Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1908-03-21
CLEAN sTREETs ANo PARKS.

| II more RtfactiYe, not only as y
place Of residence but as a haven for
tourists. The subject ia fruitful one,
for no city in the formation period,
as is Gainesville, Is perfect either In
appearance or in the administration
OF It's offices. Gainesville, however,
Is peculiarly more fortunate In many
respects than many OF It's sister citles
in Florida. in that II has extraordi-
nary natural beauty, as pure drink.
ing water as can be found in the
United States, and municipal officers
who may sometimes make mistakes
but who are honest and sincere in
their efforts to give US a government
run In the interest Of the people, and
free from the modern curse Of
graft" But purity Of purpose in the
administration Of the AFFAIRS OF our
city, and good water, and natural
beauty. are not sufficient to make a
city attractive to either the tourist,
homeseeker. OF investor, II we neglect
the important item Of CLEANLINESS
In this latter Gainesville Is wOefully
wanting Tons Of paper, rocks.
brick.bats, boards, boxes, trash piles.
and other denominations, litter our
streets, and visitors with an eye for
the beautiful have been heard to say:
Oh, what a pity, that such a beauti-
full town should be 90 dirty" And
1t Is pity, for Gainesville could be
the most beautiful town In the South
ern States, or any other States, for
that matter, u the streets were kept
Immediately clean, and more at
tention was paid to the yards and
grass plots. We have known the
value OF property doubled and trebled
by having II cleaned up and beauti-
fed, for no man or woman, however
sordid, Is completely devoid of senti-
ment. Cleanliness Is next to Godli-
ness" Is an old axiom that "a always
new. and Ii daily more appreciated.
as the human mind is more cultivated
and trained along practical common
sense lines. The average mind knows
now that filth breeds disease, sloven-
Illness. lack OF self-respect and injury
TO character Also, that filth and
beauty cannot 90 hand in hand. II
we would have our town attractive.
healthy and beautiful. we must clean
1t up and keep II clean. II. for lack
OF means, We are unable to clean all
Of t. let us clean and beautlfy those
portions that are most prominent. In
order that what we do may show to
best advantage.
One Of the most prominent, and
BY far the most important, spots In
the city r. the public school yard, for
In II q large number Of the children
Of the city spend most OF their child.
hood. Being trained to take their
places In the world as men and
women. we owe To them that their
surroundings should be- clean. orderly,
and, II possible. beautiful. II the yard
they play In ID nlthy and trashy. and
there IL no attempt to keep II In order
those things will most certainly in
huence them In the direction Of habits
Of disorder aud uhcleanllness, and
that purity OF sentiment which comes
to az unconsclOusly while In the midst
Of beautiful surroundings viii be lack.
Ing. The children themselves would
no doubt enter eagerly into any
scheme for the Improvement Of their
school yard. and all reasonable rules
In that direction that might be made
by the principal would be eheerfully
obeyed.
The next place Of Importance 10
tho court house square, which. 70 the
mind OF q stranger. viii reflect the
character Of the entire city. When
he looks across At the pretty. we'll.
kept court house yard, then up At the
gorgeous oaks In all the glory OF new
spring drcss, he has q momentAry
feeling OF admiration for the town,
bu, Il passes rapidly when he looks
further around and sces the boxes,
paper. barrels. excelsior and trash
generally tina, litter the streets In all