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VOL. XXXV. No. 157 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, MAY 3, 1925
EIGHT PAGES
S. C. A.
STARTS
DRIVE
FOR
CAMP
FUNDS
4,
+ .
Campus Tag Day On May
For Boys
5 Will Open Annual Campaign To Finance Student Christian Association Fresh Air Camp
Improvements For Permanent Camp At Patterson Lake Form Part Of The
1925 Plans
%A Camp Of Benefit To Both Boys And Directors
-A-
-A-
.*+ TINT
By Willard B. Crosby
UNDREDS of boys accustomed to the smoke
and dirt of city life will be given a ten day
vacation of rest and play this summer at
the Universit y Fresh Air Camp, at Lake
Patterson, IF . . . that always necessary hypothe-
sis . . . if the students of the University lend
their support. This enterprise calls not only for the
financial aid of students, but for individual assist-
ance as well. Conducted by students and supported
by students, the camp is purely an undergraduate
undertaking. It is operated by the Student Chris-
tian association. A staff of University students,
headed by hensis Likert, '26E, will be in charge at
the camp.
The purpose of the Fresh Air Camp is well
known, having been supported for four years by
students of the University. It answers the needl
for some sort of institution to take care of the un-
fortunate children of the city of Detroit, and the
other industrial cities of the state. The shores of
Lake Patterson, the camp site, will be transformed
into a joyous playground for these boys, many of
whom will leave the familiar city streets to meet
for the first time the freedom of the open. Here
they will have a chance to forget the life to which
they have been accustomed. They will be shown
new sports, new thrills, new wonders, and they may
feel the throb of Nature.
The summer season will be divided into four ten
day periods, from June 17 to July 28. Plans are
being made to accommodate 120 boys in each per-
iod, making a total of 480 underprivileged boys
from the nearby cities who are given an oppor-
tunity to reap the benefits of a vacation at the camp.
The camp will be made up of deserving boys
from twelve to eighteen years of age, carefully se-
lected by probation and welfare bureau officers and
"Y" scrtaries. Drawn from the homes of the poor,
these boys will represent thirteen religious denomi-
nations and nearly twice as many nationalities. At
camp this heterogeneous assemblage of youngsters
becomes united through continual work and play
together. Any petty differences are soon forgotten
In a game of scrub.
Then the lads develop an affection for their lead-
ers that often results in a sort of hero worship.
The leaders instruct the boys in swimming, games,
nature study, and, above all, in fair play. A leader
lives in each tent with a group of twelve boys.
Leaders and boys associate with one another con-
stantly. In this way, the boys acquire a strong af-
fection for the leaders and a great respect for their
ideal,
For the Prevention cf Crime
Prisons and all other similar state institutions
are filled with men who are the victims of their
own childhoods. If these men had been given the
right kind of guidance when they were young, many
of them would be upright citizens today. If some
means had been taken to draw these men away
from the environment of crime, they would not be
criminal:.
The Student Christian association, by means of
the Fresh Air camp, is undoubtedly accomplishing
a great deal by showing a new sort of life to the
many boys who attend the camp each summer. It
draws the boys away from the unhealthful environ-
ment of the industrial centers and gives them a
close association with men of high ideals.
Many of the boys who go to the Fresh Air Camp
have a badly distorted sense of honesty, so wretched
has been their home life and so insufficient their
training. One boy last summer came to the camp
from a poor family in Jackson. His father, a coal-
heaver, had taught the young lad to steal. The re-
suit was that. a few days after camp opened, the
store money disappered. This fund consisted of
thirty of forty cents deposited for safe keeping by
each of the boys. An investigation followed. It
-con developed that the boy from Jackson had the
money. lie finally admitted the theft and returned
the money. After this incident, an idea of honesty
was drilled into him. Before, he did not seem to
know that it was wrong to steal. He was shown
awl taught what was right, so that he went back
homon knowing honesty and better able to avoid a
life o crime.
One entire gang of little roughnecks invaded the
camp omre summer, proving the source of much
trouble during the early part of their stay. The
necessary reprimands did not suit their tastes, so
they ran away from camp. They were found a few
miles away and brought back. The leaders then de -
cided to put them to work on the camp roads. Soon
the boys became intensely interested in their work.
