The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1896-09-26
RAILWAY STATIONS.
PROMINENT FACTORS IN DEVELOPING
TOWNS.

SVo I'm
TOWNS.
Value OF Making a Favorable First I'm.
pression-Basis For the Strangers Opin.
ion Of q Community Lack of Public
Pride Indicates Dearth of Enterprise.
One Of the first methods a community
has OF expressing its determination to
reach out for self improvement is in the
interest it takes in the condition of the
public park, be it large or small. The
public park is the central point from
which every form of public and private
improvement affecting property usually
radlates. If the public park is neglected
and has run to weeds, there is scarcely
any need to look elsewhere for proof of
the absence Of community pride of ex-
1stence. Decadence, lack of private en-
terprlse, absence of nearly everything
that goes toward making a community
comfortable and healthful. are notice
able on every hand. Property values in
such q community are necessarily low.
Taxation is burdensome. Progress is
slow. Prosperity is leaden heeled, and
the outlook all along the line is discour-
aging. Such a place is stunned by new
corners to the state. There is no in
crease Of population or Of wealth. The
community is retrograding instead of
progressing,
In all tn smaller towns and cities
and villages tho railroad station cuts a
much larger figure in the general pros
perity of the place than most people, at
first thought. are willing to admit. It
is a great factor nevertheless in a COM
munity's development. The railroad
station is the first evidence that the
stranger from abroad has Of the presence
OF the town. village or city which it
serves. There he gets his first impress
sions Of the community. If the railroad
depot is handsome and its grounds are
well kept, laid out in flower beds and
shrubbery, the first impression which
h visitor receives of that community
is a favorable one, and it sticks through
all his subsequent experiences with it..
Unfortunately" remarked a railroad
president the other day, in speaking of
railroad stations, "our railroads enter
the back door Of every city, as it were,
and the environments of the station are
naturally not pleasant"
In many respects that is true, but it
is likewise true that every railroad com
pany has the power, if it be so disposed
to exercise it. to make these ''back door
entrances to towns and cities much
more attractive to the eye than even
that which might now be designated
the front entrance" In Great Britain
and the continent of Europe this is
something that railroad companies un-
derstand and appreciate. and they have
adopted a system which might be copied
4proftably by American railroad com-
panfes-namely, to offer prizes to sta
tion masters for the best improved and
best kept station grounds on their re-
spective lines.
This policy has resulted in the station
masters Of those countries developing
beautiful flower gardens and productive
vegetable patches and orchards out of
the waste land alongside the railroad
tracks adjacent to every station. This
transformation cannot be ACCOMPLISHED
at every station for various reasons, but
neatness and order are everywhere pos
slble. and a due regard for the comfort
and convenience Of travellers should al
ways be observed. A small reward from
the railroad company would serve as a
wonderful stimulant and produce some
results without the expendi-
ture Of a dollar additional in the orna-
Of the common wooden struc.
ture now erected for the transaction of
local railroad business.
An ordinary station. totally unat-
tractive in itself. may be made beauti-
ful through the improvement of the
waste ground on either side of the rail-
o at its approaches.
In some parts of the country such a
pressure Of public opinion has been
brought to bear on the railroad COM
that they have been forced to put
up attractive structures for stations.
between railroads has
been the active agent. In
some places the people Of the conl,uu-
nifty which is served by the station have
faxed themselves for the erection of a
handsome station, one that wouldimpress
Inc visiting stranger that they were a
ahead, enterprising, progressive and
people. The railroad company
hat helps a community by making its
and the station grounds attract
i've and an ornament to the town helps
Itself quite as much as it helps the
town, for the prosperity Of the one final
y leads to the financial profit of the