o3PM2i Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2011 witii funding from Tine Library of Congress littp://www.arcliive.org/details/charactertlirougliOOyoun ( (Sreen 3f unJ) JBooft mo. 20a ) Character Through Recreation By HOWARD PALMER YOUNG I i Minister in the Nebraska Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, and Member of the Play- ground and Recreation Association of America. A PRIZE BOOK Philadelphia AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION 1816 Chestnut Street GoJ\^ v^oPi '^ Copyright, 191 5, by the American Sunday-School Union aO replace lost copy Publisher's Note This book is issued by the American Sunday- School Union under the John C. Green Income Fund. It won the first prize offered for the best manuscript on the subject of Amusements : How Can They Be Made to Promote the Highest Well- Being of Society ? The provisions of the fund authorize the Union to choose the subject, — which must always be germane to the object of the Society, — and by owning the copyright, to reduce the price of the book. In this way, works of a high order of merit may be put into circulation at a reasoaable price. The author is given large liberty in the literary form, style and treatment of the subject. This book treats a theme of universal interest to church and Sunday-school workers, parents and teachers. It will be specially valued by those who, in constantly increasing numbers, are devoting them- selves to developing the play life of the nation. The author brings to his task a wide acquaintance with what is being written on the subject in current book and periodical literature, together with extensive personal observation of the effect of amusements, especially upon the life of young people. While clearly pointing out the dangers and evils connected with modern amusements, his book is not destruc- tive but constructive. Its aim, as its title suggests, is to show how the play life of the nation may be made an important factor in promoting moral as well as physical health. 3 To MY Wife WHOSE ASSISTANCE IN CHURCH AND PARISH WORK WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, AND WHOSE LOVING ENCOURAGEMENT, HAVE HELPED TO MAKE THIS BOOK POSSIBLE Preface The importance of the subject presented, together with the newly awakened interest in play, should be sufficient reasons for the appearance of another book dealing with the problem of amusements. The fol- lowing pages owe their inspiration to the offer of the American Sunday-School Union for prize manu- scripts dealing with the relation between recreation and character. The author confesses also to a lively interest in the subject, from many years' experience with young people, — those most vitally concerned with play life. Avoiding a philosophical treatment of the subject, — which field is already covered by various excel- lent treatises,— the has endeavored to confine him- self to a concrete presentation of the results ac- complished in the various phases of uplifting and profitable entertainment. Though, in some degree, actual methods are outlined, the book does not pre- tend to be a compendium of entertainment plans, many comprehensive works already filling that field also. Its design is rather to show a vital connection between amusement and the well-being of society, — a kinship between recreation and righteousness, — and to plead especially for the exercise of the normal function of play in young life, which shall build a new generation, physically, intellectually, 7 8 PEEFAOB and spiritually superior to those of former times. The treatment of the theme, while alluding to some of the forces in amusement life which are destruc- tive, is, in the main, positive in tone, the cultivation of the higher ideal being always in mind. In pre- senting the subject largely by illustration and ex- ample, the writer has hoped to make the book both entertaining and suggestive, in order that young people may come to its pages with interest and leave them with inspiration. In addition to a year of special study, the gather- ings of twenty or more years' contact with young life have here found a place. A large amount of correspondence, many personal conversations, and a wide consultation of books of various authors, as well as magazine and periodical literature, have been necessary. To many of these sources of infor- mation ample credit has been given in the body of the book. For material on the history of play, I especially desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to Groos' Play of Man, Van Rensselaer's The DeviVs Picture Books, and George E. Johnson's Education by Plays and Games. In the final revision of the manuscript, various suggestions of the editor of pub- lications of the American Sunday-School Union, Eev. James McConaughy, have been of great value. The assistance of librarians and correspondents, as well as the encouragement and criticisms of friends, are also gratefully acknowledged. HowABD Palmee Young. Contents Page I. Play a Universal Instinct . e 1 1 II. The New Value of Play . , 24 III. The Era of Amusement . . 39 IV. Sports That Kill . . . .53 V. The Gambling Mania ... 70 VI. The Supervision of Play , . 83 VII. The Profit of the Playground , 99 VIII. Play AND Patriotism . , .116 IX. Education by Play . . .133 X. In the Field of Athletics . .149 XL The Sports of Boys . . .166 XII. The Girl and Her Recreations . 183 XIII. The Lure of the Outdoor Life . 201 XIV. Amusements and the Modern Church 217 XV. Amusements and the Modern Church (continued) . , .235 XVI. The Joys of Home . , . 256 XVII. Retrospect and Prospect , , 274 Character Through Recreation CHAPTER I PLAY A UNIVEESAL INSTINCT Theee are common springs of thought and action among all races. Chief among these are the voice of conscience, the instinct of self-preser- vation, and the spirit of play. The activities of life which grow out of these universal inheritances, — worship, war, and recreation, — each have their part in building character, both individual and national. There are many who have spoken concerning religion and its character-building effects, and no small number who have magnified ay na ura ^^^ value of War, both offensive and necessary , ' and defensive. Few, however, have spoken of the influence on character of the play-instinct of man. An examination of the history of play, — a tracing of its origin and progress, — will reveal its connection with both patriotism and piety, and prove its value as a 11 12 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION character-molding influence. Manifesting itself in a thousand different forms, the play instinct speaks convincingly of its naturalness and ne- cessity. So early are its evidences discovered in racial history that we may well believe that play was an earlier art than labor. If, as many believe, the progress of the child's development is a repro- duction of the common life of the race, it is prob- able that men played before they learned to work. The basic principles of play are woven into the legendary history of men. The imaginative ele- ment, so manifestly present in Imaginative traits . . • ^ ^ . .. amusements, is a promment f ea- rn earlier races ' y ture of the earliest stories of national life. Indeed, the earlier races exceeded the present peoples in their exercise of the im- agination. The literature of aU nations begins V7i\h. poetry — the language of imagination and emotion. If we examine only the folklore of the early inhabit- ants of America, we shall find that among the In- dians imagination occupied a prominent place. Interwoven with the basic belief in the Great Spirit were the traditions of the Happy Hunting Ground, where the sports of the Indian brave might be continued even after death. The Indian languages are rich in the use of words in the imaginative or playful sense. When instructing his pale-face brother how to find his bearings if lost in the forest, the Indian guide takes him to PLAY A UNIVEESAL INSTINCT 13 the base of a large tree and, calling attention to the heavy growth of moss on one side, says, " South side tree no carpet ; north side, much carpet." The speech of Pushmataha, a celebrated Indian chief, addressed to the French nobleman, Lafayette, when they met in Washington, D. C, is characteristic in its poetic diction : " Nearly fifty snows have melted since you drew your sword as a companion of "Washington. "With him you fought the enemies of America. You mingled your blood with that of the enemy and proved yourself a warrior. After you finished that war, you returned to your own country, and you are now come back to revisit the land where you are honored by a numerous and powerful peo- ple. You see everywhere the children of those by whose side you went to battle, crowding around you and shaking your hand as the hand of a father. "We have heard these things told in our distant villages, and our heart longed to see you. "We have come ; we have taken you by the hand and are satisfied. This is the first time we have seen you ; it will probably be the last. "We have no more to say. The earth will part us forever." The dramatic beauty of these lines is height- ened by the fact that just after this meeting death claimed the Indian chief. His farewell message to his companions is similarly couched in figurative language : " "When you shall come to your home, they will ask you, ' "Where is Pushmataha ? ' and 14 CHAEACTEB THROUGH EECEEATIOK you will say to them, * He is no more ! ' They will hear the tidings like the sound of the fall of a mighty oak in the stillness of the woods." The graphic word jpiotwring of the story-teller's art, which also belongs to play life, seems to have been another natural gift ory- e ing amouff early and untutored peo- as an amusement t-, , , i ,. i t pies. Probably many of the In- dian tribes could furnish entertainers who vied with those of civilized races, being artful in the use of language like the Indian whom Longfellow describes : " Very boastful was lagoo ; Never heard he an adventure But himself had met a greater ; Never any deed of daring Bat himself had done a bolder ; Never any marvelous story But himself could tell a stranger." Further manifestations of the dramatic art are found in the multitude of rude war dances of savage peoples, in which stories of the hattle and the chase are presented^ often with weird musical accompaniment. Indeed, the gift of mimicry and imitation, which belongs to the actor's part, is often found well developed among those to whom later- day culture has imparted no artistic touch. A considerable part of the life of the ancient races was taken up with the problems of defense and attack. The instinct found in our later-day PLAY A UNIVERSAL INSTINCT 15 fighting plays was a part of their native character. Primitive games were doubtless akin to the scenes of warfare which filled so much of their life, and were perhaps similar to a popular play among the Thracians of which Gutsmuth tells us. This game reflects, of course, the barbarism of an early and degenerate age. One of the players is required to stand on a round stone, with his head through a noose suspended from above. A sharp sickle is put in his hand, and at an unsuspected moment the stone is kicked from under his feet. He can save himself from death by hanging only by cut- ting quickly with the sickle the rope that sus- pends him, "What has already been said concerning the abstract ideas of play as a part of the thought life of early races, may with even more confi- dence be asserted concerning the material evi- dences of play. From the scattered reKcs found among the dif- ferent nations, it is possible to write a very inter- esting history of the recreational ay a umyers ^.^^ ^^ ^^^ Playthings of both charactenstic -^ ° children and adults have been un- earthed by the spade of scientific investigation, and widely severed lands bring mute witness to the universal love of amusement. Boys' tops have been found in the excavations of ancient Troy. They were known, too, among the Ger- mans from the earliest times. The baby's rattle 16 CHAEAOTER THEOUGH EECEEATION finds its counterpart in the graves of prehistoric children, and its progenitor has been discovered in a snail-shell filled with small pebbles, buried with the mummy of a child in Peru. The school- boy's marbles are cosmopolitan in character. Pol- ished stones, supposed to have been used as marbles, have been found with the bones of chil- dren in the old German burial-urns. Boys upon the streets of ancient Kome used to play marbles as they do in the open places of our American cities to-day. Relics of dolls as the playthings of children have been found in many nations. Among the ancients these miniature representations of the human form were made of clay and earth, of wood, bark, cloth, and other materials. In the Berlin Museum, forming a part of an interesting ethnological exhibit, is a wooden doll with mov- able legs, and a crocodile, also of wood, with movable jaws. These were taken from excava- tions in ancient Egypt. In medieval Europe, in ancient Rome and Greece, and among savage races, the doll was everywhere found. It is thought by some to have had an early association with religious life, for it has sometimes proved difficult to separate the idol of the adult from the doll of the child. Groos tells of his possession of an old Indian doll which appears to have been used as a protection from evil spirits by grown- ups, as well as a toy for children. PLAY A UNIVEESAL INSTINCT 17 The boy who performs, to the delight of less venturesome companions, on his high stilts, does not know that he is following a long train of an- cient peoples who have thns elevated themselves above their fellows. Walking on stilts was prac- tised by the Greeks and Romans, while in China to-day they are also most skilfully used. Stilts are not unknown in Africa, and Andree says they are found all over the world. China and Japan excel in kite-flying, it being a national game in the Celestial Kingdom. We note also the im- portation of the kite into Siam, and the fact that it is found among the people of the South Sea Islands. Among the relics of the past in the Ber- lin Museum are paper kites from the Soudan. Both written records and oral tradition bring us additional-proof of the early prominence'of play in adult as well as in child life. ay among e Although the svstem of modern ancients . ° -^ athletic sports, as known in the schools and colleges of to-day, saw its beginnings only about a hundred years ago, it is known that athletics formed a considerable part of the train- ing of the intellectual Greek centuries before the Christian era. Indeed, trained athletes were a professional class in that cultured nation as early as 350 B. c. Wrestling was zealously cultivated among the ancient Egyptians, as it is to-day among the Japanese. In Japan the contestants who take part in plays of the fighting sort are 18 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION trained with great care. In this training heredity plays no small part, as the profession is handed down from father to son through many centuries. Hence, the Japanese are proficient wrestlers, and the prize-fight is popular among them. Like the bull-fight in Spain, the prize-fight in Japan is a national sport, while various authorities testify to its presence among the Indians, the Hawaiians, the Burmese, and the Eskimos. Our popular athletic games are not really modern, but inheritances from people and times of old. Tennis is probably the ary origin oldest of all the ball-games. Its modem sports . . ° . origin is uncertain, but it first ap- peared in Europe during the Middle Ages. It was popular among the French nobility, who are said to have borrowed it from the Italians. The EngUsh in turn adopted it from the French. The name of the game is said to be French in origin, being derived from the expression " Tenez ! " which was used by early French players in serv- ing the ball. The antiquity of the game is testi- fied to by Horace, the Roman bard, who tells of Maecenas playing tennis while on the journey to Brundusium. The early beginnings of baseball are traced back to the game of stoolball, a special Easter game, which was religious in character. Joseph Lee says, " In the diocese of Auxerre it was an ancient custom to play in the church on Easter PLAY A IJNIVEESAL INSTINCT 19 Monday a solemn game of ball while singing anthems appropriate to the season." ^ The more immediate predecessor of our national game, how- ever, is the English game of rounders. Football is supposed to have had its origin in Italy dm-ing the Renaissance, when physical exer- cise became popular with all classes. Games similar to the modern popular scrimmage on the gridiron are found among various peoples. An Italian writer of 1555 tells of a game resembling football which required that the players have shoes with soles of buffalo-hide. A game which may have been related to football is thus described by Forbes as popular on the island of Sumatra : " The young people amuse themselves upon the village green with a ball-game called simpak, in which they vie with one another in the display of measured and elegant movement, in the presence of the girls and the public generally. About twenty youths arrange themselves in a circle and keep a large hollow ball, skilfully wrapped with rattan, in the air by hitting it, as it descends, with the side of the foot ; they are not allowed to touch it with anything else. In delivering the blow the leg is thrown almost perpendicularly into the air, while the body assumes a horizontal position, and the beauty of the movement consists in the fine swing which restores the body to an upright position without upsetting the player." * Joseph Lee, American Play Tradition and Our Relation to it. 20 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION Leaving the field of sport and entering the quieter arena of dramatic art and social life, the same universal interest in pleasure Theater and dance • n ■, . , i ■ t <• IS lound to possess the mmds oi early popular ^ , men. The children of Jerusalem, playing wedding and funeral on the streets of that ancient city, were referred to as an illustration in one of the discourses of the Master of men ; but centuries before that time both children and adults were carrying on the mimic life of the playground and the stage for their own pleasure or for the entertainment of their fellows. Traces of the theater are found a thousand years before the Christian era. While this institution is seen in its best form among the more cultured nations, we find that the element of dramatic representa* tion existed in various ways among all the ancient peoples. The exciting war-dance of the braves around the camp-fire was but a theatrical exhibi- tion of their deeds of prowess. The dance in its various forms is perhaps as widely known as any amusement we have to-day. Probably the earliest forms of dancing were asso- ciated with religious worship, but both sacred and secular dances are found at an early date. The religious character of the dance is still pre- served in the less enlightened countries, but among the more cultivated nations dancing remains sim- ply as a form of pleasure. We might thus go through the entire catalogue PLAY A UNIVEESAL INSTINC5T 21 of the diversions of men, and find a common bond which unites all races in the universal pleasure instinct. Indeed, as already in- ec o p ay upon ^j^^^^^^^j ^j^g various plavs and national character i • i i • i games, which have attained an in- ternational character, show a lively communication between the various peoples, — sometimes where history is silent concerning any affiliation. As an instance of such communication of far-severed lands, let us note that the Mexicans of a time previous to the coming of Columbus possessed a game called jpatolli. The similarity of this an- cient game to the Eastern game of backgammon, and its relation to chess as well, have led to the supposition, amounting to a fair argument, that Asiatic influences were felt among those Western peoples before the time of the Spanish discoverer. However much or little the games of one coun- try may have influenced another, it is certain that the sports and pastimes of a people have an effect upon national character. The character of the Greeks was no doubt influenced by their games at Olympia. Originally instituted as a means of unifying the otherwise contending states of Greece, they accomplished more than their object in build- ing, for the Grecian people, a symmetrical physique which the world has long admired. The warlike disposition of the Roman was no doubt intensified by the constant witnessing of the gladiatorial com- bat. Such amusements fed the pugnacious spirit 22 CHARACTEK THROUGH EECEEATION of the Roman until his love for war became his own destruction. Some lesser amusements of the Romans also betray the same recklessness of na- ture. Fond of games of chance, they fell victims to the vice of gambling. The lack of fine feeling may be seen in the Biblical reference to the soldiers who "drew lots,"— doubtless throwing dice, — for the seamless robe of the Master while he suffered the agonies of the Cross. Some one has pointed out an essential difference between the pastimes of the Greeks and the Ro- mans. The Greeks were actors, while the Romans were spectators. "No Greek, even though of noble birth, was ashamed to compete for the Olympic crown. The Roman patrician, however, was sel- dom found in the arena.- Certainly the Greeks possessed a cleaner play life than did the Romans, and this higher order of amusement was also ac- companied by a higher refinement. The downward course in the pleasure life of the ancient world from the Olympic games to the ig- noble scenes of the Roman amphitheater is noted by the historian. The lack of discrimination in the kind of amusements, and the accompanying dissipations of an effete civilization, wrought ruin to great and mighty nations. Present-day history is not without examples of nations destroyed by their pleasures. Spain has held to her bull-fights, her cock-fights, and other debasing cruelties, while her territory has gradually narrowed, and her PLAY A UNIVEESAL INSTINCT 23 country, — in the point of literacy at least, — repre- sents a medieval past. On the other hand, the United States has eliminated the lottery and the duel, and subjected other amusements to more or less strict supervision; it has also developed, through its Christian statesmen, a high code of ethics and public morals. For years our nation has set an example in standing for that world-wide peace which is yet to find full realization on the high plane of human brotherhood, afar from the cruel game of war. CHAPTER II THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY Probably never since the popularity of the Olympic games in ancient Greece has there been such an awakening to the true The present-day t £ i - - 1 j. / . value of play as at the present awakening , "^ ^ time. The discussion of the effect of amusements upon character, once confined to a narrow circle of moralists, is now enlist- ing the interest not only of multitudes of edu- cators and philanthropists, but of thousands every- where by whom national ethics is counted a vital asset. The present revival of the play spirit is in marked contrast to the atmosphere of serious- ness which seems to have been Play in America , j^ • j • n a • j? characteristic of Americans of an a generation ago earlier day. In an article pub- lished in a leading magazine of thirty years ago, Edward Eggleston attempted to defend Americans against the charge of an English writer, that the people of this Western land are " an overworked race, incapable of amusing themselves." The simple pleasures cited by Eggleston as proofs of the ability of our people to play are so trivial 24 THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY 25 that one is inclined to wish that talented man of letters could see present-day America as it goes about to enjoy itself, "While the charge of " grim- ness and lack of joyousness in merrymaking " may have been too sweeping a criticism of our people at that time, it is certain that the changes in the amusement life of America in thirty years would probably now cause a very different estimate to be given. In earlier days it was often customary to think of play as a waste of time, and in the thought of many it was akin to idleness. Beyond the physical exercise derived from sports, there was little value attached to the outdoor games and plays which are now so popular. Doubtless there were many young Americans who had their desire for some coveted form of pleasure " nipped in the bud" with the same irate temper as that mani- fested by the old 'New York gentleman who for- bade his daughters engaging in the newly popular sport of sleighing, or "sleeing" as it was then called. Taking the girls to the attic and compel- ling them to remain seated in rocking-chairs, with windows open that they might have the full benefit of the icy atmosphere, the testy old man cavorted about, cracking his whip over the backs of imaginary steeds. When he judged that his daughters' desire for sleighing was sufficiently cooled off, he took them to the living-room below, where hot drinks were administered and they were 26 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION admonished to thaw out " and leave 'sleeing' for those who were too warm." This tendency toward the serious no doubt in- fluenced early American life to such a degree that sports were considered unseemly, unless there was in them some practical element. Hence we find as the prominent recreations of leading men of a generation ago, hunting, riding, fishing, driving, etc. Only a few indulged in the more frivolous pastimes. Senator Roscoe Conkling had some reputation as a boxer, while Hannibal Hamlin at the age of sixty-three was an expert dancer, and Lyman Trumbull and Schuyler Colfax excelled as croquet-players. The spirit of the age is reflected in the statement of Samuel J. Tilden to a literary friend, when asked concerning his constant seri- ousness of manner, — " / never had any child- hood.'''' Though we would not say that the period in question had no facilities for joy-making, we may be sure that the spirit of sport, even with adults, is more evident to-day than in the days of our fathers. Little more than a generation ago the two in- stitutions, the School and the Church, whose ob- ject was the building of the best character, were doinff nothing to ence of School . ' ^ r^ Al, and Church niimster to the play Me of the young. The system of organized athletics as an element of school and college life was unknown, or at least not generally popular. Former indiffer' THE NEW VALUE OF PLAT 27 In the public school, the activities of the youth outside of book-study were confined to the " pieces '* of the Friday afternoon literary program, or the undirected amusements of the school play- ground. The Church, if not unfriendly to the indulgence of social play, was indifferent regarding its value. Doubtless there were few who would have sym- pathized with the extreme view of the relation between play and religion as expressed by Francke, of Halle, an educational organizer and philanthro- pist of considerable note in the eighteenth century. He said : " Play must be forbidden in any and all of its forms. The children shall be instructed in such a manner as to show them, through the pre- sentation of religious principles, the wastefulness and folly of all play. They shall be led to see that play will distract their minds from God, the Eternal Good, and will work nothing but harm to their spiritual lives." While this extreme was never reached, it is certain that the Church as a whole seemed to think that its duty to mankind was accomplished when it had performed its min- istrations to the soul. If either adults or children desired to play, let them seek elsewhere for the opportunity as well as for direction. For a good many years past the Church has been content simply to point out the dangers of certain forms of amusements, and it has been only within very recent years that any organized effort has been 28 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATIOIJ' made on the part of the various denominations to suggest forms of amusements for young people and to superintend them in their recreations. There is a well developed notion among the leaders of thought that the attitude of Christendom on the subject of amusements has anging i been too negative, and that a more of the Church _ o ' affirmative message better befits the age. As an evidence of the changing senti- ment of the Church in its approach to the amuse- ment question, a comparison of the statements of a leading denomination on the subject, at different periods, may not be out of place. The first utterance was placed in the book of discipline of this great denomination in the year 1872. It forbids, under pain of trial and ex- pulsion, any member of the church from engag- ing in " dancing, playing at games of chance ; attending theaters, horse-races, circuses, dancing- parties ; patronizing dancing-schools ; or taking part in such other amusements as are obviously of misleading or questionable moral tendency." The second declaration of this same denominar tion on the question of amusements was first promulgated in the year 1904. The gist of this declaration follows : " Improper amusements and excessive indulgence in innocent amusements are serious barriers to the beginning of the religious life and fruitful causes of spiritual decline. Some amusements in common use are positively demor- THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY 29 alizing and furnish the first easy steps to the total loss of character. We therefore look with deep concern on the great increase of amusements and on the general prevalence of harmful amusements, and nft up a solemn note of warning and entreaty, particularly against theater-going, dancing, and such games of chance as are frequently associated with gambling ; all of which have been found to be antagonistic to vital piety, promotive of world- liness, and especially pernicious to youth. We affectionately admonish all our people to make their amusements the subject of careful thought and frequent prayer, to study the subject of amuse- ments in the light of theu* tendencies, and to be scrupulously careful in this matter, so as to set no injurious example. . . . We deem it our bounden duty to summon the whole Church to apply a thoughtful and instructed conscience to the choice of amusements, and not to leave them to accident or taste or passion. . . ." The difference between these two declarations marks the changing thought of a generation re- garding the Church's attitude toward the amuse- ment question. The first is prohibitory ; the second is advisory. Then again, this latter dec- laration, while not " throwing down the bars," as many of the more liberal might wish, permits the individual conscience to assert itself, and is, therefore, somewhat more aifirmative than the former utterance. 30 CHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION Yarious influences have led the Church to a larger regard for the play life of mankind. The Young Men's Christian Associa- Z^llTiT^x^ ^'"''^ ^^^ probably the most effect- to-day ^^® teacher of the need of a gospel that reached the physical and the social side of young men and boys. For many years past it has appealed to the physical side of young life with its gymnasiums, and to the social side by an active interest in sports and amuse- ments. It may be said that with the organization of the wide-spread young peojple^s movement in our churches began the first serious effort to furnish an all-round development for the youth under Christian auspices. Though there were several organizations more or less local in character pre- vious to that time, the new era of the Church's interest in youth began with the rise of the Chris- tian Endeavor movement in 1881. A number of denominational societies also sprang up, each, in common with the Christian Endeavor, having a department of work specially devoted to the directing of the recreation of its members. Yalu- able suggestions concerning proper amusements are constantly given in the periodicals of these young people's societies, and various books of games and plays furnish the basis for a healthy amusement life. We have entered an age where the Church, THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY 31 thoroughly awakened to the needs of the entu-e human being, is endeavoring to touch all sides of the individual. The institutional church, with its multiplied activities and many-sided approach to humanity, is no longer an experiment, and the time will doubtless come when churches every- where will incorporate some of the features of institutionalism. The changed attitude of the Church toward social life has necessitated new equipment. The modern church is built with rooms for social enjoyment and with apparatus for physical development. Often a gymnasium occupies a prominent place in its basement rooms, and many churches are kept open every evening in the week with varied social activities. The white-walled meeting-house, with its properly pointed spire, standing demurely among the marble gravestones of the city of the dead and sheltered by weeping willows, is unfitted to the newer age. The church-building of the present day has lost its sepulchral whiteness, and has moved on to a prominent corner to stand among the living, with open doors each day and night, and with a message of good cheer to all who pass by. This change has not been accomplished without some protest on the part of certain ones who fail to appreciate the spirit of the times. A certain estimable Christian lady, when I showed her the new church kitchen and dining-room and the 32 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION rooms for social recreation, commented that she " always doubted the spirituality of a church that had a basement." Other organizations not directly churchly in character, but often closely affiliated with the church, have likewise come to serve humanity in a new and larger way. Yarious 'brotherhoods^ clubs, and other organizations, many of which had their origin as a result of the new play spirit, are ministering both to the physical education and to the amusement life of their members. The Boy Scouts, the CaTnjp Fire Girls, and other clubs for children and young people, are the offspring of this age of play. Even the Salvation Army, once a distinctively evangelizing organization, is now recognizing the needs of the bodily life of men, and is becoming more social in character. The changed point of vision among moral agen- cies has been accompanied by changes among the educators as well. The public How the school ■, -. j n ^ , ^ , schools and colleges now have a has co-operated . . . big interest in recreation. Edu- cation by plays and games occupies a large place in the earlier years of school life. The story is now the means of teaching where once the text- book held undisputed sway. Every day my boy comes home from school with some new story to tell or some new song to sing. How well I re- member when, as a lad of seven years, I tried to memorize the table of the " two's " by sheer force THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY 33 of will power. But my boy learns his numbers by counting the steps that lead up to the giant's house, or trains his memory in the meaning of number and size by putting blocks or sticks to- gether in curious combinations. And there comes back to me, also, the time when as a boy of ten I sat through a school period of about three hours without a recess, because the children learned " so much meanness " at that time. JSTow the plays of the recess period in many schools are as much a part of instruction as the hours in the schoolroom. The modern teacher believes, with Jane Addams of Hull House, that " the organized games, under the direction of good trainers, develop respect for the rights of others, fau'ness, and self-control; cement the school and homes, and counteract the lawlessness and destructiveness -which are the les- sons of the vacant lot." It is possible that the larger interest of the school in the life of the child may be opposed by some who have more sympathy with the "three E" style of an educational program ; but thoughtful students of the times are glad that the public schools have had an awakening. The introduction of equipment and direction on the school play- ground, the organization of athletics, the varied activities of the school which reach beyond the text-book, are producing a full-orbed character which is the child's best asset. A high-school principal visited a certain town in 34 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION central Nebraska. "While at the hotel he was talking with the proprietor's son, a student in the local high school. He inquired of the boy how he liked the new principal. In answering, the young fellow assured his questioner that he liked him better than any previous teacher, and added, " I've never been so good in school in all my life." He told how the principal had organized a band among the boys, and had introduced athletic teams. He said his own grades were better than ever be- fore because he wanted to take part in the contests. The fear of falling below a certain grade and los- ing his place on the team had accomplished in his case what pleas and threats could not have done. The principal who tells this incident mentions another high school of his acquaintance whose proud boast is that not a boy in the school uses tobacco in any form, because of the high standard required in athletic contests. This physical re- quirement for membership on the teams has no doubt caused a reform that an anti-tobacco crusade would have failed to accomplish. Not only has this renaissance of play affected the work of the Church and the School, but the pub- lic has felt the awakening. The u ic p aygroun s ^^^.-^g from east to west throughout and recreation o centers ^^^ ^^^^^ have equipped and main- tained playgrounds for the chil- dren, with recreation centers for adults as well. The latest report of the Playground and Recreation THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY 35 Association of America (for year ending Novem- ber 1, 1913) shows 2,4:02 playgrounds and recrea- tion centers maintained in 342 cities. To supervise these 6,318 paid workers were employed, of whom 2,462 were men and 3,856 were women. In 111 of the cities the work is supported by municipal funds ; in 110 by private funds ; in 115 by both municipal and private funds ; while in six cities the source of support is not given. It will be seen that the financial side of this universal play endeavor is no small consideration when we learn that the cost of this work during the year was $5,700,223. Besides this, the bond issues for rec- reational purposes during the year are reported, in 20 cities, as amounting to the total sum of $2,358,000. In 45 cities land and buildings have been given for playground and recreational pur- poses, which, in 26 of these cities alone, amounted in value to $196,400. Aside from the cities in which the recreational work has been carried on by paid helpers, over 300 other American cities reported to this Association the beginnings of a play organization and playground work either under paid or volunteer workers. The interest in the new movement has mani- fested itself also in the legislative measures which have been passed concerning recreation. Not long ago the only laws on the subject to be found on the statute-books were those designed to protect society from objectionable amusements. 36 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION But since our lawmakers have come to realize the social value of recreation, new laws concerning this important feature have been Legislation ■, . • i i i i , passed m considerable number. concerning play ^ There are now, — according to data furnished by the Kussell Sage Foundation, — 16 states in which recreational laws are in force. At first these laws were merely permissive in charac- ter; — acts giving authority to municipalities to acquire land for park and playground purposes, or to permit the use of school-buildings and grounds for recreational purposes, or to allow the appro- priating of funds for the general purpose of recrea- tion. Later, laws more mandatory in character were passed, providing for park boards, recreation commissions, etc. In one case, at least, a provi- sion was made by which each municipality might vote on the question of having playgrounds main- tained at public expense. One state had before its legislature, for consideration, a bill providing for recreation districts in rural communities. All these legislative measures indicate the tendency of the times: — that society has the right to play; and that play is being recognized as a natural function which, rightly directed, shall mean as much for the welfare of the people as industry or intelligence. A close association between play and labor has been discovered in this newer age. It has been found that the child who has been trained to play THE NEW VALUE OF PLAY 37 has also been educated to work. The same faculties used in play are used in work. More- over, by the combination of work Relation between , , << • . and play, — as, tor mstance, m play and work r j t ^ j manual training, — labor has lost its drudgery and become an interesting occupation. The further need of recreation as a rest from the sterner responsibilities of life, bringing new strength to body and brain, makes it essential that we link together play and labor, each a useful servant of mankind. Dr. Kussell H. Conwell tells a beautiful story which illustrates this close connection between play and work. A pious old Arab, who lived to the age of a hundred years, made it his duty to go to the temple every day to pray. He got there safely each morning, for, as he came out into the city, a beautiful angel took him and led him by the hand. He went forth happy each day, but always returned home sad, for every night as he left the temple there came behind him a terrible form that fol- lowed him to his house, and filled him with fear and trembling. On one certain day, — the day be- fore his death, — as he was making his last journey from the temple, the shadow-form came up behind him, put her hand upon his shoulder, and spoke to him. The old Arab said, " I seem to recognize that voice. Yes, it is the voice of the lovely angel who guides me in the morning to prayer." The form answered, " I am that angel who guides you 38 CHAEACTER THROUGH RECREATIOlSr every morning to prayer, and I would have guided you home every night, but you were afraid. You saw me in the morning in the light, but when you returned from the temple I was in the shadow." The impulses that lead men to labor are the same that must lead them to play, — a vital in- terest in the personal well-being, and a desire for the best rounded life, of the social organism of which they are a part. CHAPTER III THE EEA OF AMUSEMENT "We are living in the great amusement age. Modern history has probably never seen a time when the people, — all the people, America " amuse- , i .• ^ A „ — spent as much time and money ment mad " r j in the effort to enjoy themselves as do the American people to-day. Sport has be- come a business and pleasure is for sale. The simpler pastimes of a former generation are no longer satisfying. The thought of real benefit or of lasting enjoyment finds little place in the mind of the modern pleasure-seeker. The present-day American buys not only predigested food, but ready-made and predigested pleasure. It has been said, with much semblance of truth, that the pres- ent age is " amusement mad." The carefully made estimates of the number of those who regularly attend the public places of amusement are almost unbeliev- opu an y o e ^^^^ .