ENGLISH EXPERIENCE WITH PLAYGROUNDS. 645 
skipping ropes attached to 4 central post, horizontal ladder, trapeze 
and swinging rings, and a sandpit in which the little children dig and 
play whilst their mothers and nurses can sit round on benches, watch- 
‘ng them or chatting. The other ground is too small to be divided, and 
ig therefore on alternate days devoted to the exclusive use of boys or 
girls, as the case may be. A large painted board informs all whether it 
is a boys’ or a girls’ day. In each playground there is a care-taker, attired 
xn uniform. The rush of children when these grounds were first open 
was so great that it was almost impossible, though two care-takers were 
amployed in each ground, to keep any order for the first week, and conse- 
quently a few accidents occurred ; but ince then I have had no complaint, 
nor have I heard of any further accident, though the grounds have now 
been open for five years. They are in constant use, and, now that the 
novelty of the thing has worn off, not so inconveniently crowded as 
‘ormerly. 
It was feared by some that the existence of these grounds might prove 
detrimental to the educational interests of the children, but it has practi- 
cally been discovered that the playgrounds save the school officers a deal 
of trouble, as, if a child is absent from school, they have not now to hunt 
or him as formerly, but know exactly where he is to be found. Experi- 
ence has shown that in Great Britain public playgrounds must never be 
left without a caretaker, and should be closed after dark ; but if these pre- 
cautions are taken, and if in rough districts special aid be given the care- 
taker for the first two or three weeks after their opening, no further 
difficulty need be anticipated. 
Up to the ag= of ten it appears advisable to allow boys to enjoy the use of 
the girls’ playground, and after that age to provide them with a ground of 
their own, to which no adult should be admitted. The girls’ gymnasium, 
to which admittance should be strictly forbidden to males, should be 
ander the charge of one or more able-bodied women, and it should, if 
possible, be screened from view, so that the elder girls, who often need 
exercise even more than the boys, owing to the sedentary nature of their 
employment, should be able to use their limbs in perfect freedom from 
pbservation, and without injury to their sense of modesty. 
The London playgrounds are of all sizes, from those in Spa Fields, 
Clerkenwell, and Union Road, Walworth, which contain respectively 
two acres and two and a quarter acres, to the little ground at Russell 
Court, Drury Lane, which is about the size of a West End drawing-room. 
Some of the smaller ones are asphalted ; the larger ones are covered with 
Croydon screened gravel, well rolled. The latter foundation is much safer 
chan asphalt for the children to run and play on, but on the other hand the 
tormer has the advantage of enabling the children to enjoy the amuse- 
ment of roller skating. 
Open spaces and playgrounds should be provided on a systematic and