THE LIBRARY OF WORK AND PLAY
GUIDE AND INDEX

CHAPTER I
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRAFTS IN THE LIFE OF A PEOPLE

There was never a time in the history of the world when each race, each nation, each community unit, each family almost, did not possess its craftsmen and artists. In every instance, these so-called gifted members were by no means the least important citizens; their names appeared again and again in the stream of tradition as wonder workers and idols of the people. This is still true in the very midst of a materialistic age, when money and mechanics work hand in hand to produce the most in the least time for economic reasons, and when the individual worships "hand-made things." They may even be poorly made or bizarre, but "handwork" satisfies the untutored. Now it is quite possible for the machine to produce a bit of jewelry, textile, or woodwork—even carving—quite as pleasing as any made by hand alone, and it is being done every day. But the machine-made[4] article must be produced in large quantities (duplicates) for profit, whereas the work of hand alone is unique. There lies the reason for reverence of "handwork." It is always individual and characteristic of the workman in style or technique and has no duplicate; it is aristocratic. Among the primitives, the pot, necklace, or utensil was wrought by infinite labor, and, being valuable because unique, was embellished with all the wealth of current symbolism. It was preserved with care and became more valuable to succeeding generations as a tangible record of race culture and ideals. And so down to the present time, the handiwork of the craftsman and skilled artisan has always stood as the one imperishable record of racial development. The degree of finish, the intricacy of design and nicety of construction are evidences of skill and fine tools, well-organized processes, familiarity with material and careful apprenticeship: the pattern, color, ornament, and symbolism point to culture, learning, and standards of taste and beauty. A crude domestic economy, rude utensils, coarse, garish costume and of simple construction, are characteristic of an undeveloped social order. In fact, all the arts of both construction and expression exhibit at a given period the degree of civilization;[5] art products are true historical documents. Since then through their arts and crafts it is possible for one to know a people, does it not follow that one entrance to sympathy with the ideals and taste of the present time is through practice in the arts? Of course a considerable mass of information about them can be conveyed in words, especially to adults who have passed the formative period in life and have not the same work-incentive as have children. But even the adult never really secretes much real knowledge of the arts unless he has worked in them. He acquires rather a veneer or artistic polish which readily loses its lustre in even a moderately critical atmosphere: he learns artistry and the laws pertaining thereto as he would learn the length of the Brooklyn Bridge or the population of El Paso. He merely learns to talk about art. But children learn primarily and solely by doing, and the foundations of taste and culture need to be put down early that they may build upon them the best possible superstructure which time and opportunity permit.

Copyright, 1909, by Cheshire L. Boone

An Example of Furniture such as Boys Like and which They Can Make Under Direction

Copyright, 1909, by Cheshire L. Boone

Clay Pots Made for Germination Experiments in Grade IV. of the Public School. The Boys of this Grade Built a Small Kiln in which these Pots were Fired

The Work of Children between Ten and Eleven Years of Age

The foregoing paragraphs will perhaps have opened the way for questions: "What kind of knowledge is of most worth? Why do children—practically all of them—try to make things, and what is their choice?" And when these queries have been answered[6] so far as may be, do the answers possess immediate value?

At the outset it will be evident that no sort of knowledge will be of much avail until it is put in such form that the student can use it to advantage. Mere knowledge of any kind is inherently static—inert and often seemingly indigestible, like green fruit and raw meat. One too frequently meets college graduates, both men and women, equipped with so-called education, who are economic failures. These people are full of information, well up to date, but they seemingly cannot use it. Their assortment of knowledge is apparently in odd mental sizes which do not fit the machinery of practical thinking as applied to life: it is like gold on a desert isle. What the boy and girl need and desire is (1) a favorable introduction to the sources of information, and (2) the key to its use. They will have to be shown simple facts and truths, and have their mental relations and importance explained. By gradually introducing new knowledge as occasion offers, the field of study is sufficiently widened. Children profit little by books and tools alone: they crave encouragement and some direct constructive criticism. In such an atmosphere their endeavors become significant and profitable, and the accumulated[7] learning will be applied to business or economic ideas which result in progressive thinking, which uses information as a tool, not an end in itself.

If then the arts of a people stand as monuments to its beliefs and ideals, an intimate understanding of some of the arts ought to be provided for in every scheme of education both at home and in school. The child is by nature interested in the attributes of things associated with his life and upbringing. He wants to know about them, how they are made, and learn their uses by means of experiment. The elements of science, mechanics and natural phenomena, business and household art, and finally play (which is often adult living in miniature)—these comprise a large portion of the subject matter which is of prime importance to children. It is just such material as this which bids fair to serve in the future as the basis for public school curricula, simply because of its strong appeal to youth and its potential worth in forming the adult.

