The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-03-17
RESISTING OFFICERS
William Black and Charles Silk
Bound Over on Above
Charge
Collier is Discharged-Likely
to Bring Action Against
Officers

One of the best papers yet read be-
fore the Social Science Club was pre-
sented on last Monday night by City
Engineer Washburn on the subject of
landscape gardening. The theory of
landscape gardening proper was not
given much space in the paper, but
most of it was devoted to some very
concrete examples of landscape gard
ening that should be taken up by the
city of Aberdeen.
Mr.. Washburn pointed out the fact
that the city owned land in four diff
ferent places throughout the city, and
outlined a very suggestive system of
parks which, with little expense com
paratively, could be evolved from these
holdings of the municipality.
The first one, the most centrally To-
cated,i is the square upon the north side
where the old court house stands, to
be called Northside Park. This he
presented on a plat showing diagonal
gravel walks bordered by trees with
circular flower beds in the center,and a
band pavilion on the south side, where
he possibly figured on the German
band alternating with the State band
in giving weekly concerts.
The next plat showed how the four
lots IN Washington street, near the
Normal grounds, upon which the sewer
pump house stands, could be made a
beautiful bit of nature. Here willow
screens could partially hide the pump
house and flower beds and shrubs de-
light the eyes of normal students who
would avail themselves of the winding
diagnal cut off ~traversing this little
park.
The next feature in this park
scheme represented about two blocks
surrounding an artificial lake on the
low ground included in the SO-acre
tract owned in the city on the west
side. The very first step toward de-
veloping this park on the west side,
Mr.. Washburn considers, is the laying
of a tile drain from the slough east
ward along railroad avenue to the
Moccasin. This would be the expen-
sive part of the park system. costing
in the neighborhood Of $4,000. With
this drain the artificial lake could be
kept from becoming stagnant.
Last, but not least, in fact the
browning glory Of the future City
Beautiful would be the Moccasin park.
Where the Nicollet avenue road cross
es the Moccasin, south of the road and
west of the stream, the city owns a tri-
angular tract of somewhat less than
ten acres. The city engineer would
first subject the bed of the malodor-
GUS stream to a purifying process by
damming it at the Nicollet road and a
mile south at Melgaard's. Then he
would pump it dry and expose the foul
bed to the sun aud the air. Into this
renovated stream thereafter only the
crystal-clear eduent from the septic
tank would flow. On the bank then
the park would be made.
OF this proposed Moccasin park MI.
Washburn says: "Along the roadway
(Nicollet avenue) is shown a grove of
trees for picnic purposes and play
ground, while on the edge of the creek
is a bath house, partly enclosed by a
willow hedge and out to the west a
short distance is a driveway fringed
with trees running from Nicollet ave-
nue., along the shore of the creek to
18th avenue, where septic tanks and
filter beds may be located. You will
smile no doubt at the suggestion of
building a sanitarium here where we
will offer as inducements, mud baths.
in purified sewage, and mineral water
from our new %artesian well, and vet I
am firmly convinced that they would
prove fully as beneficial as those at
the far famed West Baden, or Hot
Springs. 1 speak this in earnest. and
not as an i'll timed jest"
This suggestive paper and the draw
ing accompanying it should have been
given a much wider audience, as the
question of making some kind of a
start in the direction of making these
tracks owned by the city ornamental
rather than hideous can not be taken
up too soon. Willow cuttings are
cheap and the Don they are stuck
into the mud the sooner beautiful
trees will grow.