The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-10-14

a loss which the boy feels much more
keenly and against wnlcL his nature
constantly rebels. The modern boy
! gentlemen, has lost the chance for free
physical exercise, for play, for healthy
bOyish romance and adventure. Now
every healthy boy is born rOmancel
and lover of adventure. What adven
ture, let me ask you, can he have
in modern town or city? If he does
go swimming in the river, the police
will make him put on his clothes. He
cannot fish or hunt or roam without
going miles away or without trespass-
ing on somebody. He cannot play
because few cities have Fairgrounds
large enough for real boys games
If he plays ball or shiny on the
streets, he will break windows and
the police will stop the game. If he
starts coasting, the street force comes
along and scatters gravel OH the track
When the first soft snow falls, every
healthy boy wants to play SNOWFALL
but it's forbidden, because boys can't
play SNOWFALL on the city streets. Now
gentlemen, l ask you, what is there
a boy can do? He can 60 to school
regularly, and be good and that is
about all the city boy can do without
coming into conflict with the police
The Boy Will Out.
"But the boy will out and nature
asserts herself in spite of obstacles, and
here we have the reason why boys
form gangs and build shacks. Too otter
these gangs become breeding places OF
lawlessness and even of juvenile Grim
inals. In these shacks the boys fire.
quently learn to moke, drink and gam
bic, and get into stealing the pro.
visions for their club, the police de-
strOy the shacks and the members OF
the gang are hauled into the police
court. The boys did not intend to be-
come lawbreakers but left without
guidance their love of romance and ad.
venture and boyish activity lead them
astray. Every teacher has had ex.
perience with boys devouring blood and
thunder literature. Many boy who
finds geography and arithmetic dull
pores hour after hour over the lurid
stories of Fighting Dick of The Boy
Detectives. He is simply satisfying his
craving for adventure in literature and
he reads trash, because he does not
know where to find wholesome litera-
ture. 1t is this natural craving fol-
adventure and intense masculine ac.
tivity which the boy scout movement
is intended to satisfy and lead into
proper channels. Every one who is
familiar with school athletics has
heard the oft repeated charge that ii
develops only the few and pays Go
attention to the masses, that it
strengthens the few who are already
the strongest and that the contests arc
too exclusively competitive between
person and person and as a school
man / must admit that all these
charges are true. l do not advocate
abolishing these contests; there is toe
much good in them.
Takes in Any Boy.
"The boy scout movement is cal
culated to take in any boy, it pro.
vides healthy exercise for the average
boy as well as for the born athlete
its contests are directed against OBJ
stacles and the forces of nature and
not against persons. The boy learns to
walk, to swim, to track They Learn
camping and camp cookery, they study
the ways of birds and animals and
explore the country in their vicinity
One who has observed boys in crowds
must have noticed that the present
generation of boys seems to have fS
gotten the many fascinating games
that boys played generation or two
ago, and many of these games have
actually been forgotten, but the fault
lies not in the boys, it lies with u:
adults, with the fathers of the BOYS
not with the teachers, but with til,
citizens, with the business men of oul
cities and towns. We have bull
schools, but have provided no play
grounds, we have built great cities
and magnificent office structures, but
we have left no room for the health,
natural boy. Many towns and cite.
have not Fairgrounds, others have only
small places entirely inadequate fol-
games the healthy boy loves most.
Lack of Fairgrounds.
How many Fairgrounds in YOU
town or in st. Paul and Minneapolis
are large enough for a boy to bat /;
ball as far as he can make it go
Small Fairgrounds are better thai
none, they are good for small children
and girls, but the real boy, full O
healthy animal spirit, needs more room
and for many city boys there is no
even small playground. The onl,
playground he has is the street, ant
what can he play on the street, no
baseball, not football, not shiny, i
$3.50 RECIPE CURES