Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-20


A concomitant of the machine age In
which we live and which has been more
highly developed here than in any other
nation of the world has been vicarious
amusement or entertainment and, as
result. this has been called an age OF
gladiators The reference obviously is
to the days of Rome when the great
masses of the people took no active part
in sport, but sat around the great
| watched slaves and hired athletes COM
pete in sports, most of which were
bloody Combats took place between
gladiators or between gladiatorS and
wild beasts. The throwing OF Christian
martyrs to the lions, while under re-
! ligious auspices, was chiefly q sport. SO
important was the responsibility for
furnishing sport to the populace that q
man seldom reached high ONCE In
Rome without first serving as aedile
the official in charge of the spectacles
Historians of a philosophical turn OF
mind point out that such vicarious
sport is found only in nations nearing
their decay. The Spanish bullhght is
| instanced as a typical example Of the
+ sport OF a nation which has passed Its
prime. The great increase in vicarious
sport in the United States Is regarded
by many observers as q bad sign. It ID
i irrefutable that Americans have shown
a growing interest in amusement pro-
vided by others and display an inclina-
! ton to watch others play rather than
play themselves.
Stuart Chase, a sociological observer
who did much work in cooperation
with Herbert Hoover when the latter
was Secretary of Commerce, has made
a compil& lion of statistics on the extent
to which Americans engage In vicariouS
! 1Nla In fac 10 -
! amused and entertained by others with
no more effort to themselves than that
| involved in going to the scene of rec
reation. All such figures necessarily are
! in round numbers.
| Mr.. Chase gives a figure of so 900 ,0OC
! admissions to the movies every week
| When one subtracts infants and the
very aged, i'll and inflrm it is seen thai
at least half the active population Of
the United States attends the movies
at least once week. And this Is ar
all-year-round phenomenon. Probably
the next longest season Is the base bal
season, which annually attracts 100000
600 persons. The foot ball season is 9
brief one, yet 10000, 900 persons attenc
the games each year.
Horse racing attracts another 10000.
| 600 aNyear, and an estimate of TO-
900 900 Is made for prize fights. Five
! tield-day matches and regattas.
! These figures all relate to specially
staged events where admission must bt
paid fors or obtained by invitation
While not precisely classif1able as sport
| 5000, 900 admissions q week are notice
for theaters, concerts and lectures.
Participating Recreation.
1t must be obvious that. In addition
to these events which the spectator
must pay to witness, millions Of per-
sons are engaging in informal amateur
| sports. Admission is free to many high
school and preparatory school base ball
| foot ball and tennis games. Sandlot
base ball is by no means . thing OF
the past, and there has been q tremen-
dous increase in recent years in the
numbers of persons of all ages and both
sexes playing golf. The private golf
club entails paid admission, in q
sense, in the form of dues and green
fees, often heavy, but the increase in
free municipal golf courses and tennis
courts in the last few years has been
notable. 1t Is indubitable that, along
with the huge increases in paid admts-
sions to sports contests in which the
watcher takes no part, much more time
also is given to participating recreation
Aside from the sportS-and only the
outstanding, organized sports have been
mentioned-therea are many other forms