The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-03-19

others previously laid out are com
pleted there will be a group of mag
nificent government buildings south
of Pennsylvania avenue and east Of
Fifteenth street that will be among
the most imposing in the world.
There is a narrow strip Of land south
of Pennsylvania avenue and extending
to the World-famou Mall that con-
meets the capitol and the Washington
monument. This strip of land, for
the most part, is covered with cheap
hotels. restaurants, rooming houses,
the city's leading market, the whole
sale provision and lumber districts,
and he redlight district. 1t is the
plan of the government to remove all
of this, and to make it the site Of new
federal buildings the expansion of
the government makes necessary.
In addition to all these things, con-
gress has provided for the creation of
a small park on what is Known as
Meridian Hill, which marks the hor-
lion from the north front of the
White House. There the people may
come to get a glimpse of the city sec
ond only to that which may be en-
joyed from the dome of the capitol or
from the top of the Washington
monument.
But even when all these things
have been done the ultimate Wash
ington still will lie in the flu
ture. Those who want to see it II cap
ital commensurate with the wealth
and dignity of the nation; representa-
t;,,y ,f ~, -.ttN-, ;1,,J, 81 ,a,,f
and symmetry; embodying the ma
tional aspirations in landscape gar
dening, in architecture, in conserva-
ton of natural beauty, would go even
further. Between Rock Creek park
and Soldiers Home park, both stu
ated on the northern side of the city,
there is now no park connection. 1t
has been proposed that they shall be
joined together in the years to come.
Plans have been perfected for a park
between the Union station and the
capitol. The completion of these two
projects would mean a park system
around the -four sides of the main part
of the city, with only one compara-
lively short break. 1t would start at
the Union station and extend nearly
q half-mile through the capitol
grounds. Then it would turn at right
angles and extend due west until it
reached the water front, and along
that to the confluence of Rock creek
with the Potomac total distance of
two and a half miles. From here it
would run north a distance of six
miles along Rock creek; in the event
that a connecting link between Rock
Creek park and Soldiers Home park
is established, his would leave Rock
creek at right angles at a point about
four miles above the confluence with
the Potomac, and then would extend
eastward for a mile and a half to Sol
diers' home. This, in turn, with the
municipal filtration plant, gives Il
parkway nearly two miles long and a
half-mile OF more wide. The only
break in the great parallelogram,
then, would be the residence section
between the Soldiers Home park and
the Union station, which is about a
mile and a half long, In other words,
in a great line round the best part of
the city some 1G miles long, ALI but
about two miles would be Il line of
green.
1t has been suggested that nowhere
else could a national forest be Gre
ated to better advantage than between
Washington me Baltimore and along
the Potomac west of Washington.
Here is a great stretch Of country,
worth but little for farming OF lum-
bering. where a national forest could
be established at no unreasonable cost.
The west has its Yellowstone park, its
Glacier park, and other great national
reserves, but the east has none. Why
not have one between Washington and
Baltimore, within eight hours ride of
perhaps a fourth of the country's
population? This is the question of
the dreamer of today, but there are
those who believe that in a decade
gre will come to give it that
same attention which, after years of
effort it gave to the proposed APP
palachian national forests.
Very few of the worlds great CAPT
tails lend themselves so we'll to the
builder Of the City Beautiful as the
capital of the United States. With
the picturesque Potomac and its Vir-
ginian palisades; with Rock Creek
valley filled with beautiful glens and
fine drives; with a gently unduratins
downtown section, and with high res
idential sections, the general con-
formation of the site of the city is
more beautiful than that of Rome,
more attractive thar hat of Paris, far
to be preferred over that of Berlin,
not to be compared with that of Lon
don, Madrid, st. Petersburg, or Mex
leo City.
Berlin was built on a perfectly lat,
sandy waste, and whatever beauty
there is IN the German capital has
been put there by the hand of the
landscape gardener and the architect.
The trees planted there partially
atone for what nature failed to do, but
nothing can remedy the ~unkindness
Of nature in emitting hills and val
leys. St. Petersburg is situated on
the splendid River Neva, II has q
wonderful waterfront. The NeVa
PUSHES through it, covered with snow
and ice in winter, but the country
upon which it is built is flat and
sWampy, and, therefore, the site is
1n nv, ot1l phncr;t,Ijn CaSictino tho |