Evening star., 1943-06-10
Play Equipment. +.
Asked Of Board
By Three Areas
Recreation Group
Told Delinquency
Is Urgent Problem

More supervised recreational ia.
cilities in the Randle Highlands,
Benning and Southwest sections of
the city are imperative to combat
the rising tide of juvenile delin-
quency, the District Recreation
Board has been informed by repre-.
sentatives of citizens associations
in those areas.
The board held a meeting with
citizens last night in the Thomson
School to discuss their needs for
the year 194445. Three represent
atives of Randle Highlands fre-i
quently took the floor to ask board
members what they intended to do
about the juvenile delinquency rate
in an area that has been without
recreational facilities for Is years"
Joseph Deckman told of two
gangs" of boys roaming the streets
"robbing" and "stoning' the resi-
dents of the area. Paul Mudd added
that the FairlaWn Park golf course
there has been rented as public
golf course despite the fact that it
was primarily intended as a play
ground for small children. He said
National Capital Parks Supt. Irving
C. Root told him the contract for
the golf course operator ran out in
December and that no decision had
been made on its renewal.
Boys Death Cited.
The death of 12-year-old Larkin
Charlton Tuesday while swinging on
O roro IL, tho Poppipu oroo woo DO
scribed by Mrs. Mary Sansone as
the third death there in a year
that might have been prevented by
installation of supervised recrea-
tional facilities She transmitted a
letter from the Benning Citizens
Association which further MAIN
tained that many of the 1000 chill
dren in the neighborhood have been
forced in the street for lack of
planned recreation.
The Rev. Harry o. Porter ap-
peared for the Southwest Citizens
Association to describe gangs of
adolescent boys and girls hanging
around street corners and conduct
ing conversations worse than en-
barrassing to a person of the
least refinement" James A. Mont
gomerv of the Central Neighbour
hood Council added that gangs in
his neighborhood have organized to
the extent of conferring ranks" on
the leaders and assigning definite
tasks to members.
The problems of the Southwest
area with juvenile delinquency
threaten to "overWhelm' the resi-
dents. MI. Porter added He asked
for completion of the jefferson
playground for baseball games and
said he had been requesting in vain
for years that the fence on the
Hoover Playground be repaired.
Physical Tests Eased.
The Recreation Board met before
the hearing of the citizens to ap-
prove the revised plan of Victory
Builders physical fitness tests to
be started on 100 summer play
grounds June "a The tests have
been tried out for a month on 10
| Fairgrounds and as a result have
been made a little easier than
originally set up.
Several more Fairgrounds will be
added to this list as the summer
progresses, Milo F.. Christensen,
recreation superintendent said.
Provision was not made in the
pending D. C. appropriation bill
for l943-l944 to staff these areas,
he said, but the board hopes to
have such appropriation added be-
fore the bill is passed by both
Houses of Congress-
Other areas represented by
citizens asking for more recreational
facilities and personnel were Car
bery-LudloW School. Woodbridge,
Truesdell School, Burleith and Fort
Davis areas, Rosedale and Connecti-
cut avenue.