Part 33 (1/2)

”Why, he's wired the whole house from top to bottom”

It is found by further questions that the lad has installed a push-bell button at the front door and another at the back door He had bought dry batteries, wire and buttons at a hardware store in a box containing full directions It is nevertheless hard to convince the father that the boy may not be a natural-born electrician, after all

In frequent cases the father has not considered the limitations and opportunities in the occupation which he chooses for his son

Mr Deady has this to say on the subject of the father's relation to the boy's ”job”: ”The average boy while seeking employment in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred is unaccompanied by either parent Such a condition is deplorable It not only shows a lack of interest in the boy's welfare on the part of the parents, but also places the youthful applicant in an unfair position Oftenti to inexperience, a boy accepts a position without inquiring into the details and nature of the sae to be received

Consequently there is but one obvious result The hours are excessive, the work is beyond the boy's strength or is hazardous, and finally the lad withdraithout notice It is this general apathy on the part of the parents of a boy, combined with over-zealousness on the part of an ordinary employer to secure boy labor for a mere trifle, that accounts for the instability of juvenile labor”

The coreat influx of boys to the State e for summer work, others for perent constructive thought on the matter in hand Few of them have had any counsel, or any valuable counsel from their parents or others To Mr

Sears and his assistants--and they have becouidance, within such limitations as those of tiet the boy and his sponsors to thinking intelligently about the question of an occupation for the boy, with proper regard to their estions to offer In his opinion the subject of occupational choice should be debated thoroughly in the public schools He favors the introduction of soraive each boy an opportunity to talk, and that would encourage hiht be held monthly, and preparation should be required Experts or successful ht be called in to address the pupils and furnish authoritative information The questions debated should involve the advisability of learning a trade and the choice of a trade, and the same considerations with respect to the professions, the mercantile pursuits, and so on The pupils should be allowed to vote on the merits of each question debated By such a ain the valuable training which debating gives, would devote considerable thought to the question of their future eet their parents more interested in thePost_)

GIRLS AND A CAMP

NOW IT IS THAT MANY COVEYS OF STUDENTS ARE HEADED TOWARD LAKE AND MOUNTAIN--JUST HOW IT PAYS

With the sudden plunge into a estive of July than of the rare June weather of poets, there has begun the exodus of summer camp folk, thoseprofession the additional inco vacation They stretch, these cah Maine and northern New England, into the Adirondacks and the Alleghenies, and then across toward the Northwest and the Rockies It is quite safe to assert that there is not a private school of importance that does not take under its protection and support at least one such institution, while large nueroup, unirls' camp, assembled at the Grand Central Station on Wednesday There were two alert, dignified woer woman, who, at least so the tired suburban shopper decided, was probably the athletic instructor; two neat colored woirl of twelve, on tiptoe with exciteot to the lake and when all the other girls arrived Her excited chatter also revealed the fact that father and ht of theret, there was only pleasure in prospect as she started northward There was e to be attended to, and consultation over express and freight bills, with interesting references to tents, canoes, and tennis nets

Success is an excellent testier any need to point out the advantages of such cairls They fill a real place for the delicate, the lazy, or the backward, who rade, for those who otherould be condemned to hotel life, or for the children whose parents, because of circumstances, are compelled to spend the summer in cities Even thethe converts to the movement As one said the other day of her only son, ”Yes, David will go to Mr D's caht the first time that I simply could not part with him I pictured him drowned or ill frole terror I didn't iine But he enjoyed it so, and came home so well and happy, that I've never worried since”

Fro, and, as such, they have come to stay But there are those who doubt their benefits, even the financial ones, for the teachers, who e their vacations to conduct them Unfortunately, as every one knows, ale her spare time in one way or another in order toCall the roll of those whom you may know, and you will be surprised--no, scarcely surprised; merely interested--to find that nine-tenths of the, hack writing, translating, the editing of school texts or the writing of text-books, taking agencies for this, that, or the other co at educational institutes, running wo nature classes Some outside vocation is necessary if the teacher is to enjoy the advantages her training makes alanism demands So, as one philosopher was heard to remark, it is perhaps best to run a su of it there is at least the advantage of being in the open and of leading a wholesoood friends and fellow-teachers who have conducted a camp in northern Maine for the last five years have been extre forth their experiences for the benefit of those who are standing on the brink of a similar venture And their story is worth while, because from every point of view they have been successful Any pessimistic touches in their narrative cannot be laid at the door of failure Indeed, in their first year they cleared expenses, and that is rare; and their clientele has steadily increased until now they have a cairls, at the very topain, as there were two of them and they are both versatile, they have needed little assistance; the eneral camp counsellor With all this as optimistic preamble, let us hear their story

