Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-02

THOMAS SHALLCROSS, Jr.,
President National Real Estate Ex-
changes.
The tenth annual convention of the
American Civic Association began to-
day at the New Willard Hotel. with civ
ic idealists in attendance from all over
the United States and Canada, as well
as men and women of practical expert
, ence, including nationally known ex-
perts in city planning. real estate sales
manship. architecture, landscape engi-
neering, horticulture and in other fields
of endeavor.
The work of the association was out
lined at the opening of the convention
by the reading of the objects of the
organization. These, it was announced,
are:
2 ITO make American living conditions
: clean, healthful, attractive; to extend
J the making of public parks: to pro-
mote the opening of gardens and play
grounds for children, and recreation
centers for adults; to abate public
. nuisances, including Objectionable
signs, unnecessary poles and wires,
wasteful smoking factory chimneys
and unnecessary noises; to exterminate
the typhoid fly: to make the buildings
and surroundings of railway stations,
. schools and factories attractive. to pro-
: tect existing trees and to encourage in
. telligent tree planting, and to preserve
great scenic wonders such as Niagara
: Falls and the national parks for the
/: public and from commercial spoliation."
/. 1.-The Federal City, Topic Tonight.
: Particular interest. in the opinion of
/. many Washingtonians, attaches to the
convention for the reason that at to-
nights session the principal topic
under discussion will be The Federal
. City" At this session, which will be
! open to the public, ]. Horace McFar-
will deliver an address. In which he
will cite Washington. the Capital city.
as the one city that typifes American
. city planning. Henry B. F. Ma cfarland.
trict Commissioners, will describe The
: Relation of the Nation to Its Capital.
Col William w. Harris. L. S. A. in
: charge of public buildings and grounds,
f: The Washington of Today and a Wis.,
: ion of the Washington of Tomorrow"
In his double capacity as superin-
; grounds and as secretary of the fine
: arts commission Col. Harris is under
f. stood to have a knowledge greater than
that of any other man. perhaps. just
: what has been accomplished for the
development of Washington to date
: and what the future may produce. He
will tell the members of the association
I. of present conditions and of contem-
plated improvements. with particular
respect to esthetic improvement.
( There is no session of the convention
this afternoon, as the delegates and
their families are spending the time
in inspecting the capital and the i'm
provements that have been made here
since their last visits. The morning
session was opened by j. Horace Nc
delivered by DIR. Charles Wood of the
Church of the Covenant
The convention was welcomed to
d. Washington by District Commissioner
Frederick L. Siddons. He related some
of the earlier mistakes. he said, had
been made in Washington. through the
lack at first of city planning, but these
: mistakes, he said. have been corrected
( so that the Federal city may well be
taken as a model by other growing
municipalities"
In speaking of the control by Con-
gress of the activities of the District
of Columbia, Commissioner Siddons said
+ that. while some people seem to regard
Congress as a large and unwieldy body
for the administration of city affairs,
he firmly believes that Congress is
working conscientiously and success
fully for the best interests of the Ma
tional Capital
Washington an Object Lesson.
Mrs Edward W Biddle of Carlisle.
Pa, vice president of the association,
responded to Mr.. Siddons' address, de-
claring I'VE now feel Washington is an
ideal place for any gathering which is
dedicated TO what Mr.. Siddons has
called 'disinterested public service"
The hour is ripe Mrs. Biddle said,
hensive civic planning all over the
United States, and Washington Is an
object lesson of what may be done in
this respect
Related Civic Advance" Representa-
tives of Il number of organizations
which are working with the American
Civic Association delivered extempo-
raneous remarks in the way of greet
ings from their own organizations. j.
Locke Wilson, superintendent, of the
Ontario department of agriculture, and
superintendent of the horticultural So
ciety, led group of Canadians
THE government of Ontario" Mr. Will
son said, pays for shorthand report
of the proceedings of our Horticultural
Society. and also pays for its printing
in addition, We receive q grant of 81
from the government for every 81 that
is paid in membership fees, and we spend
the money in improving cities. towns and
villages. Let me suggest that you try
10 obtain similar grants from your state
governments"
Studies Land Subdivisions.
Frederick Law Olmsted, chairman of
the national conference on city plan
ming, said that his organization Is en-
deavoring by subcommittee to study
the subject of land subdivisions. in re-
lation to plans of cities. This. he said.
developed the question of the size OF
sizes being determined by the loca-
tions Of streets, the location of streets