The boy makes a kite, a telegraph outfit, or sled in order to give to his play a vestige of realism. He seeks to mold the physical world to personal desires, as men do. Incidentally he taps the general mass of scientific facts or data and extracts therefrom no small amount of very real, fruitful information.[8] The result possesses marvelously suggestive and lasting qualities because it came through effort; because the boy wanted above all things to see his machine or toy work, move, or obey his guiding hand, he was willing to dig for the necessary understanding of the problem. His study brought about contact with numerous other lines of work which were not at the time, perhaps, germain to the subject, but were suggestive and opened various side lines of experiment to be considered later. Therein lies the lure of mechanics and craft work, gardening, outdoor projects, camping, etc.: the subject is never exhausted, the student can never "touch bottom." There is always an unexplored path to follow up. The intensity of interest in mechanical things and in nature is the one influence which can hold the boy in line. Turn him loose among mechanical things where nicety of fitting and accurate workmanship are essential and he appreciates construction immediately, because it is clear that workmanship and efficiency go hand in hand. It is very much the same with the girl: she may not enjoy the tedium of mere sewing, but when the sewing serves a personal end, when sewing is essential to her greatest needs, these conditions provide the only, inevitable, sure stimulus to ambition and effort.

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The school of the past, and often that of the present, has sought to produce the adult by fertilizing the child with arithmetic, grammar, geography, and language. The process resulted in all kinds of crooked, stunted, oblique growth, the greatest assortment of "sports" (to use a horticultural term) the world has ever seen. It isn't intellectual food the child needs most (though some is very necessary); the real need is intensive cultivation. Within himself he possesses, like the young plant, great potential strength and virility, enough to produce a splendid being absolutely at one with his time and surroundings; he simply requires the chance to use the knowledge and opportunities which lie at hand. It is, then, the common subjects of every-day interest—science, business, nature and the like—which are the sources of knowledge which has greatest worth to children.[A] They are the valuable ones because they are of the type which first attracts and holds the child's attention; they are concrete. Through them one may learn language and expression, because one has something worth saying.

The second question, "Why do children like to make things and what is their choice?" in the light[10] of what has been said practically answers itself. Children work primarily in response to that law of nature which urges the young to exercise their muscles, to become skilful and accurate in movement, for the sake of self-preservation and survival. It is another phase of the same law which makes one carry out in work, in concrete form, the ideas which come tumbling in from all conceivable sources. The child can only think and learn in terms of material things. Finally, the child's interests, the things he desires to make and do, are such as will minister to his individual or social needs, his play and imitation, and such as will satisfy his desire to produce articles of purpose. The need may be a temporary, minor one, but every child is stubborn on this one point, that everything he does must lead to utility of a sort; through such working with a purpose he in time rises to an appreciation of beauty and other abstract qualities.

Now this complex condition of child and school and society, in which there is seemingly so much waste—"lost motion"—has always existed; the facts are not new ones by any means. It is a condition where the child is always curious, inquisitive and ready to "hook a ride" on the march of business, science and learning, but the school sternly commands[11] "learn these stated facts because they are fundamental" (philosophically), while society, represented by the parent, alternately abuses the school, which is collectively his own institution, or spoils the child by withholding the tools for learning easily. In the meantime the child, with the native adaptability and hardiness of true need, thrives in barren, untoward surroundings, and matures notwithstanding. In other words, the school and society have always tended toward misunderstanding—toward a lack of mutual interest. In this period of uncertainty, of educational groping, the child is found in his leisure hours pushing along the paths which connect most directly with life and action, shunning the beaten but roundabout highways of custom and conservatism.

