Evening star., 1921-04-10
10000 Tin CAN TOURISTS" IN
AN ORGANIZED FRATERNITY
Elect Officers, Adopt High Sign and
Membership Button and Spend the
Winters In Florida.

moros. Mexico; from there to north
ern Minnesota: from there to Florida
via Kentucky and Tennessee, and
now is in Washington. headed north
He is bully good fellow. Many 9TH
er tin Gamers do similar trips. Read
your map and marvel,
There is also the man without legs
who has driven his Ford to and from
Florida five consecutive seasons.
There is also any other sort of timer
ant You may be able to think of.
Many From Middle North.
Many of the tin Gamers come from
the middle north. which makes their
round trip to Florida total about
5000 miles. and a lot of them con-
slider it disgraceful to spend money
in hotels
\ lot of the man tin Gamers live
in the camps. but work at their trades
through the winter. Others pick or
pack oranges and grapefruit. or work
in garages. or run businesses of their
own.
They are a resourceful bunch and
hard TO worry. At Gainesville they
built in one day clubhouse, with
modern plumbing. including shower
baths. and an assembly room about
forty by fifty. with a stage in one
end and benches to sit on. The car
pentry. masonry. plumbing and paint
ing of this building are all first class.
And they did it all in one day.
When the camp master calls for
carpenters, or magnetic experts. or
musicians for tonight's dance they
are forthcoming-and they aren't
dubs. either. If tine Gamer has
engine trouble he can get as good
assistance in his own camp as ne
could buy elsewhere. They help each
other when it costs them nothing.
Probably the most expert horseshoe
pitchers in the world are TO be found
stantly for the championship tourna-
ment. They also have big times at
the annual convention, when old ac
Quaintances are renewed wholesale.
One of the livest topics of debate.
public and private. is whether the
in camp. My own observation is that
the men do lot of horseshoe pitch
ing. fishing, swapping yarns inspect
ing and comparing outfits, giving and
getting dope on the roads all the way
from southern California to northern
ever. the women are not so far be-
hind the men in these matters, at
that.
Evening Entertainment Features.
At night they have shows. lectures.
deba ties. dances, etc. according to the
time and place. but the campfire is the
real thing. In circle around it they
sing. tell stories. chat. swear in new
members and have good time gener-
ally.
The Tin Can Tourists are a coming
bunch. They have made auto camp
grounds necessary in the south. and
as they perfect their organization
they are forcing the cities along the
way TO and from routes to set aside
camping places. Further than that.
they talk of buying their own camp
grounds and letting the cities bid for
their conventions. Those tin Gamers
have ability, all right, and there is no
telling where their activities will
stop-especially when the annual ac-
cretions to the ranks of the auto
campers are considered.
The tin Gamers may look rough on
the road. but this country has no need
to be ashamed of them as a body.
While they have their percentage Of
undesira bles, they are mostly good
citizens. who have adopted tin can
touring as a means of enjoying the
fruits of their labors that have helped
make the Y. S. A. the grand old coun-
try she is.