68 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
P «& PARK NOTES. •& | 
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Lima, O., has voted to issue bonds to the amount of $98,000 
for park purposes. 
The citizens of Tifton, Ga., are moving energetically in the 
matter of town improvement. Committees have been appointed 
to watch over park interests, railroad depot facilities and such 
public improvements as water works and lighting. 
* * * 
The U. S. Senate has agreed to an amendment to the sun- 
dry civil bill revoking the forest reservations order, covering se- 
venteen millions acres made by President Cleveland. It will be 
interesting to know what the House will do. 
* * * 
The Town Improvement Association, of Montclair, N. Y., 
held its annual meeting last month. Its agency has been very 
effective in cleaning the streets and otherwise improving the 
place, and sometime ago it received a substantial sum of money 
for the cause in token of appreciation of its services. 
* * * 
The New York Assembly has passed a bill authorizing the 
City of Buffalo to issue bonds to provide funds to pay for lands to 
be acquired for park purposes and the erection of a building 
thereon to be used by the Buffalo Historical Society. The New 
York assembly has also passed the bill appropriating $1, 000,000 
for the purchase of land in the Adirondack park territory. This 
is for a further development of a scheme to present to the peo 
pie certain of the desirable portions of the Adirondacks. 
* * 
Mrs. Anna May Warrington has presented to the borough 
of West Chester, Pa., a pretty lot on which there is a fine spring 
of water, with the understanding that a public fountain is to be 
erected thereon. In recognition of this generous act Philip 
Sharpless, an extensive manufacturer, has given $500 towards 
providing a suitable fountain for the lot and the necessary bal- 
ance of money will soon be secured. 
* * * 
Creston, la., took advantage of Arbor Day. Over 1000 trees 
were planted by its school children, besides a large number of 
shrubs and ornamental rees. Not only were the school grounds 
substantially remembered, but in response to the suggestions 
freely offered by the school authorities, considerable attention 
was given to home grounds. Altogether the day was a practi- 
cally useful ore. 
* * * 
It having been decided to transplant a large number of the 
trees in Paris to the Bois de Boulogne to make room for the ex- 
hibition of 1900, it was found that there was no conveyance large 
enough for the purpose. In consequence of this an immense 
dray of metal and wood is being built to transport the trees. 
The dimensions of the truck are colossal, measuring more than 
16 feet by 19 feet by 22 feet. 
* * * 
The foundation stone of a new public library at Edmonton, 
near London, the gift of Passmore Edwards, editor of the Lon- 
don Echo , has been laid, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, the novelist, 
making the principal speech. The library is to be erected in 
memory of Charles Lamb and John Keats, both of whom live in 
Edmonton, the latter writing] his'first poem there, and the 
former retiring to its quiet shades in the evening of life, worn out 
by the burden of time and his unremitting attentions to his sis 
ter. The Last Letters of Elia came from Edmonton. 
* * * 
The ground for a public park at Bogota, N. J., presented to 
the borough by Judge Bogert in memory of his daughter who 
died two years ago, is being improved. The trees and shrubbery 
were the gift of A. S. Munn, J r. This memorial Is in line with 
the frequent suggestions offered. No more enduring and at the 
same time valuable and valued monument could be secured to 
maintain a memory, than the dedication of a park to the people. 
It secures its stability as a memorial not only by historical record 
and association, but also in the material benefits it confers to 
generation after generation. 
* * * 
The area of the parks of Brooklyn, N. Y. , is 802 acres of 
which Prospect Park contains 5 16 acres and cost 14,000,000 while 
Central Park, New York City, covers 840 acres and cost some 
$15,000,000. Prospect Park has no acres of woodland, 77 
acres of lakes and water courses, 70-acres of meadows, 259 acres 
of plantations, nine miles of drives, 3 of bridle paths and 12 of 
walks. It is proposed this year to greatly improve the Plaza en- 
trance, and to make it the most picturesque portion of the park. 
A new electric fountain is to take the place of the old one, and 
at a cost of $15,000. The estimates this year call for an expendi- 
ture of $650,000. 
* * * 
The term ‘-tree butcher” which is now being applied quite 
vigorously in the East to the tree trimmer, is not without cause if 
the intelligence applied to the work and the reason for it, as re- 
corded in Columbia, Pa., represents prevailing conditions. A 
committee was appointed to enquire into the ruthless spoliation 
of the shade trees in Locust Street Park, and the evidence devel- 
oped that the pay for the work was the wood that was removed, 
that the trees were to be “trimmed equally,” and that the limbs 
were to be cut off as high as the men could reach. It takes gen- 
erations for trees to reach perfection, how quickly ruined under 
such ignorant officialism. 
* * * 
The Tree Planting and Fountain Society of Brooklyn is ex- 
ercising an influence far beyond its immediate sphere, its practi- 
cal work being recognized as worthy of adoption in any city. Its 
educational work has added to the refinement of the city by 
inculcating a wider knowledge of the wonders of tree life and its 
vast importance in the economy of civilization. The Philadel- 
phia Public Ledger , suggests that Philadelphia offers a fruitful 
field for such a society, and that it must be apparent to any one 
observant enough to note how the street trees are butchered every 
year under the name of pruning. The paper severely criticises 
the city forester, and says the condition of the trees in the public 
squares would not lead anyone to believe in the existence of such 
an official “or that, if there is one, he is a person to trust private 
trees to or ask advice of. Tree planting and tree culture in cit- 
ies is a fine art, and people who appreciate the beauty which 
trees give to a street would like to see the art encouraged. But 
the hope that there will be a revival of it in Philadelphia is not 
seemingly in its city forester, but in an organization patterned 
after the Brooklyn Tree Planting and Fountain society.” Coun- 
cils’ Committee on Police and Prisons agreed to report favorably 
the bill to prohibit the placing of advertisements on trees with- 
out the consent of the owners. A similar bill was defeated in 
the old Councils because it had inserted in it provisions against 
the hitching of horses to trees and preventing electric linemen 
from cutting off branches to permit the stringing of wire. After 
some discussion these provisions were taken out of the bill. Evi- 
dently the Common Council of Philadelphia needs education in 
some important directions. 
