Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-18
HUMAN BETTERMENT
WORK OF MONDAY EVENING CLUB
ON THIS LINE.
Organization Created With Start of
City Gardens Association
Its Work.

that are seeking to bring about the better
ment of humanity none is more jealous, 1T
is conceded than the Monday Evening Club,
which is composed of social workers gotten
together for various objects of civic bet
terment, and one of its best accomplish
ments is said to be the fact that the club
started the City Gardens Association. AT
a meeting of the club held last night at
the home of it's president, Mrs. c. d. Mer-
win. 1916 Vermont avenue. the club inau-
gurated a campaign in the interest of the
city playground movement, which is now
being carried forward with vigor.
During the general discuss on of the play
ground proposition last night a unanimity
of purpose was developed on the part or
the influential women present to make "a
long pull. strong pull and pull all to-
gether" in the movement for the estab-
lishment of adequate Fairgrounds through
out the District.
DIR. Henry s. Curtis. who is taking a
leading part in the playground movement,
addressed the club. He sad neat feature
of Washington is its park system. There
are. he said. AGO parks. improved and I'M
improved. in this city These tend to make
the capital beautiful and picturesque, and
every visitor who comes here compliments
the municipality on its parks.
But said DR.. Curtis. 1.-The parks OF
Washington do not stand for the same
thing as in other cities. There are hne
parks in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia.
New York and other places. and some of
them are employed wholly or in part as
tennis courts, base ball grounds and for
other sports during the warm season and
for skating ponds in winter.
Washington, with the exception of the
ellipse. has nothing devoted to sports. The
parks in other cities are intended for use
and their value is estimated by the num-
Der of persons that use them. The parks
of Washington are principally intended for
ornamental purposes.
A Unique Feature.
"a unique feature of the parks of this
city" continued Dr. Curtis. lis that they
are largely intended for the uses that are
made of them for grown persons and not
for children. AS children have more time
than grown persons a children's park or
playground stands for a great deal more to
them than a park for grown people does.
The latter means recreation, while the park
or playground for children stands for health,
exercise, fresh air and the formation of
habits"
DR.. Curtis said Washington has one acre
OF park to every one hundred inhabitants.
but it has not a single acre of playground
for it's 10000 school children. To use the
child as well as the grown folks it should
have at least 400 acres of Fairgrounds. In
1907 Mr.. Brown, landscape artist for the
park commission, advocated a comprehen-
sive playground system for Washington,
but it came to naught.
Dr. Curtis said Fairgrounds should be es-
tabliShed in the denSely populated districts
of the city well as in the remote seq
tons. Parks in the outlying portions of the
city would do well as athletic fields for the
larger children, but the Fairgrounds for
the smaller children must be in the denseIv
populated sections.
crown people do not get in mischief when
at work, ana the same rule applies to chill
dren at play Generally in their hours of
leisure people either improve their morale
or gain recreation or else get into mis-
chler. IN Verification of the homelv old
adage that Satan finds mischief for idle
n mar 10 DO A good example of this is
i ,ne olilerence between the parks of Eng
i ian ana those of Germany. In England
the life and activity centers about tba III
it neIds. In Germany they center about
the beer gardens
Expectation Of Promoters.
Dr. Curtis spoke of the expectations ~
'he promoters of the local Fairgrounds in
regard to the public schools. The law in
LONDON Is that there shall be thirty snuara
Ieet or playground to every child Attend
ing school There in the most denselv non
mated parts they have even FORTY souare
feet In Munich. Germany, the re0uire.
ment is twenty-five square feet The IAN
anese in Tokyo and Other large cities re
qulre thirty-six square feet per child
If the press and public sentiment will
stand behind this movement for hettar
chiidhood and more hardy marrlood the re-
suit Will be that no school house will no
built in the future without ADEQUATE nIav-
grounds, and there ought to be some fixed
minimum playground space per pupil
which every new school should he reoi,ira5
to build up to-" f--o w
superintendent Stuart of the publjc
schools is said to be heartily in favor of
the movement and is doing everything he
can to provide the school children with as
good facilities for play as is possible nm
der present circumstances
DR.. Curtis also called attention to the
many vacant lots about Washington which
are Uttered with old tin cans brickbats
and other debris. which he said could be
temporarily arranged with Fairgrounds.
and which if only used a short while
would accomplish great good 1t is pro-
posed during the coming season to raise
more money to pay workers in improving
such open spaces.
1t is also planned to open al least ten of
the public school Fairgrounds during the
vacation period, and If possible to have
one Kindergarten in some of the play
places and two in others.
AT the conclusion of DIR. Curtis remarks
Mr. Wallace Hatch of the Associated Char
tiles reviewed the Fairgrounds work of
last year, when he was secretary of the
Fairgrounds committee. Then followed
a general discussion by members of the
club for an hour on the various phases of
the work.
The announcement was made that at a
meeting of the board of education Wednes-
day afternoon, to which all the white
teachers in the District have been invited,
the matter would be further discussed
and perhaps tentative plans agreed upon
At this meeting DIR. Henry S. Curtis will
deliver an address on The Plain Forma-
ton of Character"
DIR. Curtis will deliver a lecture on the
subject of Fairgrounds at the Central High
School tomorrow afternoon al 3 O'Clock
He will speak briefly of the Fairgrounds
in New York, Chicago. Boston
ST. Louis and other cities and will outline
the proposed work for Washington. The
meeting is open TO the public and 1t is
hoped by the promoters that many volun-
teers NAV be secured as helpers in the sum-