Convention of City Managers

The first convention of city managers will be held in Springfield, Ohio, August 4-6, at the invitation of Charles F. Ashburner, City Manager of that city. The meeting will be most useful in offering an opportunity for full discussion of the problems of this form of municipal administration. So new are the difficulties of this position and so many are the uncertainties regarding the extent of the city manager's authority, that there is little precedent to fall back upon, and the relationship of the manager to other city officials needs to be harmoniously established. This occasion of getting together and talking frankly on the subject will help to make clear the duties of city managers under different conditions and circumstances.

One of the subjects discussed at length, by Chief Daniel Wolff of Yonkers and Chief Michael Regan of Buffalo, was the need of radical change in automobile laws. Another interesting address was that of Chief Sebastian of Los Angeles, on aerial and citizen policemen. A resolution which was introduced protesting against the "presentation of crime in motion pictures and the manufacture of pictures in which police. officials are presented in a ridiculous light," and calling upon each member to use his influence to prevent the manufacture and production of such films, was passed unanimously.

Cincinnati was chosen as the place of meeting of the convention for 1915.

BEST, HARRY.

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The Deaf. Their Position in Society and the Provision for Their Education in the United States. 1914. 340 pp. $2.12 This study fulfills the function, with regard to the deaf, of what in social work would be called a survey. The deaf are considered, not alone from a medical, legal, psychological, or "human interest" point of view, but from all these viewpoints combined, in order to throw light on their position as ponents of the state who demand attention in its machinery of organization. Part I analyzes the position of the deaf in society, presenting, among other things, physical statistics which form a basis for judgment on various points. In this connection the author greatly regrets the lack of interest thus far shown in the prevention of deafness. Part II takes up at length the provisions made for educating the deaf in America, tracing the progress from efforts based on private initiative to state control and the establishment of a national college for higher education. An account is given of the organization and operation of educa tional institutions, public and private, for the deaf and deaf-blind, in the various states, with a discussion of the comparative advantages of day schools and boarding schools. There is also a review of the provision for education of the deaf made by states, and of constitutional provisions for schools. One section is devoted to "the charity connection," in which is particularly deprecated the unfair attitude which stig. matizes the deaf by placing them on a par with persons mentally defective or diseased, while at the same time the desirability from certain points of view of connection between schools for the deaf and boards of charity is emphasized. Other subjects touched upon are: provisions concerning admission of pupils to schools; the importance of compulsory education laws for the deaf; methods of instruction.

Intended as a guide to the water analyst and the waterworks engineer. The book is elementary in character, yet distinctly scientific. Part I deals in practical manner with the collection of samples, methods of microscopical examination, the microscope and its use, microscopic organisms in water from different sources, limnology, microscopic organisms in lakes and reservoirs and their distribution, odors in water supplies, storage, soil stripping, copper treatment for algæ, purification of water containing algæ, and growth of organisms in water pipes. In Part II are classified in detail the microscopic organisms, animal and vegetable, found in water supplies. This part of the study is illustrated by plates, printed in colors in order that the organisms may be more readily identified. There is also a brief bibliography, chronologically arranged, designed for the use of students interested in a history of the subject, and references relating to particular classes of organisms are given at the end of chapters dealing with these or ganisms. In the interests of clean water, the study of microscopic organisms should not be confined to specialists, but should be undertaken by all superintendents of waterworks who are in charge of storage reservoirs; such study will, no doubt, be furthered by Professor Whipple's clear and interesting volume.

PREMIER CONGRÈS INTERNATIONAL ET EXPOSI-
TION COMPARÉE DES VILLES (First Inter-
national City Planning Congress and
Exhibition).

