150 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
sand bins, wading pools, modified baseball, 
volley ball, basket ball, hand ball, quoits, 
swimming pools, field houses containing 
halls, club rooms', gymnasiums, bathing and 
dressing quarters, etc. 
In the detail study, which must now en- 
gage our attention, let us eliminate the 
first group as being somewhat remote from 
the main theme of this paper. To hurry 
on to a consideration of the more imme- 
diate problems of the park superintendent 
is our chief purpose here. 
Referring to Group Two: In providing 
facilities for traditional games the best 
orientation possible should be given each 
play area. Football fields and tennis courts 
should be layed out with the long axis of 
the playing sections running north and 
south. Baseball diamonds should, accord- 
ing to the majority of players and “fans,” 
be given a north and south arrangement, 
with a slight removal of second base east- 
ward. With this orientation, the batter 
would face north and slightly east. Golf 
courses require areas of forty to sixty 
acres for nine holes and eighty to one hun- 
dred and fifty acres for eighteen holes of 
level or rolling land for satisfactory golf 
playing. Back stops for baseball diamonds 
are unsightly in large open parks and for 
that reason are not to be recommended, but 
in small parks or playgrounds wire guards 
twelve feet high, extending from twenty 
feet behind the home base down the first 
and third base lines to a point ten feet 
beyond and fifteen feet back of either base, 
are recommended. Only by the introduc- 
tion of such a system of guards may base- 
ball be played in small areas with any de- 
gree of safety. Tennis courts with back 
stops delight the players, but without back 
stops cause much wrath. In large open 
areas the tennis back stop is almost as of- 
fensive as the baseball back stop. Net 
stops attached to portable posts meet this 
situation. They should be removed as soon 
as the play ceases. In secluded areas per- 
manent back stops with vines grown upon 
them are recommended. 
The management of these facilities will 
often be determined by local conditions. 
Some general rules', however, may be ad- 
vanced. Assignment of baseball diamonds, 
tennis courts and football fields, also start- 
ing upon the golf course, should be man- 
aged on a basis of “first come, first served.” 
If the process must be governed by permits 
or tickets, the system of distribution should 
commend itself because of the inability of 
anyone to secure favors, graft or slip by. 
The principle of “first come first served” 
must be carried out in open, honest and 
unerring manner in the use of ticket and 
permit. The sale or huckstering of tickets 
must be guarded against in no uncertain 
manner. Gambling upon the result of 
games on the part of players and spectators 
should be discouraged in every possible 
manner. Wrangling among players and be- 
tween players, umpire, referee or other of- 
ficials should be guarded against. Gam- 
bling upon the games is almost always the 
basic cause of wrangling among players, 
spectators and officials. The exclusive use 
by clubs and organizations of game facil- 
ities should be prohibited except upon spe- 
cial occasions. Tennis nets and baseball 
bases should be provided by park authori- 
ties. Golf course caddies should be con- 
trolled by park authorities in their charge 
for service, and in their “finding” of and 
selling golf balls. The use of public park 
games facilities by individuals, teams and 
groups in an effort to advertise the wares 
of a business house, factory, or what not, 
should be prohibited. This is often at- 
tempted in the use of banners, extensively 
lettered uniforms and the distribution of 
programs, score cards, schedule of games, 
etc., with much advertising matter printed 
thereon. It goes without saying that pub- 
lic property should not be used for the pri- 
vate business advancement and financial 
gain of any member or group of members 
of any community. Only lax management 
of public recreation facilities will permit 
this form of graft. 
Games facilities, such as baseball, foot- 
ball, golf and tennis, have their value 
greatly enhanced when accessory facilities', 
such as toilet rooms, dressing and bathing 
quarters, are provided near by. But these 
accessories are only an aggravation to the 
public and a source of disorder when poor- 
ly planned, neglected in upkeep and in- 
adequately managed. All that has been said 
above concerning “first come first served” 
and the handling of permits and tickets ap- 
plies to the management of accessory facil- 
ities just enumerated. 
Referring to Group Three: In urban 
public parks and in all playgrounds of com- 
paratively small area, hammer and discus 
throwing should be eliminated from the 
program of facilities and activities. If track 
and field athletics are treated as directed 
sports (under a play leader employed by 
the park board) revolver with blank car- 
tridges, fifty-foot tape line and balls of 
yarn for finish line in running races 
should be placed in the custody of the 
leader. The leader should provide himself 
with a stop watch at his own expense. If 
provided with this tool at the expense of 
the park board it will always be out of 
order. The orientation of the running 
track is best with the long axis north and 
south, and the straight-away on the west 
side. A quarter-mile track with a 220- 
yard straight-away represents an ideal ar- 
rangement. If a smaller track is developed 
it should have at least 120 yards straight- 
away on one side. The start and finish 
marks of 100 yards, 120 yards, 220 yards, 
440 yards, 880 yards and one mile should 
be permanently marked with stakes, cement 
or wood posts. Stakes should also mark 
the points where hurdles are to be stationed 
in the 120 and 220-yard races. It is de- 
sirable that all distance marks above 220 
yards end at the same point. An ideal 
width for running tracks is 20 feet 6 inches 
for the straight-away and 14 feet 6 inches 
on the opposite side and on the turns. The 
shot-put area should be guarded on either 
side with barriers to prevent thoughtless 
persons passing within range of the fall of 
the shot. If poles for vaulting and cross- 
bars for high jump are provided they should 
be bamboo, because of their greater safety 
over any other wood that might be sup- 
plied. 
The management of the running track 
and its accompanying facilities is a com- 
paratively simple matter except in times of 
athletic tournaments and contests. Under 
general conditions the regular digging and 
softening of the ground in front of jump 
and pole vault posts, the sprinkling, rolling 
and marking of the running track, and 
guarding against abuses of facilities will 
constitute good management. Use of these 
facilities will usually be made by school, 
college, Y. M. C. A., church, settlement 
and athletic club individuals, teams and 
groups under direction of their own coaches 
or trainers. At times of athletic tourna- 
ments and contests spectators should be 
kept off the track and out of the track en- 
closure. A sufficient number of guards 
and officers should be provided to hold and 
control the spectators under any conditions. 
It should be the function of one of the 
park officials to see that the regular num- 
ber and proper character of officials' are 
present and in actual control of the events. 
If the running track and its accompanying 
facilities are part of an intensive play- 
ground scheme, additional features of man- 
agement should be provided. Of this we 
shall speak later. 
Referring to Group Four: It is this 
group of facilities and their management 
that has played havoc in recent years with 
customs and traditions in park planning, 
maintenance and operation. This is true 
because suddenly, and with swiftness, we 
have turned from the basis of a few recre- 
ation facilities upon large areas to a great 
many recreation facilities upon small areas, 
and from custodial methods of management 
to intensive methods of leadership, direction 
and instruction. The change from “farm- 
ing” to “intensive agriculture,” with all 
that that saying implies, is hardly a cir- 
cumstance when compared with the recent 
demand for change in park recreation fa- 
cilities and their management. 
In working with small areas and many 
facilities for active play and recreation, 
the first thing to be done is to divide the 
total area into two or three parts. The 
best arrangement is a certain area for the 
exclusive use of small children (boys and 
girls together) up to nine or ten years of 
age ; a second area for girls exclusively 
above ten years of age, and a third area 
for the exclusive use of boys above nine 
or ten years of age. 
