PARK AND CEMETERY. 
93 
bond issues amounting to $3,000,000 were 
secured. 
For many years prior to the passage of 
the legislation authorizing these bond is- 
sues no improvement or extension of the 
West Park system had been made, and 
the condition into which the parks had 
fallen was deplorable. Since then a trans- 
formation has taken place in every branch 
of the system. It is not too much to say 
that the West Side parks have been res- 
cued from a state of gradual decay and 
brought to a well-nigh perfect condition 
by the Board of West Chicago Park Com- 
missioners during the administration of 
Governor Deneen. Financially, the park 
system has been placed upon a thoroughly 
sound basis. The parks and boulevards 
have been brought to the highest stand- 
ard of excellence. In the various parks 
constituting the West Park system, splen- 
did pavilions, greenhouses, flower houses, 
boat houses, refectories and other structures 
have been erected, for the accommodation 
and edification of the public. The plans 
and specifications for these buildings were 
The road problem, as it is presented to 
the cemetery superintendents, differs in 
many vital respects from the road problem 
of the park superintendent and town en- 
gineer. Traffic in any of our large ceme- 
teries is intermittent and irregular. Un- 
like the traffic of a park, which is com- 
posed wholly of light vehicles, with its 
maximum intensity during the best weather 
of the year, the traffic of a cemetery 
knows no seasonal variations. The roads 
must be ready for service at all times, 
summer or winter, and must carry not 
only light traffic, but the occasional severe 
strain of heavy monuments and building 
materials. 
In common with the park superintend- 
ent, the cemetery official must consider the 
aesthetic appearance of the road and must 
have a clean road, as suitable for foot 
traffic as for vehicle traffic. It is also de- 
sirable to have a road which inhibits weed 
growth as far as possible. 
A close study of the many phases of 
this problem has led many superintendents 
Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, 111. 
drawn by the state architect, Mr. W. Car- 
bys Zimmerman, and their design has 
proven in every instance a model of artis- 
tic architecture, not only artistic, but prac- 
tical and substantial throughout. 
The West Park Board points with pride 
to the fact that during the past few years 
it has maintained the entire system out of 
the tax levy of each preceding year ; that 
during 1911 alone it saved from its general 
maintenance fund threeTourths of a mil- 
lion dollars which was available during 
1912 for such permanent improvements as 
field houses, building, and equipment for 
four small parks which were added to the 
system last year ; and that at the close of 
Governor Deneen’s administration the con- 
dition of the West Park system, financially 
and in every other way,, shows' such an 
amount of improvement work as has never 
been accomplished by any previous board. 
From the proceeds of the $1,000,000 
small park bond issue the land for small 
parks Nos. 1, 2 and 3 was acquired, a total 
of about fifteen acres, and improved with 
field house, assembly hall, library and read- 
to adopt some one of the many forms of 
bituminous construction which have become 
prominent in the last decade. It is the 
purpose of the present paper to point out 
some of the advantages of a refined tar, 
like Tarvia, in this form of construction 
and to outline the methods used in suc- 
cessful work. 
A road well built with refined tar as a 
binding material admirably fulfills the ex- 
acting condition of cemetery work. The 
road is good in all kinds of weather the 
year round ; it is easy to keep neat and 
free from weeds and gives a good surface 
to walk upon at all times. The form of 
construction and the appearance of the 
surface are easily varied to meet local con- 
ditions and the aesthetic demands of the 
situation. 
The methods of building successful tar- 
via macadam roads have become standard- 
ized through the experience of the past de- 
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, 
Canada. 
ing rooms, gymnasiums, shower baths, 
lunch room and club rooms, and outdoor 
swimming pool and gymnasiums. 
As typical of the small parks in this 
system, a few facts about Dvorak Park 
and playground will be of interest. The 
land, about 3-K acres, was purchased for 
$83,873.62, and the field house and other 
construction work cost $75,160. This park 
is located in the Bohemian district of the 
Southwest Side. It was the first recreation 
center to be opened by the West Chicago 
Park Commissioners. The population of 
this district averages 74,000' people to the 
square mile. There are five large public 
schools within a radius of six blocks of 
this park. The attendance at the swimming 
pooh averages 2,500 per day. The attend- 
ance for four months in the children’s 
playground was 36,500. 
The Sanitary District of Chicago is now 
furnishing the current for lighting this 
park. A fence has been erected around 
this park and a children’s garden con- 
structed between the south wall of the 
swimming pool and the south fence. 
TAR- MACADAM 
cade. What is known as the two-coat pene- 
tration method is the form usually adopted. 
The refined tar is spread upon the stone 
after the stone is rolled in place upon the 
road. Refined tar is especially adapted to 
this form of construction, since it liquifies 
at a low heat, and is easily handled, both 
through machine sprayers and by hand- 
pouring methods. When once in place it 
has sufficient set to make a firm, substan- 
tial road. 
The methods of construction may be 
varied to suit local conditions, but the car- 
dinal principles of good foundations and 
thorough coating of the stone with tarvia, 
properly heated, should be carefully at- 
tended to. The substitution of sized grav- 
els for the corresponding sizes of crushed 
stone often leads to great economy where 
gravel is cheap and crushed stone dear. 
Great care should be exercised to see that 
the stones on which the tarvia is poured 
are clean, evenly sized, carefully laid and 
rolled with intelligence. 
National Cemetery at Arlington, Va. 
CEMETERY ROAD MAKING WITH 
By Philip P. Sharpless. 
SOME TARVIATED CEMETERY ROADWAYS. 
