PARK AND CCnCTCRY 
3i'f 
PARK NOTES 
Plans are to be prepared for an esplanade and park about 
the harbor at Newport, R. I. 
The Lincoln Park, Chicago, commissioners, estimate that 
$291,000 will be required to meet the obligations and [.rosecute 
the improvements arranged for next year. 
♦ * 
Pueblo, Colo., is rapidly progressing towardsa park system. 
Two park districts are now in progress, one north and one south 
of the river. Some valuable donations of land have been made 
to the city for this purpose. 
* It 
New Orleans, a city of squares and small parks, is becoming 
infected with the general activity now being more or less dis- 
played over the country, in the matter of the improvement and 
care of parks. Many improvements are planned, and consider- 
able effort is being expended to bring the many beauty spots into 
an attractive condition. 
* >(c 
The gardens of Buckingham Palace, London, are about 
forty acres in extent, of which space five acres are occupied by a 
piece of ornamental water. The grounds are skillfully laid out 
and planted with beautiful trees, and in the Queen's summer- 
house are the eight frescoes from “Comus” which were painted 
by Eastlake, Maclise, Landseer, Dyce, Stanfield, Morris, Leslie, 
and Ross. 
* * * 
Essex County, N. J., under its new park law, will have 
when the Park Commission has completed its projected parks 
and park ways, about 3,000 acres of park property. The total 
area of Essex county is 129 72 square miles, or 83,923 acres, in- 
cluding 4,631 acres of tide marsh and 1,646 of water. This 3,000 
acres of park will make the county prominent among municipal- 
i ties having large park systems. 
* » * 
A gigantic scheme of parkway improvement is talked of for 
Long Island, N. Y. It is proposed to construct a driveway from 
Brooklyn to Montauk Point, which will make the distance 100 
miles and cost some $20,000,000. The idea will include bicycle 
paths and very wide sidewalks. It is believed that country seats 
of the wealthy classes of Brooklyn and New York, would be es- 
tablished along this magnificent boulevard. 
■» * * 
Among the features to mark the thirtieth anniversary of 
Wm. Logan Rodman Post i, G. A. R., New Bedford, Mass., is 
the planting of a -‘Liberty Tree” on the common of that town, 
for which a, little earth in which to plant it has been solicited 
from every state in the union. The idea has met with a hearty 
response and, in addition to that from the states, a portion has 
been gathered from the historical battle fields of the Revolution- 
ary war. Provid d success attends the effort a vast amount of 
interest and patriotic sentiment will envelope the growing tree. 
» * * 
Hartford, Conn., has been having trouble on its hands in the 
matter of its parks, through the perversity of the directors of the 
state reformatory. The city has been fortunate in receiving 
gifts of land for park purposes, to improve which in the highest 
sense competent authority wai consulted. The state reformatory 
directors, regardless of park interests, bought a site for their 
buildings, which according to the Hartford Courant, and in 
pite of remonstrance, cuts the park system in two, destroying the 
general plan. It raised an indignant protest which should re- 
sult in reinstating things. Clashing of authorities should never 
be permitted by the public, whose servants such authorities are. 
» * * 
The Peoria Park system, for which a board of trustees was 
organized about two years ago, is rapidly showing the effects of 
systematic work. The principal parks are Glen Oak Park, the 
largest; Laura Bradley Park, the gift of Mrs. Lydia Bradley, 
1343^ acres; Madison Park, 86 acres; South Park, ten acres. 
The total expenditures on the system to June i, 1896, has been 
$293,091.79 and the receipts $319,922.78. Glen Oak Park was 
recently formally dedicated to the public with much civic cere- 
mony and popular participation. 
» * * 
Somewhat of an innovation is about to’be introduced into 
Lincoln Park, Chicago. Commissioner Henrici recently pur- 
chased some song-birds in England, which are intended as a gift 
to the park. They will be domiciled in the large greenhouse, 
and arrangements have been made to accommodate and protect 
them. It is expected they will serve a double purpose, that of 
ridding the trees and plants of grubs and insects and add to the 
charms of the house by their warblings. In variety the gift con- 
sists of the Japanese Robin, European Wagtail, Blue Java Spar- 
row, Gray Java Sparrow, and others. 
* * * 
An inspection has been made of the various points and is- 
lands of the St. Lawrence by the New York State Fish, Game 
and Forestry Commissioners, in anticipation of purchases for 
park purposes. For some time past there has been considerable 
feeling raised due to the private ownership of so many of the St. 
Lawrence islands, and the constant menace of trespass complaints 
against unwitting visitors. It is proposed to establish a state or 
international park to include desirable islands and points of in- 
terest to secure to tourists and pleasure seekers for ever, such 
facilities to enjoy the beauties of the river and its scenery as a 
state arrangement may secure. 
* » * 
Over $600,000 has been expended on the park system of 
Cambridge, Mass., the past three years, out of an estimated total 
cost of $2,000,000, while the completion of the scheme may not 
be expected for many years yet, certainly not in this century. 
Cambridge Field, in East Cambridge, one of the main features, 
is however rapidly approaching completion having received par- 
ticular attention. It is a recreation ground in every sense of the 
word, in the centre of which is located a model shelter house, of 
picturesque design. Permanent sand courts for children are fin- 
ished and ample provision has been made for all kinds of ball 
and other games. The planting scheme is also far advanced. 
» * » 
U. H. Burnham, the well-known executive of the World’s 
Fair, has laid before the prominent citizens of Chicago a compre- 
hensive scheme of park improvement for the lake front, which 
carried out would place the city in the front rank of urban mag- 
nificence as regards park embellishment. On the lake front, now 
being filled in, the scheme provides an arrangement on the Ital- 
ian garden style, in which a triumphal arch, public statuary, 
memorial buildings, fountains, etc., shall be imposing feature® 
of the scene. This portion is to be connected with the north and 
south sidi park systems, — to the north by a handsomely propor- 
tioned subw-ay, artistically designed and decorated, passing under 
the river, — to the south park system by a parkway including a 
waterway, dotted with islands, and designed to embody and em- 
phasize magnificent landscape effects, besides giving every facil- 
ity for land and water recreation. The cost is estimated at 
$4,000,000, a comparatively small sum considering the possibili- 
ties of the project and its immense benefits in the future. 
