10 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
the city of Memphis on January 9. 
The price paid was $85,000, on terms 
of $5,000 cash, the balance to be cov- 
ered by a note maturing in twenty- 
five years, with interest at 6 per cent. 
A movement is astir to preserve the 
site of old Fort Dearborn, Chicago, at 
Michigan Ave. and River St., by tear- 
ing down the old building now 
marked by a bronze tablet, and in its 
place establishing a small park for the 
people. 
The recent bequest of William 
Land of $250,000 for public parks in 
Sacramento, Calif., is raising the 
question as to exactly how it will 
be best to utilize it, and much inter- 
est is aroused. 
A strong protest against the en- 
largement of the Sequoia National 
Park is reported from Fresno, Calif. 
It appears to be the general feeling 
in places that certain interests are 
at the back of it, and that it is not 
advocated for the good of all the 
people. 
The Park Commission of Klamath 
Falls., Ore., has received an offer of 
27 lots, within two blocks of Main 
St., facing Lake Ewawna, for $5,000. 
The property is estimated to be 
worth $75,000. The offer was made 
by Mr. G. W. White, founder of the 
First National Bank. 
The board of park commissioners 
of Seattle, Wash., has submitted a re- 
port to the city council pointing out 
the reasons it is asking the council 
to bring before the voters the ques- 
tion of issuing $500,000 more in park 
bonds to carry on work now partly 
completed. In this report the board 
says that improvement work in the 
park system is now at a point where 
it would be unwise to abandon it and 
that out of the $2,000,000 bonds voted 
two years ago there is but $500,000 
left, and of that amount but little 
will remain after paying condemna- 
tion awards in the acquisition of new 
property. In this connection Mr. 
Emil T. Mische, superintendent, re- 
cently addressed a meeting of the 
Rose City Park Improvement Asso- 
ciation, explaining the why and the 
wherefore of the necessity of voting 
another $2,000,000 bond issue at the 
special election. 
Erie, Pa., may well be taken as an 
example of the wisdom of providing 
parks when laying out a city. There 
were laid out with the original plans 
of the city in 1795, the Central park, 
at State and Sixth streets, of which 
the name is being changed to Perry 
square, and Cascade park, at Sixth 
and Liberty streets, seven blocks 
directly west of the Central park. 
Each of these duplicate pairs of 
parks occupies a city square of four 
acres of ground. The finest residence 
streets in the city connect them. 
Eight acres of park with shade trees 
and iron garden seats, flower beds 
and fountains, afford a delightful 
resting place. In the Central park 
the original trees were left standing 
and others added more than half a 
century ago, so that the entire 
stretch of park is a shaded lawn 
where band concerts and outdoor 
meetings can be held. Erie otherwise 
is noted for its large area of park 
lands. 
Negotiations for the purchase of 
160 acres of land in Austin, Chicago, 
for the creation of a park and play 
ground have been authorized by the 
West Park commissioners. Repre- 
sentatives of the board were instruct- 
ed to offer to Archbishop James E. 
Quigley, representing the Roman 
Catholic church, $425,000 for the 
property. It was held at $600,000, but 
the valuation of the Chicago real 
estate board was $450,000. 
The good which can be accom- 
plished by laying out parks and new 
surveys to the best advantage, and 
how, was forcibly presented at a lec- 
ture given recently under the aus- 
pices of the Hamilton, Ont., Horti- 
cultural Society, by Mrs. Dunington 
Grubb, landscape architect. She laid 
particular stress on the importance of 
a city securing children’s play ground 
sites before the prices get too ex- 
orbitant, which surely happens as the 
city grows in size and population. 
A plan of municipal parks and 
boulevards, designed for South Bend, 
Ind., by George E. Kessler, of Kan- 
sas City, Mo., has now, after some 
changes, been approved both by the 
council and the city board. 
At the examination for a head florist 
held by the Civil Service Board of the 
West Chicago Park Commissioners in 
Chicago on February 27, some forty or 
fifty prospective candidates sent in- 
quiries and applications to the Board, re- 
siding in twelve different states in the 
Union. Of these only ten appeared in 
Chicago for examination and the test 
was completed in one day. The ques- 
tions were devised by Mr. Edwin F. 
Kanst of Chicago, and Mr. W. N. Rudd, 
president of Mt. Greenwood Cemetery 
Association, Chicago. The successful 
candidate was Mr. August Koch, at 
present in charge of a department of 
the Missouri Botanical Garden at St. 
Louis. In an early issue this interesting 
subject will be again referred to. 
The Sherman, Texas, city council 
has accepted the Fairview Park, pre- 
sented to the city by the ladies of the 
local civic improvement league. 
South Dakota is working upon the 
scheme of a 50,000-acre state park 
in the Black Hills, a park that shall 
be a paying proposition. The state 
has filed papers on 48,000 acres of 
timber land in the Black Hills forest 
reserve, and to 12,000 acres in the 
West Shore Pines reserve in Harding 
county. 
The boys of Phoenix, Arizona, are 
organizing for a campaign to secure 
a public playground. 
At a recent meeting of the park 
commission of Freeport, 111., the plans 
as submitted by Charles Mulford Rob- 
inson were formally adopted, with 
slight changes, and arrangements 
were made with H. C. Klehm, of Ar- 
lington Heights, 111., to act as super- 
vising architect, the remuneration 
for such service to be upon a com- 
mission basis. The plans submitted 
by Mr. Robinson show the general 
scheme of the park, and they have 
been placed for the inspection of the 
public in one of the business stores. 
The supervisors at Fresno, Calif., 
have received letters from United 
States Senator George C. Perkins 
and Congressmen S. C. Smith and 
J. C. Needham, stating that they will 
do all in their power to defeat the 
bill which proposes to enlarge the 
Sequoia National Park. These let- 
ters are in reply to resolutions sent 
the two California senators and the 
congressmen of this and the eighth 
district by the supervisors two weeks 
ago, protesting against the proposed 
enlargements. 
Mishawaka, Ind., a growing town, 
is earnestly considering a compre- 
hensive park scheme. Last spring 
two park sites were acquired by the 
council and public attention is being 
concentrated on park development. 
The efficiency board of Cleveland, 
0„, organized by Mayor Baker, has 
decided to issue $1,175,000 in bonds 
for a start on the proposed new city 
hospital, park improvements, the 
Hudson Boys’ Flome and the Cooley 
farm at Warrensville. The city hos- 
pital is to get $600,000, the parks 
$350,000 for adding shelter houses, 
paving drives, improving entrances 
and many other needed improve- 
ments. Two buildings are to be add- 
ed for the insane at Warrensville 
farm; additions to the value of $25,- 
000 will be made at the Boys’ Home. 
More bonds will be issued to com- 
plete the work later on. 
The Woman’s Park Club of Walla 
Walla, Wash., has gained a point. The 
