at the Observatory, form part of this
system. Plans are now under consideration for a rearrangement of
streets, which will afford easier access from the Campus to the
Hospitals and the boulevards and river drives. These will give to this
portion of the future University grounds an irregularity and
picturesqueness wholly lacking on the flat hilltop occupied by the
present Campus. One of the difficulties in this plan is the old
"Cat-hole," the end of a ravine, whose steep hillsides extend from the
river practically to the northeast corner of the Campus. Though this
unsightly boghole has been gradually filled in, it still forms a blot on
the landscape which might, nevertheless, with a little effort and
comparatively small expense, be transformed into a charming open air
theater. This in fact has been recommended by Mr. Frederick Law
Olmstead, the landscape architect, who has made an extensive study of
the whole problem for the city and the University.

It is fortunate for the University that this plan for the future,
tentative though it may be at present, is actually a part of a large
scheme for the improvement of the city, suggested by Mr. Olmstead. Ann
Arbor is fast becoming one of the most beautiful little cities in the
country, with winding streets, shaded by noble maples and elms and many
of the original forest oaks, and lined by substantial homes, charming in
their simple architecture and setting. This development came at first,
as was natural, largely from the Faculty, but an increasing number of
families from Detroit and elsewhere have of late come to make Ann Arbor
their permanent residence, attracted by the unusual beauty of the city
and the advantages afforded by the University. The sightly range of
hills along the Huron between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and about the new
Barton Pond, two miles to the north and west of the city, recently
developed as a water-power site, are soon to be dotted here and there
with comfortable and attractive country homes, which promise to change
the entire character of Ann Arbor's environs. The little country town of
the past is fast disappearing.

With these plans rapidly evolving there is every reason to hope that, at
no distant period, the University may find an imposing physical setting
more in keeping with her standing among American universities. The
present is an era of transition; as yet she has hardly had time to
adjust herself to the extraordinary growth of the last ten y