The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-04-11

per cent of the boys and nearly 40
per cert oe the girls played on the
streets. in spit OF the fact that
Washington this is against the law
Vacant lots wers mentioned by as per
cent of the boys anG Is per cent OF
the girls.
| They also showed that scarcity
of pay activities exists in Washins-
| ton When asked what games they
playei, over one-third of the children
J reported only one-baseball, Wnlie
| fifty children out of the 1900 report
ed thai they played only five games
in winter. These were coasting, ron
skating, basketball, football ana
snowballing. In the spring only base
| ball, roller skating and jumping rope
were mentioned by the majority. altho
! a few said they played marbles ana
ltag. The summer list contained only
/ two forms of observation-disclosures ana
! winning
Most popular among the amuse-
ments of Washington children is the
| moving picture. Nearly all or the
| 1900 children questioned saw a NOV
ling picture at least once a week Most
of them read-fiction principally
and many attended vaudeville and
Stock-company shows over a nun
dred boys and just 8 girls said that
they bowled All of them felt the
need for something to do and asked
for more Fairgrounds, athletic grounds
and gymnasiums The greatest de-
mand of all was for swimming pools
| Washington is particularly impover-
! ished in this respect, only one NUM-
cipal bathing pool being available in
/ the summer and only one in the base
ment of a church being open in the
winter.
| Yet Washington is richer than the
average city in Fairgrounds. Most OF
them are connected with the schools.
and consist of swings. slides, baseball
/ diamonds and occasionally gardens
and tennis courts, but only twenty OF
the larger school yards and twelve
municipal Fairgrounds are open with
supervision turnout the summer.
! It is a fact recognized by recreation
experts that the most necessary ele-
ment of successful recreation is lead
ership. Children play fairly and to
the best advantage only under the
leadership of some magnetic indl,
vidual The ability of the leader"
says the Children's Bureau. deter
mines whether play space and play
equipment will hold the interest OF
children accustomed to the irresponsi-
bility of the street and the effortless
pleasures of the motion pictures. This,
at least. public recreation must &C
compliSh. 1t must successfully COM
pete with the various dangers and eX-
elements of the streets and of COM
mercialiZed recreation. If it renders
this minimum service, it justifies is
claim on the community's purse"
Once the attention of the child is
/ held. he will throw himself into his
play abSorbedly. Then he will begin
of self-expression. There is certain
child specialist in New York City,
who is considered among the best in
the country. She is a specialist in
the child mind. not in the ailments of
his body. When parents bring child
to Ter, she gives him a toy-a box of
blocks. stuffed bird, or some color
ed toothpicks-and then she goes on
talking to his parents.
All the time she is closely observ-
ing the child, what he does with his
toy. Does he tire of it quickly and
run to something else? Or does he
carefully investigate all its poSsibili-
ties before he puts it down? Some
children a. once show their breadth
of imagination by fashioning many
different things with the blocks or
toothpicks; others delight in throwing
them about the room OF breaking
them. 1t is really not surprising,
after all, that this specialist knows
the chief faults and virtues of every
child brought to her in a few minutes.
The value of organized play cannot
be too greatly emphasized. There is
nothing like a basketball team to de-
velQo both the physical and mental
capacities of the growing child, pro-
clareu fit by medical inspector. An
instance of what athletics accomplish
fo- children is shown in the case of
two girls pointed out by a child well
fare expert One of them, q small
rather fat girl. with a weary lethargic
expression, had refused to play on
the school basketball team and had
spent her recreation hours admiring
moving picture and vaudeville hero
ines and heroes The other was a
tall. 1.-THE. well-developed girl with an
alert, vigorous expression of the type
that has feminist ideas She had
never missed a basketball game thru
out the school season
Clearly, she was a child that would
be a credit to her generation. She
5 was the product of good wholesome
| recreation, organized and kept alive
. b. a particularly efficient gymnasium
: director. And that is what every
community should have. If we are
! to develop the rising generation to
the extent that we owe it develop
, ment-having saddled it with debt
: we must watch its recreation as care
fully rs it's education
, Names in the News.
Sornme pronounced som) 1t is
the name of a river also of a mari
time department in northern France
The valley of this river forms the
+ northern line of defense for Paris
) and has been the chief objective OF
the German drives. This territory
was the scene of the Anglo-French
, offensive during the summer of 1916
81 EVENING STORY