THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



257 



for une year or until his succcusor is chosen, to he elected at the 

 first meeting held after the first of ■lanuary each year. 



2. There may he six meetings each year, to consist of ad^lresscs, 

 papers, theses and discussions which may he typewritten and sent 

 to each member as requested. 



o. Candidates for )nemhershiii may lie imt/iosid liy any nunihcr. 

 the rote being takin by letter, three negatives to reject. Each 

 member at the first meeting to prepare a thesis upon some subject 

 of his own choosing. 



4. Each member agrees to prepare papers and addresses on any 

 topic that may be assigned him by the manager, or to lead or take 

 part in the dis'ustion. to serve on committees of investigation or 

 other matters us the manager may direct. 



5. 'I'hc manager may drop from the role those members who 

 jail to attend three consccutire meetings. 



(). As the /juriiosc of th<se gatherings is for the serious consider- 

 ation and fornin.lation of the work and service of parks and play- 

 grounds, till social affair-^ and banquets are tn he discouraged and 

 not to prevail until after the meetings for the pn st ntiition of sub- 

 jects and their discussion have adjourned. 



G. H. Hollister, superintendent of Keney Park, Hart- 



ford, Conn., was elected to be the first manager of the 

 organization. 



At the meeting the subject of winter recreations was 

 discussed. Charles P. Lass, Superintendent of Parks, 

 Springfield, Mass., submitted a report of what that city 

 has done in the way of municipal dancing in one of its 

 playgrounds and what it hoped to accomplish this winter. 



II. W. Hearle, now also of Springfield, Mass., gave a 

 talk on "Tree Walks or Talks." A. V. Parker, Super- 

 intendent of Parks, Worcester, Mass., and W. E. Fisher, 

 of I'ranklin Park, Roston, Mass., di.scussed their ex- 

 periences with toboggan slides and tobo'gganing. All of 

 the subjects were generally discussed by the others 

 present. 



The next meeting of the Institute will be held about 

 the middle of December, although the exact date and 

 place have not yet been fully decided on 



Public Parks Recreation System of Minneapolis 



Bv F. C. Berry, Supekvisor. 



The Playground and Recreation system of Minneapolis 

 is being developed by both the School and Park Boards. 



The School Board is aiming to establish playgrounds 

 in the school yards which are especially adapted to the use 

 of small children. 



The Park Board is undertaking the task of so equipping 

 certain park areas as to provide for public recreation in 

 its broadest sense. 



The influence of the plavground movement was first 

 felt in Minneapolis some nine years ago. Since then the 

 growth has been gradual and steady. 



A study of the evolution of recreation facilities in their 

 relation to public parks will show a logical division of 

 four groups of interests which require a varied equip- 

 ment and management, as outlined by Edward B. De 

 Grout, General Secretary, Playground Association of 

 Chicago. 



"Group one. — Seasonable sports : skating, tobogganing, 

 hockey, ice boating, rowing, sailing, canoeing, bathing and 

 picnics. 



"Group two. — Traditional games ; baseball, rugby foot- 

 ball, soccer football, golf, tennis, etc. 



"Group three. — Traditional track and field athletics ; 

 running track, high jump, pole vault, broad jump, shot 

 put, discus, hurdle racing, etc. 



"Group four. — The modern supervised playground ; 

 gymnastic and [ilay ajjparatus, sand boxes, wading pools, 

 modified baseball, basket-ball, volley-ball, hand-ball, 

 quoits, swimming pools, field houses containing halls, club 

 rooms, gymnasiums, bathing and dressing quarters." 



This article will deal with the Park Recreation System 

 of Minneapolis under the foregoing grouping. 



Se.\sonable Sports. 



The city finds itself especially favored b)- nature in a 

 liberal distribution of small lakes within the city limits. 

 From the standpoint of water .sports, these lakes are in- 

 valuable. Numerous sailboats are made continuous use 

 of during the breezv summer days. Storage racks and 

 lockers at points conveniently distributed along the shores 

 of the park lakes are erected each year for the great army 

 of canoeists who are thus provided with all facilities for 

 canoe care. 1,.^06 privately owned canoes furnished 

 recreation for thousands during the past summer. .\t 

 Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet are Boat Houses where 

 boats or canoes may be rented. Three launches make 

 regular trips ; two of them running on Lake Harriet and 



the other on Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles and 

 Cedar Lake which are all connected. 



Four bath houses, three of which are located on lakes 

 and one composed of two concrete pools through which 

 flows a small stream, are open from June 1 to September 

 \5. During the sultry days of summer the capacity of 

 these baths is taxed to the utmost. 



The Calhoun bath house, situated on the north shore 

 of Lake Calhoun was completed in 1912. The building 

 is of monolithic concrete construction, dry mixture. 

 The dressers are built of steel frames, expanded metal 

 and plaster and the lockers are of steel and standard size. 



The beach, which is 1,200 feet long and 200 feet wide, 

 is built from sand pumped out of the lake. 



The building contains : 



1. The men's department with 1,036 lockers. 



2. The women's " " 294 



3. The boys' " " 3.S6 



4. The children's " " 84 



The first three have shower baths and inside toilet ac- 

 commodations. Well arranged suit rooms are provided 

 for each of the three departments where bathing su]5i)lies 

 may be obtained by the bathers as they enter the walled 

 courts containing the dresses and lockers. The courts 

 are open overhead being directly exposed to the sun which 

 is an extremely valuable sanitary feature. A cashier's 

 ofifice, a refreshment counter and a well equipped emer- 

 gency hospital room complete the equipment. The base- 

 ment contains a heating plant and a pump and compres- 

 sion tank delivering drinking water from a deep artesian 

 well to seven drinking fountains distributed through the 

 building and the terraces. 



All accommodations are free except that a nominal 

 charge is made for bathing supplies. 



Life guards are on duty on the beach at all times and 

 safety ropes are placed at depths of three, and four and 

 one-half feet. 



Diving platforms and towers are erected outside the 

 safetv ropes at depths of from seven to twelve feet. 

 These are furnished with spring boards. 



The diving facilities have jiroven very popular. 



The bath house and beach fills a long-felt need, as was 

 demonstrated by the instant popularity with which it 

 was received by the people of the whole city. Interest 

 in swimming quickly increased and was especially no- 

 ticeable on the part of the girls and women. The total 



