72 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
Park. Notes ^ 
A bill was introduced and favorably reported in the last 
congress providing for a National Park on the forest reserve 
in Oklahoma. The bill is championed by the League of 
American Sportsmen, who propose to bring buffalo, elk and 
other animals from the Yellowstone National Park, at their 
own expense. This step is said to be necessary to prevent the 
extermination of the animals by the rigorous winters and the 
scarcity of food in \ ellowstone Park. The bill is in charge 
of Representative Lacy, of Iowa. 
* * * 
The work of renovating Central Park, New York, has begun 
along lines recommended by the expert commission on the 
condition of vegetation and soil whose report has been 
discussed in these columns. Besides resoiling, the work of 
renovation this spring has included clearing out shrubberies 
and trees. This is necessary for a number of reasons. In 
many instances the original design of the landscape gardener, 
which has not been altered for years, must be made to conform 
with the growth of surrounding vegetation. Some of the 
shrubberies were found to be in a dilapidated condition ; the 
growth spindling and weak. Incongruous plants had to be 
removed, and shrubs grown up in open glades had to be cut 
out. They also were removed from bays in foliage lines. 
* * 
The Court of Errors and Appeals, at Trenton, N. J., recently 
decided that the legislative act constituting the Essex Park 
Commission was constitutional. The act was contested on the 
ground that the clause which required that its adoption should 
be submitted to a vote of the people at an election to be held 
next after its passage made the act unconstitutional. The court 
held that the provision with respect to the submission at that 
particular election next after the passage of the act was not 
essential, and could be regarded only as discretionary. The 
fact also that the power to appoint the commissioners was de- 
volved by the Legislature upon the judiciary was not improper. 
1 he constitutionality of the act received the unanimous vote 
of the court, fourteen judges voting. 
* * * 
The park board of Brookline, Mass., has passed the follow- 
ing rules to protect the public parks and parkways from dis- 
figurement by advertisements: 
No person shall display on the outside of any building, or 
upon any land, any sign, poster, or advertisement in or near 
to and visible from any parkway or public park entrusted to 
the care of the Board of Park Commissioners of the Town of 
Brookline, except as follows : — 
1. There shall be but one sign, which may be made of wood, 
metal or glass, and its dimensions, if displayed on a building, 
shall not exceed fifteen inches by twenty feet, and if otherwise 
displayed shall not exceed three feet by four feet. 
2. The sign shall bear only an advertisement relating to the 
property on which the sign is placed, the business conducted 
thereon, and the person carrying on the business or owning or 
occupying the premises. 
Attention is called to the following extract from Chap. 158 
of the Acts of 1903 : 
Section 3. Whoever violates any rule or regulation made 
and published as aforesaid shall be punished by a fine not ex- 
ceeding twenty dollars for each offence; and any sign, poster 
or advertisement erected or maintained in violation of any 
such rule or regulation shall be deemed a public nuisance. 
(Approved March 17th, 1903.) 
* * * 
PARK IMPROVEMENTS. 
Elbert Hubbard has presented to the village of East Aurora, 
N. Y., a pavilion just erected in Hamlin Park. The structure 
is 60x30 feet with a wing 20x51 feet. Other improvements 
have been made in the park and athletic field. * * A new 
gateway to cost $5,000 is to be erected at the Eighteenth ave- 
nue entrance to City Park, Denver, Col. It is a gift through 
the Denver Real Estate Exchange from a public-spirited citi- 
zen whose name is withheld. Architects of Denver have been 
asked to submit competitive designs. The public improvement 
committee of the exchange expects to accomplish a great deal 
this year in the way of beautifying Denver, and other points in 
the city will be made more attractive. 
* * * 
NEW PARKS. 
The Board of Selectmen of Manchester, Mass., has voted to 
appropriate $19,300 for the purchase of park land on Beach 
street. * * The city of St. Joseph, Mo., is considering the 
purchase of a 40-acre tract of land for a public park. The 
property is known as Gladstone Heights, and has been offered 
to the city for $24,000. * * The park board of Pekin, 111 ., 
has decided to purchase a 45-acre tract known as Mineral 
Spring Park for $500 an acre. The tract is well-wooded, has 
a lake, an artesian well, and a bath house, and can be trans- 
formed into a fine park at a small outlay. * * The City 
Council of Lincoln, Neb., lias voted to issue bonds to the 
amount of $50,000 for the establishment of a city park. 
sfc ;}c 
AMONG THE LANDSCAPE GARDENERS, 
John C. Olmsted, who has been engaged to prepare general 
plans for the development of a park system for Seattle, Wash., 
recently addressed the City Council of that city, outlining the 
plans for the system. Mr. Olmsted advocated the immediate 
purchase by the city of large additional tracts of lands on 
which the native timber was still standing ; the laying out of 
connecting parkways between the park tracts; the establish- 
ment of small parks and playgrounds through the thickly set- 
tled portions of the city, and a waterfront strip or pier which 
would afford free access to the view, the air and the boating 
facilities of the harbor. 
E. von Hoffman, of New York, has been engaged to make 
plans for re-plotting and improving Penn and Farquhar parks 
in York, Pa. The plans for Penn Park include the re-arrange- 
met of the drives and walks for the purpose of eliminating 
straight lines, planting of trees and shrubs, and the building 
of an ornamental fence or stone wall to protect the park from 
dogs and stray cattle, and to shut out the noise of the streets 
by heavy border planting along the fence. 
Frank H. Nutter, of Minneapolis, recently visited Sioux 
Falls, S. D., where he has been engaged in making prelim- 
inary surveys of Mount Pleasant Cemetery, for which he is 
to lay out an addition. The tract is rough, rolling and 
picturesque, and is to be laid out on the lawn plan. 
Prof. H. C. Price, of the Iowa State College, has recently 
been making plans for the improvement of the City Park at 
Traer, la., for which a fund of $2,000 has been obtained. E. 
E. Taylor, whose father presented the park to the town, con- 
tributed $1,000 toward the work and the other $1,000 was 
raised by a tax. 
O. C. Simonds, of Chicago, has been engaged to prepare 
plans for the improvement of Mount Olivet Cemetery, Du- 
buque, la., and recently visited that city to make the prelimi- 
nary surveys. 
