48 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
PARK NOTES. 
In the streets and public places of Paris, France, some 
80,000 trees are planted. Of these, approximateh’, 26,000 are 
plane trees, 17,000 chestnut and 15,000 elm trees. The balance 
are sycamores, lindens, maples and sundry other varieties. 
• * • 
The village of Gaylord, Minn., though “not yet out of its 
teens,” is still ahead of many older cities, in that it has secured 
for purposes of a public park, a picturesque tract of land of 
about thirty acres, adjoining the town site and bordering on a 
lake of several hundred acres. A portion of this tract has been 
devoted to a speeding track for driving or wheeling, and the 
balance will be improved as circumstances will permit, after de- 
signs by Mr. Frank H. Nutter, Minneapolis, Minn. 
X * * 
To secure the best plans for the improvement of Washing- 
ton and Grant Parks at Yonkers, N. Y., the Park commissioners 
invited competitive plans, which were recently examined and 
passed upon with the following results: The first prenium for 
Washington Park was awarded to Messrs. Par.sons and Pentecost, 
New York Cit}-, and the second to Mr. Chas. N. Lowrie, also of 
New York. For Grant Park the first premium was given to Mr. 
H. A. Caparn, of New York City, and the second to Mr. Charles 
W. Leavitt, Jr., of the same city. Honorable mention was 
accorded to the plan of Mr. Austin Strong, who by the way is 
a nephew of Robert Louis Stevenson. 
X X * 
The exhibit of the Division of Forestr}', Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, has been shipped to Paris, and it 
promises to be one of the most unique displays ever instituted 
in an inter-national Exposition. It will take the form of a hall 
or pagoda, the walls being designed to be used as transparencies 
illustrating American forest features. The walls are of double 
construction admitting of an electric lighting scheme within 
them. The relation between forestry and agriculture will be 
shown graphically, and protective forests, forests preserving 
water supply, the management of forests will be fully displayed. 
The extent of American timber resources will be shown by pic- 
tures, and maps will be used to give the forest distribution. 
Other features will be equally well presented. 
XXX 
The work of permanent improvement on plans laid down 
by Mr. Olmsted are soon to be commenced in Audubon park. 
New Orleans. The recuperative power of nature in the south is 
rapidly obliterating the effects of the disastrous winter of 1898 — 
99, and the park commissioners are actively at work in the en- 
deavor to make Audubon park one of note in the country. Just 
now Horticultural Hall is attracting much notice. It contains 
some of the finest specimens of palms and tropical plants in the 
countrv, many of them not yet acquired bj- the other leading 
parks. Among these is the Trichilia palida, a magnificent tree, 
with thick, handsome foliage, and bearing a blossom which, 
though small, fills the entire hall with a delicious odor. The 
flower is similar in appearance to the ordinar}- Olea fragrans 
onlj- that this stranger which comes from South America, 
breathes a perfume man}- times greater and just as sweet in every 
respect as the above plant. 
* # X 
In a recent trip to Topeka, Kans, in the interests of its 
parks Mr Chas. M. Loring, of Minneapolis, Minn., gave the 
following interesting experience concerning the park system 
of that city, and their experience should be decisive argument 
on the park question anywhere: ‘‘When we started to agitate 
the park que.stiou in Minneapolis the city was still small, and 
w-e were told that we didn't need any parks. We held a meet- 
ing when we had about 5,000 population for the purpose of 
agitating the purchase of 20 acres of land for a park. The old 
fogies said that the young men would ruin the town by such 
methods. They said the town would never extend beyond 
Tenth street, and that the park was away outside of where the 
town would ever grow to. Now I live on Nineteenth street, 
and the city e.xtends to Fiftieth street, and this first park is in 
the heart of the city. The result of this opposition sentiment 
was that when w-e did succeed in getting an appropriation for 
parks, the}' cost a great deal more money than they would have 
done had w-e all pulled together in the first place. The work 
had to be taken up gradually and extended over a period of 
many years. It was over 20 years from the time we began un- 
til the friends of parks finally secured the passage of an act by 
the legislature which provided for the organization of a park 
commission for Minneapolis. 
X X * 
Clinton, la., recently established a Park Commission, the 
first members of which are: Lauren C. Eastman, John A. Nat- 
tinger and Halleck W. Seaman. It is proposed to absolutely 
eliminate partisan politics from the work of the Commission 
and the members serve without salary and are elected for a 
term of six years. As is usual in such matters, it requires time 
and the unremitting efforts of a few public spirited citizens to 
first awaken a general interest in park improvements. Con- 
gress appropriated ^25,000 toward improving the harbor and 
channel at Clinton, and this work wdll enable the city to utilize 
a considerable area of river front low ground for park purposes. 
Under the proposed plans Clinton will eventually possess 
the most extensive and best improved river front park in the 
Mississippi Valley. What is now called Joyce’s Park or Eagle 
Point at the north end of town is a commanding eminence 
overlooking a broad expanse of river dotted w-ith islands, and 
it is already famous for its picturesque beauty. This park will 
be taken over by the city, enlarged and improved by the Park 
Commission. During the summer season, Clinton is the objec- 
tive point for a constant stream of excursions by rail and boat, 
so that when the river front parks are completed, they will add 
materially to the pleasure of those who journey to Clinton to 
obtain a view of the Father of Waters. 
XXX 
The 2Sth annual report of the Board of Park Commission- 
ers of San Francisco, for the year ending June 30, 1S99, with its 
twenty-one full page colored illustrations of park scenery and 
special features, gives a very interesting account of the park 
work of that city and its prospectiveneeds iu that direction. 
Many valuable improvements have been made in Golden Gate 
Park, those especially striking being the lake system, which is 
to be a chain of small lakes, having different characteristic fea- 
tures and treatment, offering a variety of picturesque effects, a 
matter worthy of consideration for other large parks. Golden 
Gate Park lias been fortunate in gifts designed for special fea- 
tures; Senator Sharon bequeathed $ 50,000 for a childrens house, 
and a unique and beautiful building has been erected; a donat- 
011 from Mr. William Alvord secured a small lake; Mr. Lick 
provided $60,000 for the vScott Key monument; Mr. Sweeney 
gave the Panorama building. Strawberry Hill; Mr. Huntington 
with a gift of $25,000 constructed a beautiful water-fall; and 
Mr. Claus Spreckels has recently erected a music stand at a cost 
of $75,000. This variety of gifts is a suggestive hint as to the 
field in park work in which public spirited beneficence can dis- 
play itself. The total area of park lands under the jurisdiction 
of the board is about 1,165 acres of w'hich Golden Gate park 
contains 1,040. There are about 25)4 miles of park drives and 
25 miles of paths and other roadways. The total receipts for 
the fiscal year were $251,095.96, and expenditures $248,051.66. 
