747 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
vacant lots, or approximately 2,225,000 
square feet, of which 2,000,000 square feet 
W'ere planted to vegetables. The city was 
divided into six districts, about 60 gar- 
dens to a district, each district being In 
charge of an assistant gardener furnished 
by the Minnesota Farm School. Careful 
instruction in gardening thus was univer- 
sal, and an idea of^the extent of the work 
may be gained from the fact that the club 
gave away 28,000 cabbage and tomato 
plants. The nasturtium was adopted as 
the official flower of the club, and 22,000 
packets of nasturtium seeds were distrib- 
uted, in addition to which 10,000 packages 
were sold. 
Mrs. Edward W. Biddle, of Carlisle, 
Pa., presided and opened the session 
with ■ brief remarks on the successful 
results of the work for the betterment 
of children by outdoor amusement and 
employment. Mrs. John W. Reily, of 
Fort Hunter, Pa., was introduced and 
told the story of the garden schools of 
Harrisburg, Pa. 
Miss Zona Gale, of Portage, Wis., 
read a story : “The Election in Friend- 
ship Village.” 
A committee on resolutions consist- 
ing of Warren H. Manning, Frederick 
L. Ford and Frank Chapin Bray were 
appointed. They reported the following 
resolutions : 
Resolved, That the American Civic As- 
sociation reaffirms its action in favor of the 
Lincoln Memorial as recommended by the 
Fine Arts Commission. 
That the protection of the Burton Bill, 
extended by Congress to Niagara Falls, 
should be made a part of and follow the 
life of the prevailing international treaty 
instead of being continued merely as a 
temporary provision. 
That the American Civic Association 
heartily favors the suggestion of the Pres- 
ident of the United States that Niagara 
Palls be made a national reservation. 
That the American Civic Association 
thusiastlcally endorses the establishment of 
a National Park Bureau as favored and 
stated in person before this Convention by 
President William H. Taft, Secretary of 
the Interior Walter L. Fisher, and Hon. 
Reed Smoot, chairman of the Senate Com- 
mittee on Public Lands. 
INCREASED FUNDS ASKED FOR NATIONAL PARKS 
For the development and care of the national parks the 
Secretary of the Interior has asked Congress to appropri- 
ate the sum of $791,080, an increase of $617,830.60 over the 
appropriations for the current fiscal year. The national 
parks constitute ideal recreation grounds for thousands of 
people, but their development and use are seriously retarded 
by the lack of adequate roads and trails, and until sufficient 
money is appropriated for beginning a comprehensive plan 
of development the parks will fall far short of rendering the 
important public use for which they are intended. The gen- 
eral public interest in these pleasure grounds is shown by 
the fact that in a list recently issued by the Department of 
the Interior, 390 magazine articles on the parks are enumer- 
ated. It is the intention of the Department to make the 
principal places of interest in the parks more accessible, to 
render traveling more comfortable by sprinkling the roads 
throughout the dry season, and to guard the health of the 
traveler by _the installation of proper water supply and sew- 
erage systems. The responsibility for the future conduct 
of the national parks must rest with Congress, but the de- 
partment feels that the financial needs of these reservations 
should be clearly presented to Congress. 
Some of the increased appropriations asked for the Na- 
tional parks are : 
Yosemite National Park, from $50,000 to $52,740; Sequoia 
National Park, from $15,550 to $89,550; General Grant Na- 
tional Park, from $2,000 to $17,250. The items for each park 
are as follows : 
Yosemite National Park— New road along south rim of 
Yosemite Valley from Fort Monroe to Glacer Point, $75,000; 
improving the road on the north side of Merced River from 
Pomona bridge to the junction with the Coulterville' road, 
$50,210 ; continuing the improvement of the road on the 
south side of Merced River from Camp Amwanee to Happy 
Isles, $46,750 ; a reinforced concrete bridge to replace the 
Sentinel bridge over Merced River, $14,000; construction of 
trail from Merced River Canyon to the head of the Merced 
River, $5,000 ; construction of trail from the head of Lyell 
Fork Meadows to the Lyell Glacier, $1,500; continuing the 
installation of the water distributing system in the Yosemite 
Valley, $25,000; garbage incinerator, $6,900; operating the 
present road sprinkling system, $7,500; the extension of the 
road sprinkling system to Fort Monroe and Happy Isles 
and operation of the same, $7,500; repair of existing roads, 
trails, bridges, culverts, buildings, plants, fences, camp sani- 
tation, and removal of undergrowth, $25,000; salaries, $10,460. 
Sequoia National Park — Widening 21 miles of Giant Forest 
wagon road to 18 feet and constructing drain culvert, $25,200; 
constructing 40 miles of trail, $12,000 ; improving 150 miles 
of trail, $15,000 ; construction of 20 miles of telephone, line, 
$8,000 ; fencing 50 miles of the park boundary, $10,000 ; com- 
pletion of water system for Tourist Camp at Camp Sierra, 
including public drinking fountains, $2,500; constructing a 
stairway and hand rail on Moro Rock, $2,500; construction 
of pier, bathhouse, and a boathouse at Twin Lakes, $2,000; 
The department proposes to spend $41,615 on the Mesa 
Verde National park during the fiscal year ending June 30, 
1913, if the amount requested by the secretary of the inte- 
rior ^is appropriated by Congress. This is an increase of 
$34,115 over the appropriation for the current fiscal year. 
The main items are as follows : 
Completion of wagon road to cliff dwellings, $7,000; re- 
construction and repair of constructed road, including widen- 
ing, surfacing and leveling of roadbed and the building of 
retaining walls, $20,000 ; construction of road from Spruce 
Tree house to Balcony house, $ 1 , 000 ; repair of road travers- 
ing public lands leading to park highway, $1,500 ; construction 
of custodian’s house, $2,500 ; construction of telephone line 
from custodian’s house to Mancos, $3,000 ; contingent ex- 
penses and salaries, $6,615. 
USE OF NAPHTHALENE IN ROAD TARS 
As a large part of the road work in 
this country seems destined to be effect- 
ed by the use of tars in road treatment 
and construction, a systematic investi- 
gation of the effect of various constit- 
uents upon the adaptability of tars as 
road binders is of great importance. 
Hence, the recent circular issued by 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture on 
The Effect of Naphthalene upon the 
Consistency of Refined Tars f Office of 
Public Roads Circular 96) is a valua- 
ble contribution to good roads litera- 
ture. While definite conclusions are 
not announced, the results strongly in- 
dicate four determinate facts ; 
(1) That the fluxing value of nap- 
thalene for tar pitches is somewhat 
greater, although quite similar, to the 
heavier naphthalene-free tar distillates, 
until the mixture becomes saturated with 
naphthalene ; 
(2) That for the harder tar pitches 
the addition of very small percentages 
of naphthalene will produce a marked 
increase in fluidity. 
(3) That for the softer pitches the 
addition of naphthalene in small quan- 
increase in fluidity. 
(4) That where naphthalene is added 
beyond the point of saturation a rapid 
decrease in the fluidity of tars at tem- 
peratures below the melting point of 
naphthalene is observed, but at temper- 
atures above its melting point the fluid- 
ity continues to increase. 
