The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-22
THE FORESTS OF CHICAGO
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKtN

I been created. which affords good swim
ming. and will supply splendid fishing
in the near future. 1t has been stocked
with small-mouth bass. and Chicago
fishermen say it is one Of the finest bits
of water for this fish in the state. 1t
is intended to allow angling under per-
nit as soon as the fish have become
numerous.
For naturalists. amateur and profess
sional the forest preserves are great
boon. The Prairie club and other Chi
cago nature study clubs. regularly take
long hikes in the forests. Needless to
| say, the Boy Scouts have not been slow
| to appropriate these wild lands as their
own particular stamping ground.
While various classes and organiza-
| these Fairgrounds. the same cannot be
said of the general public. 1t appears
| that the great mass OF Chicagoans have
| SO long been city jewellers, and know so
| little about the delights and advantages
of outdoor life that they will have to be
year that any of the forests were
opened to the public, there We're only
| 100 picnic permits issued. In 1918 about
| 300 persons applied for permits, and
| this year the number will be much
| larger. Thus the forests are rapidly
| becoming more popular, but the num-
| Der of 'Chicagoans who have made use
| of them Is surprisingly small.
| In Chicago's poorer quarters there are
thousands of children who have never
| been outside the city, and who do not
know that there Is such thing as soil
| covered with grass and trees instead
/ Of with cement and cobblestones. These
are the individuals who must need the
| fresh air and exercise which the play
/ grounds can give them, and Peter Rein
| Der, the president of the board of COM
| missioners, has made it his special bust
| IN iyotr fhncn Hffla Chicago
| cockneys to the wild woods. Every
| year he organizes series of expeditions
to a camp which has been built by the
| city in one OF the prettiest of the for
est preserves. Each OF these camping
trips lasts about ten days, and some
est quarters of Chicago are the city's
! guests. They are taken from the parts
| of the city where fresh air is most
needed, and especially from those places
| where bad air and undernourishnlent
have given tuberculosis hold. In the
camp the mothers and children are
given all the fresh milk and eggs and
vegetables that they can eat. There are
| hikes and campflres and swimming par
ties. The camp is under the direction
| Of a trained nurse and physical direc-
= tor. Many a starveling slum child gets
| a new lease on life and new concep-
| ton Of its beauties and joys on these
| camping trips. The pity is that only a
| few thousand can be taken each year,
while there are hundreds of thousands
| of children who have never breathed
| anything but Chicago's notorious smoke.
Forest Fairgrounds.
| Those who have charge of Chicago's
| forest Fairgrounds emphasize the fact
| that they have just begun their work.
| The forests will not come into their full
usefulness. in the first place, until
| transportation to them has been ex-
tended and improved. Meantime, the
! board of commissioners is making all
| kinds OF improvements. AS springs are
| somewhat scarce, they are drilling wells
| to supply the campers with water. One
| golf links has been laid out and others
| are contemplated. Another artificial
lake Is being made on the Palos forest,
and wild rice is being planted in the
| Palatine lake to attract the wild fowl,
which have already appeared in consid-
| cradle numbers.
The time will come, no doubt, when
| these forest areas will be GASES of COOL
| ness and fresh air within this titan city,
which seems to have no limit of growth
tr"y will he worth many times
| what they have cost.
| (Subject of tomorrow's letter, Bohemia
in the Corn Belt.')