The Washington herald., 1911-05-13
PLAYGROUND BODY
CHANGES ITS NAME

/ and Recreation Association of America.
This was the unanimous decision OF last
nights meeting Of the Playground AS.
sociation, and the necessary amendment
| to the constitution Of the organization
was carried
1t was explained by President Joseph
Lee and Treasurer Gustavus T Kirby
| that there was method in this change OF
name. The scope Of the work of the
organization had broadened. There had
| come upon the organization changes OF
one kind or another all along the lines
of increased efficiency which warranted
the broadening of the name as well
as of the activities OF the association.
The evening session was the most in
teresting OF the series. The programme
included addresses by President Lee and
Treasurer Kirby, and after that Seumas
Macmanus held the attention of crowd,
which filled the big red parlor of the New
Willard, until long past the ordinary hour
of adjournment.
Mr.. Macmanus recited his own story of
the Tinker of Tamlacht." Spellbound at
the musical brogue OF the famous Irish
writer, the audience listened to the tale
of the kind-hearted Tinker who for 700
years had outwitted Death at every
turn.
The brogue Of Suernas Macmanus is
worth going miles to hear. His is not
the Hiberian accent Of the streets or Of
the vaudeville stage. It Is every bit as
thick and every bit as broad, but there
is difference, an indefinable something
which separates II from the ordinary
run of Irish idiom. Mr.. Macmanus was
applauded for his story with a vigor and
vim that must have been altogether sat-
isfying. but the applause for Mr.. Mac
manus' accent came spontaneously. His
audience was hearing something new.
Mr.. Lees subject was Play as an
anecdote for ccivilization." In part, he
said:
The trouble with civilization is that
it is going one way, while human nature
needs to go another. Mans native in
stincts are still pointing as they always
have, but civilization has sidestepped,
leaving many Of our powers hanging
useless in the air.
THE great civilizations have been those
founded on the essential elements of
play or those In which some of the great
constituent human instincts still found
expression. The age Of chivalry was one
in which men could be developed be-
cause it idealized, at least, for the favored
few, the two great instincts Of fighting
and making love. The most successful
Of the civic or bourgeois civilizations
was that of ancient Greece"
Mr.. Kirby followed with short talk
on the Recreation movement, its posi-
bilities and limitations
DR.. E. B. De Groot told the board Of d.
rectors of the association that Chicago
was anxious to entertain an international
playground congress.
Furthermore" said DR.. De Groot,
Chicago is willing to bear all the ex-
pense of the congress. We will pay the
nf x,isff n
have people with US who can tell US Of
the growth and development Of the move
ment for systematized recreation in all
parts of Europe and in Japan and other
Oriental countries. We promise q sue
cess
Following the addresses the association
held its annual election. The old officers
were reelected by a unanimous vote.
Sixteen members of the board of directors
were chosen. The following is the new
slate:
Honorary president. Theodore Roose-
welt; president, Joseph Lee; first vice
president, Harold F. Mccormick; second
vice presidents. Mrs. Lowell White and
William D. Kent: third vice president,
Robert Garrett; treasurer. Gustavus T.
Kirby. Directors-Mrs. Caroline B. Alex
ander Hoboken, N. J.; Mrs. Samuel A.
Ammon, Pittsburg, Pa; Otto T. Barnard,
New York City; Mrs. Emmons Blaine,
Chicago. ILL.,; Thomas F. Cooke. Buffalo.
N. Y; George w. Ehler, Madison, Wis;
Lee F. Hammer, New York City; George
E., Johnson. Pittsburg, Pa: Representa-
tive William D. Kent, Kentfield. Cal;
Joseph Lee. Boston. Mass; T. s. Lippy,
Seattle, Wash; Joseph E. Raycroft, Chi
cago. ILL.,; Myron T. Scudder, New Bruins
wick. N. j.; Seth T. Stewart. Brooklyn.
n. Y; John Wanamaker, Philadelphia,
Pa; Edward ]. Ward, Madison, Wis.