Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 311, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1918 — HOME TOWN HELPS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME TOWN HELPS

SOLVING PROBLEM OF PLAY American Cities Are Beginning tt Meet the Needs of People for Outdoor Recreation. American cities are beginning tc solve the problem of- play. It is onlj In the last few years that the United States has become a country predominantly urban instead of rural in its population, and this urban populatioc has had a hard time getting the outdoor air and exercise it needs, writes Frederic J. Haskin. The solution oi the problem seems to lie in the municipal playground and ‘athletic tield which has come to be a feature ol the parks of almost every progressive city 'in the lust few years. The federal census bureau has just completed an investigation of the parks and playgrounds of every city in the United States, which contains some interesting facts. For the purposes of this work, the census bureau takes account of all cities of 30,000 inhabitants or more There are 213 such cities in the United States. —a measure of the rapidity with which the balance of population is moving from the country to the city. Neither the country boy nor the coun-try-dwelling man needs any outdoot rgpreation facilities; he has only to step across his threshold to be in an out-of-doors that affords the sports foi which games are only a substitute. Much attention has been given to the problem of furnishing' country dwellers with intellectual and artistic recreation, in an attempt to keep 'them from moving to the city in too great numbers; but there has so far been little attention paid to providing them with outdoor sports within average rneuns after they arrive in the city. But the movement is under way, and it.is growing steadily.