Perhaps their first doubt arises with regard to the wear and tear of camp life upon those most directly responsible for its conduct ”For years we even refused to consider it,” said the senior partner, ”although urged by friends and would-be patrons, because we realized the unwisdo continuously with school girls--but the inevitable happened Our income did not keep pace with our expenses, and it was start a caical ht spot, we concluded negotiations, and, behold, we are caether sure, in our ly frank irls' camp is a far more difficult proposition than one for boys is evident on the face of it Motherwith Johnny, but, after all, he's a boy, and sooner or later must depend upon himself But Sister Sue is another matter Can she trust any one else to watch over her in thebut spinster teachers know the syns of a bilious attack, or the peculiarities of a spoiled girl's diet? And will not Sue lose, possibly, soentle manners and dainty ways inculcated at home, by close contact with divers other ways and manners? She is inclined to be skeptical, is ed the senior partner, ”the first su and short from anxious ladies who could not believe on hearsay evidence that we kne to care for their delicate daughters They not only came, but they stayed, and as the nearest hotel was distant many devious miles of mountain road, ere forced to put them up; finally theon cots in the hall of the farmhouse which is our headquarters

Naturally we had to be polite, for ere under the necessity of ood i, for while they stayed they were unconsciously but selfishly de a little hters”

And, indeed, all this ood deal harder to take care of than Johnny She needs a fewall but the essentials of si Her clothes, even at a minimum, are , always a proble She is infinitely more dependent upon her elders for direction in the veriest A B C's of daily existence ”Even thea pair of white canvas shoes is a irls,” said the successful camp counsellor

Homesickness is ”a malady most incident to maids” Boys may suffer from it, but they suffer alone If tears are shed they are shed in secret, lest the other fellows find it out Except in the case of the very little chaps, the irls have no such reserves; and the teachers in charge of twenty-five strange girls,ail,” went on the confession, ”there isn't a hts Are they swiirl, one of ushappen, we, and not she, are directly responsible When the lesson hour is on, we not only teach, but irl's work is adapted to her needs, as they come from a dozen different schools There are disputes to settle, plans for outings and entertainames to direct, letters to the hoirls would never write at all, to say nothing of the , and our own business correspondence, that has to be tucked into the siesta hour after luncheon Indeed, in the nine weeks of camp last summer I never once had an hour that I could call hed her colleague reflectively

”My specialty is prowling about at night to see that everybody is properly covered Not a girl aet up and close s in case of rain, so I sleep with one ear pricked for the first patter on the roof Occasionally there are two or three alk in their sleep, and I'm on pins and needles lest harm come to them, so I make my rounds to see that they're safe Oh, it is a peacefully placid existence, I assure you, having charge of forty darling daughters So for themselves in their entire lives, and what a splendid place ca weout for their sins of o suit upon a bed instead of hanging it upon the line”

These are some of the feorries that attach to the care of sensitive and delicately brought up girls that the boys' camp never knows But if the financial return is adequate there will naturally be soain the Senior Partner is inclined to hem and haw ”Given a popular head of cah to secure a desirable site and a paying clientele, and she will certainly not lose h to reward her for the additional work and worry Camp work does not confine itself to the nine weeks of residence There are the hours and days spent in planning and purchasing equip out of circulars, the correspondence entailed and the subsequent keeping in touch with patrons”

Her own venture has so far paid its oay, and after the first year has left a neat in of profit But this profit, because of expansion, has immediately been invested in new equipalow for general living purposes A dozen new tents and four canoes were bought, and two dirt tennis courts eneral replenishi+ng of dishes, table and bed linen, athletic goods, and furniture The garden has been so enlarged that the semi-occasional ardener

Naturally, such extension does iven a few oodly additional income But the teacher who undertakes a camp with the idea that such money is easily e sue, indeed, that she has about decided to sever her direct connection with the private school where she has taught for years, and trust to her ca She has been so fortunate, it is but fair to explain, because her caoverne investment in land; nor does she pay taxes Desirable locations are harder to find nowadays and much more expensive to purchase A fortunate pioneer in the ht seven acres, with five hundred feet of lake frontage, for three hundred dollars six years ago That same land is worth ten times as much to-day

And the kind of woirls as a means of additional income? First of all, the one who really loves outdoor life, who can find in woods and water coirls Again, she who canpoint And, last of all, she who has business acumen For what does it profit a tired teacher if she fill her cain of profit for her weeks of hard labor?