Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-07-29

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teams as invited guests at the serv-
| Ice, at which many present were inter
! ested workers for the playground In
I Ottumwa, Rev. Malcolm Dana. pastor
of the First Congregational church,
| delivered helpful discourse on
! ethics Of Play at the church Sunday
morning. Arguing for more play Of .
supervised character, and bringing the
ethics of the game as played right to
apply to life In its various phases, the
speaker held his auditors atteutively
throughout.
The sermon is used In full as fol-
lows:
The subject OF play is . proper one
for the time, place and attention Of the
speaker. This for number OF rea-
sons.
| Play is an important factor In the
social life OF today. We are living In
an athletic age. We need not fear or
deplore that fact, for with the athletic
goes modern insistence. To be
athletic 10 no longer merely physical
achievement One must be proportion
ately strong in intellect and morals.
Look into college life. The young man
Who goes to college simply for ath-
letics is more and more despised as q
would be. muscle glutton. To make
the team he must make his college
grades. To represent his college he
must be clean. as we'll as play clean.
The college athlete Is increasingly TAX
| ing his place as leader in religious
activities. Athletic goodness fnds no
better place to demonstrate it's worth
than on fields of sport A Princeton
| theological seminary student has sur
PASSED the worlds record for best all
around athlete.
| Play Is fundamental. Witness q
large conference Of serious minded
men crowding large auditorium Of an
eastern city. What are they talking
about? Play! What are they saying
about It? That play Is fundamental
for three reasons 1t Is an inalienable
right. Rightly supervised, play Is one
Of the greatest regenerative forces.
Play 10 even duty
| An lnalisnable Right.
| Play Is an inalienable right. 1t IL
essential to right development. A
baby must cry twenty minutes day to
rightly develop his lungs. He 10 In q
position to take his rights. He does
it-and then some. Man 10 pre-
eminently a social animal. II he can
not seize his play rights they must be
safe guarded for him. Jacob Riis
talks about Tony, the street arab.
Tony would lie on the cool green! A
sign roads keep of the grass" He
assemblies In the lot next your house!
4 He plays marbles on the sidewalk, OF
y To- hA NJ a NIL
man growls move on" Now Tony ID
not = criminal. But every mans hand
Is against him. He IL natural boy
With God-given over plus Of physical
energy. That steam must ind lie.
climate way Of escape or something
will bust " A public, blind to Tony's
inherent rights and deeds, prevents or
represses where 1t should provide for
and supervise his play. Something
Happens. Tony throws stones-and,
through your front window. And
/ Jacob Riis adds would throw
stones were Tony The latter II
hailed into the juvenile court.
A Regenerative Force.
/ Rightly supervised play is one OF the
greatest regenerative forces. And
more important, and before that, 1t is
one Of the greatest preventive forces
! You do not believe that? Go to Chi
cago, Cleveland. New York, Boston
!! and gather statistics. You will find
juvenile crime decreasing from IS to
| SO per cent within half or mile
radius Of the open air public play
ground. You will return to boost fol
the good women who have made real
beginning in this direction for the
youth OF Ottumwa. Nay, more! You
may even become advocate OF super
vised play on all the Fairgrounds Of
our public schools. For experts tel
lus that the cause Of much Of our
youthful moral depravity IL unsuper
vised play on these grounds.
/ Play is duty. Look at yonder sour
faced individual, suggestive Of "the
igrudge'' and "the Crouch" and ever
| lastingly talking about Hthe rut" and
1.-The grind" What is the matter with
him? He is grown old before his time
| Possibly he never was young, never
!, did play. And God is plying his fam
lily and daily associates. He Ii
wealthy, influential and supremely
proud of the fact he is self-made
man. Well, some self-made men are
mighty proud Of poor Job. And hi
is! Referring again to Jacob Riis
apostle Of play, he tells us when hs
: fully realized the bigness Of his life
long intimate, Theodore Roosevelt. Il
was when happening into the white
house he found the latter down on al
four playing bear with his children
It is part Of Mr.. Roosevelt's athletic
THEORY Of life that q man should be hi
boys best playfellow.
But more seriously, play needs car
rying over into work We are on the
i Job to keep this old work-a-day worle
of ours sweet, to purge 1t Of "the
lurking gFddge." Nothing will hely
more than keeping the days worl
leayened with the spirit of play. W.
carry work over into play. He canno
! be a skillful player who will not worl
for 1t. But who grudges the work whe
thrills with the experience Of skill
full play? It is pathetic sight to SET
children deprived of their youth. II l,
I. almost as pathetic to see the young
man entering business listlessly al
though his play day we're utterly lef