Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Social Movements - 4. Other Social Movements - Efforts in Social Hygiene. By G. H. von Koch
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efforts in social hygiene.
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Norrköping, Stockholm, and a few industrial centres. For working families that
have not the time to see to the bringing up of their children the importance
of these children’s gardens is self-evident, and, in consideration of the fact that
just between the ages of 4 and 6 a child’s spontaneous activity is exceptionally
great, such children’s gardens would be of real importance for the education of
the people, if they were organized. In Norrköping great activity has been
evoked in this direction, thanks to the impulses of the Misses Ellen and Maria
Moberg. But much still remains to be done in most places.
Many other enterprises, which are really undertaken for the sake of adults,
prove to benefit also the children. Such is the case with the so-called garden
colonies. They were first introduced at Malmö in 1895, but are now to be found
in a considerable number of towns, more especially in Skåne, but also even so
far north as Gävle. In Stockholm several fine garden colonies have been
insti-tuded, thanks chiefly to the energy of Miss Anna Lindhagen. There, as in
other places, the municipality has rendered assistance, mainly by granting loans
and by the letting of sites, etc. In several places the towns themselves have
furnished the land, in other places co-operative societies have taken the whole
matter in hand, and the colonists pay a rental for their allotments. As well
from an economic as from a general hygienic point of view (open-air life and
work on the soil) these gardens have a great mission to fulfil.
In Sweden, where formerly all classes of society were known for their
inclination for the use of water, this excellent trait has shown an increasing
tendency to disappear. In recent years, however, an improvement in this respect
has set in, thanks to the influences exercised by the schools, military service,
etc. School baths have already been mentioned. In towns and industrial
centres, bath houses are now being instituted under the name of public bath houses,
the most usual type being Russian baths with swimming-baths attached. In a
few towns, e. g. Hälsingborg, the municipality has itself erected public baths,
in other places the municipality has made grants or loans towards the erection
of such institutions. In several industrial centres, such as Sandviken,
Grängesberg, and Karuna, the employers have erected baths for their employees, and in
other places associations for dealing with the housing problem or other matters
of public weal have stepped in, or philantropic associations have taken the matter
in hand. The Renström Baths in Gothenburg and the Per Muren’s Memorial
in Gävle, among the most magnificent institutions of the kind, owe their
existence to private donations.
Owing to climatic conditions in Sweden, it is necessary that the fullest
advantage is taken of those times of the year when it is possible to get out into
the open air. In the winter, sports take the people out for the most part; in
the summer, a large proportion of the urban population pass their leisure in
the country. For such as have to spend the summer in the towns the public
paries are naturally of great importance. Besides those that have been laid out
by the muncipalities, parks have also been created in other ways. By way of
example may be mentioned the People’s Park in Malmö, which is due to the
efforts of organized labour in the town, and which is also a recreation ground.
The Furuvik People’s Park at Gävle has been laid out by the Uppsala—Gävle
Railway Company. At the last-named there is, among other things, an
open-air zoological museum, besides manifold contrivances for children’s recreations.
A number of industrial undertakings have begun to give their workmen a
short summer holiday, and it is to be expected that their example will be
followed by more and more.
From the point of view of public health, those measures that are taken to
promote games and sports of various kinds are of incalculable importance. A
distinct tendency to make sport a national matter and not merely the concern
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