Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, July 23, 1905, Page 4, Image 20
Public Playgrounds ; ' : ; r :: . :.. , : 'M !:: j.j . ' r . c . - - i i lit -I. ir r 'VI --tiiiil iju .y !i r ii i r- - i i M LL WORK and no play makea Jack a dull boy." ThrouKh manyorm and fll- tered t1irouli many lansuageg. i I from the time of the original cave dweller, probably, we of today have hae framed In this saylnK the concrete belief derived from ages of experience. We shquld couple Jill with Jack, If we were revising the axiom, for glrla stand equal with boya In this aire of the world. And we all know that the word work as here used Is meant to comprise everything that is not play; yet some kinds of work are really play for Jack to Instance, car rying water to the elephant for a peep at the show. To mention play ground Is to call up visions of a big lot with many trees making shady spots, . with hedges and grass and wings and sand piles. This Is the set and proper play ground. Another kind not to be despised vis a gravel pit or a side hill alongside a creek or a lake; or a vacant lot where there Is room to swing a bat and knock the cover off the ball. The publlo road or alley will do In an , emer gency. Hew Some Games Started. Children of the loe age on real hot daya Gossip nud Stories Aboul Noted People An Inaersolllan Boast. Fl gathered many anecdotes during I KlvtMn venm artlvlf. ut th New York bar. He told a good story the other day of the most severe arraignment he ever heard In a court room. "It was uttered by Colonel Robert Ingersoll, who was usually the soul of good nature," he said. "In a case which aroused his Indignation he requested the Jury to study the defendant's face. 'I mark out In hlm,' he exclaimed, 'the meanest man, I, know a mnn so mean that nature wasted her time In making him, and the dirt of which he is composed would have been bet ter employed in filling the grave of some other such man. If such another ever lived.' " Johnny Let Go. President Roosevelt, on one of his bunt ing tours In the Adirondacks, spent a very long day In restless pursuit of big game. By the time success had finally Justified the chase, he made the discovery that he was a very hungry man. At his urgent request, the guide conducted the party to the nearest inn the wilderness afforded. The journey was not a brief one, and, by the time the hostelry was reached, Mr. Roosevelt was still more hungry. When informed that the only fare ob tainable at the establishment was corned beef and cabbage, relates Success. Invol untarily he made use of the expression which has' long been famous: "Delighted!" Amusement was created In the " presi dential party when the chief executive, whose Identity had been kept a secret, was given a seat at the family buard. It was Increased when the huge portions of corned beof and cabbage was passed from the head of the table where sat the host. The first plate to make Its appearance was heaped very high. It reached a small, boy and got no further. The president sighed to express his envy and disappointment. "Johnny!" exclaimed the host, sharply, "thet ben't fei you; thet be fer the stranger." Much to the amusement of all, the presi dent seised the rim of the plau on one side while Johnny held to the other. There waa a moment of doubt. Then the president, softly and. with a twinkle in his eye. but with Inexorable de cision, leaned over and spoke into the red, resentful faco of the hungry boy: "Johnny," he said, "let go!" Johnny let go. A Frrtrhrr Hashed. During the heat of the anti-slavery agita tion while on a railroad train Wendell Phillips was thus addressed by a clergy man: "Mr. Phillips, why do you and your associates tontlnue to exalte our people of the north when no slavery exists here? Why do you not go to the south whero slavery does exist and stop the Importa tion of slaves?" "I believe you are a min ister of the gospel." said Phillips. "That la my vocation." replied the clergyman. "And yotir mission la to save souls from hell?" "That Is my mission." replied the other. "Then." replied Phillips, "why do you not go there and stop the importation of souls V p"" Gronp Hedeeen to Tw, Of all the persons who stood about the deathbed of President Lincoln when he died in the Peterson home in Washington only two are now living. The death of secretary Hay removed another of tho famous group of twenty-two, and now Robert Lincoln, son of the former president, and Dr. Ctiarles A. Leal of (04 Madison avenue alone remain. ' Dr. Leale was the surgeon In attendance on President Lincoln during the entire time after he was shot. The doctor was then executive oflWr of the United States army general hospital In Armory Square, Wash used to consider the locality of a glacial rill quite desirable; and In tile stone age caves and mountains we may be sure of fered attractions to the hardy youngsters of the men who used to crack the bones of mastodons with