Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-28
PLAYING IN OPEN AIR
Children Have Fun at Tuber-
culosis Day Camp.
SHOW BENEFITS OF CARE
Gain Weight From Eggs, Milk and
Lots Of Sunshine.
PHYSICIAN Is IN ATTENDANCE
Little Patients Journey Each Morn
ing to Institution Run by
Red Cross Society.
PHYSICIAN IS IN ATTENDANCE

There comes the cnemy-be ready to
| fire."
! In tense whisper this alarming state
'nent tioated down to Il reporter for The
| star as he climbed a hill back of the
! Distrlct Tuberculosis Hospital today, He
continued To- advance, however, and there
4 came the command Fire, A sound not
| unlike that produced by the simultaneous
! removal Of the corkS from a dozen cham
payne bottles followed Immediately
/ The boys of the Day Camp for Tuber-
I cular Patients-nearly all of them boys
and girls-operated by the local branch
of the American Red Cross, were defend
/ Ing their camp from attack. The young
| sters, eager and Drowned by the sun,
filed with boyish spirit which finds it's
outlet in playing war wherever Ameri
can boys are gathered together, were
armed with the new popguns which have
been provided for their amusement.
Thirty-Five at the Camp.
They were lined up behind bench
under the camp flag. and the leader de-
handed of the reporter:
WHO comes there-friend? If so. ad-
vance and give the countersign."
/ Having been assured that it was not an
enemy, the little army allowed the
/ stranger to enter the camp and to find
/ Miss j. Jones. the nurse in charge of the
camp. whose duty it is to care for the
/ thirty-fve boys and girls who come to
| the camp almost daily in the hope that
! they will be cured of the dread disease
\ from which they suffer. And the camp
! has proved a great success in the last few
years and Is doing splendid work this sea-
son also.
! To see the laughing mob of youngsters
I pa wing war the of Otf
games which they enjoy. makes it hard
to realize that this Is tuberculosis camp;
/ and that a great fight is being waged
daily for the lives of these children
Were it not for the sound of an occa-
! sional hacking cough and the extreme
I thinness of some of the children and the
peculiar complexion with which the dis
ease has marked some of them it would be
easier to believe that the camp was a
1 playground for healthy. normal children.
Exercise Is Regular.
Every precaution is taken against al
lowing the boys and girls to take too vio-
/ lent or too much exercise. and Miss Jones
is constantly cautioning them mot to be
| too rough and ito keep quiet
| They are the children of the poor They
| come from homes where perhaps one or
both parents are suffering from the dread
disease, and they spend the livelong day
4 take back to their homes the influence
/ which the instruction given them as %
/ how TO guard against the disease Is bound
| to have.
\ The camp located at 18th and Upshur
/ streets northwest and just in the rear of
| the Tuberculosis Hospital. is run by the
| Red Cross Society, and is supported by
the proceeds from the sale of the Red
Cross Christmas seals 1t was opened
April Il. and will continue open Lntii
Z IN, hnr
/ Each day the little army of patients
journeys out to the camp, arriving there
about O'Clock in the morning. The chill
dren are provided with car tickets TO
carry them to and from the camp. AS
soon as they arrive Miss Jones takes the
/ temperature of each patient.
Plenty Of Milk and Eggs.
1 Every effort is made to see that the
children are well nourished while at the
camp. In addition to supplying them with
"a wholesome, satisfying dinner in the
middle of the day, there is abundant
supply of milk and fresh eggs. The chill
dren are all given milk at $50 o'clock
and eggs, too, If advisable Then they
are allowed to play about the camp until
IL o'clock. when the "qniet hour be-
gins. There is II strict rule that all OF
the little patients must remain quiet for
after they have dined.
That the nourishment given the chill
dren at the camp Is godsend is the tes-
timony of many of their parents, who are
too poor to supply their children with the
much needed wholesome food. For some
of them 1t represents almost all of the
food they get during whole day. The
camp closes daily at > O'Clock in the aft
ernoon, and at 4:3O o'clock the boys and
girls are given another glass of milk and
eggs
| Twice a week each child is weighed and
! careful note made of the result. This sea-
| son all of the children have gained, some
| of them several pounds showing the ad-
| vantage and benefit which they are de-
irving from the open air camp. And every
| other day a physician visits the camp
| and looks the patients over. If necessary
! he directs what medicines are to be given,
| and keeps in close touch with the prog
| ress of the patients.
Taught Drill With Guns.
| Tile new popguns, which were much
| in evidence today. made an instant hit
with the boys. They are being taught a
| drill by their teacher-for the camp has
a teacher as well as nurse-and are en-
| thusiastic. The little guns weigh al
most nothing and the drill is not suf-
ticiently violent to do them harm. Some
OF the boys who are not strong enough
to do much except lie about In the COM
| Portable reclining cnalrS, however, are
| dcbarred even from this mild drill.
| The girls have been presented with
| dolls to offset the popguns distributed to
| the boys, and they play house to their
! hearts content.
Both white and colored children are
| taken at the camp, and an effort Is made
! to keep the numbers of each about the
! same. The camp Is divided by an imagi
| nary line, the coiored children holding
| one side and the white the other. The
| Red Cross flag which floats from a staff
! in the center of the camp was made by
| the children. In fact the children are
| taught to do a number of things by Mrs
! l.. Coe, their teacher. The girls are
| taught sewing and crocheting and the
boys have tool box and make OCCASION
| ally table some Simple article for the
| camp.
Rest on Cots in Tents.