Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1900-06-16
TO BEAUTIFY CITIES.
LITTLE THINGS IMPORTANT IN MU-
NlCiPAL ART.


.ity Beautiful" With its clean, paved
streets, with its public places, sur
rounded by buildings in harmonious
style and decorated with statuary
which represents the highest develop
mcnt of modern art, with its river so
beautifully bridgcd, with its old cathe-
lral of immense proportions, it comes
ararcr than any other to reaching the
deal which is the object of this mu-
licipal art movement, The City Beau
irul''
The conversion of the American city,
Quilt primarily for utility, into the city
beautiful may seem at the first glance
1 hCrculcan task, says Il Stanfoa i uni
verSity professor. But 1t is like che IA
ole of the old man who, when about to
lie, had IL bundle of arrows brought to
aim which he gave to his SONS to be
broken. They tried with might and
main, but could not break them, when
.hc Old man, taking them one by one,
easily broke them all. SO it is with
The difficulties in the way of municipal
art. If we take every element of ugli-
lcSS one by one and try to root it out,
he task will not be difficult.
There are so many little things that
could be remcdicd in our modern cities
For example, our lamppOSts. Why
could they not be beautiful affairs?
Why could not a society like the Balti-
more Municipal Art society institute Il
contest for designs for lamps? 1t does
not cost very much more to put up
handsome gas lamps than it does ugly
ones if you have the designs, ana if
/ liberal prizes were offered successful
workers and sculptors would compete.
! Every little thing counts in municipal
art.
Another method by which we could
gradually improve our streets is the in
PRODUCTION Of color. The love of color
IS natural. The medieval city was
| feast of color with its bright tile roof
/ lng and painted facadcs, with the coats
of arms emblaZoncd on all the houses
and walls of the cities and with the
/ glittcring glass windows stained in all
:olorS. 1t is only in modern times that
]
put up hideous affair to advertise an
auction sale. | am not arguing for
throwing paint pots ut buildings, but
II favor of order in place of the present
anarchy. Let the colorng of our cities
De under artistic direction.
In colOring our modern cities the
/ French have given us good examples.
? rhny rnS,l,i1,1n
Green is natures cOloring. 1t rests the
aye, and in the broader streets of the
:ity nothing is so charming as to see a
bright green tree. The Champs Ely
sees, which IS pronounced by many to
! De the finest avenue in the world Gt
certainly IS one of the tincsU, has its
chief charm in the beautiful trees
throughout.
Another way in which we might use
color would be through the increasing
lse of hcraldry. Black is Il dingy col
IL, but if one places blue spots in a
black field he has Il field of beautiful
sapphire. And so we might use herald
y in our modern cities. Why should
lOt the coat Of arms of the city in col
)IS bt cllDluLbuttl ONtl inc uOpI VI tN-
FRY public building? Why should not
merchants have trademarks which are
artistic and have them colored and en-
olaZoncd in like manner?
Leaving the streets and this coloring
scheme, let us come to the public
squares and open places of the city,
which should be decorated in n suitable
4, 1
ngS congrcgatcd in Paris, and you will
notice that while it is impossible to
lave buildings of Il similar style of ar
:hitecturc the first great principle Of
having beautiful places is that instead
If having them scattered they should
oe grouped. Berlin is as handsome as
Vienna as far as its Individual build
ngS are concerned, but Vienna is inf
litcly finer than Berlin because Wen
la'S buildings are concentrated in one
street, the RingStraSse, whereas those
| If Berlin are scattered all about.
The peoples houses should always be
he greatest and most dignilicd houses
II the community. Nothing is too good
or the people. In Grccian times the
peoples houses were the temples. The
AcrOpOlS was the most sacred place to
he AthcnianS, the place where they
Iept their treasures. and it was bcauti-
| 'ully decorated.
In the middle ages the peoples
louses became the cathedrals. But il
vas not the clergy alone who built
hose grand old cathcdrals. The people
| themselves gave of their abundance.
The poor gave of their need, and not
mly that some of them gave their
ives to the work. There are instances
# frccmcn who bound themselves as
erfs to n cathedral to draw water and
hew stone until death should release
hem. When the people built in that
pirit and in that style, they built
omcthing worthy.
Nowadays the city halls, courthouses.
mblic schools and libraries are the peo-
Hes houses. These should be built as
vorthily as We're the temples and pal
lccs of old. Perhaps the most elaborate
md beautiful city hall in the world is
he Hotel de VILE of Paris which is
labOratcly decorated without and
within. The new public library of BoS-
on is fine example of what Il city
an do in the way of fine public
milding.
Progress In California.
Many improvements are being in.
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