their trenchant teeth. Out on the wild prairies the wild lads o the aboriginal vagabonds used to practice the capture1 of fierce cacti against the day when they could leave mimic warfare for the real thing. Long before the days of Brian Boru the gossoons of the Emerald Isle coursed the green fields with hurling sticks. They were the original "shlnhy" players and set the pace for modern hockqy tricks. Over on Auld Scotia's hills the canny balms Indulged In a rough game we know In Its tame aspect as "duck on the rock." Grownup folk afterward developed, this Into the roarln' game of curling. The first marble playerj were In glorious Egypt and ancient Persia and laid the founda tions for the useful and healthful gam of golf. Even the Chinese and Esquimaux are no doubt responsible for some playground games. The young Esqulmo hitched him self to a reindeer, most likely, and thus we get the hunch the boys of many lands have evinced for bobby horses and hitching on. Perhaps some genius of the slant-eyed ington, and was summoned by Mrs. Lincoln to take charge of the president. -4- Obeyeil Orders. The late General Negley of Pennsylvania waa a strict disciplinarian. During one of the winters of the civil war he concluded that a certain guard house was altogether too comfortable quarters for prisoners and ordered Colonel Maiston, who later won fame as a soldier, lawyer and statesman, to build a dungeon without so much as a crack or opening anywhere, so that it should be perfectly dark. The dungeon waa built with four solid walls, according to the Chicago News. One day General Negley came over to Inspect It. He waa accompanied by Colonel Marston. "Where) is the jntrance," said the general, "and how dc you get anybody into It?" "Oh," said Cv!onel Marston, "that Is not my lookout. I simply obeyed your orders." Recent Progress Made in the Electrifying- Railroads. COMPANY has been organized In A I New York for the purpose of in Xt I troducing on steam roads the three-phase alternating current electric traction system which has bvcu perfected in Europe by the engineer ing firm of Gans A Co. of Budapest. The company has acquired all the Gans eleo trlo traction patents and manufacturing rights covering the United States, Mexico and Cuba and all of the West Indies other than those under British control. A di rector of the company describes its pur poses tn the New York Evening Post: "The huge Initial cost of- converting steam railroads on this side of the Atlan tic has been a stumbling block to tho various managements considering change of motive power. The Installation of tho three-phuse system, costs about 40 per cent less than that of direct current, which Is the prevailing mode of electric traction so far Installed by the large American electrical companies. Another important claim made for the three-phase system Is that it is the only method which provided for recuperation of power on down grades. In other words, the power usually wasted In braking and coasting down grades Is by this system returned to the line as useful energy for handling other trains. It futhermore saves the wear and tear In rails, brake-shnrs. wheel tires, caused by mechanical braking. "Tli most stru.i..K illustration of the three-phase system is ths slxty-flve mile Valtelllna line of the Italian State rail ways, which has been inspected by elec trical experts from all over the world. The operating cost had been reduced by upwards of bo per cent over steam loco motive operation, which was formerly the power deed." Negotiations were stated to be under way with one of the large trunk lines looking toward the conversion of part of Its road Into electric motive power by the Gans system. Electricity Ceaancrs the Alps. The summit of the Jungfrau. one of the highest of the 8lss'Alps, has been made accessible to tourists without running any of the risks that have hitherto been taken by Alpine climbers through the completion of the Jungfrau electric railway. The rail way starts at the Little Scheldegg station of the Wengern Alps railway, a cog line operated by powerful steam locomotives. Little Scheldegg station is located at an elevation of s.770 feet above sea level. The summit of ths Jungfrau is 11.(70 feet high, and the electric trolley ascends to within W feet of the highest point In a distance and Outdoor Games for Omaha Boys I li V VYr Xr- -'fr-'U f r eV., " M !.f.vv.'