Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-07-22
LIBRARIANS COLUMN
Edited by Geo. H. Taylor,
City Librarian.

opening of the Boys Club building.
1t was day of joyous revel for the
boys. young and older, for the COM
modious building contains among
other things large gymnasium room
well equipped with apparatus, splen-
did modern bowling alley. two-table
billiard room; and still another room
provided with a variety of other table
games. suitable to the mere young
sters; and then fine airy reading
room, stocked with 4 library of two
thousand volumes (another 1000 to
be added later) OF strictly boys read
ing. One wing OF the building ha.
been made the manual training de-
partment OF the La Junta public
schools, equinDed with heavy turning
lathes and variety of other ma
chinery and tools and twenty-four
of cement stone. along with the ad-
jacent playground of several town
lots, valued at somethin~ over Sal 900,
has been provided for our sister town
of La Junta By T. T. Woodruff.
resident of the town. and turned over
to the Management OF the city school
board, to be held in trust for the
boys of the city; open on equal terms
to every boy between the. ages of
5 and 81, whether in school or out,
so long as he conforms to the rules
# good behaviour stipulated. A
1ronze tablet on the wall above the
drinking fountain in the entrance
vestibule sets forth the source. the
character and intent of the institu-
tion. (Which in brief is to help in the
making of good citizens out OF each
rising generation of La Junta boys).
and. without mentioning any name.
says that the land. building and ap-
purtenances has been decided by one
who believes property is a trust, and
takes this method OF returning to the
citizens of La Junta a part of the
money that has come to him through
the rise of land values in La Junta.
This same statement has appeared
for years upon the book-label of each
volume in the Public Library Of
thirteen thousand volumes that Mr..
Woodruff has gradually selected and
built up for the benefit OF his town I;
as well as placing 4 nice ncst-cgg
fund of $4,000 in trust to the library
Soard for the construction of Ii
hrary building at some not distant
date.
Mr.. Woodruff is modest man.
who does not raise 4 flag or call OUT
the fans" when he does a public
service. and he will not thank me.
| know. for telling that he put a
check for ono hundred dollars in my
hands a few weeks ago to be invested
in books ior the young folks shelves
OF the Rocky Ford library. And il
was voluntary contribution. did
not have to beg it: which makes il
particularly agreeable gilt. and
makes me specially tempted to make
il known. A few months ago Mr..
w. gave to his town several public
drinking fountains, where the humans
and the brute species may freely
quench their thirst. The committee
charged with locating and overseeing
their erection took advantage OF the
donors absence in the East to attach
small tablet naming the giver.
When he returned home he ordered
the tablets off.
Now am probably in for it for tell
ing all this, and since one may as
we'll be hanged for the stealing OF an
old sheep as lamb. I'm going on
to say that know directly and in
directly of a considerably long list of
such acts of helpfulness, public and
private, done by the same gentleman.
This Librarians column would not
hold detailed statement
But the strikingly interesting thing
to me is that Mr.. Woodruff does not
pose as n philan,hropist. While he
has not by any means made all the
money he has out OF growing land
values in La Junta, and has not made
all his gifts from that source. he has
put all his contributions to public
institutions in La Junta on the sound
basis of justice and not charity. He
makes on the book labels OF the Ii
brary and the tablet on the Boys
Club wall. above referred TO, the
open and free confession that he does
these things as an act OF justice, not
OF philanthropy. Fortunate is La
Junta. in the possession of citizen
who does not put ori his real estate
shingle and exploit the people for all
that our economic system allows, and
all our unqualified lying promotes.
And happier still. it seems to me, the
man whose sense of fairness enables
him to return to the public service
so much of what the public has pro-
duced: and does il, furthermore, with
out expectation OF laying up treasure
in heaven thereby. Whatever his
faults may be, like to count that
man friend