The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-09-16
Conservation
OUTDOOR LIFE
TEACHES CHILD
TO Be NORMAL
Contrast Drawn Between
Girl Who Took Life and
Happy Youngsters.
BY WILLIAM F. COLLINS
Times special Writer

Happy UutlYSteIS
BY WILLIAM F. COLLINS
Times special Writer
The opportunity for pedagogical
Interpretation Of the vagaries OF
humanity comes frequently to one
who spends a large part Of his time
outdoors and It is with difficulty
that I, personally. subdue a re-
curing desire 70 elaborate with
SNUG complacency on the amazing
difference between people who are
outdoor minded and those who are
not. especially in their views on this
life.
Nude Girl Plunges from Lake
Boat to End Night Of Fun with
Tragedy" Returning from the an
nvaI convention Of the Izaak Wal
ton League of Indiana this blazing
headline arrested my attention at
the breakfast table.
This is my last day on earth
this is a hell Of a world. who cares?
This statement from a 24-year-old
girl invited 10 entertain a select
group Of business executives from
Chicago on a moonlight yacht ride
and then she leaped overheard to
oblivion.
Burroughs Would Live Again
DR.. Preston Bradley one of the
nations leading outdoorsmen,
described the eightieth anniversary
dinner to John Burroughs. Pressed
for a statement to the hundreds
gathered from over the earth to
honor him. the rugged old man,
clad in his habitual costume of
rough wool slowly arose TO his feet
and with all the impressive
grandeur Of some natural phenom-
enon simply remarked: L have
lived on this earth eighty years
Had I nv wish, I would live these
eighty years again" What a strange
contrast to, This is a hell Of a
world Who cares?"
over in Logansport, where the
spOrtSmen of Indiana held their
Walton meeting this week I saw
1900 men. women, and children
gathered to honor the memory OF
Izaak Walton, the creator of the
fishermen's code Of honor.
There was their state president
Dunten. a prominent attorney from
TT. Wayne, clad in brown dungareeS
tented under the trees on the likes
game preserve. He was preaching
his sermon of the outdoors from the
fly of his tent and not from the
tranSOm Of a yacht.
His audience. consisting mostly OF
children. was listening to a tale OF
a fisherman and, when the sermon
was over, not one of them CON-
mitted suicide.
Children Enjoy Sport
Bob Engells. business man from
Gary, and ardent exponent OF the
restoration of the Kankakee
marshes, sat cross-legged at the
door of his tent, adjoining Dun
tens. His 11-year-old son sat beside
him. busily engaged in the mysteries
of a take-apart reel he intended
using in the casting tournament.
I have seen children not much
older who had been taught the best
method of popping a cork out OF a
vine bottle. Down on the trap shoot
ing platform, another lad imbueo
bv his dad with a love for the sky
manfuIly shouldered a heavy II
gauge shotgun and ran up score OF
eighteen broken clay birds out OF
twenty-five shots.
No one can tell me, not even II
nv most credulouS moments that
anv one of these children will Leap
out into the hereafter shouting
This is a hell of a world Such an
event is left apparently for those
children Of parents who follow more
closely the pursuit of unnatural and
exotic entertainment.
Raised in an atmosphere where
nllrsuit of fun contemplates a term-
nal point in erotic senSuality, via
highway of dizzy amusement, wnaI
is more natural than that they are
s1rfeited with life at "a and there
is nothing left for them?
No Scouts in Court
From the records of the juvenile
court in the city Of Chicago, we reao
that no boy wearing the uniform
of a Boy Scout ever has appeared
before this court. From the larger
record of major crimes in this coun-
try. We read that not one man who
has loved a dog. smoked a pipe ano
dshed or hunted afield or astream as
the natural outlet for his desire FOL
pleasure ever has been convicted OF
a major crime.
The kind Of fun that ends in
sordid tragedy among the children
of this country is becoming all toe
prevalent. The news files Of the
present year disclose five similar
events to the one captioned on to-
DAYS page. Wasted lives. Of no
beauty or consequence. living only
for today and its artificial stimu-
lous: and the cure? So simple and
obvious and so inexpensive that even
we with our depression upon us can
indulge.
Join your children with the near
est outdoor group. Boy or Girl
Scout. nature study club. Walton
league. or by whatever name it as
sumes; join with them and with
them spend part OF your time in
the open. if it is only to study the
heap in your own back yard.
Character Is Built
There are more lessons Of char
acter building material in the low
lest creature Of nature than in the
dizziest night club out on hilarity
lane.
And thus I end my sermon.
could not resist preaching it and
I assure you. will not often in