. ' 1 r a iflrst proposed' "button, button, who's got Ahe button?" A man doesn't carry much weight In China, even today, unless, he sports a button of some kind for a topknot The sending afloat of boats by seashore urchins Is but the continuation of the play of the vikings' sons. "Ring around the rosy" was old before the glory that was Greece ever began to appear over the horizon. Top time had Its earliest Incep tion, quite likely, when the young dervishes, despairing Of spinning like their elders, de termined to make something else spin. Klta flying, it appears, was practiced by the an cestors of the high-flyers of many ancient lands. riaygronads In Modern Times. Nature provided the playgrounds for the boys and men of the untamed lands. Today the school, college, or municipality fur nishes them. The world Is getting pretty well crowded where children most do con gregate and to provide places where they can expend their surplus energy is become something of a problem. Men like George Gould, who want to be pals with their boys, can build wonderful courts ' whereon they may disport themselves to exhaustion's edge. The great universities and the pre paratory schools also devote many ducats to places to play; and schools and colleges for girls vie with those for boys In laying ' out campuses and their annexes whereon ,! I n m... IN THE SAND PILE. of 7.1 miles. For the first 1.1 miles the road climbs along the ' base of the Elger and a grade ranging from 10 to 20 per cent. Then It plunges Into the mountain rock and Is for the remainder of the distance In closed tn a tunnel, except at the three way stations and the terminal, where the sides of the bore are loopholed with windows for observation purposes. The highest gradi ent on the line is 25 per cent. At the upper terminal of the road an ele vator shaft 240 feet In height reaches the summit of the peaki where an observa J ' "Avtefn", ' ' f- i : -- ' J-' Hit- I MRS B. H 8 PRAGUE, 1 RANSMISSISBIPPI CHAM flON. UuC It . f i ' I V V ' K - "iv iMWiJlfa MERRY-GO-ROUND IS POPULAR. the body may be made strong, supple and enduring. But It is not of these private abodes of healthful play and physical pleas ure that the great publia Is concerned. It Is of the crowded districts of cities t?.at modern philanthropy takes note when plan ning playgrounds. A scholar and traveler of a bygone cen tury on his return home from a heathen land shocked all educated Europe with the questionable statement that the hearts of 18,000 boys were offered in sacrifice 'yearly. The heart of every boy in Omaha and throughout the great cities of the United States is to some extent sacrificed when he cannot have healthful play. It Is the belief of all who have studied the subject that young hearts become ossified and throb small for high endeavor when pleasurable exertion along the bent of play Is prevented from any cause. Thus It is that today we find parks In which the "Keep Off the Grass" sign Is abolished; sand piles In school yards; pub lic natatortums and base ball grounds; pub lic golf links; neighborhood, breathing spots and play rooms In churches. Close at home, comparatively, may be mentioned St. Paul, with costly publlo baths and extensive play grounds fitted up with athletic apparatus, swings, running tracks, and a boo. Kansas City has done almost as well with a publlo natatorlum and a generous plasa for ball playing In summer and skating In winter. rati V. J: s-: " ' . -. A. . . . iJ- , v. - llll.f:' mmmm rtn'i 71 I' QZiA SWING FOR THE GIRLS. tory has been erected for the accommoda tion of tourists and sightseers. The view obtained from the top of the Jungfrau Is said to be one of the finest In the Swiss Alps and one of the moat impressive In any part of the world. The entire cost of the road. Including construction and equip ment, has approximated $2,000,000. It was financled on an estimated trafflo of 10,000 passengers a year and the franchise was obtained on a maximum round trip rate of IS.68, but It Is understood that the company contemplates establishing a $6.75 rate. The Omaha Women Who Won Honors at Golf i -. In nearly alt the larger cities, especially la the east, much or little has been done on the same line. Canada, too, has followed suit. It Is a saving game that all sociolo gists are willingly learning and teaching. Omaha Makes Start. Only the other night Omaha's first publlo playground was opened. It Is nothing much to look at, but it typifies good and un selfish work by earnest bodies of men and women. And It may be mentioned that the money spenders for this Initial effort at a publlo gathering and playing place for little ones were the members of the Wo man's club. Time and materials were con tributed in quite generous measure by men, but the women put up the coin, to the ex tent of (ISO. They expect to draw interest In the satisfaction of witnessing the good they have done. Lacking trees or grass, the people manag ing, the playground have laid a cinder foundation with a clay surfacing and have provided an invalided street car and a tent for shade when playing In the sun has be come tiresome. That there 'was a need for this publlo place to be vigorously Joyful Is proved by the crowds of lads and lassies who are to be seen swinging, using the rings and riding on the rather primitive merry-go-round. This consists of a wagon wheel fitted onto a support In the ground and two boards thrown across It. It serves n i m. vii ... . - u,cn '.: i i - I ' -i-!'t'r,i'','vt' - 1 FOR LITTLE BOYS Field of company figures on a total annual Income of $139,360 from the traffic, and the operat ing expenses, reserve fund and Interest on Its bonded Indebtedness are estimated at' tS6.