Evening star., 1923-11-08
D. c. PARKS '|UPKEEP,
FOUND INADEQUATE.
Other cities Spending Twice
as Much, Says Report Of
Col. C. O. Sheriff..

Col. c. O.. Sheriff., officer In charge
of public buildings and grounds, In
his annual report made public to-
day. declares that the parks of Wash
ington. although larger IN size than
those of five representative cities of
the country, received such a small
appropriation for their nnaintenance
and upkeep that "it was inposslhletto
keep them up to a propes STANDARD.
This was due, Col. Sherrill po3n.e
out. ito the largely increased 5aeor
and material cost, and the fact ttat
the amount appropriated for :psrk
maintenance was not commensurate
with the actual increase in the: csst
Of the work" .:
In a comparison of expenditures Cor
public parks in Washington wsth
those In five representative cities Col.
Sheriff. showed that Washington
spent less than half the :amoun1 2x-
pended by the average of the ave
cities tabulated.
Compares With baltimore.
The expenditure in Washington Cor
the fiscal year 1922 was s5Sl,2la. as
contrasted with s1,151,331. average
expenditure for each of these Eve
cities: Minneapolis. Buffalo, Batti-
more. Detroit and San Francisco. The
population of these cities average
$500 as compared with WashiEg-
tons $4,000. They have q park area
averaging 2,452 acres, as compaLed
with the larger area in washington
of 2.S3G acres. The city OF Baltimore,
1t was pointed out. has 1850 acres,
and during the fiscal year: 1922 spent
S1,2S0,954. or more than; twice the
amount expended in the District xof
Columbia.
CO... Sherrir's report told of the gGv-
ernment's care of tie White House
and grounds, pubic reservatioss,
parks. monuments, Fairgrounds AID
new projects. such as the Arlington
memorial bridge.
The Washington Monument was VS.
tied during the year by n total :of
296.so6 persons, 2l3,067 OF :Ihe Sc hs,y-
ing ridden up in the elevator. the Re-
ins!nder walking. The TOURISTS caI1p
was visited by 2S 800 persons ald
took care of S,224 cars.
Lincoln Memorial Lends.
The Lincoln Memorial proved tie
most popular under tie supervision Of
Coz. Sheriff., with an attendance dug
ing the fiscal year OF 495.192.
Sports occupied a large: place In
Washington life. accordin<:to figures
of participation and attendance at the
pubic courses. Among :the NEST
popular of these was TERMS. with
223,709 participants: goh, ssith 1885,
402: base ball. with 49.70S: and foot
ball. with 1892. The bathing beath
during part Of the two summers ia
cluded in the fiscal year was VISITED
by total of 409.7O0 persons. Frotn
July / to September ~. 1922. the:e
were 204,200 bathers, and from My
q to Jure 30, 1923. the end of TIE
fiscal year for which the report wSs
made, there were 1850.
Concessions were granted during
the year to five concerns which re-
turned to the government a: total of
$3.50, not including the sums spent
by the concessioners for improvements.
The concess!oners were tie Parf
Amusement Company. running wess
and east Potomac Park, golf eco ourssA
Norman B. Frost and Harold D.ssMffE
ler, running the Roek~Creek golf
course; theSGirl ScoutssSRperattnGa a
tea house at Hams, poirA L. Gor9qai
Leech. sH scharge OF b0t&houseK andI
bathing. and Arthur l. Castillo, ut the}
Tourists camp. IS. 3 = = -