The Houston plan includes the total exemption from taxation of notes, mortgages, evidences of debt, household furniture and cash. The effect of this has been to increase the amount of money deposited in our banks and hence make it easy to borrow and to circulate. The bank deposits of Houston have increased $7,000,000 in the last two years. Certainly this is due, in a measure at least, to the fact that the people who had money knew that if they placed it in the banks it would not be taxed. The banks, having greater deposits, had more money to lend, and thus it was easier for the man without money to borrow, because of the increased quantity of money available.

The effect of not taxing mortgages or notes has been to keep down the interest rate charged. It is very evident that, if the lender of money has to pay a tax upon it, he will increase his interest to the amount of tax, thus making the borrower pay it instead of himself. Every attempt to tax

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personal property which has been made in the world has resulted in either the owner hiding his property, lying about its value, or if it was taxed he has been able to shift the tax to the ultimate consumer or user.

After the Houston plan of taxation has been in effect a couple of years more, the results will be still more marked. That is, the tenant will get a house at a fair price and the landlord will receive for his real estate a net revenue which will not exceed very much, if any, the current rate of interest in this city, instead of being 30 per cent, as stated above.

HE excessive cost of maintenance is one of the most serious problems which confronts the park builder in the climate of Southern California. This is because the maintenance is continuous throughout the year, during practically all of which time artificial irrigation must be resorted to. Any eastern park official who has struggled with a much used lawn during an August drought will realize what ten months of such conditions must mean to us here in Southern California.

Four years ago when this department undertook, as part of a progressive park system, the problem of reducing maintenance costs, the question of lawn irrigation was seen to be one of the chief features of the problem. In an attempt to reduce this item, recourse was had to a system making use of fixed sprinkler tops sup

plied by underground pipes. The system was worked out in this department under the direction of the Superintendent, Mr. Frank Shearer, and proved very satisfactory. To-day systems more or less similar are being widely used all over Southern California.

Since the first use of the system by the Park Department here, there have been numerous new ideas brought forward regarding the form of the sprinkler tops and their arrangement. Some of these are of considerable complexity, such, for example, as the disappearing top for use in shrubbery and flower beds. This rises to a height of several feet to operate and drops below the ground out of sight when the water is shut off. The simple fixed top is, however, the standard and a number of such tops are on the market. These differ principally in the

amount of water which they distribute and the pressure under which they work.

The newer forms of tops are designed so as to withstand weight and hard usage, such as that given by horse and power mowers. The earlier forms did not do so, and much breakage of tops ensued. The general principle now is to provide as a part of the top a protecting guard, such as the one now used by this department and shown in the diagram. Others make use of a spring valve which closes when the sprinkler is not in use and causes the sprinkler to present a plain massive surface capable of withstanding a heavy thrust or pressure. On account of greater strength and toughness, brass or bronze is now frequently used for the material in these tops, rather than composition metal or cast iron, as formerly.

provided with a patented union and handle which permits the pipe to be rotated without leakage. Such a system will sprinkle splendidly a strip of lawn twenty feet on either side. The system is especially good for flower and shrub borders or for long, narrow strips of grass such as street parkings. It is much cheaper to install than the underground system and distributes the water in a finer mist. It is, however, more trouble to operate, and the labor cost of irrigation is probably twice as great as with the underground system.

The underground system as used by the Los Angeles Park Department consists of a series of pipes laid in radiator circuits 12 to 15 inches deep in the ground, having stand pipes with attached sprinkler tops placed flush with the surface of the lawn at intervals of from 15 to 20 feet. The grass soon covers the tops, so that the sys

In using the system for shrubbery and flowers a greater variety of sprinkler tops is possible, as the top can be kept above the ground and may be of more delicate construction. For this work a sprinkler which distributes the water so as to leave the walks or other adjacent areas dry is desirable. The most ingenious form yet seen by the writer is one making use of gas jets set slightly above the ground and arranged in the grass or curb border of the bed. Besides the system making use of buried pipes and fixed sprinkler tops, there are several systems using pierced pipe which lie flush with the surface of the lawn. Of these the best known

is the so-called "Skinner

system," the details of which are shown in Diagram Number Two. The system consists merely of a galvanized iron. pipe (usually 3/4-inch is used) with minute holes punched 16 inches apart, laid flush with the sur

Main feed pipe

SINGLE FEED SYSTEM Scola-lin 30ft.

I'Laterals

Unions

tem when inactive is absolutely invisible. The tops do not interfere at all with the lawn mowers, being so laid that the blades pass over them. The spacing of the sprinklers depends on the available volume of water and the pressure and the nature of the top used. A circle whose diameter is the diagonal of a 20-foot square seems in practice to be the maximum area over which water can be uniformly distributed from a single sprinkler top.

