Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-07
PUBLIC FAIRGROUNDS
LECTURE LAST NIGHT BY DR..
HENRY S. CURTIS.

A lecture on public Fairgrounds was de-
livered last evening at Metzerott Hall by
DIR. Henry S. Curtis, supervisor of public
Fairgrounds of New York. The audience
was composed of delegates from various
women's clubs of this city. DR.. Curtis was
introduced by Mrs. Ellen Spencer Mussey.
1.-The spirit of the age is the spirit of
SERVICE" said DR.. Curtis. TT was only
twenty years ago that the first settlement
was founded. The institutional church is
still younger. On every side are springing
up hospitals and asylums and other institu-
tons of the poor and dependent in the
community. Every trade and profession is
developing a side of social service. The
doctors with whom l am the most familiar
give nearly as much of their time in the
free treatment of the poor patients as they
do in the treatment of patinetS for whom
they are paid The lawyers are developing
the legal aid bureau, through which they
give free advice to those who are unable to
pay lawyer. Many of our great manufac-
turers are now maintaining social secre-
taries to work among and improve the con-
dition of their laborers. A fine example of
work of this kind Is the work of a cash
register company of Dayton, Ohio 1t not
only maintains social secretaries, but fur
nshes free entertainments, and SO organ
ICES a social life among its employees that
the best social conditions may be obtained.
1t provides play grounds and free gardens
d
gardener to teach them the work. 1t has
department which is devoted to the extern
sion of this work to other manufacturers,
and will send a demonstration with a series
of magic lantern slides to give a talk and
explain the work to any manufacturer who
wishes to undertake a similar service to his
employees.
Scene That is Pathetic
During the school year, when the chill
dren's time is occupied largely with the
studies the city is not such terrible place
for the child, but the work of children has
disappeared in the last generation, and
when the schools close there is nothing for
them to do, and unless the Fairgrounds
are opened there will be no fit places to
which they can go. You know the condi-
tons here better than / do, but the sight
of a New York street in summer is pa
thetic. Hundreds of children seeking to play
on crowded thoroughfare and constantly
lodging cops and carriages or sitting in
make one of the saddest pictures of city
life. When the Fairgrounds were opened
children would not play, and when we
sought the reason we found that they
knew very few of the old racial games
which every child is supposed to know. Inc
child who goes through it without learning
to play the great games under which the
race has developed misses half his child
hood. The child can run much faster in
playing than he could on an errand for
you. He will expend three times the energy
in playing games that it would be possible
for him to expend IN work without ex-
haustion. There is no other stimulus which
can arouse brain of a stupid child or
awaken the greatest activity in another as
play. We cannot take all the children to
the country, but we can provide them with
Fairgrounds. We can give them good
time in the city.