PARK AND CEMETERY. 
252 
RIVE'R GORGE, JIISSISSIPPI PARK, MINNEAPOLIS. 
lieyond the reach of the appropria- 
tion. As to the latter, a difference of 
opinion developed between various 
expert engineers, architects, contract- 
ors and other experts, as to the fit- 
ness of the best qnalitr^ of Bedford 
stone for the use in bridges over 
water, it being the contention of some 
that the stone would disintegrate in 
a comparatively short time. It is 
claimed that with the exception of 
granite there is no stone that will 
withstand the action of moisture un- 
der the climatic conditions of Minne- 
apolis and that unless granite is used 
it would be better to make the en- 
tire bridge structures of concrete, 
The opinions and contentions of some 
of the consulted e.xperts being almost 
diametrically opposed to each other, 
it has been thought best to secure ad- 
ditional information on the subject 
from different parts of the countr}^ 
and correspondence for that purpose 
was accordingly undertaken. 
On this point Superintendent Theo- 
dore Wirth says: 
The only justification, in my opinion, for 
abandoning the stone treatment and resort 
to concrete facing, would be the fact that 
there is no durable stone to be had. If 
concrete ■ bridges are to be built then the 
designs should be of the simplest possible 
character, without any attempt at orna- 
mentation, which is attractive and artistic 
in stonew'ork, but offensive and. at the best, 
a misleading, deceptive imitation only if 
moulded in concrete. Let those concrete 
bridges show graceful, pleasing lines, be 
true in character to their construction, and 
let their modesty and simplicity of design 
be one of their strongest features. 
Bridges Nos. 2 and 5 are railroad bridges, 
and as their location is much less conspicu- 
ous, and it will be possible to screen them 
partly by plantings, I wmuld at this time 
suggest that in place of stone or concrete 
structures, ordinary steel girder bridges be 
constructed. I am in hopes that by omit- 
ting all unnecessary expenses from these 
railroad bridges it will become possible to 
build the park bridges properly true to the 
prize designs selected and adopted. 
Among the most important land 
acquisitions of the year was the small 
tract on the west shore of Lake Cal- 
houn which closed the gap and gave 
possession of the entire shore line of 
this beautiful lake, and complete con- 
trol of a sheet of water, 460 acres in 
extent, deep enough for the use of 
launches and sailboats in all parts. 
A large addition was made to Fdliot 
Park during the year, and when plans 
that have alread}^ been made are car- 
ried out, this will be one of the largest 
and best equipped neighborhood parks 
in the city. 
The most important addition dur- 
ing the yeaiTOOO was the enlargement 
of Glenwood Park. What was for 
many years a small detached park of 
66 acres, is now the largest in the 
whole system; and it connects with 
the chain of lakes in such a way that 
the whole region, comprising 862 
acres of land and 976 acres of water, 
may be considered as one great park. 
Few cities have so near the business 
center such a remarkable park dis- 
trict, comprising, as it does, a long- 
course of navigable water and a great 
variety of other picturesque natural 
features. 
Good progress was made with the 
extensive dredging operations at Lake 
of the Isles in spite of some diffi- 
culties that were encountered. The 
great depth of the underlying soft 
peat made it necessary to build dykes 
first with gravel and sand. These 
sand dykes once established there 
was no difficulty ii-i building up and 
filling the low swamp land between 
the dyke and the boulevard. Simi- 
lar difficulties were met with at the 
south shore of the lake. The boule- 
vard has been raised from one to six 
feet for the entire length from Penn 
avenue along the west shore to the 
high wooded bank at the south shore 
of the lake. This completes the ele- 
vation of the entire Lake of the 
Isles boulevard, with the exception 
of the approaches to the proposed 
bridges. 
The chief improvement at Lake 
Harriet was the installation of a sys- 
tem of electric lighting in the pavilion 
and around the entire lake. The 
boulevard lights arc 100 watt 80-can- 
