' THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAIJ. PORTLAND, THURSDAY . EVENING, DECEMBER 3 1903.
14
OF PLAY
Those Who Loye and Pity
Shut-In Children Start
Things; States and Con
gress Keep Them Going
Hay Ys. Crime. '
Br FREDERIC J. HASKO.
' (CoDvrlKht. 1801. by Frederlo J. Haskln.)
Pittsburg. Pa,' Dec. l.-TPJnn - th;
Pittsburg Playgrounds association asked
' last spring for a bond Issue or $2,000,
r 000 for purchasing- and equipping-pew
playgrounds, it exempiiriea um zuuuai n
tendency- toward outdoor life mad play
' ; grounds -work that ha become one of
the biggest laetorsin ue upmi.
i Ttimiui, thm reauest was denied. Its pro-
"v moters are not discouraged and expect
to put the matter tnrougn next spring.
..- Two months ago the South Hills board
of trade met in tee Pittsburg chamber
of commerce, and passed a resolution
, recommending that the genera assem
i bly of the state -pass an act "Imposing
' upon boroughs and first class townships,
contiguous t' large cities - of the eom
mon wealth f-the purchase ot sufficient
' acreage for a 'commons, these lands
to- be, particularly for, the sports and
- athletics of children." A committee of
, seven will orgs this before the. hsgls-
' .. lature. -...''..;.';.::. , .
One hundred and seventy cities of
1000 inhabitant and over in the Unl
ted States now have playgrounds sys
tems. Before the new year is very old
' the number will have approximated J00.
Pittsburg's system Is one of the best,
. and the work Is notable because of the
adverse geographical conditions over
come. In urging the need for more
' placing centers the association has mads
photographs of hundreds of backyards
' where some children have to play, show-
- ing the impossibility of the thing. Jacob
Rlls la authority for the statement that
Pittsburg has mor -congested districts
than even New Tork's celebrated tene-
' ' ment quarters, proving the necessity
- for as many playing places as the city
v.- can provide. Though the big tenements
! are lacking here, Pittsburg has more
dwellers to tne air-space in some of
its smaller buildings than New Tork
has In its tenements. It Is for the pur
pose of . giving playing places to the
' children of sucn districts that the asso
! - elation exists. . . ..
Playground Idea's Evolution.
Tn the vard of the Forbes school ot
v- PlttBburg several philanthropic . mem-J
Ders oi me uvic ciuo iouiiu u union
' tented children, one day li years ago,
- and decided to teach them how to play.
The children were divided in two groups,
trained teachers were secured, andjJlays
, and games were taught them. For a
few years the experiment was watched,
and then, because of the bigness of the
thing, a permanent organization was
planned. It was perfected in the wtn
' ter of 1905."L i Last year the central
board of education gave $7,500 for the
. work, and the councils appropriated
' $36,000- for parks to be disbursed by
. . the association.. Such, in brief. Is the
; history of almost every ctly's , play-
rounds. First, they have been opened
v private organizations, usually wo
. men's clubs, and then when their value
? became known they have been Incor
Twiratad in the educational work. Or the
parks systems, or given over to a dls-
' tlnct organization such as Pittsburg
3 has. Last summer Pittsburg bad six
5 recreation parks open for eight weeks,
' In addition to the vacation ' schools.
Some of the arts were taught rdens
v ' were made, and In the smaller chll-
3 dren's grounds trained klndergartners
J were In charge. Kvery Friday flowers
J were distributed to tne cniiaren at tne
I schools, parks and playground The
total dally attendance in the vacation
schools, parks and playgrounds this year
1- was over '4400.
j More Play ni Crime. ',-
Accordln- to President Roosevelt, the
$ biggest civic' achievement in the world
. 1s Chicago's South Side playground,
f More than $16,000,00 has been invested
3 there. ' Chicago has found, as Denver
I has, that there is a Strong relation be
lt tween juvenile courts and playgrounds,
f ' The more playgrounds there are where
'? children can be kept from mischief,
the fewer are the delinquents. Wherever
' a, park 'or a recreation center bas been
opened in Chicago thare has been a de
ll crease of 8 per cent in Juvenile delln
3 quency la that district Chicago's next
J playrround feature is to be a circulate
ing library branch on each ground.
- From the 'immigrant population of
i this country can be learned one of the
best lessons in proper festival cele-
bratlona "Where the Independence day
i celebration of America Is usually a
- carnival of noise and disaster,, foreign-
era la big cities celebrate the days dear
i to their hearts with processions and
folk dances in publto parks. Last May
3 J,000 Norwegians celebrated In Chi
'f cago the independence' day of their
i, fatherland In Humboldt park, a proces
v slon of 10,000 children leading the way.
f The Swedish and Hungarian festivals
4 are celebrated in a like fashion. This
popularises the parks and playing cen
ters. Reverence for fatherland tradl-
.' tlons Is considered a strong argument
for good citizenship in America.
