The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-27
WOMEN SPEAK THEIR VIEWS ON
MAKING THE CITY BEA UTIFUL
eKnon Indianapolis Ladies Tell Ho7O Cf1c Improvement
League May AchfeUe Its Object

IL. L
mercial Club would look after the enforcing
of the laws which we now have in regard
to the cleaning of the streets, the throwing
of sweepings into the streets, the anti
splitting ordinance and a few things like
that, the city will be improved more than
it ever Will be by the distribution of pack
ages of seeds to the school children"
The planting OF trees Miss Dean thinks
an unnecessary expense in a town where
the asphalt pavements doom all trees to
an early death. The parks, too, she thinks.
are well enough as they are, as to the great
majority of the people in the city, they are
merely snort cuts to somewhere else. 1T
is the cleaning up OF the city which is the
only practical way of beautifying." IF
crumple up papers and then put them in
their alleys to be blown all about the city,
and if the janitors and porters of flats and
stores were not allowed TO put all the
sweepings from the buildings into the mid
die Of the downtown streets, we should
make a long stride toward a really beauti-
full city"
HEDGES RECOMMENDED.
Miss Voss has a loyal opinion Of the
beauty of Indianapolis.
Il drive or ride by wheel almost daily"
she said; 81 go about in all parts of the
city, and everywhere it is beautiful and
clean. There are no slums in Indianapolis,
so the movement should not be confounded
in anyones mind with effort to improve
the appearance or the Slums.
Miss Voss. however, believes that the
planting of trees and flowers in otherwise
bare places would make the city even more
beautiful than it is now, and she made a
suggestion in this line which would as
suredly improve the appearance of the
streets everywhsre-the substitution OF
hedges for fences, or rather for the lack
of fences, as there are now few yards in
the residence portion of the city that are
fenced In. Miss NoSS spoke with warm
appreciation of those Eastern towns, where
almost every house. is surrounded by a
hedge, and says that the beauty of the uni
form hedges of rhododendrons or hydran-
geas greatly enhances the beauty of the
yards and houses. In the parts of town
where the people are less well-to-do and
cannot afford the setting out of expensive
hedges. she believes that the planting of
vines and flowers would go far toward
the making of city beautiful. She had
something to say, also, of the old world
tenements, especially those in Germany and
Scandinavia, where most of the jewellers
have their boxes of beautiful plants. which
they tend with assiduous care, and which
make even tenement houses beautiful.
Mrs. John w. Kern is thoroughly in
sympathy with the movement and spoke Of
the important work that the Local Council
has done in bringing il about.
II was delighted with the work that the
garden committee of the Council did last
year." she said; but / had no idea that 1t
would be SO far-reaching. The work, as
now undertaken by the Commercial Club
will reach a part of the city which has
never been reached before, and will &C
complish a work that is more lasting and
wide reaching than we had hoped for"
Mrs. Kern is of opinion that ii is not the
poorer parts Of the town that need beauti-
flying, but the parts of the city where peo-
pie of means live. The people who can
afford to improve the exterior of their
houses" she said, "are usually so busy
looking after the interior or decoration that
they don't bother about the outside, and
the alleywayS in the richer portions OF the
town are just as likely TO be disorderly and
unsightly as those in the less aristocratic
parts Of the city and with far less ex-
cuse."
1T seems to me that the place for such
a league as this to work is along the
water-courses of the city,, said Mrs. Al
fred F. Potts. THE banks OF Fall creek offer
ideal spot for the making Of a beauti-
full boulevard, and IL seems shame that a
place so beautiful naturally should be neg
lected and used as a dumping-ground, in
stead OF being improved and made one Of
the loveliest spots in the city. There is
nothing more beautiful than water, and no
opportunity to make use of il as a means
Of beautifying the city should be over
looked. White river, too, offers many pos
sibilities in this way, and the parts of town
through which it flows would be greatly
improved if little attention were paid TO
the identifying Of its banks In regard to
the beautifying OF little spots about the
city, ii seems to me most desirable, not
from an artlSuc point only, out from lne
practical side. as property would surely be
increased in value which is beautiful rather
than unsightly in appearance. The little
triangular spot near Brookside Park,
which is lovely with flowers and vines,
must be Of value to the neighbOrhood for
squares around. and not alone for the
pleasure il gives either"
Mrs. Potts is inclined TO believe, how
ever, that even as IL stands Indianapolis is
a beautiful city, and while she is decidly
in favor of any possible improvements in
il, like a loyal townswoman, she speaks in
high terms of its present beauty.