The Washington herald., 1914-07-28
The Camp.
By EaaoRY . HAYNES.

By EMORY ,. HAYNES.
II is matter of taste. Perhaps you will like the
summer camp. Perhaps one experiment will do, and
you decide you do not like It. You cannot tell till
you try it. And this is not merely uttermg truism
The summer outdoor school or camp is like nothing
else in this life, nor, probably, in the next 1t is
itself. No printed description no photographs, no
personal narratives viii tell the story. Unquestion-
ably it is nondescrpt
1t depends on whether you like to take your pleas
ure at wholesale. Everything is wholesale-that is,
in bulk You divide it to suit yourself. The excur-
sion rates calculated on the wholesale CONNER
cial principle You must be amiabe and sit close in
the train or on the boat. You figured down
to the minimum. You feel the truth of that pricing
Indeed, you are minimum yourself. You are gen.
eral average. You leave your own personality at
home and now you are by the carload
1t has to be done that way, because the price is
for SO much that you are to get out of this. The
finest scenery in the world, the widest expanse Of
breathable air, the best food and the greatest of
lecturers In fact the wisdom and the general educa
tonal proffer expensive that you confess you
could not hope in years of private instruction to
attain it Being prepared, however, to be served TO
thousands, the morsels are ready to be handed out
so that the management make a little profit
Indeed, the profit idea is everywhere suggested You
yourself would not have chosen the camp except that
it seemed good bargain. And you are constantly
looking out for the bargains. The food might be
better "for that price" The boats charge too much
for hours row. And there is scarce day when
you do not discuss some discomfort to find out the
mind of the general average.
The throng is either inspiring or depressing as
you look at it. Little change is there the city man
in the masses that resort to the Chautsuquas 1t is
Broadway again. without the nspiriting business
vitality of the great thoroughfare. Crowds to the
right of them crowds to the left of them the push
ing jostling numbers becoming wesrisome, indeed.
To the man woman whose daily life is DO solitary
the change is tonic and brightens the mind. Arsnot
most of us too much talked to- too much ordered,
addressed, advised and directed? So that the sound
of voices human voices is the last sound we
wish to hear?
Thanks to the recent sanitation good sense the
crowded camp is not likely to be left to your mates
But the item is worth carefully looking after. The
temptation to overexertion in teams, is constant
The city boy is in condition to take long marches
or otherwise spend his energy under hot suns in
open fields There is always one athletic chap who
proposes stunts" to which the rest are wholly un-
equal Fresh water bathing is radically different from
salt water The specific gravity being less, drowning
is more likely. And there is the chill which fresh
water gives.
Mountain climbing is very arduous work. 1t looks
easy. II is extremely fatigung. while the rared air
and the closely wooded timber region make breathing
difficult.
The canoe is generally fools toy Few there be
who safe in using it The upland lake is the home
of the winds when thunder storms sweep them. The
lake saiboat demands skill Where is the camp which
has not had its tragedy?
The friendships that are made when there is moth
ing else to do are not with much discrimination. 1t
is impossible for the management to resist the temp
tation to swell numbers when numbers bring down
the cost Parents should scrutinize the names. Who
is going?" is more important than Where are you
yoing"
On the whole, why should be all the year going
10 school? Why be wholly without our study our
speciality, season? Is it not enough that we
utilitarian in the extreme? May we never dismiss
Dur subject? The preacher takes a vacation" by |
attending religious assembly. Queer enough when
looks at it as it is. Why does he go fishing
The student repairs to the assembly where his
fsvorite study is exploited. One would think he
should change the brain cells. The new ideas" are
IF course valuable But certainly recreation more
valuable.
To be able, somewhere, to be ones self, to think
one's thoughts, and indulge in ones own affec-
ions. Is not this vacation? As the gregarious Amer
can life proceeds find it less and less possible to
zee with eyes. The crowd presses on US.
We of the crowd, no better, no worse. But down
ieep in individual breasts we are each one sacred
private life. And vacation should be the time to be
ourselves.