62 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
the society, each of which denoted a rapid pro- 
gress, this last in importance and in the clearly 
defined impressions it conveyed that the end sought 
by its promoters was being realized, was strikingly 
in advance of all. It has been considered the suc- 
cess of the year in New York City. The idea in 
the exhibition generally, and in its arrangement, 
was to present to the people “ sculpture in modern 
times and for modern uses,” and this was shown by 
a large sculptural hall, a conservatory with small 
fountain, a memorial room, a room for the collec- 
tions of medals, ivories, etc., and an Italian garden 
giving out-of-door sculpture. This arrangement 
taking it for granted that the best judgment was 
displayed in the disposal of the objects accepted 
for exhibition, immediately suggests the broad lines 
upon which the effort was founded, and the serious- 
ness with which the society considered the question 
of the development of sculpture in this country. 
In another column a more detailed description will 
be found, and this will still further lead to a reali- 
zation of the points touched upon above. The 
interest in the affair may be inferred from the fact 
that there were ninety-three exhibitors and two 
hundred and fifty-four exhibits, a worthy display 
of good sculpture for any clime or any period. 
The work of the National Sculpture Society cannot 
be too highly endorsed. It was organized for a 
purpose and has stood for that purpose, as this third 
exhibition asserts. It has made sculpture in the 
United States to stand alone, without the aid of its 
sister arts, and it is, all things considered, estab- 
lishing sculpture in the minds of the people as an 
art that can be as readily adapted to the schemes of 
home as well as municipal decoration, provided 
opportunities for its use areas practically offered as 
in other lines of decorative embellishment. We 
have said that the society was founded on broad 
lines, and so it was; but it was not intended by that 
to mean that good, bad or indifferent work or inten- 
tions in the way of so-called sculpture could all be 
included within its bounds. Its object was to build 
up American sculptural art, and to do this there 
were poor principles and mediocre art to be dis- 
couraged and turned down, and effort towards good 
work and high principle encouraged. To this end 
the education of the people to the appreciation of 
really artistic work has been, perhaps, the most 
important function of the society. That, in conjunc- 
tion with allied efforts, it is succeeding in this direc- 
tion is beyond doubt. All the recent controversies 
in relation to public monuments, the final resigna- 
tion in many cases to the dictum of the artists, the 
increasing importance of sculpture exhibitions and 
the works exhibited, go to show unmistakably the 
trend of the times. Happily for both sculptor and 
people the field is the broadest in the world ; we 
are only in the very infancy of municipal adorn- 
ment ; we are only in the infancy of large cities 
for the matter of that; but it augurs well for this 
great and favored country that, so comparatively 
early in its development, we can have an exhibition 
of sculpture of such a character in its artistic excel- 
lence, and so broad in its field, as to reach from the 
forum to the home in its beautiful creations for 
their adornment. And its significance is prophetic 
of the quality of our higher civilization as the years 
progress. 
A MODEL PLAYGROUND. 
The equipment of a model playground is some- 
what as follows: In the middle is an open circular 
area, to be flooded in the skating season and used 
as a playground during the rest of the year. This 
is surrounded by a bicycle track fenced for safety. 
Outside of this are various means of enjoyment, 
such as tennis courts, swings, parallel bars, swing- 
ing rings, sand piles, music stands, et cetera. All 
is surrounded by a promenade path, where mothers 
may wheel baby carriages, and where rows of seats 
invite the visitor to rest under overhanging shade 
trees. Each of two sides of the playground have a 
pavilion, one for boys, the other for the girls. These 
were intended to take the place of the playground in 
winter and during stormy weather, but certain 
changes will be necessary before they will fully an- 
swer the purpose. But what really counts is the 
use made of the playground, and the supervising 
care is to be intrusted to playground leaders. These 
teachers are to study the nature of the child and to 
so conduct the play as to guide the children and not 
unnecessarily restrain them. New games are to be 
invented, old ones revived, foreign ones introduced, 
and all necessary modifications made to answer the 
natural and growing taste of the youth. A thor- 
ough co-operation with the home, the school and 
the church is to be had for achieving the highest 
ends. The parents and the teachers in the neigh- 
borhood are to direct the children to the playgrounds 
after school hours, and not let them drift into the 
streets as they do now. From the churches in the 
locality many are expected to come who will assist 
the teachers in playing with the children and exert 
their good influence upon them. Thus the play- 
ground would become the center of delight, and of 
moral and social culture in the neighborhood. 
Such a playground is not merely a creation of 
the imagination. Several have been established in 
American cities with most excellent results, and 
many more will follow this summer. — From “Chil- 
dren’s Playgrounds,” by Stoyan Vasil Tsanoff, in 
Municipal Affairs for June. 
