PARK A N D C EM ETER Y. 
/ 
SCHOOL GARDENS. 
Two gardens were maintained, one each in River- 
side Park and Colt Park. Approximately 250 plots 
were allotted to children, who planted, cared for. 
and reaped the harvest of choice vegetables. Plots 
not kept up to standard are given to others on a 
waiting list but this rarely occurs. 
OUT DOOR GYMNASIUM. 
On the plateaus at Pope I’ark are daily gathered 
the children and also at night the grown-ups of 
the factory district. Bright lights make evening 
work possible and the gymnasium is a popular place, 
and certainly doing good work. Around the gym- 
nasium is a row of swings, always occupied, and 
with a waiting list. Here the family may gather 
to look on. or to engage in some form of sport or 
play. Over seventy-one thousand was the attend- 
ance of those who took advantage of the privileges 
there. 
WADING POOL. 
Always at the edge of the little lake at Pope 
Park is found a group of * ’waders.** This lake is 
toa deep for safety, and it seems that a pool, or 
several of them, perhaps small and shallow not to 
exceed two feet in depth should be provided where 
children may wade and splash in peace and safety, 
and may be when the Xepaug Water System is 
completed. Such pools should be kept clean, and 
with running water. 
PICNICS. 
Every effort is made to assist picnic parties, large 
or small, visiting the parks, to get the most out 
of their day's outing. It is hoped to extend this 
phase of our work, until we reach not only the 
children hut the entire family, which will then 
make picnics of superior importance. About forty 
permits were issued for such parties. Elizabeth 
Park was the chief rendezvous for such gatherings, 
with Goodwin Park a close second. Receptacles for 
papers, etc., are conveniently located, and the pub- 
lic shows its appreciation by using them and other- 
wise keeping the grounds clean. The largest pic- 
nics. with an all-day program are grouped under 
the head of “Field Days.” 
FIELD DAYS. 
Several gatherings of great groups, such as the 
public schools, and Central Labor Union, were held 
on Colt and Elizabeth Parks during the summer. 
An athletic field with full equipment staked out 
and roped off to confine the spectators, was nec- 
essary on each occasion. Bands furnished the mu- 
sic. and «omo large crowds were present. Proba- 
bly the largest group was that of the Central Labor 
Union, whose Labor-Day party was surely a great 
event. The men brought their families, and al- 
though the program was largely arranged for the 
men. the children and the other members of the 
family were cared for by the athletics and on the 
playgrounds. Over thirty thousand were cared for 
on these occasions. 
FESTIVALS. 
The schools were leaders in the production of 
festive occasions held in the “open”, usually at 
Goodwin I-’ark where the setting is superb for such 
affairs. Fortunate indeed were those people who 
witnessed them, and happy were the children who 
participated — it was a picture long to be remem- 
bered. Nearly fourteen thousand were thus inter- 
ested. 
PARTIES. 
The Pond House at Elizabeth Park has served the 
public through wedding breakfasts, dancing and 
card parties, dinners, musieales, readings and en- 
tertainments and lias been a busy place. The 
capacity of the house is supposed to be forty peo- 
ple at a dinner, and yet ninety have been served 
at a time. So great has been the demand for the 
Pond House, that we have had to refuse two parties 
to every one we could accommodate. The house 
has been engaged by the young and the old. for 
neighborhood clubs, societies, and clubs, and usu- 
ally one month in advance. 
THE FIRE-PLACE. 
For those who enjoy a meal cooked in the woods, 
and who love the great out-doors, the simple fire- 
place at Goodwin Park has been a great boon. 
Corn or marshmallow roasts, broiled steaks, and 
steamed frankforts have been popular. The groups 
of “Camp Fire Girls” and several men’s clubs have 
often spent pleasant hours there, but a more pre- 
tentious fireplace would give greater service. 
SLEEPING. 
During the hot summer months, many of the 
East Side residents preferring the cool breezes from 
the Connecticut River to their hot tenements, slept 
in the grove at Riverside Park. More than three 
thousand such comfortable sleepers were counted 
there, within a period of two months. 
