Spee que 
’ Board of Park 
; : 
will in developing beyond the vacant 
lot provision of the past. It, more- 
over, gives legislative recognition, 
at least by inference, of the fact that - 
equipment and supervision go hand- 
in-hand. We have as yet perhaps 
nothing that in a legislative way 
«suggests, though again inference 
might indicate that supervision 
could precede apparatus. As a mat- 
ter of fact, most experts now put 
supervision first and many would 
like to see tried the experiment of 
an unequipped but carefully super- 
_ yised playground. At present there 
seems to be no record of such an 
experiment. If this proposed act be- 
comes law it will be possible for any 
town in the State to go as far as it 
likes. Public opinion will become 
the effective, as it is the proper in- 
strument for deciding what is to be 
done. 
‘Wor like reasons a second bill is 
proposed. All takings of land for 
playgrounds are made by ‘the 
Commissioners, if 
any, otherwise the city or town.’ 
This means that all playgrounds are 
under the control of the Park Com- 
missioners. Such commissions are 
eenerally expert in developing parks 
as such, but it does not necessarily 
follow that they are expert in super- 
vising and equipping playgrounds. 
There are a few cases where park 
commissions have done such work 
with notable success, in other cases 
they prefer not to have it, and in 
still others they ought not to have it. 
It is a grave question in any event, 
for play is an essential part of edu- 
cation and it ought in the main to be 
controlled by those who see it in this 
way, wherever they may be found. 
The law purposes, therefore, that 
public opinion, acting in cities 
through the local government and in 
towns through the town meeting 
may decide whether this work of 
supervision and control shall be in 
the hands of the Park Commission, 
the School Committee or a special 
playground commission appointed 
for the purpose. 
“The situation with reference to 
the park commission has been men- 
tioned. The relation of the School 
Committee to the work is obvious. 
But there are many arguments in 
favor of a special commission. When 
starting the movement in any place 
there are many problems to be solv- 
ed... Neither park commissioners 
nor school. committee men are se- 
lected with these things in mind, 
and they. have plenty of other work 
to do. A special commission would 
be seleeted with a view to meeting 
the special needs. For the first five 
or ten*years, at any rate, such a 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
commission seems to promise much 
better results than are likely in 
either of the other cases after 
playgrounds have passed the ex- 
perimental stage, and there remain 
no serious problems in regard to 
methods of equipment and supervi- 
sion, it would be in order to put 
then: in the hands of some perman- 
ent department, and as far as possi- 
ble reduce the multiplication of 
departments. These facts, however, 
do not apply in all cases, and it 
would be unwise for the legislature 
to prescribe one rule for all. Local 
conditions and public opinion may 
be safely left to decide what is best 
in each case.’’ 
So much _has been said of late 
about town funds, ete., since the de- 
faleation of several town treasurers, 
bank clerks, etc., that more or less 
agitation has been made for improv- 
ing the systems of auditing town ac- 
counts. A few days ago, through 
the courtesy of Town Treasurer 
Stanley of Manchester, the Breeze 
editor was privileged to look over 
Mr. Stanley’s books and see the sys- 
tem he uses and we must give Mr. 
Stanley the credit of having a most 
simple and yet business-like system. 
Everything is kept in excellent 
shape. The system of checking up 
receipts of the various departments, 
as well as expenditures, is clear. Mr. 
Stanley keeps track of things on a 
day account book of his own, and 
then checks up later with the books 
kept by his assistant, Miss Watson. 
Mr. Stanley says he could show a 
cash balance at any time during the 
year in less than one hour. He nat- 
urally feels proud that after years 
of study and experience he has final- 
ly perfected a system which is both 
simple and accurate. He has been 
collector 21 years and treasurer 17 
years. 
Among the Bowlers. 
The Regals are still at the head 
of the Manchester Bowling league, 
with a percentage of 756. The Speed 
Boys follow, a few points behind. 
W. Hall leads the list of those with 
an average of 80 or more, with 95 
1-9, F. Mosher is second with 93 2-5, 
and A. Crocker, third, with 93. The 
games of the coming week are as 
follows: Monday, March 7, S. of V. 
vs. Red Men; Wednesday, March 9, 
Regals vs. K. of C.; Friday, Mar. 11, 
Business Men vs. Speed Boys, and 
18 
TOWN MEETING NOTES. 
It is all over now but the count- 
ing! 
Town. meeting will be called to 
order at 9 o’clock, Monday morn- 
ing, and the morning will be devoted 
to taking up the usual business, re- 
ports, ete. At 12 o’clock the polls 
will be open for the election of town 
officers. The polls will close at 5.30. 
The town reports and the report 
of the appropriation committee by 
this time have been distributed to 
the voters of the town. No further 
discussion of the various articles is 
necessary here. 
It is evident that the larger part 
of the interest in the town meeting 
centers as we have previously said, 
in the election of two commission- 
ers for the water board: We under- 
stand that Supt. Andrews, about 
whom the issue seems to hinge, has 
prepared a statement which he will 
mail to the voters, either today or 
Saturday. 
Frederick Merrill, who has done 
excellent service for the town since 
he has been on the board, being one 
of those to engineer the additional 
water supply which is just being 
completed at an_ expenditure of 
$160,000 is a candidate for re-elec- 
tion. George E. Hildreth is his only 
opponent. Horace Standley, Chas. 
Dodge and Senter Stanley are can- 
didates for the unexpired term of 
the late Jeffrey T. Stanley. 
The only candidate for the board 
of selectmen, outside the old board, 
is Allen S. Peabody. Mr. Peabody 
is also a candidate for the board of 
assessors for three years. 
The three candidates for the 
school committee are Lyman W. 
Floyd, Dr. R. T. Glendenning and 
Albert Cunningham. 
There are also three candidates for 
the park commission, W. B. Calder- 
wood, Richard L. Cheever and Her- 
man C, Swett. 
We notice that the appropriation 
committee has recommended the ap- 
propriation of $5000, for the pur- 
chase of an auto fire truck, for the 
fire department. 
at AOR!» As Be oy ce eee ek eee 
Monday, March 14, Gardeners vs. 
Greeks. The balance of the sched- 
ule for the final round of the tourna- 
ment will be printed next week, as 
well as the individual team stand- 
ing. 
C. Kelleher and A. Jones challenge 
any two-man team to roll a ten- 
string match at the Seaside alleys. 
How-ean we tell whether a reso- 
lution is good or not till after we 
have broken it? 
