The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-19

Q recent evening there sat down to dine together in a weil-known hotel in this city party whose 25O members includ- ed clergymen. lawyers, bar-tenderss college professors, professors of the manly art" clerks. school teachers. athletes, politicians--in fact. repre- sentatiyes of nearly all the trades and professions. Many of these men had never before met with their clothes on. having first made each others ac- quaintance in attire as unconventional as that of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
 The dinner was given in honor of Superintendent Charlie" Cox. of the L. Street public bath. and was re-
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 IL. ---. a-zrs-- Es markabIe tribute to the continued pop-9 ularity of the first municipal bath es- tablished in this country. The dinner was stiT1 more remarkable as proof of the degree to which this form of municipal ownership is entered into by all sorts and conditions of Bostonians. Concerning municipal ownership, as applied to any active business interests. little Is heard in Boston. At the last city election the candidates who ran for mayor on this issue. then so much in evidence in New York and Chicago. might as well have delivered his speeches in the wilderness. They att tracted practically no attention what ever. yet Boston is a pioneer in that form of municipal ownership which tends to promote the health, pleasure and recreation of its people.
 It would be safe to say that no other maA a. Al l<xnn xxnls Ae.r the direct personal benefit of it's citi- zens. The legend Free for alP' on the Public Library-a building, by the way, built by the people for their own use instead of being given to them by
 individual philanthropy-mig be taken as a municipal motto so far as concerns the important items of parks, baths. gymnasia, libraries and music
 Other cities are doing much in the same direction but Boston still remains the leading exponent of what has been we'll described as municipal socialism. limited, as contrasted with municipal socialism, un1imited--the kind of nfu- nicipal ownership which seeks to em-
 bark a city on all kinds of enterprise usually conducted under private own ership.
 While the kind of municipal enter prise adopted in Boston yields no di-
 
 as highly profitable because of the bet
 ter health and greater content of the people-which is no mean municipal asset-and In the consequent decrease in the cost of operating hospitals, courts and reformatory institutions. Tho development of the public baths and gymnasia. for example, has been followed by decrease in the numper of Juvenile arrests. The summer att tendance at tho best known of the baths counts up to nearly 100000 bathers, and. the total attendance of all of them now reaches a yearly figure of nearly 100000 Some of the baths are open during the whole year. while others situated on the water front or along the rivers are used only during the summer. There are hardly Bosto- waters of the Bay when, during the winter months. cakes of ice are tossed by the waves.
 Many of lhe baths are provided with gymnasium. facilities and. day after day, are tIlronged with alternate class es of men and women of all ages, work ing under the supervision of trained physical directors Free swimming iessons, free gymnastic lessons and free medical advice are part of the system and the gymnasia are naturally centres for crusades against unhygi- enic principles in general and in par tfcular against such specific dangers fin a great modern city as tuberculosis or other diseases arising from necessar- ily crowded conditions. Athletic com petition or anything savoring of pro- fessionalism is discouraged In favor or normal, healthy development. More than that, the baths are truly democrat ic. They appeal not to a single class but to all classes and the people who
 patronize them come from all parts of the city.
 In its endeavor to promote the health and happiness of It's people the city has added to its park system until if is one of the most extensive in the world. From meagre 46 acres, in 1869 1t has grown until 1t includes to- day about 2,354 acres. These parks, managed by the city for the use or its citizens, are closely connected with the Q 900 and more acres of parks and res- ervation linked together by about sev- enteen miles of parkways and managed by a metropolitan park commission acting in behalf of the people Tn .ne immediately surrounding communities. The fame of the parks Is worldwide among persons interested in the im- provement of cities and the betterment of daily living under the stress or mod ern congestion of population. Few outsiders and, for that matter, not all Bostonians know how fully the mark system enters into the life of the people. The splendid outlying sec tions such as the once marshy and un- healthful Back Bay Fens. heautitied by frederick Law Olmsted, are often enough visited but such open spaces as the great North End playground, to take a single noteworthy example, are tnfreduently noticed. Yet one Of the most interesting phases of the develop
 ment of the park system is the avail ability of these pleasure grounds There is no part of modern Boston In which some part of the system may not be reached by a few minutes walk. Like the baths and gymnasia, the parks are literally maintained by all the people, rich and poor alike, for all the people Going a step further the city main tafns a municipal band of forty-six pieces. concerts are held in the open air in summer, sometimes by the full band and at others by two bands oi twenty-three pieces each this being about the usual size of the typical band Tn winter a similar series of concerts is given by the municipal orchestra in school houses and halls Inaugurateo some eight years ago as an experiment | the importance of this munlcipal mu' sic has steadily increased. Last year | for example, there were thirty six | summer and twenty-four winter con certs at total cost of something more
 than s15,00d.
 | The municipal band does not neces
 sarily play in ragtime or repeat th' l strains of the latest so-called musica I nf al Q