I3S 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
definite park improvement, and he knows 
every other parcel of land within his dis- 
trict has been assessed in a like manner. 
He has a proprietary feeling - in all your 
plans that may be entirely lacking were 
those plans being executed under a plan of 
general taxation. 
Without careful attention to detail of con- 
struction and maintenance, you may utterly 
fail in the results you expect to attain; no 
matter what the plans may be, no matter 
what great and comprehensive schemes may 
be shown on paper, all these become prac- 
tically valueless to the community unless 
intelligently and consistently executed and 
maintained. I desire to especially empha- 
size the necessity of great care in executing 
the plans, the application of the plan on 
the ground, if you please. Give attention 
to the details of grades, lines, curbing, side- 
walk and paving surfaces, and finally trees 
and other plantations. It is careful atten- 
tion to these details of construction and 
maintenance that adds to the distinction of 
park work. This may be made especially 
true of boulevards; the uniformity of de- 
tails carried throughout the length of a 
boulevard adds greatly to its attractiveness, 
causes the abutting property owner who 
pays the bills to do so cheerfully, and 
makes him your staunch supporter at all 
times. 
A park system may be so comprehensively 
planned and executed as to reach and af- 
fect all the properties throughout the 
municipality and should be so laid out as to 
be accessible by short walks from any sec- 
tion of the city, and the benefit assess- 
ments so graded as to be spread equitably 
through • the different districts — all land 
values will be found to be benefited to some 
degree. 
Experience has proved that a carefully 
developed and properly maintained park 
system is a splendidly remunerative form of 
investment wherever this work has been 
properly executed and maintained, and that 
such work should be considered an invest- 
ment and not a tax. 
There have been many concrete instances 
where specific park improvements have 
greatly increased the value of adjacent 
lands. In Kansas City, at least, this is 
Waterloo, la., which has been sadly 
hampered in its park ambitions for want 
of funds, has seven parks, in all 225 
acres. All improvements have to be 
kept within the park tax. Last year the 
tax amounted to $10,776.43, of which 
amount $5,990.91 was appropriated for 
West Waterloo and $4,785.52 was allot- 
ted for the improvements and mainte- 
nance of the East Side parks. This 
year the tax has been increased to two 
and a half mills. Estimating upon the 
tax realized last year, about $13,470.53 
will be received this year for the park 
fund. The work is carried on under 
the care of a park commission. 
Judge Lockwood Honore rendered a 
decision on July 8 confirming the con- 
tract entered into between the South 
Park Commissioners and the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company of Chicago 
for the improvement of the lake front. 
an eminently proper result, inasmuch as 
lands without improvements in this city are 
called upon to make the entire investment. 
Perhaps no other community has called 
upon its land-owning citizens in the same 
measure, to pay for practically its entire 
park and boulevard development. The es- 
sential value of such investment has been 
proven by the fact that this city is con- 
stantly attracting to itself the well-to-do 
residents of communities near by. Through 
this source alone the city adds greatly to its 
population, and especially that particularly 
desirable class of residents for which all 
cities compete, but who will seek only those 
cities made attractive and comfortable 
through this form of municipal government 
and investment. 
That the effect of boulevard improvements 
will be to enhance the value of the abutting 
and contiguous lands to the extent, and in 
the majority of cases, greatly in excess of 
the cost of such ynprovements, seems to be 
true. The pavements, curbing and sidewalks 
need not to any appreciable extent exceed 
the cost for the same improvements on an 
ordinary residence street, but the boulevard 
must be selected in harmony with a com- 
prehensive system of parks, parkways and 
boulevards for the whole city. The formal 
boulevard would become tiresome unless it 
connected with other interesting park fea- 
tures; the whole to be worked out for the 
best result obtainable for the entire com- 
munity, and when this is done, the con- 
necting boulevards will be found to quickly 
respond in enhanced values, and other sec- 
tions of the city will experience a general 
benefit by reason of the comprehensive 
plan. 
That this general benefit is greater in 
actual enhancement of values of property 
than the cost of the Kansas City park sys- 
tem in its present stage of development is 
freely acknowledged, and the land owners 
of that city have now invested in the park 
system over eleven and one-half millions of 
dollars and are our staunch supporters for 
still more parks and boulevards. In Kan- 
sas City, at least, the effect of park and 
boulevard improvements has been the en- 
hancement of land values far in excess of 
the whole cost of the acquisitions and im- 
provements of their park system. 
The decision of the court was gratify- 
ing to both the park commissioners and 
the railroad company. The contract as 
entered into between the railroad com- 
pany and the South Park Commission- 
ers provides for the building of an 
outer boulevard connecting Jackson and 
Grant Parks, the establishment of 
bathing beaches and other improve- 
ments. 
For a consideration of $43,450 the 
Spokane City Park Board, Spokane, 
Wash., has purchased 110 acres of Or- 
chard avenue property. The deeds to 
the property have been passed to the 
city and the cash paid. This land is 
very level and eventually will probably 
be made into a great playground, as it 
will afford practically the only place this 
city has for baseball ground, tennis 
courts, golf links and outdoor sports. 
Rock Creek Park, Washington, D. C., 
has cost to date about $1,397,845.43. The 
beauty of the park lies in its closeness 
to nature, and only such roads, bridle 
paths and footpaths should be opened 
as are necessary to take care of the 
traffic, a recent report says. There 
are now in the park 7.4 miles of mac- 
adam road, 3.75 miles of unimproved 
roads, about 21.5 miles of bridle paths 
and about 4 miles of foot paths. 
The Shenandoah, la., Council has re- 
cently passed an ordinance providing for 
the election of a park commission, com- 
posed of three members. The commis- 
sioners will be elected at the regular city 
election. 
The much-talked-of plan for a park 
and boulevard system and civic center 
for Birmingham, Ala., was given a good 
send-off at a recent dinner of the 
Chamber of Commerce at Birmingham 
on July 17. Col. Robert Galloway, of 
Memphis, was present by special invi- 
tation and delivered the main address 
of the evening. Colonel Galloway was 
back of the movement which secured 
the system of parks and boulevards for 
Memphis, and is also well known in 
Birmingham. 
No Name Park is the smallest park 
in New York City. It is a triangle with 
sides respectively of 8 ft. 5 in., 7 ft. 
9 in. and 3 ft. 4 in., and has a tree and 
a drinking fountain. It is bounded by 
Amsterdam avenue, Hamilton place and 
143rd street. 
Tryon, S. C., a place of rare beauty 
of location, surrounded by some of the 
great mountain ranges of Western Car- 
olina, permits no bill posting nor paint- 
ing on the rocks within the city limits. 
Let us hear of more of this type of 
community. 
Legal objections which, if sustained, 
will invalidate special assessments on 
many park districts in Illinois and prob- 
ably force a reorganization of park 
boards, were filed in the circuit court 
at Belleville, III, on August 1. The ob- 
jectors in this case seek to prevent the 
park board from enforcing its schedule 
of assessments, and attacks the consti- 
tutionality of the statute which gives 
park boards the right to levy special 
assessments. 
The City Council of Lewiston, Idaho, 
has passed an ordinance authorizing a 
bond election September 3 for $43,000 
for the purchase of the Howe and Del- 
sol tracts east of the city and improv- 
ing them for general park purposes for 
the permanent home of the Northwest 
Live Stock Show and Fall Fair. The 
Howe place of 40 acres will cost $17,500; 
the Delsol place of 18 to 20 acres, 
$10,500, leaving a fund of $15,000 avail- 
able for the improvements. 
( Continued on Page VI) 
