PARK AND CEMETERY 
117 
Annual reports or extracts froju thon, historical sketches^ 
descriptive circulars^ photographs of improvements or dis- 
tinctive features are requested for use in this departmcnU 
The City Improvement Society of Newbury port, Mass, 
held a flower show on July 6th to .secure funds to pur- 
chase shrubs and ■plahT:s'''foi the grounds of the high 
school. It was the first exhibition of the kind for half 
a century and was very successful. 
Little beds of flowers, 
Little coats of paint, 
Make a pleasant cottage 
Out of one that ain’t. 
— Exchange. 
Topeka, Kas., is planning to organize a “League of 
10,000,” an association composed of ten thousand members 
who are to work co-operatively for everything that stands 
for civic improvement. Anyone may become a member 
by paying the initiation fee of $i.oo. The funds thus 
secured are to be applied to the general beautification of 
the city. The members are all expected to especially 
exert every influence toward securing favorable legislation 
in the city council on all matters affecting the civic side 
of the city’s life. The organization of the league is now 
well under way. 
* * * 
That a village improvement association in a small com- 
munity may exercise a strong influence for good was well 
illustrated last week in West Stockbridge, says tire 
Springfield, (Mass.), Republican. The bill posters’ crew 
of a Wild West show invaded the town with the inten- 
tion of adding touches of color to the landscape, but met 
with a real surprise when, to their disgust, they were 
unable to find even one place in the village where the 
owners of property would allow the disfiguring paper 
posted. The credit for this stand in the interest of a good 
looking village is wholly due to the teachings of the 
improvement association, and this may serve as an ex- 
cellent example to other communities. 
* * * 
The District Commissioners who constitute the local 
government of Washington, D. C., have taken charge of 
a general “cleaning-up” crusade, and wiH distribute 
through the police suggestions and rules to be followed 
by the residents in clearing alleys, back yards, and cellars, 
of debris and other objectionable matter. The police will 
also receive a blank form upon which they will report 
all houses which are in unsanitary condition. These blanks 
will be forwarded to the health department, and on a 
fixed day inspectors employed by that department will 
visit the houses in question and demand that the premises 
. be made clean. If they are not made clean by “the clean- 
ing-up day” set by the commissioners, police proceedings 
will be taken. 
\ 
At the quarterly meeting of the Kent Improvement 
Association, East Greenwich, R. L, C. A. Shippee gave 
an interesting account of the spraying for the elm tree 
beetle done under the town appropriation of $500. He 
reported a balance on hand to date of between $40 and 
$50, and said the 547 trees belonging to the town had been 
sprayed, a few of them twice, besides buying the pump 
and spraying outfit from the appropriation. He had also 
sprayed a little over too trees for private individuals. 
Henry A. Barker, of Providence, Secretary of the Metro- 
politan Park Commission, also gave an interesting illus- 
trated lecture upon the plans of the commission 
* * * 
The Nutley Improvement Society, Nutley, N. J., has 
been making war on poison ivy in that village. The 
committee who have this special work in hand employ 
Italians, who pull it up by the roots as early in the spring 
as possible. They watch the places carefully each year. 
The ground all about the spots where it is thickest is 
soaked with a strong solution of washing soda and water, 
and every two weeks the men go over the ground. In 
regard to other work the Society sets out hardy shrubs 
at the railroad station, employs men to keep the station 
grounds in order, employs a white wings to pick up 
papers, clean gutters, etc., on the principal streets in the 
village. They have had seats built around trees where 
people can wait for the trolley, and have set out trees on 
the village streets. Prizes are offered for the best kept 
places, the work to be done by the people themselves. 
* * * 
Efforts of the Civic League of Salem, Mass., to beautify 
gardens are reported to show good results. Many of 
the gardens are cared for by children. During June, the 
league distributed over 2,000 packages of seeds, at a 
penny a package, among the school children. Some 
thrifty youngsters chose vegetable seeds, and now are 
gathering radishes, lettuce and other vegtables for the 
family table, and some of the juvenile farmers are even 
raising a surplus and selling to neighboring families. A 
committee of the Civic League makes, occasional inspec- 
tions of gardens, and at the end of the season prizes 
will be awarded for the best. The Salem Fraternity will 
conduct an exhibit of garden products in the fail, and the 
best displays will be awarded prizes. The activity of the 
school children in improving gardens has stirred up many 
older people, and Salem gardens never looked better than 
they do this season. 
* * * 
The Framingham Improvement Association, Framing- 
ham, Mass., issues a little folder bearing the motto: “If 
eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse 
for being.” The objects of the association are well stated 
as follows: To encourage the beautifying of private places, 
however limited in extent; the betterment of parks and 
other public grounds; the proper naming of streets and 
roadways, street and roadside planting; improving street 
signs, poles, lights, etc.; the removal of unsightly fences 
and buildings, or concealing them by vines and shrubbery; 
the regulating or removing of offensive bill boards; regu- 
lating and limiting public dumping places; the preserva- 
tion of groves and other natural features; to provide 
opportunity for the public discussion of all important 
questions, the solution of which may affect the vital 
interests of our community; finally: To not only create 
“a more beautiful Framingham,” but to “promote all the 
higher interests” of our town. 
