A correspondent to the Times has given some details about
a scheme, which is being put into practice, fon the unblocking, of the Black Country. Trees have been planted, and here and there Nature has been allowed to cover up the unsightly rubbish dumps which occupy the intervening spaces between one blast furnace and another. Those of us who are still out-of-date enough to agree with Ruskin as to the disastrous aesthetic results of industrialism cannot but welcome this news. There is no doubt that an environment of hideous sights, sounds, and smells has frequently the most lamentable psychological and even physical results. This fact is in part responsible for the vulgarity of the present age. It is true- that there is beauty even in smoke curtains and factory chimneys, but it is not the kind of beauty which is conducive to peace of mind. Now that the vast majority of the population consists of city-dwellers, any attempt to lessen the sordidness of their surroundings is altogether desirable.
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