PARK AND CEMETERY 
95 
schedule of its own work would fill a volume, while 
its powerful influence has also been brought to bear 
in forwarding the work of other organizations. 
There is the Railway Banks Floral Association 
established by Lord Gray, which devotes itself to the 
planting of railway cuttings and embankments, — a 
novel and admirable field of improvement work; the 
Kyrlie Society of London, with branches in a num- 
ber of the smaller cities, its motto “To the utmost of 
our power,” and its object to “bring beauty home 
to the people and several kindred societies such as 
the Commons Preservation Society, the National 
Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural 
Beauty, the National Footpath Preservation Society 
and numerous affiliated organizations, all of which 
have the creation or the preservation of open spaces. 
is wholly admirable is being done, and we feel that 
anything done is far in advance of nothing done. We 
do not wish to be critical, but merely to call attention 
to the fact that while the younger organizations may 
content themselves with the plain everyday needs of 
their communities, the older societies should look 
abroad and take counsel with those that have accom- 
plished telling pieces of work that stand out boldly 
above the ordinary level. 
Such work as securing a good stone railway sta- 
tion, instead of the usual commonplace wooden struc- 
ture, is of lasting benefit to any community. This has 
been done by the Citizens’ Improvement Association 
of Ward 25, Boston, Mass., and by the Laurel Hill 
Association of Stockbridge, Mass. The latter is prob- 
ably the oldest improvement organization in this coun- 
WOKK OF honesdafe impkovement society, hoeesdai.e, pa. 
and places of rest or recreation as their fundamental 
reason for being. 
Perhaps the Improvement Association of Leam- 
ington, England, has done work that comes nearer 
paralleling the work needed in American towns than 
any other foreign organization heard from. 
Turning again to our own country, two states at 
the extreme east and west, Massachusetts and Cali- 
fornia, may be mentioned as examples of the intrinsic 
value of beauty, and in both the spirit of development 
typified by improvement work is more or less active, 
Massachusetts, as has been said, leading the van. 
This s])irit is in the air. One must absorb more or less 
of it in walking down the street. But we observe 
that not all that is being done, is being well done. 
There is room for improvement even in the improve- 
ments. There is a little lack of comprehension as to 
the necessity for design in landscape work, and a 
slight falling short of a full appreciation of the larger 
possibilities of improvement work. Still, much that 
try, and it has set another standard by its memorial 
work, having built a monument to the Stockbridge In- 
dians, and a memorial bridge and walk for its founder 
and its first president. Such features add to the interest 
and attractiveness of a town and have a material value 
appreciated by business men. The sanitary and other 
noteworthy work of the Town Improvement Associa- 
tion of Montclair, N. J., can only be fully appreciated 
by reading of it in full in its printed reports. The 
Beverly, Mass., society has secured two new railway 
stations and done much more that is commendable. 
The Civic Club of Harrisburg, Pa , has reformed the 
street cleaning, secured ordinances forbidding dump- 
ing, maintains play grounds and done much more 
practical work. The Societies of Aiken, S. C., and 
of Rutherford, N. J., have secured parks for their re- 
spective cities; that of Amesbury, Mass., has changed 
an unsightly spot into “Highland Square” as well as 
suitably marked numerous places of historic interest. 
The Association of Honesdale, Pa., has for its motto 
