El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-01-22

elk. deer, goats. swans. ducks. eagles
! and other creatures OF the earth and
sky During the year the zoo was ma
terially added 70 by the arrival OF
! some elk from Washington, and Big
Tom" grizzly bear brought from the
/ Silver City district Big Tom" who
I was captured as a cub. has practically
/ been raised in captivity and is quite a
favorite with patrons OF the park. He
/ occupies a cage Of his own on a little
/ island reached BY a bridge
Pretty Park Along Canal.
/ Improvement work was continued
] throughout the year on the Eighth
street park, which extends along each
side Of the Franklin canal for Several
/ blocks The canal itself has been ce-
I mented by the reclamation service. and
! the city is improving the waterway BY
I the construction Of a le-fOot parking
on each side. set out to grass and trees,
and the building or an eight-fOot drive
on each side and fOur-fOot sidewalk
An ornamental fence has been con-
Structed along each side Of the canal
Early in the year the Kelly admin
I istration, by ordinance. designated
DOniphan as the name for the park at
old Fort Bliss But little has been done
towards its improvement However. a
rest room has been provided and quar-
ters for the park keeper. the work
costing about $1,000. DOniDhan is one
OF the parks that has great possibili-
ties for improvement, because OF the
fact that it lies next to the river and
in time viii become a popular resort
for picnics
Robinson Park Planned.
The start has. also been made on
what viii eventually become a very
popular park In order to provide Tor
a park close TO the new high school
building about a year ago land was
purchased on the mesa just above the
high school site, and the city now owns
p out Of the 40 lots that compose
blocks % and 90. Alexander addition.
The property lies at the rim Of the
mesa. commanding a wonderful view
of the city. and the proposed scenic
drive, that IS 10 extend along the mesa.
thence around Mount Franklin to High
land Park. viii pass through it This
park has been named Robinson park IN
honor Of former mayor " F. Robin
son
Madeline Park, in Kern Place, and
other parks in that pretty suburb, viii
probably eventually become a part OF
the city's park system Madeline Park
! has been set out 10 trees and within
a few years viii be a beauty spot set
il the midst Of a settlement Of attrac-
tive homes
street Parking a City Feature.
The parlzins Of streets in FL Paso
has become a permanent institution Il
has been found that the 3O-foot drive
way is amply wide for traffic IN the
residence district and that when the
cost of paving is considered. a material
saving may be effected, even when the
cost OF providing the parking fails
upon the AUDITING property owner. The
start was made a few years ago when
a considerable portion Of MagOffin ave-
nue. was parked Then. when Rio
Grande street residents took it up and
built parking from Oregon to Newman.
the plan became quite popular and now
nearly all petitions for street paving
IN the residence district ask for the
30-fOOt driveway and 20-foot parking
the 30-foot parking. as have also
portions OF Nevada, and several
streets to be paved during the
present year viii have the 20-foot park
ing Some Of the streets will have a
z0-fOot driveway and 15-foOt parking
on each side. but most Of the property
narrow driveway and wide parking, and
the next few Years will witness the
parking Of practically all residences
streets where car lines do not inter
Maintained BY City.
After the parking is put in. the city
maintains il, charging property own
ers 81 per year for maintenance the
property owner selects the trees that
he desires planted. but the park de-
partment does the work and maintains
the parking after the planting is com
Alderman John ". Fisher. chairman
of the street and grades committee.
and park commissioner, has taken
keen interest in the development Of the
park system and parking the bud
get for the year 1861 provides S54,-
500 for the parks. Of this amount.
$4,000 is for Washington Park. and
S25. 500. is for the smaller parks and
for parking Work is inst now start
ing on the parks in preparation for
the coming summer All dead Tege-
tation is being removed and new
plants substituted IN February the
work Of fertilizing the grass plots viii
start This year petunias VIII be
planted along the sidewalks around all
the parks. and in various ways the
parks will be made more attractive
than ever