The morning journal-courier., 1908-01-22

Commonwealth avenue which leads to Brookline, where the trees that have been planted have not yet grown large enough to give the ultimate effect. And | it seemed to me that the street was distinctly too wide for beauty, consid- ering the houses on either side. And then I tried to imagine the trees when they should be large and stately with spreading branches; and still I wished for a narrower street Do what I could I thought of certain western towns I once visited years ago, and not at all of the Avenue des Champs Ely sees. I compared this street to Della ware avenue in Buffalo, of which think one of my fellow w-architects has spoken to you, and the comparison was much in favor of Buffalo I think some of you who know Washington may share with me the impression that there too in the dwelling quarter. the streets are too wide for the houses. We should have, I repeat it, one thing Tor the other; a real park. however long and narrow 1t may be, or a street | in scale with the houses that border 1t. ] To revert to Delaware avenue in Buffalo which certainly seems to me one of the most beautiful streets in any of what I may call our suburban cities I have only one fault to find with it, and that is its unbroken length. This disease of our streets we in New York are, alas. too familiar with. With rare exceptions none of them ever look towards anything. So in Delaware avenue we pass by churches and other buildings of semi-public character, and are unaware of them until they are imme- diately under our eyes. If it had been ] possible to place some of these in the middle of the street, there would have been series of incidents In this all ready beautiful avenue which would certainly have added to it's interest. And so l would suggest for your con- slderation the advisability of inter rupting your avenues from time to time by little park or space, in the middle of which there should be a building site, which could be disposed of by the city and utilized when the proper moment came and when the proper building was presented to you.
 There Is nothing very new or orig inal in this idea. Without going very far, we can recall more than one New England village where the meeting house Is placed In this way and adds immeasurably to the picturesqueness of the elm-bordered village street. And if we wish for foreign examples, let us consider certain of the London churches, of which St Mary-le-Strand is an example. The Strand, historical associations apart is certainly not an unusually beautiful street. but it im- mediately becomes interesting when we put our church in the middle of it. Would not an occasional church or library or whatever presents itself be an addition to the beauty of our new city If so placed? And even If this never happened. would not the little spreading out of the street itself re- lieve what might otherwise be mo- notony of beauty?
 The treatment of these little spots may be varied almost indefinitely, They may be simply arrangements of planting; they may be bits of formal gardening with architectural featui es, terraces and balustrades; and there may be the possibility of introducing water, in fountains or basins. All these offer opportunities of charm and variety. And finally there Is a great temptation to make them the sites for statues and monuments.
 Now monument by which mean an architectural composition, in which sculpture and ststuary will probably enter as important parts, but in which these are subordinated to the whole, may be designed and success fully designed for such places; al- though as l shall have occasion to say later on, the ideal site for them Is well defined space. framed in by ar chltectural lines and this is not really the case in our little square surround ed by dwelling houses.
 But when the monument is only a statute, where sculpture Is everything and where architecture confines its ef- forts to designing the pedestal, think 1t is seldom If ever happy to set 1t down In park, with trees and shrub bery about it. We are all familiar with those beautiful gardens ornamented fittingly with the statues of gods and goddesses, nymphs and fauns: but to place the statues of our great men in such surroundings seems to me unfor- tunate.
 Consider those of our national he- roes placed in exactly this way in Washington: consider those of Central Park In New York; and if you agree with me, you will ask yourselves very seriously whether these are the sites most favorable for artistic success.
 l have dwelt at some length on this point, because 1t seems to me to have been So ofsen taken for granted.
 When the excellent fashion of Vil- lage Improvement Societies came in vogue a good many years ago. the first thing that was attempted was to do something to make the railway sta tlon attractiNe, Flowers were planted, trees and hedges were set out, and in small way everything was done that could be done. So in each one of our cities the first important question is the same; how to make the entrance to it attractive. And in both Villages and cities the drawbacks and difficult ties have been very much the same;