PARK AND CEMETERY. 
315 
PARK NEWS. 
3 
..-kiu; L 
As a result of recommendations made 
^by the Secretary of As^ricultu 'e, the “Old 
Kassan National >domimcnt,'’ consisting 
of 38 acres within the Tonsjass National 
Forest, Alaska, has just h en created hy 
Presidential proclamation. The tr.ict 
embraces the well-known ahandoned 
Ilaida Indian villase of Old Kassan, 
situated on Prince of Wales Island in 
southeastern Alaska, about thirtj- miles 
west of the city of Ketchikan. The vil- 
lage was abandoned by the Indians about 
ten j-ears ago. Among the relics which 
remain there are about fifty Indian 
totem poles, live or six of which are 
classed as exceedingly good specimens. 
In the deserted village there are also 
eight large square buildings which were 
originally constructed according to the 
peculiar plan of the Ilaida Indians, and 
which, it is stated, represent the best 
'specimens of Ilaida architecture that 
now exist. The largest of these build- 
ings is approximately 40 by 60 feet in 
size and is made entirely of round and 
carved timbers. There also remain a 
number of Indian graves with the typical 
small grave houses erected hy Ihc 
Alaskan Indians. “Kassan” is said to be 
the Indian word which means “a pretty 
town.” and all reports a.gree that the 
village was well named. The fact that 
the villa.ge was occupied by the Indians 
for many years explains the local name 
“Old” Kassan, by which it is widely 
known. Since the village was abandoned 
by the Indians the huildin.gs have been 
rapid!}' falling into a state of dilapida- 
tion and decay, and a certain amount of 
vandalism by tourists and souvenir 
hunters renders some form of protection 
essential. .\n examination of the area 
was made jointly by rei)resentatives of 
the Forest Service and r)f the Interior 
Department, and reports strongly urging 
the establishment of a National .Monu- 
ment were approved by the Secretaries 
of both Departments. 'I'he Smithsonian 
Institution strongly endorsed the projK)- 
sition for the establishment of a National 
.Monument. The new National Monu- 
ment will be protected ami administered 
by the Forest Service, as is the case 
with all monuments located within the 
National Forests. 
\’ictor A. P.eede, formerly Assistant 
State Forester of New Hampshire, has 
just been elected as Secretary to the 
New York State Forestry .Association. 
Mr. P.eede will make hi., headquarters 
with the Chamber of Commerce of .Syra- 
cuse. I’.y emi)|oying ;i man who will 
give his entire time to the development 
of the Forestry \ssociatifin in promot- 
ing legislation for the right use of forest 
lands and for the protection of shade 
trees of the State, the Executive Com- 
mittee believes that the scope and in- 
I'luencc of the organization will be 
greatly increased. Organized three 
years ago in Syracuse for the purpose 
of amalgamating all forestry interests in 
.New York State, the State I'orestry As- 
sociation has upon its Board of \'ice- 
Presidents and E.xecutive Committee 
representatives of every organization in 
New \’ork State interested in the forests 
and animal life of the forests. The mem- 
bership of the Association is at present 
over (,00. The State Forestry Associa- 
tion has already taken pronounced 
stand on many important lines of work 
in foresti'}' hut especially those touching 
upon the conservation of the state's re- 
sources. 
.Almost 8,000.000 trees will be available 
for next spring’s reforesting operations 
from the stock now in the state forest 
nurseries of Pennsylvania. This is an 
increase in production over last year 
of about 30 per cent and is the largest 
number of seedlings ever grown in the 
nurseries. 
The Parks Department of the city of 
Calgary has issued its annual report for 
the year 1915. It contains a report of 
the work of this department in the parks 
and cemetery, with recommendations for 
L;d<ewood Cemcter\'. Minneapolis, Minn., 
has recentl}' completed the firedging in 
connection with the reclamation of about 
38 ticres of swamp land in that cemetery, 
having handled about 550,f)tl0 yards of 
material at an ex])ense of ,$10;i,(!0(). In 
this work of reclamation a lake of 10.2 
ticres, ran.ging in dejith from 20 feet to 
75 feet was created, and also about 860,- 
000 teet of salable land. There remains 
a considerable amount of work to do be- 
fore it will be ready for sale and the 
total cost of this improvement will reach 
abf.nt $125,000. 
Oakwootl f emetei}’ .Association, of 
lo.rt \\’f)rth, 'I'cx.. recently purchased 
nine acres of land adjoining East ;ind 
W est Oakwoofl Cemeteries, ami Ceo. E, 
X’intiedge, Eamlscape .Architect, f)f hdrt 
W'firth, has been engtiged to plan the 
addiiif.n alffiig moflern lines. It will be 
a modern cemetery in every respect. 
Hare N Hare, of Kansas City. Mo., 
lor the ensuing year. The revenue 
earned by the department amounted to 
$11,633.70, details of wliich are given in 
the report. The summary of the sea- 
son’s ])lanting exclusive of nursery and 
bedding is as follows: Trees 3,305, 
shru))s 183, and perennials 11,109. 
Lonsiderablc improvement work w:is 
conducted in the several parks, but the 
18-hole golf course constructed on 
Shaganappi Park was perhaps the most 
po]nilar undertaking of the department 
during the year. Two thousand one 
hundred and fifty-three persons passed 
over the lirst tee between August 7, date 
of opening, and November 30, when it 
was closed tor the winter. Sixty-three 
thousand three hundred and sixty feet, 
or twelve miles, of new boulevard were 
constructed at a cost of $14,262.40, ap- 
proximately llYi cents per foot. A good 
deal of constructional work that could 
not otherwise have lieen done, such as 
erecting light standards at St. George’s 
Island, liridge building, erecting build- 
ings at Bowness Park, laying concrete 
walks and making lawn and tennis court 
at police station, was made possible hy 
the utilizing of the government unem- 
ployed grant. Boulevard construction 
was financed hy a system of working out 
taxes and comfort stations by special 
by-law. In the cemetery, only a small 
portion of new road was made this year, 
the loam being first removed. Wooden 
markers were replaced with cement in 
sections A and G; 780 trees, 43 shrubs, 
and 600 perennials were planted. There 
wfre 569 interments made during the 
year. • 
write that they are laying out East Lawn 
Cemetery at Springfield, Mo. The tract 
contains forty acres, of which about 
twenty-live are being platted. It is well 
located, high, rolling ground, and well 
drained. The entrance plan, road ;ind 
block plans and lot plans are finished, 
with the planting plans well under way. 
The grading of roads will lie finished 
short !}• and macadam jiaving laid. They 
also have another contract to plat an addi 
tion to l.aui el ( )ak Ccmetei'}', Windsor, 
Mo. This cemetery has forty ticres of 
reserve ground and is platting ten acres 
of this. 
The cemetery deiiartment of the city 
of Boston has raised the cost of grax’cs 
in .Mt, Mope Cemeter}'. In section F, 
uliei'e sin.gle gra\es ha\e been sold for 
$15. the price has l. -en increased to $20. 
I'he change took effect in November. 
It was atinounceil titat this increase was 
m.'ide becaitse I'f the incii-ased cost of 
CmtTERY NOTES 
