New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-07-06
MUSIC HATH CHARMS
TO QUELL BASEBALL
Gloves and Bats Are Dropped
When "Peter Pan" Plays
the Piano.
PIER MOB IS RESTLESS
Children of New York Lacking
in Imaginative Games and
Need Leaders in Their
Recreation.


TITS too sunny on our block" says
Maggie Murphy, dumping small Patsy
into the sandbox and looking around Tor
Maggie Kelly, her chum. Together they
join the bowling group In the corner
who are playing going to Jerusalem.
The hot weather has the effect OF fili-
ing up the recreation pier maintained by
the Womans Municipal League at West
23d street. One hundred or more shrieA-
ing youngsters of all ages and all de-
grees of cleanliness greet the visitor
1.-THE hotter the day. II seems, the more
they want to tear about" signs the pier
mother, Mrs. Caro- Mabie. surveying the
charging mobs They can't seem TO SIT
still. Country children, now, would slt
under a tree and play store on hot DAY
like this, but these youngsters aren
happy unless they are romping.
They aren't interested in stories
have told stories by the hour to otner
children, but these city bred cnlloreh
don't care for them. They can't play by
themselves. either, without direction
They have no imagination. Occasionally
a little girl plays store in the sand pile
hut she soon tires Of It. City life seems
to destroy the power Of sustained eHor'
in children, Just as II does in grown
ups"
The pier boasts, besides its mother a
play leader, Miss Ida Kleigwin. color-
full young girl with a piquant AIR tna'
has earned her the pet name OK refer
Pan among her fellow workers. She
energies presently from a congested cor
ner and proceeds over TO the piano, with
eight devoted little girls clinging to her
At the first note OF the music balls are
dropped and sand pies left to the mercy
of the flies. as all the children croWd
about the piano. A..
Two OF the biggest boys perch on the
rail around an old elevator shaft with
their chins resting on the top OF the
piano. The little girls touch the more
remote keys timidly.. A few girls dance
a few sing detached phrases OF Row,
Row, Row."
Tag Follows Concert.
The concert lasts for perhaps fifteen
minutes. Then with a whoop the balls
are tumbling across the room In a new
game OF tag The eight little girls attach
themselves 20 teacher" and beg for
another game.
An easy life. you say? II Is so charm
ing for young girl TO play games all
day with the dear children? Anyone who
thinks that Is advised TO drop In at the
pier some hot day and try TO stay there
for at least ten minutes. Let him observe
the brave smile with which teacher"
assents 20 play "cat and rat" for the
fourth time. Yes, strong man would
lind IL easier 10 dig subways all day.
II was a surprise TO these play direct
ors that the investigators for the Peoples
Institute had found even ffty-two games
being played by children on the streets
of New York.
These children seem 10 know very few
games until we teach them" says Miss
Amelia Ives. another Of the play leaders.
Some children have learned games at
school. too, but I'm most eases, school
games are soon forgotten, because out
side Of the school yard children have no
chance 10 play them. on the sidewalks
their games are constantly interrupted
by passersby. and the smallest child in
the middle OF the road knows he must
keep one eye open for automobiles and
trucks
Street Games Transitory.
You can't get much interested in a
good game when you are playing in front
OF q firehOuse. The street games Of New
York are OF the most transitory and de-
tached order Tag Is about the highest
form. Older boys, Of course, do play base
ball but that, you know. can be inter-
rupted between throws and the status quo
resumed after the ice wagon has passed.
THE great blessing Of such a place as
this pier is that It gives the children a
place to play. uninterrupted and out of
danger-moral as well as physical. The
careless chauffeur is not the worst person
for the child on the street. The chauffeur
Is al least theoretically, on his guard.
and the community holds him responsible
for what he does, but the man at the
saloon door can harm a child with i'm
punity. Nobody objects TO his profanity
or foul words.
II see by the papers that Mr.. Carl f..
PLAT, the new landscape architect of the
park, proposes that vacant lots be trans
formed into Fairgrounds. That certainly
is a most praiseworthy suggestion. You
see how this pier is crowded, yet look
outside. There are hundreds OF children
left in the streets"
The Woman's Municipal League invites
not only the children OF the neighborhood
to spend the day at the pier, but In the
evening there are mothers clubs and
dances.