Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-25
should be at that age. He enjoys tn.

There are no rules or regulations; there Is
no system Of discipline; the boys take care
does not keep a member In order the Of
fender is excluded, his ticket Is taken up
and he Is not allowed to enter again unless
he promises to behave himself. Then he
Is required to pay another initiation fee.
IF there was no club the boys would find
their recreation somewhere else. Boys are
gregarious; they swarm lige bees, and birds
of feather always flock together. Recog-
rizing that popularity of the animal. we
encourage them to organize gangs All
boys belong to gangs. A gang may be
composed of boys who have the same
tastes. or who live in the same tenement.
OF go to the same church, or the same
school. or like the same girls. or are thrown
together by circumstances. and in that way
they develop attachments and organiza-
tons for good or for evil. Our club is so
large the boys naturally form these sets or
gangs, and we develop their natural In
clinations by permitting them TO organize
what we call intermediate Clubs. They do
ali the organization themselves with the
advice of leader
The intermediate Clubs.
1--WE have some forty-three of these
clubs, ranging from twenty to thirty MEN,
bers each, who are elected in proper form.
and are guided by some one of our leaders.
We have thirty leaders, mostly young men
from the stock exchange and Wall street.
They guide the boys into special work,
which may be athletics. natural history.
music. photography, drawing collecting
postage stamps, carpentry. studying travel
or whatever the taste of the boys may In
cline to. They draw up their own consti-
tuition and bylaws. and are given room
to hold their meetings. They elect their
own officers, and more or less con-
trolled by the stronger characters among
them. Each club requires its members to
pay small dues and perform certain duties
They have their wordy warfares argu-
ments, reconciliations. rivalres, recrimina-
lions, and sometimes they break up In
row. But more often the clubs become ex-
tinct when the boys get tired OF following
the particular idea which originally brought
them together. We never start club; we
never suggest an occupation: we allow the
boys to learn their own needs, and invent
boy is naturally idle. 1 have never known
a boy who did not want to do something,
and in this club. If he wants to do anything
In particular, he can find others OF a SINH
lar kind to join him, and their special tend
ency is developed. If you look at the
signs on the doors you will notice the pur-
suits that the boys are Acknowledgements
club, drum corps. brass band natural MS
tory, carpentry, drawing. printing. photog-
raphy debating club-almost every occupa-
ton or diversion that boy inclines 10 Is
developed.
..'But we have no general instruction. no
teachers, no religious exercises or inf1u-
ence any more than any other social club
Of men in New York city: the boys ge.
their education in the public schools; they
get their religion in the churches Ihey
get their recreation here
Description of Clubhouse.
The Boys Club began in 1876 in a small
way, and was pioneer of Its kind. the
first organized plan of affording recreation
for boys Of the congested city districts. The
fundamental idea was to give the boys
pleasure with, as far as possible, a bene-
6oio Z in n
its present building. erected by Mr.. E. II.
Hartman, which is already too small. In
the basement are baths, carpenter shop
and the offices. The first floor is devoted to
the youngest boys and their indoor games.
The second floor Is occupied by the oder
boys, with well-furnished quarters, a bill
lard room, converse ton room and restau-
rant and the quarters of the Seniors Club
attractive room. Connected with it Is a nat
ural history museum containing the collec-
tons made by the boys during their sum-
mer excursions The rest of the floor is
taken up by rooms for the Intermediate |
Clubs. On the fourth floor are the gymna- |
SUM, the camera rooms and room for the |
singing class. where Mr.. Tabor drills the |
boys annually for operetta which is |
given during the winter for the benefit of |
the club. Last year they performed 1.-The |
Mikado'' at the Berkeley Lyceum Theater. |
This year they presented THE Gondoliers'
1t Sherry's, with over forty boys in the cast.
and repeated the performance four nights |
to the great satisfaction of all concerned
and net profits Of more than 81. 900. The an
nual opera Is a great event. Mr.. Tabor Is
musical Instructor, stage manager. cos
tuner. conductor, and everything else. and
under his direction the boys have produced
seven of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas in |
seven successive years, each one success
fully In a musical well financial |
sense. Every performer belongs to the club. |
and most Of them are boys of eighteen years
and younger
Next TO the oDera in iYnportapco ara tho |
athletics, In which the boys excel. Last !
year they had three teams Of foot ball, which
played hfty-four matches and Won thirty |
eight; the four oase ball teams played thirty
eight matches and won twenty-five; and the /
four basket ball teams played forty-eight !
matches and won twenty-three. In track
the boys won twenty-five trophies
and medals.
During the year they gave twenty-five
dances. fourteen other social entertainments
and had eight lectures.
The average daily attendance of mem |
oers was 800. mostly boys under eighteen
years OF age. representing almost every ma
tionality that goes to make up the cosmo-
politan population of New York.
The Boys Summer Camp.
The club owns a tract Of land near James
port Station. on the south coast of Long
Island. an hour and half by train from
New York. 1t is called the William Carey
Camp. and 500 boys spend more or less Of |
the summer there. Mr.. Tabor says that
during eight seasons 1900 boys have spent
a part of their summers there, and there
has never been an accident or serious
illness, "and in no case has our confidence
been misplaced The most interesting
feature of Camp William Carey is how
ever, that the boys have done everything
IN the way of improvements without en-
ploying any outside labor whatever, and
the work has all been voluntary. No boy
has ever been asked to lift his hand none
has ever been paid a penny in wages. and
in the way of improvements
represents the labor of love. When the
camp was first acquired 1t was wild tract
Of woodland on bluff overlooking the
ocean. The first excursion went down with
q few tents. The boys have cleared a por-
ton Of the timber; they have erected bar
racks to accommodate 100 boys; they have |
built model macadam road to the railway
station; they have dug a stairway in the
clay from the top of the bluff to the beach
sixty feet below; they have built concrete !
walls to hold back the sand and the sea:
they have built a stable, a wagon house. |
tool house. chicken house. pigeon loft, rab-
bit yard. cooking house. dining house: have
laid out base ball field, flower garden |
and a large vegetable garden which is I
fenced in, fertilized and cultivated by their
a Mo i,