Evening star., 1901-04-29
WILL VISIT EUROPE
Members of the Park Commission Are
Going Abroad.
TO STUDY The BEST FOREIGN SYSTEMS
Mr. Charles Moore Describes Ma
ture and Scope Of Undertaking.
BACK TO THE LENFANT PLANS

The commission appointed to devise a
system Of parks for the District of Column
bia has decided to make a trip to England
and the continent of Europe in order to
visit eight or ten cities where the highest
development Of park systems has been
reached. The commissioners leave here
June IL and will be gone about six weeks.
Their effort will be to study the adaptation
OF european methods to conditions in the
Dlstrlct OF Columbia, or, at least, to be
1ully INFORMED on every phase of park de-
veiopment that has been applied with
cess In the most beautiful cities of the old
world.
The commission has investigated very
interesting phase of the plan of L Enfant
for the District of Columbia. There has
been general opinion abroad that this
plan by the great Frenchman was directly
after French ideas. The commission Is
satisfied that LEnfant's ideas We're OBJ
tanned from American adaptations of Eng
lish styles which were in turn English
adaptations of French IDEAS The recent
visit of the commission to old colonial
homes IN the James river satisfied them
that l. Enfant's plan had been made in ref
erence to the styles of development they
saw there.
Appreciation of the Task.
Speaking of the work of the commission
ers today, Mr.. Charles Moore, clerk of the
Senate committee the District of Co
lumbia, said:
When Mr.. Burnham and Mr. Olmsted
were first approached about the park i'm
provement in the District of Columbia they
both expressed the opinion that the task
was both intricate and difficult They ap-
pteciated the fact that whatever work was
to be done here must be permanent in
character, must come under the observa-
t1on of thousands of visitors and also must
meet the requirements of improved and
constantly improving taste on the part of
the American public. When Mr.. McKim
was added to the commission he empha-
SIZED the IDEAS Of his colleagues. The more
the commissioners studied the original plan
for the city of Washington the more con-
vinced they became that the city which
II Enfant planned and Washington and
Jefferson approved, was, so far as it went.
an ideal plan. and the commissioners would
esteem themselves highly fortunate if they
could see their way clear to get back to
this plan, in SO far the city Itself is
concerned.
Departures From Original Design.
They were particularly impressed with
the water features of the plan as offering
the most beautiful terminations Of many
Of the choicest vistas of the city While
Westinghouse Enfant plan and appreciated
the fact that during the century ii has
seemed wisest from time to time to devi-
ate from it, Yet many of these departures
seem to have been matie in a haphazard
fashion and for this reason must always
interfere with that symmetry which was
much sought after in the original de-
sign Public buildings have been erected
across streets and have been so placed
that from D0iptS of view
buildings become tjumbled Streets have
been twisted where they should have been
straight merely to serve temporary ex-
pedient. For instance, Pennsylvania avenue
where 1t crosses the Anacostia river has
offset to accommodate the location of the
bridge, whereas the bridge should have
been made to accommodate the street.
1.-The ideal plan for the District of Co
lumbia as the capital Of the United States
involves two features, the first Of which
is the formal treatment of the public
buildings and their settings 1t is not suff1-
cient that the buildings themselves shall
be we'll built, but they should also be we'll
located, and the approaches to them should
be in keeping with the character of the
buildings. For example, the Capitol is
rightly regarded as the most important
building in the United States, and the ap-
p1oach to 1t should be treated as a unit.
The connection between the White House
and the Capitol Is now broken up into a
series Of squares e .ch developed without
reference one to the other. The main lines
run across these squares and not l. En-
FAINT intended. parallel with the main axis
of the Capitol. l mention these things
merely to show something of the diff
culties with which the commission is called
on to contend.
Development of the Parks.
The second portion Of their task is to
develop the pleasure parks along natural
lines in strong contrast with the formal
character of the setting Of the public build
ngs. This involves, of course, treating all
the parks comprising one system,
that the connections between them can be
made attractive at the least possible eX-
pense.
Another difficulty that the commission
ers experienced was the lack Of definite in
formation in regard to a number of the
public grounds, and to supplement their
information surveyors have been at work
running the necessary lines. Such infor-
nation is available in case Of most of the
large projects such as Rock Creek Park
and the Anacostia flats. Rock Creek Park
has been thoroughly studied so far as the
engineering features are concerned. A
mass Of such Information, sufficient to
make a library in itself, has been gathered
for the use of the commission. All this
data is being compiled by Mr. James G.
Langdon, chief craftsman of the COM
mission, and maps are being prepared in
cooperating the data thus obtained.
Original L'Enfant Plan.
AT tHe instance VI MI WIN. T.. Cuftls,
and through the courtesy Of the Secretary
of the Treasury. the commission has been
able to make a study of the colonial es-
tates on the James river The commission
was taken in hand by Capt. Ross Of the
navy, who has charge of the James river
lighthouse district, and who is acquainted
not only with the country but also with
the people living there. On this visit the
commission found the originals of almost
all the work that IL Enfant did in the Dis
trict of Columbia, We have been accus-
toned to ascribe the plan of Washington
to that of Versailles, and to the French
influence in general, but it was found that
even the great features of the mall have
their prototype at WILLIAMSBURG and that