246 
PARK AND CEMETERY, 
with a flaring advertising sign, the very audacious- 
ness of the act provoked a quasi commendatory 
ridicule, but it was never thought that this was to 
be the forerunner of a system of advertising that 
should spread over the world defacing and degrad- 
ing the face of nature in well nigh every available 
feature that might catch the eye of the passer-by. 
The limit has been reached and no effort must be 
spared to suppress it. Congress should be urged 
to pass a bill prohibiting advertising of any des- 
cription in and about our national parks and reser- 
vations, Ordinances are now in operation and are 
being passed in many cities and to aid the cause 
and supply information for active workers, we ask 
our readers to send to this offfcc copies of ordi- 
nances or statutes which they know to have been 
passed by cities, towns or countjes in their locality. 
PROGRESS ^ retrospect of the progress in 
cemetery improvement is appro- 
priate at this time. On the ques- 
tion of public sentiment one can very well be sur- 
prised at its growth in favor of better care the past 
few years. Only ten years ago it may be said that 
to get lot owners interested in the cemetery beyond 
their own personal interest was a difficult task, but 
the persistent work of those of progressive spirit 
has changed this condition until we find few local- 
ities of common enlightenment where the desire 
for better conditions in the local burying ground is 
not strongly manifest. The work of the Associa- 
tion of American Cemetery Superintendents in 
promoting higher ideals in cemetery management 
and improvement has been vastly beneficial, and, 
in fact, since the organization was effected and a 
commumity of interest between such officials estab- 
lished, progress has been marked and rapid. The 
influence of the large landscape cemeteries is radi- 
ating with potent force and bringing other burial 
places within range of that influence into line for 
up-to-date improvement. And the understanding 
of the meaning of these improved conditions is ex- 
tending farther and farther, and information is con- 
stantly coming to hand that a local cemetery here 
and another there are adopting the methods now 
in vogue for making the cemetery beautiful in all 
senses of the word, so far as conditions will permit. 
But there is much to be done still. The ideal 
cemeteries may be counted on the hands. There 
is a broad field to cover and education is yet 
needed in all directions to impress the mind of the 
average citizen with the desirability of contribut- 
ing either of his means or intelligence to further 
the cause. The work must not be permitted to 
flag and this new year in a new century must be 
made to tell as an augury (or the future. 
the It will be a source of gratification 
to our readers to learn that the 
THE HUDSON , . 1 - 
prospects for preserving the rali- 
sades of the Hudson river are now as bright as 
were the probabilities of their utter despoliation a 
few months back. The joint commission, appointed 
by the states of New York and New Jersey, which, 
although serving without pay, have proved an ad- 
mirable and praiseworthy agent in the work, with 
resources not often displayed by such bodies. 
The commission was provided with $15,000 for its 
requirements, which instead of squandering in 
clerk hire, printing bills, office rent, etc., expended 
the greater part of it on a first payment on the 
Carpenter quarry, the scene of the most disastrous 
spoliation of scenery, and where still worse was 
imminent. Having made good this option as a 
wedge, the commission secured the co-operation of 
some wealthy citizens of New Yoik, who have 
agreed to secure the balance of the amount re- 
quired — some $132,500, and so it would appear 
that the historic and beautiful Palisades of the 
Hudson are to be preserved to the public for ever. 
The work of the commission will not end with the 
purchase of the property, but the effort to obtain 
funds with which to develop the tract will be con- 
tinued with a view to elaborate one of the most at- 
tractive public parks in the country, to which the 
natural conditions of the locality contribute to a 
remarkable degree. 
There is a suggestion conveyed in the above 
which must not pass without emphasis. It lies in 
the fact that the comparative ease with which the 
above results have been so far attained promise 
satisfactory solutions to similar projects over the 
country, provided similar or equally effective meth- 
ods are used. From first to last in the progress of 
the effort, the end to be attained was the only 
object sought. There was no side-tracking of 
either funds or energy, and it goes to show that 
commissions can be appointed from the intelligent 
citizens of the country of sufficient patriotism to 
work for the object to which they were appointed 
and to do it well. There are many localities of 
surpassing interest in the country that should be 
preserved to its citizens, places that should never 
be exploited by man except for the benefit of the 
higher requirements ot his fellow man. In this 
work the general government should take the lead, 
for wherever such natural beauty spots exist, it 
means so many Meccas for the pleasure seeking 
traveller. In such work it would be to the actual 
benefit of the states interested to co-operate, and 
tlie task if undertaken without delay will be far 
easier than if postponed indefinitely. 
