Frostburg mining journal., 1903-01-31
TOWN BETTER MENT.
HOW AN IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE
eCAUTlFleO BAY RIDGE.
Cleaner streets. Neater Front and
Back Yards ana Many Other
Changes For the Better since the
Organization began Work.


Organization Began Work.
Bay Ridge. II suburb of brooklyn,
has been improved greatly in the
last few months owing 10 the work of
the Woman'S Improvement league. Its
streets are cleaner than ever before its
front and back yards have been hcauti
fled with flowers and pants. and the
whole place has changed for the better
since the league began work.
The WOman'S improvement league il
the out growth of the Bay Ridge Read
ing club which has met weekly on
Thursday mornings for fifteen years
says the New York Tribune. Until last
June the club had coitii.cd itself to lit
crary matters and occasional lunchc"ns
and lectures, but the uukcnpt condi
ton of certain neighhoriIIG streets led
its members to consider means for bet
tcring conditions. The day the public
schools closed the society was officially
organized. and the members left the
first meeting in carriages for flying
trips To the schools in or.cr to get hear
inys with the children before they
should be scattered for the summer.
Ei.ht awards We're oftered-hrSt, sec
ond and third prizes of 50. s.; and s., re.
spcctiVcly, for the greatest improve.
mcnt in the back yards and the same
for front Yards to Il D middle of the
street: 81 for the best window box in n
home where there was no ground tC
cultivate and 81 for the largest number
OF contributing members added 10 the
club. The children were TO do all the
work of the yards. About fifty chill
drcn entered the lists. Visits were
made by members of the club about
July to the houses of all the enrolled
competitors and conditions were care
fully noted Suggestions for laying out
and planting the gardens were alsc
made. Rounds We're again made be.
fore the opening of school to note the
change
\ condition of the test was that the
competitors must not only keep their
gardens free from weeds and disorder
and their plants in healthy condition,
but they must also pick up paper old
:
it scattered in the Streets TO insure
success in the last undertaking an ap-
peal was sent 10 the authorities for
rubbish cans to be placed at school
houses and at the junction of certain
streets. The appeal was needed prompt
ly, and the r"ccptaclcs are now dotted
through Bay Ridge.
The most thckly populated blocks of
Bay Ridge are made up Of two family
houses. and it was for the benefit of
children occupying the second floors of
such buildings that the prize for window
boxes WAS offered. This effort has met
with less enthusiasm. Landlords oh
,icct tr the placing of window boxes in
tenement house windows. as they dis
figure the Sills. The n"ighborS ON lower
floors too, are likely to demonstrate
against the dripping of water over
their windows from upper floors Then
if the houses have blinds the boxes
furnish an obstacle. 1t is probabl Athat
hereafter prizes will be offered for
thrifty house plants.
So far about $50 in ten cent annual
fees has been brought in hy the young
StcrS. meaning an added membership
to the league of about 300. The chill
drcn themselves constitute the aSsOci-
ate members of the league and the
grown ups, who pay the 10 cents year
ly. the contributing members. Each
child wears a button bearing device
in the form of tree and the legend,
Improvement League"
Other committees of the league are
devoted respectively to sanitation
cleanliness, the care of trees, of new
streets and the gaining of better trav
cling facilities for the population. The
chairman of the sanitation committee
tracks strange odors to their sources
and reports unSavOry conditions to the
powers that be. The president both of
the league and of the reading club
heads the tree committee. She has OBJ
tanned from the authorities perma-
ncnt permit for the league to trim and
tend all trees with the permission OF
their owners, without further license
This committee discovered that certain
pipes were being placed under the side
walk of Third avenue instead OF
making the successful planting of trees
along that thoroughfare an impossible
ity. Word was sent to the borough
hall, and the pipes We're laid In their
proper place. The widening of Third
avenue nccPSsitated the removal of the
large old trees lining it. The new street
committee sees that when thorough
fares are cut through the work is con-
tinucd until they are passable for vehi-
clcs.
In speaking of their work recently
the treasurer of the organization said:
The prizes offered by the Woman's
Improvement league of Bay Ridge to
the school children of that district for
the most carefully kept yards have
proved Il wonderful stimulus to the
young gardeners. In some cases plots
that We're in the worst condition when
school closed are among the best kept
now. The parents of the children have
shown the greatest enthusiasm in the
effort, and their encouragement TO the
girls and boys has been of the greatest
aid"
Prize For Neat Premises.
The FL Paso Good Roads association
offered a cash prize to the residents OF
my one block in the city who shall