The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-24
woMAN,s WORK IN
 URBAN IMPROVEMENT;

Many American landscapes and cities and townn are characterissd by barren ugiiness. Tour,sta come home from Europe and ex- claiyn at the unsightiiness of our streets and our reads.' our lack of parks. statues. foun- taina trees and flowers and of all that makes the outdoor view attractive.
 Nature's creations must be restored ere there will be anything to make our country attractive to the aesthetic sense. American men are as yet mostly too busy with money getting to attend ito this beautifying of city and village. Women have time. and it rests with them to rebuild what the rioueerx destroyed. While we ought per- hans to think more than ever about heaven. we ought to prove we are thinking of 1t by trying to realize 1t here on earth. The beautiful city? what is It but the perfect ideal Of all the beauty we know here-gar- dens and fountains and streets shnded by trees of paradise--sweet fields arrayed in living greeng. Bright winged birds VIII flash to and fro amid those trees of para disc, we believe, and the air will throb and thrill with their songs of celestial sweet ness.
 Why not here on earth?
 It is for women to help realize. on this earth at least. Q part of the natural beauty we are accustomed to associate with the thought of heaven. Women teachers may do their share of the work by arousing in the children desire for clean, beautiful streets and for planting trees and fiowefs in pulp tic places. Club women are beginning to be e power. They can do more than any oth- CTS by arousIng interest in the beautifying of cities and towns. Newspapers will glad iy lend aid to any measure for, public im- provement Club women through com mittees may get subscriptions and appro- priations for the work: they may provide free lectures with stereopticon views of the city beautiful and otherwise.
 Among the first things to be considered are the streets and sidewalks. before all In respect to good paving and cleanliness After cows and pigs ceased to be allowed at large In American streets the yard fence gradually fell into disuse. and the grass plots in front of the houses became con- tinuous lawn. greatly improving the aspect of street. But as yet the streets. even in places where there is plenty of room for trees. are insuffioiently shaded. The pub lie squares of American towns ought to be shaded grass carpeted, laid off in walks and adorned each by a piashing fountain bordered with flowers Such square should be a vista toward which the street views converge Or statue. handsome church. e public building that is slightly architecturaily may be placed where 1t wiil meet the eye which looks toward the end of street. These Improvements take not so much money as labor and persistent asi- tation and effort. and public spirited wo- men may achieve them all.
 A weli-known club women. Mrs. Ciar- ence Burns of New York. has taken for one of her tasks the providing of pretty pub lie piaygrounds for children during the sum mer vacations. She interested the city au- thorities in her scheme and gained her point; she has walked up the organizations among her own sex till she now has 5o.o women behind her In her work She has accomplished marked good in the con- gested. unbeautifui districts of New York city. Mrs. Burns is certain that every wo- man ought to be interested in municipal management and she sees great things ahead for women in public work.
 few American cities are already alive to the necessity of civic adornment. Buffalo and Cleveland in summer are very beauti- full and may be taken as illustrations of what can be done if residents of American towns are ever to become proud of the places they live in If there is anything that is within the sphere of women's &C., tivity it is working for the realization of the city beautiful on earth.
 KATHERINE BLADES.