Norwich bulletin., 1911-11-07

| AL Ine I M. 1. A. DQllQlnE on A1OH- day evening the directors of the Nor wich Playground association held | meeting in which reports of the years work were heard. President John B. l Stanton presided. Not all the directors were able to be present. but there was | a representative attendance. The com plete list of directors includes Mrs. C, 1 l.. Hubbard, Mrs. C. D. Moves, Mrs. | John D. Hall, Mrs. Jane H. Cassidy. | Ii. A. Tirrell, Charles H. Haskell, John Mckinley, D. $. Haviland. with the fol- lowing officers; J. B. Stanton, presi- dent; Gilbert S. Raymond, first vice president; T. C. Murphy. second vice president; Arthur l.. Peale, secretary, and John M. Lee. treasurer. There was a complete report from the secretary on the work of the ex- ecutfve committee and Treasurer Lee reported the following financial show ing: Receipts. from memberships s153, life membership, Mrs. c. l.. Hubbard S25, sustaining membership, Grosvenor Ely s5, contributed. Mrs W. H. Shields s3, sale of paraphernalia S15.50. total S201.50, with $60 uncollected pledges. Total expenses, s226. As the full amount of the pledges will be collect ed. the associa tion will close the year with balance in the treasury.
 Supervisor EImer's Report.
 Supervisor I. E. Elmer gave his re- port for the year, a follows. indicating a satisfactory season and much eXperl- ence gained for the officers of the as-
 
 other year. The report follows:
 Owing to lack of funds, the associa- ton able to maintain only sand boxes and swings at it's grounds. Per mission was secured to use the follow ing places as playgrOunds, and appa- ratus as stated was put upon them:
 Boswell avenue school yard, Hobart avenue school yard, from the Central district, one lawn swing and one sand box each
 Lake street lot and Franklin street park, from the city of Norwich. For mer two sand boxes and one lawn swing; latter one lawn swing, one sand box, and one child swing from August first.
 Norwich Town Green. from town of Norwich, one sand box and one lawn swing.
 Pearl street and Mt. Pleasant street school yards, from West Chelsea school district; former one sand box, one lawn swing; latter one sand box and one lawn swing from Aug. 9.
 RopewaIk lot, two sand boxes, one swing.
 Little Round xSnd park. one sand box, one lawn swing.
 All sand boxes and lawn swings, ex cept above noted, were in place by July :, although owing to the pressure of other work John Woodmansee was unable to get the sand into some or the boxes until somewhat later This fact was, however, more than offset by the fact that Mir. Woodmansee gave the sand to the association as his share of support of the work Of the aSSocla- ticn. At the suggestion of one of the members of the executive committee, croquet set was furnished the Hobart avenue ground and experience proved the wisdom of the suggestion, as it was in almost continuous use.
 Siers on Grounds.
 A sign was placed at each of the grounds stating that it was public playground and was for the use of children under 10 years of age, linn itation of age being thought advisable ate trouble which might result be- tween older and younger children using the ground at the same time without direct supervision. which the association lacks funds to provide for each of the grounds
 Visits to Each Ground.
 Each ground was visited by me from two to three times per week. When children were found at the playground your supervisor spent some time show ing them what and how to play. In some cases. especially in the immI grant sections. the lack of knowledge of true play was scarcely belevable. One of the strongest convictions ! formed frcm my experience with such chil- dren is that some means must be taken to instruct them in proper games and to inculcate in them the spirit of fair play. for I found their play running to gambling, bullying and cheating. The result to the city and state of children growing into manhood and woman nhood with such play idealsl developing into work and business ideals is too obvi ous to need emphasizing here
 A. Public Necessity.
 It seems to me that we can find no stronger argument in support of the playground movement than the fact that it is not a charity but a p'fblic necessity. Every boy and every girl feels within himself at certain periods, varying in frequency with the indi- vidual the demand of nature for the expression of the play spirit. He is hemmed in by restrictions placed upon him hy older people for the public good or more often personal conven- fence of the inTposer. This pent up energy is too often expressed in acts of wantonness or vandalism, and at no time of the year is there more need or expression in play than during the long summer vacation. This is the time of idleness for most children and so of most wantonness and vandalism. The playground furnishes a place and means to the relief of the child's need and teaches him how to express his play spirit in the best way for himself and for his fellows. In the city of Providence juvenile delinquencies de- creased one-third in a period of two years in certain sections when play g. ounds were established Whereas, in other sections not having playgrounds delinquency The above statistics are taken from the records of the juvenile court of the city of Providence.
 Conclusions from Attendance.
 A record was kept of the attendance Of children at the several grounds. It does not seem desirable to present these figures here, as the records are so incomplete, having been taken It many different times of the day and under various weather conditions. I have been able to draw from them, limited as they are, certain conclusions.
 CD Temperature made little differ ence in attendance. CD The grounds were used much more in the afternoon than in the morning. t3) The great est need for recreation centers was