Qjjj /» O
ISSUED EVERY SUNDAY FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF SAN FRANCISCO AND CALIFORNIA
ALONZO
HE SEES HIS FIRST MOVING PICTURES
BOOST FOR THE
PLAYGROUNDS
'^POME of you read the papers. Some
gji A of you have the papers read to. you.
;\u25a0'\u25a0 All ofyoaknow the. most important
.things that happen from day to day.
•; . For ..the . last few weeks the daily
p : papers haye^been devoting a good, deal
(' of space to school athletics, play and
playgrounds.^ Committees have been
formed) and . meetings have been held."
, Men and women interested in the wel;
fare .of you juniors ; have ' gone 'before
the. board of education and others in
authority and asked that large sums of
; money be set aside by the city for the
purpose .of providing the school chil
.;. dren'of Sari Francisco with propefplay
" grounds," fitted with all the up to date
conveniences for baseball, basket ball,
handball.swimmlrig, etc. s \. \u25a0
g San Francisco has at, last awakened
to the fact that she. ls rar behind, the.
eastern cities" In looking; out for her.
children. A In Chicago^ the public play
gfounds are wonders. It would not do
to go Into details about them, 'for It
would only make you envious. Besides,
it is very foolish to grumble, now that
our city has discovered the importance
of.organizediPlay, that she did not real
ize. it before. The only thing to do is to
be glad' that It has" come at last and to
do the best to help things along.
What can youdo? Lots of things.
' Most important of all you can keen
up .your enthusiasm. Keep It up
even if Uiirigs don't go at the' tre
mendous;speed you think they should.
Things \u25a0 are started, but everything
takes time. Because *tho grownups
are clamoring, .. "give them room to
play," it doesn't mean that every dis
trict .of this', great city • can 'have a
model playground next week. It. may
be months before you have, things ex
actly as , you want them. Don't get
tired and lose interest on that account.
That's what's the matter with so many
of you. You start something In a wild
burst of energy and then before you've
really accomplished' anything wortli
while you're tired of It.
You want playgrounds. You will get
them. But there Isn't the least doubt
in the. world you will have to wait a
little while for them..
In the meantime do the best you can
in the space you have.",. If you're going
to-have a meet practice with some En
thusiasm, not just a few, there will
ulwuyti4.be 'a few. really live boys- and
Klrhj, , but all of you. A few can't
make n thing a (success.
I Yfiu know that there are many men
and women Avho don't believe in public
playgrounds. There were no j such
things "when these people were young,
and so they think playgrounds are not
needed now. They consider ull these
new, ideas "frills" and quite uuneces
eary. But you who are cramped up in
The San Francisco Call.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., MAY 15, 1910.
schoolyards, too small to allow you even
to run, know' perfectly well that there
is nothing "frilly" about it. It is just
as necessary as learning to read and
write. But If 'you lose interest! sim
ply because a thing is slow in coming
your way, you are going to help these
people prove their point. It is not an
uncommon thing. to hear some one say:
"I don!t believe the children them
selves want these things. They don't
•show such a lot of Interest in athletics.
Why, ' sometimes It's hard work get
ting a team."
Even some of your teachers think
this way. Of course, they're
but one can't blame them. It's your
own fault. ':'&*\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0{ \u25a0 .
That's why The Junior was so glad
to get last week 23 letters from one
class on *Xeed of / Children's Play
grounds." Think of It, 23 boys with
enough energy and gumption to write
out their opinions on a question that is
of vital interest to every girl and boy
In the city. No doubt hundreds of
you have just the same ideas, but If
you don't TELL people, how are peo
ple to know? '. t
The following letter was one of the
23, and was rhosen because' It so
dearly expressed the writer's convic
tions:
Need of Children's Playgrounds
FRANCIS W. MURPHY
Not every workingnian in Ban Fran-
Cisco realizes the necessity of having
playgrounds in different parts of thft
city. How many of them have children
at home who ;ue weak, sickly and sub
ATHLETIC NEWS SECTION
News From St. Peter's
ROBERT J. FLYNN
\u25a0 The secbnd'outdoor meet of the C f>. -
A. ' L. Is .near and by the tinie; this is
published it will be over. ' We hope to :
.win* this meet, '.for' we have strong >70, ;
80 and 96 pound classes. fin; ,the last •
indoor meet our 70 and 80. pound relays
ran n.way with their prirt of the pro
gram;! and they intend to >do the same :
in ! this outdoor meet.' This 'meet; as
usual, 1 * Is ",tb ,be divided into weight, J
classes, the weights i being 70,: 80.' 05 and .
