The Portland daily press., 1900-06-30
PUBLIC PLAYGROUND IN SMALL
CITIES.

from The Christian Register.)
The public playground has coma TO
stay. or. At least, TO stay until such time
as more efficient substitute for 10 can be
found. The arguments for IL ars as old
and as permanent as the fact Of child-life
In the slums. The oft-repeated statement
| that the greatest menace TO our municipal
and national governments lies in the
swift increase Of the foreign population
Of the lower Glasses needs no enlarge
ment. We all know that, under our ex-
listing laws for Immigration and natural
ization, the country Is draining some Of
the worst dregs OF European life. The
parents are less easily reached, far less
easily influenced. The greatest hope for
civic sanitation lies In the children.
The child OF the tenements rarely strays
far beyond the limits Of his own ward.
Parks and public swimming baths may
be open; hut, unless they be near at
hand, Tony and Sollie and Patsy do not
visit them. The desire to explore new
territory, to see and do unfamiliar sights
and deeds, is q sure sign Of social evoiu-
ton. Instead OF that, during the two
months OF summer when school 10 not
and discipline has ceased, the children
spend their days In sitting Idle on the
curbstone or In the doorway, rousing
themselves now and then for childish
suuabbie or a feeble burst Of merriment,
| then settling back into passive existence,
rs Inactive as little sponges and quite ~
absorptive. They rarely play; they have
no notion how to begin n game. Their
sole idea Of sport lies In pushing and jost-
| ling each other, In the excitement OF pet
ty thieving, or In searching the garb-
age piles for some treasure-trove. Two
months Of home discipline usually I'M
worthy of the name, two months Of idle
ness and OF absorbing the evil sights and
sounds about them, can go far to undo
the tsn months OF school discipline and
training Sisyphus found his stone hard
to roll up hill; the teachers Of the public
school, just ut this season, will tell you
the same story in regard to Sollie's soul.
They work faithfully throughout the
winter, only to see their work undone by
the needless waste Of the summer months
those months when even the best of us
| feels his moral tissues becoming some-
what flabby.
| Needless wastef Yes, needless, while
in every tenement district the cool, airy
yards of the public schools are lying
locked and deserted, while people are
| p. nding on worthless luxuries money
that would keep child in Wholesome
surroundings during the eight weeks OF
summer. 1t has been proved beyond
question that ~ Will more than pay the
expense Of each child in the Fairgrounds
during the entire season.
| And, If 1t is ony play, what Is the use
| Of its just this; that this child Is kept
| eafe and content, during five or six hours
- day. on clean soil, IN pure air, and un
der re ming influences; that, OF the hours
spent at home the morning finds him
busy with eager PREPARATION, with pa
thet,c attempts to make the best OF
torn frock and tousied head. The
syening brings him back so tired from
healthy play that hi3 mind is full; he is
incapable Of giving any but the most
listless heed 70 the physical and mental
| Fqualor about him.
| Up to this point the larger cities have
aiken us; they have been pioneers in Or
uanizing and establishing work which
Is bound TO grow, and become a perna-
nent factor for good. In the East Side
| Wv York for instance, where the
children swarm like the flies OF Sconset,
| D. up, s-lpls 10 go beyond this point.
In the smaller cities, however, numbers
are less, the conditions simpler, and the
work becomes more personal. The TX
| and .'Yi of the equation turn to "a
md ''B.i'
| In these Latter days, few cities of over
| evenly thousand are without their tene-
ment distIicts. In few tenement dis
tricts is chlld-life much more than toler-
1 a IN tx.,x.
ence has hown that few boards of educa-
| ton wilyrefuse the use Of school yards,
| and oftsh the kindergarten room is also
| ffered:f that few communities will
| grudge the 500 needed for each yard to
raw for'the two or three trained kinder
rartners and the slight services OF the
| janitor; that interested friends will fill
the sand-bin and supply the toys and
| picture books and sewing materials;
while cut flowers, the browning joy of
he children, will flow in from ANY and
every source.
One of the prettiest sights of the sum-
ner was the distribution Of flowers with
which, whenever IL was practicable, we
ended our session. At nine and at two
each day the gates were unlocked; and
hey were left Hospitality ajar until
eleven and four, when they were closed
for an hour. The reason for this was
two-fold. 1t made it's possible to count
lHt III tity ttib thp shAaf aht
the orderly forming In line and marching
out made them realize that there must
be discipline, even in ruling their play.
After the line was formed and before the
yates were unlocked was the time for
giving out the flowers; and the children
wo I'D wait patiently on the chance OF
single sweet pea or nasturtium Or
most coveted of ALA spray Of feathery
goiden-rod. 1t was possible to see-and,
alasl too often to ''swipe,h as their ver
nacular hath it-swcet peas and nastur-
tiums from city lawns. The golden.rod
brought greeting from .'the real coun-
try'f-the Mecca of the tenement-child.
We never tired of watching the kin
derg artners, with their bright faces and
flower laden hands, going up and down
among the eager children: Often We
took our turn with them. But woe be
unto us If we gave Rosie two blossoms
ana a bud and Rachael two blossoms and
q leaf Strict impartiality was the rule