The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-10-30
BOYS Camp at State Fair Il Success

The boys camp at the State Fair
! this year was success. Every BOY
will declare he had the time or his
life. The boys who won in the State
Fair contest were requested to write
an essay on what they saw and
learned while at the fair.
| left home the 2lst of August on
the T a. m. train, bought round trip
ticket from Leon, had my receipt nj
ed by the secretary and treasurer OF
the camp. He paid us back our rail-
road fare. ! met the boys from Ring
gold, Union and Clarke counties while
on the train. l began to feel better
right away. On arriving in Des
| Moines we went at once to the Fair
grounds, At the gate we had to reg
lister our names and county and were
given a pass and badge which ad-
mitted US to the stock pavilion and
ampitheatre and could leave the
| grounds with a leader. We went to
the administration building and met
| Mr.. Hanson the camp leader, and let
me say right here, there isn't man
in Iowa that can reach boys heart
any quicker than Mr.. Hanson. Game
for any clean sport, and strict dis
ciplinarian. Every inch gentleman
and just seems to know what boy
| likes. There were two tents with so
double cots in them. We deposited
our money and tickets with the treas
| urer, giving our name, age, whether
christian or not, and what denom-
nation we belonged to. We were CIV
en- a number which was to CORE
spond with the number on our bed.
Each bed had two numbers so l had
bed fellow. We were organized in
two divisions. The first occupied the
first tent and the second the second
tent There were 40 in the first
division and Al in the second. There
were five leaders, all instructors in
the schools of Iowa, but Mr.. Hanson
and Mr.. Wilson; they were engaged
in Y. M. C. A. work. We had to an
swer roll call every morning at 8 a..
M. and this was followed by devo-
tional exercises. Then lecture by
some Y. NJ c.. A. worker. we TOOK
our meals at the Presbyterian dining
hall, under the administration build
ing. The service was fair consider
ing that they had 100 boys with ap-
petites that always go with boy. we
were detailed in squads each day TO
investigate the silo, threshlng ma
chine and ensilage cutters, also the
different kinds of stock. we maze
written reports on what we thought
were the good points in each.
They took us over the city, then to
the Y. M. C. A. swimming pool. the
finest place to swim | ever saw. There
was a doctor on the grounds so it any
of us got sick. l happened to be one
who needed his services. Our duties
were of the lightest kind of work.
We arose at 5 a. m, ate breakfast,
then formed in line in front Of ticket
taker, went in advance collecting
| tickets going through tents, looking
! under automobile covers, inside of
machinery. l found one man hid in
a threshing machine, some men were
too intoxicated to find their tickets,
and some we could not wake up. 1t
was great sport for us boys. 1t
brought us in touch with human ma
ture The rest of the forenoon was
devoted to our. morning exercises
which were composed of roll call, a
| talk by one of the leaders or some
fair official. We had camp paper
which was edited by lively bunch
of editors. There was lots of adver-
Using for lost clothing, such as hats
or shoes. We ate dinner at a. m.
Our afternoon work was more enter
tainment than work. Half of one
division ushered at the ampitheatre,
the other division worked in stock
pavilion at night. So there was half
of us at leisure each day, but both
divisions worked at night. There
was always one or two that were Sc
lected to watch camp. We had ideal
weather this year. Iowa made
record that no other state has equal
ed in exhibits and number Of attend
ance. Iowa is the greatest agricul-
tural state in the union, has one of
the greatest fairs and is the best
managed. There are 81 boys that
will say that they have the best state
fair officials who made it possible for
them to see the great fair of 1913,
and if l should live the time allotted
to our old men, one of the brightest
spots. in my life will be the ten days
l spent at the boys. camp and if the
management should offer the trip
again next year although I could not
enter, there should be SO boys in De-
catur county enter the contest in
stead of 5, the number that entered
this year
Geo. E. Springer
| IoOr !.,u.o