The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-18
MEN, WOrfEN
 AND THINGS


 am ashamed to own 1t. but Wednesdays visit to Camp Andrews was my first Now that I've been out to 1t, , think every one interested in boys ought to get view of it, for it is well worth seeing,
 For several years I have been acquaint- ed with the rugged beauty of the chain or hills south of Birmingham, for we haptists bought a mountain just above Pelham and called ft Pelham Heights, and used 1t for summer assembly purr poses, holding various conventions and the annual encampment on it's summit.
 
 The first two summers after the hotel dining hall, auditorium and woman's building were erected, in spite of it's ai- titude it was impossible to see the sur rounding country on account of the vir- ginal forests and thick undergrowth- One might as we'll have been in the valley so far as views were concerned. Now. the chief advantage of being perehed on the crest of hill or mountain is to be able to see things
  man, Spare That Tree" which has given ] SC many sehoolboys chance to get un- l der its sheltering boughs Friday aft [ ernoons or in the Reclamation contests, and the sentiment Is fine Tn go out Of , my way to add that the reckless sacrifice | of our timber without using care in the handling of forests needs to be rem ! edied, and yet there are times when trees [ must be felled for bauty as well as for commercial purposes.
 And SD. after much discussion, at last got permission to cut out some vistas, and with an old negro Baptist preacher set to work ehoppng them down, lhad always had a sentimental regard for felling trees on account of the stories Of , Gladstone's prowess with the ax on his Hawarden estate.' but after trying 1t my self l am ready to admit that there are other forms of pleasure and exercise d which make greater appeal to me, a
 I have always prided myself on my F physical fitness and hugged the deuson that 1 was just as good man as any lone of my weight, andtherefore it was = humiiatng to have an old man lighter than myself cut down two trees to my " one, and be ready to start on his third u one while | wanted to sit down and take a leng rest when my first lay prone on the ground There is an art in it as we'll - as steight.
 :, Now, Camp Andrews is wonderfully sit lualed, and Is about ten miles nearer Bif= z nlingham than is Pelham Heights, It IS s not as densefy wooded as the Baptist q | property, and the views are therefore V more open, yet if l had my way there are Y several ystas that | would open in the | rear of the camp, being careful, how a ever, to cut out only those trees which for one cause or another could be spared without really sacrificing specimens Of genuine merit,
 k Commissioner Ed Andrews was kind | enough to invite out to the meeting '' and dinner rendered to the commissioners executives and seeutmasters Wednes- r day evening, at which Dr, George J, I Fisher, assistant national scout executive in charge of field work was the guest Of r honor 1 had heard his stirring address y beiore the Rotary Club, and was so inns S pressed with it that l wanted to get bet- ter acquainted with him, for 1 felt sure y that he was the real thing when it came
 
 if teen" ages
 And so when Dan Dmiek, Jr, invited $ me to jump in with MT Fischer and some ether friends, although 1 had an en- Isagement with my boy to go to Redwood
 Park l called him up and he eheerfuiy let me out, when | told him what 1 had a chance to do, We sped away righs t after the adjournment of the Rotary cum 8 It was my first trip over that part which . Is known as the Smyer road. A shower . had sprinked and cooled it off The Ii atmosphere was clear and the panorama 6 from the crest of the ridge was worth driving miles to see.
 
 6 Just before we reached the place wher- the turn is made from the Montgomery # highway for Camp Andrews, we ran v across a carload of boys in their over r alls, They waved down, and learning s that they were out of gas, we picked up a two of them and went down to the sta- . ton at the cahaba bridge where they got can full and went back to their r. stalled automobile to finish their trip into the city showsrng us with thanks for :, lgiying them lift,
 n Turning into the road we were soon $ in sight of the creek, and got out and went up to see happy lot of scouts al work on the dam which had sprung some r. leaks during the continued wet spells - They were in their swimming suits, and working like beavers, and only waiting for o'clock to come to jump in and cool off The creek at present ar is ferds a swimming course of more than 20a yards, but this will he greatly in- 'e creased when some trees are dragged out, It will not only add to the pleasure of I- the bathers but to the oanoeist,
 
 lust above the swimming hole IS the n baseball diamond at the foot of the ridge on which the cabins and main buildings fl are built I was talking to Karl Lande-
 grehe, who shares with Dan Dmiek u and Ed Andrews the honor Of being one 0 of the hig three in the hearts or the CT scouts, and he told me that 1t was per 2 feetly feasible to build dam which "a would cover the hall grounds and two st other iagoons, and make lake which would afford fine beating facilities, II
 will eehne later when the camp grows and "a materials go down-
 I was really surnrised to see what the
 different troops had accomplished n
 erecting cabins, ! saw kind Of a Swiss F. chalet most attractive rustic strue- l. turs. and imagine my dismay when If was informed that the foreman or the
 gang huildinfg II was fourteen-year'
 old scout There are more than dozen
 af these oahns staniing as witnesses tn
 the ability and willingness of the boys to work with their hands, The only tnlns n done for them was the hauling up the