8o 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
the wonderful work of the World’s Fair and its far 
reaching effects, and closed with suggestions as to 
the possibilities of improvement in the future of 
Chicago. 
Mr. Heckman was followed by Mr. P. B. Wight, 
secretary of the Municipal Art League of Chicago, 
who among many good things, spoke of the sug- 
gestive work accomplished in the section of the 
league’s operations pertaining to the improvement 
of homes. He also referred to the fact of the asso- 
ciation of the league with the drainage trustees in 
the matter of bridge designs for the sanitary district 
and called attention to the beautiful water frontage 
of Gothenburg, Sweden, from which much inspira- 
tion can be 
gained. 
President 
Coring briefly 
replied in ap- 
propriate terms 
to the words of 
welcome of the 
foregoing 
speakers, after 
which he read 
his annual ad- 
dress. He 
opened with a 
reference to the 
influence of the 
association i n 
various direc- 
tions and the ; 
great increase 
in the number 
of improvement 
associations throughout the country. He spoke 
upon the importance of interesting and educating 
the public school children in questions relating to 
out-door art and referred to some of the practical 
results of this policy in several sections of the 
country, notably that of Springfield, Mass., where 
the children have become the guardians of the street 
trees, and have so stimulated public sentiment that 
a demand on the city council for $20,000 for their 
care, was granted. The remarkable results attained 
in Carthage, Mo. , under the leadership of the super- 
intendent of public schools was commented upon, 
and the excellent work and its results among the 
children of Minneapolis, due to the women of that 
city was described. In his concluding remarks Mr. 
Coring said: 
“Who can say, too, but what the longing for rural sights 
and sounds may not thus be cultivated, and the tendency to 
dangerous urban centralization receive a wholesome check? We 
all deplore in the present the lack of enthusiasm for country- 
pursuits, the aversion of the farmer’s son for the occupation of 
the father — ready to his hand, an occupation too frequently dis- 
carded for penury, or at least a precarious existence in a thickly 
populated city. Our agricultural colleges are combating this 
mistaken idea in a most practical manner. First, they teach the 
student that brains and education bear inestimable fruit in farm- 
ing, as elsewhere. Next, that more than a btire living can be 
made by a farmer w'ho understands his business; comfort, even 
luxury, can gradually be obtained. Lastly, and most important, 
the philosophy and poetry, the ethics of existence, need not be 
banished by petty ambition or material considerations. The 
farmer can be the peer of his city brother in love of nature, and 
appreciation of the highest contemporaneous thought. 
“Such institutions as' the Lawrence Scientific School Ijoth 
ennoble, and are ennobled by, the study' of landscape architec- 
ture, which combining art and science, is, at last, finding its 
true place in the daily economy of the world. 
“A writer for the Humane Society urges that ‘the criminals 
of the future are in our public schools to-day; we can mould 
them now if we wish. The future is now in our hands.’ It 
might be added they are also in our streets and parks. Will 
anyone contradict the theory that the higher nature of children 
is constantly ap- 
pealed to when liv- 
ing in a city' where 
attractive thor- 
oughfares and 
beautiful parks 
teach them gently 
persuasive lessons? 
Such a metropolis 
clearly illustrates in 
u n m i s t akable, if 
silent, language, 
that utility and 
beauty can be co- 
existent, that the 
city, as a whole, 
cares for the wel- 
fare and pleasure of 
its inhabitants, as 
individuals, as a 
wise mother cares 
for her children; 
that as they are 
considered and 
cared for, so must 
they consider and 
care for those less 
favored and weaker 
than themselves, 
including the dumb 
half of creation. 
Will not the boy 
whose attention 
has been attracted by the well-kept collection of animals in a 
park menagerie, where he feeds the graceful deer and clown- 
like bears with his own hands, and notes the solicitude dis- 
played by the park attendants for the wild denizens of the 
spot, the squirrels and birds, be less apt to display cruelty to all 
animals thereafter? Will not the girl, as her eye is gratified 
by the brilliant plumage, and her ear is filled with the joyous 
and varied voices of the feathered songsters, ponder upon their 
usefulness, innocence and beauty; in other words, their right to 
live and be less ready to have these beautiful inhabitants of 
the trees slaughtered by the millions for the adornment of her- 
self and sex? It is both sad and shameful, at the present time, 
that public sentiment has not accomplished what law is begin- 
ning to demand — the protection of birds. 
“Ex-Mayor Hewitt, chairman of the committee for securing 
small parks and playgrounds said: ‘In planning the city of New 
A"ork the children seem to have been forgotten.’ Is not that 
true of all of our cities? Have we provided for the physical de- 
velopment of the children as we should? Thanks to the few 
who have realized the necessity for other playgrounds than the 
public streets, some of our larger cities have provided, at enor- 
mous cost, small areas in densely' populated sections with most 
gratifying results. This movement should be inaugurated in 
every city, and in every park there should be a section provided 
for the exclusive use of children. Playgrounds should be estab- 
lished in every ward. When our city rulers realize the tnAh of 
this, there will be a decrease of crime, and in the death rate, 
and an improvement in the moral and physical condition of the 
youth. 
“I have presented this subject of the education »f childre • 
THK OFFICE BUIEOING, HUMBOEDT PARK, CHICAGO. 