Report of the First International City
Planning Congress and Exhibition.
[Organized under the patronage and with
the coöperation of the city of Ghent, at the
Universal Exposition held in that city July
27 to August 1, 1913, and under the aus-
pices of The League of Belgian Cities and
Communes ("L'Union des Villes et Com-
munes Belges.")] 1914. 718 pp. Illus-
trated.
$4.25

One object of this important Congress was the establishment of an international bureau of information on community affairs in general. In conformity with the broad scope of interests thus indicated, the report offers a discussion not only of city planning subjects in the ordinary sense, but of many phases of community organization and evolution. The papers are given in French, German or English, as delivered before the Congress, a large majority being in French. This is also the language of the report proper. There are four parts, the first of which gives the organization and aims of the Congress and a list of members. Part II consists of two sections, one devoted to papers upon general problems of city planning and specific features in certain cities, and the other to the organization of community life viewed under various sociological and administrative aspects. In Part III are

found the minutes of meetings of the Congress, also miscellaneous matter, such as lists of publications and organizations throughout the world, concerned with community interests.

INTERNATIONAL HOUSING CONGRESS.

Preliminary Report of the Tenth International Housing Congress. Held at The Hague, Scheveningen, September, 1913. 1913. 5 vols. 1,856 pp. 4 photographs; diagrams, tables. Duty extra.

$3.00 Volume I contains the proceedings of the Congress and list of members. In the remaining four volumes there are illuminating reports upon housing problems under the following general divisions:

Improvement and Demolition of Insanitary Dwell

ings.

Improvement of Rural Dwellings.
Overcrowded Dwellings.
Town Planning.

Recent Housing Progress.

The program of questions to be considered is given in French, German, Italian and English, and the conclusions accompanying the reports are in French, German and English. Otherwise, the material is in the language in which it was presented to the Congress. OSBORNE, THOMAS MOTT (Thomas Brown, Auburn, No. 33,333*).

Within Prison Walls. Being a Narrative of Personal Experience During a Week of Voluntary Confinement in the State Prison at Auburn, New York. 1914. 328 $1.62

pp.

The ex

This remarkable narrative is in the form of a diary kept during the author's prison experience. Any attempt to arraign the prison system in general or to suggest specific improvements is disclaimed. periment, as announced at the time it occurred, was undertaken by Mr. Osborne (Chairman of the New York State Commission on Prison Reform) not for the purpose of reinvestigating material conditions, but in order to obtain a fuller and more sympathetic understanding of the actual effect of the system upon the prisoners. This is shown with a vividness which carries with it a strong emotional appeal. The author's sympathy is seen to be on the side of the humanitarian idea of penology,in accordance with which prisoners would lead as far as possible a normal life, calculated to prepare them for taking their place, at the ends of their terms, as good citizens, improved,

rather than wrecked by the punishment. Among the subjects touched upon in a way to suggest urgent need of reform are the problems of prison cleanliness and decency, prisoners' wages, their health, education, and normal relaxation.

THE MUNICIPAL JOURNAL, LIMITED.

The Municipal Year Book of the United
Kingdom for 1914. (Edited by Albert E.
Cave.) 1914. 1,193 pp.
$4.25

In this volume is found an epitome of municipal affairs in the United Kingdom, with statistical figures, directory of officers, and an account of the origin, history and functions of various institutions. There are sections devoted to municipal government in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland; administration of gas, water, electricity, ports, roads, tramways, etc., motors in public service; education; housing and town planning; markets, slaughterhouses, baths and wash-houses, public libraries, museums, cemeteries; refuse disposal, sewage disposal; fire protection; old age pensions; small holdings and allotments; local taxation; municipal trading; municipal wages and labor conditions; local government legislation; etc. The present edition has been amplified in several respects, one important addition being the section on motors in public service. The sections relating to libraries, baths, and wash-houses have also been recast. In the section on town planning are included the new Procedure Regulations issued in February, 1914, and a short treatise on the practical execution of the Town Planning Act of 1909.