^ their magnitude. The movmg-picture ° moving-picture show counts its audiences by the millions and shows no signs of relaxing its hold upon the interest of the lovers of amusement. It is by far the leader in point 39 40 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION of general attendance and business success. The daily attendance in 1908 was estimated at 4,000,- 000, only four years later had doubled, and is still increasing at a rapid rate. While in 1911 there were said to be 10,000 places in the country where motion pictures were exhibited, the most recent estimates place the number at not less than. 17,000. The picture plays are pre-eminently the amuse- ment of the children and the youth. It is inter- esting to note the tabulated results in investiga- tions concerning the prevalence of the attendance of children at the moving-picture theaters. In Providence, K. I., it was discovered that out of 2,364 children in the grammar-school grades, only 156, — or about 15 per cent., — did not at- tend. In Lincoln, ]S'eb., an investigation by the Principals' Club of the city schools revealed the fact that 80 per cent, of the pupils from the fourth to the eighth grades are regular attendants. These statistics were gathered early in the school-year of 1913-14, and are probably representative of the present attendance of the children in our American cities. The country districts, of course, do not af- ford the same opportunity for the formation of the habit ; but in every place where moving-pictures are presented, it will be found that there is a large attendance of children. A careful summing up of the patrons of the moving-picture shows, however, indicates that 75 per cent, of the attendants are THE EEA OF AMUSEMENT 41 adults, and 26 per cent, children. This is prob- ably a larger proportion of children than are found present with their parents in any other form of public amusement. No doubt many parents are regular patrons because of the small boy or girl who enjoys the pictured story. The hold of the motion-picture theater upon the masses is such that some have expressed fears that it would in time do away ec upon e -^j^j^ ^-[^q reffular theater. The regular theater *=" , . , larger expense and the higher price which must of necessity be charged, have put the regular playhouse at a disadvantage in its attempts to compete with this cheaper and more popular amusement. "Where it originally took a large company of players and costly equipment to entertain the public, now a single individual with the manipulation of an ingeniously devised ma- chine produces comedy or tragedy with equal ease. So great has been the reaction from the older forms of stage play, that a number of theaters in our large cities, yielding to what seemed the inevitable, are now presenting film plays to larger crowds than would attend their regular dramas. Large companies of actors, too, are spending their time before the moving-picture machine, instead of before the footlights. But in spite of all this, the theater still continues to entertain the many, and there are those who prophesy that the taste for the dramatic, which 42 CHARACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION is being cultivated by the moving-picture shows, will in time make the real play productions of the regular theater more popular than ever. An attempt to estimate the attendance and character of those who attend the theaters of New York City was made during the ome gureso preparations for the Child Wel- attendance ^ ^ fare Exhibit during the winter of 1910-11. The weekly attendance of all theaters in Manhattan borough was found to be 1,760,000. The standard, or high-priced theaters, get only nine per cent, of these, or 158,000. The attend- ance of children at all theaters was 370,000, only about two per cent, of whom were found in the high-priced theaters. By careful observation, the leisure-classes are estimated to compose a little over half the attendance in these standard thea- ters; the business-class 4-5 per cent. ; and the work- ing-class about two per cent. Comparing these figures with like estimates of attendance at the low-priced shows, — which include theaters pro- ducing regular plays at popular prices, as well as the moving-picture theaters and the vaudeville and burlesque houses, — it is found that the working- class largely predominates, and that the attend- ance of the leisure-class is relatively small. While these are only estimates, they were made with serious care, and may be judged as fairly repre- sentative of conditions as they actually exist. The managers of some higher-priced theaters THE EEA OF AMUSEMENT 43 may deplore the fact that the gallery has lost some of its attendants since the inauguration of the cheaper moving-picture show, but there still seem to remain audiences large enough to fill the better seats of the house. A story is told of a gentleman entering a theater one night, when the usher, beckoning him to a seat, said, " This is the way to the pit." The word " pit " was so sug- gestive that the man turned and left the play- house in haste. From the wide patronage of the theater, it is evident that no qualms of conscience have yet seized the amusement-loving public, and that the " pit " will continue to be filled, though the " gallery gods " may have sought a cheaper place of amusement. Next to the theater habit comes the dance as a popular amusement of young people, especially of the later adolescent age. Even in - ,, , childhood the dance seems to have of the dance strong attractions. The authority just quoted tells of the results of the questioning of over a thousand Manhattan children on the subject of dancing. These school-children were between eleven and fourteen years of age, and the results of the two leading questions: "Do you know how to dance?" and "Do you like to dance ? " are given below. Out of 1,253 children answering the first ques- tion, 813 (64 per cent.) answered " yes," and the remainder (36 per cent.) " no." Question two was 44 CHAEACTER THROUGH RECREATION answered by 1,024 (81 per cent.) with " yes," and only 97 (9 per cent.) said tiiey did not like to dance, while 132 (10 per cent.) did not reply to this question. The difference between boys and girls regarding their relation to the dance is in- teresting to note. Of the boys, 543 made reply to the first question, and only 34 per cent, of them knew how to dance. Of the girls, — 710 in num- ber, — 88 per cent, knew how to dance. A more even division occurs in the answers to the second question, 85 per cent, of the boys and 96 per cent, of the girls saying " yes." These figures seem to indicate that girls acquire the dancing habit earlier than boys, and that as a form of amusement it appeals more to them. However, as these were all young children, doubtless in a few years many of the boys and girls listed as non-dancers will have taken up this amusement. A classification of the same children by school-grades points to this result. The boys below the seventh grade, — most of them under thirteen years, — had among them only 30 per cent, who had learned to dance. In the sixth and seventh grades 44 per cent, were listed among the dancers. The wide prevalence of the dancing habit may be judged by the fact that in every large city there are many dancing-academies and public dance-halls, while throughout the country dis- tricts it is a popular pastime with great multi- tudes. The extremes to which this pleasure THE EEA OF AMUSEMENT 45 mania has gone during recent months have called forth large comment from the newspapers, and the pulpit and platform as well, attracting gen- eral attention to the increasing popularity of this form of amusement. Not only do the crowds flock to the indoor pleasures of the theater and the dance, but out- door sports attract their due Baseball and , . o xi • j. tt x proportion of enthusiasts. V ast crowds of people, rivaling in num- bers and interest the populace that thronged the Roman Coliseum in the days of old, share the de- light of the American game of baseball when "the season" is on. The sympathetic interest with which the devoted " fan " supports his team, his frenzy over defeat, and his wild glory over victory, are similar to the excitement of the crowd of " bulls " and " bears " on the stock ex- change. Upon the opening of the high schools and colleges in the fall, the game of football also attracts large crowds. Where once these games were the amateur amusement of the young men of a neighborhood, now it is customary to import skilled players from a long distance with a high salary for the season's work. The financial ele- ment enters so largely into these games, as well as into other sports, that the school or college having a successful team finds it a means of financial profit, as well as a great advertising medium. 46 CHARACTEE THROUGH RECREATION The list of the forms of American play might be prolonged almost indefinitely, for their num- ber is legion. The stage is occu- pied not only by the rearular actors, pleasures ^ i , but by the showman, the enter- tainer, the lecturer, and the musician ; who, with myriad other attractions, amuse and interest the thousands who give them audience. The physical sports of the times are so varied that many forms of exercise might be enumerated. In the home or social circle, or in the public assembly, the amusement-seeking American is also found mak- ing merry with his friends in this way or that. Sometimes it is over the gaming-table ; other times it is through the romping games of child- hood ; often it is as an interested onlooker while others play. A full list of the pleasures of the day is scarcely possible, but it certainly would in- clude the amusement-parks, the menageries, the museums, the playgrounds, the race-tracks, all field-sports, the ice-cream parlors, the candy- stores, and probably even the saloons, — for the desire to "have a good time" lures men and women to the indulgence of appetite. So into a complete consideration of the amusement resources of the country would go everything by which men seek pleasure, whether or not real recreation is attained by the effort. It may be rightly judged that a nation so given to amusements will feel in many ways the effects • THE EEA OF AMUSEMENT 47 of its devotion to the goddess of pleasure. Some of these results are decidedly beneficial and some are unquestionably detrimental. y Fmancially, the business of amus- amusement '' ' ing the American people repre- sents a vast outlay, and the cost must of course be paid by them. We are told that in no other branch of American industry is there so much money invested. The usual expense of the prep- aration and staging of a new play is estimated at over $20,000. If it wins the public favor, the manager may sometimes clear, in a single season, more than $100,000 ; if it fails, he must be a heavy loser. Statistics reveal the fact that the average weekly sum spent in the theaters of New York City exceeds $500,000. Football cost five leading universities in this country, during a recent season, the sum of over $116,000 ; but the receipts from the games were such that these universities cleared over $182,000. One season of baseball in eight eastern cities brought in the sum of $6,000,000, cheerfully spent by devotees of the game. "When we consider these figures, it is no wonder that the commercialized amusement features of our coun- try should be denominated by a facetious para- graph er as " our billion dollar smile." The amount spent for sports in this country would indicate that we are a people much inter- ested in athletics, and we do have a certain kind of interest in them. But, as the critics of our 48 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION amusement life have averred, our interest is second-hand ; a few play or exercise while the multitude are engaged in the very Passive partici- j - - • mi ^ • . . ^, . sedentary occupation oilookmff on. pation in athletics j r o We are not an athletic nation m the same way as are the Germans. In their annual Turner festivals, as many as 20,000 active athletes are on the ground at once. Our amusement life has become largely a mere matter of passive ob- servation. The clerk who has sat at the desk in the office every day during the week gets a Sat- urday afternoon off and goes to the ball-game and sits in the grandstand. Such an interest in ath- letics may produce star athletes, but it does not build muscle for the masses. In part, this affords an explanation why, with all our devotion to the art of recreation, there is still such a prevalence of mental Tension of our -, t i t ,.- and nervous disorders. insane amusement life asylums are crowded and are being frequently increased in size. A tension in our amusement life is maintained equal to the strain of our work-days. Our recreation fails to re- create. In a general way, the overindulgence of amusements seems to be telling on the health of the people. The moving-picture shows are receiv- ing their due share, and perhaps more, of blame, the flickering lights, the exciting scenes, the highly -wrought interest, all tending toward nerv- ous instability. THE ERA OF AMUSEMENT 49 Some extracts from the replies of school-chil- dren at Lincoln, Neb., give insight into the ne7'v- ous effects produced by some of the film plays. A sixth-grade girl says : " The worst thing about these cowboy pictures is the fighting and killing. It makes your head ache and you don't feel like working the next day." A fifth-grade boy says : "Moving-pictures put my sister wrong in her head. She is no good now." A ten-year-old girl gives this reason for not attending : " I never go to moving-picture shows because I do not like them. More than a year ago I went with my big brother. We saw some officers with guns chasing some prisoners. Pretty soon the sheriff shot one of the prisoners. Several men ran up and held him up high so that all could see. It made me sick all over. I covered up my face and did not see the rest of the pictures." Although no question was asked regarding the physical effects of the moving-picture shows, it is of some significance that more than 16 per cent, of the children referred in their answers to the bad physical features, the general sentiment of the remarks being represented by this expression from an eighth-grade girl: "The house smells bad, — it needs fumigating ; and the lights hurt your eyes." While some of our popular amusements may have detrimental physical effect, a more serious charge is brought against them, in that they 50 CHAEAOTER THEOUGH EECEEATION incite to crime and immorality. Cases are not wanting where the pictured crime in a moving- picture show has been duplicated Effect of amuse- j^ s^,ctusil life. The regular theater men s upon ^^^ charged against it, as well, the morals o o ? j promulgation of plays seriously damaging to public morals. The public dance- hall in our cities is known as the breeding-place of vice. The report of the Chicago Yice Commission says that there are approximately 275 such dance- halls in Chicago. Of those investigated it was found that liquor was sold in many with no regard for legal restrictions. Many young boys and girls frequent these places and associate with those who are admittedly vicious in life. The multiplied cases of destroyed character and shattered virtue indicate the need of the elimination of this form of pleasure. Investigations made by the New York Child Welfare Committee show that only about 10 per cent, of the children in the public schools who are accustomed to dance enjoy this amusement in their homes. Of course the dancing-academies and the dance-halls of the great city afford the op- portunity to by far the larger number of the re- mainder. And the conditions of temptation in all large cities are similar to those in Chicago. The moral detriment of the unrestrained amuse- ment life is such that those interested in the pres- ervation of national ethics and purity cannot but declare themselves in favor of a more careful THE EEA OF AMUSEMENT 51 discrimination in the forms of amusement being set before the rising generation. We have need to be glad, however, that there Urgent demand , . i the Swedish nightingale, Madame Goldschmidt, was asked by a friend why she had left the operatic stage. The sun was hanging low in the west, and the talented singer sat with a Swedish Bible upon her lap. Looking thought- fully at the Book on her knee, and then toward the golden glow of the sunset, she replied, " "When that life made me think less of this," — putting her finger on the Bible, — " and nothing at all of that," — pointing to the distant sky of red and gold, which verily seemed like the gates of heaven, — " what else could I do but give it up ? " The life of sport and pleasure has not been con- tent with robbing the mind and soul of its finer furnishings, but has jeopardized . ^^'^ , ° human Life as well. The gladia- circus life ° tors in the Eoman arena are not the only ones who have faced death for the enter- tainment of the public. In present times it is quite popular to risk life in thrilling exhibitions. The parachute leaps, the loop-the-loop riding, ani- mal-training, tight-rope walking, and kindred amusements have as an interesting feature the elements of risk and daring. And many of these 66 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION startling entertainments end in disaster for those employed. Some twenty years ago a woman gymnast in a great circus was chief actor in a spectacular performance in which she was appar- ently shot from a cannon. Simultaneously with the discharge of the powder, a strong spring was released which sent her plunging headlong into the air. Death was finally the result of her hazard. A certain traveling troupe had for its star entertainer an actor who shot an apple from his wife's head. There were many who thought that the fall of the apple, in response to the dis- charge of the revolver, was accomplished by some sleight-of-hand trick. In the early 80's, however, while performing in Cincinnati, the actor actually shot his wife in the head in the process of the act. No more startling performances are given than the dangerous risks taken by animal-trainers in the handling of their ferocious Risks of ani- i . mi i u beasts. Though some may have mal-trainers ° , *' thought that wild animals are drugged before a performance, or that teeth or claws are drawn, such is not the case. Those who handle wild animals constantly take their lives in their hands for the entertainment of the audience. A lion-trainer, who used to drive a herd of twenty-seven lions into the arena, suffered the penalty one day at Coney Island, when a huge brown lion struck savagely at his head and shoulders, and in a moment more he was fighting SPOETS THAT KILL 67 for his life. His right arm was terribly mutilated before he could be rescued, and then followed a long year of nerve-racking pain with three or four serious operations. The dangerous character of wild beasts is heightened, we are told, by that which appears to be weakness on the part of human beings who come near them. Instances are related of lion- trainers who have lost their power over the wild beasts in their charge by appearing before them in an intoxicated condition. A showman once told me of an experience he had had with an ele- phant that manifested great signs of anger when a drunken man came near him. The showman was obliged to get the man away at once, for nothing made the elephant more dangerous than the presence of such an individual. !N^ot alone where wild beasts are defied by rash trainers, or where nature's laws are set aside by foolhardy risk, do we find dangerous sport. Modern athletics furnishes at least one game which has had wide condemnation as a bearer of death and physical hurt. Football has a long list of sorrowful accidents associated with its history. For several years past the writer has kept a record ^ J. . of the newspaper reports of foot- ball fatalities. Allowing even for some exaggeration on the part of sensational re- porters, the figures are damaging testimony 68 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION against the game. The number of deaths re- ported for the season of 1905 was 20, and the seriously injured 184. According to the papers, the season ended with a "well-nigh universal chorus of denunciation." And this after Presi- dent Roosevelt had conferred with the coaches of the leading teams, with a view to eliminating the dangerous features of the game ! The deaths re- ported for the years 1908 to 1914 inclusive are 110, and the injuries total 1,T36.* It is not to be wondered at that some schools have at various times abolished the game, and that, even among the best friends of athletics, there has been much disapproval of football rules. Year by year efforts have been made to secure football reform, as we shall see later, and not without some results of real value. The useless sacrifice of life on the field of sport is usually checked in a local degree when a death occurs. A small western college °°. '^ of this writer's acquaintance did a price ^ not have a football team for sev- eral years after a football death occurred on their team. Every one remembered young Serf, an in- tellectual and popular student, and out of respect to him the college maintained, for the period indi- cated, its opposition to the dangerous sport. The author will not soon forget the story of the death of a strong young fellow from football in- ' New York W^orld Almanac for 1915. SPOETS THAT KILL 69 juries, which came to him from the lips of the broken-hearted father. He was his father's only- son, and the old man was proud of him. Coming home one day, the boy told his father and mother that his high-school team was to play a neighbor- ing high school. The parents had previously ob- jected to the game ; but, waving aside their re- monstrances, the son said, " Oh, I am strong, and it won't hurt me." And he was strong, for he resembled his father in physical characteristics, being just as tall, and of a weight that made him ideally built for the game. A reluctant consent was given, after a promise on the part of the boy that he would cease to play the game after this engagement. " Yes, father," said he, " this will be my last game." In the scrimmage that day, Fred was under the pile, and when the other players got off he did not rise. They took him from the field disabled, to the home a little over a mile dis- tant, and for twelve days he lay between life and death. He was injured internally, and wasted away until death claimed him. And the old man, when telling the story, added in a choking voice, as he looked at the picture of his boy in the best room of the home, " It was his last game, just as he said." CHAPTER V THE GAMBLING MAOTA The excessive devotion to certain forms of play has culminated in the vice of gambling. The gambling mania is widely preva- ong-prev en ^^^^ ^^ ^^ Country at the present vice . •' '^ tmie, and its multiplied forms seem to warrant the assertion of Mulhall, the English statistician, that " Americans have reduced gambling to a science, and carry it on in a most gigantic way." The system of robbery perpetrated by the gambler's art, and the frequency of these unlawful indulgences, are prone to make men think that the vice was never so generally prac- tised as now. But history reveals the fact that the game of chance and the desire for unlawful gain by its use have long been prevalent among the races of men ; and the habit to-day, while wide-spread and harmful, falls far short of the avidity with which it was practised by the people of earlier times. This vice, so alarmingly present among the ancients, has been found in excess as well among later peoples supposed to be much farther ad- vanced in their ethical standards. The lottery, 70 THE GAMBLING MANIA 71 for instance, was once the means of raising money for very respectable uses. We are told that the first lottery of which the world has any reliable record was carried on in England The lottery at the door of St. Paul's Cathedral, in January, 1569. We are some- what surprised and shocked to learn from the records of the past that Harvard College used the lottery to add to its funds in 1794, and that Faneuil Hall, when burned in 1T61, was rebuilt by the assistance of a lottery. The Louisiana State Lottery, a later-day memory, was probably planned after lotteries of England which were so often used to raise public money. Since the gambler's game is very old in char- acter, we naturally find the instruments of the art in very early times. Groos' IS ory o mentions that among: the Greeks dice . ° peculiarly shaped bones from the ankles of sheep, goats, or calves, called astragali, were used. They were four-sided, and might rest on any of the four sides. Both oblong and cubic dice are found among ancient peoples, and it is diffi- cult to tell which is the earlier of the two kinds. Children of the Grecian cities of the West played with the astragali, and they were also in common use in Damascus, the oldest remaining city of the East. In the Berlin Museum there are oblong dice from both India and China. Siamese ' Karl Groos, Play of Man, p. 209. 72 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION youngsters of the present day play with shells, tossmg them in the air after the manner of dice, the contested point being decided by whether the closed side is up or down. Divination was prac- tised by lot. The Bible contains allusions to this, and the Iliad tells of the multitude who waited worshipfully while dice were cast into Agamem- non's helmet to decide who should go forth to fight Hector. Tacitus says that the German priests used to throw dice upon a white cloth as an aid to forecasting future events. A very early origin may likewise be attributed to playing-cards, which, in association with dice, have ever been prominent gam- J blinff instruments. Who first in- cards ° vented cards will probably never be certainly known. Various European countries claim to have been the first to use them. Like chess, to which many assert they are related, they are supposed to be of Eastern origin. It is said that they were introduced into Europe by those return- ing from the Crusades. They were then called Tarots, or Tarocchi. Others say that the new game was introduced into polite society by the Gypsies, who used them in fortune-telling. Both cards and chess are believed to have been known among the Saracens and Arabians from the be- ginning of the twelfth century. China claims to have invented cards in 1120, and to have had them in general use by 1131. Their tradition tells us THE GAMBLING MANIA 73 that they were invented for the amusement of the wives of the Emperor Leun-ho. Chess, as well as cards, was in early times played for a stake. The game has a very ancient origin, and was possibly a pic- rigin o torial or imaginative reproduction CllGSS of the battle-field, on v^hich con- tending armies vied for supremacy. An inter- esting tradition concerning the origin of the game says that it was first played for the amusement of an Oriental king, with lim7ig figures, who were re- quired to move at command from one to another of the large squares of a tiled court, while the balconies around held those who watched the game. Such a game was evidently so complex and cumbersome that the living figures gave place to pieces of appropriate form, made of wood or ivory. The story of the living chessmen reminds us that living objects have also been common in all parts of the world as the instruments of gambling. The cock-fight, the bull-fight, the prize-fight, the horse-race, — all these have been the means of loss or gain to uncounted multitudes. The Greeks bred game-cocks with great care ; Tangara, Ehodes, Chalcis, and Delos are named as having especially celebrated breeds. During the Middle Ages many European cities had their cock-fights where betting was rife, and in numerous places such conditions have continued to later times. 74 CHARACTER THROUGH RECREATION On the American occupation of the Philippines, cock-fighting was found to be a prominent sport of the natives. A writer on social conditions in the Orient says, " Gambling is in the very atmosphere of the East." With all the devas- ^^^,. tatinff immoral influences of to- gambling ° day, it is probable that recent times cannot show more serious conditions than were common in the earliest days when gambling knew not the restraints of law and high moral standards. The subtle charm of gambling among the ancient Germans, Tacitus tells us, was such that when they had lost everything else they would stake their freedom, and even their lives, upon the last throw. Another writer gives a long list of illustrations from German life, in which the clothes upon the backs of the players, their freedom, and that of their wives and chil- dren, their own lives, and even the salvation of their souls were all risked in the passion for play. In support of the statement that gambling is a universal Aryan trait, Groos mentions the Indian poem of JS^ala and Damayanti. Nala, under the control of a hostile demon, loses, while gambling with Pushkara, his ornaments, his jewelry, his horses, his wagons, and his clothes. For months the reckless playing goes on, his wife and follow- ers meanwhile trying to restrain his madness. He loses all his property and finally his kingdom. THE GAMBLING MANIA 75 Pushkara, laughing loudly at his rival's condition and his evident discomfiture, cries out to him to put up his wife, Damayanti. But IS'ala, now come to his senses, rises from the table, and, stripped of everything else, walks away with his faithful consort. The prevalence of gambling in modern life causes grave concern among those who are work- ing for the uplift of social con- ditions. The sporting life of America to-day is so interwoven with the shoddy fabric of the gambling habit, that it is difficult to find the genuine article. Games that are otherwise helpful have been ren- dered damaging to character by the ever-present temptation to betting. Baseball, which has been brought to such scientific perfection so far as the details of the game are concerned, is so constantly attended with this vice that a considerable number of the crowd of onlookers have only a selfish and financial interest in the game. Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, a prominent Harvard graduate of 1873, and recently in government employ, spoke at a public meeting a few years ago of his attendance at an intercollegiate ball-game. He said that every collegian he met seemed to have a bet on the game, and that he himself was asked in a casual way how much he " had on it." Not only is this gambling carried on at the game itself, but the public at large is keeping track of the game's 76 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION progress through the nmch-demanded " sporting edition " of the daily newspaper ; and each game causes the transfer of large amounts of money, though the ones participating in the gambling may be far from the actual scene. Other out- door sports, too, are made the instrument of the wager, and games otherwise clean thus become the prey of the lawless. The society life of our cities is pervaded by the same spirit of unlawful gain, for the parlors of the rich are full of those who are gambling for stakes of various society o ° sizes. A New York paper tells the story of the raiding of a social club at Narra- gansett in the early hours of Sunday morning, where a gambling-game was going on among several of the prominent men and women of the summer resort. The gambling instruments were seized and the game was broken up. The leading society women composing the company pleaded that their names be kept from the public. This little picture of evil in high society gives but a faint idea of the devotion of the masses in the so- called respectable circles to the roulette- wheel and the gambler's paraphernalia. As a result of this surrender of womanly instincts to the gambling- craze, various leading newspapers have roundly denounced the women who spend their time in "bridge whist" or "euchre" to the neglect of the better associations of home and family life. THE GAMBLING MANIA 77 Eace-track betting is a favorite form of amuse- ment. Indeed, racing is so closely associated with gambling that when the move- The race- .-.■,..• ment against bettmg was on m New York under Governor Hughes' administration, the racing-men said plainly that if gambling were prohibited the racing too must stop. The Jockey Club issued a pamphlet entitled, The Truth About Racing, which said, " The question of betting on horse- racing is one of morals ; " and reasoned, " There is no more element of immorality in betting upon a thoroughbred test of speed than is connected with election-betting, wagers on poker and bridge whist, or speculation upon the rise and fall in the price of stocks." Thus do we find the various forms of gambling. And doubtless each participant in his particular kind of sport has persuaded him- eginmng ^^ ^j^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ worse " than to gamble some other indulgence of which he is not guilty. The beginnings of the gambling mania are found in child life ; such as " match- ing " or " tossing " pennies, or the playing of marbles "for keeps." Concerning the latter, it may be of interest to note that Judge Kendall, of Washington, D. C, has handed down a decision declaring it to be gambling. From gambling for pennies or marbles the transition is easy to the card-game with the " penny-ante " and then on to 78 CHARACTER THROUGH RECREATION games for higher stakes, and still later to the poker-game and the equipment of the modern gambler. The fact that gambling is usually hidden from the eyes of the public, and evades, with Satanic skill, the officers of the law, is ,, , sometimes inclined to make the methods general public believe that little of it exists. But investigation will reveal that nearly every country community has its private coterie who nightly gather about the gaming- tables in secluded places ; while in the large cities the deadly infatuation possesses the multitudes. The secrecy attendant upon the vice of gambling, and the adventurous spirit which invests it in the minds of adolescent boys, make them the easy prey of the professional gambler. It is in the adolescent period that boys are found engaged in the game for a small money-stake. Often these young fellows are from the so-called " best fami- lies " of the city. l^ot long ago I was in the capital city of a cer- tain western state. It is a city especially noted for its intellectual advantages, and A high-school . , ., , „ ., , , , , , , . prides itseli upon its moral atmos- boys poker-club ^ ^ phere. A friend of mine, — closely associated with the uprooting of evil from the city and the state, — asked me if I should like to see the rendezvous of a band of high-school boys, who frequently gathered for their quiet poker- THE GAMBLING MANIA 79 game. The high-school secret society is prohib- ited in this city ; but, evading the officers and dis- obeying the school authorities, the boys had secured for their meeting-place a room in one of the large office-buildings. The outside door gave no sign of what was within. Each member was admitted by a peculiar knock, known only to the initiated. Though we were not members of the fraternity, my friend took me to a place from which the whole interior of the room was visible. It was unoccupied at the time. A very dirty carpet covered the floor. On the wall were pic- tures of various degrees of lewdness. In a promi- nent place hung a skull and cross-bones, with the Greek letter name of the order on a pennant near by. Several chairs were scattered around the room. In the center was a small table on which lay a deck of cards, with a pile of poker-chips, partly on the table and partly on the floor. Over the floor were strewn tobacco-sacks, cigarette stubs, and various debris. In the clandestine associations of this unkempt place some of the boys of the best families were taking their first lessons in gambling. It would not seem necessary to argue that the moral influence of such practices as we have briefly outlined is dangerous to A menace to i i ^ i personal character and menacma: society ^ ° to society. The breakdown of the devotees of the various forms of gambling is noted by those who come into contact with its 80 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION effects. A number of years ago Superintendent of Police Byrnes of E"ew York City said, "We are sending men to prison right along on account of the race-gambling craze." The New Yorh Times a few years back devoted a column article to the " Victims of the Kace-Track." A long list of forgeries and embezzlements was given, all at- tributable to gambling. Chauncey M. Depew says : " A considerable portion of failures in busi- ness, and ninety per cent, of the defalcations and thefts are due to gambling." Doubtless the story of ruin which was told in the recent confession of a defaulting bank-cashier is but one of the thousands of such recitals that might be given. He said : " The Saturday I left the bank for the last time, I took with me $7,900 that was not mine. I knew that the bank-exam- iner would be around next week, and that I would have to make a semi-annual statement, when an apparent shortage of $13,000 would be discov- ered. Therefore I took the money, determined if possible to make up my shortage. I went to the only place where I knew that money could be made quickly, for I had no time to lose. I went to a gambling-house and played roulette. I won and lost and won again. Finally chance seemed to be turning in my favor. I had in front of me, in chips and money, the $7,900 and $3,000 be- sides. It seemed to me the time had come to strike, and I struck. I put up everything I had. THE GAMBLING MANIA 81 The wheel went round and round and I grew dizzy watching it. The little ball dropped into one of the niches, — and I had lost. That was the end." The varied forms of gambling are alike de- structive to the better things of character. The gambler loses interest in those Disastrous to , t v i-i i -i • j: -i whom he should love ; his family crtsr&ctcr circle, his wife and children, — all are secondary to his plundering art. It saps the soul of the principles of honesty, and undermines the otherwise noble character. Selfish interest and a blind devotion to the habit that is proving his destruction lure the gambler on. The counsel of his best friends, the principles of true manhood, regard for law and decency, and love for God and man, are all consigned to the scrap-heap of a for- gotten past. He rushes to his destruction. He has not even the miser's regard for money, for the stakes are easily won, and often it matters little to him when they are lost. JSTot even life itself is sacred, for the gambler hesitates neither to spill the blood of his fellow-man, nor to cast away his own life when in despair or danger. The blasted hopes and wrecked characters of those who follow the goddess of play to final de- struction are depicted in the stories rea i g ^^^^ come from the celebrated the supply Monte Carlo. Beautiful for situa- tion, but full of danger, is the resort of the tour- ist, — that little town of Monaco. Here annually 82 CHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION almost uncounted thousands come to view the beauties of the luxurious gardens, and to gaze upon and perhaps join in with the eager throngs who stake fortunes on the turn of a wheel. The celebrated preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon, was once asked by the aggressive and courteous man- ager of the famous resort if he had visited their wonderful place. The clergyman answered in the negative, and explained that, as he did not join in such games, he felt that he could not trouble them to provide him entertainment as their guest. The astute manager replied that such a thought need not trouble him ; " for," said he, " thousands visit our gardens who take no part in the games ; and indeed if it were not for these, we could not keep our institution going." Such a policy of non-participation would help to eliminate the unhappy feature of gambling from our American games, and make ^ "^ for sports that are clean and up- course ^ ^ lifting. "When pleasure reaches the bounds of dissipation, and unites itself to the immoral and vile, it is time for those who value character above ill-gotten gain to separate them- selves from the things that work disaster and ruin. CHAPTER Yl THE SUPERVISION OF PLAY The interests of society demand proper control of the normal functions of life. Unrestrained good becomes as dangerous to human welfare as positive evil. The excesses to which play may be carried demand that the amusement life shall have proper direction and control. Like every other natural instinct it is only of value when under such control. The attitude of educators, parents, ministers, and the multitudes of thoughtful students of social betterment, is therefore not the Supervision rather i -i •,• <• i i < i .u u-u-.- prohibition or play, but rather its than prohibition ^ r j 5 supervision. True, there may be some features of the play life, which, like the parasitic life of the animal and vegetable king- doms, must be cut off and destroyed. But the natural function itself should be preserved and directed in such a way that its value shall be evinced in the larger development of human character. It has been questioned whether there should be any adult interference in child play. Since play is a normal process, say some, why not let the child follow his own desires ? A few years ago Con- 83 84 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION gress was asked for an appropriation for play- grounds. The request was denied, one ground of objection being that supervised Is supervised play , j ^ r\ r^ , , play was unnatural. One Con- unnatural ? r J gressman is reported to have said in the debate on the question : " You might as well try to teach fishes to swim as children to play." In reply to these objections, it is only necessary to turn to the experiences of life, both animal and human, for our answer. "We find A lesson from ,. -i -i . -i <> j- <• ^ ^. ^ there that the natural functions or the birds life are supervised by the parent. A bird is taught to sing its distinctive song by those of its kind. Prof. Scott, of Princeton Uni- versity, in his experiments with young birds, clearly demonstrated this. Blackbirds' eggs were hatched in an incubator and the birds brought up by hand. During their infancy they never heard the song of the adult blackbird. When they at- tempted to sing, they tried to copy the crowing of a bantam rooster, which had been frequently heard by them, and gave as nearly as possible an imitation of the bantam's crow. A song sparrow raised by goldfinches took up the song of the gold- finch, and forsook its own natural note of melody. From such experiments as these it is believed that the young copy their song from the parent-bird, thus passing it along through generations. In this connection, we note also the statement made by careful investigators that the song of the THE SUPERVISION OF PLAY 85 sparrow is so different in various parts of the coun- try that an expert finds it possible to tell the na- tivity of the bird from its song. This fact goes to show that birds get their song from their im- mediate ancestors rather than by a universal in- heritance. Some Baltimore orioles were raised without opportunity to mix with their kind. When the time came for mating and nest-making, they were given pieces of string and straw, but they only took them and laid them in a shapeless pile. For lack of teaching, they were not able to put them together into their usual quaint and beauti- ful nest. The mature eagle naturally flies swiftly and is at home in the air in storm or calm ; but the young eagle has to be pushed out of the nest when the time comes to fly. The habits of animals are also regulated by influences outside of their own volition. The otter, so the story goes, was once Illustrations from , , . , ,. i i ,i . , ,.^ a land-animal entirely : and the animal life -^ ' young otter, — perhaps reverting to early instincts, — has such dread of the water that it has to be taken upon the back of the mother into the stream. Animals teach their young to play as well. The house cat, moving her tail that the kittens may jump for it, is giving an early play lesson in the capture of a mouse ; the old dog, romping with the puppy and show- ing it how to grasp and hold its prey, is imparting knowledge through the play function. Scotch- 86 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION terriers in fighting have a certain way of grasping the hind leg of the other dog. Il^aturalists have noted that the Scotch-terriers not brought up with the parent, or among their own kind, do not do this. The most common functions of life among hu- man beings are under the direction of the parent. The satisfying of appetite, the Parental direction ,,. ,. ^ i i •. n ^ ^• cultivation of habits of cleanli- needed ness, the manner of creeping or walking, the hours of sleep, — all are regulated for the child by the parents. The manner of play is capable of the same direction, and it is the judg- ment of competent authorities that the child who does not have this direction suffers in character growth. Instances are not wanting where the element of play in child life has been so largely influenced by environment and teaching as dren wo ^^ change its character, or even did not know ° . , , . , * i i i how to play suppress it entirely. A lady who visited over one hundred orphan- asylums to study the character of the children, says that where children were taken young and brought to the institution without having the advantage of previous association with other chil- dren, they were wholly ignorant of the elements of play. When playtime came they would rush about, push each other, pick up dirt from the pavement, and in other ways show that they did not know how to play. Mr. E. W. Lord, in an THE SUPERVISION OF PLAY 87 address before the Playground and Eecreation Association of America, tells of a Southern lady who determined to treat some young mill-opera- tives to a visit to her beautiful home in the country. Here, away from the incessant toil of the factory, they were to have a period of recrea- tion and rest. She turned the girls and boys into the woods to play, but what was her distress and amazement to find that they did not know how to play, and were even ignorant of the meaning of the word ! The treadmill of toil had stolen the elasticity from their steps, and the greed of man had bartered away their heritage of youth- ful joy. Deficiencies have been noted in the play life of children raised apart from other children, even when the environment has been morally good. Dr. Luther H. Gulick gives an example of this : A group of missionary's children had lived with their parents in a foreign land, apart from other children. Their play life had been wholly in connection with their parents. While their moral ideals were good and the notion of individual righteousness seemed well developed, their ideas of social righteousness, — the rights of others, — were deficient. They lacked the element of "team-work" in play, so essential to the devel- opment of the true social character.' ' Dr. Luther H. Gulick, Proceedings, National Playground Association, vol. III, p. 293. 