Sprinkling systems with underground piping were in use before the development of the Los Angeles system, but all made use of the principle of hose sprinkling with the constant diminution of pressure proportionate to the length of hose and number of sprinklers. The Los Angeles system differs distinctly in this respect, and therein lies the secret of its success over all earlier systems. The principle involved is merely that of the application of pressure to a body

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of water confined and motionless. feed pipe forming a complete circuit is of sufficient capacity to furnish all sprinklers with their maximum capacity, and so when the valve is opened and pressure applied the pressure and distribution are the same for each sprinkler.

The first installation in Los Angeles was made in Central Square and the single feed system was used. There are eleven circuits in this park and each carries 36 halfinch Wilgus sprinklers covering an area of approximately 17,000 square feet. The total area of Central Square is 5 acres with 4.3 in lawn. An attendant waters this park thoroughly with the automatic system in two hours at a cost of about 70 cents. As it formerly required two men the entire day to perform the same work at a cost of $5, the saving effected is $4.30, or over 80 per cent. Also the expense for the purchase of hose is eliminated. This system

has been in operation for over three years and has given perfect satisfaction. The only danger is that the workmen, unless carefully watched, will give the lawns too much water. Within the last two years some 40 acres of new lawn in Los Angeles parks have been put in with this system. The Skinner system is also employed on areas of such shape as this system is best adapted to, and also on Our flowering and herbaceous borders. All new lawn now put in by this department is provided with one or the other of these systems, and it is planned eventually to replace our present hose systems in use on the old lawns with these systems.

Requests for the details of this system have been received from many sources. The system is simplicity itself, the only secret being not to over

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HE "near-side stop" has again come into the limelight and the public interest in it has been renewed by its recent adoption by the Board of Aldermen in New York. With the Mayor's signature, which the ordinance received on August 14, New York joins the ranks of the near-side stop cities on September 1.

The ordinance provides that, in the interest of public safety, street surface railway cars shall come to a full stop:

(a) At all points where a "Fire Stop" sign is exhibited;

(b) At all points where a "School Stop" sign is exhibited from 8 A. M. to 9 A. M., from 12 noon to 1 P. M., and from 3 P. M. to 5 P. M., except on Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays and between the period of July 1 and September 1.

The ordinance further provides that to take on or discharge passengers, when signaled so to do, street surface railway cars shall come to a full stop, in such a position as not to obstruct the crosswalk, before crossing any intersecting or connecting street; except that with the written consent of the Police Commissioner, and if "Trolley Stop" signs are installed by the railway company, cars may stop:

(a) At other points on unpaved streets, (b) In the centers of blocks over four hundred feet long,

(c) On the far side of any street containing an intersecting street railway.

There is a further exception that street surface railway cars may cross an intersecting or connecting street without stopping provided that, in each such case, the Police Commissioner shall give his consent, and the railway company shall install a "No Stop" sign, and there shall be regular stopping places with a "Trolley Stop" sign within 200 feet of the "No Stop" sign.

A fine of $10 is imposed for each offense. The writer is indebted to Mr. Louis Graves, one of the examiners in the office of the President of the Board of Aldermen, for much of the information embodied in the following paragraphs.

Before the ordinance was finally adopted, the Aldermanic Committee on Thoroughfares had been advised by the Advisory

Street Traffic Commission and had received letters from railroad and city officials in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Detroit, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Washington, D. C., Kansas City, Mo., Newark, N. J., and Springfield, Mass. With the exception of three letters from railroad men in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Newark, all were of the opinion that the near-side stop was preferable as regards safety and ease of operation. Even the three dissenters admitted the advantages of the system in congested districts where traffic is handled by special officers.

The whole matter of the near-side and far-side stops was investigated by a Committee of the American Electric Railway Transportation and Traffic Association. The Committee, consisting of representatives of street railways in Rochester, N. Y.; Jackson, Mich.; Terre Haute, Ind.; Newark, N. J.; Buffalo, and New York City, went into the question elaborately, getting opinions from surface railway operating officials throughout the country. This Committee, in its report submitted to the Convention of the Association in Atlantic City last October, reported some differences of opinion, but stated that where not compelled by ordinances "the companies have elected of their own accord to institute the nearside plan."

The Committee reported further:

"The companies having experience with it are a unit in the recommendation of the nearside stop as against the far side.

"To sum up, a few of the advantages claimed for the near-side stop are the following:

"I. Reduction in the number of stops "2. Less interference with schedules "3. Decreased power consumption "4. Decrease in number of accidents. "Your Committee desires to heartily endorse the near-side stop and recommends its adoption by the members of this Association."

Among the numerous letters taken from Mr. Graves' files is one from Mr. C. B. Fairchild, Jr., Statistician of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, in which he deals at length with the near-side stop and its relation to street accidents. He says:

"For the year ending June 30, 1913, the total number of accidents occurring showed a decrease of 8.7 per cent as compared with the