186 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS i 
CONDUCTED BY 
MRS. FRANCES COPLEY SEAVEY. 
BEAUTIFY THE WATER FRONT. 
Winter is the proper time to prepare for the spring 
campaign of improvement work, and we wish to call 
the attention of residents of river towns to their oppor- 
tunities. These are of wide scope, ranging from the 
purely commercial to the purely aesthetic — all of which 
of ugliness into the pleasant paths of beauty, so whv 
should not younger places take time by the forelock and 
seeek to get started in the right way while it may be in- 
expensively done ? 
The experience and example of the city of Harris- 
burg, Pa., should be a sufficient incentive to every small 
and medium-sized western city to try civic beauty in a 
systematic, business-like way. The literature of the 
Harrisburg Civic League should be in the hands of all 
improvement workers, but will be found especially sug- 
gestive and helpful to those living in towns and cities 
similarly situated — river towns. 
Some western cities have already started in these new 
and pleasant ways, as the accompanying illustrations 
V 
\ 
plainly show. It will be seen that both the practical and 
;esthetical sides of river opportunities have been taken 
advantage of by Cedar Rapids, la., a city that is noted 
for its neatness and beauty — facts which are patent and 
which commend themselves to all who visit the place 
and which have already 
done much to make it one 
of the most successful 
business and residence 
towns of the great corn 
state and of the middle 
THE DAM, CEDAR RAPIDS. 
IOWA. 
Showing waterworks, elevators, 
railway, etc. This beautiful 
stream contentedly turns the 
wheels of commerce. 
should go without saying. 
In practice, however, all 
but the commercial are 
overlooked or neglected. 
Of those it is unnecessary 
to speak ; they speak for 
themselves, and in a 
language that men of 
affairs are familiar with 
as well as in sympa- 
west. 
Frances Copley Seavey. 
RIVER FRONT, NEAR FIRST 
AVE., CEDAR RAPIDS. I A. 
Showing factories, mills and 
business blocks and shore in 
downtown district adorned 
with masses of fine foliage in- 
stead of the usual accom- 
paniment of ash dumps, 
broken crockery and other un- 
sightly and unsanitary debris. 
thy with, as is perfectly 
right and proper. Business does come before pleasure, 
particularly when it is a matter of earning a living. 
But there soon comes a time in the affairs of all pro- 
gressive, stirring towns and cities when beauty of sur- 
roundings should be considered not only for beauty’s 
sake but because of the material advantages resulting 
from the cultivation of a pleasing exterior. Attractive 
surroundings invite the attention of men of high char- 
acter, and such men are in demand in every community. 
If a place offers excellent natural material advantages 
and, in addition, also offers desirable sites and sur- 
roundings for home making, its success would seem to 
be pretty well assured. Many old, established towns 
CEDAR RIVER, NEAR CEDAR RAPIDS. 
Showing its quiet beauty undisturbed and undiminished by 
the practical uses it is made to serve. Other streams will 
work with equal patient cheerfulness while at the same 
time taking their place as the chief charm of a city, town 
or village. The purity of their waters should be unpol- 
luted and the beauty of their shores should be preserved. 
WHAT LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS ARE DOING. 
The first annual floral and vegetable display of the Town 
Improvement Association of Exeter, N. H., held in the town 
hall on the afternoon and evening of Sept, io, is spoken of as 
“an unqualified 1 success.” The Association booth, which occu- 
pied the center of the hall, is described as “a tasteful creation 
made entirely of barberries and hydrangeas on a background 
of draped fish net.” This booth was in charge of the officials 
of the society and a substantial addition to' the membership 
is credited to the efforts of Mrs. Noah S. Walker. Other 
booths were devoted to (i) a display of the flora of the 
and small cities are in these days turning from the ways locality; (2) refreshments; (3) punch; while donations of 
