St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1913-12-27
Civic Beauty Is An Inn
portant Asset To The
Community.
Opelousas, Dec. Is, 1913.

=e-=&H-
Mr.. Editor:
Several weeks ago | handed
you an article intended to call
the attention and arouse the in
terest of our people to the beauty
and advantages of shade and
ornamental trees to the residents
of our city, as we'll as to such
visitors as possess both means
and taste. Such visitors would
be a valuable acquisition to the
community, and a %profusion of
beautiful trees along our thoro-
fares, added to our W~ell-kept
lawns and parterres, would
doubtless appeal very strongly to
them. HAD proposed to follow
said article with others along the
same line, telling what Crowley,
Eunice and other nearby towns
had done in this direction, and I
trust that you will find room for
it this week.
In the meantime a remarkable,
a noteworthy article in last Sun
days Times-Democrat, written
by prof. H. L. Bourgeois of st.
James parish, has been brought
to my attention. 1t tells of a
school garden in that parish tend
ed by the pupils under his super
vision, and is accompanied by
several pretty pictures.
In commenting upon the laud-
able enterprise inaugurated by
him Mr.. Bourgeois says:
Regarding this line of work | wish to
say that beside the personal benefits OF
mental relaxation and wholesome out
door exercise | have found that the in
terest aroused, both in the children and
i'm the community, has more than justi-
fled the expenditure OF the sm | amount
of money and of energy brought into
play.
It's a comparatively easy matter to
get children interested in school ground
work, and here in our State, with its
fertile soil and favorable climatic condi-
tions, it is a matter but of a short while
to transform a d~esolate school ground
into one that w II be IN esthetic inspira-
ton to the youthfulminds there engaged
in making adjustments with their sur
roundings.
Asschool, he adds, should be, among
other things, a center of culture and
OF refinement; a place where it is
taught that "a thing of beauty is a joy
forever" and that things beautiful in
clude not only the literary and the NOR
al, but all things beautiful and among
them civic beauty. As Mr.. Gillette says,
sIt is everybody's concern how the
n%eighborhood looks. One slovenly place
is a blot on the neighborhood. The
scenery is one of the assets off country;
and The appraisal of this asset is bound
to increase with time; because the edu-
Gated mind is ALWAYS sensitive to its
surroundings. Any person who igno-
rantly despolis the scenery is guilty OF
an offense to the community, whether
SO re cognized by laWsor not"
1t Is my belief that a school should be,
in all things, a power for good and for
beauty, and that it should in the matter
of outdoor art set an example OF local
possibilities to every home.
1t Is true that a teacher certainly has
enough to do in school without seeking
to become, or to make, landscape gar
deners. But this is far from being the
idea. And undoubtedly the prime es-
sential in education is to teach alongthe
line of the practical and the useful, and
therefore the first duty of the teacher is
to cultivate minds and not flower gar
dens. But the tactful teacher, with a
bent towards things beautiful, and who
realizes that civic beauty is an asset to
the community will devise means to
cultivate bothminds and flower gardens
or as Miss Carney puts it, will cultl-
yate minds and spirits through flower
gardens without in the least inter-
fering with the regular school work.
There can not be the least
doubt that if eve.sy school in st.
Landry had such a garden a
noticeable change would soon be
brought about in the culture and
refinement Of the children as well
as in the community.
In the name of this community
/ thank Mr.. Bourgeois for his
helpful suggestions and thank
you for publishing them broad