The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-25
SEEK CIVIC BEAUTY
DELEGATES TO CONVENTION ADJ
VANCE VARIOUS IDEAS ON MU-
NICIPAL IMPROVEMENT
ALL SECTIONS OF COUNTRY
HAVE ABLE SPoKESMEN
St. Paul Is Held to Be Ahead of Min
neapoIis In Location of Public Build
inss-Hideous Advertising Is Decried
President Roosevelt Sends Regrets
Jane Addams Speaks.


1--WE try to be pure of heart in Des
Moines, but we have given up long
ago trying to be clean Of hands and
face" said Rev. Marie Jenney of Des
Moines, Iowa, one of the delegates to
the National League for Civic I'M
provement, at the session of the league
which opened yesterday morning at
the Commercial club.
''Des Moines is a very dirty city"
continued the speaker "for soft coal
is cheap there. In fact they almost
give it away, and as a consequence a
black pail of smoke hangs over the
city. If a mother wants her child she
has to call in children that are play
ing together and wash all their faces
before she can select her own child. II
our friends gaze earnestly at us on the
street a black cinder on our nose, rath-
er than admiration, is apt to be the
cause of that stare. However" con-
tinued Mrs. Jenney hopefully and en-
ergetically, most of the women and
some of the men are trying their best
to alter existing conditions. In time
we hope to have clean hands and faces
as well as pure hearts in Des Moines."
Eleven States Represented.
Not all of the twenty-five delegates
who represented their various organi-
cations at yesterdays session of the
improvement league had Mrs. Jenney's
disheartening tale to tell, but all were
inspired with Miss Jenney's hope, so
the meeting opened most auspiciously.
The twenty-five delegates represented
eleven states-New Jersey, Wisconsin,
Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Ken
lucky, Illinois, Texas, New York and
Minnesota. Though small numerically,
the aims of the league are as broad as
the territory they represent.
After the appointment of the
regular committees, E. H. Parker, a
former president of the American Park
and Outdoor association, was intro
duced.
Not "Twin City"
Mr.. Parker explained that. he had
just come from Minneapolis, and that
while the matter might be a little bit
foreign to the subject assigned him, he
could not refrain from referring brief
ly to the superiority of ST. Paul over
her sister city in the matter of sites
6GlSClSu Luz uGI puUlIC
Like the Greeks and Romans of
DID,, said Mr.. Parker, you have put
your capitol on a hill and you have
taken care that it will have a broad
eXpanSe of green to surround 1t. Con-
trast it with the Hennepin county
court house in Minneapolis! That
beautiful building takes up every inch
of the space allotted to it. There are
no trees surrounding it. 1t is erected
q q
on level with other buildings. Your
own city hall here has an excellent
site"
MARRIED by Advertising.
Mr.. Parker commented on the fact
that the two towns were much disf1g-
ured by public advertising.
II have not seen much of st. Paul
yet" he said, but in Minneapolis even
your candidates for office have appar-
emily no respect for public property.
Their pictures are to be seen on the
street cars and even on the trunks Of
trees. If we had more respect for law
and order in this country we would not
tolerate such outrages as these dread
full advertisements"
Mr.. Parker told what had been ac-
complished in his own town Of Quincy,
Ill, to do away with this evil. Bangor,
Me-, was another town, he declared,
the streets of which were not defaced
by advertisements. Referring to the
matter of parks and other places of
recreation for city children, Mr.. Park
er related that many of the cities were
breeding race of criminals by not
making proper provision Tor recreation
for children. New York, he said, had
begun to awaken in this regard and
was doing now at an outlay of thou
sands of dollars what she might have
done fifty years ago at very little eX-
pense.
The speaker concluded his address
by suggesting that the league appoint
q general secretary, who would be able
to answer any and all questions on
the subject of civic Improvement. The
league had received many inquiries
that touched upon so many different
branches of the work that he consid-
cred such an officer a necessity.
Will Consolidate Organizations.
Frank Chaplin Bray chairman of the
committee on utilization, reported that
his committee had held several con-
ferences in regard to the matter of a
federation that would affiliate all asso-
Citations which had for their aim civic
Improvement. The committee, he said
had no power to act, but suggested
that steps be taken at once that would
look toward such a federation. On
motion it was decided to refer the mat
ter to a special committee with power
to act.
Reports From Many Cities.
Secretary e. G. Reutzahn, of Day
ton, Ohio, in his report, stated that
the organization of the section coun-
ellis was one of the important works
of the league during the past year. He
read a number of letters that tht
league had received from differen
parts of the country showing the in.
terest that had been aroused in the
work of civic improvement
Miss Eleanor Territt, the noted set
Element worker, gave an interesting
report of the work that is being done
in Louisville, Ky. Miss Territt ex-
planned that they had begun with the
children first, and by means of seet
grounds and the formation of iunio1