Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-14

I -
M the beautification Of it,
WI highways i'm a large, con-
4 ' = Structive way, and the
backing of practically all those
who travel the roads of the OLD
Line State, either on business or
pleasure bent, is assured the
movement, which is sponsored
and being pushed with vigor by
the garden clubs Of America.
Ever q potent force in move
ments for the preservation or
scenery for the motoriSt, the gar
den clubs have taken the bit In
their teeth and plan a fight to the
finish against unSightly billboards
lining the motor roads OF the
State.
Not only do they want the I'M
sightlineSS of the billboardS re-
moved, but they go further and
advocate a general cleaning up
and Identification of roadSideS,
to allow much-abuSed nature to
again paint the views along Me
rights of way in her natural AMI
beautiful colorS. Here and there
they plan to lend nature a hand,
with judiciouS planting Of hardy
shrubs and flowers along the en-
bankments of the States roads.
A boycott of products adver-
tised on unsightly roadside bill
boards is offered in the nearby
State as a means to end the nui-
sance. The garden clubs of the
Nation plan to make the cam
,aI~,a al AV1n IN CnAnA
Pledge Cards Given Out.
Pledge cards already are being
distributed in Maryland by the
garden club members, which read:
LAS a practical protest against
the abuse of our countryside by
advertising, I shall give special
favor to products not advertised
on the landscape"
Battle lines for the campaign
have been drawn up by Mrs. Ed
ward McKeon, chairman Of the
billboard and roadside committee
of the GreenSpring Valley Garden
Club. She took the suggestion OF
pledge cards to the meeting of the
garden clubs of America at the
annual meeting last May in Phil
adelphia, and the idea was re-
ceived with hearty favor by the
representatives of clubs all over
the country.
No hopes of doing away with
outdoor advertising entirely are
entertained by the garden clubs,
Mrs. McKeon explains, but they do
hope to discourage the erection OF
obnoxious billboards on patches OF
landscape that should remain
natural. It is chiefly on the long
stretches of pretty rolling country
where nature lends a lovely touch
to the scenery on every side, that
the garden clubs aim to wage
their war against the roadside
signs. They see little hope in
eliminating outdoor advertising
in the metropolitan areas, but de-
clare that it would be a great
achievement to dress up these Sec
tionS also.
Movement in West.
Mrs. McKeon hopes that Mary
land can catch up with the anti
billboard movement which has
moved along at a great pace in
the Western States. Out there
there has been a genuine wave
of resentment against billboards
along the public highways, and
as a result, there are actually bill
boards along rights Of way which
bear no advertising, the purveyors
of the roadside advertising space
being unable to find takers
The Maryland fight is being
waged by seven member clubs Of
the Garden Clubs Of America.
They are: The Hardy, Cations
vile, Halten, Hartford County,
Amateur and Greenspring Valley
and the Garden Club of Twenty.
Great hopes are entertained by
the clubs for the pledge campaign,
but the members all point to the
State Legislature as the only final
cure for the evil.
Maryland'S present State law
prohibits the placing OF billboardS
on private property without the
consent of the owner, or on the
highway rights of way without the
consent of the city, county or
State authorities who may have
that particular Jurisdiction.
In a recent bulletin of the Bu-
reau of Public Roads Of the De-
partment of Agriculture, a wide
spread movement among the
States to control the erection of
unsightly billboards and to en-
nance the scenic beauty Of the
country traversed by well sur
faced highways, was disclosed.
Virginia Regulations.
Virginia's regulations along this
line are about the same as Mary
lands, but there has been started
recently a concerted movement,
along with the ambitious road
building program of the State, to
have the highways of the Old Do
minion lose none of their much
Wanted scenic beauty through
the placing of unsightly billboardS
along the rights of way.
In this same connection, the
District might well study the re-
suits of the movement started by
about 1000 public-spirited citizens
of Lynchburg, Va.