The Evolution of the Street—Ill. 
if at such a juncture there be not enough 
travel to fill the space or to make necessary 
the provision of a refuge, civic sculpture 
finds in it a noble site. Its lesson of com¬ 
memoration or inspiration will be constantly 
before the citizens, will enter into their daily 
lives; while, from the standpoint of the 
street, the sculpture will ornately close the 
vistas of the converging thoroughfares and 
will make an accent of adequate importance 
and artistic emphasis. As soon, then, as the 
wish appeared to embellish the street, this 
use was made of such sites, when they were 
available. The differentiation of the busi¬ 
ness variety of street had thus continued, 
and where, in abstract conception, we had 
found grass, trees, shrubs and fiowers appear¬ 
ing, with perhaps some incidental sculpture, 
we now find strictly architectural, and hence 
a more urban, development in the construc¬ 
tion of an isle of refuge, the location of 
clustered lights, or of civic sculpture by 
itself. 
And yet the value—social, hygienic and 
esthetic—of the trees was too obvious to be 
ignored ; and if onlv the space were broad 
enough—breadth being here a relative term 
dependent on the volume of travel quite as 
much as on feet and inches—there was a 
planting of trees. Now, since the widening 
of business streets takes place usually after 
the thoroughfare has been built up, being in 
response to, rather than in anticipation of, 
the pressure of traffic that the construction 
causes, the broadened spaces will not always 
be continuous. Buildings of great value 
may, for some years at least, cause breaks in 
it; and until these are swept away the street 
will have a very irregular aspect, unless in the 
widened portions the original building line 
can be carried on by a row of trees. So a 
special and supplementary value came to be 
LYONS 
THE RUE DE LA REPUBLIQUE 