88 OHAEACTEE THEOUGH EEOEEATION Having thus evidenced that the natural func- tions of life are influenced by others, and not merely subject to the individual Play direction ^-^^ ^^^^^^ -^ -^ ^^^ ^^^ ^f ^^^^^ young pelpie ^^ ^^J *^^^ humanity beyond the years of childhood needs direction and assistance in the recreational life. Indeed, there is ho place where the adolescent is more likely to go astray than in his amusements. And even those older in years cannot but be bene- fited by some suggestions as to what is best in amusement life, as well as by the setting forth of some ways to eliminate the mediocre and menacing forms of pleasure from the recreational program. A generation ago an honest inquirer would have found little assistance in a search for sug- gestions as to the use of his time outside of work- ing-hours. There were plenty to teU him that he should work, and some to tell him where he might do it ; but few had any significant message as to how or where he should play, l^ow, however, the earnest desire of the young and inexperienced for direction in recreation is being met by multi- plied agencies. For the world has awakened to the moral value of recreation as a builder of good citizenship. Dr. Luther H. Gulick, former Di- rector of Physical Education in the l^ew York City public schools, voicing the new estimate of recreation, says: "The morality of any com- THE SUPEEVISION OF PLAY 89 munity is closely related to the way in which people spend their leisure time." For the sake, then, of the moral life of the citi- zen, and his general effectiveness as a member of a social community, it is of great fhf TfmoX" ^^^'^^ *^^^ P^^^ ^® ?^^®^ adequate picture fi^r"^" oversight and direction. The pres- ent censorship of moving-picture films was brought about by a committe working under the direction of the People's Institute of New York City, which several years ago made a thorough investigation of the cheap theaters. It was found that a quarter of a million people at- tended the shows every day. The magnitude of the business, and the fact that there was much complaint concerning the character of films shown, seemed to demand some oversight. Acceding to this public demand, as well as to the request of film manufacturers and theaters exhibiting the films, the National Board of Censorship was organized by the People's Institute in 1909. The Board is composed of a general committee of rep- resentatives from 20 civic organizations, which include the People's Institute, the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, the Federation of Women's Clubs, etc. Various other public-spirited individuals also serve on the general committee. From this general committee is chosen the Censorship Committee of 105 members. This body is divided into five sub- committees, which sit 90 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATIOK in judgment on the films at least five days in the week. 'No member of the Board is connected with the moving-picture business, and no voting member draws a salary. They all contribute their services in the interest of public morality. A statistical state- ment furnished by the Board shows that during the year ending January 1, 1915, they examined a total of 5,T70 subjects for the first time. Of these over nine per cent, were returned to the manufacturers for suggested changes. Seventy- nine subjects were condemned in tofo, and even after being remade by the company submitting them, 27 were finally rejected. That these neces- sary changes represented no small cost to the manufacturer is indicated by the fact that the first value of the film negatives destroyed amounted to over $150,000, while the selling-price of the films thus kept off the market totaled more than $350,000. Very strict rules govern the decisions of the Board ; — the obscene, the irreverent, and pictures having a deleterious effect upon child-character are debarred. Theirs is not an easy task, and since the censors are human, they may make mis- takes. A comparatively small number of uncen- sored films are also being shown throughout the country, a few smaller film concerns not having submitted to the decisions of the committee. The Board issues each week a bulletin of approved plays, which is sent out to city officials, social THE SUPEEVISIOH OF PLAY 91 organizations, and individuals. The Kational Board encourages the organization of local cen- sorship boards, in order that each community may have oversight according to its peculiar needs. Two instances of films passed by the National Board of Censors, and " held up " by the authori- ties may be given. A picture play was prepared on Jules Yerne's Michael Strogoff^ a story of life in Siberia. This was passed by the censors, but objected to by the Chicago police, they contending that the portrayal of the burning out of Strogoff's eyes was too gruesome an exhibition of cruelty. The method of the preparation of the film was of course very ingenious, as the actor representing Strogoff was seated with his back to the audience, while his captors drew a red-hot iron across in front of his eyes, the man blowing smoke from his mouth to make the illusion complete. The police, however, held up the film the first time it was presented. A very forceful picture film. The Fly^ presented at Indianapolis, was at first barred out because of its objectionable scenes. It was re- stored by the city Board of Health, however, on account of its educational value. These instances show how the vigilance of the law and the active moral forces are safeguarding the public morals. The regular theater has come in for its share of critical examination, and some effort has been made to bring it under a stricter moral and legal 92 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION control. The effect of theatrical life upon child- actors, already spoken of, has had legal recognition, and in some states laws and court Local supervision j • • << i • i . i i - ^ decisions lorbid the employment of theaters ^ -^ of young children on the stage. Some smaller cities and towns have taken up the idea of a censorship of the plays presented in their local theaters. The pioneer in this effort was, I believe, Plainfield, N. J. The mayor of that city appointed a committee of six to investi- gate the amusement places of the town. In order that not only actual, but possible conditions might be noted, they visited as well the theaters of JSTew York City and there viewed the various popular plays with the idea of finding out which were desirable, and which should be denied entrance to their local theaters. The managers of the local playhouses willingly co-operated with the com- mittee, and when their report was made were glad to abide by it. Such a plan of local control of the amusement places of the smaller city is enthusias- tically recommended by those who have studied its effects. A new plan of theatrical censorship and control is found in the "municipal theater." Such a theater is already common in th ^ ™"'^^"^ Europe, but Northampton, Mass., seems to be the first in this coun- try to have taken it up. Through the generosity of a prominent citizen, and the united assistance of the THE SUPEEVISION OF PLAY 93 city authorities and the faculty of Smith College, located in that city, a company of actors has been brought together who are constantly occupied in presenting various plays at the municipal theater, — a building given for the purpose. The actors make their home in the city, having all the benefits of a permanent residence and the social recognition of the community. The character of all plays must be approved by the supporters of the movement and popular enough to please the general public. The plays are also changed from week to week. This arrangement is recommended as most desir- able for the actors employed, who are thus relieved of constant traveling and given the benefit of a permanent home. From the standpoint of the community, the results are said to be satis- factory. The experiment will be watched with interest by those who believe that the theater may be purified from objectionable features. Al- ready we are told that civic theaters of a similar pattern have been started in Pawtucket, R. I., and Pittsfield, Mass. Eecreation in other lines is also provided under municipal control. Several years ago ]^ewark, N. J., started a regular municipal Newark municipal „ . , i m i <■ > i i camp for the poor children of that camp ^ ^ city. The plan was the outgrowth of one-day excursions, the expense of which was at first met by popular subscription. Later a Com- mittee on Public Outing was appointed, whose 94 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION members took charge of the annual excursion. In 1905 a municipal summer camp was organized, and the state legislature, by special enactment, permitted the city to appropriate $5,000 annually for the health and recreation of its sick and needy. A farm consisting of eleven and a half acres was purchased at Neptune Heights, N. J., near Avon- by-the-Sea, and on it the camp was located. There are suitable buildings for administration and dormitory purposes, and the camp is open dur- ing the summer months. From 1,500 to 2,000 children are yearly entertained there, the expense of transportation and care being paid by the city. Each child spends a week at the happy retreat, and the comfort of the little guests is closely looked after. Newark seems to be the first city to have adopted this excellent outing plan. It deserves wide emulation. Newark, like other cities, has also taken a large interest in the public playground movement, having a Playground Commission ap- pointed by the mayor, which maintains two city playgrounds, in addition to the number under the control of the Park Commission and the Board of Education. The playgrounds have in their pro- gram of activities such features as industrial work, kitchen-gardening, library and game-room, athletics and gymnastics, military companies, folk-dancing, drills and plays of various kinds. The playground movement, referred to previ- THE SUPERVISION OF PLAY 96 ously, is one of the specially commendable fea- tures of play supervision. An increasing num- ber of these playgrounds are reported from year to year. In 1910, 35 cities started e p aygroun playp;rounds for the first time : in movement jt ./ o ' 1911, 40 more were added ; in 1912, 43 ; while during 1913 the children in 70 cities were given playgrounds. Though no summary of the work of the Play- ground and Recreation Association of America has been published since November, 1913, we learn from their circulars that during the year preceding April 30, 1914, 11 leading cities in the United States, representing a population of 1,500,- 000, had the assistance of the field-secretaries of the Association in establishing recreational sys- tems. Twenty more cities, with a total population of more than 2,000,000, were also in the midst of campaigns for the establishment of year-round recreational facilities. Out of 1,050 cities making report to the Association, 642 were active in the playground movement during the year. It is to be regretted that only 83 cities employed play leaders for the full twelve months. The belief of the Association is that every city needs play cen- ters throughout the entire year, and they plead for a capable play director in each city, who shall give his full time to the work of recreation among the young, just as the school-superintendent gives his entire time to the work of education. 96 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION The boards of education in our various cities, and the instructors in the public schools have united heartily in the playground Co-operation of j. tti • j.i n .1. \-i- u 1 movement. Lven m the smaller the public school towns the school playgrounds are being equipped with apparatus, and teachers direct the play of the children. There is upon the part of teachers everywhere the feeling that the school must have a closer contact with the recreational life of the community, as well as with that of the child. Clarence Arthur Perry, of the Department of Child Hygiene of the Kussell Sage Foundation, asserts that recreation is the point of contact be- tween the parent and the teacher. With this be- lief in mind, associations similar to the Home and School League of Philadelphia, or the Boston Home and School Association, have been formed. By the aid of these associations the various school- buildings are opened as social centers for parents and children, with entertainments and social gatherings on several evenings of each week. This plan seems destined to grow in general favor, until school-buildings everywhere shall be the centers of safe and supervised play for the growing child. The oversight of the amusement life of the young ought to be in capable hands. When it is not, there is a signal failure, which is most dis- couraging both to the adult and to the child. A certain country village, under the auspices of the THE SUPEEVISION OF PLAY 97 Commercial Club of the place, established a gym- nasium and social club-rooms for the boys and young men. There was no leader Capable leaders -j i j -,1 . j- j.- provided, and without direction necessary ^ ' the endeavor did not prosper well. Finding it necessary to have oversight, the busi- ness men decided to ask the four ministers of the town each in turn to spend an evening as director of the recreation rooms. But the boys left one by one, and finally the ministers found themselves practically alone. One of the boys in confidence told the chairman of the committee that "^Ae yellows didnH want the ^ pinhead preachers'' huttin' in^ Unfortunately the possession of moral quali- ties, without other fitness, does not equip one to be an overseer of amusements for the young. To lead the youth in their recreational life takes adaptation to young life, the wisdom and tact of natural leadership, with the added charm of an upright and manly character. Given these quali- ties, with a firm belief in the value of the task, the results for good will be tremendous. A principle ever recognized by those most insistent on the supervision of the play of the young is that there should be A Wtr . . maintained a sympathetic touch. essential ^ -^ A friend of mine, who has been for some time a specialist in boys' club work, says : " It is work with boys, and not work for boys, that is needed." At first there may not seem to 98 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EEOBEATION be mucli difference in the expressions, but con- sideration will show that the " with " plan repre- sents the successful method. In the oversight of the play life, the parent, the educator, the minis- ter, or whoever may interest himself in the sub- ject, must cultivate a close relation to the objects of his care. The provision of play facilities in the " take-it-and-get-out-of -my -sight " spirit will ex- tract the juice from youthful joy, and leave the plaint of the modern boy, whose dissatisfaction the poet ' has preserved for us in the following lines : " My paw he's the bestest man ; he brings me lots of toys, And candy, too, and all sich things, what's good for little boys; He lets me go to circuses and spend my money free, He buys me lots of Sunday clothes ; — but he won't play with me. *' Most every evening after tea, I gets my ball to play. And asks my paw to catch it, but he's alius sure to say : * Don't bother, son — I'm busy now ; go on to bed,' says he, Then I go oS a-wishin' that my paw would play with me. ******* '* Some day when I feel sorter tough, with sand up in my craw, And ain't a-skeered of gettin' licked, I'll bet I tells my paw : ■ Say, Dad, if you jisfc want to be right up-to-date, you see, You'd better come down off your perch and learn to play with me ! ' " I ain't much on philosophy, but I got it on my slate, Jist chalked it down in black and white, and feel compelled to state : Of course, I loves my paw, and then he loves me, too ; but we Could love each other better if he'd only play with me.' " * W. Helleck Mansfield, Pictures of Memory. CHAPTEE Vn THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUKD A FOEMEE definition of the playground reads, " A piece of ground used for recreation ; as, the playground of a school." But this definition, in view of the development in organized play in the past decade, must be considerably enlarged in order fully to convey the thought expressed by the word to-day. The playground was once almost inevitably associated with the school. It was a piece of ffround, varying in size from the The old-time ^ \ ^ % u^ ^ ^ ■, remnant of a city block to two or playground . '' three acres in extent, which was left over after the best of the available space of the school-property had been covered with build- ings, walks, and other accessories of the school. It was an incidental thing, where over-abundant childish energy might expend itself, with a view to making the pupil more contented in his tasks as well as more tractable during school-hours. The playground of the present is not always associated with the school. Indeed, the largest play interests of our leading cities are outside the control of educational authorities. "While the va- 99 100 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATION rious boards o." education provide for the play of the child as liberally as space and funds wiU per- mit, and together with the school- The modern • x j. n j.i j. instructors are fijenerally the most playground ° '' earnest sympathizers with the play movement, it has been found necessary to supple- ment the insufficient school playgrounds with the broader play facilities under public control. Therefore the public playground is becoming an increasing feature of city life. Many living in the open country, where space is abundant, and where natural playgrounds are everywhere, have little thought real nee concerning the cramped conditions children ^^ ^^^® ^^ ^^® great centers of popu- lation. ITo one suffers more from this congestion than the city child, and especially the child of the poor. The street affords the only open place in which to play, and this is a source of both physical and moral danger to the child. The recognition of this fact has resulted in the forbidding of play in the streets of many of our large cities. But with all the legal restrictions, the children are not deterred from play even where the danger is greatest. The breaker-boys in the mining re- gions of Pennsylvania play around the scene of their labor, and often meet with accidents. The excuse given by the management is that such ac- cidents are not the result of child labor, but usu- THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUND 101 ally occur when work is temporarily suspended and the boys are at play. Thus the city child is hemmed in by the restrictions of law, labor, and physical environment. ]S"o wonder that a group of Chicago boys, appealing to a social worker for playgrounds, said, " We haven't any place to play. We can't play in the schoolyard ; we aren't al- lowed to play in the street ; if we play in the brickyard, the cop drives us off." When the law and those in authority seem to do all in their power to repress a natural and innocent desire, it is not to be wondered at that the street boy re- gards the police as his enemy, and early becomes antagonistic to law. Better conditions, however, are now prevailing in many of our cities. Playgrounds are being equipped at large cost for both e p aygroun ^.^^ ^^^ Supervision. The most of Chicago ^ complete play provision which any city has yet made for its youth is the series of playgrounds in the South Parks of Chicago. These resorts, in which both old and young may enjoy themselves, are located in a chain of 23 parks, covering 2,500 acres, or four square miles. They give social diversion to the more than YOOjOOO people in that district, and were provided at the immense cost of $17,000,000. Here are found fields for baseball, football, tennis, and other popular outdoor games ; facilities for boating and aquatic sports on Lake Michigan ; a 102 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION wading-pool, a duck-pond, grounds reserved espe- cially for little folks, indoor gymnasiums, floral conservatory, etc. ; while in winter, skating, curl- ing, toboggan-sliding, and other appropriate sports may be indulged in. A complete summary of sports enjoyed is almost impossible ; suffice it to say that competent judges pronounce these play- grounds to be " unparalleled in equipment and scope." The success of these grounds has caused both the Lincoln Park and West Park Commis- sions widely to increase their play facilities. This broad provision for recreation, in addition to the system of playgrounds in connection with the schools, is meeting the needs of the Chicago city child in a most satisfactory manner. New York City first awakened to the municipal playground movement in 1898, five years after Chicago had established its first aygroun wor playground. It now has 372 play in other cities r j o l ./ centers, the greater number of which are under the control of the Board of Education, only about 100 being supported by municipal and private funds. Baltimore owes its splendid series of playgrounds in part to the generous endowment by Robert Garrett, a public- spirited college man, whose belief in their value made him willing to establish the system in his home city. Pittsburgh is spending $2,000,000 in parks, modeled after the Chicago plan. Los Angeles is using over $60,000 a year to main- THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOTIND 103 tain and add to its play centers. San Francisco was the first city in California to begin play- ground work, and though not so active as the other cities of its size, is willing to expend about $80,000 a year to maintain it. From a study of the reports of playground work, it is evident that the cities in the East are much in advance of those in the^oudi'" *^® ^®^^' (C^cago excepted), in the earnestness with which they devote themselves to this cause. The part of the country most indifferent to the movement is mani- festly the South. Dr. Henry S. Curtis, General Secretary of the Playground and Eecreation As- sociation of America, notes this when he says : " The greatest need of the whole country, how- ever, is undoubtedly the section below Mason and Dixon's line, where the school-terms are much shorter than in the Korth, and vacations pro- portionately longer ; where the child-labor laws are now turning out thousands of children from the factories ; and where all social movements are conditioned by the race problem, the intense heat of the summer, and the comparative, though rap- idly diminishing, poverty of southern cities." The problem of recreation is, however, not con- fined to the cities alone, for the towns and coun- try districts need the help of organized play. In the Playground Association statistics for 1913, 40 cities under 5,000 population are shown as having 104 OHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION supervised playgrounds. It is not complimentary to public interest in the endeavor to note that in 31 of these cities it was In the smaller , ^..11 necessary to support the play- grounds wholly by private funds ; — indeed scarcely any reports show the work maintained without private contributions. On the other hand, however, it is a favorable mark of in- terest that private funds should be so readily found to carry on a work in which public spirit was lacking. No doubt there are many towns where work has not yet commenced that need only the inspiration of some interested individual who shall set the ball to rolling, to make the supervised playground become a reality. It is quite possible that the expense of apparatus often deters the interested sponsor of the play- ground from attempting play or- Practicable in • .• • 1 • -j. a ,. . ffamzation m his community. A country districts ° • , -r» p recently published article by Prof. William A. McKeever, a versatile educator of Kansas, gives helpful suggestions to the country school-teacher on the equipment of a country schoolhouse playground. Its suggestions are ap- plicable also to the small town playground which must be started on an economical basis. The " giant stride " is made by using the dis- carded wheel of an old farm- wagon, or any similar iron wheel, attached to its spindle. The wheel should be adjusted firmly to a 16-foot pole THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUND 105 set in a cement socket three and a half feet in the ground. Four ropes are hung from the rim of the wheel with large loops at the bottom, reaching on a level with the waist-line of the child. An ex- cellent sandbox may be easily made, and some one can often be found to haul the sand for nothing. Hope-swings may be hung from trees, or from a heavy cross-beam made of 6-inch pine timber, supported by firm upright beams set in cement. Placing the uprights 12 feet apart, there will be room for three swings, the ropes at the top being three feet apart, with 2-foot seat- boards below. A toboggan-slide is made by using a 12-foot plank two inches thick, which should be smooth and well planed. Place this, with the grain run- ning down, one end on the ground, the other on a firm crosspiece at an appropriate height above the ground, A strong ladder should be placed so that it may be easily climbed to reach the upper end of the board. The board should be covered with a heavy coat of floor wax. When this improvised slide, is ready for use, it furnishes fun that is guaranteed to delight the heart of every young American who uses it. Where there is a some- what steep incline upon the grounds, a slide of greater proportions may be made. Stretch 100 feet of f-inch wire cable between two firmly set posts or trees. Have the cable run about six feet from the ground down the slope. Get two 106 OHAEA.CTEE THEOUGH EEOEEATION Y-shaped iron straps, and connect them to two small trolley- wheels. Place the trolley-wheels on the cable, attaching to the lower end of the Y's a small swing-seat or crossbar. On this the player sits and goes down the lightning slide with all the joy that rapid motion brings to the child. A bumper at the lower end, made of a number of sacks stuffed with straw, provides a safe landing. These suggestions, with others that may be evolved by the resourceful individual, will permit a small playground to be equipped at very moderate cost. JSTo doubt much may be accomplished in the provision of play opportunity without manufac- tured equipment at first. Many A " Community i i -ii pj „ games are played with no ma- chinery but a quick brain and willing hands and flying feet. "When the present great awakening in playground work was in its infancy, a certain rural community in northwestern Pennsylvania originated a " Community Play Day," which is still a source of much pleasure and profit. The man who was the father of the idea noted the disposition of the young to leave their country homes to find more fun in town. He observed, too, that young married folks seemed to be losing their youthfulness, and that there was apparently no bond of common interest among parents, grandparents, and children. To overcome these conditions and relieve the general pleasure THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUND 107 poverty of the rural community, the play day was instituted. On the day selected for the gathering, the folks may be seen coming from every direction in their own conveyances, — for the nearest railroad station is six miles away, — and, arriving at the place ap- pointed, they spend the time from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon in play and social enjoyment. Ko swearing, smoking, or drinking is allowed on the grounds. When the noonday meal is spread under the trees, and all have done it justice, a number of old-time songs are sung and inspiring short talks are given, — talks on good citizenship, right living, and home life ; and then, with a closing song, the games are again taken up. When the sun is sinking behind the distant hills, the widely separated families are on their homeward way, tired and happy, looking forward to the next play day a month away. No wonder that neighborhood feuds are forgotten, that gossip gives way to glee, and that all find a renewal of youth and energy in the plain and simple enjoyments of such a democratic gathering. Still greater results than those accomplished in that neighborhood by an occasional day of play are found to accompany the sys- Physical value of , ,. ^.• •• p -i ^ ^ , ^ tematic cultivation of the play the playground *^ -^ habit among both old and young by means of the playground and recreation center. The outdoor life of the playground commends it 108 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EEOEEATION at the very first as a place of physical benefit. Dr. Henry B. Favill, of the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute, a prominent authority on the treatment of the disease, says that the playground is one of the best means for preventing the spread of the white plague, because of the physical exercise afforded the child under environment favorable to health. The open-air treatment is the natural cure for tuberculosis and the healer of a thousand child ailments that result from the closeness of in- door life. The muscles are developed and the nerves rested and refreshed by the care-free, though vigorous, exercise of the playground. The element of safety in the play of the child must also be considered. Street play is elimi- nated, and the distressing accidents so often oc- curring are avoided. In ten days the newspapers of our country reported 22 children killed and 95 injured in automobile street accidents. A bright little fellow at Edgewater, 1^. J., coasting down- hill two years ago, was killed by an automobile. As a result of his death playgrounds were estab- lished in that town. The playground is a distinct intellectual ad- vantage to the child. The city child especially finds a touch with nature that Intellectual , ■, . ,. p .i u makes his notion of the world advantage and its beauty more concrete. A mission worker told her Sunday-school class the story of Adam and Eve, and later asked the ques- THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUND 109 tion, " "Where did Adam and Eve hide ? " After a pause one small tot answered, " Up an alley." If the child had seen one of our modern play parks, he would have had a better idea of the Garden of Eden. A teacher in a vacation school tells of a little girl who asked, " Teacher, have you ever rode in a patrol wagon ? My father has three times and mother has once, and when I get big I'm going to ride in one too." That little girl's desire for a " ride " might be satisfied by the modern play devices, while the story-hour and kindly direction of the lady in charge of the children's play would have given her an enlarged mental horizon. If it be true, as Jane Addams declares, that " recreation is stronger than vice," we may hope by the moral influence of the ^ j^ J. playgrounds to lessen the number of those who shall ride in the patrol wagon when they grow up. The effect of the playgrounds on the number of juvenile de- linquents is noticeable to those who are in the active work of dealing with child offenders. Judge Ben Lindsey says : " The playground proves to be an economy to the city in that it lessens crime among children." An examination of the records of the Juvenile Court in Chicago showed that, during the first five years of the Court's operation, the South Side furnished about 40 per cent, of the cases. Two years after the 110 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION opening of the play parks it was furnishing but 34 per cent. " To put it in another way," said Mr. Allen Burns, before the annual meeting of the Playground and Recreation Association of America, " after the small parks had been operat- ing for two years, the South Side alone showed a decrease in delinquency of 17 per cent, relative to the delinquency of the whole city, while the rest of the city had increased its delinquency 12 per cent., — a showing in favor of the South Side of a difference of 29 per cent, upon the supposition that, without the small parks, the South Side would have continued to furnish its due quota of court-wards as compared with the rest of the city." The figures concerning the proportion of cases in which juvenile delinquents under the care of the Court have been successfully reformed are also very encouraging. Within one mile of each of the large parks, 46 per cent, of the cases prove successful, whereas the proportion which prevails throughout the city is only 36 per cent. A boy of nine who lived in a district devoid of recrea- tional advantages was three times before the Court. On his third appearance, the Court com- mitted him to an institution where the least hope- ful cases are sent, and on his dismissal from that place the family moved to the vicinity of Lincoln Park. The boy used the park constantly as his place of pleasure and resort. He was released THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUND 111 from court oversight and has given no more trouble. The agency of play is, moreover, effective in the prevention of crime and wrong moral bias. It is an unfortunate idea that only the defectives need the attention of society, — an idea that has caused us much sorrow and financial outlay. The playground as an investment for the normal child is an incalculable benefit, for play is a great char- acter-building agency in the life of the child. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, Chancellor of New York University, says, " Play counts for morals ; for it is in our play that we choose things according to our character, and by choosing we make char- acter." Much testimony might be given from educators as to the value of the playground in school-work. Perhaps no more concrete results , , , have been tabulated reo:ardinff the school-work ° ° effect of the playground upon school-discipline and the truancy problem than the experience of a school-principal as given in Johnson's Education hy Plays and Games .^ In September, 1901, Prof. J. L. Kiley took charge of the Elm Street School in Springfield, Mass. There were 550 children in the grades above the third. Many were from Hebrew and Italian homes, living in cramped tenement-quar- ' George Ellsworth Johnson, Edtication by Flays and Games, p. 46 fE. 112 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION ters, with small yards, no play facilities, and with depraved and immoral habits. School-work was accordingly tremendously difla.cult. Kear the schoolhouse were the courthouse, the city-jail, and the fire-bell. The bringing of new prisoners, the marching of criminals across the open space to the courthouse for trial, or the ringing of the fire-alarm, when the pupils were outside the build- ing, were each sufficient to empty the schoolyard. During the school-session the painted lower win- dows of the rooms prevented the sight of the police-van, the prisoners, and other external at- tractions. For the first year there were recorded 99 cases of corporal punishment and 281 half-days of truancy. Playground facilities were not pro- vided, as it was said that all movable play ma- terial would be stolen. The principal was un- daunted, however, and though the school authori- ties would not pay for it, he secured equipment for the small yard and organized the play forces, with the result that the playground during school- hours became immensely popular. It was also used before and after school and on Saturdays. The fire-alarm and the prisoners no longer had charms for the youngsters. A general improve- ment in the character of the school was noted, and the problem of discipline became less com- plex. Corporal punishment decreased 70 to 80 per cent. The cases of truancy decreased each year as indicated by the following record : THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUND 113 Year ending June, 1901, - - 281 '' '' " 1902, - - 166 " " '' 1903, - - 79 " " '' 1904, - - 46 '' '' '' 1905, - - 33 It may thus be seen that the playground has a salutary effect upon the character of the indi- vidual, whether as a means for the Better social , . j. -i , , prevention or evil bent or as a spirit ^ . • -r^ 1 cure for incipient crime. But the distinct individual advantages of the playground are not more evident than the social spirit which it creates and fosters. The co-operation required in many games, the sense of fair play and equity which has to be a part of all directed play, is an effective training in citizenship which will be ap- plied in after years. The promotion of friendli- ness, loyalty, and fellow-interest, as well as the democratic character of the playground, help in the making of coming citizens. The association of the different nationalities and the commingling of rich and poor render impossible that race pride unworthy of a cosmopolitan nation, and eliminate the snobbishness which ill befits a republic. The spirit of play fostered by our playgrounds should be cultivated among old and young until the many who do not work together, or pray to- gether, or speak alike, or think the same, should meet upon the common ground of clean and inno- cent sport. 114 CHARACTEE THROUGH RECREATION A striking assembly for play purposes was the scene which served as a fitting finale to the great Playground Congress in Pittsburgh Play festival at « . . j^ a few years ago. An immense playground nearly a mile square was the scene of the event. The beautiful sloping lawns of Flagstaff Hill, the broad ex- panse of the golf course, and the high ground of Schenley Park at the top of the hill, were included in the recreation grounds. The boule- vards and streets passing through were closed for the day and given over to play purposes. One hundred and twenty-five trolley-cars were needed to take to the grounds the 18,000 chil- dren who had definite parts in the organized play. A great crowd of ^0,000 onlookers, — par- ents, friends, and strangers, — pressed against the ropes that separated them from the play-space. Some of these had traveled on foot, others had come in their automobiles ; some spoke the lan- guage of our fathers, and some the tongues of those over the sea ; — but all were interested in the child and his play. A competitive field-meet engaged the energies of the boys, — 2,000 of them in the lists, — at Schenley Park. In other places teams of Italians contested in bowling-tourneys. Yarious nation- alities gave interesting folk-dances. Each school or group of players was assigned a special place on the great playground. All was gladness and good THE PEOFIT OF THE PLAYGEOUI^D 115 cheer, and the mingling nationalities mutually un- derstood each other, for play is the international language. In the far distance could be heard the rumble of the factories, and the shrieking of the locomotive whistles ; but the black smoke of fac- tory and furnace could not obscure the picture, nor the clamor of busy labor make less evident the melody of the festal day. The remembrance of the graceful movements of thousands of boys and girls and the ringing of their happy laughter will linger throughout the years, bidding defiance to the tempest of toil and throwing a halo of glad- ness over common life. CHAPTER VIII PLAY AND PATEIOTISM There is a tradition current among old resi- dents of Boston that the American Eevolution was brought about by the refusal ,. . of General Gage to let the Boston boys play football upon the Com- mon. In that struggle for independence, the dearly-purchased right to labor or to play with none to interfere was won by the boys of '76. And patriotism and play are still related to each other. As Americans, we cannot but plead guilty to a widespread misuse of our Independence Day anni- versary. Like many of our festal For a safe and ^ ■, . ^ ., , j ^ ^ days, which are so easily perverted sane Fourth -^ ' '' ^ from their true meaning, the occa- sion that should afford an opportunity for the in- culcation of the value of the heroic in our history has been devoted to activities which, from the standpoint of patriotism, are worse than meaning- less. An inhabitant of a distant planet, if dropped down upon this continent on the Fourth of July, would have the greatest diflBlculty to gather from 116 PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 117 what he would see and hear what the commotion was all about. Worse than the dearth of patri- otic results from these celebrations has been the reckless destruction of human life and the injuries which have accompanied these anniversary occa- sions. A tabulation of these results in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that in ten years, from 1905 to 1914 inclusive, there were 1,183 lives sacrificed, and 34,055 wounded.' The statement is made that the casualties of our Independence Day celebrations have thus far greatly exceeded those resulting from the Kevo- lution itself. When we consider this needless and wicked sacrifice of human life, the great economic and social loss sustained, as well as the total amount of suffering entailed, we can but regret this long-endured reproach to civilization. The obvious need of a change in our method of the observance of Independence Day has led to the newer plans of the " safe and sane Fourth." That these newer plans go far toward the solution of the problem is evidenced by the fact that the number of deaths and injuries has notably decreased in the past four years. For instance, 443 deaths were reported for the year 1903, while in 1914 the number was but 40, the largest decrease being shown in the states where there was strong agita- tion in favor of the new Fourth of July celebra- tion. As an illustration of a satisfactory cele- * Quoted in the New York World Alnianac for 1915. 