The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-03-06
CIVIC UPLIFT HINTS.
ow Any Community Can Be
Made Beautiful.
Railroads Should Erect Attractive
Stations, rs They Are the Doors to
q Town.

SIdlIOllS, uS lIlty tiiC i'OoiS ~
Town.
America >has long been the country
of the boom town. The unlovelinesS
of our public buildings and Of our pub
lie highways has been national re-
proach Rut with the quieting down
Of this feverish- boom spirit come both
the time and the energy for transform
ing our uginess. Unbeautful America
is no more.
These are the days when the trend OF
the whole world is toward betterment.
1t is not only in the powerful, over
crowded cities that men and women
enter into q serious discussion Of civ
les and follow these discussions with
earnest efforts to improve their sur
roundings Every thriving town, each
peaceful village the prairie settlement.
the mountain hamlet and the rural
district have men and women who are
imbTed with a strong civic feeling,
says a writer in the Delineator. Near
ly every city and town, whether OF
the eastern coast, the far west, TO the
north or on the gulf, has its clubs, So
cieties and organizations the sole OBJ
ect of which is to encourage the mem
Dcrs tc make the municipality of which
each Is 8 factor healthier, pleasanter
and more beautiful spot.
Nor is it always with a selfish mo-
tive that these Improvements are be-
gun. The organizers Of them frequent
ly cannot hope to benefit by their la
bors, often not live to see even the
budding fruit that their efforts are IN
tended to bring forth. but there are
menNbusiness and professional men,
farmers and mechanics-with souls so
big that they are willing to give their
time and their wealth in order that
those who come after them may reap
what they have sown.
The men of this broad country, how
ever, are not the only ones. Women
are lending hand to civic uplift. In
fact, in most sections they are doing
more than the men. At their clubs VIC
find them earnestly discussing the
smoke nuisance or street cleaning or
tenement house laws. They are learn
ing that it is Important that the eye be
greeted by pleasant sights, that it Is
not enough that the interior Of their
houses be beautiful, that the out OF
doors beyond the garden should be at
tractive as we'll.
When 4 church Is architecturally fine
it gives each passerby a spiritual up
lift An Office building, residence or
q bridge spanning river, IL 1t Is fine
In outline. form and workmanship.
aids in bringing out the good that is
within us all. A lavish expenditure OF
money is not necessary to make city.
town or village beautiful. Structures
extravagant in ornamentation and dec
, Grafton do not always do it. A build
, ing devoted to business purposes does
not need to be erected twenty stories
in the air to be splendid representa-
tlon Of architectural skill. A dwelling
5 house may be inexpensive in cost COLI
0 structed merely Of wood, but If the de-
sign after which the house Is built is
one that fills all who see It with JOY
the builder has not lived in vain.
The citizens should act as unit In
seeing as the years go by that their
town or village is growing in beauty.
8 When a federal municipal or public
building is to be erected they can in
sist that the structure shall add to the
general beauty Of the town.
Pride is an excellent characteristic If
: used for the bcttcrmcnt Of all and is
, not without Il useful application in ev-
r ery community. We all more or less
, consciously respond to any activity that
makes this earth of ours a loveller
, place.
T AS the house having handsome por-
tai seems to extend welcome. so
o should the door to town always be
, attractive lave you not many times
+ Judged town by its railroad station:
Dump heaps. scum covered pools OF
water, dingy warehouses. poorly paved
: streets. the back yards Of Shantytown
+ how often these pictures form the
travellers only recollection of n city or
, q town! "So-and-so? Oh. yes. | pass
ed through there Once-wrntched town,
from what l saw OF it," Have you
not heard this scathing Judgment pro-
nounced scores OF times? How differ
ent would have been the travellers i'm
pressions If he had found himself en-
tering the town through well lighted
: viaduct and emerging into station
where blossoming plants and grass
, plots occupied every available bit OF
ground!
A great many of our railroads are
, doing splendid work in making their
stations and the grounds around them
, beautiful Where the architecture OF
the country is distinctive In character
the station is often built to conform
with that style. Some railroads main
tain greenhouses ard nurseries to sup
ply their station parks with plants and
shrubs, for even if it is not cNpedi-
, ent to build a new station, much may
be done by utilizing the waste spaces
and the unused corners for flower beds
, and green grass.
The citizens Of every village. town
or city should insist that the road