the school 
grounds attractive and has had con- 
siderable influence on neighborhood 
improvement. 
The lectures which have always 
been a means of creating and preserv- 
ing interest, were continued as in 
former years. More than one hun- 
dred lectures were given before 
schools and clubs in the city and 
about seventy-five before organiza- 
tions outside the city. 
The Curator of School Gardens 
makes several recommendations which 
it is hoped will receive favorable con- 
sideration. The two most important 
are: First, the introduction of gar- 
dening into the curriculum of the 
grammar schools, attached to the 
work of the sixth grade; second, the 
establishment of a high school course 
in agriculture. 
News from Houghton, Mich., says 
that influences are being brought to 
bear upon the Calumet township board 
to the end of securing a public park 
with the view, incidentally, of erecting 
the statue of Christopher Columbus 
therein, for which a fund is now ac- 
cumulating. The Calumet parks com- 
mittee has been at work for some time 
to secure property for a public park for 
the district. 
* * * 
There is a strong movement in Ger- 
many and Austria to copy our example 
of national parks. Several important 
associations united in an address to the 
public calling for subscriptions to cre- 
ate a Natural Protective Park after the 
fashion of our great Yellowstone Park. 
This address was published last spring, 
and was followed by a convention in 
Munich which was largely attended by 
naturalists and. scientists from all parts 
of Germany. Out of this came the 
Verein Naturschutzpark, with head- 
quarters in Stuttgart. The plan is to 
create three large parks, one in the 
Alpine Mountain Range, one in the 
highlands of central Germany and an- 
other in the low country of the north. 
The main object will be to preserve and 
increase certain species of animal and 
plant life, and the parks are sure to 
become attractions for all classes of the 
people who are very fond of roaming 
Of the twenty-five vacant-lot gardens 
started last spring, seventeen were suc- 
cessful, three were fair and five poor. 
Six were conducted by ten boys from the 
Perkins training Garden. Five of the 
six were very good and one-half of 
another. The remaining half was a 
failure as one boy apparently suf- 
fered from an attack of hook-worm. 
The lot at the corner of East 30th 
St. and Superior Ave., gardened by 
Joe Stampfer, was probably the best. 
At a very conservative estimate the 
product was worth over $60.00. 
A report showing the differences 
could be made for every one of the 
six gardens as each, like the boy who 
tilled it, had an individuality which 
clearly distinguished it from all the 
rest. 
E. W. Haines is president of the 
Association; Starr Cadwallader, Vice- 
president; Lucy B. Buell, Secretary, 
and G. H. McCollum, Superintendent. 
in nature. The fee for membership 
in this park association will be quite 
low in order to encourage a large mem- 
bership. 
* >i< * 
Evanston, 111., is fortunate in the 
matter of donations of park lands. As 
has been noted, Mr. James A. Patten, 
a short time since, donated to the city 
a piece of land valued at about $45,000. 
Farther to the north of this the muni- 
cipality owned another plat, and to 
make the two plats more available for 
park purposes the Northwestern Uni- 
versity has made a gift of the land be- 
tween them. This piece is valued at 
$20,000. The city now owns a strip of 
land about three-quarters of a mile in 
length between Sheridan road and the 
lake, valued at about $250,000. The 
work of improvement will be left until 
next year. 
* * * 
In order to pave the way for the pur- 
chase of South Cheyenne and Seven 
Falls, Colorado Springs will hold a 
special election to amend the charter to 
make the deal possible. The park com- 
mission is anxious to go ahead with 
the purchase of this desirable addition 
to its park system. 
In exchange for the remission of the 
1909 taxes and some paving assess- 
ments the officials of the Protestant 
Home for the Aged, Milwaukee, Wis.,. 
propose to give that city a transfer 
tract of land opposite their Home for 
park purposes. For some years an ef- 
fort has been made to secure this prop- 
erty. 
* * 
The park commissioners of Memphis^ 
Tenn., have decided to provide a pub- 
lic park exclusively for negroes, and 
are investigating sites. Only a few of 
the smaller squares and Court Square 
are open to the colored people, and the 
belief is growing that these people have 
been neglected. A gift from a lady 
of $5,000 for this purpose was offered, 
provided the new park be located in a 
certain locality. 
Jft * * 
Secretary Dickinson has made a re- 
port to Congress urging the creation of 
a national park on the American site of 
Niagara Falls to preserve the beauties 
of the rapids, falls and gorges, the 
scenic features of which are being de- 
stroy^ed. 
* * * 
The Southern Pacific Company has 
leased at a nominal rental and for an 
indefinite period a half of its reserva- 
tion, east of the main line, in Redding, 
Calif., solely, for public park purposes. 
The improvement of the plat will en- 
tail considerable expense on the part of 
the city, but it will be the making of a 
beauty spot in the heart of Redding. 
* * * 
The Malden, Mass., Civic Associa- 
tion is working hard to bring the out- 
lying parks and playgrounds of the city 
into a comprehensive and connected 
system. To inform those interested in 
the matter a stereopticon lecture by 
Mr. Arthur A. Shurtleff, landscape 
architect of the Metropolitan Park 
Commission, was given under the asso- 
ciation’s auspices, and the plans clear- 
ly explained. 
* * * 
Mr. L. P. Jensen, landscape archi- 
tect of St. Louis, has been called to- 
Altus, Okla., to formulate a plan for 
the future development of the little 
city. It is a rapidly growing city of 
4,000 inhabitants and the scheme is- 
provided for 25,000 within a few years. 
It has no expensive structures to in- 
terfere with the general design or its 
future growth. Mr. Jensen writes 
that he is planning for a civic center 
of six city blocks, with proposed 
Union station, and court house, to be 
erected this summer, and plenty of 
room is left for future municipal 
buildings. Eight radiating thorough- 
fares will start from this center into 
the surrounding country, which will 
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PARK NEWS. 
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