118 CHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION bration under the new plan, the experience of Springfield, Mass., may be here cited : It was a little over ten years ago, when, with a desire to free itself from the unhappy features of the old-time celebration, that city How Springfield, j - i £ ^ • j i J- J V. undertook a new-fashioned observ- Mass., did it ance of the old American holiday. The first thought of the committee having the matter in charge was to eliminate noise and dan- ger, — a corrective rather than a constructive pur- pose ; but they soon saw that a fine opportunity was afforded for the unifying of all the community elements in a great civic festival. This feature was especially manifest in the large national pro- cession which passed through the gaily decorated streets on the morning of the festal day. Thirteen different nationalities, descendants of the people of four continents, took part in the parade, all having come from the diverse peoples represented in the 80,000 population of the city. Historic scenes from the national life of these peoples were shown by appropriately decorated floats and costumed characters. Sweden presented a Viking ship, with Leif Eric- son in command, sailing toward the new American continent. The Scotch were proud to contribute Mary, Queen of Scots, in a court-scene with maids of honor "and Highland chiefs. The German socie- ties portrayed a scene from the life of "William Tell, with an allegorical group — Germania and PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 119 Columbia — attended by Art, Literature, and Music. Champlain landing at Quebec from his canoe on the St. Lawrence represented the French. China had a band of musicians from 'New York City, and a beautifully decorated float. Italy was rep- resented by a group of her great men, — Dante, Michael Angelo, Galileo, Columbus, Yerdi, and Marconi. The local Greeks presented Pericles, Lycurgus, Socrates, and Plato, with a band of fifty young Greeks, each bearing his country's banner, with the American flag over all. Ar- menia had a float showing the throne-room of Abgar, the first Christian king of their country. Poland's battalion of soldiery was accompanied by a Polish band. The English float portrayed the signing of the Magna Charta. Other sug- gestive and appropriate floats were contributed by various peoples, and the historic scenes of our own national life were set forth as well. A sec- tion of the parade was devoted to floats made up of grammar-school children, presenting such scenes as an Indian village, a group of Puritan maidens, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Washington Crossing the Delaware, etc. Nearly one thousand boys from ten to fourteen years of age, — a company for each ward of the city, — clothed in special uniforms and armed with wooden guns, marched in the parade. This picturesque presentation of national life w^as a fitting opening to a day filled with amuse 120 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATION ment and inspiration to old and young. At Court Square, the civic center, the literary exercises were given, with the singing of national hymns by the entire multitude, led by the music of three combined bands. The morning exercises closed with the stirring melody of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," while in the distance the cannon from the government arsenal thundered out at the noon-hour the national salute of forty-six guns. The afternoon athletic and water sports, as well as the evening display of fireworks and the street illumination, rounded out a day of civic amuse- ment which was a veritable revelation to the mul- titudes who came within its far-reaching influence. This , general celebration of our national holi- day has been adopted in other cities with purpose and result similar to that of Spring- Another com- ^ i i mi • i x- . ^ ^^ field. The promiscuous shooting munity Fourth ^ ° of fireworks has,' in large measure, been eliminated, athletic sports having been sub- stituted, and the pageant and festal features under competent organization have taken the place of the individual and unorganized sports. This com- bination of purpose and capital has produced a better result than could have been otherwise at- tained. In one western town a canvass showed that 500 families were spending an average of $3 a family for fireworks. The committee having the celebration in charge were able to persuade the people to give an average of $1.25 a family PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 121 to the general celebration fund, "With this money, prizes were offered for the most beautifully deco- rated home or place of business, and the town presented a more festal appearance than ever be- fore. Other expenditures were also possible, and the result was a community Fourth that was long remembered. Much previous preparation is necessary for the presentation of a successful patriotic parade, but the effect produced is worth while. e c ive j^ ^^^ town in the West a phys- patnotic parade . ^ *' ical director was engaged, from a near-by city, to drill the boys and girls and other- wise assist in planning the celebration. On Fourth of July morning " Paul Revere," on a Shetland pony, came riding through the streets giving the alarm. The boys, who had been previously drilled as " Minute Men," came forth from their various homes, armed with wooden guns and clad in uniforms of brown drilling, which simulated the homespun of the Revolutionary times. They rallied to the public square, where they were met by a " MoUie Pitcher " brigade, made up of girls dressed in the national colors, armed with brooms. These characters gave two parades, one in the morning, accompanied by a juvenile drum-corps, and another after the picnic dinner. A pleasing drill was also given. In the afternoon various historical characters, impersonated by the young men and young women of the place, made their 122 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATIOK appearance in the parade. George and Martha Washington were prominent characters ; Thomas Jefferson with his Declaration of Independence, Betsy Koss with her homemade flag, John Alden and Priscilla, and Miles Standish, Evangeline look- ing for her lost Gabriel, — all were there ; while Patrick Henry, and Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton also came forth from the distant past. The cost of the entire celebration, — a little more than $600, — was not to be compared with the en- joyment and genuine benefit derived ; and the day w as so full of entertainment that no one regretted the absence of fireworks. Such festal occasions have as their reward the engendering of a national spirit, which is the gist of patriotism ; the cultivation of The rewards of . . . , i • i • i i <• i . ^ . . - . , CIVIC pride, which is helpful to patriotic festivals ^ ' ^ community interest; and the en- listing of personal co-operation, which is the nucleus of altruistic service. In the case of the historic city of Springfield, populated with diverse nation- alities, Americans could not help being more ap- preciative of their foreign-born citizens after the reminder of the intellectual ancestry of which the Italians and the Greeks could boast. Upon the minds of the foreigners, the lessons of patriotism would be more forcibly impressed by these con- crete presentations of heroic events, than by the multiplied efforts of press, pulpit, and platform. The civic importance of so many people's engag- PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 123 ing in the united effort of such a play festival is also not to be forgotten. Such co-operation in amusement will help to unite society and create a feeling of community interest which is too often destroyed by the selfish spirit and class segrega- tion of our cities. The amalgamation of a large foreign population makes necessary the pictur- esque appeal of the historical pageant. The re- ligious sentiment, too, is not neglected, for no assembly of people can constantly sing the closing prayer of our national hymn without a deeper recognition of their duty to the God of our fathers, who has led America to her place among the nations. The element of patriotism must be fostered not only by the yearly outbursts of Fourth of July fervor, but by the frequent recur- The historic j? • • n , t i • i rence of incidents and scenes which pageant shall call it forth. An era of na- tional peril and warfare might accomplish this, but we do not pine for bloodshed. Our history has already a wealth of stories of conquest and valor, and the records of the pioneers are filled with deeds of bravery, the reproduction of which will serve to engender the sought-for qualities of love of flag and freedom. For the purpose of making vivid these scenes of the former days, the historical pageant, presenting incidents from our own history as well as from that of other lands, has become an effective means of patriotic inspiration. 124 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATIOE" The pageant was revived a few years ago in England, and recently has found enormous popu- larity in this country. The landing of the Span- ish explorer, Ponce de Leon, has been celebrated at St. Augustine ; the Huguenots were represented in pageant at New Kochelle ; and the anniversary of the battle of Lake Erie was celebrated by Perry and his flag-ship Niagara making a tour of the Great Lakes. The arrival of Henry Hudson upon the Island of Manhattan was re-enacted not long ago by the children of the schools of New York at Croton-on-Hudson. Schoolboys impersonating Hudson and his fol- lowers, dressed in the old Dutch costumes, were greeted, on landing, by similar boy-actors dressed as Indians, whose war-whoops were sounded in warning to the pale-face trespassers. A council of peace, with the passing of the big pipe (filled only with " make-believe " tobacco) was next held, and the Indians and the pale-face travelers went to the Indian village, where a number of little girls impersonating squaws waited on the braves and miniature Dutchmen. Scenes were afterward given, showing the early Dutch settlement and the common life of the colonists. The old wind- mill and its miller were there, and a school of the early times was presented. The whole closed with a revel in which all the children, dressed in their curious costumes, took part. Care was taken to have each feature of this Hudson pageant in PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 125 strict harmony with the facts of history, that it might be a perfect reproduction. The originators declare that when it was over the children had learned more about the history of their city in a few hours than in all their previous school-life. Besides, they had had the fun and frolic which accompanied the giving of the pageant. The pageant and the play festival draw their ma- terial not only from the events of history, but from that rich idealistic and legendary folklore with which the nations are so well supplied. The interpretation of the folklore of national life by the aid of outdoor acting is recommended for the development of larger interest in literature and history. On the part of the young especially it leads to the asking of questions concerning the national and legendary events acted, which are open doors to the acquiring of wider knowl- edge. N"ot long ago new interest was stimulated among both old and young in the legendary his- tory of the redman by the presen- Educationai ^^^-^^ ^^ Longfellow's beautiful value of the pageant poem of "Hiawatha." Through the eilorts of a white explorer, Mr. L. O. Armstrong, the interest of the Ojibway Indians of Canada was awakened in the story of Hiawatha, and they began to enact the play under the pine trees and by the lakes of their native country. The public heard of these performances 126 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION and for several years hundreds of people traveled to that distant place to see them. On account of the inaccessibility of the location, Mr. Armstrong brought the players to the former home of the Ojibways, with the result that the same play has more recently been presented at Yawaygamug Lake, near Petoskey, Mich. These scenes of Indian life have also been given in open-air performance on the Delafleld estate at Eiver- dale, K. Y., the actors in this case being Iroquois Indians. Various reproductions of " Hiawatha " by Indian talent throughout the country have given the spectators a chance to catch the true Indian spirit and to feel the power of these weird stories of the wild. A similar awakening of interest in the common life of various peoples has been the means of arousing that national pride which , '. is so stronar an element of patriot- dancing ° ^ ism. By the use of the folk-dances recently introduced into our public schools, the child of the foreigner has found a new apprecia- tion of the poetry and pursuits of his ancestors, while the American-born child has been taught the value of the pastoral life of primitive peoples. The varied character of these national dances and a hint of the manner of their presentation can be gained by a description of an after-school play in one of the public-school buildings of lower ]S[ew York City, here summarized from the book. The PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 127 Wider Use of the School Plant, by Clarence Arthur Perry.* It is an afternoon in late spring, and the re- flected heat of the hard ground and the pave- ments has made the playground in front of the school-building an almost deserted spot. In a large room on the ground-floor of the building, however, a crowd of girls from the third, fourth, and fifth grades are beginning their folk-dances. Faces which a few moments ago were set and stern with the necessity of keeping order now break into smiles, and childish spirits bubble up in laughter and anticipation. "With one teacher at the piano and another acting as marshal of the forces, the play begins. Outside are the jangle and noise of wagons and trolley-cars as they pass hurriedly through streets lined with shops whose signs are lettered in Polish, Magyar, Italian, and Yiddish. Within the pleasant room, however, the outside world is forgotten and the children unite in a mutual kinship in the kingdom of play. At the striking of a chord on the piano, the forty little forms come running down the long room. They quickly take positions in parallel ranks of five with hands on hips, all facing the ' Clarence Arthur Perry, TTie Wider Use of the School Plant, p. 313 ff. Leading works on Folk Dancing are : Elizabeth Burchenal, A. B. , Folk Dances and Singing Games, Dances of the People ; Jeanette E. C. Lincoln, The Festival Book. 128 OHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION same way. The tune is an old Swedish air called " Keap the Flax." All reach down to the left, as if to seize the grain, and then bring the hands up to the waist in the motion of reaping. The move- ment is repeated several times in perfect accord with the music. Thus the motions of reaping, stacking, hackling, cording, and finally twisting the flax into a single thread, are presented in ever- changing figures. The long-twisted thread is rep- resented by a long line of girls in single file, each with hands on the shoulders of the one ahead, swaying from side to side as they circle the room. In the concluding figure, four of the girls form a square, while a fifth, with running steps, winds in and out of the group, illustrating the movement of the shuttle in weaving the linen. Following this Swedish dance, other character- istic portrayals of folklore are given. The Eus- sian dance presents as its dominant figure the peasant reaching into a bag of seed at the left side and sowing it broadcast with an outward sweep of the right hand. The " Tarantella," given with the added accompaniment of castanets and tam- bourines, conveys a vivid impression of the vivacity and grace displayed by the Italians on their native sward ; while the rapid whirlings, rocking movements, and brisk heel-and-toe exercises of the athletic Hungarian " Solo," suggest scenes familiar to the countryside of central Europe. The Eng- lish May-pole dance, too, with the winding of the PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 129 bright streamers around the pole, reflects the color and beauty of the time-honored English festival. The effect of the folk-dances, in addition to satisfying the child's natural love of rhythTnic movement, is said by those most Beneficial results ., .i-. i- ,^ . ^ t - , , „ ^ interested m teachms; the art to be of the folk-dance . ° highly beneficial from a physical standpoint as well as helpful to the higher ideals. The attractiveness of the public dance-hall has been decidedly lessened for those having the ad- vantage in the schools of the beautiful old-world folk-dances. The dances in use have been selected with special care, eliminating those which, like some of the Indian dances, require too much of the stooping position to be healthful physically, or the love-dances of the East, which are unsuited to the morals of our civilization. The patriotic ele- ment is found in the love of the home-land engendered by the appeal to the life of the fathers, and the sentiment of national kinship which comes to those who cherish no traditions of connections with a foreign land. The love for the old country does not displace, but rather makes possible, a kindred devotion to the land of the alien's adoption. The appeal to the imagination, without which both patriotism and religion must die, is also an essential part of the folk-dance. This element of imagination, once thought to be valuable only as an adjunct to the student of literary culture or artistic skill, is not without 130 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION its place in the study of history, another stimula- tor of patriotism. The Bible abounds with ex- pressions of patriotism for the Land of Promise, and especially for its capital city, Jerusalem. Is- rael's great leaders and prophets were all patriots, and the stories of their deeds, which were related around every hearth, kindled undying loyalty in the hearts of the rising generation. A group of children around an old soldier, recalling for them the experiences of the war of the , . ,. , '60's, affords a suff^estion concern- patnotic story , ' o° ing the inculcation of patriotism in the rising generation which should not be over- looked. The Story Tellers' League of America, which now has more than 16 local branches, and influences through its work in street and settle- ment and library 120,000 children, is a potent fac- tor. While it is more especially concerned with the awakening of the childish imagination by the use of the legend and purely fictional literature, we may surely count as one of its beneficial effects the leading of the young mind to the realization of the value of the heroic. In like manner will the brave deeds of the days of '76 and '61, as well as the exploits of the times of peace, secure in young minds a glad response of patriotic interest. The serious and yet idealistic appeal of Edward Everett Hale's story of The Man Without a Country has left its impress on many an adolescent youth, and has become an American classic. The children PLAY AND PATEIOTISM 131 of foreign- born parents are observed to manifest remarkable interest in American history. This is evidenced in schools and libraries, where lives of Washington, Lincoln, and other great Americans are in such constant use that the volumes have to be rebound frequently. The need of a national hero as the inspiration of patriotic fervor has especially been impressed upon those who have sought to awaken The influence of .• ^ • i j ^. , . national pride among a down- the national hero ^ ° trodden people. A lady-teacher in government employ in the Philippines said to the writer, while on her vacation in this country, that the great need of the natives seemed to be a national hero, the spirit of whose deeds might in- spire in them a national character which would make self-government effective. The example of Jose Rizal, the talented young patriot who sacri- ficed his life in devotion to the dream of national independence for his beloved land, seems to furnish the necessary inspiration. With this model before them it is hoped to lead the natives to the higher ideal of patriotism, which is the life-blood of liberty. Through the kindness of the friend above-men- tioned, as well as that of Prof. Austin Craig, the compiler of a little book of poems by Dr. Rizal, a copy of these literary treasures is now in the hands of the author. The spirit which the teachers in the Philippines seek to arouse in the hearts of the 132 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATIOH downtrodden people among whom they work is the same as that which must be kept alive in the hearts of young America to-day. With the aid of the pageant, the song, the dance, and the story, we endeavor to stir the youth to that loyalty to his native land which breathes in the farewell message of Jose Rizal, the patriot of the Phil- ippines : " Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caressed, Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost ! Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life's best, And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest, Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost. " On the field of battle, 'mid the frenzy of the fight, Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed ; The place matters not, — cypress or laurel or lily white, Scafitold or open plain, combat or martyr's plight, — 'Tis ever the same, to serve our home and country's need." CHAPTER IX EDUCATION BY PLAY By the aid of the experts in pedagogy and the researches of the biologist, a logical relation between the education and the A natural approach , « i^-ij u u ^M. - ^ amusement ot children has been to the child mind , . , , t i oo ^ established. In the eiiort to make a natural approach to the mind of the child, the educator has found it necessary to enlist as his ally the child's most natural occupation, play. In education, as in other avenues of advancement, art has had to yield to nature. As Mr. George E. Johnson says, " Just as the physician in his search for a cure for consumption has circumscribed the earth and finally has come back to the thing in all the world the simplest and nearest, the first demand of the child upon entrance into the world — fresh air — so we, in our search for the best means of educating our children, are coming back to that which was the first expression of his awak- ening soul — his play." The present position of the play feature in the educational life is, in a way, a return to the wisdom and method of the ancients. It was cus- 133 134 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION tomary among the Greeks to associate play with education. Plato did not consider it beneath his dignity to give mothers advice Value seen in the , , , <• i n t _ . on the nursery plays of children, Grecian games j ^ j j and also urged upon lawmakers the necessity of legislation regarding the games of the young. The Greek boy began his physical education at the age of seven with racing and wrestling and various tests of physical proficiency in \hQ jpalestra. At the age of sixteen or eighteen years he went to the gymnasium, where his de- velopment proceeded in similar manner. We have already spoken of the physical effect upon the Greeks of their devotion to the amusement Ufe, and it only remains to say that it has been noted that there was also an educational and aesthetic value to the Grecian games which made them intellectually valuable. Prof. Hoppin of Yale says that the public games of the Greeks were a cause of their proficiency in sculpture, and that with the abandonment of these games there came a noticeable decline in that art. A similar belief in the connection between physical activity and mental development may have been the possession of iso- . lated individuals throughout the ages, but it was not until the time of Froebel, the German authority on elementary teaching (1782-1852), that anything like a definite system of education through play was presented EDUCATION BY PLAY 135 to the world. To this German educator we owe in large measure the present modern application of play and manual training to the purposes of education as found in our graded schools to- day. The kindergarten idea, — a most significant advance in educational methods, — was imported from the " Fatherland " a little more than fifty years ago. Germans of intellectual culture and financial ability established in several of our large cities about that time various private schools which had as part of their course of training the new kindergarten work. From the influence of these schools the kindergarten idea found its way to first acceptance. The first real kindergarten established in the United States was in the home of Mrs. Carl Schurz in the year 1855, at Watertown, Wis., where she taught her own and ... , the neighbors' children by the kindergarten ° *' Froebelian methods. The move- ment did not gain much headway, and as late as 1870 there were less than a dozen kindergartens in this country. All but one of these were carried on by Germans in their own language, the one exception being the school of Miss Elizabeth Pea- body in Boston, which began its work in 1860. The kindergarten exhibit at the Centennial Ex- position in Philadelphia in 1876, as well as the endorsement of the National Educational Associa- 136 CHARACTER THROUGH RECREATION tion, gave an impetus to the movement, so that in 1880 there were at least 400 kindergartens scat- tered over 30 states. A number of schools for the training of kindergarten teachers had been estab- lished, and there was an increasing demand for the trained workers from these schools. Periodical literature and books of instruction concerning the new teaching were also to be obtained in con- siderable abundance. The general adoption of the kindergarten, how- ever, was delayed by various hindrances, and some years were necessary to overcome the difficulties in the way before it could become an established feature of our school-system. These objections and hindrances, as outlined by an authoritative history of the movement, were intellectual, theo- logical, and legal. The idea of normal develop- ment as a basis of education, rather than the impartation of knowledge, had to obtain more general acceptance among educators ; the Church, always a potent force in intellectual progress, must have its spiritual concept widened and a socializing element introduced into its faith; while the public school must obtain legal consent for the introduction of the new system. For it must be said that the school-laws of many states were such that public money could not be spent for the education of children of kindergarten age, the legal period of entrance into school being placed at various ages from five to eight years. EDUCATION BY PLAT 137 The value of the new system was finally recog- nized. The hindrances gradually disappeared un- til where once its introduction What it has done . , , , • j: , ^ ^.,^ into a school was an occasion of for the child comment, now it is an occasion for criticism when a school does not employ kin- dergarten methods in the teaching of beginners. The effect of the introduction of the kindergarten idea into our educational system was twofold : all departments of school-work became more sys- tematized, and play life in its relation to education received its first general recognition. Indeed, an intimate relation may be traced between this play instruction in the lower grades, and the activities of the playground and the manual and physical instruction among the older pupils. While the kindergarten of to-day has met with the changes incident to the growing thought of the age, the same socializing tendency is manifest in the sys- tem that was present in Froebel's time. Mr. J. L. Hughes says : " Froebel's kindergarten was a little world where responsibility was shared by all, individual rights respected by all, brotherly sympathy developed by all, and voluntary co- operation practiced by all." And this element of social life has in large measure pervaded our edu- cational system, — due largely, as many believe, to the influence of the kindergarten. The intellectual stimulus, as well as the moral and social benefits, of the kindergarten upon the 138 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EEOEEATION life of the child, does not need to be argued with those who have had actual experience with the system. The sympathetic contact between child and teacher affords opportunity for impressing the best ideals upon child character. This is il- lustrated in the happy effect of a certain teacher's association with a boy who was naturally dis- posed to be rough in manner. His mother, notic- ing the change to more quiet behavior, asked, " Does your teacher teach refinement, politeness ? What does she do ? " The little fellow replied, " Why, she just walks around, and we feel just so polite ! " This mystic charm of the effect of char- acter through the work of the kindergartner has so commended the system in the eyes of those who seek for the highest things for childhood that the play plans of this " child's garden " have not only been used by the secular school, but are employed by the churches both in the home and in foreign lands for the teaching of the truths of Christianity and morals. A new development of the play element in edu- cation has recently been introduced to the world by Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian The Montessori ... ^ i j. mi i . physician and educator, i hough in some particulars related to the Froebelian idea and dealing with the same ages of children (from three to seven years), it is more individual in its application, and emphasizes the free self -activity of the child to a much greater EDUCATION BY PLAY 139 degree. Madame Montessori was led to the de- velopment of her system as much through bio- logical channels as by the path of pedagogy. Her experiments while connected with an institution for the training of feeble-minded children, — where the inmates were actually taught by her methods to read and write so that they could pass with normal children the same examinations at the same ages, — led her to apply her system to the teaching of normal children. The establishment of her " Houses of Childhood " in Kome, and her success in the intellectual marvels wrought there have caused a great interest to be awakened in this country in the work of this talented woman. It is about seven years since the first of these schools was opened, and it is said that the new educational movement is transforming the schools of Italy and making much progress in other lands. Yisitors from a great many nations have met Dr. Montessori and made examination of her methods at close hand. The statement of Dr. Theodate Smith, of Clark University, of the workings of the new system as witnessed by her in the Montessori schools of Rome, affords us a glance at the methods employed : " If one visits one of Dr. Montessori's schools, the children all seem to be occupied in interesting play. Some are lying on the floor playing with blocks or strips of wood painted in different colors. Some are playing blindfold games, finding 140 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION out by the aid of their fingers alone the shapes and sizes of objects and different textures of silk, satin, wool, or linen. One child was absorbed in writing on the blackboard and did not even notice my entrance into the room. She was writing in large vertical script and forming the letters beau- tifully, and in answer to my question as to how long she had been writing, I learned that she had begun the day before. Occasionally some child received either approval or a suggestion that per- haps he would like to do something else. But the interest and attention of the children are never interfered with. If a child wishes to spend the entire school-period of two hours in doing one thing, he is allowed to do so, on the principle that the spontaneous attention is a fundamental edu- cative principle that must not be interfered with. In spite of the fact that this particular school in the convent on the Yia Guisti draws its children from an exceedingly poor section in Rome, their appearance was neat, and although no discipline was apparent, the schoolroom was in the truest sense controlled and orderly." A leading principle of the new system is the education of the senses. Where other systems of education depend almost wholly on the sense of seeing and hearing, it makes large use of the sense of touch. Blindfold games are especially popular. By the aid of cut-out letters, the child learns by sight and touch the forms of the letters, EDUCATION BY PLAY 141 and without mental strain or overpressure is led by the play method to the construction of words and the formation of them with pen and pencil. Instances are given of children of three and a half years of age educated by this method who can both read and write in English and Italian. In the case of children of four years the time re- quired to learn to write is about six weeks, while at five years of age a month only is sufficient. So naturally does the knowledge come that the child begins writing with the idea that it is exercising a natural talent, or as one expressed it, that he is " big enough to write now." In similar vein to the stories of Montessori's success in elementary education is the record of the case of a Massachusetts prod- ,. - _..^. igy, "William James Sidis, which ham James Sidis ^-^ ' ' occupied a prominent place in magazine and periodical literature a few years ago. Dr. Boris Sidis, then a Harvard lecturer, and the father of the boy, believing that our edu- cational system was at fault in delaying any at- tempt at formal education until the child became of " school-age," resolved to begin his boy's educa- tion in infancy. With the aid of alphabetical blocks, Dr. Sidis taught the boy the letters and by shifting the blocks about spelled the names of different ob- jects, pointing to the objects and naming them aloud. By this method the child learned to spell 142 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION and read before the age of three. When, later in the grammar-school work, the boy seemed to have a distaste for mathematics, the father invented games played with dominoes and marbles, which required more or less knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Every evening the father and son played these games with the result that the boy came to great pro- ficiency in mathematics. Similar methods were employed in teaching other subjects, so that in half a year he had passed through seven grades of school-work, and then with three months in the Brookline High School and some home-study, he was ready for Harvard at the age of nine. By a regulation of the university he was compelled to wait until eleven years of age before entering, but the newspapers noted his graduation in June, 1914, — by a special vote of the faculty of Harvard University, — at the early age of sixteen. Dr. Sidis says that in the teaching of his son he employed, besides the play plan of approach, the principle of suggestion, and the Value of these application of the psychological methods with i p .. 7 „ children ^^ ^ reserve mental energy advocated by Prof. William James. He believes that it was not the exceptional char- acter of his pupil that secured the results here mentioned, but rather the application of his edu- cational theories. Regardless of the fact that Dr. Sidis instances other examples of the develop- EDUCATION BY PLAY 143 ment of the mental life in a short space of time by these processes, educators are disposed, to be- lieve that the unusual influences of heredity and environment which the son possessed are in large measure the underlying cause of his rapid progress. The method of Madame Montessori as well, while looked upon with interest by intellectual leaders, is still regarded with somewhat of suspicion, espe- cially by Americans. It is said concerning her recently published work, The Method of Scientific Pedagogy^ that it appears " rather as an ingenious deduction of modern theories to practical uses than a new creation." While it may be necessary to wait for some time before the methods of Montes- sori or the theories of Sidis shall have complete recognition, their work is valuable as an encour- agement to the notion of education by play, and in that sense should have immediate acceptance. Proceeding from the idea of play in elementary education, we discover that similar methods have been finding acceptance in the ^ oving-pictures j^joriier ffrades of school-Ufe, The in the higher ^ ^ ^ school-grades ^^^^"^ ^f that most popular form of American amusement, — the mov- ing-picture show, — has already been noted as re- lated to the boys and girls of our public schools. The advantage of the moving-picture as a means of imparting knowledge is so evident that teach- ers are now advocating its use as a most essential auxiliary to effective class-work. It is believed 144 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EEOEBATION also that the introduction of the picture film will assist in the matter of regular attendance and dis- cipline. The University of Wisconsin has recently perfected a plan whereby moving-pictures may be exhibited in every school in the state. Prof. Louis E. Keber, the Dean of the Extension De- partment, says: "As a means of stimulation, especially for the sluggish pupil, and to provide wholesome and attractive entertainment, there is nothing better than the educational moving- picture," The university will have a large mov- ing-picture " library " to circulate among the schools. The films will be furnished free, each school to have its own moving-picture machine. A similar plan is in process of adoption at the Nebraska State University. The value of the moving-picture as a means of education is quite generally conceded. Prof. F. K. Starr, of the Chicago University, eir gener ^^ ^^ .^ ^^ ^ tremendous vital endorsement •' force of culture as well as of amusement." Through the efforts of the late Prof. Charles Sprague Smith, of the People's Institute, 'New York City, — a pioneer in the movement for wholesome moving-pictures, — his- torical scenes such as " Washington Crossing the Delaware " and the " Life of John Paul Jones " were prepared, with the educational effect in mind. A large number of films are listed in the educa- tional class. In a recent year one-third of the EDUCATION BY PLAY 145 films passing the JS'ational Board of Censorship were classed as educational, and the proportion is doubtless even larger at the present time. The manufacturers are acceding to the demand for the educational film and the pupils in the schools are ready for its coming. Children of the grammar- grades of Providence, K. I., in the investigation of their moving-picture tastes referred to in a former chapter, gave the following reasons for preferring the educational picture : " Because when we study our history we have a clear picture of what we are talking about." " Because you can learn quicker from moving-pictures than from books." " If schools had moving-pictures about their lessons, the children would pay a great deal more atten- tion to their books." Edison, the tireless inventor, is assisting in the new plan of education by the development in his laboratories of a series of instruct- fontribution i^® fil^s- O^ ^^® ^^^ory that children as well as adults do best in studies in which they are the most interested, he aims to make the films as attractive as possible. He has been led, we are told, by his young son to devise this new scheme for secondary education. It is planned to present a wide variety of subjects covering the various branches taught in the schools. As ■ Mr. Ayers, of the Eussell Sage Foundation, writes in The Survey : " The mate- rials of the new educational device consist of 146 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION wonderfully clever pictures of natural phenomena in motion. They portray with startling vividness the workings of pumps, in which we look through transparent walls and see the valves opening and shutting and the water rising with each piston- stroke. . . . Other films show the develop- ment of the house-fly through all its different stages. The caterpillar encloses itself in the chrysalis, and later emerges a beautiful butterfly. By means of motion-pictures taken through powerful microscopes, the minutest forms of plant and animal life are seen, the development of cell-growths becomes a vivid reality, and one watches in every detail the formation of the most beautiful and intricate sorts of crystals." The films as completed are shown to a select audience of educational experts for their criticism. It is said, however, that the censorship which Mr. Edison most depends on is that of a group of chil- dren to whom these films are exhibited. That which does not " get across " to their young minds must be changed or eliminated, for the picture is solely for the benefit of the child. This deference to the child is the germ of modern plans of elementary education ; as it has been aptly expressed, "The need of the child is the law of the school." Probably in no sys- tem is this more fully brought out than in organ- izations like the Andover Play School at Andover, Massachusetts. EDUCATION BY PLAY 147 This is a vacation school continuing for six weeks during the summer, and made up of pupils from the public-school grades. The Andover mi • i j j.v. „, „ ^ , ihe course includes the various Play School manual-training features : the col- lecting of minerals, stamps and coins , outdoor games and plays, nature study, etc. The selection of subjects for all pupils over nine years of age is left to their own volition, and for those under that age selection is to be made by the parents. It was originally the design of this vacation school to provide instructive amusement for the boys of the community who would be inclined to spend the vacation days among the bad surroundings of the city streets ; but at the urgent request of parents, the school now includes not only those of the class for whom it was originally planned, but many from the best homes of the city. The interest taken in the various lines of work, or play, — for it is some- times hard to discover the dividing-line, — was intense on the part of the pupils, and the appre- ciation of the parents not less enthusiastic. Mr. Johnson, who has already been quoted in this chapter, says of the Andover Play School : " While the conditions in Andover were favorable for carrying on a school like that described, they were by no means unusual. I have yet to see a country village where a similar school could not be successfully conducted, with the accompanying benefits to the children, so many of whom are, 148 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION without question, injured by the experiences of the long summer vacation." The work of the play school is similar to much which is being done in our large cities under the auspices of the playground and recreation center, the beneficial effects of which have been dwelt upon. Thus with the employment of play methods in our school system, upon our playgrounds, and in our vacation periods, we can but note a grow- ing association between the intellectual life and organized play. "With our beginners making their entrance into our educational system by the pleasant path of play, and the secondary pupils following the system as well ; with our high-school and college students receiving marks for profi- ciency in athletics, one does not need to be a prophet to declare that we are in the beginning of an era in which play shall form a part in our school cur- riculum which a few years since would have been thought impossible. CHAPTEE X IN THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS A GENEEATiON ago, among the passengers on an old stage-coach going up to Moosehead Lake, in Maine, were three boys about A weakling who , , pp. r\ the affe of lourteen years. One became strong *=> *' of them, a slight lad, was the special butt of his two companions. When his patience had quite reached the limit, he endeav- ored to settle the account with the other boys in a fistic encounter ; but found that either of his com- rades was more than a match for him. Then this young boy, who had been sent alone by his par- ents on this journey for his health, began to do some thinking. He had long wished to be fear- less and strong, but the desire had hitherto been an idle dream. As a result of his encounter with those boys, however, he began to train for strength. By boxing-lessons, by horseback riding, and by a life in the open air, he built up a robust body. The habits thus begun continued into man- hood, so that in his maturity there has probably been none among the prominent men of America who has represented so vigorous a physical life as has Theodore Eoosevelt, — once a physical weak- 149 150 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION ling, but made strong by his practical use of athletics. As with young Eoosevelt, there is inherent in every youth the admiration of physical prowess, with the desire to engage in ath- miration -^^^^^ sports, — not merely because of youth for ^ "^ physical strength ^^ ^he pleasure derived, but also on account of the anticipated phys- ical profit. An authority on play tells us that eighty per cent, of the games popular during the adolescent period have muscular activity as their principal feature. And be it noted that the Amer- ican youth has a reverence akin to patriotic de- votion for the deeds of physical prowess. Doubt- less the physical superiority of Washington has had something to do with the honor paid him by the boy of to-day ; for, aside from his triumphs on the field of war, it is no mean recommendation to the rising generation that our hero in his youth could throw a stone across the Rappahannock River, and carve his name the highest on the dizzy slopes of the Natural Bridge. The fact that Washington could leap, run, and ride better than any of his youthful companions bears out the truth of the utterance of Jahn, the German pa- triot, " Only strong muscles can make men great and nations free." Because the athletic seems so naturally a part of young life, the schools and colleges have long been leaders in the effort to furnish healthful IN THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 151 sports. And yet the place whicli athletics now occupy in the school-life was secured against more or less opposition. Old students Former opposition ^^ Princeton tell of the days to athletics , , • in school-life when lesson assignments were so long that the time for recreation must be stolen from study hours. Some of the wealthier students kept saddle-horses for their pleasure ; while the poorer students enjoyed long walks through the beautiful rural surroundings of the college. But because these diversions took too much time from studies the faculty forbade them. At one time " shinny " became a popular game, but a faculty rule in 1Y87 declared it to be "low and unbecoming gentlemen and students, and attended with great danger to the health by sudden alternate heats and colds," and it was therefore forbidden. The boisterous spirits of the students were bound by a regulation, in 1794, for- bidding " halloing, loud talking, whistling, jump- ing, or any other boisterous noise " in the entries or rooms of the college. Not all the features of sporting life in college have met with unqualified endorsement by the edu- cators of the present time. The Football in , . ,, j. j- i i „ vr . J desire upon the part of school- college life to-day . ^ ^ authorities to permit only that which shall be the most helpful has caused them at various times to hesitate concerning the con- tinuance of one of the most prominent college 152 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EBCEEATION sports — football. The problem of its regulation has been seriously considered, and efforts have been made to render the game less dangerous. The objections to football, — already mentioned in some detail, — have been met by various statements on the part of those who are friendly to the game. The number of deaths, it is declared, have not all been directly traceable to the game itself, but rather to the neglect of immediate physical atten- tion, or to foolhardy risks on the part of the players. It is said that the greater number of fatalities occur among the younger and less ex- perienced players, and so the game is not being recommended by educators and physical-trainers for younger boys. Some statements from the proceedings of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association are of in- terest. "Ten years ago," says the Secretary, Prof. Frank "W. Nicolson, in the proceedings for 1912, "the game of football as played in Amer- ican colleges was in a bad