136 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
AMERICAN PARK SUPERINTENDENTS CONVENTION 
The fourteenth annual meeting of 
the American Association of Park Su- 
perintendents opened in Horticultural 
Hall, Boston, Mass., Monday, August 
12th. The attendance was unusually 
large, some '80' being present. 
The opening session was called to 
order by the president, Wm. H. Dunn, 
of Kansas City, Mo., who introduced 
James B. Shea, assistant superintend- 
ent of parks, Boston, who on behalf 
of the mayor and park commission 
welcomed the members and delegates. 
He said: “It is with feelings of pleas- 
ure and pride that I welcome the 
members of the American Park Asso- 
ciation in Boston — pleasure that there 
is so large an attendance and so deep 
an interest in the work, and pride 
that so many park officials have 
thought it worth while to visit the 
city.” 
He paid an eloquent tribute to the 
memory of the late superintendent of 
parks, J. A. Pettigrew. He said: “If 
not here to welcome you in person, he 
has left a monument and a welcome 
in the beauty of the city, especially 
the magnificent trees on every hand.” 
In the course of President Dunn’s 
reply he said that it was his first ex- 
perience in the city and he had looked 
forward to it. “We recognize in Bos- 
ton the father of the municipal park 
system. We expect to learn a great 
deal here, and expect to find the most 
fully developed park system in this 
country. We are sure that our stay 
will be both pleasant and profitable, 
and that we will find all we can expect 
in the way of entertainment, as we 
know Boston’s reputation for hospi- 
tality.” 
New members were then elected as 
follows : 
Bernard F. Rifkin, superintendent 
of parks, Wilkesbarre, Pa.; James 
Wait, superintendent of parks, Walla 
Walla, Wash.; William M. Colton, su- 
perintendent of parks, Fitchburg, 
Mass.; Edgar M. Brown, park forest- 
er, Hartford, Conn.; John Allen, as- 
sistant superintendent of parks, Bor- 
ough of Queens, N. Y. ; John Mc- 
Laren, superintendent of parks, San 
Francisco, Cal.; Dwight F. Davis, 
park commissioner, St. Louis, Mo.; 
Charles E. Chambers, commissioner 
of parks, Toronto, Canada; Richard 
Power, superintendent Public Garden, 
Halifax, N. S.; Paul H. Riis, superin- 
tendent Rockford Park district, Rock- 
ford, 111.; Fred J. Larzell, commis- 
sioner of parks, Cedar Rapids, la. ; 
William E. Fisher, forester, Franklin 
Park, Boston; Harold J. Neale, city 
forester, Worcester, Mass.; George A. 
Hill, superintendent of parks, Ta- 
coma, Wash.; A. H. Browne, superin- 
tendent of parks, Saskatoon, Canada; 
A. Balmer, superintendent of parks, 
Vancouver, B. C.; Arthur S. Lewis, 
superintendent Lincoln Park, Chicago, 
111.; A. C. Schroeder, superintendent 
and engineer West Side parks, Chi- 
cago; David E. Austin, superintendent 
of parks, Borough of Queens, N. Y.; 
Edward F. Miller, chief engineer of 
parks, Manhattan; Joseph Gatzinger, 
assistant engineer of parks, Manhat- 
tan; Fred C. Huth, superintendent 
Hudson Company, Jersey City, N. J.; 
William O. Thompson, secretary and 
engineer department of cemeteries and 
public grounds, Portland, Me. 
Special memberships were given to 
the Essex County Park Commission 
of Newark, N. J.; the Kansas City, 
Mo., Park Commission; the South 
Park Commission and the Special 
Park Commission of Chicago, 111.; 
Walter C. Eliot, superintendent parks, 
Borough of Queens, N. Y. 
The annual report of the secietary, F. 
L. Mulford, showed an increase in 
membership of 17 and an increase in 
cash on hand of $212. 
A letter was read from Jens Jen- 
sen, objecting to a proposed change in 
the membership conditions. Mr. Jen- 
sen said that it has come to his knowl- 
edge that politicians had been allowed 
to become members of the association 
and he did not wish anyone to become 
a member unless he were qualified to 
be a park superintendent. The secre- 
tary presented a new draft of a by- 
law to effect this end. 
Superintendent Fiske of Racine, Wis- 
consin, thought that it would be a mis- 
take to shut out good men who are park 
.commissioners and secretaries of park 
boards. President Dunn said that the 
executive committee was ample to safe- 
guard the membership. He thought the 
man who talked himself into a park job 
would not last very long and he did not 
believe the association had suffered 
from any member who had been ap- 
pointed through political influence. The- 
odore Wirth of Minneapolis, one of the 
old members of the association, said he 
had no fear of the politician. “If a 
man gets into the association as a park 
superintendent even if appointed through 
political influence he should be support- 
ed if he is trying to make good. If he 
doesn’t make good he won’t bother us 
long,” he concluded and was applauded. 
The motion to admit to membership 
persons engaged in park work in any 
executive capacity if approved by the 
membership committee was passed with 
but one dissenting vote. 
The secretary informed the meeting 
that matter has been furnished Park 
and Cemetery for publication since 
May, and requested the co-operation of 
the members in this particular. He 
then presented and read the report of 
the Executive Committee on the ques- 
tion of an official organ which recom- 
mended the selection of Park and 
Cemetery. 
Correspondence between Mr. R. J. 
Plaight, the publisher of that journal, 
and the secretary of the association was 
read and discussed. 
Mr. Levison, of Brooklyn, thought 
that if the adoption of an official or- 
gan involved an increase in dues, it 
would come out of individual members 
rather than municipalities. The sec- 
retary thought an increase in dues was 
not necessary at this time and that the 
adoption of Park and Cemetery would 
save expense in many ways — postage, 
printing, etc. 
After some further discussion Mr. 
Fred C. Steinhauer, of Denver, Col., 
moved that the recommendation of the 
Executive Committee that Park and 
Cemetery be made the official organ of 
the association, to be sent to all the 
members and paid for out of the funds 
of the association be adopted. The mo- 
tion was seconded by Theodore Wirth, 
of Minneapolis, Minn., and was passed 
unanimously. 
The matter of changes in the By- 
laws was taken up and discussed at 
length. The recommendation of the 
Executive Committee was unanimously 
adopted : 
Article II, Section 2 of the Constitu- 
tion shall be changed by adding “or 
such other persons engaged in any ex- 
ecutive capacity in Park Work who may 
be recommended by the Membership 
Committee.” 
The second recommendation was 
amended as follows : 
Article 1 of the By-Laws, instead of 
reading “The annual meetings shall be 
held between August 1st and August 
15th,” shall be made to read, “The date 
of the annual meeting shall be decided 
by the Executive Committee.” 
Invitations from New Orleans, St. 
Louis and Denver for the next annual 
convention were announced by the sec- 
retary. An interesting letter from 
Charles M. Loring was read and re- 
ceived with applause. 
President Dunn read his appoint- 
ments of nominating and auditing com- 
mittees, and also appointed a special 
committee on care of trees, to investi- 
gate and report. 
The convention then adjourned for 
lunch, furnished by ' courtesy of Mr. 
John K. M. L. Farquhar in Horticul- 
tural Hall. 
During the morning a number of the 
members, interested in playground 
parks, took the autos of the park de- 
partment and visited those about the 
city. 
