54 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
out-of-door improvement will unquestionably be an 
attractive subject for the Woman’s Club as its bene- 
fits are better comprehended. 
NEED OF Need of out-door improvement is a 
IMPROVEMENT r . , - . , 
IN OUR rnade more apparent each year 
SMALLER of the continually increasing devel- 
CITIES r*.! • \ u- A 
opment of the intelligence and ma- 
terial resources of the country. The contrast be- 
tween the progressive larger city and its many con- 
tiguous smaller ones is too great to be satisfactory 
to an intelligent observer, who has come to realize 
the advantages, moral and physical, to be obtained 
by out-door cleanliness and well arranged surround- 
ings. It is to be admitted however that the field 
of labor is a large one, and when one is forced to 
recognize how far behind the average town is in this 
direction, the work is appalling in its magnitude. 
A town of some 7, 500 inhabitants, recently visited, 
presents a fair average picture of the conditions 
prevailing throughout the country. There was a 
so-called park consisting of some four blocks in 
area; it was crowded with a heterogeneous assort- 
ment of trees, and while there were a number of 
iron seats tor the comfort of the visitors, there was 
not a shrub to check the monotony and the paths 
were cut out by the pedestrians hither and thither 
as the bent of a particular direction prevailed. 
There was not a single feature except some shade 
to recommend it or suggest it to be the town park. 
The place showed signs of considerable wealth, 
there were many pretentious brick and stone resi- 
dences; the streets were wide, but there was not a 
single evidence of taste as ordered by the elemen- 
tary rules of landscape art, in the layout of any of 
the residential lots that came under observation. 
There were of course plenty of shrubs, plenty of 
flowers, but a lithe beauty to which these might have 
been chief contributors was absent for the lack of 
organized effort and taste in the direction of town 
improvement. 
The above is a rough sketch of the conditions 
which prevail in the majority of our country towns, 
conditions which might readily be fundamentally 
changed by individual enthusiasm combined with 
concerted action. The results to be secured are so 
directly conducive to higher values from a commer- 
cial aspect, that it can be made to appeal to every 
citizen if approached on the side most in accord 
with his personal interests. This matter of out- 
door improvement after all is more particularly a 
question of time rather than that of expense. Com- 
pared with the results achieved the money cost is 
comparatively small, and where there are citizens 
willing to contribute some means and much time, 
the work is at once minimized. Clean streets, 
sightly vacant lots, well arranged door yards, well 
kept lawns, and the air of gentility which this all 
imparts raises a town out of the ordinary, gives it a 
reputation far and wide, and marvellously increases 
its own possibilities of development. 
A GOOD An inspiration of the Kansas City 
Times to offer a premium of $250 to 
10 rOLLOW , 
the occupant of the Kansas City resi - 
dence which has the prettiest lawn of twenty-five 
feet or over on July 4, 19OO — flowers, shrubbery, 
parterres, etc., all to be taken into consideration, 
was the spark which has set aflame the desire to 
make Kansas City beautiful. It has had the im- 
mediate effect of prompting many other premiums 
to incite efforts in out-door improvement by resi- 
dents of the city, and has moved the Board of Edu- 
cation to begin active work in the planting and sod- 
ding of school grounds. Where it will end it is 
difficult to foretell, as once such public desire for 
improvement is thoroughly aroused, and the incen- 
tive is maintained, new avenues will offer oppor- 
tunities tor continued action. The effect of the 
Times' effort has been so far reaching among the 
citizens of Kansas City, that it presents a potent 
suggestion for similar effort elsewhere. 
IMPROVE THE The appearance of the grounds about 
Places public buildings and the general lack 
of care observable about all the va- 
cant places owned by town and village officials, is a 
sad commentary on the short-sightedness of such 
officials. There is nothing so detrimental to the as- 
pect of a town or village as this neglect of an essen- 
tial feature of public improvement, an improvement 
which should be in the min(Js of all authorities en- 
trusted with the welfare of the community. The 
time has come when this care of public places should 
occupy a very prominent position in the category 
of duties imposed upon public officers by virtue of 
their office. It is coming to be recognized that 
out-door improvement is an essential factor in the 
health and wealth capacity of the community. 
Pleasant surroundings, clean and interesting public 
buildings and grounds, well arranged school yards, 
and in fact all that may tend to make out- door 
life attractive and inspiring, reacts on the citizen, 
infuses in him public spirit, higher moral tenden- 
cies, and makes him an enthusiastic member of the 
community, patriotic, law abidingand what is more, 
progressive. P'or to be a really good citizen in 
these days he must be progressive, and it is the 
duty of all public officialdom to help to make him 
so. 