way. . . . Not only was the game deadly in its dreariness, but, what was of more importance, it was growing more deadly to the participants. . . . The dis- content of college faculties with such conditions found expression in a JSTational Football Con- ference, summoned by Chancellor MacCracken, of the 'New York University, in December, 1905. The presidents and other representatives of seventy American colleges met at the Murray Hill Hotel, IF THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 153 in New York City, determined to abolish inter- collegiate football, if they could not reform it. The conservative element won, and the game was saved, but only by drastic measures." The com- mittee on rules, in conjunction with other experts, succeeded in bringing about a beneficial change, and " after some experiments, evolved the present- day game, — vastly more interesting than that of former years, and with the injuries reduced to a minimum." It is not claimed, however, that the game has fully lost its element of danger. In the Athletic Association proceedings for 1913 the chairman of the committee on football fatalities says : " Foot- ball is a rough game, however it is played, and accidents, avoidable and unavoidable, will occur. It should never be indulged in unless every pre- caution is taken in advance, not only in the way of training and instruction in the matter of skill and condition, but also in regard to the spirit of sportsmanship that should prevail. And further, in no case should a game be played, or practice held, without adequate provision for proper and immediate hygienic and medical care." The se- rious attempts on the part of the friends of this vigorous game to reform its abuses are to be com- mended. It is beUeved by many that the athletic and disciplinary value of football is such that it ought not to be abolished entirely. Our educational institutions are giving large 154 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION place to athletic sports. As an outlet for that warlike spirit which is a part of a boy's inher- ited resources, as well as a train- e ics a . j^^ ^-^^ stern battles of life, safety valve i i i • the athletic contests deserve en- couragement. "When Chancellor Day went to Syracuse University, he found that there was no provision for football or field sports. One of his first acts was the securing of an athletic-field and a grandstand. On being asked by the president of the board of trustees why he wanted these, Dr. Day said, " So that the students may work off some of their surplus energy on themselves and not on me." This facetious answer of the vigor- ous chancellor does not of course fully express his appreciation of athletic sports ; — that is better evi- denced by the great gymnasium and the fine stadium which have been provided at Syracuse, and by the athletic spirit which now prevails there. The plea for clean sports, and the spirit of fair play, which is making an impression in the sphere of athletic life to-day, are largely u va ing ^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ideals set forth by our fair play ♦^ educational institutions. Over the entrance to the athletic-field of Bowdoin College, graven in the imperishable granite, is the motto, JFair play, and may the hest man win. All the contending teams must pass through this door on their way to the field. This motto voices the m THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 155 high ideals which the schools are now demand- ing of the athletic world. It has been discovered by educators that it is not impossible to cultivate appreciation of this spirit of fairness and to teach lessons in practical ethics even to those raised in environments which are degenerating. A few years ago several mem- bers of the Board of Education of ISTew York City dined together after one of its meetings. Two of the members, who had previously investigated, informed the others that on the East Side in a given district they had found a city-block of 200 feet in length where there were 200 children, — a child to each running foot, — without play-facili- ties or opportunities for athletic development. This statement and the discussion following led to the formation of the Public School Athletic League of the City of 'New York, which took charge of the problem of the athletic training of 600,000 children. The first principle of the or- ganization was fair play, and the effort to teach clean sport began. As an illustration of the carrying out of the principle, even at the loss of victory, General Wingate, the president of the League, gives the following example : " At the elementary championship games, which were held in Brooklyn on December 12, 1908, Public School 6, Manhattan, carried off the point trophy with a total of 14 points, — the next schools making 13 and 11 respectively, — and was declared 156 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION to be the champion. "Within a few days there- after a representative from Public School 6 called upon Dr. Crampton and stated that they had dis- covered that one of their competitors in a relay race in vp^hich the school had won one of the points which made them victors, was a substitute who was not within the qualifications ; that, in consequence, they did not win the point under the rules, and therefore desired to relinquish their claim to the championship." ' The faith of school-authorities in the good in- fluence of athletics is evidenced by the amount of expense and effort expended to School athletics j. • i i j^ t m lurmsh such sports, in iacoma, in various cities ^ , . ' Wash., through the contributions of the business men and the assistance of school authorities, a magnificent stadium has been built for the high-school boys, at a cost of approximately $80,000. In Newark, N. J., $75,000 has been spent in purchasing and equipping a fine athletic-field for the public schools. In Troy, N. Y., in co-opera- tion with the Young Men's Christian Association, the Public Schools Athletic League has been pro- viding athletics, a prominent feature of which is the annual athletic-meet in May. The results of the regents' examinations in Troy showed that a high standard of school grades was maintained by ^ Col. Charles W. Larned, in " Athletics from a Historical and Educational Standpoint," Proceedings, Third Annual Conven- tion Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Dec, 1908. IN THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 157 those who took part in the school athletics. The number participating in the various cities in these school athletics and field meets increases from year to year. The following figures from JSTewark will probably be a suflScient illustration of their in- creasing popularity : The first outdoor-meet was held in June, 1904; only boys competed, the girls being admitted the following year. In 1907 the girls had their first separate meet, an increased number of them taking part. During the year 1913-14, among the boys, there was an increase of those participating from the 400 of the first year to 5,000 ; while the number of girl con- testants increased from the 400 of the first year to 2,991. Probably the most just criticism brought against American athletics is that only a few out of the whole number have the advantage A just criticism of „.,... , , , , . . .01 their framing and development. American sports o ^ The ancient game of football gave opportunity for the division of the school into contending sides, while each one energetically kicked for his side. Now, as in all team games, the number is reduced to a small fraction of the entire school. An English gentleman, talking with the president of a great American university, asked how many boat-crews the school had on the lake. The college president replied, "Three — possibly four." Said the other, " I am a graduate of Cambridge. How many boat-crews do you 158 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION suppose we have there ? "We have one hundred and five ! " The wide endorsement of athletics by our schools to-day, and the increasing provision made for such sports, lead us to believe that the system prevailing at the great university on the river Cam shall ere long be the rule in our own institutions of learning.. The introduction of class athletics, in which eighty per cent, of the class must com- pete, is assisting in bringing about a similar result in the public schools. With this result accom- plished we shall realize in a more perfect degree Chancellor Day's ideal : " The function of college athletics is to secure to the whole student body the most helpful physical development in the most exhilarating manner, for the purposes of a sound and healthy scholarship by adapting and using all manner of exercises and sports; and for the purpose of inculcating practical moral ideals and the moral uses of the body in the development of manhood." Unsatisfactory as the organized athletics of our schools have often been, and unfortunate as has been the fact that comparatively Physical improve- ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^j^ ^^ participate, ment through . i , , i i , i i college sports '^^ cannot be doubted that they have been of physical help to many. Walter Camp, a recognized authority on football, gives, in an American magazine, a letter from a missionary in India, who was regularly on the IN THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 159 'varsity team throughout his college course and who played part of the time during his theological studies. After six years on his tropical field, rid- ing his bicycle day and night and enduring the strenuous life of a missionary, he writes : " I have no doubt that much of my endurance is attribut- able to my football experience. In our mission there are three old football players, and I fancy none will question our claim to the greatest en- durance and general good health." Numerous other personal experiences of those who have re- ceived large physical benefit from college sports might be cited. The game of basket-ball, — next in popularity to football in our colleges, — and the national game of baseball, have both contributed their share to the physical-training of our young men. It is interesting to note that college students, both male and female, have made a substantial increase in hodily measurements during the past generation. Figures furnished this writer by Prof. Paul C. Phillips, of the Department of Physical Education of Amherst College, which are the result of an investigation conducted by him, show that the young women in our American colleges are both taller and heavier than the young women of twenty years ago. The excess in weight in the cases tabulated averages 2.2 pounds, and the height averages one-third of an inch greater, while the chest measurement is increased by an 160 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION average of more than half an inch. For fifty years records have been kept concerning the weight and height of students at Amherst Col- lege. These records show that the present aver- age height of students of 17 years is 68.2 inches, and those of 20 years, 68.3 inches, as against the 17-year-old student who, prior to 1884, measured only 66.8 inches, and the 20-year-old student who, at the earliest date the records were kept, meas- ured only 67.5 inches. The weight has also sub- stantially increased. The table of figures con- cerning strength-tests which has been kept at Amherst for the past twenty-five years also shows a decided increase. This physical improvement of our young men is believed in large measure to be the result of the more systematic use of ath- letics in recent years. As an instance of that physical perseverance which wins, two pictures come up before me as I write. They are connected with A boat-race on i. i. -l. i. r\ \. • j a , , a contest between Cambridge and Oxford on the Thames River. The first scene shows the start ; the rowers are in their places, — everyone alert and strong, — while cheer- ing thousands encourage their respective teams. The second picture is the finish of the race. The winning crew, — that of Cambridge, — comes in with only two of the rowers able to pull their oars, while the others evidence by their hanging heads and bowed bodies their completely fagged IN THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 161 condition. The honor goes to Cambridge; and it all depended on the two men who were able to hold their own. Some day in the race of life their exploit will be duplicated, and the training of the days of school life will be responsible for their again proving themselves superior to their fellows. The spirit which enabled those two to win out for their team, as well as the spirit which carried the others to the point of complete ^ ^" ° exhaustion, is a highly beneficial team-play ' o ^ factor to society. A distinctive element of the team-game is the sacrifice of the individual's personal interest for the benefit of the clan. One day, during the progress of a football game, a young quarter-back said to his coach, " Take me out ; I've forgotten the signals." The personal privilege of being in the game was noth- ing to him compared with the success of his team. Similar self-sacrifice is the constant need of social life. The team athletic contest has been the means of making the individual player realize that he is not an isolated factor in life's problem, but that he stands related to the other factors. In Public School 30, 'New York City, the cham- pion broad-jumper was ineligible to compete on account of low grades in his studies. The boy- editor of the school-paper remarked, " It's a pity he can't jump as well with his lessons." Dr. Crampton, Secretary of the Athletic League, 162 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION wrote to the principal, expressing the wish that so good an athlete might be induced to do better work in school. The reply soon came that the classmates of the young fellow were looking after the matter, and that the boy hod already reached a higher standing in his studies. The student was thus induced to do for his class what he had not formerly done for himself. Actual demonstra- tions prove that carefully directed athletics will teach the boy more concerning his behavior toward society than he will learn from any treatise on ethics. The moral benefit which is the outcome of clean sport is of course the highest dividend which ath- letics pay to society. The time Athletic successes ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^_ demand clean <• • j i j -j. jj^ijjjg letics were friends has passed, if indeed that time ever was. Ath- letes in large numbers testify to the fact that liquor and tobacco are the enemies of muscular efficiency. Boys and young men in training for the games must deny themselves these destructive agencies, and by the most careful living de- velop themselves to the highest possible physical standard. A picture of the New York Giants, which appeared in a leading magazine not long ago, is accompanied by the proud statement from McGraw that this is " A club of clean-livers." To this fact he attributes in large measure their success. IN" THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 163 It is said that the athletic triumphs of Yale and Pennsylvania Universities have been due in large measure to the strict rulings of " Mike " Murphy, as he was familiarly called. Murphy is on record with the statement that he forbade the use of liquor by all players whom he coached. He said : " "We have just as good athletes to-day as we ever did, and more than three-fourths of them never drank any kind of intoxicant in their life. That is the best thing about athletics ; it teaches a man to live a clean life and to rely on himself entirely." A similar pronouncement of the advisability of abstinence from tobacco is given by Dr. Seaver, medical examiner of the Yale University gym- nasium : " Whenever it is desired to secure the highest possible working ability by the organism, as in athletic contests, where the maximum of effort is demanded, all motor depressant influences are removed as far as possible, tobacco being one of the first substances forbidden." The man of athletic mold, because of the nat- ural affinity between youth and the physically stronff, has within his power the The athlete's . . „ opportunity to exercise a high influence rr j o moral influence among the young. Dr. Luther H. Gulick gives an instance of the transfer of character from the play-trainer to those under his leadership, which is a case in point.* * Dr. Lnther H. Gulick, Proceedings, National Playground Association, vol. Ill, p. 292. 164 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION A young student from Yale, — a catcher on the baseball team,— spent the summer in a certain country community. He was asked by the boys if he played ball. On his answering in the affirm- ative, they proceeded to " try him out " in their local team, with surprising and gratifying results. Their admiration for his athletic prowess, as well as for his personal character, made him a natural leader among them. He went to them each season for several years. At his suggestion the organization of their team was made permanent for the doing of other things besides playing ball. His influence reshaped the lives of the young men who came in touch with his leadership, and real character gain to the youth of the community was the result. As another illustration, we cite the instance of a young student who was brought to a life of great usefulness in Christian service by his con- tact with a leader in athletics, as published re- cently in an autobiographical sketch by Dr. "Wil- fred T. Grenfell.' In the year 1883, when young Grenfell was studying medicine in London, he saw a crowd of people going into a tent in the slums of Stepney. Attracted by the singing, he followed the crowd into the tent. Here he lis- tened to a stirring gospel address by Mr. J. E. K. Studd, a celebrated cricket player. The young ^Dr. W. T. Grenfell, "Among the Deep Sea Fishermen," Outlook, July, 1903, p. 695 fE. IE THE FIELD OF ATHLETICS 165 medical student was then playing on several ath- letic-teams and was immediately interested in the message of one whose association with sport did not interfere with his devotion to religion. As a result of that meeting with the man whose ath- letic success he so much admired, Grenfell was led to commit himself to an uncompromising Christian life. After his graduation, having a desire for adventure, as well as for religious ac- tivity, Grenfell became the missionary to the deep sea fishermen of Labrador, where he has ever since stood, not merely as an exponent of clean sport and clean life, but as a social regener- ator known and admired throughout the Christian world. CHAPTEE XI THE SPOETS OF BOYS Edwaed Eveeett is authority for the state- ment that in John Quinoy Adams's life there was no such stage as boyhood. In the The boy is father t i , -. ^ i ^ j s> . nght of our present knowledge of childhood as a preparation for after-life, it is diflB.cult to understand how such a man could be fully ready to fill his place in society. Certainly it is unfortunate for one not to have known the spirit of boyhood. The question, many times asked by the impatient and thoughtless, " What are boys good for ? " finds its apt reply in the answer of the youngster who said, " To make men out of." Since amusements are so vital a part of a boy's life, it is natural that a treatment of the amusement question in its relation to man- hood should not neglect the consideration of a boy's sports. Mr. George E. Johnson, to whom we have before referred, divides the periods of child life as follows : (1) The period of infancy — up to tageso pay ^j^ree vears. (2) The years from development *' ^ ^ *' four to six. (3) Seven to nine. (4) Ten to twelve. (5) Thirteen to fifteen. His classification of plays and games for the different 166 THE SPOETS OF BOYS 167 periods, as well as the statements of authorities on child study, indicate but little difference in the play tastes of children in the earlier periods. During the years of infancy the natural instinct is to play alone, or with the parent. Later, boys, as well as girls, play with dolls, and housekeeping and domestic occupations are mutually enjoyed in their plays together. The enjoyment of play- mates begins with school-days, and the games and plays in which others share are more popular than any solitary enjoyment. The self-center in play, however, continues strong until about the fourth period, when, beginning to wane, it gives way to games that represent a larger social interest, and later is subordinated to the instinct for the club and the gang. In period four a distinctive char- acter begins to appear in boys' play, and the sexes no longer have the same play tastes which character- ized early childhood. During these various stages of child growth there are accompanying changes in the physical and mental development which have their part in the unfolding life. It is in the natural gang-forming period of a boy's life that special work in boy training must begin. This epoch starts about the age of ten or twelve, and beginning with this age and continu- ing until the years of maturity, there are needed a strong hand and helpful counsel for the direction of a boy's amusement life. The boy in this period of the beginning of 168 CHAEACTEE THROUGH EECEEATION larger life is at the height of his fun-loving exist- ence. His hero-worshiping instinct is just be- ginning to assert itself. His ad- When play over- jjiiratiou of physical vigor is sxG^ht becomes j- ^ J in connection with the Men and Eeligion Forward Movement, lists over forty organizations for boys besides the junior denomi- national societies. Some of these have a military cast, as the Boys' Brigade ; others appeal to the chivalrio and idealistic, as the Knights of King Arthur and the Knights of the Holy Grail ; others are of a philanthropic, literary, or religious char- acter. The variety of these organizations gives reason for the hope that every locality may find one that is adapted to its needs. The one which seems to have awakened the widest interest, by adapting itself to the varied activities of boy life, — the Boy Scouts, — must everywhere claim the attention of those who believe in boyhood. The Boy Scouts of America was organized only a few years ago, the formal incorporation taking place in Washington, D. C, on February 8, 1910. The spirit of interest in its beginnings was well ' Messages of the Men and Eeligion Forward Movement, vol. V, pp. 154, 155. THE SPOETS OF BOYS 175 set forth by Jacob Riis, in an article in The Out- look^ in which he describes the meeting of a score of men who sat around, a table in „ ^ °^ an office in New York City, dis- Scouts , IIP cussing, pro and con, the value of the Scout movement. One man, on being asked what he thought of the new organization, read from the evening paper of the grief and indigna- tion of the Park Commissioner over the stoning by some boys of two of the most beautiful swans in Central Park. " Now," said the man, " ten to one those boys were not out to kill swans. They were on a hunt, — pioneers or Indians likely, — and they came across this splendid game and stalked it. They had no idea of grieving the Park Com- missioner or causing the city loss. They were en- gaged in legitimate sport, — legitimate from the boy's point of view. The city had shut him up between its stone walls with all his primitive in- stincts, and had provided no outlet for them. That last is what scouting does. Being Indians, they killed the swans ; as Scouts they would have protected them. And they would have had just as much fun — in fact, more ; they would not have had to run from anybody. Everybody would have been the gainer. The swans would have been saved, the boys would have been saved, for if they are caught they will be locked up. There it is, the whole case in a nutshell. The Scouts win ! " Both because of such earnest advocacy of the 176 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION new organization, and for other reasons, the Boy Scouts have been widely organized, and recently tabulated statistics show that T,000 scout masters are now reaching about 300,000 boys between the ages of 12 and 18 years. The organization really had its beginnings in America when Ernest Thompson Seton organized in 1902 his first tribe of Woodcraft Indians. Stimulus was also given to the idea in a similar way by the organization in 1905 of the Sons of Daniel Boone, by Daniel Carter Beard, the author and naturalist. When Sir Baden-Powell looked about for a model for a new club for English boys, he patterned his Boy Scouts after these American organizations, incorporating certain ideas of his own. Later a union of effort on the part of Mr. Seton and the distinguished head of the Boy Scouts resulted in the work among American boys being taken in charge by Mr. Seton, while Sir Baden-Powell was to conduct the work in England, — the whole organization to be known as the " Boy Scouts." In this country the names of such men as Woodrow Wilson, William H. Taft, Theodore Eoosevelt, Jacob Eiis, Josiah Strong, David Starr Jordan, and a multitude of others of prominence are associated with the movement, as oflS.cers and members of the ISTational Council. The work of the Boy Scouts incorporates a happy combination of work and play as repre- sented by what are called in scout-lore ''scout- THE SPOETS OF BOYS 177 The Scout Law craft," " woodcraft," " campcraft," and such valu- able knowledge as first-aid and life-saving, lessons on patriotism and citizenship, etc., combined with games, athletics, manual training, and various lit- erary and social features. The principles of the Scouts are represented in the twelve points of the Scout Law, which every boy must know before becoming a " Tenderfoot " — the first degree of the three classes of Scouts. This law is as follows : (1 (2; (3 (4: (5 (6 (7 (»: (9: (lo: (11 (12; A Scout is trustworthy. A Scout is loyal. A Scout is helpful. A Scout is friendly. A Scout is courteous. A Scout is kind. A Scout is obedient. A Scout is cheerful. A Scout is thrifty. A Scout is brave. A Scout is clean. A Scout is reverent. For advancement to the grade of Second-Class Scout, the boy must have a certain proficiency in knowledge, and at least one month's service as a Tenderfoot. A series of harder tests must be complied with before he is again advanced to the position of First-Class Scout. After this there Plan of organization 178 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATIOK are various badges of merit which may be won. Uniforms and badges are provided for each class of Scouts, and the boys are organized into patrol groups of eight, with a patrol leader. The whole organization, called a troop, is headed by a Scout Master, who must be a man of at least twenty-one years of age. The troops are under the direction of a local couQcil composed of leading men of the community who are willing to act in that capacity. As to the results of this organized work with boys, a great cloud of witnesses are anxious to testify. A mother writes to her -, favorite woman's magazine and results o tells how the " bully," the " brag- gart," and the " rowdy," and above all the " boy she loved the most," were all transformed by the Scout movement in her town. A judge of the Juvenile Court in Kansas City says, " If every boy in our city would join, the gangs would dis- appear and the Juvenile Court would soon be a stranger to the youth, and we would rear a gen- eration of men that would not require much police protection. I have never had a Boy Scout in my Court, and there are 1,200 of them in Kansas City." The old soldiers who attended the 50th Reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg spoke of the kindness of the four hundred Boy Scouts who were on hand to render assistance to the veterans, and the press correspondent said the Scouts " made good with a bang." The Outlook says, " JSTo move- THE SPOETS OF BOYS 179 ment of our time toward child betterment has been more practical than the Scout movement. No wonder that its progress has been inspiring." The motto of the Scouts, "Be prepared," has caused them to measure up to the need at the most critical times ; and the precept, " Do a good turn to some one every day," has borne such sur- prising fruitage in so many instances that courtesy is becoming a habit wherever the influence of Scoutcraft is felt. If a more detailed illustration be sought, we need but refer to the story told by Jacob Riis in a leading New York weekly. It Where the i 4. f * ^i, a relates to one of the newer and Scouts won more progressive towns of the South, a place where the population had trebled in a little over a decade, and where " every in- fluence for good and bad was working overtime." The churches and Sunday-schools were well at- tended, but there were no playgrounds, no Ju- venile Court or probation officer. The Grand Jury in its attempts to regulate conditions among the rising generation had caused ninety-five boys in the town to appear in the police court from one to twenty times. What to do as a measure of re- lief was a hard question. There had been at- tempts made to organize the Boy Scouts, but suc- cess in the matter was finally assured only when the Men and Religion Forward Movement struck the city. 180 OHAEACTEE THROUGH EECEEATION As a result of the boys' own choice, and a call that could not be denied, a young lawyer, with little time but with a love for boys, took the position of Scout Master. Says Mr. Kiis : " When I was there he had enlisted seven of the ninety-five, — the seven worst, some of the citizens told me, — and they had all made good. He and the troop were giving them a chance to be good rather than bad, and they took it. The town that had pooh- poohed the Scouts was getting behind them, Chamber of Commerce, Woman's Club, and all. These were working hand in hand for a Juvenile Court and a social-center in connection with the parish-house of a local church. And the boys ? As I said, they were having a good time ; they were not thinking of the morrow — not they — but of the fun they could have to-day. They had a camp two miles away where they slept in tents, did all the chores, wigwagged from knob to knob, and explored the bowels of the earth, for it was a cave country. In bad weather they held their meetings in town, did stunts in the gym of the Congregational Church, and flourished exceed- ingly. Two new groups were forming, and lead- ers were coming from the original one and from the normal college. The whole town looked toward a brighter future." Thus does the spirit of the boy respond to the magic touch of sympathy and the presentation of the higher ideal, and out of the raw material THE SPOETS OF BOYS 181 of boyhood are evolved the elements of true man- liness. During a pastorate of over twenty years and a previous period in Sun- A tribute to my , , , i j.i i i ^ , . ^ day-school work, there has been boy friends "^ ^ . committed to the writer no hap- pier work than the training of boy life in the younger and adolescent years. Memory makes bright the pictures of days in camp and woodland with a chosen crowd of boys, and afternoon and evening hours spent in literary enjoyments with a boy companion. Boys now grown to manhood and some of them graduated from college ; some seasoned by the years of toil, and some with boys of their own to train ; some who have gone to the long beyond and whose presence is but a memory, — these, my boy friends, have all been my teach- ers, for from such as they has come that awaken- ing which has made me understand better how every man must become a child in order to enter into the kingdom of larger life. To each and all my boy friends, and especially to Harry, — who left me on the eve of his graduation from his high-school course, and whom I shall not see again until I meet him on the hills across the river, — I would sing a remodeled version of the words of James Whitcomb Eiley : " Harry, my boy-friend, brave and strong ! Ob, you were as jolly as you were young ; For all the laughs of the lyre belong To the boy-friend all unsung. 182 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION *' So I want to sing something in your behalf ; To clang some chords that shall sweetly tell Of the wholesomeness of your joyous laugh And the voice I loved so well. " I want to give tribute in gentler ways Than prose can be made to do, To our well-loved friends of other days, Boys dear to me and you. " I want them to know that our quietest nights, And the days overflowing with noise, Are remembered among my choicest delights As I think of the old-time boys. " I want them to think of the harmony clear, Forgetting each note that was wrong ; For time as it flies brings forth the grave fear That I failed in my old-time song. " "With the lilt of the lark and the freshness of spring, As a troubadour 'neath starry sky, I laud my boy-friend, and joyfully sing To comrades of days gone by. " And these are the princes to which I would sing,— Would drape and garnish in velvet line, — For courtly and true as earth's noblest kings. Are these brave boy-friends of mine." CHAPTER XII THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIONS A COMPARISON of the relative efforts to furnish recreational facilities for boys and for girls will show that by far the larger amount of energy and. expense is devoted to boys' sports. A tabulation of or- ganized work for boys and girls, recently made for the Child Welfare Exhibit in New York City, revealed the fact that twenty times as much work of this kind was being done for the boy as for his sister. A worker with girls instances a certain high school in Washington, D. C, where nearly three hundred dollars was raised by solicitation by the pupils to provide the year's outdoor recrea- tion for the school. Notwithstanding the fact that the larger amount of money was brought in by the girls, it was found on careful examination at the close of the year that but two dollars had been spent for their benefit. As the result of this a committee was appointed to find ways for helping the girls in recreational matters, and the next year the work was organized along more liberal and equitable lines. The neglect of the play development of girls 183 184 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION possibly arises from the fact that the boy, by his inclination to acts of youthful barbarism, has de- manded so much of our thought ^° and attention that we have had reason little time to think of the more quietly voiced need of the girl. Some time ago the boy was discovered, and the shock of surprise from the great need he presented at first stunned us. Having now accustomed ourselves to his presence, and in some degree provided for his needs, it is time our thought should turn to the girl, who will be found standing not far away. A similar recrea- tional life to that enjoyed by her brother will yield its helpful influences in the molding of a more symmetrical and beautiful womanhood for our girls. The girl of the present day lives in an age more favorable to full-orbed development than was the era of her mother and her'grand- ,. ." . mother. Influences unfelt by the limitations "^ women of thirty and forty years ago are common to this newer woman's age. Ac- cording to certain literature of a generation ago, the old-fashioned heroine was a frail specimen of humanity, given to frequent faints and periodical headaches, knowing little beyond the narrow circle of society and the confines of home life. Such a generation seems to have had little girlhood, and to have aged rapidly. A French writer, during the Revolutionary "War in America, in speaking of THE GIEL AND HER EECEEATIONS 185 our women, said : " At twenty years they no longer have the freshness of youth ; at thirty-five or forty they are wrinkled and decrepit. " Another French- man, who was an ambassador in this country dur- ing the years 1804-14, wrote: "At the age of twenty-five their form changes, and at thirty their charms have disappeared." That such statements cannot be made concern- ing our women of to-day is probably due to the fact that physical education has The present need , i . <> . i . j ^ brought forth a stronger race, and the recreational advantages of a later age have lightened the load of care. Among girls and women, however, there is still the tend- ency to a life of strain and stress. ISTerves are the national ailment of women. Restrictions of social life, conditions of dress, and the demands of con- ventionality, have all combined to shorten the period of a girl's childhood. Girls get old too soon. Miss Beulah Kennard, an authority on playground work, says concerning the girl and the playground, "Unless she is very little, the play- ground girl thinks it improper to jump and run." And again, " The great need which the girl brings to the playground is the need for a longer childhood, with time and material for growth." The increase of physical vigor and the relief from many of the restraints which belonged to a former age have widened the life of women and girls in the present day. As a result the girl very 186 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION early finds herself engaged in occupations in the work-a-day world. Statistics show that 59 per cent, of the young women in e wor ing America between the ages of 16 and 20 years are engaged in gain- ful occupations, and the percentage is yearly in- creasing. Covering a broader scope in the age limits, we find that the number of self-supporting women in this country in 1910 was 8,0Y5,7T2, which represents 23.4 per cent, of the entire female popu- lation of the United States over the age of ten years. Aside from those in professional life, the number employed as clerks and factory-hands, working long hours for small pay, must be the subject of consideration when we think of the girl's recrea- tional life. The toll of toil on physical energy, unrelieved by helpful amusement, is often the reason of the breakdown of virtue. A shop-girl said on Saturday night, " Oh, I'm so dead tired, I don't care where I go." Such despair is the be- ginning of ruin. The industrial demands of the age upon girlhood call loudly for recreational influences which shall relieve mind and body in an atmosphere where the soul may expand as well. In addition to this industrial enlargement, there has come a wider social expansion. Following the much misunderstood advice of St. Paul, for many years women kept silence in the churches, — but the rule holds good no longer. The advent of the THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIONS 187 young people's societies broke the last link of the chains binding woman's religious expression, and the social meetings of the Woman's new , , i i j churches are now largely made up of the female sex. In the church, the club, and the school the young girl and her mother are enjoying side by side that freedom of speech which belongs to the larger liberty. And physical freedom has come as well. An instance in point is mentioned by a distinguished Southern woman, who tells of a young lady acquaintance in New Orleans. Some years ago, she was not al- lowed by her parents to go shopping on the most elegant business street of that city without a chaperone. Afterward she became a reporter for a city paper, and now goes out at all times, night or day, unattended. This larger life of girls and women is not ac- cepted with complacence by many, and it would be folly to say that it is not at- , f ^ ^ tended with danger. The wave larger freedom o of "feminism," which inclines women to political and public life, will, it is maintained, result in a masculine womanhood which shall cause our girls to reject marriage and the quieter associations of family life. It is feared, therefore, that this tendency to more public life by the female sex will destroy the desire for motherhood, break down the home, and work dis- 9&tev to the nation. 188 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EBCEEATIOK In the light of these recent social changes, and in view of the increasing temptations and physical dangers to which the social evil is subjecting our girls, it may be seen that the problem of a girl's recreational life is not easy of solution. As has already been indicated, she is the subject of the designs of evil men, and in our large cities the pathway to ruin is made easy by the way of the public dance-hall, the pleasure-park, and the saloon, there being plenty of the male sex who are willing to pay the financial cost. The recent investigations concerning wages paid to working- girls in the department stores of Chicago, have settled in the minds of many a conviction that low wages are the accompaniment of the lustful wickedness that brings ruin to so many of the daughters of men. A life incident may be mentioned by the author. "When he knew the subject of the story she was a sunny-faced little girl of about ten An incident t-, -, j . . years. J^or several years during childhood Bertha made her home with an elder sister, where her happy disposition and care-free spirit made her many friends. The childish enthusiasm with which she entered into the exercises of the Sunday-school and the church are well remembered, with the evidence she gave of a desire to follow the Christ of the children. One evening, after days of training by her sister, she recited in a children's temperance contest a THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIOKS 189 stirring production, and amid the hearty cheers of the large congregation received a medal for her proficiency. Years passed, and in the mean- time the girl returned to her own home, and later as a young lady went to a large city on the west- ern coast. City life for the young woman is often perilous. It proved so in this case. Finding employment as a " cloak model " in one of the large depart- ment stores, Bertha was domiciled at one of the boarding-houses of the city, a poor substitute for a home. Possibly through the kindness of some associate shop-girl, she was introduced to " the set." It is easy to picture her at one of the public dance-halls of the city, — an attractive girl, with innocent country ways that made her the easy mark for designing men. Here, — or in some like resort, — she meets a young man whose dress and manners indicate the gentleman. His way is de- lightfully care-free, and his presence a veritable tonic after a weary day in the store. He bestows upon her those little flatteries dear to girlish hearts, and, living in that atmosphere of appre- ciation which she had not known since school-days in the village home in a time w^hich now seems so long ago, the girl is easily led far down a path she had never before trodden. But life is different now ; indeed, in order that she should seem to live in a different world, she has taken another name, — ^Yiolet. Either through her own caprice 190 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATIOIT or by the desire of her male companion, her hair is bleached to a different hue. She associates with the cultured and captivating young man as her husband, and among the working-women of the city there is none so beautiful as Yiolet Sears. Disregarding the warnings of her elder sister and seldom writing to her parents, the flowery path of peril is traveled, until one day a pistol-shot, — one, and then another, — startles the neighborhood where the rooms of this couple are located. Two dead bodies are taken up by stranger hands. That of the girl is sent to the far-off Minnesota home, where, bowing low over the casket, a broken-hearted father and mother and an elder sister drop their tears on the changed face of one who went the wrong way to find the path of pleasure. The remedies proposed for the social evil are many, but the remedial agencies that do not take into account the fact that un- Remedies for the /, -,-, . , 777 favoraote environment and lack, social evil "^ of healthful recreational facilities are factors in the problem will not reach the solu- tion. The settlement houses, the institutional church, the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, and the recreation centers provided by public funds have in large measure relieved the unhealthful pleasure condition of some of the large cities. As a further means of relief the movement which is now opening the THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIONS 191 schoolliouses in our cities as evening recreation centers seems to be a very practical help. A writer in a recent magazine informs us that fifty- five school-buildings in New York City are being used in this way, with others being added con- stantly, the plan having been introduced in Brook- lyn about seven years ago. The public playground has a mission to girls as well as to boys. The outdoor life which it fosters, and the tendency to free youthful sports cannot but be of advantage to growing girls. Quoting again from Miss Kennard, let us observe more in detail the benefit of play in the life of girls : " Un- fortunately the dangers of girls have not been so clearly seen as of boys, because girls are more pass- ive and secretive. Would that the chivalrous opinion of Jacob Kiis, that 'aU girls are good,' were according to fact ! Only those familiar with girls in reformatory institutions have a just idea of the uncleanness of mind, and sometimes of body, that is found among them. The vicious and the depraved are rare, but the girl filled with morbid curiosity and open to unhealthy sugges- tions is far too common. Another class is pure- minded but weak, and so lacking in self-control as to become the easy prey to stronger natures. A large number of perfectly good girls show an ex- cessive sentimental development. . . . But all the cobwebbed corners of their minds are swept clear by the invigorating air of the playground. 