Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-08-07
Park Chief Is for
Higher Courtship
Says Euery Girl Has a Right
to Be Wooed Under Respect
able Circumstances

with higher criticism. undcrsca navi-
sa'ion and vers librc has come the
hisher Courtship. Baltimorcs Chief
or Police has recognized il with an
eoict instructing park policemen mot
10 interfere with couples INDUCING in
reasonable demonstration of afrcc-
ton"
In Richmond the Higher Courtship
mas bccn "recognizcd," as they say
III diplomatic parlance, by Supcrin-
tcndcnt Humphrey Calder, of the city
parks, whose uniformed Keepers chap
eron with kindly eye thousands of
enam"rcd couples who flock 10 the
great public commons these sultry
evenings only to sit silently hand in
dot the winding lanes.
ITS this way" said SUPERINTENDENT
calder last night. releasing a hunk of
ms homemade philosophy. "All these
NICE young people would rather be out
mere where 1T is cool and green than
sitting in close. hot room suppose
they do sit right close To each other
n ',,.., aook INTO each others eyes. It's
just as respectable here as in the par
LOT. And suppose they do hold hands
ana look fooliSh-wouldn't they look
just as foolish under the same crcum-
stances on their own front porch?
our job is to keep order. Further
man that we do not interfere with any
young people who come to the city
parks. If they choose to sit under an
electric light with their arms around
aach other. all right. Every nice girl
has right to be courtcd under re-
spectacle circumstances, and | reckon
a park bench under one of these trees
is as respectable as most other places
if not more So"
All Of which shows that Park SUPER
ihtendent Calder is distinctly abreast
OF the new philosophy that inspired tho
baltimore police chiefs order. Too
long have courtship and marriage been
CLASSIFIED as household occupations un-
answerable TO eugenic precepts.
Oppressed by the Shut in atmosphere
or the average parlor. the most debon-
air gallant finds summer counting q
distressing pursuit. One cannot he ro-
mantle with a wiltcd collar Given
"a sylvan setting and zephyr from
the James even the most modestly
endowed male becomes a potential
Francis y. Bushman, with every chance
in his favor that the end OF Film Five
viii find the preacher ordering prayers
for two
So. courtship has graduated from the
rank of domestic pursuits and is ac-
curing unto itself Il literature and n
Ntany with cuGenics entirely proper
as a parlor subject. and tho immoral
movie furnishing stout matrons with
delcctable subject of controversy
tho workadny world need not be sur
priscd 10 find that the ancient and
honorable pursuit Of winning wife
has emerged from the walled-in stage
and is hereafter To he conducted under
the eiGht-hour law and other rcstric-
tions approved by organized labor.
Tho Higher Courtship. according to
socioloeists. is tn" product Of modern
induStrialism which has produced high
rents and tho crowded tenement. Tn
der these conditions the parJor has
become extinct. and the Young woman
Of tho household must receive her com
panE in the living room. where the
presence of other members of the fam
lily stiles initiative. or seek n moro in
wiling setting. And, on these torrid
evenings. what is more inviting than
a beautiful park?