The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-18
As 10 the city Beautiful.

The nineteen che piers Of the ha ndsomely
printed book, Modern Civic Art; or The
City Made Beautiful" by Cha rles Milford
Robinson &c. p. Putnam's Sons, are ma de
UP If Il series of essi ys in a lroG d nd free
vein. There is nice flow in the style Of
them that will ea silly lllure the res der.
There is promise in the sky of new d v.
The darkness rolls away, and the buildings
that had leen sha dows stC nd forth dis
tinctly in the gray air" We have known
them TO appea rthe betterf0r being shG dows,
but thGt is not to say that they should not
be fitted to ST. nd the sunlight. 1.-THE toll
facad DIES glow as the sun rises, their windows
shine as topaz; their penn, nts Of stea m,
Juggling flutteringiy from high chimncys,
are changed to silvery plumcs. Whatever
was dinsy, COZ rse nd ugly is either trG ms
formed or hidden in shj dow. The streets,
bathed in the fresh morning light, fairly
spy rkle, their pavements from upper win
dows ppear ring smooth and Gle; n,
So the book opens in a chapte celebrat-
ing a new2day for cities They have i'm
proved in many particulars The citizen
now no longer finds his way through the
streets nj night by the light Of his own Ian
tern. The cii2eness does not throw Stops
out of the front window The pavement
has changed from cobblestones to asphalt.
Great charios, speeding on polished ways
with the directness of arrows, and making
more noise than armies In battle, have
paled the mild glories Of the sedan chair;
only a nickel to go in them, and you can
expand to your natural size when you
get out
There are chapters on the water approach
and the land approach Of cities, on the
street plan and the architecture Of the
business district, on the furnishings of
the street, on the adorning Of the city with
fountains and sculpture, OH great avenues,
minor residential streets and the tcncmeuts,
on open spaces, parkways, temporary and
occasional decoration, aud things besides.
Concerning the advertising that must he "A
part Of street furnishing We read:
at may as well he admitted that there
will he advertising. A commercial street.
lined with inpos' 8 architecture, the ia
cades unmarried by Lettering, no screaming
sigGs, 10y day no gIaring CulOrs, by night
no flashing advertisements, al dgnlly,
repOsc and sell -cot.tained )laCidity--this
would possibly be the vision Of the city
ideally fair and stately. But modern civic
art is nothing if not practical. II would
dismiss such a vision az ulattainabe. and
perhaps as not wholly desirable, As civic
art it would not crush out of it's ideal the
whr and hum Of traffic, the exhilarathlg
evidences Of nervous energy, enterprise,
vRor and endeavor. 1t loves the strain
Ing, striving, competing, as the mos marked
of urban characteristics, and when il adj
vocates broad streets conveniently arranged
1t does this, not to silence the hustle If
commerce, but TO make the efforts more
surely and quickly efficient"
And 50 on. IL makes suggestive and
agreeable reading. Let the reader stand
at Third avenue and Fourteenth street
at night and ask himself whether he would
have the fiery signs put out A philosoph
1 al and charming book.