The deductions are evident and clear-cut. If one accepts the foregoing statement of the case, and there is ample evidence in any community of size, it will be clear that certain definite opportunities should be opened to the boy or girl to make the most of native talent and enthusiasm. Encourage the young business adventurer or artisan to make the most of his chosen hobby (and to choose a hobby if he has not one already), to systematize it, develop it, make it financially profitable if that is the desire;[12] but first, last and all the time to make it a study which is intensive enough to satisfy his or her productive ambitions. At this age (up to the high school period) the boy or girl may not have been able to decide upon a profession or business, but he is working toward decision, and he is the only one who can choose. Instead of trying to select an occupation for him, father and mother would do well to put the child at the mercy of his own resources for amusement, recreation and business, merely lending a hand now and then in their full development. It will preserve the freshness of youth beyond the ordinary time of its absorption by a blasé attitude toward the world, and lead toward a more healthy and critical kind of study than the haphazard lonesomeness, or the destructive gang spirit of the modern community.[B]

Perhaps it would not be amiss to indicate just how this unofficial study may be promoted, and to name the resources of the parent for the purpose. First of all, nine children out of ten will definitely choose a hobby or recreation or indicate some preference, as photography, animal pets, woodwork, electricity, drawing, sport, one or more of the[13] domestic arts, collecting coins, stamps, etc.; there are as many tastes as children. The child may get his suggestion from the school or companions. Any legitimate taste should be actively encouraged and supplemented by books which really explain and by tools and materials with which to use the books. If it is a shop he wants, try to give him the use of some corner for the specific purpose so that the occupation may be dignified according to its juvenile worth. Second, endeavor to emphasize the economic and social significance of the work done and urge right along some definite aim. If a boy wants a shop, or pets, see that they are kept in condition, attended to, and if possible give some measure of tangible return on the outlay of money and energy. Third, connect the boy's or girl's chosen avocation with real living in every possible manner. Girls are rather fond of those decorative arts which contribute to artistic pleasure, and should they make experiments with stenciling, block-printing, and the like, have them use them also in embellishing their own rooms, the summer camp or club. Fourth, make the child feel that a given hobby is not to be satisfied for the mere asking. Put some limit on the money expenditure until it is clear that the interest is genuine and honest, and that the child[14] is either producing results which are sincere, or acquiring real knowledge. Fifth and last, but perhaps most important of all, support the school in its effort to solve the problem of formal education, because the heavy burden rests there. It is quite essential that the home give the boy and girl every possible chance to develop along original and specific lines at their own pace, to experiment with the world's activities in miniature, and establish the probable trend of individual effort for the future. But this can only supplement and point the way for the formal training which the institution (school) gives. The school, being democratic and dependent upon the general public for existence, takes its cue therefrom, and creating ideals in consonance with public needs perfects the method of reaching them. When father and mother believe in a vigorous, efficient education, rooted deeply in the child's fundamental attitude toward the world and its affairs, then will the public approve and urge the proper kind of organized training. Even so, the school cannot really educate the child—he educates himself through the agents aforementioned—it simply organizes information and gives the pupil access to methods of using facts and ideas.

[15]

In closing this chapter there is one more word to be said concerning the main theme. The arts and crafts[C] of expression and construction fulfil that precise function in the child's preliminary training which they did in the early history of the race. They indicate just that degree of manual skill and constructive ability of which both the youthful individual and the young race are capable; they serve as indices and guides to the development of design, taste and constructive thinking. As the child matures he may elevate a given craft to an art or science, but the early familiarity, the simple processes, he should have, because they are essential to childhood. Hence, the large amount of handwork in the kindergarten and primary school; it is the necessary complement to academic work and balances the educational diet.

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CHAPTER II

THE CULTIVATION OF TASTE AND DESIGN

It will be evident to the thinking man or woman that art or any phase of it is not to be taught successfully as a profession through books. The very most that one can expect from reading is a knowledge about art matters and acquaintance with the conventions and rules which obtain therein. But even this slight result may be the precursor of a fuller, more intimate familiarity with the principles of good taste and design.

One may be able to say "that is a beautiful room" or "a fine garden" or "a charming gown" and yet be unable to produce any such things. How is it possible then to know if one cannot do? The answer is that, potentially, every individual who really sees and appreciates beauty can produce it through some form of artistic expression; the power to execute and the power of invention are merely undeveloped. And as for the artist or craftsman who can make beautiful things, but who cannot[17] explain how he does it—he is unique, like the mathematical genius; he just sees the answer; it is a gift. Though there are born in every generation a few with the divine spark of genius, the mass of men and women has always learned by effort. In other words, it has been possible to teach the subjects which were found necessary to culture and education; it is quite possible to present the ordinary phases of art to the lay mind in such a way, even through books, that one may have worthy ideals, and a healthy point of view. The present chapter will be devoted to showing how books such as these[D] for boys and girls can contribute to the development of taste.