Xew Tork's Beoreatioa rand.
"t 'Every year New. Tork sets ; aside
$300,000 for playgrounds and $1,000,000
for small parks. Without counting parks
;.-' of less than one acre. New Tork's parks
- and playgrounds are valued at figures
T beyond $B00,000,0uO tne last valuation
f of Central park being nearly half of
this. In old New York the park and
playground acreage . is 1.444, an acre
lor every group of 1,48$ people. The
recreation niers on the New Tork docks
. cost $50,000 for musio alone, last year.
There is a plan now on foot to place
' a herd of Jersey cattle in Cent raj
. park, and give the milk to the children
who play there.
In Boston where the more courageous
children played on the common years
v ago, an addition of 200 acres was re
cently made to the children's play
grounds,! The first recorded sand gar
den fot American children Was started
there in 185.- In Boston harbor there
Is an Island to which municipal boats
'. furnished f re transportation to 14,000
children under IS last summer. At the
last session ot the Massachusetts leg-
lslature a law was passed requiring a
' ' referendum on the question of provid
ing playgrounds in all cities or towns
of 10.o60 population, 61 places In all,
" and- the school committee of Boston
has -voted $58,000 on its playgrounds,
and to this the park department has
added $25,000 more. 60 much for pro
gress la New England, where two cen
turies ago playing was deemed a sin.
Congress Takes Motto.
Newark's municipal camp la one of
' the blgtrest lessons in juvenile helpful
- ties.. The city owns a tract of eleven
acres at von-oy-ine-eea ana over
2000 children were g iven outingj .there
last summer. .Trenton began the first
work of the kind -last spring with a
'm.. f iiftll Ths fiia citv reservoir.
long neglected and in ruins, was trans-j
formed into a stadium, making one of
the most vnlque and picturesque play-
BTD11IH 5ft-HB WJUIllI. u mmm
ieeded Is proved by the summer's at-
terdance, T3.000.
When playgrounds '.for the city of
WashinKton were first proposed, a Cler
r congrtissmni Is said to'have 'sug
tei ihat such a Useless waste of
money rotild be prevented by buying
!-t of chesp brtlloons and releasing
th'fw oh '"the - While 1 House grounds
e.,rr .. stroay- afiernoon that this
""' 1 r.nUv i tit chfld'en more
. 1 . lid .ivl forgotten
-' v..j 'i.ta tity l.uJ i-tuyuJ.. maOe
other plans. There are ' now - ten
municipal and thirteen school play
grounds In that city, with an attend
ance for last summer of over $76,000.
Bach playground waa at - first the
charge of some private . philanthropy,
and later was adopted as a municipal
enterprise. c , Playground promoters
there have an eye on reclaimed and
made lands for future parks, the land
made from ashes having . superior
drainage, v : .-.' '..' :
Western Playrround System.
, The state of Washington has ex
celled all 29 of th states that attend
ed the second congress of the Play-
f round Association of America in New
ork last September. The legislature
passed a bill there at Its last session
though it waa vetoed requiring that
every city, when laid out should set
aside ten per cent of its land for parka
and playgrounds. The bill will come
up again. In California ths enthusi
asm over playgrounds is at its height
Nearly a million and a half dollars has
been set aside in that state for play
ground uses. Ban Francisco, with the
rreat burden of rebuilding, set aside
7.41,000 of this, Oakland $600,000,
Berkeley $500,000 and Alameda $126,
000, while Los Angeles has one of the
finest systems In all the country.
In 189 the will of the Smiles of
Philadelphia gave a bouse and a play
ground in Fairmount Park to the chil
dren of the city. It was the first pub
lic playground In this country, and it
has never been closed for a single day.
Over fOO.OOO children nave piayea
there, mil m. eomnlnta bosDltai equip
ment, a trained nurse. Indoor playroms
and outdoor athletio courts make of
thia one of the most benencent De
ques ts in the history of philanthropy.
Next Tear the school children will
hav ki mw niKvff-rmiTids. The De
partment of Physical Education of the
University of Missouri has organised
summer -plays In 81 towns and villages,
and offers special . training for play
teacners. . .
Pal Tales and Old Games. X
The little Chicago child of the alums
wno asKea the lot owner; -riease,
tor. mnv I nut ro v fnjit on vour grass?
has bean heard, and svmDathetlo cities
are making grass plots as fast as they
can lor the tirea utue leet iney
turnlna- back to th older days ana re
viving old' time games and folk dances,
one time a part of the history of the
various peoples. The story tellers in
the parks are' repeopling the world of
fancy with beloved figures from Rob
In Hood, from the old Norse sages,
from the German and Greek tnytholo-
fles, and many a sin-befogged Uttle
rain is already growing clear and
clean. At Chicago's play festival last
year there were 2000 participants, ana
at New Tork's this year nearly as
many. At the University of Tennessee
summer school there was a play fes
tival this year, and Pittsburg closed
the year's play season with one of the
most successful festivals of the time,
Cheaper and Better Shan Crime.
