The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1915-10-07
DR.. Dudley A. Sargent's
Camp and School for Physical Education


aims of the work of the Sargent School,
for Physical Education at Cambridge,
Mass, and OF the Sargent Camp fo
Girls at Peterboro, N H. These Were
founded by DR.. Dudley A. Sargent, whc
was born and passed his boyhood at Bel
fast, ana has been for many years Direc-
tor of the Hemenway Gymnasium OF
Harvard University, and the foremost
advocate of physical training for both
men and women in this country.
In company with DR.. Sargent, and two
other Harvard professors, your CORE
spondent started early in the afternoon
of Saturday, Sept. 25.h, on the seventy:
mile motor ride from Boston to Peter
boro. Passing up through country which
became constantly wilder and wilder, and
more and more billy, we finally crossed a
mountain ridge and descended into the
beautiful, hill-surrounded valley of the
Nubanusit and Contoocook rivers, in
which lies Peterboro. Continuing on
through the village we traversed the
forest for some six miles, the trees meet
ing over cur heads, and then. unexpect-
eddy as it were, at the end of an aban.
doned wood-roac, we came upon the
camp with all its varied out loor life and
activity. And by the way, moving pic
lures taken at DR.. Sargent's camp were
shown at keith's Theatre the past week.
The location is an ideal one. On the
right of US, as we approached the bunga-
low, or central dining hall, sparkled the
waters of Half Moon Lake with It's
white, sandy beach sheet of water
large enough for all aquatic sports, but not
sufficiently extensive to make swimming
or canoeing dangerous when the winds
blow fresh. On the left stretched ont
an open field of some thirty acres. smooth
as lawn and resembling, in its layout,
college campus. Tennis court, golf links,
soccer and baseball fields, running track.
in fact, facilities for every known out
door game, were in evidence, and athletic
girls In boomers, their hair loose down
their backs, or braided in pigtais, were
skipping about with the snap and entbu-
slasm of college boys.
Half hidden along the edge of the two
hundred and fifty acres of woods that
border the campus, and with the farm.
comprise the estate, are the log cabins
or camps, where the girls sleep, and in
the distant background, particularly to
the west and south, rise chains of noun
tains, the highest of which, Mount
Mopadnock, looms up some 3, 500 feet.
The bungalow, large, central camp.
contains the dining room and an assembly
and study room. Out of sight in the
trees, behind THIS rustic structure, with
it's broad plazzas and open-air field stone
fireplace, is the power plant, from which
is obtained electricity for lighting the
entire camp and power for running the
laundry, dish washers, ice cream freez-
ers. ETC.. and for pumping water.
In this well appointed camp, fttingly
situated in its isolated, yet not too re-
mote valley, eleven hundred feet above
the sea, assemble every June and SEN
TENDER, some two hundred glrls-normal
students of physical education at the
Sargent School. Here, in addition to en-
joylng all the advantages of an ordinary
camp and of life in the woods and conn
try, they are able to perfect themselves
under the personal supervision of expert
teachers and under DR.. Sargent's direc-
ton, In what may be termed the outdoor
part OF their future profession as teach
ers of physical education.
The camp is essentially one where
things are done and where things are
learned. On the lake, rowing, canoeing,
swimming, diving, ETC., are taught. Be-
fore girl is allowed to use canoe, she
must not only have shown that she can
swim two hundred yards, but that she
can tip canoe over in deep water, right
1t and climb into it again. The variety
of strokes and dives that are taught can
best be appreciated by watching the two
hundred girls going through their various
contests and water-sports in the spark
ling sunlight, which on a breezy fall
morning reflects from the miniature
waves of the lake as from FURNISHED
, silver.
Belfast readers will be interested to
know that Ur. Sargent maintains that
his camping experiences of forty years
ago, with the late George A. Quimby,
and others on the shores of Tilden's and
Quantabacook ponds, near Belfast, gave
him the ideas which led up to this present
camp by lake in the woods.
In addition to the numerous land games
and sports mentioned above as carried on
about the campus. opportunity is afford
ed tor instruction in horseback riding, in
archery, in the various forms of athletic
dancing, including folk-dancing, in sing
ing, voice culture, dramatics, and in a
number of branches of the Arts and
Crafts. The hare and hounds runs, and
the tramps, or "hikes," as the girls call
them, are very popular, and on the day
the writer arrived at camp ninety girls
had walked to the top of Mt. Crotchett