PARK AND CEMETERY. 
171 
Why are they approved by the members of great labor 
organizations? Why by local improvement societies? Why by 
historical and patriotic societies? Why by horticultural and 
naturalist societies? 
If parks add to the prosperity of one part of the State, 
how do they affect any other part of the State, or add to the 
revenue of the State as a whole? 
In what ways do the proposed parks affect the public water 
supply or the public drainage systems? 
Should the first work be to finish and beautify the exist- 
ing parks, or to provide for the establishment of new ones? 
What is your idea of ah ideal park system and what special 
features should be provided? 
Describe the proposed Metropolitan Park System or some 
part of it. 
What other places in Rhode Island, not mentioned in the 
report, should be owned by the State or by the general public? 
How do the cities and towns of Rhode Island compare in 
the matter of parks with other cities in the United States? 
* H: * 
In a communication addressed to each member of the 
General Council of Louisville, Ky., President John B. Cas- 
tleman, of the Board of Park Commissioners of that city, 
reviews what has been accomplished within the past fifteen 
years toward the establishment of the park system and in- 
dicates, with figures, what is necessary to complete and per- 
fect the work. In 1891 an appropriation of $600,000 was 
reduced by charges against it to the sum of $517,410, which 
was the initial sum spent on the organization of the park 
system. Subsequently the citizens voted a further sum of 
$250,000. These amounts are still outstanding and constitute 
the only bonded debt of the Park Department. Mr. Castle- 
man urges the necessity for more liberal support of the park 
system, and advocates a $1,000,000 bond issue in the immedi- 
ate future. 
* * * 
From the Annual Reports. 
The thirty-seventh report of the Park Commissioners at 
Buffalo. N. Y., for the year 1905, notes that the year was 
one of marked progress and exceptional growth of planta- 
tions. The improvements around the Albright Art Gallery 
in Delaware Park were completed and 700 more plates 
with botanical and common names of trees were placed 
on the trees in that and other parks. A complete report of 
the addresses and ceremonies at the dedication of the Al- 
bright Art Gallery is included in the report. In Humboldt 
Park the section around the new shelter house has been re- 
modeled and the whole topography of that part of the park 
changed. The report of Director John F. Cowell, of the 
botanic garden, tells of the acquisition of a number of new 
or rare plants that have been collected by the director or 
received by gift or exchange. He calls attention to the in- 
creased cost of maintaining macadam roads due to the 
growing use of automobiles and repeats the recommendation 
made a number of years ago that the botanic garden be 
moved from its present site on account of the damage by 
smoke and gases from neighboring factories. The appropri- 
ation for the year was $139,634 and total receipts amounted to 
$160,760. 
The annual report of the Park Department of Cincinnati, 
O., for 1905, tells of a banner year in park improvements 
and extensions and gives a detailed list of the tracts acquired. 
A plan has also been made for connecting Burnet Woods 
and Eden Park by an extensive boulevard and viaduct system. 
Cliff Drive has been completed and tested both by weather 
and storms and found to be in first class condition. The 
receipts for the year were $51,464, and the expenditures 
$1,856 less than that amount. 
The thirty-first annual report of the Department of Parks 
of Boston contains reports of officers and detailed account 
of expenditures for the year ending January 31, 1906. The 
only construction work of importance done during the year 
was the improvement of several playgrounds. The report 
states that owing to the inadequate appropriation for 
maintenance many necessary repairs cannot be made. The 
work of thinning out overcrowding or worthless growth is 
showing good results in the feathering out of the trees and the 
more vigorous undergrowth of native shrubs and herbaceous 
plants. The expenditure for the year was $286,970, of which 
$44,780 was for land and construction and $241,549 for main- 
tenance. 
The annual report of the park commission of Milwaukee 
is in the shape of a handsome octavo volume, bound in brown 
cloth and handsomely embossed. It contains nearly sixty 
illustrations of beautiful scenes in the city parks. The report 
calls attention to the small area of Milwaukee parks com- 
pared with the land devoted to that purpose in other cities, 
and makes the recommendation that land be purchased for 
park purposes. The recommendation is made that a sum be set 
aside each year for the use of the park board wherewith ini- 
tial payments may be made any time upon lands desired to 
be purchased. It is suggested that the Legislature be asked 
to authorize the council to levy a special tax for this purpose. 
The creation of a citizens’ commission is advised, that a com- 
prehensive programme of future park extensions may be ar- 
ranged. 
* * * 
New Parks. 
The park commission of Greenfield, Mass., has bought a 
tract of twenty-eight acres on Rocky Mountain. 
The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad is to lay out a park 
around the grounds of its new station at Sheboygan, Wis. 
The N. C. & St. L. Railroad is to inaugurate a system of 
parking at station grounds between Paducah, Ky., and Pais, 
Tenn. James McLaughlin, formerly local gardener for the 
Illinois Central Railway, will have charge of the work of 
improvement. 
The city council of Moline, 111., has awarded the contract 
for the grading of Riverside Park. 
Hon. J. C. Sharp, of Jackson, Mich., has offered to donate 
the city a twjnty acre tract for a public park, provided the 
street car system is extended to the tract. 
The city council of Jamestown, N. D., has agreed to buy a 
five acre tract for $200 an acre. 
A new park of thirteen acres has been acquired by the 
town of San Bernardino, Cal. The park is to be in charge 
of the Woman’s Club for a period of two years, and plans 
for improvement are going forward. 
The city of St. Louis has purchased a block at North 
Market and Magazine Sts. for a- public park. The ground 
cost $40,000. 
Denver, Colo., has acquired a new park district embracing 
450 acres, and issued bonds to the amount of $230,000 to 
pay for the property. 
Mayor Paul C. Barth, of Louisville, Ky., has personally 
paid $50,000 for an eighteen acre tract which the city desires 
for a public park. The money for its purchase was not 
available and Mayor Barth will hold it for the city to keep 
the price from going up. 
The city of Pittsburg has an appropriation of $60,000 for 
a new park in the Thirty-second Ward, and two sites are 
being considered. 
The park commission of Lowell, Mass., is being urged to 
purchase a twenty-seven acre tract for a new park and play- 
ground. The land is expected to cost $15,000. 
(Continued on p. VIII.) 