Aa preventive at disease and crime
the playground Is the city's biggest
helrier. It costs less than an epidemic
or than the maintenance of hospitals,
and vastly less than Juvenile courts,
parental schools and reformatories.
Knowing this, Birmingham, Knoxville,
Harrisburg, Lowell, Roanoke, San An
tonio and Syracuse . are among this
year's recruits with the Inspiring ex.
ample of Cleveland and its $60,000 ex
penditures before them. . With ths
play, tne stuay ana tne ouiaoor air 01
the nlavernunds thev mean to make
healthful, wholesome citizens for th
future good or tne nation. ... ;
SCHOOL AUTHORITIES
T3T EUGENE SEEK TO
ABOLISH CIGARETTES
(Special Dispatch to Th ftttrnal.)
Eugene, Or., Dec. S.-rThe Eur )
gene school authorities have
4 taken up the matter of the
smoking of cigarettes by the
High school students. It is pur-
posed to abolish the practice. The
:' city authorities have bean con-
suited In the matter and It la
probable that a law prohibiting
minors from smoking the "coffin -
nails" will be the result of the
agitation. .
TDIBER-STONE
ENTRIES BARRED
(United press Leased Wire.)
Walla Walla, Wash., Dec. 3 A tele
gram from the Interior department to
the local land office holds tip all Umber
and stone entries until further Instruc
tions. It Is believed here that the, de
partment will not permit further ' en
tries, pending efforts to repeal the act
In accordance with Secretary Garfield's
plan to have all timber on public lands
appraised and sold under supervision of
the forestry service.
Lecture by Rabbi Wise,
(Special Dispatch te Tb Jootnsl.)
. Shedds, Or., Dec. 3. Rabbi Jonah B.
Wise of Portland lectured in the United
Presbyterian church at ehedd Tuesday
evening, December 1, on "The Wandering-
Jew," to a large and appreciative
audience. This was the first in a course
of lectures to be given this winter ar
ranged by Rev. HT C. Marshall. -Dastor
of the United Presbyterian church. The
next lecture win ue given fr state
Labor Commissioner Hoff, December 28,
on "The Church and Laboring Men, Past
Present and Future."
Rev. H. C. Marshall, castor of the
United Presbyterian church, will preach
next eaoDatu, uecemoer n, in tne f irst
Presbyterian church, Corvallis, In the
absence 'of the pastor. Rev. J. R. N, Bell,
D. D.
Xelll to Be Reappointed.
(United Press Leased Wtrsj
Washington, Dec 8. President Roose
velt bas Informed Labor Commissioner
Neill that he will reappoint him.
By painting c wheel rim with a paste
composed of shellac and finely pow
dered flake graphite, the evil effects of
ruse win d mucn lessened.
CURED OF RUPTURE
C IS. Feretunn. mtft Normal An nhtwiM
Writes: 'I wantto oa.v a word in win Tmnw9i
the benefit ot the Buptured. I waa ruptured fot
SO years and found no help untn I used Pr. Riee'a
iraiunHH ana men I was completely oured.
Tlffim infl nnnnttATl us, na(n a dmitM a mm
kind and Ton do not lose a single day from your 1
iJZLlAV
rwims my ladrferi around as a painter must, but
a made do dulerenee. the-cure took nlaoa lust
Uh. - ." "
Dr. Rice wffl send a free trial of his Wderfol
Rupture Cure If yon write him. Dont semi any
sioney. JustfUl out the coupon below and send
It t Dr.W. & Rioe.81 Main st,Adems.W.T.
COUPON
' Please tenia, free trial of your method, to I
Addeess.
1
JUnaLLLJ lUl
Friday antl Saturday we will
put our stock ot imported and
domestic woolens on sale at
your mercy. We must keep
our working capacity going
in full blast. Suits and Over
coats we sold for $40 to. $60,
made to order, will be put on
sale at the following prices
for two days only. We posi
tively will not sell over 100 at
these prices, as our shops
know nothing but first class
work. You can readily see
we cannot afford many at
these prices. Blue Serges,
west of England make; Black
cloth in Worsteds and Broad
clothsold from $45 to $55, on
sale for
MADE '"TO ORDER
All fancy Worsteds and
Tweeds, sold from, $40 to $50
a Suit or Overcoat, on
sale two days for
SI
MADE TO ORDER
Now remember we'll make
all these garments first class,
use A-No.-l work and trim
mings. You will never get a
chance like this to get a first
class garment for such a low
price again. Come early and
select the best.
mm Mi 6m
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