PARK AND CEMETERY 
and Landscape Gardening. 
Vol. XVI. Chicago, December, 1906 No. 10 
The Preservation of Niagara Falls 
The efforts of the American Civic Association to 
preserve Niagara Falls, which were carried to ap- 
parent success earlier in the year, have been again 
most urgently called for by the action of the power 
companies to secure a large amount of water from 
the Canadian side. The urgency has been met by 
another vigorous campaign, and the people’s side 
has been both ably and strenuously presented at the 
meetings before Secretary Taft. The report of the 
last hearing will be found in another column, which 
will open the eyes of our readers to the peculiar 
qualities of legal training when exercised in the 
service of powerful corporations, as well as the blind- 
ness of such corporations when trespassing on the 
rights and fighting the will of the American people 
at large. 
sg se 
The Billboard Campaign 
Among the prominent activities for the current 
year of the American Civic Association is the bill- 
board nuisance, the campaign against which is being 
pushed with more or less vigor in many localities 
over the country. One prominent center of partic- 
ular importance is that of Washington, D. C., where 
a crusade against posters has aroused considerable 
feeling among the theater managers, who are gen- 
erally opposed to the suggestion of Maj. Sylvester 
that the posting of pictorial advertising matter be 
prohibited in the District. What else could be ex- 
pected by any of the believers in a “city beautiful,” 
such as Washington is destined to be, than that 
one of the first abuses to be attacked will be that 
of billboards ? Only imagine any prominent section 
of the future Washington being defaced by any 
form of advertising billboard of whatever class. The 
idea is preposterous. Advertising is a method of 
promoting business of many factions and through 
many mediums; the billboard as a medium is out of 
place in the vast majority of situations, and it may 
be inferred from the very lawlessness of its advo- 
cacy under cover of human perverseness, that it is a 
good paying proposition. Such a mode of adver- 
tising should never have been permitted anywhere. 
As Mr. Harlan P. Kelsey said at the Milwaukee 
convention ; “Three-fourths of the billboards are 
erected in violation of law and can be gotten rid of 
without any further legislation.” His further remarks 
should be committed to memory, and the billboard 
nuisance reduced to a simple formula for removal. 
It is gratifying to note that the Washington clergy 
are voicing their objections to the billboard. We 
would suggest that the clergy be invited to join 
hands earnestly in the effort to destroy this blot 
upon municipal improvement. Their all-powerful 
help would be of inestimable value in this campaign, 
and it would surely pave the way for the other forces 
to enter into the final steps for permanent legal en- 
actments a:gainst the abuse, which good legal authori- 
ties believe will eventually be forthcoming. 
Ng 
Recreation Centers 
Social education by means of Recreation Centers 
is to become an element of our public school svstem, 
according to the signs of the times. Its most com- 
plete development is to be found in the section of 
the city of Chicago known as the South Side, where, 
under the supervision of the South Park Commis- 
sioners, twelve municipal neighborhood centers have 
been established, having ample gymnasium capacity 
for both sexes and children, social club rooms, 
branch libraries and story telling rooms, spacious 
auditoriums, free lecture courses, etc. It will be rec- 
ognized that great emphasis is placed on the educa- 
tional aspects of the work. Similar work is being 
carried out in other large cities, while many smaller 
places are adopting such phases of the idea as will 
fit their needs and conditions. There are also num- 
bers of social settlements, many of them under uni- 
versity and college auspices, and other oi'ganizations, 
which have been active in preparing the way for 
the more comprehensive and rational development 
and care of such an important feature of public ed- 
ucation as is implied by the term “recreation cen- 
ter.” The University Settlement Association of the 
University of Cincinnati has recently petitioned the 
board of education of that city to establish a system 
of recreation centers, and in the petition the duty 
of educational boards is quite clearly suggested. A 
brief account of what has been done in various parts 
of the country is set forth, and recommendations 
made with respect to meeting local needs. In the 
present confused times, when clear heads and strong 
hearts are needed to cultivate good fellowship and 
maintain sound common sense, our system of public 
education should be as complete and comprehensive 
as our highest knowledge and culture can make it, 
and only good can possibly come to any people 
whose goal in public education is continually advanc- 
ing toward the highest ideals of modern times. 
