Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-06


only night before last had young
fellow, an italian, come in to keep his |
appointment after fifteen hours of labor
on the section. He came without supper |
and listened eagerly to an explanation
Of our American form of government.
Il ask you. are men hike this worthy
OF all the help we can give them?"
Wilbur David Cook, landscape archi- |
tect, formerly OF Boston but now Of Los
Angeles, spoke on the playground subject,
using stereopticon to illustrate his
points.
Municipal Fairgrounds
'It affords me great pleasure to speak
to you today on the subject of munici-
pal Fairgrounds" said Mr. Cook, and
also to say word for our own play
ground commission, who are doing good
work along these lines in this c--y.
Mr. Gordon has shown the urgent need
of such features in our community and
speaks from personal experience and l
feel that you will appreciate the value
of the work he is doing.
II wish to show you the type OF play
ground adopted by the Chicago South
park commission to meet these needs. In
1904 this commission authorized Olmsted
Brothers of Brookline to prepare plans
for fourteen Fairgrounds OF this type. |
had the honor of being associated with
assist In the designing of them. So l
know that you will not feel that I am
springing theoretical experiment upon
you.
I'm design they embody the results of
our experience In the Charlesbank gym
nasium of Boston, one of the earliest
Fairgrounds of this character and which
was built in 1892.
Separate the Sexes
1--WE found that in order to secure the
yes, results in a playground of this type
that it was absolutely necessary to sep
arate the sexes in certain portions Of the
playground, and to make still fur..er
separation between the big boys and girls
or account of the rougher games indulged
in b. the fromer and also on account
of the difference in character Of the
apparatus used by each.
1--WE also found that 1t was necessary
to provide a common meeting, both In
doors and out.
Separation of the sexes called for
duplication Of the apparatus used and
for a repetition Of certain of the play
grourd features which led to formal
treatment as solving the problem to the
best advantage.
There were certain features, however
like the swimming pools, which were too
expensive to duplicate nor was 1t neces-
sary; by alternating their days OF usuage
we overcame this difficulty.
1T will not impose upon your good ma
ture to the extent of showing you the
entire fourteen Fairgrounds, because in
showing you one you will have seen
them all.
Average Ten Acres
'.It is enough to say that they aver
II H. and
each one possessed an administration
building or field house. AS these houses
had to meet the same demands, they
were pretty much all alike.
"Tae central portion of each building
on the lower floor was occupied by a
refectory to the right and left are the
men and women's reception rooms, while
Just overhead are to be found their re-
spective indoor gymnasiums for use in
irclement weather
ITO reach the outdoor gymnasuims one
was compelled to pass through these
rooms out onto bridge spanning the
running tracks. These running tracks, by
the way, stand close second in popular
ity to the swimming pools.
1.-THE general assemblage halls occupy
the central portion of the second floor
of these buildings.
st want to say, however, that there
is but one feature that we cannot dupli-
cate here. namely the sunken central
playground for ice skating.
Owens River Water
''The one feature that is sadly missed
in your Fairgrounds is the water feature,
the swimming pool and the wading pool.
We will have them, though, when we
have the Owens river water, perhaps be-
fore If Mr.. Dwight's plan goes through
"I would like to see you adopt in your
Fairgrounds, both in your architectural
features and your planting, something
which will be typlcally Southern Califor-
nian, say a combination of the Spanish
mission, with palm setting. so that in
retaining all the best features of the
eastern Fairgrounds we could go them
one better and give them something they
could not duplicate. We have the oppor-
tunity, shall we take advantage of 1t?
"Just word now relative to the ply
sical advantages of these Fairgrounds.
Physical Advantages
"An investigation recently undertaken
in New York by the Metropolitan Park
company showed that the death rate for
children in the block bordering on Seward
park was 145, as against 2O7 for the
back blocks which did not enjoy the
pure air and sunshine of their more
favored neighbors. This Investigation
W
smaI Fairgrounds in crowded districts are
Rife saving institutions to the people
living near them.
ga report made to the city of St. Louis
three years ago based upon the state
ments of the police captain shows that
the districts in which Fairgrounds were
situated there was a very marked de-
crease, so per cent in Juvenile crime.
Looking at this statement in the light
of the testimony of the president of the
St. Louis board of police commissioners
.efore the legislature of 1902 That
great majority, probably 80 per cent OF
the habitual criminals, are persons who
have committed their first crimes while
children under the age of 16 years
1.-THE tremendous value o. the parks
and Fairgrounds merely as a preventive
/; gency in minor Juvenile crime becomes
obvious"
Or. Gibbons Praises Nurses
DR.. Sherwin Gibbons, also recently
from Boston. spoke of the excellent work
of the district nurses in Los Angeles and
expressed hope that when municipal pow
erty was less pressing that the city
-.,o,,id f,rpteb dracciner and clinic rooms