3(3 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
Plans by Olmsted Brothers have been adopted for the 
improvement of North Park, Fall River, Mass., and exam- 
inations of the tract are being made' preparatory to its de- 
velopment when the loan of $50,000 has been granted the 
park commission for the work. • 
* * * 
Worcester, Mass., claims the honor of having made the 
earliest purchase of land for park purposes ever made in this 
country. Mr. G. A. Parker, chairman of the Park Census 
Committee of the American Park and Outdoor Art Associa- 
tion, has recently been investigating early purchases of park 
lands and finds that Elm Park, Worcester, purchased in 
1854, was the first tract bought exclusively for park purposes, 
antedating by two years a purchase for Central Park, New 
York. Secretary James Draper, of the Worcester Park 
Board, has verified the records, which show that two tracts 
containing about 13 acres were purchased for $11,257.57. It 
is not claimed that this was the first park established, but 
merely the first land purchased by a municipality exclusively 
for park purposes. 
sfc 5ft 
A Commission on Beautification of New York has been 
appointed by Mayor McLellan of that city, and an appropria- 
tion of $15,000 for the use of the commission has been made 
by the Board of Aldermen. Daniel S. Lamont, former sec- 
retary of the treasury, is chairman of the commission, and 
Daniel Chester French, sculptor, is one of the members. 
The five presidents of the different boroughs of Greater New 
York at the time of the passage of the act are ex-officio 
members, and eight prominent citizens complete the per- 
sonnel of the commission. Attached to the committee in 
an advisory capacity are Samuel Parsons, Jr., landscape ar- 
chitect of the park department, and three chief engineers of 
other departments of the city government. 
FROM THE ANNUAL REPORTS, 
The second annual report of the Pleasure Driveway and 
Park District, of Springfield, 111 ., is beautifully illustrated 
with photogravure views showing some of the fine natural 
scenery of that district, and contains reports of officers for 
the year ending June 1, 1903. The treasurer's statement 
shows receipts of $38,437.64, and expenditures of $38,094.91. 
The report of Secretary and Engineer Arthur Hay tells of the 
following improvement work : Laying of a water main in 
Williams Boulevard and Washington Park; building of 
roads and walks in Williams Boulevard, and grading in the 
parks. The most important work next to the laying of the 
water main was the partial excavation of the lake in Jack- 
sonville Creek bottom. The lake is to be about a half mile 
long varying in width from 100 to 300 feet with a surface 
area of nearly eight acres. It is estimated that about 30,000 
cubic yards of earth will have to be excavated at a cost of 
about $io,oco. About one-fifth of the work was done during 
the year at a cost of 16 cents a yard. A beginning was made 
with the work of planting by the purchase of about 4,000 
plants from Thomas Meehan & Sons, and about 2,000 more 
obtained near the park included such native shrubs as sumac 
elder, wahoo, hazel, etc. The estimated cost of the im- 
provements recommended for the next year or two is $48,500, 
which includes the following work : Continuation of Wil- 
liams branch sewer, $15,000; construction of casino, band 
stand, custodian's house and shelter over iron spring, $18,500; 
border planting around park, $5,000 ; completion of lake, 
building boat house and boats, $10,000. A table of receipts 
and expenditures since the beginning of the park system in 
1900 is included, which shows a total expenditure of $92,- 
011.59. The total park area of the district is 165.61 acres, 
and the population of Springfield, 34,159. 
The park commission of Lowell, Mass, (population, 94,969), 
issues its first annual report, covering the work of its first 
park commission which went into office in May, 1903, when 
the old method of administering the park affairs by a com- 
mittee of the city council was abandoned. The city has ten 
parks and squares with a total area of 73 acres, and has ex- 
pended for park purposes from May 4 to December 31, 1903, 
$6,706.12, of which $2,355.81 was for Rogers Fort Hill Park, 
the largest of the tracts. This park was presented to the city 
by the Misses Rogers in 1886, and contains 34.4 acres. Its 
chief landscape feature is the hill from which it gets its name. 
It rises 267 feet from the street level near the entrance, and 
is said to have been the last abiding place of the Indians in 
that part of the country. The book contains a number of 
half-tone views of park scenery, historical and descriptive 
sketches of the different parks, a list of the flora growing 
in them, giving both common and botanical names, rules and 
regulations of the department, and the state laws relating to 
parks. 
The ninth annual report of the Board of Public Works of 
Little Falls, N. Y., contains among other reports a brief 
statement of the park work and expenditures for the year. 
The expenditure for park purposes was $738.39. A new 
30-acre tract, Moreland Park, has been added to the system, 
as a gift from the late Dudley Burwell, and a trust fund of 
$20,000 turned over to the city for its improvement and 
maintenance. 
The twelfth annual report of the park commissioners of 
Providence, R. I. (population, 175,597), contains a portrait 
of the late Richard H. Deming, president of the board, who 
died during the past year, portraits of the other commis- 
sioners and an illustration of the Roger Williams monument. 
The total expenditures for the year was $46,429.88, of which 
$38,270.47 was for Roger Williams Park. The commissioners 
estimate that the purchase of additional territory adjoining 
several of the parks and other necessary expenditures for the 
present year will require from $75,000 to $100,000. A thorough 
system of spraying against the elm leaf beetle was maintained 
with very successful results. The arsenate of lead mixture 
was used and the outfit consisted of a hundred-gallon cedar 
tank, a two-wheeled truck, pump spray, poles, hose and noz- 
zles. The gray squirrels, which are found in large numbers 
in the parks, are cared for in the winter when their natural 
food is not available by the park authorities, who feed many 
bushels of peanuts to them during the season. The board 
is considering the advisability of allowing canoeing and fish- 
ing in Roger Williams Park. A list of the fauna and flora 
of this park is also appended to the report. 
The annual report of the park commission of Bangor, Me. 
(population, 21,850), shows an expenditure of $2,771.35, of 
which $1,903.72 was for Chapin Park, the largest of the 
city’s pleasure grounds. The appropriation, $2,500, was $1,500 
less than for the year 1902, and the limited funds made it 
necessary to confine the work to the maintenance of the parks 
already developed. A valuable contribution of shrubbery to 
Chapin Park, was made by ex-Mayor Chapin, for whom 
the park was named. 
