PARK AND CEMETERY 
79 
park commission; Ex-Mayor Wm. J. Patten, of Bur- 
lington, Vt. ; Supt. C. E. Keith, of Bridgeport. 
Col. N. G. Osborn spoke after Mr. Keith. “Parks,” 
he said, “are little lessons wherever they are. They 
give breathing places, resting places and inspiration to 
the thousands who have too little. I would have the 
parks lined with seats for the weary to rest. When 
they sit down in God’s free air and think, they are bet- 
ter citizens.” 
President G. A. Parker gave his annual statement, 
telling of the advancement in the work of park im- 
provement, and gave many valuable suggestions for 
future work. He presented some valuable statistics of 
park work collected through his long service in this as- 
sociation, and as the chairman of the Park Census 
Committee of the American Civic Association. 
Byron Worthen gave an address on Parks for Small 
Cities, and H. A. Hastings, of Springfield, Mass., 
spoke on Massachusetts Parks. 
On Wednesday, the association visited Waterside, 
Fort Hale, Quinnipiack, and East Rock parks, where 
luncheon was served, after which West Rock, Beaver 
Ponds, Edgewood, and Bay View parks were visited. 
An interesting incident of the visit to West Rock was 
the stop at the home of Donald G. Mitchell, the well- 
known horticulturist and writer under the pen name of 
Ik. Marvel. The association presented Mr. Mitchell 
with a loving cup in recognition of his long and valu- 
able service in the cause of park improvement and civic 
beauty, in which he is one of the pioneers. An appro- 
priate presentation speech was made by Mr. Christo- 
pher, of Northampton, and the visit to Edgewood, Mr. 
Mitchell’s delightful home, was much enjoyed by all. 
Thursday, the last day of the convention, was de- 
voted to visiting the parks of Meriden, under the 
guidance of Mr. Walter Hubbard, the donor of Hub- 
bard Park, which was one of the attractions shown to 
the visiting members. The famous Hanging Hills, and 
other beauties of Meriden’s parks, were much admired, 
and Mr. Hubbard’s hospitality made the last day one 
of the pleasant memories of the convention. 
Among those present, in addition to Governor Cham- 
berlain, Mayor Studley and the local park and city 
officials of New Haven, were the following: 
Wilson H. Lee, Janies B. Coe, James E. English, Walter 
Hubbard, president park commission, Meriden, Conn. ; Hon. 
W. J. Van Patten, chairman park commission, Burlington, Vt. ; 
J. B. Shea, E. P. Adams, W. J. Stewart and J. W. Duncan, all 
of Boston, Mass. ; Henry Frost, Haverhill, Mass. ; Isaac Kelly, 
Lawrence, Mass. ; G. A. Parker, Theo. Wirth, R. Karlstrom, 
J. F. Huss and Carl U. Fohn, of Hartford ; A. P. Capen, Holy- 
oke, Mass. ; Henry C. Fuller, New London ; John Dunbar, 
Rochester, N. Y. ; W. S. Egerton, Albany, N. Y. ; Frank Ham- 
ilton, Bronx, N. Y. city; Frederic Shonnard, Yonkers, N. Y. ; 
J. D. Fitts, Providence, R. I. ; J. H. Hemingway and James 
Draper, of Worcester, Mass. ; C. E. Keith, Bridgeport ; Chris- 
topher Clark, Northampton, Mass. ; D. H. Sheehan, Brookline, 
Mass. ; H. A. Hastings, Springfield, Mass. ; Robt. Cameron, 
Cambridge, Mass. 
Recent Progress in 
The fight against the billboard nuisance in Chicago 
has received a temporary setback by a recent decision 
of the Appellate Court in that city on an appeal made 
by the city from a similar unfavorable decision by Judge 
Chytraus, which has been discussed in Park and 
Cemetery. The decision was to the effect that the 
city’s charter gives it no right to legislate against bill- 
boards erected on private property, and hence all ex- 
isting ordinances are unlawful. The city will not ap- 
peal and is helpless, as the decision would be quoted 
against any ordinance that might be introduced. The 
Municipal Art League, however, will not give up the 
fight, but will direct its energies toward securing a new 
charter for Chicago that will give the city power to 
regulate billboard advertising. Chicago’s antiquated 
charter has long been hampering the city’s development 
in many directions, and the city officials, leading citi- 
zens and commercial bodies are bringing every influ- 
ence to bear on the Legislature to secure charter revi- 
sion. 
Cleveland, Ohio, more fortunate than Chicago, has 
authority by its charter to regulate public advertising, 
and its new building ordinance, passed June 20, in- 
cludes some model billboard regulations. 
The ordinance has 23 sections devoted to signs and 
Billboard Legislation. 
billboards and is very thorough and explicit in its pro- 
visions. It defines signs and billboards, and establishes 
the unit of measure as the standard poster “sheet” 
28x42 inches. No board shall exceed 48 sheets in 
area, or be higher than 10 feet or longer than 42J/2 
feet. Boards shall be set from two to four feet above 
the ground and must not be placed within 15 feet of 
a street line in the “inner fire” district of the city, or 
the front building line in the “outer fire” or “urban” 
districts. A space of one sheet must be left at least 
every 12 sheets, thus limiting the length of a single 
hoarding to 48 feet. If larger than 12 sheets, billboards 
within the fire limits must be clad with galvanized iron 
on wooden frames made of stock of specified size. 
Signs on buildings, sky signs, projecting, hanging, and 
illuminated signs are also provided for. All billboards 
hereafter erected or repaired must conform to this 
ordinance, and all existing boards whose size and loca- 
tion conflict with the law must be altered or removed 
before October 1, 1904. The last section, which effec- 
tively protects parks, boulevards, and residence streets, 
is as follows : 
“All signboards and billboards now or hereafter 
erected on any residence street within two hundred feet 
of any park, park boulevard or driveway, except sign- 