They quieted down and became ardent supporters
of the camp. They were so satisfied with their vai-
)4.N.%
r Il tc "
Q {
VIEWS IN AND ABOUT the Fresh
Air Camp Site at Lake Patterson, Michigan.
Sponsored by the S. C. A., the camp has
proven an emphatic influence for good among
the boys whom it has been able to include.
A campus Tag Day will be held Tuesday,
May 5, to secure funds for the camp this
)ear.
We will then have an opportunity .to offer our sup-
port to an institution for the real benefit of Michi-
gan lads.
Speaking of the Fresh Air Camp, Judge George
H. Curtis of the Juvenile court at Jackson, in a
meeting of interested business men last Wednesday
night said: "The camp last year did some of the
boys a lot of good. Boys who were giving us a
great deal of trouble have not been in court at all
during the past winter. Not only so, but in one
case which has come to my knowledge, the boy is
helping to keep two younger brothers out of trouble.
I am certain that straightening out boys' is possible
in a camp of this sort. The inspiration seems to
stay with them."
The history of the Fresh Air Camp goes back to
1921, when the camp first opened. It was due very
largely to the efforts of Lewis G. Reimann, '16, that
interest was roused in this new undertaking. To
the camp he gave his services and all of his time
during the summer periods, at the same time in-
spiring others to carry on this work. Reimann
caused a fund to be created in the Student Chris-
tian association for the support and maintenance
of the camp.
The first camp was held on the shores of. Lake
Huron. Handicapped by a lack of facilities, it was
possible to offer the advantages of the camp to only
140 boys from Detroit. For thenext two years the
location of the came was not permanent. It ex-
panded, but nothing definite could ever be planned
for succeeding years, no permanent buildings could
be constructed, on account of the necessitated
shifting of location.
Last year, however, a permanent site was do-
nated for the camp. One hundred seventy acres
of wooded land in the Lake Patterson district, 25
miles north-west of Ann Arbor, was given to the
Student Christian association for a perpetual boys'
camp by two Ann Arbor men, H. B. Earhart, prest-
dent of the White Star Oil company, and M. A
Ives. The camp is known as the Virginia R. Ives
Memorial camp.
The acquisition of this new property makes it
posible for the Student Christian association to
prepare for a far bigger and great camp in the fu-
ture. Permanent buildings are planned, work on
which will begin this summer. It is hoped that In
the near fture the camp will be able to accommo-
date as many as 1,500 boys.
The Lake Patterson property is highly desirable
as the location of a camp of this kind. It is al-
most entirely surrounded by water and is very
heavily wooded. Located on a neck of land between
Lake Patterson and Bass lake, the camp itself is
well situated in one of the few open spaces. The
rows of tents, set back on the hillside, overlook
Lake Patterson. A hundred yards from the tents
stretches a long sandy beach, which forms an ideal
bathing spot for the boys. Between the shore and
the tents there is a large flat tract of ground that
the youngsters have turned into a first-rate base-
ball diamond.
Building for Permanence
Formerly the camp was made up entirely of
tents. It was found, however, that some completely
waterproof building was needed. Great quantities
of water collecting in the canvas roof of the dining
hall would seep through on the boys below. This
proved to be such a constant source of annoyance
that the camp executives, finally determined to pro-
vide a new wooden- dining hall that would keep dry
in inclement weather. The authorities hope to
realize this dream in the coming period of the
camp if the necessary fund of $600 can be raised.
The intended dining hall will be a building 28 feet
by 42 feet with a substantial roof set on log posts.
Canvas curtains, which may be lowered on stormy
days, will be placed on the sides.
Numerous donations, indicating general interest
in the welfare of the camp, have been mnade. Among
others, a kitchen was given the camp by Mrs. Foote
of .Jackson and an outboard motor by the Lock-
wood-Ash company of Jackson.
It is hoped that one outstanding inconvenienee
that has caused much concern in past years may be
done away with in the coming season. Formerly
the campers have been continually annoyed by the
mosquitos that swarmed down on them from the
marshes north of camp. Prof. P. S. Welch this year
made a study of the mosquito situation at the camp,
and upon his recommendation, measures are now
being taken to get rid of this pest. One hundred
gallons of oil are being poured on the marshes
every two weeks. The mosquitos are gradually dis-
appearing and will probably be completely extermi-
nated before camp opens this summer.
