The log cabin Democrat. [volume] (Conway, Ark.) 1901-1982, 1912-08-15
DENVER A REAL
CITY BEAUTIFUL
CIVIC PRIDE IS INTENSE
CITIZENS OF COLORADO MET
ROPOLIS WILLINGLY PAY
FOR ATTRACTIVENESS.
Editorial Correspondence

Denver, Colo, Aug SIN the shor
time we have been in Denver, my op
portunity for observation has neces
sarily been limited, yet, there are g
few facts which have come under my
notice that may prove of some inter
est to the Log Cabin Democrat read
ers.
| The first things that attract the at
tention of the visitor are the clean
streets, the beautiful parks and
boulevards, the magnificent residence
districts and the brilliant illumina-
ton of the city at night. All Denver
seems to be organized into one great
City Beautiful Association and the
improvement work is in direct charge
of the municipal government. There
are Jap miles of paved streets, so
miles of paved boulevards and park
ways and 1862 miles of paved side
walks. Even the alleys in the resi-
dence districts are paved and kept
clean as floor. Every mile of street
is sprinkled during the day and at
night is swept and washed.
There is not natural forest tree
in the city, yet shade trees by the
hundreds of thousands line both sides
of every street and also the centers
of the bouevards. The latter are
made more attractive by pretty flow
erbeds and fountains. Denver has 29
improved or partly-improved parks
containing total of 1888 acres
valued at $4,OOO,OOO and maintained
at an annual cost of $165,0OO, OF
which $4,000 is spent for music
The city park, of 800 acres, is the
largest and most attractive. 1t has
two large lakes, museum, electric
! fountain and an extensive zoo.
Every home, however humble and
unpretentious, has a lawn of the
greenest grass 1 have ever seen, and
one of the principal industries of the
citizens, morning, noon and night, is
watering and caring for their lawns
This is absolutely necessary, as l am
told neither grass nor trees would
survive any length Of time without
constant irrigation.
The electric lighting of the bust
ness district is a distinctively attrac-
tive feature. At night the streets
seem literally ablaze. While the city
maintains eight big arc lights to each
block, mounted on ornamental pedes
tails, these seem dark when contrasteC
with the illumination of the buildings
on either side. Every house, Of
course, has it's electric signs, some Of
which are strikingly unique and elab
crate. The walls of one building, the
Gas and Electric, are studded witt
more than 100000 electric bulbs.
These, as l have said, are some o
the things that first attract the atten
ton of the visitor, but there are hun
dreds of other things of interest il
Denver, among which l shall write a
this time of only a few. The thing
I have mentioned cost immense sum
of money and the tax rate is enor
mously high, yet so far as / Cal
learn, the people are so thorough,
, imbued with the spirit of progress
and the sense of the aesthetic tina
they raise no objection to the cost.
Denver's water system is a publ
utility of which she is justly prouc
The water is impounded in cano
far us the slopes of the Rockies,
dam over 200 feet high retaining tn
melted snow as it descends the noun
tainside. 1t is carried thence in cor
duits, tunnels and fumes to the foot
hills near Denver, where, after bein
filtered, it is piped to the city. WooC
: en- mains are used to conduct the wal
e err from the reservoirs, but practica
l ly all of the distribution system is g
r cast iron mains.
The crop of tourists, upon whic
the prosperity of Denver largely d.
e ponds, is said to be smaller this sea
|, son than for many years, and an er