The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-08-07
CITY NEWS
.LORING DEFENDS
The PARK BOARD
VETERAN PARK ENTHUSIAST RE-
PLIES TO ATTACKS. s


the Cities Observation-Disclosures
Critics and Appeals for Fair Treat
ment of the Board.
c. M. Loring, the father of the Min
neapolis park system and member of
the board of park commissioners, has
written letter to Il lie Journal
gard to the Improvement Of Lake of the
Isles, and defending the board from
numerous attacks of which it has lately |
been target. The letter is as follows:
"To the Editor of The Journal:
So much has been published of the |
sayings of small number of personally |
interested agitators in disparagement |
of the board of park commissioners in
relation to it's position on the lake lev
els, that it seems about time that some
one familiar with the conditions should |
inform the public of the facts in the |
case.
Before taking up the subject | wish |
to present the names of the members OF |
the board that the public may be fully |
informed as to the identity OF the men
whom it has selected to administer It's
park property:
John ". Allen. mechanical engineer.
Paul D. Boutell, well-known mer-
John s. Bradstreet, merchant and
manufacturer.
DR.. W. w. Folwell, professor and
librarian at university.
Charles O. Johnson, broker.
Daniel w. Jones, well-known insur-
ance agent.
David P. Jones, mayor and leading
business man.
Charles NJ Loring, manufacturer.
IT N
Mechanics Savings bank.
Jesse E. Northrup of Northrup, King
& Co.
Edmund J. Phelps, active business
man.
Fred L. Smith of Harrison-Smith
company, printers.
John II. Van Nest, merchant, alder
man of thirteenth ward.
Plat B. Walker, Jr., publisher, alder
man of eighth ward.
But few of our citizens have any idea
of the great amount of time these busy
business men give freely to their du-
ties as park commissioners. Hardly
week passes that one or more after
moons are not given for committee
meetings, in addition to the regular
meetings of the board, and they are
thoroly competent and understand what
is for the best interest OF the city S
property with which they have been
intrusted.
During the past twenty years, there
has been several good boards of park
commissioners, but there never was
better one than is serving the city TO-
day, and it seems great I'M Justice that
few men who are interested IN a
very small section of the park system
should be constantly endeavorlng to
poison the public mind against II.
These men say the water level OF Lake
Calhoun and Lake Of the Isles should
vol
level They say the boulevards should
be raised two or more feet, and that
Lake Of the Isles marshes should be
filed to correspond. The park board
knows that there is not material enough
to be had for raising the boulevards,
and if there was, it would cost more
money than the board has to expend:
! 1t would mean rebuilding every drive
around the lakes. Does the public wish
it's money expended in this way. and
! does it wish to suffer the inconvenience
| attending it, 1t would not cost 10 per
+ cent as much to dredge the low places
in the lakes as it would to raise ana
j. resurface the roads.
If the present level Of these lakes is
maintained all Of the beautiful meadow
: on the north end of Lake Harriet
which the board has hoped, to improve
as a park for the thousands who visit
the lake, will be useless for that pur-
pose, as we'll as the low land at Inter.
iaken on which there was fine forest
growth of which nearly. all of the large
ter. The gentlemen who are making the
unwarranted attacks on the park boarc
are anxious to have a channel cut be
tween Lake Calhoun and Lake of the
Isles, and so are the members of the
park board, but there are demands fo7
improvements in other sections of the
city which the board believes demand
it's attention before this can be done.
doubt if the thousands who visit LAX
+ Harriet, who have to risk life and l1ml
in going from the station along tn
: rood filed with automobiles and car
riages to the picnic grounds, would ia
vor the expenditure of from thirty t
fifty thousand dollars in connecting tn
: along the lake shore, and I doubt if tn
public who visit the riverside park
and Minnehaha in such large numbers
on some days from ten to twenty thor
sand-would sanction the expenditur
of the entire resources Of the board 0
the Lake Calhoun canal, which coul
be used only by the few who hav
money to pay for boat hire, when thel
are so many needed improvements to b
- made for the accommodation and plea
ure of the children. There is not
playground in either of the parks an
these are Of much greater important
y than the canak
u The board would be glad to make in
u pTOVemeuIS DIT LAKE UI Inc ISleSj =
conditions warranted it in making tn
& necessary expenditure, but with the WI
ter at it's present height it would I
l. worse than folly to undertake to Fl
i the marshes, which will not sustain tt
+ weight of gravel, even if that mat
+ 5rial could be obtained. Before any in
@provements were made, the park board
Il. engineer made a thoro examination
HI the lake and found the depth of tt
III water to be from two and one-half fe
HI Sin the north arm, to forty-two feet dee
lin two places, which are undoubted
the springs that are the source of tt
water supply. The bottom of the lal
was found to consist Of decayed veg
table matter thru which the soundi1
rod easily passed to a depth of fro
twenty to thirty feet. In dredging, Il
dipper; which descended over TWEEN
, feet, failed to reach a gravel botto1
excepting in one place, opposite Twent
"A sixth street, where there was a Mario
n bar Experience demonstrated that t
I meadow which constitutes the shore
| the lake is floating marsh, and that
| would not sustain the weight of hea7
n Io 1,,.1