Frankly, taste has much less to do with fine art than with the arrangement and choice of the ordinary externals of living. Of course fine art does in the last analysis pass judgment upon form, color and design in clothes, furnishings and architecture, but the common home variety of taste is derived directly from custom, comfort, and convention, not from art at all. Only in the later stages of refinement does the lay mind succumb to direct supervision by art. On the other hand, all conventions and ideals are the result or sum total of general experience, in[18] which art has played its part, and has left some impress on the individual, giving rise to belief in a few principles so common as to be accepted by all. Principles of this kind are not always serviceable or effective, because they are not stated in precise language, and cannot therefore become standard. In truth, so far as design is concerned, there are very few absolute rules for guidance, and a book like "Home Decoration" cannot tell the child or parent how to make a beautiful, inspiring home. Its mission is to create the desire for fine surroundings, to suggest ways and means for studying design, especially those phases of decoration associated with the crafts, and above all such a book invites and helps to maintain a receptive attitude of mind toward artistic matters. In the effort to produce work of merit, one becomes critical, and seeks reasons and precedents for judgment. This is the beginning of design study: and the fact that one has real interest in taste is indicative of the desire of the cultured mind for ideals. If a child is allowed to grow up in the "I know what I like" atmosphere, without reasonable contact with choice things, and without the necessity for selection based upon reason, there is small chance that such a child will ever acquire any sense of fitness or taste in material surroundings.

Two Examples of Furniture Grouping for the Porch or Outdoors. These Few Pieces Suggest Comfort, Cleanliness and Moderate Expense

The Numerous Photographs in the Upper Illustration Suggest Disorder and Dust. They do not Decorate. Sometimes a lack of Small, Insignificant Objects like these is the Secret of Successful Decoration

[19]

The aims of all practical books for boys and girls may be summarized about as follows:

(a) To absorb the overflow of youthful energy and turn it into profitable channels.

(b) To develop organized thinking and accomplishment, and eliminate wasted, aimless, non-productive action. This is the complement to the routine of formal training in academic subjects, which are in themselves, normally un-useful.

(c) To explore the field of accomplishment in order to select intelligently a future occupation.

(d) To develop and foster standards and ideals of efficiency, comfort, enjoyment, beauty and social worth. This last purpose includes taste and is the one of concern here.

The peculiar æsthetic standards which interest young people are of the most practical kind. They apply every day and to everybody. And they are fundamental. The illustrations given below will indicate the common-sense way in which design should be approached:

Color. The tones of the color scale have not yet been systematized so well as those of music, but each year students of design and artists move a little toward agreement. Now, suppose one wishes to use two or more tones in a room, how may[20] harmonious effect be secured? The very word "harmony" means agreement, and suggests similarity, likeness, relationship. Therefore the tones one would use in the embellishment of a room should possess some common quality for the harmonizing element. Each tone having that quality as characteristic is similar in that one respect to all other tones having the same quality. Hence they are related in a way. The relation may be made strong or weak by the manipulation of the bond which holds the tones together. For instance:

Red and green are not related at all. By mixing gray with each, red and green become related through gray. By mixing yellow, orange or blue, etc., with red and green, the relationship may be established in the same way.

Yellow and green have a common quality—yellow, and in so far tend toward harmony. But it may not be a pleasing one, and it will be necessary to bring them still closer together by introducing other bonds, as gray or a color. Yellow is very light and green is dark: they will work together better if brought nearer together in value.

An Interesting Curtain which might be Duplicated by almost any Girl—If She Wanted Curtains

Since Flowers are so Beautiful in Themselves, is it not Worth While to Arrange Them with Judgment?

It is by such simple means that all color combinations are brought into line and rendered satisfactory. No rule can be given for mixing or choosing the actual[21] colors, but it is a safe rule to select those of a kind in some respect. The popular belief in low-toned (grayed) color schemes is a sound one, and the principle can be used very comfortably by the amateur decorator in furnishing a home. She can have any colors she wishes, and make them pleasing, if she will unite them by some harmonizing tone. Of course, all grays even are not rich and beautiful, but they are better than unadulterated color. Mr. Irwin in one of his breezy skits quotes the æsthete as saying: "Good taste should be like the policeman at parade; he should permit the assembled colors to make an orderly demonstration but not to start a riot." The moment the unskilled amateur tries to use white woodwork, red wallpaper, and gilt furniture in combination, he or she courts failure simply because the choice lacks the pervading tone which would modify the three. There are ways to secure harmony even under the most adverse conditions, but the technical details are not pertinent here.

