The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-13
CONTROL OF THE SQUARES.
Park COMMISSIONERS AND THE
STREET RAILWAY GRANT.

STREET RAILWAY GRANT.
The City Attorneys Opinion Asked
ms TO the Jurisdiction of the Park
Commission with Reference to the
Laying of Car Tracks-Care of the
Parks and suuares-The City Has
Spent $500 on Them Since Lass
Spring-The Commissioners Plans
of Improvement for Next Year.
The park and tree commissioners have
| requested, through Acting Mayor HamI-
ton, the opinion of the city attorney as
| to their jurisdiction Of the public squares,
with reference to the grant to the street
railway company to lay double tracks
through them.
The act creating the park and tree COM
mission intrusts to them the care and
preservation" of the park, squares. trees
and grass plats of the city.
! Some of the commissioners
have an idea that their per-
mission is necessary before the street
railways can intrude further upon the
squares. This would seem to come under
the head of preservation of the squares,
they think.
The commissioners have not announced
any opposition to double tracking the
squares, but simply wish to know the ex-
tent of their jurisdiction. City Attorney
Adams has been called upon by Acting
Mayor Hamilton, for his opinion in the
matter, and will doubtless give it in a
few days.
The leading article of the last issue of
Garden and Forest Of New York, publish
ed in the interest of public forestry, con-
tains several things applicable to Savan-
nah. Among other things, it says:
The ignorant and the vicious have long
been enemies of the parks-persons who
deny their utility because it cannot be
translated into terms of dollars and cents;
those who are eager to injure them for
the sake Of giving to the city something,
advantageous, perhaps, in its own way
which they think of more practical bene-
fit;' who wish to exploit them for their
own profit or who plan to fill them with
ugly objects; who barbarously injure their
grass, trees flowers or monuments for
their own mischievous pleasure; or who
think they know more about caring for
them than their professional superinten-
dents, and therefore try to arouse the
public" whenever a dying tree is cut or
any other needful and desirable work pro-
posed"
These people. says Garden and Forest,
represent the unintelligent, uncultivated
| and unconscientious elements of the pop
ulation. They are now recognized as
enemies of the public which in some de-
gree is on its guard against them
The article is especially directed, how
ever, to the danger of the public parks
| from Improvement" by people who may
| have some architectural or engineering
| ability, and who wish to make additions
and changes in the parks on their special
| lines without regard to the general effect
| The necessity for guarding against the
| disposition to make use of the parks for
! public buildings is especially dwelt upon
| On this line Garden and Forest speaks as
| follows:
1T is high time that the public should
| awaken to the fact that no buildings what
+ soever, except those absolutely required
| for park purposes proper, should be allow
| ed, within park, and that the projectors
| of all others should buy their own Sites
| or, if these must be purchased with public
| money, that they should be placed outside
| of park limits. This is not merely be-
| cause every foot of open public land is
precious as such and should be held sacred
to serve the health, the refreshment and
| the outdoor pleasures of the people. 1t is
| also because, almost without exception,
| our pleasure-grounds are works of land
| scape-art in the exact sense-naturalis
| parks-and are necessarily injured in their
| artistic character by the intrusion of build
| ings even of the most beautiful kinds.
| This is the point which many artists do
| not understand, and, therefore-as they
| are naturally regarded as the highest au-
IL,
| which may be done to our parks by those
| who have not true comprehension of
| them Is, perhaps more to be dreaded
than that from any other class of men,"
| The parks, squares and trees of Savan-
nah are, as is well known, now under
the care of the street and lane committee
of council. the park and tree commission
having been left in state of helpless
| desuetude since the expenditure of its
| funds early last summer.
Alderman Davis, chairman of the street
and lane committee, stated to a Morning
News reporter that the committee had
| already expended about $500 in this work
since IL took it up last summer. The
| charge that the committee is neglecting
the parks and squares is untrue, he said
AS an instance Of the care exercised by
the committee he mentioned the new green
house back of No. engine house on Bar
nard street, where he said the commit
tee has stored about 81 200 worth of plants
which would have been killed by the ap-
preaching cold weather.
It was the purpose of the park and tree
commission to build a green house in the
addition to Colonial park, which would
have been an ornament to the park ana
an object of interest TO all lovers of
plants and flowers. They may do so yet
if the commission bill is not repealed and
council will furnish them with sufficient
funds next year to carry on their work
CYCLE LAMP THIEVES RUN DOWN.