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Show MUCH WDHR DN ! GUI'S PARKS I DURING YEAHj i ! Frequenters of Breathing; Places Grateful for Re- j suits Accomplished by j Commission. MUNICIPAL BATH IS PAYING INVESTMENT i i Improvements at Liberty Park of Almost Endless Number; Wartime Thrift Noted. Thai eleganco which comes of scrupulous scru-pulous attention to detail became, ilur-iHii ilur-iHii tbo past year, yet more noticeably characteristic of Salt Lake's parks ami other places of outdoor charm that have been under the watchful care of Citv Commissioner Herman .11. Green. The city's lack of means to do some of the bin things of which the commissioner commis-sioner of parks is wont to dream has not prevented the doing of thousands of little things that have spelled progress prog-ress in quality. The result has given manv a prideful thrill of enjoyment and appreciation to thousands ot park frequenters during the summer months, while the tourist within the city s gates has been provoked to admiring' comment upon numberless occasions. Among the most successful ventures at war gardening was that of the park department during the last season. Hundreds Hun-dreds of bushels of potatoes have been sold, manv tons of hay harvested and stacked against winter needs, tons of roots and vegetables that are available in foediut' the animals of the zoo wero produced and stored, and the citv farm at Mountain Pell contributed, besides other things, 1000 bushels to the wheat supplv of the nation. The work of eliminating the unlovely unlove-ly marks from Salt Lake's plots of attractiveness at-tractiveness has been under the immediate im-mediate direction of Sidney "R. Lam-bourne, Lam-bourne, superintendent of parks. Ju companv with the superintendent. Commissioner Green has been out. of doors with the things of his charge as many hours ol: daylight as could be I from his office duties. Paying Investment. One of the. big ventures of the park department, from the standpoint of success, though not of financial out-lav, out-lav, was the taking over of the mu-niirfpal mu-niirfpal bathhouse at the warm springs. During the past year it has produced a net profit of approximately $800 a month, which would be something like 9.6 per cent on an investment of 100,-000. 100,-000. Commissioner Green is convinced by the practical experiment that a municipal mu-nicipal bathhouse of accommodations that would be a credit to the city will be a safe financial venture at anytime any-time that it can be afforded. In tho meantime, the present bathhouse is continuing to prove its worth. One of the principal improvements in connection connec-tion with it was that of increasing the flow of water to an amount greater than can be carried by the pipes from the springs to the bathhouse. This hjs resulted in economy, since reheating of the water for the pools has become un-necessarv. un-necessarv. The additional water was obtained by tunneling the springs. Still greater increase might be secured by deepening of the tunnels if need be, in the opinion of Commissioner Green. Here are some of the things that have been done to improve the appearance appear-ance of Salt Lake by the. organization of the park department during the last year: New curbing was put in along the walks and new" flower beds, shrubs and shade trees were planted in the grounds on the city side of the city and county building. Linden and sycamore trees were planted in the Canyon Eoad park, at the mouth of City Creek canyon. The canyon boulevard was widened out and bad corners cut off. Buildings Represented. In Pioneer park all buildings were repainted and three- new flower beds planted. At Riverside park thirteen acres of war garden produced twenty-five twenty-five tons of carrots and 500 bushels of potatoes. Trees, shrubs and climbing roses were planted. Tu the parking of Sixth East street seventv-two spruce trees were planted and Eighth East street was graded, equipped with automatic, sprinkling system and the ground seeded for the beginning of parks from South Temple street to Fifth South street. Trees and shrubs were added to the parks iu Fed- eral Heights and five new flower bods and seven spruce trees constituted the inmrovements at Sugarhouse park. i Removal of the estray pound from I near the athletic field, southeast of I Libert v park, to a point nort hwest of tho citv, was one of tho things done that had long been asked by residents in the vicinoiv of the old location. At the citv's farm in Mountain Dell, Parlev's canvon, .1000 bushels of wheat, till) bushels of uats, 800 bushels of potatoes, po-tatoes, teif tons of carrots, five tons of beets and fifty tons of hay were raised. The potatoes, of exceptional quality, were, for the most part, sold to citizens at little more than cost, considerably con-siderably under the market price, the raising of a big potato crop being the special endeavor of the park department to assist in the solution of food supply. On the resort farm 100 tons of hav were raised. One thousand acres of land were plowed on Ensign peak fiat and prepared for seeding. Wells Connected. Three hundred loads of soil were converted con-verted to improvement of the athletic field of Athletic park, the artesian wells were connected . through a drain pipe and the condition of the field thereby much improved. The buildings were repainted. re-painted. Improvements at Liberty park run into an almost endless number, the scanning scan-ning of which accounts somewhat for the improved appearance of tho park that found such approval in the eyes of everyone last season. Six hundred trees, shrubs and evergreens were planted. plant-ed. A dozen flower beds were added. All buildings, stands and benches of the park were given a new coat of paint. The big concession stand was enlarged. Numerous odd stretches of ground wero planted to lawn, and five acres on the previously somewhat neglected west side of the park were plowed and put into shape for planting to lawn. In the greenhouse the walks were cemented, the piping increased and two double hotbed frames were built for provision against the demand for plants for the park next spring. The park residence was renovated and modernized. modern-ized. A barn and implement shed were built. The cellar of tho Old Mill was reconstructed to provide an up-to-date place for the .farm products. Three hundred loads of gravel were spread on the center driveway. Attractive Features. One of the most attractive features added to the park was the colony of thirty-two pergolas, built of cobblestone cobble-stone and wood framework, overgrown by flowering vines. Fifteen hundred new rose bushes were added and 250 loads of fine soil provided for their planting. Other improvements include numberless number-less details, such as the building of cobble cob-ble retaining walls much work of this enduring nature has been done the improvement im-provement of drainage for the lake, reconstruction re-construction of flower beds, elimination of unsightly spots from all quarters of the park by seeding to lawn and the planting of flower beds, borders, hedges and shrubs. All in all, application of wartime thrift has been productive of most satisfactory sat-isfactory results in connection with Salt Lake's parking system. And those who know of what has been accomplished understand Commissioner Green 's reluctance re-luctance to forego the pleasure of con-i con-i tinuing the work, his hesitancy about I giving up the park department for any other. |