The morning call., 1891-03-30
AIK GARpENs.

a proposal is before the public of New
York to roof in the old CrotOn reservoir,
and to cover the roof with earth so as tu
| make a pavilion in which flowers would
! grow. and people in search Of fresh air
/ might promenade. 1t is argued, in behalf
| Of the suggestion, that there are not public
| parks enough in New YORK to accommodate
jhe people, and that the time has come for
the invasion of the air by gardens as well
as houses.
a II gardens are not absolutely a novelty.
| [ lie hanging gardens of Babylon, which
| rested on a series of arches seYentv-fve
! feet high, and are said to have covered 160.-
! 600 square feet, have been often described.
{ and in parts of China wealthy mandarins
| have amused themselves by planting gardens
on the roofs Of buildings. But for obvious
reasons the fashion has not yet become
general. To cover a nook in a wall or stone
ediice with earth, and rear flowers or shrubs
on 1t, is easy enough; such tricks in floricul-
| ture have been performed in many European
castles. But in modern times the expert
ment has not been attempted on large
scale, With few exceptions, plants rebel
against thin layer Of earth superimpOsed
on subsoil composed Of stone laid with
hands. To overcome their aversion, the soil
must be laid deep, and this costs money.
and involves a stout foundation to bear it,
Roof on which earth is laid and flowers
planted soon rots and falls into holes.
The utilization of the atmosphere, how
ever, Is becoming every day a problem of
greater interest. In the great cities of the
world the residence quarter is being pushed
further and further away from the business
quarter, and the time consumed in travelling
from the one to the other grows longer.
A. matters little to the heads of business
hyr IS who have leisure to STARE; but to
eleIks and employees it is serious matter
a clerk who lives in the westernmost part
q Tie Western Addition, or at Oakland
OF iameda or SauSaIito, must count on
slehuing pretty neHry an hour in going
NON ms nome to his place of business; this
means two hours day, or twelve bours =
- consumed IN lOcom0tion. EMPLOYEES
VINO are heavily laden with work co, bo-,lI,,
such a disposition OF time East.ry1
cities are 10 accommodate employees near
theiE place of business by building tall
houses a three-StOry house built on
p twenty five foot lot will accommodate
one or, at most, two families, but if ten
ssorcs are put on The house it will lodge
TOUR times as many, aud with the modern
improvements in elevators the residents of
ne upper stories will have the most agree
abe apartments. In all the large cities the
hsW buildings which are being erected by
ID pitaHsts as investments are very tall.
sMfiNe OF thlrteen stories being not unusual
tbus Tue lOt earns very much more than II
would dol the buildings were of the oId nat
Tern, three or four stories high In this ci,v
many Oh the new edifces in course Of CON
siI"cltoh are going to be sky-scrapers, and
uie calculation is that the upper stories will
rent quite as easily and for nearly as much
money as the stories beneath.
another revolution IN residence brildir,
was foreshadowed some twelve mr. ff,aon
years ago. This was to place the li,cba,'
store-Tooms and offices in the upDer sfory
ana the sleeping and liYing-rooms beIow
tnem' At the time this innovation was frat
introduced into New York it seemed so
contrary TO all received ideas of convenience
maj IL ialiea 10 succeed; but there is a good
Zeal TO be said Ia its favor. MANY a 6na
appetite has been sp0ilt by the nrema,ura
smell Of succulent dinner: MANY an oar |
mas been Jared by dulcet sounds of con-
troVersy rising from the kitchen. thronob
stairway and dumb waiter. Perhaps tho
strongest argument against the chanpa IL
mat IN hot climates it would abandon tho
oest floor OF the house to the servants
ere in San Francisco we do not banker
liter night breezes on an open roof But in
he Mediterranean countries. when tbe
our OF rest arrives. the family climbs a
Ayneht and courts sleep with the tiles for a
ouch ana the stars for canopy, and in
New ork the most densely populated fiat
tenement mouse after dark is the roof.