Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-02

Cat. 1t beats golf and other grown-up
games all hollow
The judge undoubtedly voices the senti-
ment of most men in New York whose
birthplace the city is, or who spent their
boyhood days somewhere on the little Is
land of Manhattan.
A Frenzied Game of Keeps.
In New York, elsewhere, the first
breath of approaching spring brings out
the devotees of the marble by the thou
sands But no longer Is the game played
as in the days when you and 1 wera boys
with a ring, and a row of marbles in IT
and two lines from which to project your
taw. Here Is the modern game Of keeps, as
I saw 1t played by group of boys who.
eharuaingly oblivious OF the rights of wheel
ed traffic, had squatted themselves in the
center of an uptown residence street.
A boy placed a moon agate on the as
phalt, retired to distance of about six
feet, sat down facing the agate, spread his
legs wide apart, and, with the tips of his
fingers touching the street. formed his
boys, six in number, drew off back of a
chalk line scratched on the asphalt about
fifteen feet from the agate and In front
OF the seated boy. From this line each boy
took turns In shooting three marbles at
the agate. Every shot missed, and as
the marbles rolled past the lone agate
the owner dexterously scooped them up.
When he scrambled to his feet they were
in his pocket. They were his. All the mar
bles that miss the mark become the prop
erty of the boy putting up an agate to be
shot at Truly this form of the game of
keeps" Is comparable to the frenzied
financial transactions that have caused the
world to be greatly amazed the past year
or two. For excitement the old style Of
keeps" sinks into utter insignifcance be-
side the new.
Just as the boys are given to pre-emptIng
the center Of the street for their fun so
their sisters. as a rule. are to be found
fringed along the sides of the thorough
fares. There the danger is less, of course
and little girls are not SO venturesome as
boys. Then, too. seated on the curbstone
and with ones feet In the gutter. the side
walk becomes fine place for pursuing
fleeting pleasure with the innocent game
of iackstones. And it's splendid surface
wherein to make the chalk hieroglyphics
of certain games. And. once again. the
gutter Is good place to put the baby,
strapped In his go-cart. He can be watched
easily. There is no danger of his being
IN the way OF pedestrians. And who ever
heard of a driver running into a group of
little girls playing at a streets edge?
Sewing Parties of the Streets.
Heaven bless the men who like to adj
vertise by adjoining dead walls with pos
tiers telling OF their wares virtues! There
is no game the little girl of the East Side
likes better than TO try to piece together
poster that she has patiently torn, bit
by bit, from a wall. Groups of girls strug-
gle with this problem for over an hour.
not giving 1t up until they had the solu-
ton. And as they reconstructed the fiaring
picture. piece by piece, traffic thoughtfully
lodged the space of asphalt street they
were using in lieu of a table.
Probably nowhere else In the world can
so many children's sewing parties be seen
as in the streets of the East Side on a fine
summers day. Little groups-cool look
ing in spite Of the hot surroandngs-line
the sidewalks close to- the building line.
Here seated on beer box and a. chair in
front of a besr saloon are four girls. One
is busily engaged on bit OF fancy work !;
and for one so young the result promises
young lady would say. Another is fashion
ing q dolls dress out of a strip of faded
calico The others are sewing bright
coiored squares together--making doll bed
quilts, In all likelihood.
On closed basement doors; within the
rallied spaces In front of houses blocking
stoops-wherever seats are to be obtained,
there arc sewing parties, and frequently
a party's attention Is taken from the work
In hand by member driving franticaIly
after a toddiing baby brother or sister,
ambitious to explore the world lying be-
You'd arms reach OF its little mother. A
parties and the occasional rnake-belieye
tea parties should be sufficient time to
convince one that no matter how forbid
ding tenement may be In appearance,
happiness is sure TO be found therein II
only children caiiit their home. And where
is the tenement that Is not overrun with
boys and girls?
a City of Street Rompers.
child life in New York Is like an open
book Child life in New York. even in
the sections where the strain Of life is
hardest to bear IS almost wholly play.
He who walks through the streets Of the
city has only to look beyond his nose to
see the children playing all about him.
Exclusive OF the high schools there are
about 275,000 pupils in the public schools
of Manhattan. These boys and girls will
be free In few weeks to romp all day
long In the streets of New York, Playing
with them will be their brothers and sis
tiers not quite old enough TO go to school,
yet too old to be kept out OF the fun with
the crushing rebuke that they are babies
Can't yoa always hear the shrieks Of
laughter rising heaveuward from and
above the mighty roar OF the great city
kaleidoscopic tfaficf