The Natchitoches enterprise. (Natchitoches, La.) 1888-1965, 1917-01-25
A City Beautiful.

ceived idea of organizing a leagu
with the one aim and purpose
the upbuilding of a city beauti
full, developed far enough to b
able to start the movement b!
bringing a practical, experienced
landscape gardener to Natchi
toches, the club invited a promi
nent club woman, near home, t.
come at the same time and give
her personal experiences along
the same line.
This club woman was Mrs. Rob
.ert Roberts, of Minden, wife OF
one of the judges of the Court OF
Appeals of this district, who had
taken a prominent part in the
successful making of city beau.
tiful of her home town, and so she
knew whereof she was to talk, and
Lesche believed an address from
this lady would be of practical
benefit. At the last minute, Mrs.
Roberts was detained by illness.
SO she sent copy of the address
she was prepared to make and we
publish it in full below, as it is
replete with sensible suggestions,
that it would be we'll for every
body to read carefully if they are
interested in the making of A
City Beautiful.
There is no place in the whole State
OF Louisiana which enjoys a higher
reputation for its educated, cultured
and artistically inclined citizenship
than the beautiful and historic city of
Natchitoches. 1t is, therefore, with
unfeigned trepidation that /, q totally
unframed public speaker, appear here
today in the guise of one carrying
Goals to Newcastle, to try to tell you
something about the identifying of
Minden. My only excuse for taking
such liberty is that am sincerely
interested in what l am going to talk
about. 1t is subject that we are all
interested in, in Minden; and | hope
you will be able to find something in
what am going to tell you that will,
n degree, repay you for listening to
ne.
Minden has been fortunate in MANY
aspects. l am sure that the man or
men who picked out the site for Min
EN-, and who laid out the first plan OF
ne town, were not only fine, sensible,
tactical sanitarians (the town is on |
Ugh ridge, with splendid natural drain
ge), but that they We're also true low
RS OF nature; for it is built in the
lidst OF groves of great forest trees,
lth wide streets, and at the meeting
nd branching eff of streets, large
'aces that speak for themselves as
'poct1nit:es 1or trees, grass, flowers,
A. ia a-.u playground.
Always, in Minden, this respect for
allure and her beauties has been per-
etuated by broad-minded and far-seeing
tlzens and officials who appreciated
lese opportunities and regarded them
public trust to be conserved anu
approved.
The first definite step that l can find
record of, besides taking care of
ese beautiful forest trees that we
e SO proud of Gas, for instance,
we In my possession a petition dated
lrty-five years ago and signed by the
tlzens IN my own home neighborhood,
gglng the town for the protection of
e trees from the carele5sness and in
ference of the street-workers) the
st definite step taken, as | said, is
e passage, about fifteen years ago,
our stock law. This seems to me to
the first step, always, to take in this
very necessary and practical I,
undation upon which to build the tu-
re growth and promise of plants and
ees, as we'll as the Identification OF
Uns, both public and private. In
ct, without an adequate, assured pro
ction from the depreciation of wander
and irresponsible animals, lawns,
wers and other plants have no future
heir present destruction is swift and !.
re.
After the stock law became a ce--
nty, fences came down and residence
eets began rapidly to take on the
oect of series of parks. :
About this time congenial group of
men who had been meeting together :,
embroidery, tea and gossip, decided :
see what could be done about a citv :
*. The town officials gave them :,
to enclose a large rectangle :,
at had formerly, in ante-stock- law 2
IS, been hog and COW paradise) in j.
OF the broad streets. A small sum :,
money was quickly raised, a plan :,
5 obtained from a Boston expert :,
our first park was laid off according :.
this plan.
ne shrubbery was well selected, W
wing and hardy, and has given per- e,
satisfaction. Somewhat to our
1sement, however, we found on ty
If arrival from Boston, good many if
he plants with strange, high-sound- hi
names to be old, familiar friends D;
wn to US by other names, and easily al
~ I'd snE