192 OHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEBATION I have seen a girl almost transformed by a season of basket-ball or tennis. She was not only brighter and happier, but more truly womanly." Some manifest differences have been noticed between the relation to play of women and girls and that of men and boys. Some Play among girls j ^^^ ^„^^ ^^j^^j j^ ^ differs from that f, , . , ., , , « among boys ' ^^^^ ^^ S^^^^^ possibly because of the fact that the fighting element does not enter into the play of girls. This is de- cidedly a boy trait, and comes perhaps from the early days when men engaged in battle while women superintended the work of the home. The team game has its place, however, in the sports of girls,— not for competitive excellence, but for that association and co-operative play which shall prepare the player for the place in social life which women are more and more destined to fill. Woman's place in athletics and physical education is also different from man's, for many of the more strenuous exercises helpful to men are not recommended for women. Eliza- beth Burchenal, prominent in the physical educa- tion of girls in ISTew York City, recommends as sports for women: Basket-ball, indoor baseball, field-hockey, tennis, golf, walking, running, climb- ing, skating, horseback riding, snowshoeing, ski- ing, paddling, and coasting. At the same time she discourages participation in track athletics and record contests. Most women, however, are in- THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIONS 193 clined to take too little physical exercise of the exhilarating sort. Our American girls need to cultivate that hearty love for the athletic which is shown in English women who walk miles for the love of walking. The spirited outdoor game and the morning "hike" are antidotes to the headaches caused by poorly ventilated rooms, and melancholia yields to the healthful association with congenial companions in the recreational life, looting the further difference between girls and boys in relation to amusement, it is of value that we see the kind of organizations Character of girls' . , , . , . -. , . . . . mto which ffirls combme. Ac- organizations ° cording to Dr. Sheldon,' girls form three times as many secret societies as boys, five times as many social societies, three times as many industrial, twice the number of philanthropic, and three times as many literary societies, but only one-fourth as many predatory, and one-seventh as many athletic societies. Physical activity is found prominent in only ten per cent, of the girls' societies as against seventy-seven per cent, among the boys. The study of the voluntary organiza- tions of boys and girls shows that the two sexes seldom organize themselves together. In the ear- lier years of childhood recreational facilities may accomplish good work in this way, but when the boy reaches the real organizing age, — from ten to sixteen years, — it is the judgment of experienced ^ William Byron Forbush, The Boy Problem, 5th edition, p. 46. 194 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EEOEEATION workers with adolescents that recreational de- velopment is more successful in separate organiza- tions. There is much that can be taught, and there are advantages of entertainment that can be enjoyed, only in the exclusive organization. Mrs. Luther H. Gulick, the wife of Dr. Gulick, previously referred to, was asked by some of her friends, who complained that their The Camp Fire , , , , , . , . • j ^. , daughters took no mterest m do- Girls o . __. - mestic occupations, " How do you manage to make your daughters cook and sew and not complaiu about it ? " As an answer to that question Dr. and Mrs. Gulick opened their " Camp "Wohelo " in the woods of Maine to a number of girls besides their own. This camp, where Mrs. Gulick and her four daughters, dressed in camp cos- tume, with their hair in braids and their feet in moc- casins, enjoy their vacation together, was the birth- place of the organization known as the Camp Fire Girls. Though there may be other organizations for the growing girl that accomplish similar ex- cellent results, this new girls' club certainly has dis- tinctive features that make it one of the very best. " Wohelo," — a watchword coined by Mrs. Gulick from a combination of the first two letters of the three words, "work," "health," and •• Wohelo " " love," — suggests the idea back of the new organization. Its aim is to train the girls through the recreational spirit, which is introduced even into the common duties THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIONS 195 of life, to a higher appreciation of domestic pur- suits, a development of healthful physical life through contact with nature, and a right use of the romantic and sentimental, which shall culmi- nate in love of home and all-round character de- velopment. Taking advantage of the fact that the love for the romantic and the desire for ad- venture are leading elements in luring the girl from the right path, the Camp Fire Girls seek to put into life the spirit of romance, which shall demonstrate that common, everyday things are not without their halo of beauty. The meeting-place of the girls is about the camp fire, in the open woods if possible. Seated on the ground around the fire and led by the head of the club, the Guardian of the Fire, the circle join in the song-cry of the organization : " Wohelo for work, "Wohelo for health, Wohelo, Wohelo, Wohelo for love." Then all repeat the Ode to Fire : ' ' O Fire ! Long years ago when our fathers f oaght with great animals, You were their protection ; From the cruel cold of winter you saved them. When they needed food you changed the flesh of beasts into savory meat for them. During all the ages your mysterious flame has been a sym- bol to them for Spirit. So to-night we light our fire in remembrance of the Great Spirit who gave you to us." 196 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION A girl who wishes to join the Camp Fire Girls must know the Law of the Camp r t t^ X-. Tire. At the regular monthly of the Camp Fire ° ^ e " meeting she must come before the others, and say : '' It is my desire to become a Camp Fire Girl and to obey the Law of the Camp Fire, which is to : Seek beauty, Give service, Pursue knowledge, Be trustworthy. Hold on to health. Glorify work. Be happy. "This Law of the Camp Fire I will strive to follow." The three divisions or degrees of the club are Wood Gatherer, Fire Maker, and Torch Bearer. To become a "Wood Gatherer, a girl must fulfil the following six requirements : Be a member of a Camp Fire for at least two months ; attend at least six weekly meetings and two ceremonial meetings ; select a name and symbol ; make her headband ; have the ceremonial dress ; win in ad- dition at least ten honors in health craft, home craft, nature lore, camp craft, hand craft, business, or patriotism. Advancement from a Wood Gatherer to a Fire Maker is secured when the candidate ful- THE GIEL AND HEE EECEEATIONS 197 fils fourteen additional requirements. Prominent among these the candidate must prepare and serve two meals at weekly meetings; Advancement , t i - i i • j. . , hem a dish towel : darn a pair or m degrees . ' ^ stockings ; know the causes of in- fant mortality and to what extent it has been reduced in American communities ; know all that girls of her age should know about herself ; tie a square knot ; sleep with open windows ; and learn a poem of not less than twenty-five lines in length. In addition, she must also win twenty honors selected from the different crafts. Having ac- complished this, the candidate appears at the monthly meeting, saying : " As fuel is brought to the fire So I purpose to bring My strength, My ambition, My heart's desire, My joy, And my sorrow. To the fire of humankind ; For I will tend, As my fathers have tended, And my fathers' fathers Since time began, The fire that is called The love of man for man. The love of man for God." For advancement to the third degree. Torch Bearer, the girl must have developed the capacity 198 CHAEACTER THROUGH RECREATION for leadership and fulfilled other requirements, including fifteen craft honors. Again coming be- fore the fire she says : "The light that has been given to me, I desire to pass undimmed to others." The dress of the girls is a plain blouse, with emblems on the sleeve indicating the various ranks ; a skirt buttoned all the s.ndlwlTds "^^y ^^^^ the front, with a large pocket ; practical bloomers for camping, plain hat, and ceremonial Indian dress. In addition to the Wood Gatherer's ring, a brace- let and pin are provided for the other two degrees ; and as honors for proficiency in the various crafts, strings of beads in various symbolical colors are given. The pin, bracelet, and ring are appro- priately inscribed, and the following suggestive lines are recited by the Guardian when presenting the ring to a Wood Gatherer : " As fagots are brought from the forest, Firmly held by the sinews which bind them, So cleave to these others, your sisters, Whenever, wherever you find them. " Be strong as the fagots are sturdy ; Be true to your deepest desire ; Be true to the truth that is in you ; And — follow the Law of the Fire." The development of social interest, the emphasis on the beauty of home craft, the contact with the romantic surroundings of nature which accompany THE GIEL A^T> HER EECEEATIOKS 199 the outings in the woods, the meetings around the camp fire beneath the silent stars, — all under the leadership of some good Aims to develop -n -i j.\. • i j.* , .^ , woman, — will leave their lasting the ideal woman , ' . , ° impression upon growing girlhood. But whether in woods or indoors, the spirit of that beautiful closing ode, as sung by girlish voices, will write its lesson on the heart of every hearer : "Lay me to sleep in the sheltering flame, O Master of the Hidden Fire, Wash pure my heart, and cleanse for me My soul's desiie. ** In flame of service bathe my mind, O Master of the Hidden Fire, That when I wake, clear-eyed may be My soul's desire." By such organization of girls and watchcare over their interests, we shall secure for them a happy girlhood, and make possible a race of wives and mothers which shall indeed fulfil the ideal of the Wise Man of old : "A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain. She doeth him good and not evil All the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax, And worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant-ships ; She bringeth her bread from afar. 200 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION She layeth her hands to the distaff, And her hands hold the spindle. She stretoheth out her hand to the poor ; Yea, she reaoheth forth her hands to the needy« » * * * * She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry ; Her clothing is fine linen and purple. ***** Strength and dignity are her clothing ; And she laugheth at the time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; And the law of kindness is on her tongue. She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children rise up, and call her blessed ; Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying : Many daughters have done worthily. But thou exoellest them all." CHAPTER Xm THE LUEE OF THE OUTDOOE LIFE The friendship between man and nature is be- coming stronger as human knowledge increases. The beneficial effects of the open- Man's recreation ^^ treatment of disease, and the out-of-doors i^QQd of times of seclusion from the turmoil of civilized existence, are leading those whom circumstances at all per- mit, to spend some part of their time in closer touch with nature. While the population is more and more centering in the cities, there is, after all, in the heart of civihzed man an inherent love for the open. When opportunity affords, the cares of business life are thrown off and the restraints of civilization laid aside while man hies himself to the wilderness. An examination of the recrea- tions of leading men will reveal that a very large part of their favorite pastimes has to do with the outdoor pleasures. To the thinkers of the world, and those on whom the burdens of leader- ship rest, the desert and the solitary place seem to be of as much value in revivifying life and open- ing new vistas of truth as were the years in Midian to Moses or the quiet home at Nazareth to the Master of men. 201 202 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATION The woods and the fields are the natural play- grounds of youth as well. The hills and the dales of the open country, with their Nature's legacy • j. j. j t i_ j hiid quiet streams and cooling shade, seem calling to the children to come and enjoy their beauty and blessing. The child's right to the inheritance of nature's gifts has been beautifully set forth in a peculiar " last will and testament," written, it is said, by a man who died some years ago in an Illinois hospital for the insane. An extract from this strange doc- ument is as follows : " I leave to the children exclusively, but only for the life of their childhood, all and every, the dandelions of the field and the daisies thereof, and the right to play among them freely, according to the custom of children, warning them at the same time against the thistles. And I devise to the children the yellow shores of the creeks and the golden sands beneath the waters thereof, with the dragon-flies that skim the surface of said waters, and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees. And I leave to the children the long, long days to be merry in, in a thousand ways, and the JSTight and the Moon, and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at. I devise to boys, jointly, all the useless fields and idle commons, where ball may be played ; and all the snow-clad hills, where one may coast, and all the streams and ponds, where one may skate, to have and to hold the THE LURE OF THE OUTDOOE LIFE 203 same for the period of their boyhood. And all the clover blossoms and butterflies thereof ; and all the woods, with their appurtenances of squir- rels and whirring birds and echoes and strange noises ; and all the distant places which may be visited, together with the adventures there found, I do give to said boys to be theirs ; and I give to said boys each his own place at the fireside at night, with all pictures that may be seen in the burning wood or coal, to enjoy without let or hin- drance and without any encumbrance of cares." It is little wonder, with so rich a legacy, that boys like Yan, in Ernest Thompson Seton's Two Little Siwages, should have so or an pay g^pQj^nr a nature hunger that even in nature study o ° the prohibitions of unwise parents, or the lack of book and teacher, could not prevent their getting acquainted with God's great world. Indeed, among the most pleasurable ways of learn- ing is the study of nature from natural objects. The instructor in botany and zoology leads his students to the living book of nature, with the text-book serving only as a guide-post to the larger book of life. Work and play are adroitly woven together in the study of nature. The col- lecting instinct finds a useful avenue of outlet in the bringing together of various objects of nature, — mounted specimens of plants, small animals and insects, — and is a constant source of instruction and pleasure. The boy who enjoys the perverted 204 CHAEAOTER THROUGH EECEEATION pleasure of " bird's-nesting " or torturing small animals may have his thought turned to more helpful occupations by interesting him in a scien- tific study of birds' habits, and the classification of insects and animals. The interest taken in the birds and the discovery of their helpful ministra- tions to man will make life, both animal and hu- man, seem more sacred to the boy, and will exer- cise a refining influence upon his character. The destruction of animal life by the sport of the hunter, simply for the pleasure of killing, should not be encouraged on the _ ^ part of the growing boy. Rather should we find place in his life for that sentiment which was awakened in the heart of a young Russian on his first hunt. "When Turgenef, the novelist, was a boy of ten his father took him on a bird hunt. Being successful in bringing down a golden pheasant by his first shot, he watched the bird as it fell and fluttered its Hfe away. With the last flutter it reached its nest, where the young and helpless birds were waiting, and with a look at the young hunter which he long remembered, its head fell to one side and life was extinct. The boy, on being commended by his father for his success, cried out : " Never, father, never again shall I destroy any living creature ! If this is sport, I will have none of it. Life is more beautiful to me than death, and since I cannot give life, I will not take it." THE LTJEE OF THE OUTDOOE LIFE 205 "While the necessary taking of animal life is of course not contrary to the laws of man's higher nature, we can but be glad that \A7oTjfQTi dcstriic™ f "Id lif widespread game laws give protec- tion to harmless animals in the season while rearing their young, and that the tendency is in the direction of a more merciful killing of animals which are slaughtered for food or for scientific and mechanical purposes. The wanton destruction of birds by the thoughtless sportsman receives frequent rebuke in the pub- lished government documents which show how man and vegetation are befriended by them. The cruel demands of fashion for bird ornaments have been so thoroughly denounced that the killing of birds of plumage can no longer be regarded as an innocent occupation. Thomas B. Reed, for so many years Speaker of the House of Representa- tives, was a firm believer in the right of all crea- tures to live. He once said to a friend, " I never shot but one bird in my life. I spent a whole day in doing it. It was a sandpiper. I chased him for hours up and down a millstream. When at last I potted him, and held him up by one of his poor little legs, I never felt more ashamed of myself in all my life. I hid him in my coat-tail pocket for fear some one would see how big I was and how small the victim, and I never will be guilty again of the cowardice of such an unequal battle." Even so enthusiastic a hunter as Roosevelt 206 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION recognizes the fact that there are limits to the in- dulgence of the sport, for he says in his Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter : " All hunters should be nature-lovers. It is to be hoped that the days of mere wasteful, boastful slaughter are past, and that from now on the hunter will stand fore- most in working for the preservation and perpetua- tion of the wild life, whether big or little." Among the sports of the devotee of outdoor life, perhaps there is none more popular than fishing. In following the art of the flsher- The fisher- i^ • i i n t , _ man, one certamly has a lonff line man s art , . of distinguished predecessors. As an occupation it has been the chief business of various peoples, and as a diversion it has enrolled many of the mighty. Some of the thinkers of earth, both of the prosaic and the poetic sort, have found a quickening of the imagination and a new inspiration while angling in the running stream. If they have been unsuccessful in catching fish, they have at least snared a few new thoughts, and thoughts to the thinker's market are of more value than many trout. The successful fisherman is doubtless born to his job ; — that is, he must have a natural hankering after the piscatorial art. Prob- ably no one who shared the early belief of Ben- jamin Franklin that it was wrong to eat fish, would be inclined to follow it. Franklin, how- ever, says that he gave up his scruples concerning the taking of fish life when he found that the THE LTJEE OF THE OUTDOOR LIFE 207 larger fish ate the smaller ones. He judged it not wrong, then, to take the lives of those creatures who were such cannibals as to destroy their own kind, and forthwith proceeded to eat fish with great relish ! The lover of nature not only has intense inter- est in the animal creation, but to him the growing vegetation is a source of constant The child's garden , -p, . , , , . , charm. Every single green thing is alive with wonder. The micro- scope, revealing the beauty of plant life, is a veri- table kaleidoscope of delight to the child. In the modern play development in school and civic life the children's garden occupies a place of impor- tance. The unsightly school grounds and weedy vacant lots have been transformed into places of industry and beauty by the willingly bestowed labor of the boys and girls. The raising of vege- tables as well as flowers has resulted in the gardens being a means of financial return, while the profits of the experiment have been abundant both physically and mentally. A government re- port on the value of the school garden, recently issued, enumerates as some of its educational re- sults the cultivation of the habit of industry, skill with the hands, quick discrimination, systematic methods, a logical sequence based upon the natural order of things, the idea of the rights of owner- ship, business experience, and a knowledge of all the processes necessary to the growth of plant life. 208 CHAEACTBR THEOUGH EECEEATION The planting and cultivation of these gardens is, especially to the city child, a purely recreational feature, and commends itself to instructors as a most enjoyable and useful form of nature work. The love of life in the open perhaps never reaches its climax of satisfaction, especially with boys, without the benefit of the outdoor camp. Indeed, this nat- ural instinct for life in the woods early found expression, among adults, in the tem- porary dwellings of the pioneer, and later in the religious meetings that were held in tents in " God's first temples." The same need is minis- tered to to-day by the Chautauqua assembly and its outdoor program. Here under canvas much of the best musical, literary, and oratorical talent is engaged in entertaining thousands in many a sylvan retreat. The camps for boys, and in lesser degree those for girls, have come to be an established part of the work with the young folk of the present day. From the standpoint of the boy, as well as that of the leader in charge, they are usually highly bene- ficial. There is a revealing of character, and a consequent fellowship, which the life indoors does not develop. As a certain boy friend of mine said when we were on a camping trip together, " You never know a fellow until you've been camping with him." These boy camps are being conducted every year by the Young Men's Christian Asso- THE LUEE OF THE OUTDOOE LIFE 209 elation, and are a regular part of the work of the Boy Scouts and similar organized clubs. Sunday- school classes, both of boys and girls, under the oversight of their teachers, also carry on the camp work as a part of their regular activities. Carlyle Ellis, who, in a recently published article,' gives some details concerning the more elaborately organized boys' camps, remarks that no matter how much the science of camping may be developed, we have not got much beyond the old-fashioned, rough-and-ready formula for the conduct of camps for boys which says, "Keep them full and keep them tired ! " Games, sports, manual training, and other em- ployments fill the period of camp life. A camp activity which Mr. ElUs especially *™f^. notes is the keeping; of a record activities ^ ° by all the boys of the various species of birds discovered in the neighborhood. The results of this record are filed from year to year. It often happens that there are hab- its among the boys which need to be corrected, and new inspirations which must be given. The boy who has always been waited upon by his mother or the servants here takes his first lessons in self-reliance. The boy who has never known what it is to work with his hands here learns the joy of labor. The camp provides for one hour a ^Carlyle Ellis, " Youug America in Camp," Everybody's Mag- azine, June, 1913, p. 723fE. 210 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION day of manual training. A boy of eleven years, when his turn came to work at the bench, said, " What do I want to learn anything like that for ? I'll never have to work. My father's rich, and I'm going to be rich, too." " But what are you going to do when you're grown up ? " asked the instructor. " Oh, I'll travel around and have a good time." Under the influence of the camp spirit and the direction of a skilful leader, how- ever, this boy was soon engrossed in the making of a book-rack, and actually asked for a harder job as his next task. A director of a Moosehead Lake camp, so Mr, Ellis says, makes it a practice to require that all boys who wish to use tobacco in camp secure permission from theu' parents. The leader and his helpers having "sworn off," the idea soon gains popularity, and one by one the boys fall into line. The reform thus accomplished by their own action tends to make the abstinence permanent. The results of camp life in physical vigor and moral discipline are accompanied also by that exhilaration of spirit which makes one again and again respond to the call of the woodland, so fit- tingly echoed by Kipling : " Who hath smelt wood-smoke at twilight? Who hath heard the birch -log burning ? Who is quick to read the noises of the night? Let him follow with the others, for the young man's feet are turning To the camps of proved desire and known delight." THE LUEE OE THE OUTDOOE LIFE 211 Spring, summer, and early fall are of course the best seasons of the year for the full enjoyment of outdoor life, but nature's charms are not exhausted when winter's sports snows lie on the ground. The " old swimming hole " of summer becomes the skating pond of winter, and all the grassy hill- sides are converted into natural toboggan slides. The boys and girls in the country find sport plentiful on the many pleasant days which winter kindly gives. In the town and city the play- ground may at small expense be transformed into an artificial lake for skating. There will be an opportunity for the snow fort and the excitement of a snowball battle. The amateur sculptor will find a chance to get in his work ; while the snow man, with coal black eye and red flannel lip, will decorate the landscape. A young girl who has recently graduated from a school of art, having attained marked proficiency in sculpture, said that her first efforts in modeling were on the winter playgrounds of youth. She says, " I can remem- ber when I first ' found myself ' in regard to modeling. I was just a little girl, and started out one winter day to make a snow man, having in mind of course the usual pattern, — three round balls set one on top of the other. But as I worked on the top ball, I discovered that I could put shape to the little knob that was to serve as a nose, and that it was surprisingly little trouble to add a chin. 212 CHARACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION The result was most gratifying. In this manner I worked until I had achieved what seemed to me a marvelous figure of a woman, seated." The value of winter as a time of sport is more evident in the northlands where the winters are long, and where the people are National winter , , . . , . more accustomed to a rie:orous cli- pastimes ° mate. In Norway the national pastime is represented by ski-running and ski- jumping. The people become very proficient on these long and narrow runners of wood. Great competitions in ski-running and jumping take place every year near Christiania, the contestants and spectators coming from long distances, — from Fin- land and Sweden, as well as from the most distant localities of Norway. It is said that the sport demands great nerve and presence of mind ; in jumping, especially, the thought and action must be quick ; only the strongest can stand the physical strain. The fitness of the sport for developing physical strength, self-reliance, and mental alert- ness, doubtless accounts for the compulsory re- quirement of ski-training in the Norwegian army, as well as the general popularity of the skis among this hardy people. The proficiency of the Norwegian on snow and ice is paralleled by the love of the Hollanders for the smooth ice of their frozen canals, where old and young engage in skating and sliding in their long but happy winters. In Canada, the tobog- THE LUEE OF THE OUTDOOE LIFE 213 gan sports are participated in by all, and the Cana- dians' thorough enjoyment of the winter days is not at all dulled by the criticism of the China- man, who said concerning the toboggan slide, " It is alle one whiz-whiz ! Then walkee back one hour upee hill ! " It is maintained by naturalists that animals are especially playful in winter. Regarding a famil- iar white bird, common in winter Play necessary throughout the northern states and „^ . ^ Canada, Ernest Thompson Seton as in summer ' t^ says : " In midwinter in the far north, when the thermometer showed thirty de- grees below zero, and the chill blizzard was blow- ing on the plains, I have seen this brave little bird gleefully chasing his fellows, and pouring out, as he flew, his sweet voluble song with as much spirit as ever skylark has in the sunniest days of June." John Burroughs describes how the squirrels play tag with each other, while other naturalists tell how the otters, after preparing a roundabout path down a smooth slope at the water's edge, will en- joy themselves sliding down the path into the water. And the playful instinct of animals is similarly developed in the child. When winter comes, indoor sports do not suffice, Happy, and usually uncommonly healthy, is the outdoor boy or girl who knows the delights of coasting and skating and winter life in the open. Yiewing the winter sports of the peoples who, 214 CHAEACTER THROUGH RECREATION because of longer periods of cold weather, have come to emphasize these pleasures, and the ten- dency of children and animals to open-air enjoy- ment in winter, we can but regret that we of the more temperate climates have so sports little appreciation of winter's op- not enough • « t . -nl appreciated portunity for a good time. We have no national game that repre- sents American outdoor life in winter. A number of years ago it was customary for one of our north- ern cities to build an " ice palace," and have an accompanying festival of winter sports. But this was discontinued because of the fear, we are told, that prospective citizens might be deterred from moving into what was thus demonstrated to be a cold climate. On the policy of " business before pleasure " this attempt at cultivating American outdoor sports was throttled at its very beginning. Because of the varied weather conditions, perhaps it is impossible to have a national winter pastime that shall be truly representative, but we might utilize the colder season of the year for outdoor enjoyment more than we do. We have too largely confined ourselves to the summer time for our outdoor pastimes, and shut ourselves indoors in winter, to the physical, and sometimes moral detriment, of our people. We have dwelt upon the beauty of spring and summer and autumn, but have failed to see the beauty of winter, and its opportunities for genuine enjoyment. Winter, THE LUEE OF THE OUTDOOE LIFE 215 after all, is our good friend, and we should have somewhat of the spirit toward it that James Eussell Lowell manifests in his essay on " A Good Word for "Winter : " " I think the old fellow has hitherto had scant justice done him in the main. We make him the symbol of old age or death, and think we have settled the matter. . . . For my own part, I think Winter a pretty wide-awake old boy, and his bluff sincerity and hearty ways are more con- genial to my mood, and are more wholesome to me, than any charms of which his rivals are capable." The changing seasons bring their varied de- lights, but whether in joyous or serious mood, the world affords the nature-lover e spin ua ^ wealth of unstinted pleasure and in nature ... an inspiration to high and holy thoughts. Even the bare trees and brown fields of autumn, the frosty mornings and the chilly nights, the wind and the storm, — all tell of a Power behind nature that holds the elements in his hand. ISTature's recreation, or rest, after the toil of a busy season of seed-time and harvest, speaks of a Eest beyond. Dr. Samuel C. Schmucker, in his work on nature study,' under the subject of " The Real Purpose of Nature Study," says : " God is now recognized in his universe as never before. , . . Now God is everywhere ; now God is in * Prof. Sarmiel C. Schmucker, The Study of Nature, p. 43. 216 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION everything. Whatsoever things are beautiful, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are of good report, — these are all saturated with divinity. . . . God is no longer simply the ruler over the world ; God is everywhere in the world." *' Earth's crammed -with heaven And every common bush afire with God ; — £nt only he who knows takes off his shoes." CHAPTER XIY AMUSEMENTS AND THE MODEEN CHURCH An effective word picture of the relation of the Church to the recreational needs of men is drawn by Prof. Simon !N". Patten, of the "The dark side ^t • v -e t3 i • i tt of the street" University of Pennsylvania. He imagines himself as standing on a great thoroughfare of a large city in the evening hours and noting the difference between the two sides of the street. In the gloom of the dark side looms up the heavy bulk of the city library and the public school, and the church with its tower- ing spire. The light which shines from across the street is sufficient for him to read on the door of the library building a notice in brazen letters which says that " the library closes at 5 p. m. during July, August, and September, and is not open on Sundays, or on Saturday afternoons, or on holidays." On the gate of the iron fence around the high-school building a similar plate informs the public that the grounds and building are closed during the vacation months. Approaching the church he discovers that it also is enjoying a ^ " Amusement as a Factor in Man's Spiritual Uplift," Cw- reni Literature, Aug., 1909, p. 185£E. 217 218 OHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION vacation period, a notice upon the bulletin-board announcing that there are no services held during the summer months. A faint light from a basement window, and the sound of a few voices raised in song, indicate that the Wednesday evening prayer- meeting is in session. A glance through the open window reveals a small attendance at the hour of devotion, and the spirit of the meeting affords little contrast to the gloom of the night without. Outside the church, near the entrance, reflect- ing dully the light from across the street, there is a bronze statue of heroic size which represents, according to the inscription, a minister who served the church through a long period of years, and whose stalwart character and mighty deeds are a hallowed recollection. Too often does the Church thus commemorate the past, while the present is left for other agencies to meet and master. And this would complete the picture of the dark side of the street but for one more building that might be overlooked because of its seeming unimportance. Almost under the eaves of the great church a small cobbler's shop stands, on which hangs a sign reading, " The Eight Shop on the Wrong Side of the Street." The light side of the street is also briefly de- scribed. Here are buildings gay with decorations, and brilliant with tastefully arranged electric lights. The doors are open, and the multitudes are patronizing the soda fountains, the restaurants, AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 219 the nickel theaters, and other places of amuse- ment. The observer marks that by far the larger number of the crowd are young " The light side , j u-u v. i. „ people and children, who, at- of the street" r r » ,. , tracted by the scene of light and beauty, listen to the music from the various phono- graphs and pianos, and fill the openings of the places of pleasure. It is the light side of the street, and the multitudes throng there, while the darker side is left almost without a single traveler upon its shadowed pavements. The facetious sign on the cobbler's shop reminds the professor that the Church has too long been " The Riffht Shop on the Wrong; The darkened g.^^ ^^ ^^^ Street." With the Church opening up best message that man ever heard, and the best work that man ever did, to inspire its mind and heart and enlist its consecrated effort, the Church has long neglected a most effect- ive means for the reaching of the masses. But we may be encouraged that the dark side of the street is growing lighter. Together with the lit- erary and scholastic life, the religious life is awak- ening to the use of the normal means of approach to people through the avenue of amusement and recreation. The Church is no longer burning in- cense to an honorable past, but is living in the present. The recent history of church activities pre- sents numerous examples of the attempt to serve 220 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION the needs of man's larger life. Through the efforts of a prominent magazine corporation in l^ew York City, a number of years ago one A free popular <• , i <• i • i i i i or the lashionabie churches on concert Fifth Avenue, — the Church of the Ascension, — was opened for a free popular concert, to which thousands of tenement-house people came to enjoy the best music which the city could furnish. The concert was the begin- ning of similar efforts to open up the darkened church and make it serve the larger needs of the masses. Through the efforts of the ten or twelve men and women composing the committee of ar- rangements, and the assistance of the manager of the Mills Hotel, the Salvation Army, the char- itable organizations, and similar agencies, tickets were got into the hands of the people. The music consisted of violin, vocal, and pipe-organ selections from the best composers, the choir and musicians freely giving their services for the great concert. The multitude which crowded the church was made up of the lame and the aiflicted, the poor and neglected classes, including men and women of all classes of tenement dwellers, both whites and negroes. Keligious preferences kept none away, for there were Protestants, Roman Cath- olics, and Jews. Large numbers of these had probably not been in church before. 'No religious service accompanied the concert, and from a di- rectly religious standpoint the effort might seem AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 221 to have been a failure ; but the silent message of the church's service to humanity was akin to what it seems likely the Master himself would do under like conditions. That the Church is living nearer to the life of the people is evidenced by the large number of church buildings equipped with The new approach ^i . •,-,,• ^ j: . ... the various mstitutional features to the spiritual which serve the physical as well as the spiritual needs of man. As Dr. George J. Fisher, International Secretary of the Physical Department of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, remarks, we have discovered that " an unfortunately large number of our population haven't the physical basis for being good." In union with the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, the Church is seeking to reach through the physical side the spiritual man who dwells within. The provision of gymnasiums, swimming-pools, reading and game rooms, and various other phys- ical and recreational features, is the tangible evi- dence of the Church's serious attempt to meet the larger social requirements. The Memorial Baptist Church in New York City, erected to the memory of Adoniram Judson by his son, in addition to the many physical and social advantages offered, has, attached to the church, an apartment hotel. In the basement of the church, in Memorial Hall, is found a museum of curiosities from Burmah and many relics of the veteran missionary. A very 222 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION unique distinction belongs to the new Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of Minne- apolis. When completed, the upper floor of this church will contain an art gallery, in which a wealthy member will deposit his personal collec- tion of valuable paintings, including some master- pieces of art. The Church, in its adoption of that worldly wisdom which is making for its better access to the people, has rearranged its Better adapted ^ -^ \ -r, j. , ., , architecture. Basement rooms are architecture planned and equipped to meet the need of the larger social service that has become incumbent upon it. The auditorium is now built in circular form with inclined floor, and often with separate chairs, and is largely an adaptation from theater structure. The spire in most cases has given place to a tower of more modest height, or is wanting entirely. A few churches, built in the downtown district, have associated with them large ofiice buildings. The manner in which the Church invites the public to its services has undergone a change. In many modern church buildings the bell does not find a place ; but advertising . , ■ -n from associations of sentnnent, if not from actual need, we may judge it will be a long time before the church-bell is displaced. Other churches of costly design have the appro- priate chimes instead of a single bell. But, — one AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 223 bell or many, or none, — tke modern Church does not depend on any single means of drawing the people. By bulletin-board, by personal invita- tion, printed or written, and by announcement in the daily and weekly papers, the people are in- vited to come. At the moving-picture show, in smaller as well as in larger towns, there frequently appears among the business announcements on the screen the statement that " Rev. will preach at the Avenue Church on Sunday morning and evening. This is the Church that Makes You Feel at Home." Some churches, in common with the Memorial Baptist of New York, have a lighted cross surmounting their highest tower, as a re- minder of the beauty and power of the Church's conquering sign. In the opinion of the writer, these changes do not indicate in themselves a decadent religious spirit, nor a lessening of that true dignity that belongs to the g-ospel. They of approach ° or j would seem rather to declare that the Church is here to live among men and to serve them, as did the Master, in ways that shall be in harmony with the present age. The modern Church recognizes that its strongest appeal to a large part of the race is through the physical and social life. And this change of method is really a return to the method of the Master. His care for the physical life of men was very marked. Many of his choicest teachings were given around the 224 CHARACTEE THEOUGH EECEBATION festal board ; and it was at a wedding-feast, — per- haps the most enjoyable social event of the Orientals, — that he first "manifested forth his glory " and " his disciples believed on him." His more frequent manner of sermonizing was the tell- ing of a story. And above all, his presence was so attractive, — doubtless because of a genial person- ality, — that the multitude loved to be with him, while children listened to him with open-eyed wonder and sang his praises in the streets. It seems a striking anomaly that the thirst for amusement and play should find no response on the part of the Church, when the An essential of the , . , « i . . . , , i , , obiect oi reliffion is not that man gospel message «' ° should live less, but more. The modern Church must find the means by which real pleasure of the sort that satisfies the natural crav- ing shall fit into the more abundant life of the gospel. The Church's natural means of approach, especially to the young life of the community, is through the pleasures which it offers to them. Even the small child will feel no incongruity in uniting the idea of religion and play. Prof. George Albert Coe says: "The opposition be- tween the play spirit and the religious spirit is not real, but fancied ; just as between play and school- ing in general. Through our ignorance we have put asunder that which God hath joined together. "We teach children to think of their most free and spontaneous activities, — their plays, — as having no AMUSEMEl^S AND THE CHUECH 225 affinity for religion, and then we wonder why religion does not seem more attractive to them as they grow to maturity ! " The value of the appeal to the play spirit in reaching the things that lie behind and beyond was illustrated to the writer by an in- How one pastor ^ident wMch Came under his per- T63.clicd. ills , sonal observation. A pastor, who young people ^ ' found a small country parish, to which he had been called, without a young peo- ple's society, set about exploring the field. The church record showed not more than half a dozen members who were below the age of twenty, the workers in the church all being aged or past mid- dle life. A feud of long standing divided the neighborhood. The last young people's society had died six years before, and older members of the church prophesied failure in case another was organized. The attendance of young people at church, — especially of young men, — was almost nil, and the general prospect of ever bringing them together was discouraging. As a preliminary step the pastor and his wife sent out to seventy young people, — after some search for names, found to constitute the avail- able material for the proposed society, — written invitations to come and enjoy a social evening at the parsonage. It so happened that the gathering was set for an evening when a public dance, to which many of these young people would have gone. 226 OHAEACTEE THROUGH EECEEATIOIif was also scheduled ; but the evening proved a social success in every vt^ay. It was soon followed by another, — for even Queen Esther did not prefer her request to Ahasuerus at the first feast, — and even then it seemed wise to postpone the formal object of the gathering. At a later social, how- ever, the subject of organization was brought up ; and the pastor, after making an explanation of the object of the society, — dwelling at some length on its recreational value, — found a hearty response on the part of the young people. They were nearly all " associate " members, for the " active " Chris- tians were few. The Sunday-night meetings of the society were places of free discussion of relig- ious subjects, eliciting some honest confessions of moral shortcomings upon the part of the young people. Their socials, held frequently at the vari- ous homes in the community and providing clean and elevating amusement, engendered such an im- proved social spirit that the public dances were un- able to get enough young people together to make it profitable to continue them. The good effect of the young people's society was almost immediately apparent in the large number of young people at the regular services and at Sunday-school, where their absence had been so marked before. The pastor was cheered at the next communion by the presence of a goodly number of the young men and women at the sacramental board. The organiza- tion, so auspiciously begun, has, during the years AMUSEMENTS AInTD THE CHUECH 227 that have intervened since its inception, ministered to the social life of the young people of that neighborhood, and both in a religious and recrea- tional way has fully justified its existence. Of course it will not be understood that, in the plea for the play spirit as a valuable adjunct of religious life, the writer wishes Marked improve- ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ment in church ^ . r. .