The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1912-11-14
GREAT WORK DONE IN CHICAGO
Secretary of Chicago Association Shows
How Chicago Has Spent s12,o0o,ooo
in Providing Places for the Children
Of That City to Find Sports.

A very select audlence OF AehosAa
people made up of most of the mem
bers of the common council and half
hundred interested people heard the
fascinating story of the big play
ground movement in Chicago at the
Guild Hall on Tuesday evening when
Il. B. DeGroot, general secretary OF
the playground association Of that city
spoke on Play Grounds for Child
ren. The lecture was Illustrated
with many beautiful pictures of what
Chicago has done along this line and
it gave to the people of Kenosha q
new idea of the real meaning Of the
big movement to provide play grounds
for the children and their elders. Mr..
DeGroot dwelt at length OIL the Dhiloso-
ply of the movement aud showed that
it was one of the greatest reform
movements ever started in Chicago.
He spoke of the changed conditions
that had come over the cities in the
last few years; he lamented the lack
of national sports in this country and
criticized the advance of professional
ism along all lines of healthful sports.
He showed that the passing Of The old
back yard and the wood pile had
brought new conditions for the rear
ing of boys and girls and that the
memories Of the old swimming hole
called on the men Of this generation
to make some provisions to give the
boys of new generation some of the
healthful sports that they had enjoy
ed in their youth.
Mr.. DeGroot declared that the great
est weapon for fighting the evil dance
hall and the criminal class among boys
was the play ground and the social
center which always developed along
with it. He declared that the prob
lem was almost as big a problem for
the smaller cities as it was for the city
of Chicago and that the Zine was fast
coming when the smaller cities would
be forced to provide play grounds for
their boys and girls. He showed what
Chicago had done in less than twelve
years when the movement had grown
from small movement among club
women. to a great movement under the
control of the municipality. lie show
ed pictures of the seventeen great play
grounds that the city Of Chicago is
now maintaining and declared that in
the fourteen years Chicago h&d come
to lead the world in furnishing play
places for the children and their par
ents. In that time he declared that
the city of Chicago had spent more
than $12,O00,000 just finding places
for its children to play i'll. He show
ed that the city had provided padding
pools for the children near to sand
piles swimming pools for the Older
children and with them running tracks
and athletic fields for the older boys
and girls and at every play ground
gymnasiums for the older men and
women.
The pictures shown testified to the
great interest that was being taken in
this work by the children and by their
parents. He declared that more than
a million people in Chicago were en-
joying the play grounds every year
and that the combined atte1danae
at the play grounds was more than
10000 people daily.
In concluding Mr.. DeGroot urged
the people in Kenosha to work out
some plan to start the play ground
movement along right lines in Keno
sha.