HOCKEY. 
Two rinks were in operation, and the one at 
Elizabeth Park although small, was the favorite. 
However, the Colt Park Rink was hardly given a 
test, being completed just before the great snow- 
storm, which put an end to hockey playing. Six 
thousand was the total attendance. 
CURLING. 
Although the curlers are a small group, probably 
because of the expensive outfit, yet they play one 
of our most desirable games. 
CHRISTMAS TREE. 
Hartford’s Municipal Christmas Tree was lighted 
each afternoon and evening from Christmas eve un- 
til the coming of the new year. It seems that its 
influence with the daily message of songs, and stand- 
ing at City Hall Square where the multitude passed 
and could not help but see, was greater than if 
placed In the finest park area, farther removed from 
the people and from the noise and rush of business. 
No estimate could be made of the number of people 
who passed in full view of the tree, hut over 
thirty-two thousand came close enough to hear and 
join in the songs, and hear the old hell of City 
Hall ring out the “old year” and to see the lights 
of 1014 flash forth. Then they went home, but 
they didn’t forget the “TREK.” 
LABOR DAY GATHERING OF CENTRAL LABOR UNION AND FAMILIES IN COLT 
PARK, HARTFORD, CONN. 
ORGANIZING and DEVELOPING A MODERN CEMETERY 
By Sid J. Hare and S. Herbert Hare, Landscape Architects, Kansas City, Mo. 
III. Selecting the Site. 
• Too often the location of a cemetery is 
the result of one or more circumstances 
which should have little or no relation to 
the subject. Some person may have a tract 
of land to sell, and through business, per- 
sonal or political influence this land will he 
chosen. In some cases a cemetery may he 
actually promoted to make use of a certain 
piece of ground. The result is usually un- 
satisfactory. The writers recall a cemeten 
of several hundred acres in one of our 
large cities established in this way. It is 
a picturesque site and a creditable piece of 
landscape development, but as a cemetery 
it can never be a success, owing to the 
rocky ground, direction of slopes and other 
topographical and geological conditions. 
The first consideration should be the lo- 
cation in relation to the city ; the centers 
of greatest population of the classes to be 
served, and more especially the growth of 
population. Suburban districts or towns 
which might contribute to the cemetery arc 
often of importance. 
In general, the growth of a city is in the 
form of a star, with long arms of develop- 
ment reaching out along the more impor- 
tant radial lines which connect with the 
surrounding towns or suburbs. As a ceme- 
tery must have direct and convenient con- 
nection with the city by roads which are al- 
ways in good repair, it is apparent that the 
logical location is near one of these main 
highways, though it is not necessary to 
take the more valuable land directly ad- 
joining the main road. Another consider- 
ation in regard to main highways is the in- 
terference which such a large tract of 
ground will cause in the street system of 
the city. A location should lie chosen 
which will cause as little interference as 
possible with main lines of communication, 
either present or future. Such care will 
tend to minimize the hostile attitude which 
is often assumed by surrounding property 
owners, both because of the above reasons 
and because of more sentimental reasons. 
A well arranged and maintained cemetery 
should not be an objection in any neigh- 
borhood. 
Transportation by street car. rapid tran- 
sit or suburban trolley to the grounds or 
within a short distance should be assured. 
In the larger cities suburban steam trains 
may answer as well, hut some reliable, 
rapid and inexpensive means for visitors to 
reach the cemetery is necessary ; also fu- 
neral trains or cars are not uncommon, 
and will no doubt come into greater use. 
Many cemeteries have considered this 
problem of transportation so important 
that they have subsidized street car lines. 
This brings us to the problem of distance 
from the city, one of the most difficult, as 
it depends upon several indeterminate fac- 
tors, one of which is the probable expan- 
sion. i he growth of population affects this 
only indirectly, as the direction of growth 
and solidity of development (that is, the 
amount of intervening land left wholly un- 
developed or vacant) will make much dif- 
ference. It is certain that the cemetery 
should be as near as possible for perma- 
