Southern Illinois Record

              The Southern Ilunois Record
.V  (iood   Newspaper  i.s  a   l*owcr  in   (ho   ll(>iii(\   St'hool.   Stn(o  and   Nation
VOIAMK 2
FLOKA. ILLINOIS. Till USDAV, I LIUU AKV 2(J. nU4
NO. 22
MAKE OUR CITY PARK A CITY ''BEAUTY SPOT"
riant Boston Ivy About the Pulilic Li¬ brary and It Will Become a Nonument in Green
WOMEN  WANT A PARK   FOUNTAIN
The Wopian's Club Fully Aroused and
Planning Improvements  for
Streett and Park
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(The f,,i-«in>liiit arll.-le U.v Mi-^. 'riimiia-, H. 4>i,>*-nlaw, was |irei»ai-Ml fur Hie Wonian'sChili
mill nnU al a n nl ineelimr. riHiiioui ulireiil
teiiuesl, Mr> (ireenlaw  |HM-tllllM lis ti>  lulldish II.    Killlor 1
I liieof the leailiu^! (|uestii.ii.s toilay ill all projfressive cities. ImiIIi lar^'c and small, is. "I.low to provide park.s and oiil-door resorts for llie people." The object of a pulilic pi.rk is twd- fold: Kirsl. it is a place for open-air recreation: Second. It indicates the ystlietic and ciiltural tastes of llie  •oiniiiiinlty.
In large cities where space is valu¬ able and liuildiiigs arc crowded, were ll not for the public parks, it wcmld be iiiipo,ssilile for the people to lake any out of doors lecreation except upon the .streets. In our Krenl cille.s, people live as closely herded as did the ancient (IIIT liwellers in the mountaiiis of our old Soiilli-west. 'I'o all such a visit to a beautiful iiark is truly a peep into Fairyland.
Ill artitlcal urban life, people loi-e mucli of llieir naturally inslincllve love of nature Tiiey liave forsaken the uraiideur hi the sea, the majesty of the mininlains. the silences of for¬ est aisles, and coiiimiinioii with Nature in all her "various laiijjuajfe", for man-made ' roots and chlniiieys and back yards. It is the lure o,f the old life 111 the open that prompts the coiislructioiiof liciiitiliil parks, where e.xciteiiient and weariness may hesuh- diied and sixilhcd amid llowers and fountains and cooling shade.
II Is true, liowever, that here in our own llltle city, we are blest with lontr. beaut ifiilly shaded streets and lawns that have inspired visitors lo exclaim, "Why. your whole town is • iiie splendid park!" Yel this does not lessen the need for a pubic park where our people as a unit may in¬ dicate llieir cullure and ile\elo|ie- inent aloiiK those lines that make lor j;(Mi(l taste and civic advanceiiieiit.and we can Inil feel that this splril Is now awakening in Klora.
Most unfortualely. our cily |iark jjnuind is very limited in area: yet it is possible to make it a beauty-spot of which all of our citizens will be proud,
Tli# present City .Vdminislration has made an excellent iiiiprovemenl. layiiiK the line concrete v.alks aloiij; the west and south sides of the park, and the two winding; eiilraiice walks til the Cily Library.
Iiut most astonishing of all. after wailing for a Ioiik pgriiKl of years interspersed with nuiiieroiis (elitloils from lonn-sulIeriiit,'aiid niuch imposed upon near residents, our cily has now a t?'>^eriiiiiK adiiiinislralion which possesses llie nerve to lear away the iinsijfhlly hitch-racks aloiitf the north side of the park.