115 pounds. \u0084There will be an unlimited
class, . also, 'but, the] -winners "of those,
events will not 1 gain Jpoints;. for their
school, .although- tliey* will. win.'- prizes.
Dewey *day, May 2, all our boys were '•;
out practicing'tat ttye stadium, ifor" we
lose :no opportunities like these Vholi
days. \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0',-';..>. 'i \u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0•'*•;\u25a0;.\u25a0' \u25a0';':; ,'\u25a0\u25a0 ... '/'f/'.'.-V.. 1 ; \u25a0.\u25a0:.\u25a0 -
•• ;' .'Wei did not ..figure as,, well,' as we :
should. have last Friday evening," April
29, -at. the^, Sacred Heri'rt '. lndoor meet. ;
Ed McGlade, one of '_,. bur /.boys,' came'
third lin ' the M4O" yard.' fun"... Our 95
pbu'nd relay team 'only .won- third place'
on account of the' stumblingof "one of
our runners. ' • \u25a0
ject to consuiription? These^ same chil
dren, would be- fotiust. and"~healthy ; if
they.hadVplaces. to play in. .Butthat is
where ;the.. trouble, is. -...'. There "-are no
places near home j where the child ; will
be safe from harm . and still, .have- a
o)(BQtll@Il'il
Hancock Notes
ALECK MINO
• ..The Hancock school Journeyed out
to the. # Goldori Gate r park' April 23 to
play the' Monroe /'school, ,but by thbr
oufirH misunderstanding thY latter went ,
to the frdrt Mason grounds, and as a
result there was no game. .
The Hancocks met the Horace Mann \u25a0
nine at the park. A game was agreed'
on and the Hancock, boyS *won .b y a <5
to 1 score.' Rlseburg of the" Hancock
school struck. out 21 men. -John Onier
ola, one of :- the;, smallest boys 4 In the
team, 'made three hits.
.: The] infielders, did riot receive a ,
chance through(JMttherwhole game. "
s School/ teams wishing games -phone
or write , to Hancock grammar school. •"
The . team practices.' almost daily with
the Washington school,. which also has
a strong lineup.- ; \ ... : • ' J*3: ,'.;\u25a0>
.The Hancock's' champion -95 pound •
basket ball t?am met and defeated the .
Spring.sValley- school Monday by ths
scofe.of ,67 to 2." "Teams wishing games
call or write to: the'; Hancock school.
\u25a0 good time, developing mind and muscle.
If some people Jmd \u2666 their
would be a * number tot ! gymnastically
fitted up playgrounds in those parts of ' l
'tho-'Clty; that are thickly, populated.
jWhat' need is- there of •a ; playground
when there.are few, If any, children?
It's alLriglit for the peoplejn the.WCst- > \u25a0
ern' addition to say, "The park stadium
rzlfi] good* enough." Certainly it is/ • No
one 'says it's , not.' VBut, do -these same .
people", take 'into \u25a0consideration the time
it takes for some children to get there?
, No, they do "not. --.\u25a0 »\u25a0,', "-.- ',' -'?'\u25a0"
A'playground does. not mean a square
. ( planted with grass and trees.. It means
in' the true sense of the word a place
..where one can amuse oneself. ' Now, not.
every', boy. likes to sit or He on grass
all day, arid that Is practically aTI that
• ; can be done. in mostof'tlie parks in the
cities.. A tplayground- should -be fitted
up with a ball d'ariiond.^where the ama
teur aspirants for baseball'honors could
practice; a cinder /path,' where young . ;
athletes. could fit themselves for honors
on; the- track, and all the requirements '.
.for a first class field. "A firie ; gymnaslum
.. should, be on the field also. >
If . there werq ; a few of these play
grounds the . average child . . would be
healthy and the next generation would. .
be robust and strong. The attendance
in the schools in the cities 'would be In
creased and .the fight ; against tuber
culosis would be. aided,* inasmuch that
weak and' sickly, child is more apt to
give lodging, to germs of that disease ,
; than -.'a* healthy one. ' %
Many of the other letters were good,
too; in;fact'it was difficult to decide on
the one best, but space does not permit
reprinting all. The names, V however,
of these public spirited juniors are:
Joseph Barry, Francis Lawler, James
Power, Walter Cronin, Lawrence Nel
son, Joseph Fay, R. Carrol, Charles, I.
Gallagher, Hugh McColgan, James
Muskel, Joseph Gilmore, A. McDonnell,
John O'Donnell, Matthew Curran, Fran
cis W. Murphy, 1 James A. Campbell,
John McNamara, Paul 4 Lavais, Herman
Affolter, Edward Regan, Robert W. J.
Kelly, Joseph Flaherty, John Dalton.