$0, which will give Its stockholders ? per cent Interest on the $800,000 capital In vested In the enterprise. ' The successful construction of this rail way will probably lead to the invasion of other Alpine peaks by similar methods, and, bringing the matter nearer home. It may suggest the construction some day of electric railways to the summits of Mounts in SI. Louis ififff m is mm : 1 - Y; ' )4 MRS. W. T. BURNS, RUNNER-UP TRAN8MISSISSIPn CHAMPIONSHIP, 1. v: i t0E3 STUNT the purpose and the toddler who falls off hasn't far to drop. -What tho Play Lends To. While In ancient days children could play with wooly rhinoceroses and draw pictures In stone caves during rough weather, they demanded wider chances for doing things and undoubtedly got them. In our day a dog is a treasure for a real boy and a doll Is a darling for a girl, but they will not suffice. To run and romp, and shout, and Jump, and engage in feats of skill or of strength; to choose sides and struggle mightily, to climb, and "skin the cat," to play hide and seek, to fight a few licks mayhap, Is as necessary to nature's own loved ones as is eating. Children have been known to take a large chance on losing a meal for a few minutes or an hour more of good strong play. And if they had tn lose the meal they could always play even at the next session' around the table. Telemachua gave his life In the Roman arena to stop one-kind of sport that de Real Life Illustrated by Anecdotes He Obeyed the ' Uir.' T T Y7 1BA T - TIM. T.' n'lOuU 1t I " I known In the Methodist church, A I was an admirer of ; conatstencv. ' relates the Boston Herald. When preparing for college he attended a co-ed ucatlonal school, the old Newbury seminary in Vermont, where very strict rules were laid down to regulate the asso- -elation of the sexes. One morning as he reached the entrance to the campus a 'young lady also arrived from the opposite direction, and at the same moment a drenching shower began. Young. Peck had an umbrella, but the lady had none, so he gallantly held his over her head until he left her at the ladles' en trance to the chapel. Being called to account for this. Peck re plied: "No wrong was intended, but I could -not see the lady get wet when I could pre vent it; neither did I wish to get drenched myself, so saw no other way but to share my umbrella with her." "But," remonstrated the grave professor, "do you not know, Mr. Peck, that ladles and Electricity Shasta, Whitney and other Slerran peaks which could be operated cheaply with elec tric power derived from the streams flow ing down their flanks, and would doubtless be patronised by tens of thousands of lov ers of mountain scenery annually. Electrle Train Test. Details of the. first electrloo train test held on the Long Island railroad with the cars and apparatus to be used everywhere on the line when the equipping of the road with electricity Is accomplished, has been made public. Ths test was made two weeks ago. A maximum speed of fifty-seven miles an hour was attained. The train was equipped with the Westing house multiple control apparatus, which has been selected for the road. The motor man bad no trouble with the train. The opinion was expressed that there would be no trouble In keeping up an average sped! Of forty-five miles an hour or better. The ordinary subway express runs about forty, two miles an hour. When the work of elec trification was started it was predicted that electric trains would be running on the Rockway branch by July. It la now said that the work will be delayed possibly a month or more. It Is understood that ths delay Is due to the protests of property owners agvlnst the surface third rail, but It Is declared that this opposition Is soon to be overcome. Electrle Knalnes for gnbwny. There Is under construction at the Juni ata shops of the Pennsylvania railroad a unique expe rlmental electrical englre for use. If satisfactory, In ths company's New York subway and Long Island tunnel con nections. The engine Is to be built In two sections, with a truck under each, the trucks h&vlng four wheels slxty-flve Inches In diameter. The length of the engine will be thlrty-scren feet ten and a half lnrh- s over all. All parts of the machine will be built for strength, the trucks constructed of steel castings of extra heaviness. Washlnitlnn-Baltlmore by Trolley. From ths heart of Baltimore to the heart of Washington by trolley has been an oft recurring dream that has constantly flitted and refused to come true. At last, how ever. It seems that the connection la to be a wideawake fact. . It la a result which the people of both cities will welcome, ex claims the Baltimore American. I the through passenger rates are made so mod erate as to be popular, as It Is to be as auined thay will be. the movement each way will be of large proportions. The two cities will And great future eatlsfaeUon In an ex change of attractions. and Girls Ml" i . 