The Washington times., 1934-03-28
MAJORBROWN
CONCE|vES
PLAY PLAN
By DANNY GILL
"StOne walls do not q prison
make, nor iron bars q cage"

"StOne walls do not q prison
make, nor iron bars a cage"
At least they don't in the bot
tom floor of Fifth Police Pre-
cinct Station, Fifth and e SITS.
S. E., which resembles anything
but a station house.
It is in this building the first
Boys Club ever housed in a po-
lice station holds forth. Con-
ceived by a progressive super
intendent of police, Major Err
nest w. Brown, the club has
caused a tumbling Of the zig
gag line in the graph which
shows the number of delinquents
and juvenile court cases in the
southeast area.
Will Eye Experiment
With the convention of police
chiefs of the Eastern states in
this city in the fall, all eyes will
fall on the results of the expert
ment. It is hoped by that time
there will be at least six such
clubs. Present plans call for two
in southwest within the next
month or so, one Of which will
be for colored boys, one in north
east, one in northwest and one
in Anacostia.
In the dungeon" where the
hard-boiled prisoners were once
kept, will be a print shop, which
will handle all of the printing for
the club. Other old store rooms
and record rooms have been con-
verted into a gymnasium, which
required scraping of a half-inch
of the floor; library, pool room
and locker and shower room.
The boys have a personal in.
vitation from the Public Printer
to visit the Government Printing
Office. Saturday the smaller
boys will be taken to Mount
Vernon.
The club was started February
%, with ITS boys. One month
later it has 682 members, all Of
whom have free use Of the facil-
tiles.
Directs Activity
Directing the activities are J. P.
Meshkoff, who is a graduate of
the American College of Physical
Education, in Chicago. He was
formerly employed by the Chi
cago Board of Education and
supervised the Chicago Boys Club.
Meshkoff is assisted by Morris
Fox, former Business High School
football and basketball ace, who
wears eyeglasses and says he was
"the only four-eyed catcher on the
SandlotS."
Others whom you may see If
you drop in are Johnny Bowen,
Of the fighting Bowens," and
Joe Lesser, former bantamweight
champion Of the District, who
are working with the boxing
teams.
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt has
been invited to attend tomorrow
night, when a show will be put
on for the Southeast Citizens AS
sociation. A distinguished group
of visitors names can be found
on the guest book and the city's
merchants have fallen into the
spirit of the thing with all their
heart. Gifts ranging from $1,000
down, supplies, bus trips, print
ing equipment and the like have
been donated by philanthropic
friends.
The youngest member is four
year-old Lee Showalter, of 411h
Eleventh st. S. E., who is rivaled
for that distinction by Eddie
Welsh, of Alb Sixth st. S. E.
Both boys like to box.
Three Ball Teams
Three baseball teams will take
the field when the weather per-
mits. Insect, midget and junior
teams will represent the club.
They're proud of the tumbling
team, which has had an offer to
appear on the stage of a local
theater. No other club has such
a team, and in Frank Warner it
presents the smallest tumbler in
Washington.
Nearby schools have praised the
club, saying boys no longer con-
gregate on the corners as they
used to do.
The club starts at $3.50 p. m.
and runs in three shifts. Some Of
the boys have to be chased out.
Police no longer inStill fear in
their hearts. The boys now re
gard them as friends.