PARK AND CEMETERY 
79 
A)nntczl npcris or extracts from theyn^ historical sketches^ 
descriptive circulars^ photographs of improvements or dts- 
tinctivc features are requested for use in this department* 
The Menomonie Improvement Association, Menomonie. 
Wis., has engaged Warren H. Manning, of Boston, to make 
a study of the city and prepare defiijite plans for beautifying 
all public and private grounds. 
^ ^ 
The Anaconda News, Anaconda, Mont., is printing some 
interesting civic improvement matter. A recent number con- 
tained illustrations of the right and the W’rong way to plant 
the home grounds accompanied by some good advice in ex- 
planation of the pictures. 
* * * 
The appropriation bill for the District of Columbia car- 
ries an item of $io,coo for public playgrounds, and it is being 
urged that this amount be increased in order to enable the 
con.struction of a model public gymnasium in the southeastern 
section of the city. * * 
The progressive Improvement Association of Moorestown, 
N. J., which publishes a monthly paper called ‘‘Village Im- 
provement,” conducted this year a very successful free plant 
and seed exchange. It is estimated that about two hundred 
families were supplied. 
=!! * * 
A new feature of the annual cleaning up day, which has 
become an established feature in a number of cities, is the 
campaign against the dandelion, which has been inaugurated 
by Mayor Speer of Denver. Householders are urged to dig 
them up by the roots and exterminate them as an important 
part of the clearing up of back yards and vacant lots. 
* * * 
The Alma Street Improvement Club has been formed at 
Palo Alto, Calif., for the purpose of constructing a park and 
boulevard along the entire length of that street. The first 
work of the club wdll be to secure the construction of a re- 
taining wall along the railroad embankment. IMarshall Black 
is president of the club, and L. P. Hathaway, secretary. 
jj? j{j 
The executive committee of the League of Improvement So- 
cieties of Rhode Island has decided to prepare a series of 
lectures to be given before the different societies of the state. 
It is also planned to issue leaflets telling of the aims and plans 
of the league and to organize a Junior League of Improve- 
ment Societies among the school children. 
* * !(! 
The New Orleans Civic Improvement and Outdoor Art As- 
sociation is endeavoring to raise the money necessary to trans- 
form the site now occupied by the Pilie Market into a mod- 
ern and artistic playground for the children of that section. 
The new grounds will cost about $i,coo. The band-stand has 
already been donated, and it is believed that there will not 
be any difficulty in raising the money necessary. 
* ^ * 
A the recent annual meeting of the Fairhaven Improve- 
ment Association, Fairhaven, Mass., the record of a very 
busy year’s work was presented. Substantial improve- 
ments were made in Willow Park and several unsightly spots 
have been improved. Improvements have been made at Ft. 
Phoenix, and a memorial erected to Maj. Israel Fearing. 
A number of substantial new bath houses have been 
built, which increases the number to one hundred. They w'ere 
patronized by 10,554 people during the year. Prizes were 
awarded for home gardens and a committee on public lawns 
has been appointed. The officers elected for the year were : 
President, Lyman C. Bauldry; vice-president, Drew B. Hall; 
secretary. Job. C. Tripp; treasurer, James Ede. 
* * * 
The Village Improvement Association of West Haven, 
Conn., is offering if25.oo m prizes this summer for the beauti- 
fying of front and back yards. The first prize of $10.00 will 
be given to the owner or occupant of the best kept and neatest 
grounds, front or back, that are the result of the personal 
work of the resident. Two other prizes of $5.00 are offered in 
this class, and another of $5.00 for the grounds which show 
the most improvement between the time of the first visit of the 
committee and the close of the contest in the fall. 
^ ^ 
One of the active agencies on the cleaning up day in Chi- 
cago was the Clean City Club, organized by Hull House, 
among the children in the district where the settlement is 
located. The club became 
very popular and reached a 
membership of nearly one 
thousand. A very success- 
ful way of keeping the chil- 
dren’s interest was adopted 
by providing a button for 
the members to wear bear- 
ing the insignia shown in 
the accompanying picture. 
The club was sub-divided 
into groups, each under the 
direction of a captain, and 
the following rules were 
adopted as a working plan ; 
Pick up at least one piece 
of paper from the street 
every day. 
Clean your own back 5 ard and porches and try to interest 
the boys and girls next door. 
Keep at least one flower in the window. 
Be smiling and clean yourself. 
^ ^ ^ 
W. Wynn Johnson, business manager cf the Portland, Ore., 
Evening Telegram, has been appointed Instructor on 
Civic Aesthetics by the “Initiative One Hundred,” a body 
composed of the city’s active citizens who are desirous of 
cleaning up and beautifying Portland. Mr. Johnson, accom- 
panied by his wife, is at present visiting the principal cities in 
the East and is getting in touch with prominent civic im- 
provement workers wherever he goes. The association re- 
cently held a cleaning-up day and the call for volunteers met 
with a ready response from all sections of the city, and once 
the work was started, progress was marked with the most 
satisfactory results. Francis 1 . McKenna, of the Initiative 
One Hundred, acted as the director of the cleaning-up exer- 
cises ,and received reports from the different committees. 
“It is our intention,” said Mr. McKenna, “to purge the city of 
all objectionable features in the way of accumulated rubbish, 
hideous signboards and ugly piles of lumber, wood and other 
like trash, which have heretofore been allowed to disgrace the 
streets for months at a time without any effort whatever be- 
ing made toward removal. The remarkable willingness with 
which the people responded to our call is a source of great 
satisfaction to us.” 
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