PARK AND CEMETERY. 
692 
Ul 
E 
PARK NEWS. 
'S:g^r?E 
By a decision of the State Supreme 
Court of Washington, which declared 
the election of May 3, 1910, to be valid, 
the Park Commissioners of Spokane 
will have $1,000,000 at their disposal for 
park purposes as soon as the bonds can 
be issued. The park system now embraces 
some 800 acres, but the authorities have 
promised to place a park within ten 
minutes’ walk of every home in Spo- 
kane. 
The Chicago City Plan Commission 
has outlined a scheme' whereby the city’s 
park area can be increased 100 acres 
a year and an immense parkway eventu- 
ally built extending from 23d street on 
the south to Ohio street on the north. 
All would be practically free of cost, as 
the. material for the filling in would 
come from the subway and other build- 
ing excavations. The chairman, Charles 
H. Wacker, has called attention to the 
immense amount of dredging which will 
be done by the sanitary district in the 
next few years. He estimates that 
4,600,000 cu. ft. of waste material is 
annual output of Chicago, and Aid. 
Long has made definite calculations that 
the sweepings and ordinary' excavations 
from work in Chicago in a single year 
would build twenty-three acres of land 
on the lake front, allowing it to extend 
fourteen feet below the water and seven 
feet above. 
Mexico City, Mexico, is falling into 
line on the park question, and if 
Director of Works de la Barra has 
his way, within the next five years 
the city will have a thousand acres 
in suburban parks. 
Quincy, 111., the city which through 
its Boulevard and Park Association 
has set a pace for civic park progress, 
has recently added a tract of ten and 
a half acres to its North End park- 
age, and the board of directors of the 
association are considering additions 
to South Park, Indian Mounds, and 
North Side system. The board had 
a busy session. Attention has been 
directed to the reckless driving in the 
parks and driveways, and it may re- 
sult in an ordinance passing to check 
the dangerous nuisance. 
The New York City Board of Esti- 
mate recently voted to acquire two 
seaside parks, one at Dreamland, 
Coney Island, and the other at Rock- 
away Beach, the combined cost of the 
two to be not more than $3,225,000. 
Of this total it is proposed to spend 
$1,225,000 for 250 acres of land at 
Rockaway Beach. The other $1,000,- 
000 is to be spent for seven acres of 
the Dreamland property. The Rock- 
away Beach property is to be bought 
by private sale, that at Coney Island 
by condemnation. This action of the 
board is the initial step toward the 
expenditure of some $5,000,000 for 
seaside parks. 
New York City has had a strike 
of night ash-cart men on its hands. 
The men have protested against 
night work of that kind and to force 
a decision in their favor struck. 
Mayor Gaynor and Street Cleaning 
Commissioner Edwards have been 
firm in their refusal to be coerced, 
and considerable public inconvenience 
resulted. 
The Women’s Civic League of Bar- 
aboo, Wis., has opened up again vig- 
orously after the summer vacation. 
Preparations have been made for a 
mass meeting to be held this month, 
and some public speaker well ac- 
quainted with civic improvement 
plans and details will probably ad- 
dress the meeting; at any rate the 
zeal and energy with which the la- 
dies of the pretty Wisconsin town are 
moving, and practically taking hold 
of all features of civic betterment, 
goes to show what can be accom- 
plished even in the preliminaries of 
a campaign to improve. The co- 
operation of the local press in the 
work is spreading the knowledge of 
what the League desires to a'ccom- 
plish, as well as its far-reaching or- 
ganization and departments of activ- 
ity. It appears to have no rivals in 
the scope of work it has undertaken 
nor the spirit to meet the problems 
facing it. 
Among the various park improve- 
'ments that Mr. F. Shearer, city su- 
perintendent of Los Angeles. Cal., 
suggests is the establishment of more 
small squares and plazas throughout 
the city, for the use of those who 
wish to walk from their homes to an 
attractive spot for daily recreation 
and rest. At present Mr. Shearer is 
having plans prepared for the pro- 
posed Arroya Seco parkway, which 
promises, if it .materializes, to be su- 
perior to any other parkway on the 
Pacific Coast. He is also urging a 
special election to vote a bond issue 
for a large amount so as to bring 
Los Angeles’ park system up to date. 
The offer of Mrs. Mina Robinson, 
of South Scranton, ■ Pa., to sell Moun- 
tain Lake and a twenty-four-acre park 
site to the city for $3,500 has been 
officially approved. The offer is con- 
ditioned on the stipulation of the city 
to improve the plot for park pur- 
poses and to name it Robinson Park, 
in honor of her two deceased sons. 
Port Jefferson, Long Island, N. Y., 
is planning to acquire ten acres of 
land on its water front for park pur- 
poses. 
Sanitary bubble fountains are com- 
ing into general use. Our illustration 
shows one in one of the parks of 
Kansas City, Mo. It is made of con- 
crete under the direction of the engi- 
neering department. Sid J. Hare 
snapped his camera just as the fear- 
less little fellow was in the act of 
BUBBLE FOUNTAIN IN USE IN 
KANSAS CITY PARK. 
quenching his thirst. He is hanging 
on with hands and feet, but he’s get- 
ting there with the true Kansas City 
spirit. 
Referring to a request for $153,000 
to employ additional laborers for the 
parks, Charles B. Stover, park com- 
missioner of Manhattan and Rich- 
mond, New York, complained that he 
is being forced to use old and infirm 
men, who get the same pay and do 
only half as much work as men em- 
ployed by the street cleaning depart- 
■ment. “Why is it,” he asked, “that 
Commissioner Edwards has a differ- 
ent list from which to pick his labor- 
ers?” It might be quoted that “Echo 
answers: Politics.” 
A resolution requesting the Oregon 
congressional delegation, the Secre- 
