Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1907-01-18
A TOWN BEAUTIFUL
REQUIRES COOPERATION
Importan MT Part Played by Ar
chitecture In Its Adorn-
m n [.

Much OF the towns Deauty is uue u
agencies other than nature, writes W.
7. Heyl In the Municipal Journal and
Engineer. Architecture plays an i'm
portant part In the adornment OF a
town. The locating and grouping OF
buildings are equally responsible for
artistic effect. II is important also to
arouse the interest Of all the people In
the beauty Of their town as a whole
Foster spirit of pride in the com
munty, give the people something
worthy to be proud Of, and that great
force. civic consciousness, which Is too
often dormant, will work wonders.
A beautiful town attracts more good
citizens, and nowhere else is co-opera-
ton richer in results than when the
aim Is for town betterment. i mu-
nicipal art commission is the high
est form this tendency achieves, but
even before the art commission a civic
consciousness Is necessary that the
needs Of all. the health, happiness and
sanity Of all the people, may be served.
And this civic movement may be par
ticpated in by the humblest. No one
knew this better than the late George
f. Warlng. .Ir, who organized the chill
dren Of the east side IN New York into
n juvenile aid society to assist the
white wings" in maintaining cleanll-
ness. The result was doubly beneficial.
The sordld places were made clean, and
Of equal value was the training of the
child in civic helpfulness
Distinguished foreign critics visiting
America often comment on the fact
that our business men are so taken up
with their own personal affairs that
they neglect the opportunity to serve
the city or town. That this service is
an opportunity as well as a duty is
shown by the splendid results OF the
efforts In this direction of the mer
chants and professional men of Cleve
land, o. without the training received
as members OF the chamber Of com
merce no like number OF men could
have accomplished so much for their
city.
There has been prepared bill which
awaits favorable action OF congress to
appoint n board OF artists whose duty
II will be to give opinions on the artis-
tic merits of all public construction
and decoration hereafter to be under
taken by the federal government. |
Washington will be one of the first |
cities to be beautlfed, as whole. un-
der the direction OF eminent artists. |
The Pennsylvania railroad station now
building will be one Of the most ar
tistlc structures on the continent.
Even In money making an lnstitu-
tlon may show that sordld finance and .
art may go hand in hand, for there
are few commercial buildings so fit- .
tingly designed as the Northern Trust
home In Chicago. Libraries
and churches. whose chief influence
upon the community is not material,
minister much to the towns physical
beauty. Architects have robbed hos
pltals Of their grim and melancholy
Monuments and foun-
talns, whose main purpose is orna-
do or do not contribute to
civic art according as 10 whether or
not they are truly artistic and are har-
placed. A public service in
as the waterworks and its
at Detroit, adds to the
beauty of that city.
II was due to the perseverance and
lrtlstlc determination OF Young en-
,ineer that America adopted from Ita-
y lines Of beauty in the construction
n so utilitarian an object as an cleo
ric light pole Branch Brook park. In
New Jersey ana Eastman park. in
Rochester, have recognized these as OF
lrtsuc merit Another engineer urged
\rchitcct Nichols to design the trolley
poles which are the crowulng embel-
ishment OF Washington bridge.
Beauty does not necessarily take
rom the usefulness OF everyday OBJ
ects, as witnessed by the humble let
Ter box by furnishing artistic mail
BOXES the government aids in the good
work. IL Is fortunate that the United
states has Inherited from the time OF
colonial architecture many specimens
n pure art In public buildings and that
communities number among their cltl.
lens those who insist that its material
lomc should hc beautiful.