The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-06-12
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

few weeks back was passing the
 !. M. C. A. building and saw on the sign
 board outside a notice about Camp De
 Soto' and being interested I went in to get
 some particulars.
 A man with two boys in these days
 when summer camps are all the fashion
 has to be posted. The Boy Scouts have fine outing place at Camp Andrews about Is miles out on the Montgomery highway The Birmingham Sunday School association operates one on Kelleys Creek some 30 or 40 miles away.
 But the one I am interested in just at present is Camp De Soto, at Mentone on Lookout mountain, 100 miles above
 Birmingham and 30 miles this side of
 Chattanooga, which is run under the auspices of the local boys department of the Y. M. c. A. under the special direc- ton of P. L, Harrup, who expects to car ry a large party with him on June 1s at p. m-
 Now I am a great believer in boys camps when they are well located and completely supervised. I have taken the trouble to look into the one about which I am now writing and I unhesitatingly commend it. It will afford boys a fine opportunity for hiking, swimming, ath- letics and social recreation of high or der under efficient leadership thereby in- surfing safe companionship.
 fear some parents are bit too care ful with growing boys. Every boy needs the loving and restraining hand of a mo- ther, but in some cases boys suffer from too much mothering. Now one of the best correctives for this is to give the lads a chance to get out from under the home roof for awhile and learn how to do things for themselves and meet other youths on a common level of helpfulness. also hold to the theory that it is a good thing for the mothers, for in spite of maternal love there is a constant wear on the nerves in having to have the constant care of boys out of school around the place day in and day out, and for this reason I heartily commend to | tired mothers the chance to give their romping, noisy offspring a chance to run wild for a while under the watchfu. | eye of men trained in boy life. I believe every boy should know how
 room. This is one great advantage which comes through military training. I also 1 hold that every boy should be taught some of the elemental things in cook | ing. We are headed for times when
 more and more it will become necessary | used to servants to do fend for them selves.
 | I was struck how camp life had come
 to the rescue of domestic situation in | the well regulated home of pr. Henry
 NJ. Edmonds during the flu epidemic He
 told me how it was impossible to get a
 cook and his wife was unable to go in
 the kitchen, that he and his boy who had
 been with him the previous summer in camp pitched irl and took charge and
 really made good and got pleasure in
 domestic service.
 The things am stressing in regard to making boys of service in the horne is
 one of the genuine benefits which cones 1 through the training thousands of them
 are getting through the various activities of the Boys Scout organization. have
 seen the cooking end of it at work in
 my own home, for my boys are quite fond of making a raid on the pantry and go-
 ing to the woods to have feast. If they do it in the woods it means that after a
 while they try it out in the kitchen. l A word about the location and surround | ngs of Camp DeSoto at Moon lake. 1
 was up there last week and I can assure parents there is no danger of their boys getting drowned in it. As a matter of | fact there is no water in it; but for the benefit of the boys who are going partly | On account of aquatic sports the river is nearby It has been damned up and furnishes good swimming place. It is over one's head where the diving board and other apparatus are, but there is | |lcng stretch where it is only waist deep. Swimming instructors will be on guard. l I have looked over the daily activities and find that splendid programme has been arranged. It is instructive, recrea- tional and healthful Before breakfast, each morning, deep breathing exercises I and the morning dip are required. Then come such sports as baseball, volley ball. tennis hikes, camp fires, college songs, special Entertainments, athletic contests, etc. There will be something doing every minute of the day.
 l One of the biggest features of the camp l will be the trip into Chattanooga which | in itself will be highly educational as 1t l is filled with beautiful scenes of historic incident. The battlefields marked as they
 are with costly monuments will be sure | to make a great impression on the minds l of the boys and give them new zest for the study of the history of the civil war.
 The camp will be divided into tent
 groups, each one presided over by an adult leader, who as friend and counsel flor becomes a chum to each boy, and coaches him through the whole pro- eramme of the camp. Now if your boy