Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-09-23
Lights Of New York
by L. L. STEVENSON

New York's only playground with
''keyhole" entrance is on West
Forty-ninth street between Ninth
and Tenth avenues. It's also known
as 'tot lot" and the name and
unique entrance 60 together. A sur
vey showed the Boys Athletic club,
sponsors of the new playground,
that small children, especially in
tenement districts, have little
chance at recreation spots, swings
and other apparatus being taken
over by the larger and stronger.
So the ''tot LOTT was devised. To
limit the size of those who use it,
silhouette of a ten-year-old girl
was taken and the entrance cut to
fit. The opening is three feet, six
inches high and less than two feet
across at it's widest. Thus should
big kid try to get through he'd
get stuck. Even parents are ex-
cluded. There is an entrance for
adult employees but that is kept
locked constantly. So fathers and
11lOC1lCIS VIII W1Sll W Sec IilCAA VII
spring at play, look through port,
holes in the high, galvanized iron
fence.
The "tot lot" is in the Hell's
Kitchen section. It's a crowded dis
trict with few places for recreation.
There is no scarcity of children,
howwver, the survey having shown
more than 100 to the block. The
playground accommodates 300. It is
fitted with apparatus of various
kind, including monkey bars"
slide, seesaws, swings, sand boxes,
etc. There are even murals so
that the tenement youngsters, to
whom trip to Coney is a big event,
may imagine themselves on a
beach. A peek through one of the
portfolios showed a happy and busy
lot of children. And volunteer
from the neighborhood demonstrate
ed the fact that the "keyhole' en-
trance serves it's purpose excellent
ly.
When Guy Lombardo finishes his
nights work he drives out to his
place near Lindenhurst, L. I. There
is a complete garden, rustic seats,
running water, electricity and even
telephone connections on the place.
But there is not the slightest sign
of a residence. That makes no
difference, however. Anchored
close by is the 6O-foot Lombardo
yacht, Tempo. Immediately on his
arrival, Lombardo goes aboard. The
captain starts the motors and the
Tempo gets under way. At about
1890 or II, there is return to Lin
denhurst and Lombardo has his
breakfast. Vegetables served at
all meals come from the place. The
orchestra leader likes to live aboard
boat-he sleeps better with the en-
gines running-but he also likes
shore conveniences. Thus the COM
bination of land and sea.
Dropped into the Museum of Sci
ence and Industry in Rockefeller
Center and listened to my voice
over the telephone. Automatic de-
vices have been installed and all
one has to do is talk five seconds,
stop and his voice is thrown right
back at him. To overcome mike
fright" which strikes many dumb
as soon as the green starting light
appears, number of five-second
sentences are printed on card
which they face. 1t was a repeat
performance for me but again I
couldn't believe the voice was my
own. AS matter of fact, it sound
ed exactly like that of my old friend
George Stark
Passing the Charles M. Schawb
mansion on Riverside drive, I re-
called that a friend had told me the
steel man smoked cigars from
which the nicotine had been re-
moved-or that he had done so in
years past. At any rate, he made
his purchases from a Madison ave-
nue. establishment and at Christmas
time he gave orders for hundreds
of boxes which were sent to his
friends. He also supplied the man.
ager with a list of names and dates
so that friends received nicotine
less cigars on their birthdays.
Bustop eavesdropping: "She drops
a nickel in the collection plate Sun
days and then goes out and spends