PARK AND CEMETERY. 
161 
PARK NEWS. 
ppif 
&& : 
m 
Secretary Wilson, U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, has decided to estab- 
lish an experiment station on the Manti 
National Forest, near Ephraim, Utah, 
for the study of grazing and water pro- 
tection problems. Bids for the construc- 
tion of the necessary buildings have 
been received and it is expected to have 
the station in working order before win- 
ter. Already the gathering of observa- 
tions on the relation of erosion and run- 
off to the forest cover have begun. 
The Parkman Memorial Band Stand, 
given to the City of Boston, Mass., by 
the late George Francis Parkman, was 
recently dedicated. It is built entirely 
of marble, and occupies a commanding 
position on Boston Common. It will 
contribute largely to the attractiveness 
of the city. 
The new South Boston Aquarium, 
which is being built in Marine Park, 
City Point, will be opened to the pub- 
lic early in September. Architecturally, 
the structure ranks among the best of 
its kind. The entrance is guarded by 
white marble columns; its vestibule is 
also in white marble, while the glass 
tanks on the inside are backed by na- 
tural rock. 
Mr. Adam Balmer, superintendent of 
parks at Vancouver, B. C., who was in 
Minneapolis recently, criticizes that city’s 
park roadways. On this point alone, he 
says, the western cities were far ahead 
of the east. “The trouble I find with 
the Minneapolis park roads is they do 
not build the crown of the road high 
enough. The automobiles soon wear it 
down and after a rainstorm hundreds 
of puddles collect on the road. In 
Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria and other 
provincial cities we are laying nothing 
but macadam roads, as we find other 
materials are no good for park road- 
ways, and we are building all the roads 
with high wide crowns which permit of 
a quick drainage after rains and snows.” 
Pursuant to the latest provisions of 
the Illinois laws, a petition has been 
filed for Mattoon asking for the ap- 
pointment of a commission to have con- 
trol of the financial welfare of the parks 
in Mattoon township. 
Dr. E. L. Cooley, the well known 
educator, in an address before the North 
St. Louis, Mo., Business Men's Club, 
emphasized the necessity for entertain- 
ment for the young girls of a city. Al- 
though ample provision is made in the 
parks for the young men little or no 
opportunity of enjoying themselves is 
afforded to girls, and this lack of pro- 
vision on the part of the city leads 
many girls to seek pleasure in dance 
halls and other questionable amusement 
places. This is an important matter for 
more specific attention. 
According to Col. Langfitt, the engi- 
neer officer in charge of local river and 
harbor works at Washington, D. C, in 
his annual report to the War Depart- 
ment, the general project for the im- 
provement of the Potomac river at 
Washington is nearly completed, and 
good progress is being made in the two 
projects for the improvement of the 
Anacostia river. 
The park commissioners of Toledo, 
O., have introduced an ordinance in the 
city council providing for a $750,000 
bond issue for the purpose of purchas- 
ing and condemning land for parks, park 
entrances, parkways and the completion 
of the boulevard system. 
The annual financial budget of Aber- 
deen, Wash., provides $10,000 for parks. 
A great deal has been accomplished, 
the past year, in the care of the park 
system of Pomona, Cal., which is un- 
der the presidency of J. M. 
Paige. There are seven parks in all, 
one being the railroad park, for which 
the city pays the water bill, and the 
total expenditure for all was $19,000. 
The largest is Ganesha Park, which is a 
popular picnic resort for all sister towns 
and villages in the locality. Besides 
trails for mountain climbing it has two 
splendid views — Lookout Point and In- 
spiration Point. A recent improvement 
in this park has been the installation of 
an underground lighting system, and all 
overhead poles and wires have been re- 
moved. 
Springfield, O., will probably get a 
consignment of rare foreign trees and 
shrubbery from the Agricultural De- 
partment at Washington through Con- 
gressman Post. The Park Department 
will set apart a piece of land for the 
care and development of the acquisition. 
Mayor Blankburg, of Philadelphia, 
has been urging a new municipal loan of 
$5,000,000, a million of which is to be 
set aside toward the completion of the 
Parkway. It is possible that the meas- 
ure may be voted upon at the Novem- 
ber election. 
Dr. Elnora C. Folkmar, secretary of 
the Medical Societ}-' of the District of 
Columbia, favors the establishment of 
recreation centers in Washington. She 
says Washington should have several 
such recreation centers as, for instance, 
Chicago. “A game of baseball, a game 
of tennis, a spin on the ice, a swin in 
the basin, a turn in the gymnasium, 
means much in physical, mental, and 
moral health, means better children, bet- 
ter men and women.” 
A White Rutland Marble Fountain, 
which is to be erected at Hardwick, 
Mass., is now being finished in the Ver- 
mont Marble Co.’s shops. It was de- 
signed by Stowe Phelps, of New 
York, and will be known as the Cal- 
vin Page Memorial. 
Trouble has arisen in Springfield, 111., 
in regard to the use of the park boule- 
vards for heavy teaming, and it is pro- 
posed to test the law in the higher 
courts. A warrant was recently secured 
in the local court for the arrest of a 
teamster accused of driving a heavy 
wagon along South Grand avenue boule- 
vard. 
Former administrations of the depart- 
ments of Parks and Public Safety, of 
Des Moines, la., are reported to have 
been scored for laxity in their financial 
methods by the State Municipal ex- 
aminer. 
A test in court of the legal right of 
the West Park Commissioners, of Chi- 
cago, to expend park funds for erecting 
in west and northwest side small parks 
various buildings containing gymnasiums, 
lunchroons, public library and reading 
rooms, baths, theater and assembly halls 
has begun. An application for an in- 
junction to restrain the park board from 
erecting such a building in the new 
small park at Noble and Bradley streets 
was made in a bill filed in the Superior 
court on behalf of northwest side prop- 
erty owners. Without discussing the 
point of such large outlays for small 
park buildings, the opposition coming 
largely, as it appears to do, from vari- 
ous business interests should hardly 
carry much weight as against the great 
advantages which the public neighbor- 
hood center has been shown to furnish. 
The growth of the park system of 
Nashville, Tenn., has been really phe- 
nomenal. Eleven years ago the city 
owned one park — Watkins. Now there 
are fourteen : Shelby, Centennial, Rich- 
land, Clifton, Watkins, Cherokee, Eliza- 
beth, Morgan, Gunfactory, Fillmore, 
Meridian, Fatherland, Hadley and 
Napier. The largest is Shelby Park, 
containing 236 acres, located in East- 
land, with a river front of one and a 
quarter miles. When this park is com- 
pleted it will have about 15 miles of 
roads. The two colored parks are Had- 
ley and Napier, the former containing 
