Show O y k 4 i Womans Woman's Athenaeum 1 I J The regular meeting of ot the Athe- Athe waa was held Monday afternoon 31 at the club house on Main street The president was abs absent nt and Mrs P. P A. A Sorensen called ed the meeting to order The minutes were read and approved j It was decided to give a II Minstrel show the of ot December and nd regular regular reg reg- ular practices will be hold held from now until that time The paper for tor the day was waa written and read Tead by Mrs Peterson and by a vote of the members It was decided to ask The to publish the paper The next ext meeting will be held December Uh th and It Is reque requested ted that all 1111 members members mem mem- bers bars be present as this will be an Important important Im im- meeting The following s a the PI paper per read by Mrs Mrs' Petersen Peterson T SOCIAL STANDARDS RI 8 In studying upon phases s ot of the tho word Social Standards I J came to the Uie conclusion that the subject was waa wasso so IiO varied I had to chose a certain theme of t social life lite which I hope will Interest most of ot us as mothers and elders guardians of ot youths namely Youth and R Recreation Nothing Is Ismore Ismore ismore more certain than that each generation generation genera genera- tion longs for fOT a reassurance as to the value and charm of ot life Ute and Is secretly secret secret- ly Iy afraid lest It lose Its Us sense of ot youth of ot the earth One generation after atter another has depended upon Its young to equip 11 it with galty and enthusiasm to persuade persuade ade it that living is a pleasure until men everywhere have anxiously provided provIded pro pro- provided vided channels thru which this wine of ot lite life might flow and be bo preserved for their delight The classical city the Greeks and the medieval city al all promoted play with willi careful solicitude and it is only In the modern city that men have concluded that it is no longer to provide for the Insatiable desire destro for play This too althe at al atthe atthe the very time when the city has become become be be- come distinctly industrial and dally daily labor for the young Is Is continually more monotonous Never before I ins history have such numbers ot of young people been suddenly suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly released from the protection of ot home and permitted to walk unattended unattended tended on city str streets ets and work under under un un- der alien roofs roots Never before have they had such sums of ot money free freo freeto freeto to to spend on vice deliberately dis- dis as pleasure It is stupid to try to ito organize work and tall fall to organize play for the love ot of pleasure will not be denied and eventually turns Into all sorts ol ot malignant and vicious appetites until we we the middle aged grow quite dis dis- We resort to all sorts of ot wrong restrictive measures but worst of all we believe that the city itself has no obligation In the matter matter matter mat mat- ter and calmly cal lly turn over to commercialism commer commer- practically all the provision I for or public recreation In Ia every city can be found pool halls 9 end Md huge dance halls In which alcohol Is sold auld and these same dance halls haIls are the base of ot most moat evil among the city youth Let us ns know tho the modern city cUy In Its weakness and wickedness and then toek Beek to rectify and purify purity it until it shall be free at least from the grosser gross gross- er temptations which now besot Its young oung people Our cities cHIts have not y yet t developed a n sense ense of responsibility In regard to the life of ot the streets and continually forget torget that recreation alone can stifle the lust for vice To the tho Greeks virtue was waa not ahard a ahard ahard hard conformity to a law felt as alien to the natural character but n a free tree expression ot of the Inner Inn life To treat In this way the fundamental susceptibility susceptibility susceptibility of ot sex which now drives young people into all aU sorts of ot difficulties difficulties difficulties would thus bring ch charm rm and beauty to the prosaic city and connect connect connect con con- It with the he arts of ot the past as aswell aswell aswell well as with the vigor and renewed life of the future Unless we va intend to go back to the theOld theOld Old World customs ot of constant chap chap- which are already tread hopeless hopeless- hopelessly ly 11 broken there would seem to be but one ne path open to us In America That path Implies freedom for tor the young people made ute safe thru their own O sett This must be based upon knowledge and anti habits Of ot clean companionship We as aa parents parenti must develop a a sense of companionship with our ur sons Ions end and daughters and substitute keen present Interests and end activity for solemn warnings and restraint re restraint re- re expression self for tor sion lion This vigorous parental interest interest inter Inter- est allies Itself by a dozen bonds to the educational the industrial and the recreational organisations of the modern city and makes makos toe for Intelli latch- Intelligent gent understanding Industrial m clency and sane social pleasures A certain number of ot outrages upon upon upon up up- on the spirit of youth maybe traced to degenerate or careless parents parenti a certain other large luge number of ot wrongs are due to sordid men and women who deliberately use the legitimate seeking pleasure of ot young people as lures Into vice There remains however however how how- ever efer a third very large class elus of ot offenses offenses of of- tenses for which the community as a whole must be responsible if It it would el escape cape the condemnation Woe unto him by whom of offenses tenses come This class of ot offense Is traceable to a dense ignorance on a part ot of the of-the the average citizen as aa to the requirements ot of youth and to a persistent blindness on the part of ot educators to the youths youth's most obvious needs The young people are overborne by their own undirected and misguided energies We must set the he feet teet of ot I youth in the worn path of ot civilization civilization tion and had it Is a very difficult task I However we can trace the these e misdeeds to the unrecognized and primitive I spirit of at adventure They demand pleasure as aa their right The adult population cannot grasp the youths youth's love for excitement and desire for adventure even though their thefT very demand demand demand de de- mand for excitement Is a protest against the dullness of life to which we ourselves Instinctively respond young people th the theatre Is the only place where they can satisfy satisfy satisfy sat sat- the craving for tor excitement and adventure Is It not astounding that thata a city allows allows' thousands of Its youth to fill till their Impressionable minds with these moving picture absurdities s which certainly will wUl become the foundation for tor their working moral codes and the dat data from which they will Judge the proprieties of life and become their actual moral guide Seldom do we associate the theatre with our plans for civic righteous righteous- ness Some few attempts have been beau made for tor a childrens children's and young peoples people's pea peo ples pies theatre which have been successful successful suc suc- showing that there can be supervision of ot moving pictures and plays Already some American cities are making a beginning toward mare more adequate public recreation Boston has Its Ita municipal g gymnasiums cricket crick crick- ut et fields and golf grounds Chicago has done wonders so ao why can not we weIn weIn wein In Park City make a start In that line for Its need Is very evident To tall fall to provide for tor the recreation of ot our youth Is not only to deprive all aU of them of ot their natural form term of expression sion slon but Is certain to subject some of ot them to the tho overwhelming temptations temp temp- of ot illicit and amI soul destroying pleasures The old desire to achieve to Improve improve Im im- prove the world seizes the ardent youth of ot today with a stern command to bring about more just social con- con Unfortunately we do little or nothing with this splendid store of ot youthful ardor and aind creative en en- It is difficult to Illustrate what might be bo accomplished by reducing to action the ardor of Qt those youths who so 80 bitterly arraign our present order While no part of ot the social system can be changed rapidly we Will wl all admit that present conditions might be va vastly Improved All of ot us forget how very early we wo are In the experiment of founding self government In this trying climate clim cUm climate ate of America and that most mater mater- materIalistic materialistic materialistic period of all history We fail taH to understand what the spirit of ot youth wants and we may either elther translate Its wants into a sordid chronicle of ot petty vice or turn them into a solemn school for civic We may either elthor rand tand stupidly stupid stupid- ly 11 staring as It sinks into a a. murky fire ot crime and flare laze tro intermittent intermittent intermit intermit- tent blaze of or folly or we may tend It Into a lambent flame with power Iwer to make clean ana and bright our dingy city streets |