337 
PARK 
AND CEMETERY . 
THE RELATION OF AUTOMOBILES TO PARKS 
It has become quite the fashion to 
consider things in their relations to 
automobiles: for example, at a re- 
cent Bankers’ Convention the in- 
crease in loans and decrease in de- 
posits in suburban banks was attrib- 
uted to investments in automobiles. 
The large hotels at mountains and 
seashore have been superseded by 
roadhouses with ' their automobile 
patronage, and the question of good 
roads is now considered chiefly by 
the automobile clubs. The effect of 
the common use of e.xpensive fast 
moving vehicles and the prepara- 
tions for them are having a very im- 
portant influence upon the parks of 
the country. 
In the flrst place all parks of con- 
siderable size have as a matter of 
course a broad speedway where auto- 
mobiles can go rushing through at a 
pace which makes it practically im- 
possible for the occupants to see 
anything of the natural beauty of their 
surroundings. These speedways, or 
broad avenues used as such, are either 
covered with a nasty, ill-smelling oil, 
which over-runs into the grass and 
shrubbery and kills everything it 
touches, or the swiftly moving vehicles 
send a cloud of smoky dust com- 
posed of gasoline-oil and dirt, over 
the neighboring trees, shrubs and 
lawns. 
In some localities, like Boston for 
example, the common use of auto- 
mobiles has been one of the reasons 
for extending the park system a 
longer distance into the surrounding 
country. As a rule however, the 
parks are not patronized by the own- 
ers of automobiles, and their owners 
only take a passing interest in park- 
ways as a means of getting through 
the city and crowded suburbs into 
the open countr 3 '. 
There is one feature of the auto- 
mobile traffic in parks which is 
worthy of verj' serious attention. It 
is the wholesale cutting away of 
trees, trimming of limbs, and de- 
struction of shrubs, to give chauf- 
feurs an unobstructed view at cor- 
ners in the roads. In almost every 
park aii,d along many beautiful sub- 
urban drivew'ays may be seen the 
fearful butchery of magniflcent trees 
in order to let the speed fiend and 
joj- rider break records. 
The wholesale destruction of trees 
— or their unsightly lopping is not 
alw'ays in the interests of the auto- 
mobilists. It is often better for his 
safety to have the view somewhat 
obstructed at a corner or crossing, so 
as to virtually compel him to slow 
down until he can see what is ahead 
of him. 1 have in mind a beautiful 
corner, where great elms met over- 
head IMce the arches of a great 
cathedral — while lower down the 
sides were shut in bt^ magnificent 
lindens whose branches arched in 
graceful curves to the ground. The 
trees obstructed the view around the 
corner and chauffeurs invariably took 
the corner carefully because they 
could not see what was before them. 
The tree butcher came along and the 
trees were trimmed up and partially 
ruined and now the chauffeurs send 
their machines around the corner at 
a speed which will no doubt result in 
a fearful accident at some time in the 
near future. 
It is far better to leave beautiful 
trees undisturbed, and thereby lessen 
the temptation for automobilists to 
exceed the speed limit than it is to 
butcher them to give reckless chauf- 
feurs a chance to break their necks. 
J. H. Griffith. 
COST OF AUTO TRAFFIC TO BOSTON PARK SYSTEM 
That extra cost for the mainten- 
ance of the roads in the Boston park 
department by “the grinding and 
twisting wheels of the automobiles, 
as compared with carriage travel” is 
about $34,67:1.77 a year, is the belief 
of J. A. Pettigrew, superintendent of 
the park department, in a recent 
communication to IMayor Fitz- 
gerald. The mayor asked the super- 
intendent to furnish figures that he 
can use in backing up the recent or- 
der of the Park Commission in bar- 
ring certain roads in the park system 
to automobilists, and the superin- 
tendent goes into the matter in de- 
tail, showing that the cost of the 
maintenance of the roads has in- 
creased markedly since 1906 when 
“the automobile jumped into great 
great popularity.” 
The superintendent says that the 
park department has 847,:200 square 
yards of roadway and the average 
cost of the upkeep, including surfac- 
ing, repairs, cleaning, oiling, etc., 
amounted per square yard, in 1902 to 
.091, in 1903 to .096, in 1904 to .105, 
in 1905 to .101, in 1906 to .136, in 1907 
to .108, in 1908 to .073 and in 1909 to 
..107. Mr. Pettigrew says that nine 
to ten cents per square yard was the 
cost of maintenance per annum for 
the roads from 1902 to 1906. In 1906 
the cost of maintenance rose to 
13 6-10 cents per square yard. 
It was in that y^ear that the de- 
partment began to oil the roads, oil- 
ing twelve miles. The next year the 
department oiled its total length of 
forty-four miles of roads, and the 
maintenance cost decreased again to 
10.8 cents per square yard, and was 
still further reduced in 1908 to 7.3 
cents per square yard, due, the de- 
partment thinks, to the improved 
method of applying the oil, which 
gave greater resisting power to the 
road surface. With these figures, the 
superintendent says that it is difficult 
to estimate- closely' the increased 
damage due to automobile travel. 
In Franklin Park and in the Arnold 
Arboretum, however, the average 
cost per square yard, per annum, for 
1908 and 1909, was 2 8-10 cents. This 
was only' 41 per cent of the cost in 
1906 and 1907. The park department 
does not allow automobiles in those 
places and the difference, 59 per cent, 
would approximately approach the 
cost of extra maintenance required 
on account of the advent of the auto- 
mobile, it declares. Mr, Pettigrew 
says that the roads in Franklin Park 
and the .Arboretum have required no 
resurfacing with stone during the 
period named, but he admits that 
there has not been so much carriage 
travel as before automobiles became 
so much used. 
Mr. Pettigrew says that it may 
fairly be assumed that, as due to the 
use of oil, 51 per cent was saved in 
1908 and 1909 in Franklin Park and 
the .'\rboretum and that a like saving 
could have been made over the whole 
road system of the parks if the de- 
partment had only to provide for car- 
riage travel. He discounts this as- 
surnption 25 per cent to offset the 
lightened carriage travel in Franklin 
Park and the Arboretum and says 
this would leave an estimated saving 
of 38^2 per cent, which would amount, 
on the basis of last year’s expendi- 
tures, to $34,673.77 a year. 