1: r itV: I i r 5 ' .' M li:: S NT S,..-. fc r ' . .. '-.'. T, ' ".A : r: ---. M FOR ARTIST. lighted bloodthirsty onlookers and was play for all hands. Some new Telemachus may yet plunge Into a foot ball game with his life in his hands, but If he gets killed It will be In a rush of husky lads of good moral training whose veins are throbbing with warm red blood. They are but re- ponding to the world-old spring of life that bids them bound and spring and hold' hard for "our side." There are small youngsters who can make noise enough to shatter the nerves of many male and female non-players, but the ef forts of the latter to stop the noise won't count. Hardly permissible at home as folks live nowadays, the noise and vim and vociferous ebullitions must find veat some where. The playground Solves the problem, ' and these open air, regulated romping spots for the boys and girls promise to Increase with the passing years. If the municipali ties will not provide them the general bunch of citizens will. - ' He was a wise man who wrote recently that "The boy without a playground is ' father to the man without a Job." gentlemen, while students at this seminary, are not allowed to walk together without permission from some member of the fac ulty." "I do sir; but allow me to ask if a lady and gentleman thus chance to meet on their way to the seminary, how far apart they must valk hot to Infringe upon this rule?" "Really ahem! I should say ten feet at the least." An exchange of notes between Mr. Peck and the young lady caused the two to reach the campus entrance the following morn ing at the same moment, and Peck was car rying In his hand a ten-foot pole. Politely handing one end of tho pole to her, he carried the other and thus they went to chatl. Dream Told of Mother's Death. William Craw, a 18-year-old patient In the Bridgeport (Conn.) hospital, has amazed the surgeons by a mysterious faculty of "seeing things" In dreams before they happen, or about the time they happen. Mrs. Rose Jepson, a sister of the young man, who Is recovering from the loss of a leg In a railroad accident, called on him. His mother died after he was taken to the hospital and his sister feared to break tho news. "Mother had another of those bad spells last night," she said. "Why, mother is dead now," said the young man, sadly. Then he told of a dream. "I knew she was dead last night when I had a dream at 10 o'clock," he said. "I dreamed that I was in the open air. Suddenly two stars descended. One of them burst open and I saw mother's face. She smiled and I felt her Angers running through my hair. She said: 'Oh, Willis!' Then I awoke." The boy's mother died at 10 o'clock, the hour the lad had. the dream. Three nlshts before Craw met with the accident he dreamed that he was Injured and told his friends at the time. . Novelties In Lanadry Tags. The number of letters used by American laundries to distinguish their patron's gar ments are disfiguring enough, but we are fortunate In that the collars and cuffs do not come back from the wash tagged with the business card of the laundry. In certain parts of France the name and address of the laundry are stamped on each piece sent home, and should several laun dries be patronized one after another a Ane collection will soon be found In addi tion to geometrical marks Indicative of the owner of the garment. In Rusnlan towns laundry marks are unilor police supervision, and in this man ner a refugee who makes his way to an other town upon a forged paanport is liable to detection unless he can borrow linen with the mark of one of the town laun dries upon It. Bulgarian laundries employ rubber stamps with ornamental designs, while In Germany the laundry comes home tagged with a small cloth label attached with a heat and waterproof cement. Activities of Weatlnit honae. George Westinghouse of Pittsburg, who has been chosen to act as trualne in the Equitable society's affairs, controls fifteen great manufacturing companies, nlna In the United States, one In Canada and five In Eurore. Bu3lness Is his recreation, tak ing the place of automobiles and yachts and race horses and picture gallerlr-s, widen other hard-worked millionaires find neces sary to rest tlielr tired faculties. As an Inventor he takes high rank. On one' oc casion, while engineering a lart' financial movement In New York City, in lilea for a mechanical device suggeated Itself. As soon as possible ie took the train for Pitts burg, busying himself while en route by drawing a sketch of the proposed Inven tion. On reaching his declination he drove to one of his factories and, placing the drawing In the hands of a master work man, said: "Make that." The machine proved to be a great success.