Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-17
BERRY CROPS
SAVED BY BOYS
Teachers and Pupils Went to
the Country and Camped
Near the Farms

I
ed their strawberries. currents and
raspberries during the last three
months realize to whom they owe
thanks for the privilege of eating
them at all in these war times. nor
would they rapidly guess. The con-
ditions which made it possible to
pick the berries at time when labor
was almost rlonexistent constitute a
remarkable chapter in the history of
the schools. For it was the school
children who did the work-school
children taken from the heart of the
City of New York-and it was the
school teachers who made it pos
sible for the children to spend their
time in the country. 1t is in these
men, whose sacrifice and efficiency
has had little notice beyond official
reports, that the war has developed
latent abilities that were never be-
fore suspected. The reports of the
work done in the schoolboy camps
in the fruit sections of New York
centering in Ulster county bestow the
palm for versatility on the school
teacher, who until these times has
been held to lack all adaptability to
iiAS anu " hO IltiS DSSIl SuppOStu "
know only how to conduct recita-
tions.
When he has not been charged
with incompetence in his own pro-
fession he has been accused of an
utter lack of sympathy with the
realities of life. Yet these very teach
ers, immersed in Latin, English and
algeria in the public schools, have
gone into the country, and without
training, without any Illuminating
precedent, have filled the multiple
role of housekeeper, cook, employ
ment agent, strike leader, entertain
er. athletic director and moral in
spirer. For each man, in his camp
of thirty boys ranging from IL to
22 years, has been compelled from
sheer necessity to "go it alone" has
had to be all things to all men. and
without question he has succeeded,
not only because berries have been
picked that would otherwise have
rotted on the bush, but the social,
moral and economic influence upon
the boys has been tremendous. So
say the reports of the supervisors,
and such is the testimony of the
farmers.
The boys from city homes have
replaced kind of labor whose eco
nomic status has been much lower
itinerant Italians and hoboes from
Bowery lodginghouses. So the
youngsters have naturally been dis
satisfied with the wages and living
conditions. To convince the farmer
that his customary 1 u cents quart
for currants did not meet the boys
ordinary requirements for food and
clothes was not matter of figures
or reason, or patriotic exhortation
fDF -
threatened strike. And the teacher,
who had done the figuring and knew
the justice of the boys claims, had
to become both strike leader and ar
hitrator. In his dual role he secured
from the farmers the coveted cents
and at the same time convinced them
that ii was a fair wage.
1t was not the good fortune of each
group to move into an established
camp; in each case a new home had
to be founded, even built. Some of
the boys lodged in berry houses,
nothing more than wooded shells.
They had to provide their own beds,
quilts. linen, wash basins and the
like. The teachers had to organize a
kitchen and during much of the time
had to do the cooking. for student
cooks would often spoil the dinner
and the women in the neighborhood
were unreliable. The teacher would
arise at o'clock. set the table, start
the breakfast, prepare the boys
lunches, which they took with them
to the fields, help serve the meal, and
then dispatch each youngster to his
particular job. And then there was
nothing to do but wash the dishes
sweep the floor, and walk to town to
order supplies for the day. During
the day accounts had to be balanced.
wages computed, and expenses de-
Quoted, and then a visit to the farm
ers to adjust grievances, receive esti-
mates of future work. and to secure
cash for the tickets with which boys
had been paid.
And vet the day was not done, for
after supper, when all but the dish
washing squad were free for the day,
even closer supervision became nee
essary. The leader must know where
the boys are at night, and he must
see to it personally that they are in
bed at go.