Plans for this year's camp are now well under
way. Numerous applications for admission to the
J
'lhis occasion shculd not rass without some word
of comment. Perhaps no crime was committed in
Brooklyn which so shocked and outraged all our
lpeople.
"All of them are unquestionably guilty. One of
the outstanding facts in this affair is the age of
the offenders. Three of them are but a little more
than 21 years old: the fourth only a few years
older .
"The equally distressing fact is that the age of
these offenders is not unusual. Most of the crimi
nals are boys and young: men. To be exact, over
80 per cent of them are less than 25 years of age.
If the people of Brooklyn ask why so many youths'
became criminals, I can tell them.
"A dozen years of investigation and experience
in these matters have demonstrated that the vast
mnajority of all youthful ffnders committed crime
because they had bad associates and were not under
the priper influence in the years when boyhood
was turning into manhood-between the ages of 12
and 18. That is the most important, p'r ol in a
boy's life. Then his ideals are acquired, his char-
acter formed. In those years, every boy needs to
be under the influence of the right hind of a man.
He needs such a man's life to supply his ideals
and such a man to become his hero. Every boy is
a hero worshipper. The reason so many become*
criminals is that they ftllow the wrong leaders.
Challenge to Manhood
"This condition is a challenge to the manhood
of our community. What are we men doing? Do
we men owe no duty to these boys? Can we longer
remain blind to the perils that beset them? Should
we not provide places where such boys may meet
and play and be entertained and instructed and all
the time be under the influence of the men of
the right kind?
"Shall we turn our backs and ignore existing
conditions or shall we accept the challenge and lend
ourselves to the task. It's a man's job and it needs
red-blooded men who will put something of them-
selves into the undertaking.
"Men, this is a call to us. Are we awake? Do we
hear it? Will our consciences let us ignore it?
Shall we not help to make better the boys of today?
Should we not begin at once?"
Are we going to remain blind to the perils of
the American youth? We will have a chance to
answer the judge's challenge this week on Tag Day.
The Costume Ball of the Architects
By F. B. Joslin
HE Architect's May Party has now become a
firmly established tradition of the Architec-
tural College, and with the advent, this week,
of the fifth of the large annual May parties, it
seems fitting to glance back a few years an'i learn
from what h umble beginnings the pretentious par-
ties of the present have originated.
About. fifteen yearsago, the students of the
Architectural College, determined to give a dance.
It was planned as a very modest affair, and was
h1eld down on Packard street at the Packard D rnc-
ing academy. Only students in archtecture at -
tended. It seems to have been a success for each
succeeding year a similar party was given. These
parties came to he known as the '"T-Square Trots'.
Most of these early parties were informal and
smocks were worn as several of them. Two parties
were held in the old Michigan Union, but at neither
l;ince that time the May Party has been entirely
in the hands of the Architectmral Society, and has
been carried out in a more efficient manner anil
vwonderfully artistic re'ults obtained, They have
based teirA workh largely on suggestions offered by
Prof. EmImil Lorch, so that nowV the party resemble3
somewba t the famous Beaux-Arts Eall of Paris.
Professor Lorch is one of tle best supporters of
the party. 'he faculty of the Architectural Col-
loge has. from the ifirst, been favorably disposed
toward.s the party and have done all in their power
to make it a success. For five years the students
in the design classes have been allowed to neglect
their class room work temporarily in order to work
on the decorat;ons. Tie faculty feels that it is not
tirme wasted; on the contrary, many interesting
problems are encountered and many valuable le---
sons learned in executing and putting into place the
decorations, for which the party has now become
famous.
novel features that year, besides the beautiful deco-
rations. Corsages were given, these being lowered
in baskets from the gallery, of Barbour gymnasium
where the party was held. Summer informal was
worn at this party, as well as at the parties of the
two preceding years. This party evoked state wide
comment and was up to the time, the most elab-
orately decorative party held in Ann Arbor.,
The Egyptian Party of 1924 was a masterpiece.
Never had enthusiasm run so high in the college,
or such an ambitious scheme of decoration under-
taken. The style chosen was particularly approp.-
riate because of the remarkable archaeological dis-
coveries being made at the time, and the tremen-
dous publicity which was being given old "King
Tut", and Egyptian art and architecture.
Egyptian art is full of material peculiarly ap-
propriate for a decorative scheme, for an architec-
tural party. From this rich store the students
drew for the various compositions showing the arts