PARK AND C EM ETER }’. 
592 
the city on an eminence overlooking 
the surrounding country. This is a re- 
sult of the efforts of the Sorosis, the 
woman’s club. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., will acquire for 
park purposes the bluffs e.xtending from 
the reservoir to Coldbrook, making one 
of the finest park sites the city could 
possibly secure. 
Wilmington, Del., is to expend a fur- 
ther $29,000 for the purchase of four 
plots of ground for small park pur- 
poses. 
The late Mrs. Mary Eaton Aborn has 
bequeathed to Wakefield, Mass., nine 
acres of land in Saugus, near the Wake- 
field line, on which is located Castle 
hill, or Castle rock. It is “to be de- 
voted forever as a place to be kept open 
for the benefit of the people of Wake- 
field and the public generally.” 
Some 5,000 acres of land, located on 
the shore of beautiful Lake Coeur 
d’Alene, passed into the hands of the 
state of Idaho recently. The state land 
board has paid to the department of the 
interior $11,379.17, the purchase and ap- 
praised price of the land. Title to the 
park was held by the government ow- 
ing to the fact that the park was with- 
in the boundaries of the Coeur d’Alene 
national forest. Heyburn park, named 
in honor of its senior senator, becomes 
the first big public state playground of 
Idaho. 
Mrs. Rebecca Williams, widow of the 
late Capt. John B. Williams, has do- 
nated. to Bellefontaine, O., a fine 20- 
acre tract of land, at present covered 
with virgin forest, for park purposes. 
Riverside park, a pleasure ground of 
much natural beauty, bounded on one 
side by the Missoula river and on the 
other by the lake above the big power 
plant near Bonner, where the Big 
Blackfoot river joins the first mentioned 
stream, has been opened to the public 
of Missoula, Montana. 
The Wisconsin senate recently passed 
the bill appropriating $25,000 for a 
memorial park and decorative arch at 
Camp Randall, Madison. 
The city council of Okmulgee, Okla., 
has accepted a block of ground in an 
addition to Okmulgee, to be used for 
park purposes. The council agrees to 
plant trees, put in a sidewalk and build 
a pergola. 
John Milham park, a tract of 66 
acres, the gift of former mayor Frank 
H. Milham, was formally turned over 
to the city of Kalamazoo, Mich., a 
short time since. It was named in 
honor of the father of the donor. 
Two new park tracts totalling about 
300 acres were recently acquired by the 
Cincinnati park authorities. One of 170 
acres is located in Cumminsville and 
the other in Westwood. 
Final plans are in progress by John C. 
Olmsted, landscape architect, for the 
improvement of the park features of 
Riverside, Calif. 
PARK IMPROVEMENTS 
Melgaard park, Aberdeen, S. Dak., 
named after a pioneer, a part of whose 
tree claim forms a part of it, is being 
laid out and planted. A lake is also 
under construction. 
The Village Improvement Society of 
Seneca Falls, N. Y., has engaged a 
landscape gardener to arrange some 
planting in the park, while considerable 
work of the kind has been done in 
Restvale cemetery by the same organi- 
zation. 
Riverfront park, Joliet, 111., has been 
officially opened. It is situated on the 
bank of the river which, with its fringe 
of trees and foliage that nearly touches 
the water which rushes by the bank, is 
a refreshing sight. 
Tennis courts and other features of 
outdoor e.xercise and amusement are 
being added to the parks of Brainerd, 
Minn. 
Immediate action has been voted on 
the long delayed plan for the $5,000,000 
parkway on both sides of the Bronx 
River, New York City, from the Zoolog- 
ical Park to Mount Kensico in West- 
chester county, a distance of 13 miles. 
This improvement was sanctioned by 
the legislature in 1907 and the commis- 
sioners appointed, whose terms, how- 
ever, have expired by limitation. Presi- 
dent Miller has promised to make a 
favorable report to the board asking 
for the initial $75,000 necessary to be- 
gin the work. 
A wading pool is one of the improve- 
ments to be added to Prospect Park, 
Holyoke, Mass. This has been found 
necessary for the accommodation of a 
large percentage of children in its 
neighborhood. The grade of the low 
parts of Prospect Park is to be raised, 
as at times the sidewalks are practical- 
ly under water. 
Central and Oaklawn Parks, South 
Pasadena, Calif., are undergoing con- 
siderable cleaning up and improvement. 
Elaborate plans for the beautification 
of Elizabeth Baldwin Park at Houston, 
Texas, have been made by members of 
the Allen school Mothers’ club. If the 
members are successful in their cam- 
paign for funds the park will- be made 
an attractive spot. The park site is a 
beautiful natural grove that was pur- 
chased by a provision in the will of the 
late Mrs. William Rice, wife of the well 
known philanthropist. 
It was the sense of a recent meet- 
ing of Park Commissioners of West- 
field, Conn., that to bond the city in 
$ 10,000 for park purposes would prove 
to be more economical in the long run 
than cearly appropriations for improve- 
ments. 
Extensive improvements are being 
carried out in Lake View and Fair- 
mount Parks this season. Another lake 
is being added to the latter park, and 
many details already in existence re- 
paired and improved. 
Work on the new park and play- 
ground at the old Capitol site, Austin, 
Texas, is progressing satisfactorily. The 
ground has been graded and walks are 
Ijeing constructed. A fountain is being 
built in the center of the park, and four 
diagonal walks lead up to a wide prom- 
enade near the fountain. 
Wm. B. Cook, landscape architect of 
Los Angeles, a member of the firm 
which has charge of the Exposition 
Park at that place, has recently been 
looking over Redlands, Calif., for the 
park commissioners, with a view to im- 
provements. 
As soon as possible after the title is 
passed work will begin on the convert- 
ing of the old Totowa avenue cemetery 
of the Second Reformed church, Pat- 
erson, N. J., into a public park. The 
site is an excellent one. 
PARK REPORTS 
The Report and General Plan for a 
Park System for Chattanooga, trans- 
mitted to the Board of Park Commis- 
sioners of that city by John Nolen, 
landscape architect, of Boston, suggests 
to the board the advisability of prompt 
action on financial grounds, and claims 
for the city an opportunity for creating 
a comprehensive and beautiful system 
seldom equalled. Existing park features 
are discussed together with desirable 
changes and additions and a map and a 
number of fine half tone pictures great- 
ly add to the interest of Mr. Nolen’s 
valuable contribution to practical park 
literature. 
The report of the Board of Public 
Works and that of the Water Commis- 
sioners of the city of Little Falls, 
N. Y., for 1910, is quite largely statis- 
tical, and gives detailed accounts of re- 
ceipts and expenditures in the respect- 
ive departments. The city has ten parks 
and breathing spots, ranging from 30 
acres to one-quarter acre, nine of 
which, including the large park, being 
gifts from public-spirited citizens. The 
city cemetery contains 12 acres. The 
lots in the cemetery were assessed $2 
per lot for maintenance for 1910. Lit- 
tle Falls has a population of 12,500, and 
the city covers some 2,591.22 acres. 