LEVISON, J. J., M. F., Forester to the Department of Parks, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Studies of Trees. (The Wiley Technical Series. Edited by J. M. Jameson.) 1913 and 1914. Loose-leaf 8 x 101⁄2-inch pamphlets. Illustrated. Five additional pamphlets. The first three, 5 cents each; the other two, 10 cents.

Fifteen pamphlets of this series have already been noted in THE AMERICAN CITY (August, 1913, and February, 1914). The additional pamphlets are entitled as follows: The Oaks and Chestnut; The Hickories, Walnut, and Butternut; An Outdoor Lesson on Trees; Tulip Tree, Linden, Sweet Gum, Magnolias, Locusts, Catalpa, Dogwood, Mulberry, and Osage Orange; Our Common Woods: How to Tell Them and Their Uses. The price for the entire series, which forms a valuable guide for outdoor work or manual for school use, is $1.00 (after July 1) if purchased in a set, or $1.25 if purchased separately. A binder designed especially for this book may be obtained at 50 cents.

BEARD, CHARLES A., Associate Professor of Politics, Columbia University, Editor. The City Manager Plan of Municipal Government. (Reprinted in part from Beard's Loose-Leaf Digest of Short Ballot Charters. Second Edition, printed for THE AMERICAN CITY by The National Short Ballot Organization.) 1914. 35 25 cents

pp.

Controlling the Temperature

of Shower Baths

A new device, originally planned for the protection of children using the shower baths in public playgrounds, is shown in one of the accompanying pictures. Children are often ignorant of even the most elementary forms of modern plumbing, and are in danger, when left without care, of being scalded when using the old-fashioned shower apparatus in which

INGHAM SHOWER MIXER

the hot and cold water supplies are regulated by separate valves. In such large city parks as Holstein Park, Chicago, the attendants have found it difficult to prevent accidents occurring among the great crowds of children using the baths. Moreover, it is not hard to realize that a large amount of water goes to waste in experimenting to obtain the exact temperature desired.

The Imperial Brass Manufacturing Company, of Chicago, has placed on the market

the device above referred to, which consists of a chamber in which hot and cold water are mixed before entering the spray tube of the shower bath, and which instantly regulates the temperature and pressure by a slight movement of a single lever. Chicago playground institutions, clubs, gymnasiums, public and private baths, have already been equipped with this arrangement, which is known as the Ingham Shower Mixer. The use of this attachment decreases the number of attendants necessary to handle recordbreaking crowds in public playgrounds, and therefore appeals to public welfare committees which have to face the usual condition of limited appropriation.

* *

Distinctive Lighting Standards

The pamphlet entitled "Ornamental Illumination with Granite Concrete Lighting Standards," which is published by the Pettyjohn Company, of Terre Haute, Ind., contains a collection of attractive views in various eities, showing the reinforced concrete standards of this company. Besides the "sparkling granite" concrete standards the company makes columns in a variety of shades and colors to match any kind of natural stone. Standards of ordinary gray concrete are also supplied where economy is of more importance than a beautiful surface, and these are also of fine texture, and are made waterproof for about two-thirds of the price of granite concrete. The core of the column serves as a means of introducing the wires inserted through the conduit, which gives additional reinforcement. The standards are inexpensive; need no painting or repairs, and are of massive proportions and beautiful finish. Designs are also prepared for gas arcs, and this company offers as well such accessories as glass globes, cast bronze holders, luminous arc lamps, etc.

* *

Stopping the Water Waste

The tremendous waste of water in certain cities, especially where meters are not used, is indicated by the remarkable differences in per capita daily consumption in various places. The maximum is stated to be 398 gallons, the average 121, the minimum 26. It has been found that the greatest percentage of loss is due to leaky faucets. In this connection it is interesting to note the appearance on the market of a new washerless faucet manufactured by the H. W. Johns-Manville Company, of New York. This device is fitted with a conical valve bearing directly on a spherical seat, which gives a line contact, making a tight joint, so that it is not necessary to jam the