Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-20
PARKS OF THE CITY
One of the Advanced Features
of the Urban Plan
IN DAYS OF THE FATHERS
Costly to Provide Such Places in
Built-Up Towns.
UN1QUENESS OF THE MALL
Acres Reclaimed From River Now
Being Made Pleasure Resort
for the Public

usually attracts a good deal of attention
and. when the season of foliage and flow
crs arrives. good deal of admirins M,
tention is the parks or reservations as they
are officially called. which are scattered
throughout the various sections of tho cit,
The recurrence of these bits OF green.ry
amid the hard and monotouous surrouudin,,
OF the paved streets and sidewalks OF rb..
CITY Is refreshing to the eye and AT In.
same time a source of surprise To thns.
who are familiar with the average Arc,i-
can city. especially the ones that have at
tanned any growth.
AS a rule these parks are the result OF
the peculiar street plan of the city by which
transverse avenues have been laid across
the rectangular system of city streets
forming triangles and squares both larp.
and small. The large squares such "a
Lafayette Park and Lincoln Park are 10 h.
found at the junction the crossing place.
or TWO or more broad avenues while the,
smaller ones are due to the cutting int,
the straight course of the streets by an
avenue.
Would Be Very Expensive.
There Is hardly feature of this city's
street plan that has aroused more admira
ton than this. and it is now generally rec
ognized by experts on the subject as IN.
notably on the east side In New York CITY.
an effort has been made to create breath
ing places, "a they are called, of that do
scription by the removal of buildings and
opening new thoroughfares and forming
open places in crowded sections Such i'm
provements cost large sums of money but
the outlay Is considered worth while as the
health and the happiness of the community
are thereby improved
In this city provision of that kind was
L ma. NH taln
more than loo years ago when the city was
laid out. and one hardly knows which To-
admire the most. the skill and taste of tho
engineer who devised the plan or tl,.
splendid confidence in the future of tlc
capital of this country displayed by tine
first president in giving IT his indorsrmeu..
ment.
Due to Neglect.
In sense it is regarded as a reflection on
the wisdom of the descendants of the fathers
that the plan. admirable in its details has
not been applied in its entirety to the terri
tory outside OF the city's original urban
bounds. This is more particularly the case
with the land Immediately adjoining lie
old city limits on the north. The difficulty
was that the movement to apply the city
plan TO the outlying country was not start
ed at a sufficiently early dale 10 precedr
the growth OF the population. and when It
came TO apply the city streets i'm their di-
itNllDil anu Nliiu 10 inns iaNI then there
were conflicts with private property and
expensive condemnation proceedings.
However. the deviations from the city sys-
TEN OF streets and avenues are not nu-
merous as might he supposed. so that the
entire territory of the District will enjoy the
benefits of this liberal and beneficial svs-
TEN of public highways 1t does seem how
ever. that sufiicieNt care has been taken
to secure the irregular spaces That can be
forever kept open for the use OF the public
What is needed now more than any other
one thing is "A careful revision in this re-
spect OF the highway system 50 that future
generations will have as much reason to b..
thankful for the wisdom of their ancestors
as the present generation entertains for
those who preceded ii.
The Cost of the Parks.
Such open places. both large and small
which are found throughout he city on
what seems to eyes accustomed to other
places scale of great profusion also APP
pear undoubtedly to contribute largely to
the annual cost of maintang the city. The
trees and shrubbery and flowers to say
nothing of the walks and the fountains.
the seats and the Watchmen, everybody
knows cannot he had for nothing. and SO
that part OF the citys outlay seems to be-
rather costly. However. such a notion is
not based ON the facts. for the cost OF
keeping up the parks during the coming
year. shown by the appropriations, will
amount 10 a little more than $4,000.
Adding to the Mall
This is a undertaking, and much of
the money Is for entirely new roadways
and other pioneer work, rather than mere
maintenance. During the coming months
about $4,000 is to be spent on the section
of that park that lies to the north of the
new bridge over the Potomac, and of this
amount about $4,000 is to be devoted to
building a macadam roal along the river
from the outlet of the tidal basin to the
end of the park at the foot of 10Th street
Counting the acres within the boundary
of the park which have been
claimed out of the river for the most part
and which forms a continuation of the Mall
that starts at the Capitol. the latter reserv-
atoms forms one of the most extensive that
lies within closely built-up section in any
city in the world. In fact, there Is nothing
quite like the Mall to be found anywhere,
with its eXpanse of lawn dotted with forest
trees and ornamented with shrtIbbery and
passing through what is perhaps the heart
81 Ii