NOISE OF THE KIDS
DROWNS SET SPEECHES.
FIRST PUBLIC PLAYGROUND IS
OFFICIALLY OPENED.
Crowd of 500 Youngsters Rollic So
Enthusiastically That Associa-
tion Directors Abandon Pro-
gramme of Ceremonies.
Thronged with children of all ages and color, the small plot of ground at the northwest corner of Charlotte street and Independence avenue was last night officially opened by the directors of the Playgrounds Association as the first public playgrounds in Kansas City. It was planned to have several short addresses by the directors, but the enthusiasm of the youngsters was such that no attention was given to the speakers, who were relieved of their embarrassment by the band.
Long before the hour announced for the opening the children of the neighborhood had arrived, and were busy with the swings, sliding boards and "teeters," Misses Agnes O'Brien and Elsa Katzmaier, the instructors, were assisted by their supervisor, Mrs. Viola Dale McMurray, in the opening. The instructors will be on duty all day, and will teach the children, according to their ages, games.
GREAT CROWD CAUSED CONFUSION.
Confusion reigned supreme last night, and the real intent of the playgrounds could not be shown on account of the enormous crowd. Mothers accompanied the tiny tots, while older sisters and brothers came "just to see," but were as interested as the younger children. Every little while some child would set up a wail and to the kind hearted young instructors would tell about an older one teasing them. Two or three large boys were put off the grounds because they would not behave.
All nationalities were represented among the children and Italians mingled with the negroes as did the Irish and Hebrews.
THURSDAY FOR NEGROES.
After today the negro children will be allowed there only on Thursday, when the white boys and girls will be barred. Besides the baby game which the instructors will teach, baseball basketball and other amusements will be provided at different hours of the day for the larger youngsters.
Small tables and chairs have been provided for the very little ones who will be closely watched while in the play grounds. All movable apparatus is to be locked up at night. A shelter house extending across one side of the grounds can be used on rainy days. The children will be urged to play in the yard, however, as much as possible.
Between 400 and 500 children were on the grounds at one time early in the evening. When the instructors left the grounds after 9 o'clock, some 200 little ones, who were loathe to leave, remained.
The play ground is in the heart of the thickly populated foreign and negro settlements.