^i • entertainments amusement as a part of a Chris- tian's pleasure-program. In previ- ous references to the attitude of the Church on the amusement question, it has been made plain that certain pleasures are no doubt detrimental. While the prohibitory enactments and advices given regarding certain forms of amusement have been poorly received, it is doubtless true that all such have had a restrictive and reformatory effect on amusements both within and without the circle of the Church's activities. "Within the memory of many of the readers of these lines there has been a decided change for the better in the entertain- ments given under the auspices of the Church. A generation ago certain gambling features were often prominent, such as the "ring-cake," "the fish-pond," " the grab-bag " ; or possibly an elab- orate pincushion or bedquilt was sold through a piously conducted ralfle. Then, too, the " most popular young lady" and the " ugliest man " vied with each other as a means of extracting the cash from unwilling pocketbooks. These features, to- 228 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION gether with all forms of church gambling, have been practically abolished, either through the drastic laws enacted against games of chance, or the awakened conscience of the Church at large. At the same time it must be admitted that a more lenient attitude prevails concerning some of the things that were once dis- ew attitude couraged and legislated against toward dramatic , .i mi ■ 1 by church councils. The element of dramatic play, represented by the theater, has now in some degree entered into many of the church entertainments, while the various denominational colleges present at com- mencement time their " class plays " without apology to church authority. "Without interpret- ing these things as a sweeping endorsement of the theater as an institution, we may believe that they indicate an unqualified endorsement of the dra- matic element as a legitimate function of life. And it is possible that among individual Chris- tians, even in churches nominally opposed to the theater, the policy of careful selection of the kind of play attended more generally prevails than the complete abstinence from this form of amusement. The Church itself, as every reader of history knows, once made large use of the drama. The religious dramas of medieval times, and the morality and miracle plays of the later Middle Ages, disappeared under the just criticisms of their crude form and lack of dramatic merit. AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUEOH 229 Authorities, both civil and religious, have quite generally prohibited the presentation of Biblical scenes upon the stage. Even the Passion Play of Ober-Ammergau, a popular reminder of the former prominence of religious dramatics, has not had an undisturbed career in this particular. Permission to give it must each time be obtained from the King of Bavaria, which permission, however, has thus far regularly been given. The religious fervor of the actors in this play and its devout presentation are vouched for by many authorities. A competent critic says : " The play as now pre- sented is exceedingly impressive and reverent; each actor is chosen in conformity with his char- acter, and is schooled by both tradition and practice." An interesting attempt to present something similar to the Passion Play is reported from Pomfret, Conn., in the staging of the Nativit ^^ ^ pantomime of the Nativity. Through the medium of Country Life in America we learn that the pantomime was conducted at Christmas time by the Neigh- borhood Association, which comprises in its mem- bership Congregationalists, Episcopalians and Ro- man Catholics. Those in the community are of various nationalities and therefore of varied faiths, and all of them are working people. Under such conditions, the effort was undertaken with some 230 CHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEBATION trepidation. But the plan was elaborately and successfully carried out; and the words of the correspondent reveal the use that was made of the varied talent afforded : " Our shepherds were boys from the farms ; our angelic hosts were made up of girls in their teens ; our Magi were, one a Frenchman, one a Moor, and one a native of I^ew England stock ; by trade they were a plumber, a day laborer, and the village storekeeper and post- master ; the retinues of the Magi were schoolboys ; Joseph was an Italian laborer ; Mary a young Irish girl," The effect of the presentation upon the players was the production of a devoutness of spirit that accorded with the serious scenes depicted ; while of the audience the writer says : " When the curtain fell upon the last scene of the little drama, there was a silence, — a silence of deep emotion." The entertainment closed with the sweet strains of the melody, " Silent Night," and the spell of a holy awe rested upon the people as they went forth into the darkness. In view of such production of a religious effect through the use of the dramatic, it would seem a perversion of the Church's best S^chrtmir^ opportunity for the teaching of enterta"nZnt religious truth to a multitude who do not enter its doors except at the festal season, to make the Christmas enter- tainment a time for the display of Santa Claus, AMUSEMENTS AWD THE CHUECH 231 or Mrs. Santa Claus, or the pixies, fairies, and brownies that often fill our programs at such times. The entertaining element is not sacrificed by the presentation of a dignified cantata of a scriptural character, with appropriate music, while the Church is truer to its mission in such a pre- sentation than in a program whose spirit better befits a secular organization. As an instance of the profitable use of the dramatic in the presentation of missionary sub- jects the recent play pageant, A missionary ,, ^^^^ ^^^^^ .^ Boston " may be pageant •' mentioned. The idea of the pag- eant was an importation from England, where several years ago " The Orient in London " was presented. The play was staged in the large Mechanics' Hall, and for several months previous over fifteen hundred men, women, and children were studying and rehearsing the various parts. These included an immense chorus of singers, several hundred " stewards," and a large number of ushers. Under the direction of Kev. A. M. Gardner, who had charge of " The Orient in Lon- don," the material which had been gathered by correspondence with the missionaries concerning everyday life and occupations in their various countries, was reduced to concrete realities ; and by the construction of special scenery and various objects, the life of the Oriental peoples was ex- hibited, the trained performers taking the parts 232 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATION assigned them by the director. The assistance of missionaries at home on furlough was also en- listed. Some idea of the exhibition may be gathered from the words of an editorial writer in The Out- look : " Ten feet or so away from Features an Indian idol an African mis- presented sionary has gathered a constantly changing group about him to whom he is hand- ing out a leaflet containing missionary songs. . . . A little beyond is a Chinese school, where a Chinese teacher is teaching Chinese children to write the Chinese characters ; and on the other side of the partition is a Christian school with a scenic representation of the only public library in all China. ... A sound of song attracts us. A few rods away a group of Fisk University singers are rendering some negro melodies (these are real negro singers), and around the corner are specimens of the industrial work carried on by the American Missionarj^- Association in the South. . . . Children's voices ! We follow the sound, to find a group of a dozen children in Japanese costume attending a Christian kindergarten in a Japanese schoolroom under 'The Lady of the Decoration.' . . . Out-of-doors is a missionary car, used in home mission work in the West, with pews in it to seat a hundred, and the most cunningly contrived bedroom, study, kitchen, and dining-room all in one, for the missionary and his AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 233 wife ; and the missionary is there to tell you all about it." Special afternoon and evening entertainments are also provided. In the evening at eight o'clock a judicial trial of a Chinaman takes place in the market-place by the pagoda in the Chinese quar- ter. His conviction is sure ; but sentence, either by beheading or by bastinado, is not carried out, a steward explaining instead what the sentence would be. Each scene of the great pageant, which begins at three o'clock in the afternoon, is preceded by a short interpretation by some clergyman. "The first episode," says Tlie Outlook^ "por- trays an Indian encampment. An attempted massacre of Eskimos by Indians is piso es interrupted by the timely arrival described r j j of a missionary, who brings to the chieftain and his wife their child who has been lost in the forest. The second episode presents the meeting between Livingstone and Stanley in Africa, where Livingstone stifles his home-yearn- ings and refuses to return with Stanley because his work is not yet done. The third episode repre- sents the preparations for the burning of a widow on the funeral pyre of her husband in India. The preparations are all completed, and the torch is about to be applied, when a government official comes in with a troop of soldiers and declares that suttee is abolished. The fourth episode takes 234 CHARACTER THROUGH RECREATION us to Hawaii, where two victims are about to be offered to the irate goddess Pele, when Queen Kapiolani interferes, defies the goddess, eats the sacred berries, and throws the priest's staff into the crater of the volcano. In the finale, the whole company assembles on the stage, swelled by the members of the chorus, who join in singing : " ' In Christ there is no East nor West, In him no South nor North ; But one great fellowship of love, Throughout the great wide earth. ' " At the close of this chorus a dimly perceived cross upon a great rock in the center of the stage grows gradually luminous, the orchestra strikes the opening notes of ' Old Hundredth,' and the congregation rises and joins with the company on the stage in singing the Doxology." CHAPTEE XV AMUSEMENTS AKD THE MODEEN CHUECH (continued) In recent years a new reason for the Church's interest in the matter of public diversion has de- veloped ; for the various amuse- Our Sunday , . , i > - 1 . ,.' ment agencies have placed them- now a holiday o ^ selves in sharp competition with the Church. The inroads upon the Christian Sab- bath, and the claims upon the physical energy and jSnancial resources of the people, make the popular amusements of the day real rivals in the demand for that public attention and interest which are the foundation of the Church's success. The first day of the week was once exclusively the Church's day. On this day it rendered its largest and most widespread service to the public. Church attend- ance was well-nigh universal, especially in the early days of our country's settlement. For a long period Sunday theaters and Sunday sports of any kind were unknown. Now, the Sunday theater entertains large crowds, while the pleas- ure park and ball game and other Sunday sports count their adherents by the thousands. In largely increasing areas, in both city and country, Sunday is now a holiday, with all its accompani- 235 236 CHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION ment of sport and noise, and the old-time Sabbath is but a memory. That this new invasion of the Sabbath is a source of regret to multitudes of the best people is evidenced by the sentiments expressed from the pulpit and through the religious press, as well as by many an individual. A relative of the writer, a daughter of an old ISTew England family, now grown to elderly womanhood, in a recent letter from her country home in Connecticut, echoes this regret : " Our good old IS'ew England Sab- baths are fast passing away. The trolley-car passing our door every twenty minutes loaded with people going somewhere ; automobiles by the hundreds rushing by ; young men going to play ball on the Sabbath Day ! What would our grandparents have thought of it all ? Surely these modern days are very different from the days of my girlhood." Speaking of the decline in church attendance, she says : " It is most discouraging for our pastors to see so many empty pews. Thei'e seem to be no young men in the churches to speak of." "While this view may be said to reflect only local conditions in a small country community, a wider view does not seem so reassuring as one might wish. The Sunday game or pleasure resort draws its thousands while the church service in the same communities has but its handfuls, — espe- cially during the summer season. AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 237 The problem of Sunday sports is one that can- not be lightly regarded. Claiming to be a means of mental and physical relaxation Sunday sports ^^^ those overworked by week-day that harm , m i - i <• -i ^ i -i i mind and body ^^^^^ ^^^J ^^^ "^^^J ^^^^ ^O build Up the one indulging in them, but really destroy the better elements of character. Dr. Wilbur F. Crafts says : " Not only do Sunday work and sport fail to give new strength, but they plant a poison microbe or germ of weak- ness in whatever they touch. If the steel engine works daily, it soon breaks down because of this weakness ; so do muscle, nerve and brain, and still more, character, in which the microbe of Sunday sport is far more deadly than that of Sunday work." Many legal authorities testify in harmony with Blackstone, that " corruption of morals usually follows Sabbath desecration." Testimony from the courts of justice and charity authorities is similar to that given by Mrs. Julia Kurtz of the Milwaukee Martha Washington Home, who, after eighteen years of work with wayward girls, says, "Fifty per cent, of these girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen were led into wrong-doing through the lack of restraint from Sunday sports." ' The plea for Sunday amusement is usually grounded on the right of the people, — especially ^ Lord's Day Papers, April, 1914, J. B. Davidson, publisher, Milwaukee, Wis. 238 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION the laboring classes, — to the recreation which the freedom of the day offers. But a consideration of the physical needs of man alone proves that either labor or sport is detrimental in the wasting of that energy which is needed for Monday's labor. It is a matter capable of scientific demonstration that the demands upon physical energy are such that the rest given in sleep does not entirely repair the waste of the human body, and that there is needed that added rest which comes from change of thought and action in the proper observance of the Sabbath. The dissipations of Sunday amuse- ment are a poor fitting for the next day's toil. Col. Franklin Fairbanks, the great scale manu- facturer, said, " I can tell by watching the men at work on Monday which spent the Sabbath in sport and which at home, church or Sabbath- school. The latter do more and better work." Those who believe that a larger liberty would be the heritage of men with the coming of a looser administration of Sunday Sunday sport laws, or their entire abolition, means i i i n Sunday labor should note the Statement or Hallam, the historian, who thus philosophizes : " The Christian Sabbath is the holy day of freedom ; but the Sunday holiday is the ally of despotism. It is the bauble which the tyrants of Europe threw to their subjects to keep them quiet under their tyranny." Sunday sport and Sunday labor always accompany each other, AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 239 for in order that others may enjoy themselves the servants of the public must work. The prevalence of Sunday amusements will mean even the loss of what rest the Sabbath now affords to a part of our laboring population. As Dr. Crafts says, " His- tory proves that where Sunday sport is for a long time general nearly all workmen have to work every day." Because of the advantage to society of one day devoted to the recuperation of mental and physical energy, laws are on the statute- Attempt to ijQ^i^g Qf g^jj Q^ states,— with the abolish Sunday . , .. j. /-. tj? . smgle exception of California, — against common labor and sport upon the first day of the week. Within recent years, however, it has seemed as though a con- certed attempt for the overthrow of these laws and the substitution of legislation permitting certain forms of amusement, — especially baseball and other outdoor sports, — has been made. The pleas offered seem somewhat plausible, — the fact that Sunday laws are already much disregarded ; the " peril " of laws that look like a union of Church and State; the multitudes who can see a game only on Sunday ; the limiting of the games to cer- tain hours when church services are not ordinarily held ; and the statement that men have outgrown the more Puritanical regard for the Sabbath. With these specious pleas, many have allowed themselves to be deceived into the indorsement of 240 OHARAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION Sunday baseball. In some states strong pressure has been brought to bear upon the legislatures for the enactment of more liberal legislation. The Nebraska legislature, at a recent session, passed an act permitting Sunday baseball and other sports in communities voting favorably under a referen- dum, thus suspending in those localities the other- wise prohibitory law against Sunday amusements. That the Sunday game is desired by its strongest advocates chiefly for commercial purposes would seem to be indicated by the fact that, when the Sullivan bill for the legalizing of Sunday baseball was up for consideration in the 'New York legisla- ture, an oifered amendment which prohibited the charging of an admission fee at the games was promptly voted down ! How to meet the attack of organized Sunday sport upon the Church, and save for the better- ment of men the Sabbath with all Some correct- j^g refining and Christianizing in- ive measures „ . , j. £ j.i fluences, is a large part oi the suggested ' ^i i problem of the modern Church. Various cures for the inroads of the Sunday amusement features upon the Church have been proposed. The preaching of a sermon to the as- sembled crowd at a Sunday game before the play- ing began has been the cause of much comment and criticism. And it is doubtful if the result of the attempt proved as effectual as its promoters expected. The sermon in a favorable atmosphere, AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 241 carefully prepared by prayer and song, often pro- duces little result, and with minds surcharged with other thoughts it is quite probable that the good seed was soon choked by the thorns and briars of secularity and sin. As an offset to the sports and pleasures that are more damaging, it has been suggested that the art galleries, museums, libraries, and parks should all be opened on Sunday. In most of our large cities this is probably now the case, and possibly some who could not be induced to enjoy a more orthodox observance of the Sabbath are by this means re- strained from more dissipating indulgences. A measure of relief seems to be afforded from the temptation to the misuse of the Sabbath by the introduction of a Saturday half-holiday. The Federation of Sunday Rest Associations, the Pres- byterian Church, and other churches, in their state and national councils, have adopted resolu- tions in favor of the Saturday half-holiday for factory and shop employees. Legislation has afforded some help in the saving of the multitude from the excesses of Sunday dis- sipation. Sunday laws have exer- , . , ,. cised a restraining influence, and legislation o ' their value is endorsed even by many who do not affiliate with the Church. An officer in a certain city, when pressed by the re- form forces to close the Sunday theaters and pic- ture-shows, said, " I am glad that I can stop them ; 242 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION for I have seen our youth going so wild after them every day that they are falling behind in school and going to the bad. Stopping them one day each week may help save them from ruin." We may be thankful that there are many identified with the amusement life who have re- gard for the Sabbath. Instances Public entertainers ^^^^ ^^^^ ^-^^^ ^f ^^^^^^ whohave .u o u^ ^-u declared themselves in favor of the the Sabbath closing of Sunday theaters, and have made strong appeals to the public that the places of amusement be closed that they might have the needed rest of the Sabbath. Christian people can bat wish that the spirit of all those who engage in the entertainment business might be that of Jenny Lind, who, when requested person- ally by the Swedish king to sing on Sunday at a great festival in Stockholm, said, " There is a higher King, sire, to whom I owe my first allegiance," and refused to be present. A similar regard for the Christian Sabbath has characterized the Wright brothers, who refused to enter airship races, or to exhibit their flights, on Sunday. When Wilbur Wright was watching another aviator to see that he did not infringe on their patents, he did not at- tend his exhibitions on Sunday, because, we are told, he " had scruples against shows or anything of the kind on the Lord's Day." The efforts of the Church toward the elimination of Sunday amusements, and the strong competi- AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 243 tion of these sjDorts for the attendance of the masses, has influenced in part the character of the service which the modern Church is ren- The changed ^^^^ ^^ ^-^^ general public. character of a ■ -, ^ ji • , , . Aside irom the agencies apart church services o r from the Sabbath activities of the Church, — vsrhich have been noted in the previous chapter, — the character of the religious services has been greatly changed. "Where once the Church could depend upon a long cultivated habit or upon devotional interest for the attend- ance of the public at the Sunday services of the church, now it is making use of the features of en- tertainment as an attraction to the house of wor- ship. While the writer is not prepared to indorse every attempt to provide a church service of a more entertaining character, he desires to call at- tention to the fact that such attempts are a rec- ognition of the value of amusement and recrea- tion in the building of character. The Sunday-school, in its outreach for the youth, has adopted newer features not only in its week-day activities but in its reg- , " ^" ular session. The kindergarten school plans . '^ methods employed with Begin- ners are but an adaptation of the play element to the service of religion. The use of the picture and the story in the planting of religious teach- ings in the child mind is now an indispensable part of Primary teaching. 244 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION But it is more especially in the regular service of the church that these entertaining features have been introduced. One cannot help Popularizing the .• j_t . j^i . . . noting that, anione; the more pro- preaching service o ? o r ^ gressive churches at least, there is present in the preaching services a decided note of entertainment. Sermons are announced under attractive titles. They are shorter as well, and couched in language less theological, and often deal with subjects of more or less popular interest. More illustrations from the common life of the people find their way into the sermon than in a former day. The music of the church is also the subject of careful thought. The artistic as well as the devotional element has a part in the selec- tions rendered. The church does not hesitate to spend large sums of money to have the best vocal and instrumental music. Mr. John C. Freund, a New York musical editor, makes the statement that the churches of this country now spend $55,000,000 a year for music. The Sunday evening service of the church has undergone even more of a change than the morn- ing worship. In many instances the sermon has well-nigh disappeared. Popular lectures on re- ligious and moral themes, the sermon-lecture, — often illustrated by paintings, stereopticon pic- tures, or even motion-picture films, — or perhaps the sacred concert, occupy the preaching hour. In some of the city churches the experiment has AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 245 been tried of substituting an afternoon musical service, or an evening vesper service with liberal musical features, for the regular evening service. Some ministers in the attempt to reach the masses have epitomized various novels and by impersona- tion and narrative delivery have sought to convey religious lessons to their hearers. One, at least, made somewhat of a success of the presentation of an original serial story, a chapter at a time, to his congregation on Sunday evenings. If the ef- fect on his congregation was similar to the inter- est awakened by the publication of In His Steps, we may believe that Dr. Charles M. Sheldon must have moved many of his hearers to higher religious ideals. These references to the changes which are en- tering into our church services, and the suggestion of the desirability of new methods. The Church ^^^ ^^^ presented with the desire a ap ing i se ^^ ^^^^ reflections on the earlier to the age methods of the Church. The sterner religious life of our fathers and their manner of preaching are not for our rebuke. They adapted themselves to their age, and served the needs of the people of their time, and right nobly did they perform their work. ISTor would this writer assert that the only avenue to the human mind for the introduction of spiritual truth is entertainment and play. But he would plead that as our fathers served their day so we 246 CHAEACTEE THROUGH EECEEATIOK must serve ours, and if picture, or song, or story shall help the Church to win men to its high standard of faith and service, then let them be used wisely and well. The depopulated churches of our cities, — where on Sunday evenings, as the little girl said, the preacher " talks to himself out of How one New ^ piece of paper," — may learn a ,, , lesson from the ]^ew York City the people -^ preacher who introduced unique and entertaining features into his Sunday night service and kept his church filled each week with eager listeners. Fifteen hundred people at a Sunday evening service, when other churches are mostly empty, indicates that Dr. Christian F. Reisner, of Grace M. E. Church, has mastered the art of getting a crowd. Sometimes it is a " Flower Service," at which each attendant is presented with a carnation or a rose. On a hot Sunday night the subject is " Keep Cool," with a great block of ice or pile of snow set in plain sight of the congregation. Musical features of the most varied character are employed as well. Various musical companies entertaining in the city are pressed in for this service. A description of a Sunday night service at Grace Church by an attendant tells how, after the rousing opening song, and prayer, a quartet of jubilee singers ap- peared and entertained the congregation with their songs. An appropriate reading by a tal- AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 247 ented impersonator followed. The sermon was preached, — short and to the point, — but filled with the meat of the gospel. At the close an invita- tion to accept the Christ of sinners was presented, and several committed themselves publicly to the new life. Of course the pastor has exposed himself to the criticism of introducing vaudeville into the pulpit, and at first the new methods were looked upon with suspicion even by his friends. When the pastor announced his plans, on coming to Grace Church from a successful pastorate in Denver where simi- lar features were used, one of the leading mem- bers, as he afterward said, "felt an inward repugnance to the plan." He held his peace, however, and after a trial of the new program of activities, revealed his feelings concerning the matter in the following speech to an interested investigator: "The Avhole scheme was at first abhorrent to me. It shocked my sense of dignity and reverence to see the free and easy manner in which the Sunday evening service was conducted. But I had it out with myself, and decided that I would withhold judgment, even from my asso- ciates on the official board, until these new and unusual plans could be tried. To-day the last particle of desire for criticism on my part has disappeared. He can do anything he wants to do, and I will back him up in it ; for he has solved the crushing problems of our church." 248 OHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION The entertaining features of Dr. Eeisner's Sun- day night service are of course backed up by the most faithful and persistent personal work on the part of the pastor and his people, but the founda- tion of his method is the attraction and novelty of the recreational and entertainment features em- ployed. And the reports of those who have good opportunity to know are that the church is prosper- ing financially, numerically, and spiritually under the new method. It is indeed a present-day ap- plication of the words of the Apostle, " I am be- come all things to all men, that I may by all means save some," As a means of popularizing the Sunday night service and drawing crowds to special services, there has been wide advocacy of The 11S6 of the use of moving-pictures and motion-pictures ° ^ stereopticon views. In the spring of 1910, Eev. Herbert A. Jump, then pastor of the South Congregational Church of New Britain, Conn., after considerable investigation of the prac- ticability of the scheme, made partial arrange- ments for the introduction of picture films as a feature of his Sunday night services. It was felt by Mr. Jump that in a city of 15,000 wage-earners, largely of foreign birth, such a service would prove an irresistible attraction and accomplish much good. After careful consideration, how- ever, the standing committee of the church decided that the plan was impractical, so it was given up. AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 249 Out of his investigations the pastor prepared a monograph on The Religious Possibilities of the Motion-Picture^ as an aid to those who might think of taking up the work as he had wished. The suggested uses of the motion-picture by the church as indicated by this booklet are : Firsts as a mere entertainment device ; second^ in impart- ing knowledge of Bible incidents and scenes to the young people of the Sunday-school ; third^ for the awakening of missionary interest ; fourth^ as an education in social subjects, assisting the fight against disease and encouraging better sanitary and housing conditions ; fifth^ the motion-picture sermon — the crowning possibility of the new in- vention. An inquiry from the writer, directed to the National Board of Censorship, concerning the use of the motion-picture by churches New plans for j t • • ^- i • ... c, and religious organizations, brmgs religious films o o ' o out the fact that there is very little organized work of this kind. The companies manufacturing the films have not particularly interested themselves in the making of religious films because the demand upon the part of the churches has been small and the use of the films too irregular to make it profitable to cater to the demand. Companies, however, are now being formed for the circulation of this class of films. A religious newspaper brings the recent informa- tion that, under the management of Dr. Charles 250 CHARACTER THROUGH RECREATION Stelzle, four hundred churches in as many cities in the United States are soon to be supplied with films each week. There are to be sixty centers with a motion-picture machine and operator for each center. The operator, with his machine and films, is to travel over the territory on the circuit plan, covering not only Sunday nights, but week- day nights as well. This plan does not provide for the occasional use of picture-films, as the serv- ice will be regular, and is adapted only to the larger places. It is possible, however, that in the future some plan may be worked out that shall give opportunity for its extension, along more flexible lines, to the smaller towns. Mr. Orrin G. Cocks, Advisory Secretary of the National Board of Censorship, in a recent personal letter to the writer concerning the religious use of picture films, says : " We see the importance of this line of work and have helped in conspicuous ways to advance the idea of separating from regu- lar commercial service high-grade films for such educational and religious use. It is surely coming. A large amount of capital, however, will be neces- sary to make it a success. Another indispensable element is a willingness on the part of the re- ligious public to support those organizations which display the films. . . . Churches, etc., must be willing to make the initial investment and to pay for films in a business-like sort of way." AMUSEMEN^TS AND THE CHUECH 251 Objections have of course been numerous to the use of either moving-picture machine or stereopti- con in attracting people to church Objections . .J , services, ihey are by many ta- considered •' -^ '' booed as secular and worldly, and many are prone to agree with the statement of a pastor in a state gathering of ministers and lay- men, " Give the people something good, something they need, and they will come." Others are pro- nounced in their opposition and say as did a cer- tain layman, '' I'll not go inside a church that uses such instruments ! " Some have an ill-defined aversion which they cannot quite explain. They feel like the very devout Christian lady who said to the writer, in a revival service where he was using the stereopticon, " Some way, when the lights go out it sends a shiver all down my back." The sensationalism of the method has been con- demned ; but the attraction of certain so-called sensational methods cannot be denied, and the ob- jectors may, if they look back over the years, dis- cern that similar objections were also registered against the larger part, if not nearly all, of the common institutions of the Church, when they were first adopted. The great revival campaigns of recent years have had as their basis the use of methods new and peculiar, in which the entertainment feature finds a considerable part. The great evangelistic awakening in Seattle in the spring of 1918 is a 252 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION notable example. Among the unusual things, of the sort that appealed to the love of entertain- ment, was the setting off each Unique revival . -^ «, . , , - y- ^ evemns:, niteen mmutes before methods °' the service, of a display of fire- works. The street meeting, held before the even- ing service in the auditorium, was accompanied by brass-band music and a display of stereopticon pictures, after which the men's parade formed, headed by the band, and marched to the place of meeting, singing, " Onward, Christian Soldiers." The success of the meetings was phenomenal, and the methods used were probably in large degree responsible for the favorable outcome. The stereopticon, as a means of impressing re- ligious truth, has been so long before the public that it needs no argument to prove '^TtT^T^°'' to those who have witnessed its services ^^^^ ^^® ^^ ^^^^ work that it is an effective means of preaching the gospel. Having seen such use of pictures at a re- vival series, held during college days in the old uni- versity chapel twenty years ago, the writer early incorporated the stereopticon as an adjunct to the revival service. For more than ten years past, in his own church and in others where he has been called to help in special services, the lantern has been used to picture the gospel in story form. The usual plan has been to open the service with pictures and songs from the screen, sometimes AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 253 using a series of pictures illustrating an appro- priate solo Avhile the song was being rendered with piano or organ accompaniment ; the pre- sentation of parables, Scripture scenes, paintings of the masters, allegorical and religious stories, has filled a half -hour with intense spiritual inter- est. After the lights were turned on, the service proceeded with the usual sermon and personal appeal. The quietness and semi-darkness of the room, with the changing pictures and the earnest words of the speaker who describes them, have been found to produce a psychological effect which an address with the lights turned on does not accomplish. After an experience of many weeks of services of this character, he can say that the darkness of the room has never led to disorder or misbehavior on the part of the thoughtless. The stereopticon has proved a con- stant attraction, bringing a crowd on even the most unfavorable nights. The spiritual results have fully justified the method. One incident of a spiritual transformation which seems to have been a direct result of the picture- ffospel of the lantern, may be men- The story of a ^- j -n ^ t r^ ^,. , tioned. r or some time Joe Gay, Chinese boy -^ ' a Chinese boy, had been in my Sunday-school class of young men. Though somewhat younger in years than the other mem- bers, Joe was adopted by the older fellows, who took a great interest in him. He was silent and 254 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION civil and the attraction of his personality made him a favorite with us all. He had not seemed to grasp much of the story of the gospel as it was talked over in the class ; but during the time of our special services he was an interested listener and observer as well. Each night the pictures came on the screen : — Jesus by the seaside, on the mountainside, healing the sick, blessing the children ; Hoffman's " Christ and the Rich Young Euler," and " Christ in Gethsemane ; " the song, " There is a Fountain Filled with Blood," accom- panied by a picture of the three crosses on Cal- vary's hill; as well as numerous other pictures and songs that bore the tidings of " the sweetest story ever told." It was all plain now, and the heart of the Chinese boy responded to the new gospel of the pictures. The writer will long re- member the scene of the communion morning when Joe knelt to receive the elements of the broken body and shed blood. The others had all gone from the communion-rail, and the minister appealed to any who might wish for the first time to come and acknowledge their Lord. Joe came alone, and after the communion, the minister who presided at that feast laid his hands in blessing on the head of the boy and prayed that he might some time go back to his own people, bearing the message of truth. Among the treasures of that pastorate, the writer holds a letter froni Joe Gay, which, among AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHUECH 255 its respectful and well-chosen utterances, has a sentence expressing his thanks to his teacher and pastor and saying, " I am glad that you taught me about Christ." CHAPTER XYI THE JOYS OF HOME Time was when humanity's inherent desire for pleasure was satisfied with the simpler sports which home life furnished. Later, Home, the center ^^ ^^^ strain of living became more of a man's . , , i i-n , . evident and lite ffrew more com- happmess o plex, man began to go farther afield for his pleasures. Like the old Arab, of whom Dr. Conwell tells us in his celebrated lecture, he sought his " acres of diamonds " afar from his own door. Amusement became a com- mercialized thing, and the world at large fur- nished his good times, while the happiness of his home life was only a very incidental feature. It is probable, under present social conditions at least, that our people will never again center their amusement life in the home as they did in the yesterdays ; but the fact remains that the pleasures of home are worthy of more consideration on the part of one who would seek real enjoyment in life. The home, which is the first, and under proper conditions the best, school of character, furnishes a fine field for the cultivation of the highest joys. It will yet be found that the highest happiness is 256 THE JOYS OF HOME 257 not in some far field, but is within reach of the poorest individual who is rich enough to have a home. The fact confronts the student of social prob- lems that many are denied the pleasures of home because thej have no home in Modern home -i • t ± jy i .i • • • ,.