The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-16
sHA1L MONTGOMERY BF HAND- S0MEp t@ A

SHALL MoNT00MERY BE HAND The question of making cities beausi- full is attracting considerable attention
 of late. and it is to be hoped that it
 will not be allowed to die for want of agitation. When utility and solid use- fulness are in no way impaired there can certainly be no valid objection to paying some attention to appearances. and ist utility and beauty both become objects of city's care and efforts. The Adver- tised has already appealed to the people of Montgomery, to the individual and collective citizens of the historic old town. to exert themselves ip the effort to make it one of the most beautiful cities in all the country.
 There is real profit in thus adding to city's appearance. We noticed recently in an address delivered by Edward M. Shepard the statement that "'the ugli- ness of the approaches to Brooklyn Bridge had causeda loss of not less than $5o.OoO.ooo." That is. property had depre- ciated that much. or had failed to ad- vance in value, involving that much loss, all because no attention had been paid to trying to make those approaches at- tractive. so that prospective purchasers would be attracted instead of repeiled.
 Of course, after the streets of a city have been laid out and built up. it is too late, except in rare instances, to make changes in the streets or blocks. but it is never too late to do what can be done towards adding to the handsome appearance of the sidewalks and the spaces between the sidewalks and fine streets. There is something that all property owners can, do. and there ought to be no doubt in the minds of thinking people that the value of property in Montgomery or anywhere else depends very largely on appearances. In other words, the appearance of a home has much to. do with it's market value leav- ing out all aesthetic considerations.
 There is another thing that the city Of Montgomery ought to do just as soon as possible, and that is to get rid of the unsightly. troublesome and dangerous network of overhead wires Any man with eyes In his head must see that these wires as they are now arranged destroy the beauty of the main streets. They are almost always in the way when there is fire and on more than one occasion the firemen have been seriously impetled in their work by wires in the way. Then these wires often break and cause delay and trouble. Tho incident on North Perry Street Sunday night when traffic was shut off for more than one hour. is only one of frequent cases of the kind. There is such tangle of wires that such acci- dents are to be expected, and the wonder is that there are not many more of them. Added to this is the fact which we all know. and which has several times been demonstrated, that they are constant menace to human life. The end of a live wire hanging near the ground is as dam gerous as a lightning stroke, as has more than once been shown in the his- tory of our city. i
 Has not Montgomery outgrown sucn
 
 There is work for the city authorities and work for property owners, each in their own sphere. Montgomery can be made the handsomest city in the country, and it will be a reproach if it is not done. It will gratify our civic pride, add to our city's reputation, and it will pay. And while on the general subject of improv- ing the city. we copy this from The Bir- mingham News along the same line:
 While the commercial spirit should hy no means be discounted there is vet a decided need for more attention to the aesthetic in most of our Southern cities. The Southern people, as a rule, are ad- mirers Of the good, the beautiful and the true. Many man has been made hap pier and brighter to find his smoking room or his 'den'' at home beautiful with a vase of roses or some attractive grow ing plants without even knowing why. The cultivation of the taste not only gives pleasure to ourselves and our friends. but 1t improves the morals fos- ters brighter ideals and encourages bet ter manners. This same influence is clearly seen in cities where the love of the beautiful has been encouraged by tne establishment and maintenance of shruL- cry on the resident streets of pIctur- esque parks and public squares, and the like.