The San Francisco call., 1904-12-18
Noted Scotch Builder Gives
His Views on the Proper
Development of Cities
HEALTHIER CONDITIONS
Says to Beautify a Town It
Is Not Necessary to De-
stroy the Old Buildings

=
ing how the ancient Scotch burg of
Dunfermline may be beautified and
rendered center of culture and pro-
gress, by the aid Of Andrew Carnegie's
generous donation to his native town,
Professor Patrick Geddes' report on
City Development" recently issued,
possesses far more than local interest.
AS Carnegie explained in placing the
money at the disposal of the Dunferm.
line trustees, his purpose was an ex-
perimental and general one. THE
very problem you have to solve" he
said, "is-What can be done in towns
for the benefit of the masses by money
in the hands of the most public
spirited citizens? 2" 1t is an undertake
Ing which appeals strongly to those
patriotic residents of American cities
who are striving to prevent the sac
rifce of so much that makes life worth
living in big towns to sky-scrapers and
commercialism. A builder, an anti
quarry, a garden-maker and botanist,
a man who has travelled far and OBJ
served much in both the old world
and the new, and a leader In the
science of social civics, Professor
Ceddes is well qualified for the work
The world" he says, ''is now rapidly
entering upon new era of civic devel-
opment, one in which progress is no
longer described as in mere quantity of
wealth and Increase Of population, but
is seen to depend one the quality of
these The last generation has had to
carry out great works of prime neces~
sity, as of water supply, sanitation and
the like. Elementary education, too,
has been begun, so that to some, even
pioneers Of their day, our city develop
ment may seem well-nigh complete.
But a new phase of city development
has become urgent-that of insuring
healthier conditions. of providing hap
pier and nobler ones"
He takes a bold stand against those
who urge that to beautify an existing
town one must first destroy much of It,
Instead Of that merely antiquarian
respect of the scanty survivals Of the
past, which is too often confined to the
particular century or period which hap
pens TO seem romantic to us. would
respect and preserve examples of the
honest and characteristic work of each
and every period, whether from our
present point of view (also a passing
one) Ii seems TO me beautiful or not
For even if not available In its present
form for immediate use, / have once
and again found buildings too hastily
despaired of by others to be capable Of
cleansing and repair, or of alteration
ana incorporation WlIn SUCH new DullO-
ings as may be required-in short, Of
renewed usefulness and even beauty"
He attributes his success in various
works OF improvement which have
been carried out in Edinburgh under
his supervision In the last eighteen
years to the application of this prin-
ciple. "Old buildings" he writes,
first admired in picturesque dilapi
dation by the tourist or antiquary,
-
date by the utilitaHan, or unwhole-
some by the Town Councillor, were Of
ten found capable of handling from a
point which harmonized the partial
truth of all these standpoints. Start
ing with the hygienist, uncleanness
has first to be got rid of. Yet this not
necessarily by destruction. Decaying
matter and smells, the germs which
produce these, are not in the stones
of the buildings, but are in the or
ganic dirt superficial to these. Cleanse
and disinfect in this way and the old
building may become wholesomer
than the average nineteenth century
one. with its imperfect drainage and
other defects. After cleansing and
mending, the antique building is
frankly adapted to its modern uses,
with sanitation, electric light and all.
and though in this process a shock is
tic spirit, an ultimately truer and bet
ter artistic result is reached espe-
cially when, with use and weathering,
the new elements have harmonized
into the old"
A striking example of this recovery
and preservation of the picturesque
was afforded by the treatment of a
garden entrance in old Edinburgh
When Professor Geddes took hold of
it it was an eyesore-an unsightly
blank wall with a little door in it. BY
the lowering and balustrading of this
retaining wall the staircase, before hid
den, was pleasingly revealed, and the
provision of railing and shrubbery com
pleted the transformation. The removal
of the unsightly and the preservation
of the picturesque and antique-with
artistic additions where necessary-is
most happily shown in Professor Ged-
des' scheme for the Improvement of
old Monastery street, Dunfermline.
Professor Geddes even ventures to
criticize adversely the work done by
the great Haussman In remodeling
Paris and substituting broad boule-
wards for its labyrinthine streets.
Viewed from the street." he saws. the
apparent advantage in directness of
communication. in access of light and
air, seems obvious and unuuestionable.
but a more intimate acquaintance with
the city and it's people from within re-
veals the fact that despite the modern
rise of wealth the average Partisan
household has actually less living room
in the new tenements than before in
the old, and this at far greater cost for
rent and taxes.
1.-The decline both in number and
quality of population, which has at
length so deeply impressed the mind
of France and of the world, is now
seen to have been in no small meas
ure accelerated by these costly i'm
provements. Moreover, with fuller
knowledge of the city and its health
statistics one sees that the broader
streets, the superficial spaeiousness,
are dearly purchased by the loss of
the ample courts, the old gardens
which lay unseen within. For to
have to play in the dusty air Of the
street is one main factor in the weak
ness of town children"
The conclusion he reaches on this
point is of peculiar interest to Ameri-
can municipalities, where the substi-
tuition of new buildings for old in
crowded sections Is constantly urged.
"The moral of all this" he writes.
'1s a very simple one, yet not fully
adopted into the policy of any inn