46 ? 
PARK AND C EM ETER F. 
will be added to the attractions of 
Farquhar Park, York, Pa., on a ten- 
acre plot which is to be purchased 
from the York hospital and dispen- 
sary by Hon. A. B. Farquhar and 
given to the city. 
A bond issue of $100,000 for perma- 
nent park improvements will probably 
be approved by the Board of Estimate 
and Apportionment of Syracuse, N. 
Y., as recommended by Mayor Edward 
Schoeneck in his message to the Com- 
mon Council. 
Lakewood Park is the name of a 
20 acre tract of valuable land, located 
between South Topeka and Highland, 
recently presented to the City of 
Topeka by Mr. W. J. Rickenbacher 
for a city park. It is partly covered- 
with a fine growth of various species 
of native trees, especiall}'- the steep 
and rocky portions. It is traversed 
by French creek nearly its whole 
length of one-half mile, which af- 
fords ample opportunity for the con- 
struction of lakes and ponds. E. F. 
A. Reinisch, landscape architect, su- 
peyntendent of parks, is now prepar- 
ing plans from his recent topograph- 
•ical survey for the development of 
the tract. 
A new park has been purchased for 
Houston, Tex., and plans have been 
completed for a boulevard. The im- 
provement will represent an expendi- 
ture of $150,000, all of which will be 
met out of the general revenues, with- 
out issuance of bonds. 
Only seven families now remain on 
the tract of 4,000 acres in Door coun- 
ty, Wis., purchased by the state for 
its first park. These will soon leave 
and a determined effort will probably 
be made by the park board for an ap- 
propriation this winter to begin im- 
provements in the park. 
If the voters of the village of Ne- 
wago, Mich., at the spring election, 
vote to pay the count}' $1,000 for the 
old court house, jail and other de- 
serted county buildings, and the two 
and a half acres of ground on which 
they stand, it will become a public 
park. 
Another large breathing spot is to 
be added to the Chicago park system 
during the year. President William 
Kolacek, of the West Side Park Com- 
mission, has recommended the pur- 
chase of a tract near Austin, com- 
prising about 160 acres. The proposed 
park is bounded by Adams street, the 
Metropolitan “L,” Central avenue and 
Austin avenue. The land is at pres- 
ent the property of the Catholic 
church. The tract is wooded beauti- 
fully and has unusual natural advan- 
tages. It is also in a suitable loca- 
tion. 
The park board of Duluth, Minn., 
at its January meeting, reported the 
reception of a number of deeds con- 
veying certain lands for a park ad- 
joining and incidental to the Snively 
boulevard, along the west branch of 
Lester river. The donations already 
received comprise about 50 acres of 
land and convey such spots and tracts 
along the boulevard as are naturally 
suitable for parking. 
The park commissioners of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., have selected sites for 
some eleven new parks and play- 
grounds and additions to others re- 
quiring expenditures approximately 
amounting to $194,012.50. Grand 
Rapids is forging ahead in its park 
development and making up in good 
earnest for lost time. It is a fine 
city and has been a progressive one. 
The Cincinnati, O., council has 
passed an ordinance for the appropria- 
tion of a large section of land bounded 
by Euclid avenue. Shields, Goodman, 
Ahrens, Nixon and Vine streets, op- 
posite the Avondale hospital grounds, 
for hospital purposes. The property 
will be parked. The cost will be borne 
by the new hospital commission. 
The Northern Pacific Railway has 
deeded to Pasco, Wash., about ten 
acres of land just north of St. Pat- 
rick’s Church. 
A budget of improvements to cost 
$1,000,000 was submited recently to 
the park board of Minneapolis, Minn., 
which will ask the legislature to au- 
thorize bonds to that amount. In ad- 
dition to ordinary park work the bud- 
get includes items for bath houses, 
playgrounds, athletic fields and the 
interlake canals. 
FROM THE PARK REPORTS 
The report of Mr. Addison Bain, 
Superintendent of Parks and Public 
Grounds, and Health Officer of 
Marion, O., shows that the people en- 
joy their park privileges, and that the 
pavilion in Lincoln Pa.rk has been the 
means of accommodating many re- 
unions from the neighboring country. 
He recommends the planting of Nor- 
way maples in quantity to take the 
place of the oak, hickory and elm 
trees, which are fast dying out. Mr. 
Bain conducted a children’s park 
camp last year very successfully, 
lasting a week, in which he assumed 
practical responsibility, and where 
parents and children enjoyed a de- 
lightful vacation. This is quite an 
innovation in the use of parks, and 
Mr. Bain has been highly compli- 
mented for his novel scheme of park 
usefulness. Mr. Bain is a thorough 
believer in out-door life and is active 
in ever}^ likely proposition to encour- 
age it. The birds also receive much 
attention at the superintendent’s 
hands; on a feeding table which he 
had erected near his house, and in a 
nearby tree, fifty birds are often 
counted, and on a certain occasion 
among them were observed two 
species of Sap-suckers, one Flicker, 
three Red-birds, three Blue Jays, and 
numbers of Sparrows. 
The annual report of the Board of 
Commissioners of St. Louis, Mo., on 
Torver Grove Park, for the year end- 
ing Dec. 3, 1910, shows receipts of 
$30,642.07; of which $25,000 W'as ap- 
propriated by St. Louis. The expen- 
ditures were $26,197.58, labor and sal- 
aries consuming $18,669.85. During 
the year besides the usual mainte- 
nance some beginning was made on 
the improvements projected and plan- 
ned under the designs of the land- 
scape engineer. The use of the park 
by the public is becoming quite gen- 
eral and the need is felt for improve- 
ment of road surfaces. Some 10.400 
square yards of much traveled road 
was coated with crude oil of a con- 
sistency permitting of its application 
unheated. It was done in early sum- 
mer and the roadway was at all hours 
smooth and dustless. The commis- 
sioners regard this as only temporary, 
however. Much attention was given 
to the plantings, lawns and buildings. 
A children’s playground was also con- 
structed; this was the largest single 
improvement of the year. Band con- 
certs were given on twelve Sunday 
afternoons which attracted large 
crowds. 
The report of the Board of Com- 
missioners of Parks and Cemeteries 
for the City of Fall River, IMass., for 
year ending Dec. 31, 1909, the eighth 
annual report, is a handsome souve- 
nir, beautifully illustrated. A decided 
interest is shown in the report in the 
need of lavatories, etc., in the parks, 
but lack of funds prevents rapid de- 
velopment; however, efforts are be- 
ing made to take the matter up in a 
systematic manner. The playground 
idea is taking hold and suitable sites 
have been secured for several, and 
modern play parks will be developed. 
The cemeteries are being maintained 
after modern ideas and Oak Grove is 
visited, it is roughly estimated, by 
100,000 people annually. The report 
contains a large amount of informa- 
tion concerning the work both in 
parks and cemeteries under the care 
of the Board. 
