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Show I : " 1 I A DRUMMER WflTH NOTHiNG TO SELL j Special to The Tribune. NEW YORK, April 11 Sending a man out on tho road to make-' children happy and to advertise the educational and physical benefits of outdoor play for little children is one of tlie latest and most novel activities to be undertaken under-taken bv a New York organization. This man might be called a "play drummer" drum-mer" or a "commercial traveler with a comploto line of play of all kinds," were it not for tho fact that he has absolutely nothing to soil, although he is road' to provide extensive samples of his wares. Ho has no wisli to make his expenses or salary, and all that his "firm" demands de-mands is that at the end of the trip tho "salesman" shall report that so many thousands of children in the citios ife has visited have been given a place where they can play ball or dig in the sand without fear of being chased by a policeman, or being killed by an automobile. au-tomobile. This play promoter, or advance ad-vance agent for the children, is shortly to start on his spring trip, which will last until Julj-, and which will take him to at least sixty-two cities, including includ-ing New Orleans, San Francisco, Omaha, Duluth and many other places. Tho people of municipal ofneors in each of those cities have asked him to visit them. In each place he will aid clubs and committees to organize playground play-ground movements which will arouso a demand for municipal playgrounds, or will advise as to the laying out of a play system, organize ph-grounds and show just how thoy can be managed most economically and with greatest results re-sults to the children. Is a Play Accnt. This "play agent" is Lee Hammer, field 30crotary of the Playground Association Asso-ciation of America, which will defray all expenses of his trip in order that every city interested may have the, benefit bene-fit of his experience in organizing and conducting plavgrounds and athletics for children. Before ho took up this fiold work Mr. Hammer was director of athletics for the New York Board of Education and had been organizer of games for the Public Schools Atheltic league, which in. two years succeeded in getting 100,000 boys and a large number num-ber of girls interested in healthy sports in spito of New York's lack "of adequate ade-quate playing places. In addition. Mr. Uammor has inspected tho playgrounds of many cities and has collected complete data as to the mothods o' operating theso play places so as to give the grcat-j grcat-j est benefit to the largest number. Playground Association. The Playground Association of America, Amer-ica, which'now has members and oflicers in practically every city in the United Slates, was started' barely one yenr ago. Its president is Dr. Luther Halsey Gu-lick, Gu-lick, director of physical training in New York. Among its officers and supporters sup-porters are such men and women as Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, Mrs. Humphry Hum-phry Ward, Pichard Watson Gilder, Kate Douglas Wiggiu and scores of sociologists, so-ciologists, educators and settlement workers, the Mayors and Aldermen of many cities and many organizations working for civic betterment. The objects ob-jects of tho association are to arouso interest in municipal and State legislation, legisla-tion, for adequate playgrounds, to collect col-lect data and disseminate information about playing places, to devise model .... . ' 4 apparatus, to supply model courses of study for playgrounds and for plav-grouiul plav-grouiul workers, and to establish a central cen-tral library and musucm of play. Last summer, in Chicago, the association held a great play convention which was attended at-tended by thousands of delegates from all parts of the country. Jt is interesting inter-esting to note that partly as a Tcsult of the interest aroused in the question by this association one hundred cities last year for the first time look steps to provide adequate playgrounds. Now Yorkers Interested. The movement in New York City, whero tho association has its hcadquar-tors hcadquar-tors at 02'1 Madison avenue, has been greatly stimulated locally bv the fact that the "-J00" aro becoming interested inter-ested in the proposition. The Duchess of Marlborough, who was Consuelo Van derbilt, at the recent dinner given by j the association to Mrs. Humphry Ward, at the Waldorf-Astoria, heartily in j dorsed the movement, as did also ii mini- ber of society leaders who were among ' tho guests. The association, moreover, has tho approval of the Russell Sage Foundation, the trustees of which donated do-nated the cost of the play oxhibit at the Jamestown exposition, and more recently re-cently have granted additional funds j to the association to carry on its work j of extension. In Now vork it, is expected ex-pected that the newly awakened interest inter-est in the movomcnt among the wealthy people will probably lead to campaigns ; which will in time give tho metropolis 1 the most beautifully equipped and best managqd pla3'grounds in the United States. National in Scope. The work of the association, however, is national in scope and it is ready to aid playground movements in o'very city. Its object is to have every citv in tho United Stales provide adequate playgrounds for its population. It will nlso urge playground legislation in States, and one of its office lias in I J mind a plan of great s'nnuncr camps ; j for children to which tho little folks ! 1 can be sent from the hot, crowded city I streets in summer. The campaign is J not to be confined to cities alread3" S gested. Especial attention is to bo paid ' I alsoto places which are not yet crowd- ed, in tho hope that these plueen will ; sot aside playgrounds while land .is yet plentiful aud cheap and not wait "as E New York did. until playgrounds in 9 crowded neighborhoods cost thousands 9 of dollars per city lot. " i Under this plan, the association hopes I to influence even small towns to set . S aside in their early developments, land 1 I which shall forever bq the children 's jj acre, places where the children of America can gratify their taste for ' I active sports and for play without vio- , lating tho ordinances which seem to be i P aimed at the central instincts of chil-. S dren. The officers of the association J P believe that where a municipality h makes it illegal for children to plav on the streets, that riuinicipality should j! provide places whero plnj- will not only n bo lawful, but will bo actually encour- , aged. It is believed that overv cent I invested in play facilities will yield an ' a absolute and tremendous profit by re- j f ducing the amount that must be ex- ! jj ponded in punishing or 'restraining adult law-breakers who learned thoir first lessons of lawlessness in unrestrained unre-strained street gangs. |