Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-07-11
YOUNG BEAU7|FlERS,
St. Louis Boys and Girls Improy ing Their Town.
UGLY SPOTS TRANSFORMED

h1 nc Slan of Offering Prizes For tn. Y improvement of Home Grounds Prov [ ing Highly SuceessfuI-Hhole Block. ! of Residents interested In the Work. The plan adopted in St. Louis to in tuce the children 10 take up the worr t town improvement might be follow }d by any community to advantage LThe philosopher who pronounced tht small boy a natural savage would modify his opinion if he lived in thai gown today, for during the last few years the St Louis boy has developed a taste for the aesthetic quite equal in kind, if not in degree, to that shown by his sisters and his cousins and his aunts. In addition to the mutfarous amusementS and employments, the St Louis boy has acquired q taste foi flower growing, and all over the town in yards of both tow and high degree the sound of the noe is heard, together with the voice of it's opera tor, as he noisily consults with hls fellows con. corning the best things to plant and how the planting ought to be done.
 This sudden activity on the part of the boys is not due to aesthetic inspra tion so much as fo the stimulus fur nj ed by the offer of prizes, says ths St. Louis Globe Democrat. The smaf boy is not a natural garden maker If he were to consult his individual pref erences in the matter of back yards jimson weed would suit him as wet as a hibiscus; broken crockery. tir cans and halves of bricks would an swer his purpose as well as green sward and bedding plants, but with five dollar prize in view, together with the distinction arising from it's attain ment, the boy is willing to hustle, anG in many parts of the town the hustlina has been followed by surprising re suits.
 Nearly ten years agd D. M. HaZiett a well known citizen of St. Louis, wht in other towns and cities had been identified with movements having civit improvement in view, took up the mat ter of yard identification as special theme and delivered In one of the | lecture on the subject, dwelling espe ,cially on what could be accomplished by boys and girls in making beautiful the surroundings of the house. Muot interest was aroused, The lecture was followed by others of practical char acter, with illustrations showing what had been done elsewhere and what crbt Ha dnpo hapa rTha howe ba~aD h bestir themselves. Competition was aroused Residents in block in many cases determined upon a common plan of improvement so as 10 give the neigh borhood the appearance of unity i Small prizes were offered for back yarc Improvement by boys and girls The | idea spread, and soon neglected back yards began to blossom as the rose
 Then the Suburban Railroad com pany had a sudden inspiration. The greater portion of its line from Vande venter avenue to the city limit Is locat ed on it's own right of way, which runs through an alley fringed on both sides by back yard fences, ash heaps and the miscellaneous debris that always
 
 case, no particular objection is made to It's use as a dump. The Suburban peo. pie heard criticisms of their roadway. Visiting strangers touring the city were advised to ride on other lines. so the Suburban management undertook tc improve it's surroundings by offering prizes for the handsomest back yards
 hn rrtr I'll oio ho ytot were not slow to hear of those prizes Shading hoeing planting and watering went on. with surprising results. Ash heaps, tin cans, broken crockery and b0ttomless barrels vanished, and or long stretches of the track the forme, unhandsome yards became bowers Of floral beauty
 There Is general idea that flower garden is an expensive luxury. attain able only by the rich. That depends altogether upon what Is plante'' One may spend hundred dollars and SC cure no handsOmer results than by the expenditure of a hundred cents Rare shrubs and plants are generally cxpen- sfve, but rare plants are not necessary to make a yard attractive, and aa 4 general thing the common plants and vines. being vigorous of growth and thoroughly acellmated, make better showing in the yard than the tender foreigners brought from a troplca, cline
 One boy in St. Louis last year beau | tifed q large yard at an or.lav for ! seeds of S1,45. At the close the season he gathered and stored away three or four times as many a#,#,is as be will need this year. so wFt nave seeds to sell or give N'-a# tF=h hls nAighbors. But he did nef s--t reea to spend as much as he cd 5a ,st place, for it Is surprisi.: 3# few plants are needed to give d yard an aspect of tropical luxuriance.
 
 The Clean Town Grows.