Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-02-13
WOMEN ON THE COMMISSION.

One Of the most interesting doeu-
ments that has been received by the
EVENING NEWS in a long time, is
the first annual report of the Board of
Playground Commissioners in Camden,
N. J. This report tells of the ex-
%eelIent work that is being done In the
metropolis of South Jersey. The sta
t~istics given show that during the sea-
son Of 1909 there were 67,441 children
who went to Fairgrounds. By a sea-
son Is meant the summer vacation,
when there Is no school. During this
time there were 1885 coaches on the
grounds and 1921 parents and other
adults visited these recreation centers
to see the children at play.
Camden has one large playground
located at Pyne Poynt Park. Then, In
order to accommodate the smaller chill
dren In the various sections of the city
four school yards were equipped, as
well as their cramped conditions would
permit, which also did good service.
1t is interesting to note some of the
statements In the report of the super
visor In Camden. This work was in
charge of Miss A. r. Mowbray. cit
was remarkable she says, "to find
how little the children knew how to.
play. 1t was necessary to teach them.
All games taught were conducted ac-
cording to program, each and every one
with an aim, (the general uplift of the
child), courtesy, politeness, manners,
etc.
Again she says "The great value of
Fairgrounds is not known to the aver
age citizen. We aim in our "play''
to give the child bodily and mental
training. The bad habits of the use
Of tobacco, profanity, selishness and
dishonesty all come before our notice.
We try to overcome these evils.
AT the big playground at Pyne Poynt
much difficulty was experienced at first
because the field was NOT fenced in and
the place seemed to be q rendezvous
for young toughs who had established
themselves there long before the play
ground. The aim of the playground
however, was to reform, and while
those who were inclined to be bad were
not driven away from the fields, they |
were compelled to comply with play
ground rules. SIN a short time,' says
Miss Mowbray, 'fyou could readily see
interest growing In our work. When
he closing exercises were held on this
field they were the first to give a help
-ng hand.n
The report gives an interesting de
seription Of the field day exercises, held
at the close of the season. The children |
the various local playgrounds
at the Court House Square, |.
ii Camden, headed by q band, they
marched to Pyne Poynt Park, where
each ground presented drills, folk dan
,es, kindergarten games, races and ath
Ietic sports.
The attendance throughout the season
was excellent, showing the work suf
fieiently attractive to interest the chill
On investigation it was found
that as a rule when children were alb
sent it was due to work. Few children
were away through pleasure.
The playground population was
largely cosmopolitan in character, in
Guiding representatives from all Europ-
can countries. Not the least important
feature in connection with the work is
the statement that s'the health of the
children was excellent and we were OK
eeptionally fortunate in our freedom
from any serious accidents. The break
age was done after playground hours.
Not one case of damage done malie-
iously was reported.
But the point in connection
with this annual report Of the Camden
Playground Commission, which we wish
to bring out at this time, is the fact
that two Of the Ave members of the
commission were women The report
gives the state laws applying to play
grounds, including the law of 1907, and
the amendments passed in 1908 and
1909, as well as the supplement also
passed in 1909. These laws are the
same as those under which Perth AM
49, - - hoxa n p1oSunravnd ann.u,tssto,