PARK AND CEMETERY . 
362 
$ 281 . 80 . The report is illustrated 
with some very fine halftones. 
The Holmesburg Trust Co., trustee, 
has conveyed to the City of Philadelphia 
for $49,000, a tract of about 12 acres 
on the southeast side of Torresdale Ave., 
together with an irregular adjoining plot 
both to be used for park purposes. 
The village of Ilion, N. Y., has about 
completed the organization of an Im- 
provement Society, the principal objects 
of which are to improve the streets, 
plant shade trees, transform unsightly 
spots such as neglected vacant lots, es- 
tablish, if possible, a public park, and 
generally to beautify the village. 
The Metropolitan Park Commission, 
Providence, R. I., is about to begin 
work on the East Shore Boulevard, a 
driveway two and a half miles long, 
with a concrete bridge across Watche- 
inoket Cove. Plans and specifications 
for the bathing beach pavilion and bung- 
alow at Edgewood Beach are about 
ready and as much of the work will be 
done this season as funds will permit. 
On the Woonasquatucket Reservation 
much work will be done at Merino Flats 
and at Dyerville Park. The main road 
through the Lincoln Woods reservation 
will also be completed soon. The com- 
mission is pushing the work, but is ham- 
pered by the ridiculously small apppro- 
priations. It has secured an immense 
amount of data and has prepared plans 
for most of the other projects necessary 
to complete a fully comprehensive sys- 
tem. The Greater Providence idea is 
at least appreciated by the masses, and 
the facilities for recreation and rational 
outdoor pleasure are already heavily 
patronized. 
PARK IMPROVEMENTS 
John Ball Park, Grand Rapids, Mich., 
has undergone a pretty thorough over- 
hauling the past year or two. With 
many scenic advantages, it was handi- 
capped by poor landscape work and the 
real park possibilities completely ignored. 
Great improvements have been made ; 
the layout of the roads has been changed 
to advantage, a new rest house and pa- 
vilion erected, lagoons provided, and a 
general cleaning up combined with a new 
entrance has transformed this pictur- 
esque public into a beauty spot. Great 
credit is due to the superintendent, Mr. 
Eugene V. Goebel, and the active park 
commissioners. 
The old “Bemis House” site in Pe- 
oria, 111., the hotel which once shel- 
tered Lincoln, Douglas and other na- 
tional celebrities, is to be converted into 
a small park. Its beautiful site will 
make it very popular. 
The University of Pennsylvania, Phil- 
adelphia, is contemplating many im- 
provements. Among them the develop- 
ment of the Schuylkill as a place for 
regattas, the platting of a park, and the 
erection of ornamental club houses, are 
awaiting agreements with the city. 
A contract was signed by the mayor 
of New Rochelle, N. Y., for the pur- 
chase of the Stohlman property on 
Fifth Ave., for a public park. It is a 
natural park and will be opened at once. 
The children and high school students 
will begin cleaning up enough for pres- 
ent purposes, and the whole will be im- 
proved as soon as funds are available. 
The project of utilizing the water 
front of Buffalo, N. Y., between Geor- 
gia and Jersey streets, for public park 
and municipal dock purposes is progres- 
sing. There are some 75 acres in the 
tract and the Waterfront Awards Com- 
mission, appointed March 29, 1909, ap- 
praised its value under proceedings No. 
2 at $944,740. Considerable legal pro- 
cedure will have to be carried through 
yet before the way is clear for taking 
possession by the city. 
One hundred thousand dollars have 
already been expended on Halloween 
Park, Stamford, Conn., and yet another 
hundred thousand will be needed before 
it is completed. What is open to the 
public is largely patronized, the recrea- 
tion fields and children’s playgrounds be- 
ing very popular. 
A fine piece of boulevard road work, 
only about a quarter of a mile long, 
but connecting the St. Paul system with 
the Minneapolis driveways, has recently 
been opened. It is especially well con- 
structed, macadam with a Tarvia sur- 
face, and was built of rock taken from 
a quarry belonging to the park board. 
This link affords a driveway of at least 
50 miles long. 
Some $37,000 worth of improvements 
this spring is the record of Dayton, 
Wash. It includes a $25,000 city park 
and Fair grounds and race track at a 
cost of $12,000. 
The Northern Pacific Railroad Co. has 
consented to set apart a portion of its 
property in Duluth, Minn., for park 
purposes. The section to be set aside 
is reported to have been an eyesore, 
and improvement will be welcomed. 
The business men of Galt, Sacramento 
Co., Calif., have leased from the South- 
ern Pacific R. R. the block of ground 
which has been used as a plaza for sev- 
eral years, for park purposes. 
The rearrangement of Central Park, 
Los Angeles, Calif., now under w’ay, 
will mean almost the total destruction 
of the present park and its remodeling 
into one of the finest small parks of the 
country. This is the beginning of the 
present Park Commission’s plans to re- 
construct the parks of the city. 
A. L. Ross, in charge of the land- 
scape department of Browm Bros., 
Rochester, N. Y., has recently been en- 
gaged in laying out an 85-acre park for 
Waco, Texas. 
Major W. R. Logan, formerly agent 
on the Blackfoot Indian reservation, has 
been appointed superintendent of the 
Glacier National Park and will assume 
his duties in the near future. 
George E. Kessler, landscape archi- 
tect of Kansas City, has been in St. 
Joseph, Mo., to pass upon the plans for 
the projected $1,000,000 park and boule- 
vard scheme of that city. 
John T. Withers has recently been 
appointed landscape architect to the 
Shade Tree Commission of Jersey City 
at a salary of $2,500 per annum. 
NEW PARKS 
Niobrara Park, Niobrara, Neb., is sit- 
uated on an island in the Niobrara River 
and includes some 700 acres of land — 
one of the most beautiful natural parks 
in the state. It is open to the public 
for camping pleasures, and its boating, 
fishing and bathing are excellent. 
Whitewater, Whs., is to have a chil- 
dren’s park with facilities for swim- 
ming, gymnastics and other sports. It 
is proposed to turn the park over to the 
board of education for supervision. 
After some years of agitation Barn 
Bluff has been donated to Red Whng, 
Minn., for park purposes. James Law'- 
ther, Simmons & Co., the Red W’ing 
Manufacturing Co. and C. A. Betcher 
have joined in the gift. The bluff was 
once suggested as a state park because 
of its unusual natural beauty and sur- 
roundings. 
E. B. Sturges and Robert E. Hurley 
have presented to Scranton, Pa., two 
plots of land in the Green Ridge sec- 
tion to be used for park purposes. 
Work is starting on the promised 
$75,000 city park for Dayton, Wash. 
The site of the old Court House, still 
standing, at Newa 3 'go, iMich., will soon 
become a city park. The heirs of John 
A. Brooks, who owned the site, have 
conveyed to the town the whole square 
for public park purposes. It will be 
known as Brooks Park. 
The City Commissioners of Palestine, 
Tex., have passed an ordinance calling 
for a $26,000 bond issue for the purpose 
of purchase of two park sites. 
Pontiac Square, St. Louis, Mo., is the 
third square to be opened in St. Louis, 
Mo., within a few weeks, the others be- 
ing Columbus and De Soto Squares. 
Pontiac is located at Ninth Street and 
Allen Avenue. 
