Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-15

ing 977. 315, which is a very bad showing.
The archaeological examination of the
by the Department of Agriculture, shows
that but 10 out of A samples OF the
water contained less than 500 germs per &C.
and 10 of the A samples showed the pres
ence in rather large numbers of bacillus
coli. The report signed by Secretary Will
son states the meteorological results Of
our incomplete survey are suggestive OF the
possibility of similar fnsanitary conditions
obtaining at most of the dairy farms sup
plying the District of Columbia -
Fairgrounds and Housing Problem.
|, Mr.. G. A. Weber of the municipal de-
partment presented carefully prepared
paper devoted mainly to two topics. the
Fairgrounds and the housing problem in
Washington. He said. In part:
1.-THE playground movement is a new
one in Washington. 1t started six years
ago in the back yard of the neighborhood
house in southwest Washington. Four
years ago it took the form Of an organized
all that was accomplished then was done
by private effort Two years ago the
Commissioners took hand in the move
ment and an appropriation of $500 was
obtained to supplement the private SUBJ
scriptions for the maintenance Of the play
grounds. Last year an effort was made to
secure an appropriation for playground
house where children could gather for
the summer time. This proposition was
rejected by Congress, but an increased ap-
preparation was secured, namely $11,5O0.
During this time the number of play
grounds increased from the one at the
Neighborhood House in 1901 to twenty
Fairgrounds in operation last summer In
the beginning the Fairgrounds were con-
Quoted without paid supervision. while in
1905 there were a supervisor and fifty-four
teachers to look after the Fairgrounds.
OF the Fairgrounds in operation last sum-
mer thirteen were for white children, and
school Fairgrounds and nine were outdoor
Fairgrounds.
ut seemed clear to the members of the
become permanent 1t would be necessary
for the government to purchase the
requisite sites. 1t was. of course, recog-
nized that Congress would be unwilling to
appropriate sufficient amount of money
to purchase at once all the sites that were
needed, nevertheless it was deemed adj
visable to prepare comprehensive plan for
the location of playground sites for
the whole city. special committee was
appointed to draw up the plan This COM
mittee in turn appointed thirteen surbcom-
mittees. one for each school district, each
having in it's membership one member of
the special committee. the supervisor of
the schools of the District an agent of
the Associated Charities and one or more
citizens Of the school district.
Scope Of the Plans.
Gas the idea Of the committee was not
to prepare plans for the present only, but
for the future as we'll, it made ali effort
to ascertain what the minimum number
of Fairgrounds would be that would ac-
commodate fair proportion of the chill
dren. After careful consideration it was
decided that the plan should provide for
the eventual purchase of at least thirteen
Fairgrounds. or one for each school dis
trict. In their proposed location due con-
ion, ho In ha Uix 10 ff,c 1txy
of the child population and the absence
Of play facilities such as large school yards
public parks and open spaces. As q result
of this careful investigation a recommen-
dalton was made. pointing out where, in
the opinion OF the committee, the play
grounds, in this proposed comprehensive
plan, should be located Three sites were
selected to be recommended for immediate
purchase. One of these Is in Georgetown
one in the northeast and the third, for
colored children, in Southwest Washington
To secure these sites the Commissioners
asked an appropriation Of 100000 This
amount was cut down to $4,000 in COM
mittee and the whole appropria ton WAS
then stricken out in the House. In the
Senate, however, an amendment Was re-
ton bill restoring the $4,000. This amend
ment passed the Senate yesterday and I
have the personal assurance of the member
Of the House who was responsible for Its
recent rejection that he will not oppose the
appropriation this time. We are therefore
hopeful that the appropriation will go
through. and, of course, Ii b the plan of
the Washington Fairgrounds Association
that the purchase Of these two or three