^ ^ ,. . which to find their enioyment. life declining «• '' The conditions of the American city to-day reveal the fact that home life is on the decline. At both ends of society there are forces operating to destroy the home. The rich are threatened with the loss of home through their abundance of houses ; — a mansion in the city, a cottage by the sea, a bungalow in the wilderness, each as temporary dwellings for a fragment of the year. Those at the other extreme of society are engulfed in the sea of humanity that struggles for existence in the tenement-houses of the old type Even the middle class, like the rich, have their club life and their hotels and boarding-houses, so that large numbers of human beings between the upper and lower strata of society do not know the real delights of home. The hours of both the business man and the wage-earner are such that during the week he has little time to spend with his family, and if he is one of the many who labor for seven days in the week, home becomes to him merely the place in which to eat and sleep. Such conditions make the story of a little girl's igno- rance of her own father's existence seem not so 258 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATION much of an exaggeration after all. Seeing her father only at the evening meal,— the child al- ways being asleep when he went to his work in the morning, — she is reported to have said, " Mamma, who is that man that takes his supper at our house ? " The country as weU as the city furnishes in- stances of the imperiled home. The early disrup- tion of the family by the young Why two country people leaving the farm is one boys wanted to n j.i i t jj -i i , ^ cause oi the declme oi the rural leave home home. The long hours and hard labor of the farm, as well as the false and foolish notion that city life means ease and luxury, have been the combining causes to lure away the sons and daughters of some of the best rural families. A man who speaks from the standpoint of the farmer boy, puts his reasoning concerning this exodus of the boys from the farm into the form of an incident, which he met with on a ride into the country. In the dim light of early day, he was driving past the home of a farmer friend. He heard the bars being let down by the roadside, and saw a boy of about seventeen years leading a team through the open space. He said to the lad, " Where are you going so early in the morning ? " The boy's answer was, " Do you see that plow on the hillside yonder ? Well, I'm going up there, and I shall plow until half -past eleven ; then I shall THE JOYS OF HOME 259 be at it again at two and work until dark. But I tell you one thing ; — just as soon as I can I shall leave the farm ; I'm tired out all the time, and I haven't decent clothes, and can't go anywhere. I won't stay when I'm my own boss." The same man tells of another complaint which was tearfully related to him by a country boy of his acquaintance. In answer to the question, " Have you a colt of your own ? " this boy said, " JSTot now ; I had one last year. Father gave me a little colt, and said if I would take care of it I might have it for myself. For two years and over we were great friends. He grew strong and beautiful. I taught him a few tricks, such as nod- ding his head for oats, and shaking hands for water. But he was too fine, father said, for the farm, and one day a man came along and offered father ninety dollars for the colt. Father took it, and when he saw how badly I felt, he promised to make it all right with me. But I have never seen a dollar of that money. When the man led off the colt, I went behind the barn and had a good cry, and when I came down the lane and looked over into the pasture where the colt used to be, I said to myself, ' "Well, I won't stay here forever. I'll go to the city where I can have my own money.' " ISTot only do the internal conditions of life in both city and country frequently make for the destruction or disruption of the home, but certain 260 OHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION social factors appear as destructive agents. The great increase of divorce presents an alarming feature of present-day Hfe. In Other hindrances , , , i -i i j. cases where there are children to to home happiness be considered and provided for, the divorce is especially a home-destroying agency. The dissipations of men are alike responsible for the destruction of home happiness. To the saloon and the gambling fraternity may be charged the death of many an American home. The vice of drunkenness, fostered by the drinking habits com- mon in many homes in a former generation, as well as the gambling habit, nurtured in over- indulgent homes by the seemingly innocent social game, have grown to maturity as twin evils and have united to bring ruin to the ones who gave them life. The pinch of poverty and the pangs of physical ills have chased away the smiles that rightfully belong to the home life. Jacob Riis tells of a poor little maimed boy of Itahan par- entage whose sober face and pain-racked body were remembered by him through many years. One day while looking at the boy Mr. Eiis sud- denly said : " Pietro, do you ever laugh ? " The sober answer was, " I did wonst." It may be said that too dark a picture has been presented of the home conditions in our land. It is not our desire to indicate that the city is a place without homes, nor that the country is a dreary waste. After all, material wealth and the higher THE JOYS OF HOME 261 social ideals have united in producing for many better conditions in both city and country than a former generation enjoyed. Eural e enng j^^^ ^^ especially benefited by the home conditions i ./ j introduction of the rural mail service, the telephone, the country high school, and the improved material surroundings of the farm home. We must believe as well that the forces of reform and Christianity will yet over- come the social evils in our land which make for the destruction of the American home. The bringing of more sunshine into home life, by the resolute determination to look for the bright things, will cause to grow in the home garden the fruit of joy which we have sought from other trees. Through the introduction of healthful sport into the home, we shall find that happiness will oil the wheels of life's machinery and set them going with a new motion. Thus shall we discover, as Dr. Gulick says, that "the road of everyday life leads into the widest and richest pastures and the keenest enjoyments," and avoid the mistake of those who " have climbed the fence so often that they have failed to reach the richest pastures." The occupations of the home life of young folk will have much to do with their after-memory of home as a pleasant spot. As our social life is now constituted, — especially in the aggressive western states, — the years spent by the children in the 262 OHAEACTER THEOUGH EEGEEATION home seem altogether too short. The variety of home amusements provided for these fleeting years can only be suggested in this brief treatment of the subject, leaving the outlines to be filled in by the master-hand of the parent. Many children, as well as adults, find their greatest pleasure in reading. The " five-foot book- shelf," or the bookshelf of even The pleasures -, , , . . , , - ,. shorter dimensions has been a of reading potent factor in the cultivation of the best that is in the home lover. In the read- ing habit there is large play for the recreational side of life, as well as a mine of inexhaustible wealth for the intellect. Gibbon said, " My early and invincible love of reading I would not ex- change for the treasures of India." The boy of Intellectual habits should have his reading, if it is to build for him the best life, as carefully safe- guarded for him as his other recreations. The wise parent will see that sufficient books and periodicals of the right sort are provided so that the boy will not be under the necessity of bor- rowing questionable books from companions who are perhaps more free to lend than others whose books are more costly and of better character. The numerous public libraries to-day are fostering the literary taste, and really doing much to make the home a more enjoyable spot to the reading child. But of course the library committee can- not take the place of parental oversight in the THE JOYS OF HOME 263 selection of a child's reading, and the presence of city and school library books in the home must not do away with the home ownership of books. Happy the boy or the girl who has a liberal supply of books which represent a personal possession. The young person who reads will sometimes have a story to tell, and there is nothing which helps the joy of home so much as ory- e ing ^-^^ occasional telling of a good and laughter ° ° story, either by the parent or by the child. Chauncey M. Depew says that the Americans are " a nation of story-tellers." The American home will do well to raise its prospec- tive citizens and life leaders with this habit, for the tedium of life has often been relieved by the story which fitted the need of the moment. A capacity for the enjoyment of fun and the appreciation of the ludicrous has belonged to many whose lives would otherwise have been poor. Abraham Lin- coln, though sometimes spoken of as our " man of sorrows," had a well-developed vein of humor, and during the days of great national anxiety was constantly smoothing the pathway of life by his aptly chosen anecdotes. The custom of seasoning a banquet with the witticisms of the after-dinner speaker may be copied with profit in the every- day life of the home. The dinner that is spiced with a little innocent fun digests better than the food eaten in silence. Home is the best place to cultivate the laughing habit. Charles Kingsley, 264 CHAEACTEE THEOTJGH EECEEATION it is recorded, made it a point to introduce as much merry-making into his family as possible. He said, " I sometimes wonder whether there is as much laughing done in any home in England as at our parsonage." Perhaps the most perplexing problem for the parent in the home is the child's recreational oc- cupations on the Sabbath Day, — un ayoc- which above all the days is the cupations '' for children home day. While the sterner rules which once applied to the keeping of the Sabbath are no longer general, the real purpose of the day must still be con- served by the home, the institution which seeks to preserve the best in character. From the vari- ous suggestions of different authorities, as well as some little home experience of his own, the writer ventures to suggest some features of Sunday di- version for children. It is understood of course that the normal function of play in child life must be the basis of Sunday amusement, keeping in mind, however, the thought of making these plays accord with the greater purpose of the day. A certain mother who had several children of her own, as well as some of the neighbors', to think and plan for on Sunday afternoon, devised the plan of an hour with the children based on the Sunday-school lesson of the day. She taught them to draw a picture of the Sea of Galilee, using the colored school crayons. Here were the lines rep- THE JOYS OF HOME 265 resenting the placid sea, the incline of green that represented the bank, and the spots of green that stood for the trees, the white flecks for clouds, while the multitude were represented by various marks and specks which, helped by childish im- agination, were woven into a picture of some artistic excellence. The picture, with others, was introductory to a story hour in which the lesson was read and other stories told. In another home a sand-table is made to portray Incidents of the Old Testament, leaving the !N"ew Testament stories for reading and telling. The cutting out from paper of men and animals, to enact upon the sand-table the stories of the Bible, occupies the children's heads and hands for hours at a time. The story of the Garden of Eden was in prospect for many days, it taking a long while to make the animals, trees and other settings for the scene. Other parents provide for their children the interesting series of card-games on the books of the Old and New Testaments, Bible occupations, etc. Maps of Palestine, cut into peculiarly shaped pieces and put together as a puzzle ; Bible stereo- scopic views as the foundation for travel-talks, are also used. One mother provides a box of toys for the little folks which may be used only on Sundays, and which affords a pleasant change from everyday pleasures. There are cards with outline pictures of Bible scenes, which may be 266 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION colored with crayons ; a set of building-blocks appropriately designed for church architecture ; and a Noah's ark which has an abundance of animals. These suggestions adapted and added to by a person interested in childhood may be used to afford a profitable Sunday afternoon, with the element of fun and enjoyment at the forefront. A pleasure which will captivate both old and young is the Sunday afternoon walk. IsTot simply a meaningless going forth, but one The Sunday i • i i » *= . ^i ,^ „ which has some purpose m the afternoon walk ^ ^ mind of the parent, though he may not announce it to his young charges. The observation of the birds, the examination of the minute things of nature through a microscope which is brought forth unexpectedly from the pocket, the captivating study of growing things, — all these make the walk, even though short, full of interest. Such a diversion is akin to that of the naturalist Agassiz, who, when offered the opportunity to take a long vacation and a journey to Europe, said he would take a journey, — but not to Europe. The journey was taken, — in his own door-yard ! The limited space of the nat- uralist's back-yard was so interesting to him that he spent three months in the journey, and as a result wrote a very captivating story of the strange sights which nature afforded him within a few rods of his own door. THE JOYS OF HOME 267 The naturalist's interest in the narrow precincts of his own yard suggests that one has but to draw on the resources within himself to Resources found r. j i • • i.i n , , , „ nnd happiness m the smaller areas m a " hobby ctp* of life. A natural taste for music or reading or photography or some well-loved avocation, — often denominated a " hobby," — will prove to the individual or the family engaging in. it, a means of perennial enjoyment. What a lot of splendid enjoyment may be found in those musical evenings in the home ! Back in the earlier times it may be it was The enjoyment , , j -,. ,-, . only an old accordion, — the organ of music "^ . ' *=" being yet a dream to be realized m more prosperous times ! But the present-day family are more favored, and in place of an organ, the piano, and possibly other musical instruments as well, are their glad possessions. Young as well as old have access to the instruments, and the genuine pleasure is not confined to the performer, but extends to all who listen. The American peo- ple are music lovers indeed. A prominent musical authority computes that we spend nearly $600,- 000,000 a year to gratify our taste for music. There probably never was a time when it was so easy to learn music as now. Even the child of kindergarten age is being taught to know the notes and to sing them. To the parent who understands music there is given a special power to impress the child in the 268 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION home life with the value of high and holy things. In a recent article upon the subject of the spiritual value of music in the Hymns and , -i • - j i j; home, an author pictures the lam- their message ' ■•• ily gathered about the piano while the children are telling which songs they wish to sing. The small boy of the family says : " Sing, ' We Three Kings of the Orient Are,' " and adds, " I like it, 'cause you can hear the camels march- ing in it 'way 'cross the hills of Bethlehem." The older child calls for " I Think When I Kead That Sweet Story of Old," or else "J^earer, My God to Thee," — hymns of the heart. Thus will music in the home endeavor to minister to the hunger of the child for the various kinds of melody. The small boy who likes the song that hammers its way into his soul, the girl who loves the hymns of the heart life, and the young person whose poetic and idealistic spirit is awake to the beauty of " The Spacious Firmament on High," interpreted in the classic strains of Haydn, should find a response to their heart's desire in the music of the home. A similar consideration of the needs of each child in his recreational life will establish a harmony of arrangement as to his , ., , , amusements, no less desirable than and Its contents ' the melody of voice and instru- ment. The children will be provided with an ap- propriate outlet for all the natural play instincts. THE JOTS OF HOME 269 A home whioli in great degree seems to have measured up to this ideal comes to the thought of the writer. Coming as a stranger into the home, I did not need to be told of the presence there of a boy. In the hall from which the door opened into my room there was a miniature Indian tepee, in which a dummy Indian was seated, whose false face looked almost real. The tent was surrounded by a collection of stones and natural objects. Within a room just off the hall there was a fine case of butterflies and small insects, which mani- fested the laborious care with which the young naturalist had arranged his specimens. The walls were hung with pencil sketches, paintings, kodak pictures, and Indian relics. Books and papers were there as well, in that disorderly order so de- lightful to a boy, and the room and hall bespoke a freedom of home possession which I could but covet for every young American. Going outside the house you would find also an old shed where, on the bright summer days, the boy and his sister could have their good e p ay- times together in a wonderfully house ° •' fitted playhouse. The furniture was homemade, but the house was well equipped, and the children not only enjoyed it themselves, but unselfishly shared its pleasure with the other children of the neighborhood. Amid these sur- roundings and in a home environment carefully proportioned as to discipline and liberty, this boy 270 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION and girl are passing through childhood and adoles- cence in a healthful and sensible way. Thus the recreational features of the home life of young folks will come in for the largest con- sideration by the parent who re- Make home attract- ,. ,, , . rv i (. 1 - . .1, U-1J aiizes the character eiiect of home ive to the child environment. That mother who feels as though the boys ought to be kept outside the house, — like cats and dogs, — during all the weather that is moderate enough so that they will not freeze, will probably save her carpets from ruin and keep her floors as spotless as those of the ideal housewife ; but she may lose her boys and cause a stain upon their souls that neither time nor tears will eradicate. But the house that is always open to its youthful occupants ; where their friends as well as themselves feel at liberty to come, will be a recreational center which is as light in the dark- ness to some whose steps would otherwise go astray. A certain rug which was much abused by some boys who would persist in using it for a wrestling-mat, has recently been discarded from the home of the writer. He has reason to be glad, however, that the boy who rolled upon it has turned out well, and that his friends — "the boys " — had many a delightful time in the living- room of the old parsonage. The value of the child as an inspiration to the provision of amusement plans in the home has perhaps not been sufficiently considered. The joy THE JOYS OF HOME 271 of the adult in the home life will largely depend, upon whether there is a child, — one, or many, — to be provided for in the family amusement pro- gram. It may be possible that the unattractive- ness of home is often due to the " dwindling American family " spoken of by social specialists. The family does not exist in the true sense where the child is absent. Prof. Eauschenbusch says, " If a man and a woman marry, they do not yet constitute a true family. The hand of a little child, more than the blessing of the priest, conse- crates the family." The spirit of true home en- joyment is often found most manifest in the homes of large families. The spirit of love and toleration also contributes to the joy of home life. In the child it is mani- fest in the respect and obedience The spirit of love i , . i j i i ^ /. ^. due to superiors, and on the part and toleration . of the adult in the high regard for the rights of others of the same circle. The happy home has within it the thought of the unity of the family, instead of that false individualism which sometimes inclines one to feel that his rela- tion in the home is simply that of a separate and particular individual who takes his meals there because the cost is less than at a hotel. Home means to the true home lover a community with identical interests. The highest entertainment is realized when the family find their enjoyment to- gether, whether within or without their place of 272 CHAEACTER THROUGH RECREATION abode ; the deepest devotion, when they worship at a common altar, whether in the home or in the public sanctuary ; and the loftiest patriotism when, — though father and sons depart for the fields of war or public service, — they are baptized by the tears and sanctified by the prayers of those who are. left behind. Memory reproduces, as I write, an evening hour in an old home, which is now no more, when the family gathered in the best room, . ' and without instrument, — for it home ' was in the days when prosperity still withheld its smile, — sang the old hymns of the heart, as the sun was going down. I can see the room as it then was ; — of moderate size, the walls covered with a bright but modest floral paper ; a rag carpet on the floor ; and a center- table over which hung a lamp with glass " din- gles " on it. From the wall looked down out of old-fashioned oval frames some of the portraits of my ancestors in the far-away New England home ; while over the couch yonder was an especially fin© steel engraving of Grace Darling rowing out in her boat through the stormy blackness to save the lost. Yes ; that was the old home — best recreational spot of my childhood days — where love reigned, and melody of sacred song at the Sabbath evening hour brought a sweet solace to hearts that were thus helped to face the toil of another week. In the gathering twilight I can THE JOYS OF HOME 273 almost hear my mother's voice as she sings of " Love Divine, All Love Excelling," or my father's stronger tones as he raises the tune, " "When I Can Read My Title Clear." Such was the home beauti- ful in which was found pleasure that even the more varied fields of life have never yet surpassed. CHAPTER XYII EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT We need only to turn back to claildhood's happy hours to find a time when play seemed a very vital part of life. Likewise in the re- searches of the student of racial problems there is found an early age when all mankind was in love with play. The present awakening to the value of the recreational life is both a reversion and an advance. The new play movement partakes of the characteristics of the early devotion to play as a diversion, with the added element of its prac- tical advantages. The present age is most exacting in its demand for a practical value in everything on which it ■ places its stamp of approval. It lay to-day ^^ ^^^ unfitting, therefore, that the TraJticaTresuits ^^^^^^r should indicate in the clos- ing chapter of this book some of the general gains which have come as a result of the renaissance of play, and in some degree fore- cast its coming substantial advantages. In spite of numerous detrimental tendencies, there are many beneficial results which have come to the broader life of men, that are directly associated 274 EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 275 with the new estimate of play and sport. These results have to do with the progress of the indi- vidual in particular and of society in general, and touch the physical, intellectual, and moral sides of life. The educational world has cause to be grateful when a new subject is launched on the sea of in- tellectual life. Though sailed by Endorsed by the j>, . i i j many a crait, the broad expanse educator «^ ' . ^ of that ocean contams room for every vessel which comes to bear its precious freight of larger wisdom. If the new ship is found to be not a dangerous visitant flying the black flag of piracy, but a friendly vessel laden with good products already known and loved, its presence will be welcome and ample opportunity given to deliver its load of treasure at humanity's wharf. The place occupied by the subject of play in the curriculum of the school, and the practical demonstration of its value within and without the schoolroom, is evidence of its hearty acceptance by the educational w^orld of to-day. The wide endorsement of athletic games and the systematic instruction in physical development by our educational institutions , ^ show that play is accepted at value r J r full face for its physical value. One of the most widely accepted games for ath- letic development, basket-ball, has come to its world-wide popularity in a marvelously short 276 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION time. Invented only twenty-three years ago, this strictly American game has found a ready accept- ance in all parts of the world. The physical value of the game, as well as the element of enjoyment which it brings to its participants, has been a leading factor in making it popular. Educators have discovered a very intimate relation between the physical condition of the student and his in- tellectual progress. A writer tells of the con- trasting of two schools in Germany, one of which had physical training while the other had not. It was found that the school which gave one-fourth of its time to exercise and play in the open air not only came up with the other, which spent all its time in the schoolroom, but surpassed it in scholarship. For many years the countries of the eastern hemisphere have excelled us in their ap- preciation of games and systematic physical train- ing, but recent years have found this country rapidly coming to the front in physical education. The advantage of the study of play methods and play leadership is indicated by the fact that leading universities have courses Teachers now ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ Subiects at- studying play j. a a u u + methods tended by many who are eager to become proficient in them, that they may go out to supply the rapidly increasing demand for instructors who shall be able to look after the physical 'as well as the intellectual de- velopment of the pupils. A class in physical edu- EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 277 cation in the University of Missouri was recently found to be made up as follows: One county superintendent, three school superintendents, two high-school principals, one physical director, three students, two teacher-coaches, eight city and town teachers, and three rural teachers. The boy and the girl are also given foremost at- tention in many of our prominent schools. Such universities have chairs of " Rec- The universities , . j -^^^ ■>■> ^^ , . , reation and Play" as well as studjang play ■' " Child Welfare," and m their model schools are teaching play to the child. The " School of Childhood " at the University of Pittsburgh, for children of the kindergarten age, in which the direction of individual play and spon- taneously formed group play is carried on by trained leaders, reminds one of the Montessori " Houses of Childhood." The intellectual stimulus of the study of play is also furthered by a rapidly widening literature on the subject, and by actual experi- er oppor uni- Q^ice in children's playgrounds gjyjj which are being established in increased numbers in our various towns and cities. The Playground and Recrea- tion Association of America reports, regarding the increase of these agencies, that during the past year 500,000 children were for the first time given access to directed playgrounds. By their touch with play life, the many students of play and 278 CHAEAOTEE THEOUGH EEOEBATION actual workers on the playground have found an intellectual uplift and a character stimulus which have not come in the pursuit of the supposedly more serious studies. In becoming the bene- factors of childhood they have themselves been the recipients of the good gifts of truth which only the school of childhood can impart. They have felt the value of the juvenile world and can join with Longfellow in his praise of the children : " Come to me, O ye children ! And whisper in my ear What the birds and the winds are singing, In your sunny atmosphere. *' For what are all our contrivings, And the wisdom of our books, When compared with your caresses, And the gladness of your looks ? " Ye are better than all the ballads That ever were sung or said, For ye are living poems, And all the rest are dead," There are yet many people and many commu- nities that have not realized the intellectual and character stimulus that has been rousing com- fQ^j^^j j^y others in the fields of munity interest ■^ • i i play. There are multitudes both of children and adults who have not yet discov- ered the royal way of profitable pleasure. These need to be awakened and brought to the higher pleasure program. How may this best be done ? EETEOSPEOT AND PEOSPECT 279 As a first step to the awakening of a community to its need of better recreational advantages a close-at-hand investigation of the case is important. The survey gives a better idea of community con- ditions than a less thorough study could possibly accomplish. Dr. Gulick recommends that an " occupational census " be taken, and suggests Saturday evening at nine o'clock as a favorable time, when a corps of workers might be sent out to discover how many people are on the streets, in the saloons, billiard-halls, gymnasiums, libra- ries, dance-halls, theaters, etc., of a certain district of the city. No better argument for the bettering of amusement conditions could be had than such a survey. By enlisting the help of school boards and teachers, a tabulation might also be made of the amusement tastes of youth through a ques- tionnaire in the schools. The right of appeal to amusement vendors, city officials, or to the public through the press, is pos- sible to every one who is interested vercommg e - ^^ better amusement conditions for nmental amuse- . y^ «. • j^gj^^g any community. Offensive adver- tising placards and billboards may be eliminated by a similar process. Though it would not seem advisable to recommend the action of a certain women's organization that tore down and destroyed the indecent advertising posters of a traveling show, there might be condi- tions where such militant methods were the only 280 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION remedy. The overcoming of detrimental amuse- ment features has not proved an easy task, especially where public conscience is lacking. The public-spirited citizen, or the Christian who has caught the social vision, may do much to accomplish this. The investment of money and effort for the providing of better amusements will be amply repaid by the higher type of young life which the community will produce. Patience will be necessary, and some sacrifice required as well. Gradually, however, the taste of the com- munity may be changed, and the awakening of civic pride come to the assistance of the few who have been compelled for a time to carry the bur- den alone. The Church will realize its obligation to provide a clean bill of recreations for its constituency. Its public entertainments will be of How the Church ,■, j. j.i x -n j i the sort that will need no apology. may help ^ <=''' It will also give the needed in- struction in the why and wherefore of a better amusement life. This writer hopes to see the time come when it shall be considered as im- portant for the churches, Sunday-schools, and young people's societies to give instruction to the young jpeojple on the subject of amusements as upon the much-discussed questions of temperance, mis- sions, and other social themes, now so appropri- ately and attractively presented. A very use- ful occupation for any pastor or Sunday-school EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 281 worker, especially during the winter months, would be the weekly gathering of a class of young folks, to study the subject of recreation in its relation to character. The wide reach of the subject, in its philosophical, historical, and prac- tical aspects, would furnish a most entertaining and profitable exercise. Especially would the young people be benefited by such a course, for the danger or safety of the young is largely de- pendent upon their activities in the field of sport and recreation. We can but be grateful that both physically and morally there is being made at present by our school authorities an honest u 1 .u -.- effort to provide the best program school authorities ^ r o of play for their pupils. The re- lation between school work and the pupil's recrea- tion is becoming more and more intimate, but not all has yet been realized in the relation of athletics to the school curriculum. The future will bring yet greater development in this regard. One day, as the writer sat in the office of the Dean of a certain western university, discussing with him the general question of amusements, the manner of conducting athletics in the average college wherein training is given en masse, was touched upon. Said the Dean, " I should like to see the time come when each student as he enters school might have a physical examination given him, so that he might be enlisted in the kind of 282 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION athletics and assigned to the kind of physical training needed for his individual case. Then let his physical training proceed along with his intel- lectual training as a part of his regular course." The hope expressed by this educator will doubt- less become a reality. The beginnings of it are even now seen. As a token of Newark's new .-, j .. <• i - -• , - . , ^. the adoption of such a systematic plan of athletics ^ -^ plan of physical education, a letter recently received from Eandall D. Warden, Phys- ical Director of the city schools of ]^ewark, IsT. J., may be given. He says : " IS'ewark has this year adopted an entirely new plan of athletics. This plan is in the nature of a physical efficiency test, and is based on a triangular test consisting of a fifty-yard dash, chinning-bar, and running high- jump. Each grade has an efficiency chart so that the boys will score by percentages. We hope to test at least 80 per cent, of all the boys in our public schools and give each boy the percentage rating according to his ability to pass these tests. As you can see, this will connect physical training with the curriculum in a manner similar to that in which academic subjects are rated. I think this is the newest thing in the country in athletics." The movements in progress for the further de- velopment of play and recreation make it impos- sible for us to tabulate at this time all the lessons which have come and are still coming to the world as a result of the appreciation of life's EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 283 lighter side. But some of the returns are in. In the attempt to come to an appreciation of the child's natural instinct for play ysica gains ^^^ ^-^^ adult's desire for recre- from play ational facilities, we have been led nearer to nature in all things. The play spirit of the present age has brought us a life of less strain and worry. Men live more easily and more nat- urally than in a former generation. Youthfulness is more evident, and old age with its attendant decrepitude has been pushed farther away. The men of the present generation are younger for their years than were their fathers at the same age. The return of the era of play among grown-ups has likewise affected the mental realm. Imagina- tion, that wonderful wizard of the A quickened • i i i • r- . . ,. mmd, has been ffiven ireer range : imagination ' o o ' for he who dwells in the world of play must live in the realm of the imaginative. Thus released from the thraldom of more somber days, we revel in fancy's fields where childhood once held universal sway. Since the quickened imagination has been the inspiration of the orator, the poet, and the painter, may we not ere long expect to reap the reward of our return to pleas- ure's fields in increased resources of literary and artistic treasure ? The writer is aware that the present pleasure devotion of humanity is looked upon by not a 284 OHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION few as a sign of moral decadence. And we can- not deny that in the pathway of pleasure there are possibilities of danger. All r^sfbe"'^^^^^ Hbertj of thought and action, pXX balanced —valuable as it is to human prog- ress, — is accompanied by peril. The young, especially need to learn that the ac- tivities of life must have their proper balance. In the well-rounded life, work and play will join hands as comrades in character uplift. Though this book has sought to establish the value of play, it will not be understood that the writer desires to minimize the value of the disci- pline and stimulus of labor as an asset of the well-balanced life. Both labor and play will need direction and guidance, lest the liberty of either should become license. Those whose natural in- clination leads them to dissipate, — either in work or in play, — must learn the art of self-control. Working hours, however, are not generally regu- lated by the worker, but the abuses of overwork vv^ill cease as both employer and employed shall come to a greater recognition of the value of the human machine. One force that is, and will be, potent in reducing the hardships of toil is the increasing value now put upon recreation by both manufacturer and man. As to amusement indulgence, the same wisdom must apply as in the regulation of working hours. "When the amusement lover shall study the ten- EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 285 dency of his pleasures, the danger of a wrong choice or of over-indulgence will in large measure be removed. The individual of more serious cast of mind will also need to watch his attitude re- garding popular pleasures. A selection of pleas- ure plans, — chosen with the same care as medicine is prescribed by the physician, — will probably be necessary to develop the neglected side of his life and prevent his becoming a recluse. A study of the amusement life of men in its larger social aspect will reveal the fact that in this country at least the pleasure . , ^ ^ life of the people is decidedly upon social benefit r j. ./ i the up-grade. Indeed, the evolu- tion of the pleasure life of the race is one of the favorable signs of the dawning of a moral mil- lennium. The nation-wide influence of a recre- ational program is testified to by various authori- ties. The foreign missionary is now using play plans to enlarge the circle of life for those under his care. Through the organized work of play- ground and gymnasium, the children of the East are being assisted to a longer childhood, which is one of their greatest needs. In China, we are told, the physical education of girls has assisted in breaking down the age-long custom of foot- binding, since the girl with the natural foot has, in the drills of the gymnasium, such pleasing grace of movement. A superintendent of school work in the Philippines says that the introduction 286 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION" of the American game of baseball has, within the past few" years, done more to civilize adult Fili- pinos than the combined efforts of army and navy, commerce and the school system. Base- ball appeals to them even more than their own usual enjo3''ment of cock-fighting. Tribes for- merly hostile to each other have been brought to friendliness through their match games on the ball field. They have learned to contest against each other without enmity ; the value of fair play has been taught — a fair chance for all on the field of life as well as on the field of sport. That the creation of a better personal program of life is clearly possible through play is evidenced in the illustrations with which this , book abounds. The writer does play not for a moment claim that rec- reational features are to be considered as a sub- stitute for divine grace in the transformation of human character, but he does believe that recre- ation in both individual and national life may be one of God's chosen avenues for the introduction of ethical and social virtues. The ministry of amusement to man's higher life must not be over- looked. There is even a closer relation between piety and play than many imagine. Indeed, the two fields of worship and recreation are the most common meeting-places of the races of men. At Ellis Island, in New York, the children of the im- migrants, while in detention, have special direc- EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 287 tion in play under a trained assistant. Here the children of all nationalities unite together in games, for play is the international language. So also with worshijD. A lady acquaintance of the writer, while on a tour through the Orient, in company with a party of American tourists, sang gospel songs on Mars Hill, overlooking an- cient Athens, while wondering Greek children gathered around. In the attempt to make the little ones understand, the lady, while singing the songs, pointed to the sky. What wonder is it that the children understood, and crossed them- selves reverently, since worship, too, is an inter- national tongue ! It need not be thought strange that play has a kinship to religion. In the religious life of both the active and ascetic type ecstasy Emotion revived has an important place. Though through the T • T^ 1 ^ play life ^"-^ reiigious lite may become too largely emotional, the element of emotional fervor is an essential factor in its finest manifestation. The same emotional function ex- ercised in play is a valued factor in religious ex- perience. Whatever tends to the ennobling de- velopment of the emotional faculty is the friend, rather than the enemy, of religion. One of the most important contributions to the religious life of this amusement-loving age is the quickening of the emotional life of the people. It is the firm conviction of many who preach and teach the 288 CHAEACTER THEOUGH EECEEATION gospel that its first appeal, at least to a large proportion of mankind, must be the appeal to the emotional life. Unless the preacher can cause his hearers to feel, he has poor success in persuading them to wiU and to do. Once the wide desolation of war called forth the emotional life of the people and bade it live again. Amid the tears and sighs of national grief, patriotism had a new birth and poets pro- duced songs that have lived long after them. ISTow, when the years of commercial success have magnified materialism and chilled the heart life of men, we have a resurrection of the emotional nature through the revival of play. It is fitting that the most serious-minded individual should recognize, — together with his neighbor of more happy inclination, — the value of the means that has taught us to feel, and to sing, and to smile. The place of recreation in the world's thought, as well as a hint of the larger reward of the era of play, is happily presented in a lit- The parable of the ^q parable which is given by ThT'Tn ^"'^^'' Walter A. Dyer in his book, The Richer Life? He tells us of a nobleman, in a far-away land and time, who, com- ing near to the end of life, brought his three sons before him. Telling them that he soon must leave the world, he bade them choose their life- work that he might divide his property among ^ Walter A, Dyer, The Richer Life, p. 39 fE. EETEOSPECT AND PEOSPECT 289 them, and send them forth to make theu* fortunes. The eldest, being keen of intellect and of great virtue as well, determined to become a scholar. The second son chose to be a soldier, for he was a man of vigor and ambition, and desired to win his way to fame and power. The youngest, who had eyes like his mother, and was his father's favorite son, was called by the king of the land to be the court jester, for he was of ready wit and would rather laugh and sing than engage in some sterner occupation. But though he was a gentle youth, he earnestly desired that his life might be worth living and that he might worthily serve his generation ; so he hesitated to go at the king's be- hest, for, said he, " A jester is not a man of honor among his brethren." After many days, how- ever, his decision was made, and, receiving his father's blessing, he went forth as had his brothers before him, — not to the world of books nor to the field of war, but to the humble position of a king's jester. Twenty years passed. The old nobleman had long slept in his grave, but his sons still lived. A traveler passed by a hermit's cave in the mountains, and saw the one who had chosen scholarly pursuits poring over his books. On making inquiry as to the character of the hermit, he found that he had gained great renown as a man of much learning. But he had failed when he tried to teach his philosophies to meUj for they could not understand 290 CHAEACTEE THEOUGH EECEEATION him. His solitude and his brooding had made him morose ; he had separated himself from his fellow- men, and no one loved him. One day the traveler saw a knight of forbidding visage on a coal-black charger, amid the pomp of a great procession of men-at-arms. He vras told that the knight had come back from the wars with much wealth and great renown. But fighting had hardened his heart, and the people did not love him ; though he bestowed alms they feared him. After a time the traveler came to the city where the king's palace was located. As he paused before the inn, a jester The mission of . , , . i i n ^ thejoy-maker ^^^^ ^^^ ^^P ^^^ ^cUs paSSed by, surrounded by children who begged him for a story. An old woman at a doorway impulsively seized the hand of the jester and kissed it. As he passed by, the people smiled, —not in derision, but in love. The jester, as the traveler discovered, when not busy making merry for the king, had taken to wandering about the town and making laughter for the people. They found beneath his jests a fund of homely wisdom, and under his motley garb a Christian heart. They told him their troubles and he ministered to their sad spirits. The people looked for his com- ing as for the sunshine after the shower, and, though he was only a jester, he understood the common people and the town was better because he lived in it. Then the traveler, who had come EETEOSPECT Al^D PEOSPECT 291 from the far East, said, " I have traveled far and have seen many men of power and learning and fame ; I have seen those who had great wealth and those who professed much piety ; but the men of great soul are few. This man has turned his life to account, for the things of the spirit are bet- ter than the things of the body or of the mind." The present day does not find the joy-bringers of the world decked in the garb of the court jester. They are standing rather among the lead- ers of the world's thought, striving by a new and helpful program of amusement to uplift the lives of their fellow-men, bringing to little children, to youth, and to those of riper years, the ministry of a fuller life. The object of their eifort, however, is similar, and the result of their work has been and still shall be the development of CHARACTER THROUGH RECREATION.