The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-29
MUNICIPAL HOUSEKEEPERS
WONDERFUL WORK OF THE
 1iMERICAN
League For Civic Improvements

League For Civic Improvements The first annual convention of the
 American League for Civic Improve ment held at Buffalo recently revealed | the large amount of useful work being
 done by women all oyer the country
 along lines of city and village improve 1 ment.
 | The experience of the St. Paul women 1 is perhaps the most notable. Under the
 leadership of Mrs. Hamilton, a woman of wealth and high social position, they have accomplished marked results. 1 Their first work was to secure the pas
 sage by the legislature of two bills, providing for the planting of trees in cities, and the cutting of grass on va cant lots, the cost to be assessed
 against the property owners They made a complete canvass or the city with regard to its sanitary connections, filing written reports with the health department. It was hard and
 monotonous task but as result after
 a long fight, the contract system of re-
 moving garbage in which politics fig
 ured rather than cleanliness, was done
 away with the matter was given over
 to the health department, insuring eff
 ficient service
 The women secured, after great
 deal of trouble a city ordinance re-
 quiring the inspection of dairies; which
 created dissatisfaction among some of
 the darymen, because they could no
 longer feed their cows on mash" from
 the brewerles The failed in abolishing
 ba hato pf al of ii,1T tba
 billboard, bat secured ordinances modi-
 flying the nuisance. But the chief work
 of the St, Paul women was on the city
 charter, It was a new charter, incor-
 porating many improvements in the city government, but antagonizing
 certain great corporations, like the street railway. gas and electric light
 companies. Everyone said that it would
 never be adopted by the people. But
 the women threw themselves heart and soul into the work and carried cam
 paign of education into every home in the city, The best judges, lawyers and other leading men of the city placed their services at the disposal of the committee, and the women arranged meeting at every schoolhouse. They printed the charter in brief, with ex- planatory literature, in Swedish, Ger man and English, and saw that it was placed in every house On election day they had high school boys at the 'poll- ing place in each of the IA precincts of the city, to remind the voters to vote on the charter, and show them how to do it.
 That night the first election news an 9iD Ura "The charter is adopted
 The work of the St. Paul women is typical of that of women all over the country. Tn Carlisle, Pa. the women have recently bought an old fair ground, and turned it into park In Keokuk, la, the women erected foun- tain, planted 500 trees along a new boulevard and reclaimed a park which | had been allowed by the city to lie waste. Tn Spokane, Wash, they have l distributed great quantities of shrubs, l small fruits and flower seeds among | the children of the poor. Tn Harris | burg, Pa the women have interested | in improved ordinances, | have maintained summer playgrounds | and kindergartens, have collected na- ture library which is loaned to rural and have been so effective in public sentiment on the sub ject of the beautifying of Harrisburg that a commission is now working to induce the city to vote loan for muni- cipal improvements. The plan for the latter includes the beautifyng of i the river front of the Susquehanna by II the construction of a splendid houle- yard and other means. Miss Mira Dock, the moving spirit in the work It Harrisburg, has recently been ap- pointed a member of the Pennsylvania state board of forestry.
 The women of Tarpon Springs, Fla. built and furnished much needed public schoolhouse, which was then turned over to the city and reclaimed md beautitied the uncared for cerne- cry Tn Rochester the women have the school yards into bow ITS of beauty, In Denver the women secured the placing of seats at waiting joints on the streets car lines and of ubbish cans at corners. They secured ln anti approximation ordinance, and he establishing of district libraries in he suburbs. They have conducted