Another characteristic which stands in the way of harmony is emphasis. The moment any one tone becomes greatly different from its neighbors in value or otherwise, it stands out, attracts attention, just as in material objects, unusual, curious shapes[22] and sizes invite notice, often beyond their just dues. Hence a brilliant yellow house, a bright green gown, large figured wallpaper, are over-emphatic. Clothes, which by their color and style are loud in their clamor for inspection, are out of key and bear the same relation to surroundings which foreign, exotic manners and customs bear to domestic conventions. And ordinarily one does not seek such prominence.

This question of taste is a vital one to children, and these books about "Needlecraft," "Home Decoration," "Outdoor Work," "Gardening," etc., are indirectly most useful because they put the child in a position to choose. The girl who sews and helps run the home is bound to cross the path of design a dozen times a day. She is faced with problems of arrangement, color and utility at every turn. Her own clothes, her room, the porch and garden, whatever she touches, are inert, lifeless things which await artistic treatment. It is when the child is faced with the problem of personal interest and pleasure that these elementary conceptions of design may be proposed.

Form and Line. Each year fashion decrees for both men and women certain "correct" styles. At slightly longer intervals the shops offer new models of furniture, hangings, jewelry, pottery, etc. Have[23] these new things been devised to meet a change in public taste? Not at all; they are inventions to stimulate trade. Most of such productions are out of place, incongruous, in company with present possessions. One must have a pretty sound sense of fitness and selection in order to use them to advantage or to resist their lure. As single examples, many of the new things are beautiful in color and line, though they may have nothing whatever in common with what one already owns.

One chooses a given pattern in furniture first, because of its utility; second, because of its harmony in line and size with other furniture already owned; and third, because of its intrinsic beauty. It is much less difficult to furnish a house throughout than to refurnish an old room in consonance with others already complete. All the household things need not be of one kind, though the closer one clings to a clear-cut conception of harmony (relationship of some kind) the better the result. Hence clothes may either beautify or exaggerate personal physique, and the garden may attach itself to the house and grounds or stand in lonely, painful isolation. Down at bottom design aims to assemble elements and parts into proper groups, and in the common questions of home decorations and dress the student can[24] usually work on just that simple basis. It is usually the incongruous, over-prominent, conspicuous, or isolated factor in decoration which causes trouble.

This fragmentary discussion will perhaps suggest some of the benefit which may come from the pursuit of crafts and occupations. The illustrations here given are in some detail because it is so easy to overlook design at home and in common things. Everything is so familiar there, one is so accustomed to the furniture, rugs and their arrangement, that it never comes to mind that the situation might be improved. It must be remembered that, when children begin to apply design to their own handicraft, their fundamental conceptions of beauty originate in the home. Either the children must lose faith in home taste, or, as they grow and learn, be allowed to bring their new-found knowledge back into the home and "try it on." This is where the craft does its real work. The true privilege conferred upon children by the possession of such books as these on various special occupations is a chance to obtain, first-hand, individual standards of perfection and beauty. Before this they have merely accepted the home as it stood, with no thought of what was choice or otherwise.

Since taste and design are merely implied, or[25] indirectly included in the several volumes, save "Home Decoration," the latter should be used as a supplementary reference in connection with the others. As has already been said, it is not possible or advisable to systematically teach good taste. It will be better and more effective to just include taste in the several activities the child undertakes. When the girl begins to make things for herself, help her to select materials which are appropriate in every way. Have her seek materials for the purpose. Have her choose decoration and color rather than take the first handy suggestion or copy the plans of another. She would do well to experiment independently. The girl should create her own room down to the last detail, not make everything herself, but plan it, plan its arrangement, its color (tone) if possible, and make those small decorative articles like pillows, runners, curtains, etc. But before beginning such a comprehensive experiment in decoration have her look about a bit and note the conditions imposed. The light and exposure, size of the room, furniture which must be used, treatment of hangings—these are all stubborn factors, but they respond to gradual treatment. Then the room is hers in reality. The boy's attitude toward taste is totally different. He cares less than[26] the girl for the charm of tone and arrangement; he is quite willing to despise the niceties of decoration. He must approach the question obliquely through interest in the efficiency of a given effort; he appreciates the utility phase of design most of all. The boy will come to see gradually that his pets and chickens should be decently housed, and that it is good business to do so. He should not be allowed to impose upon his own family or their neighbors a slovenly yard or garden. He will find that those tools work best which are sharp and clean and always in place. His final lesson in design grows out of association with his mates. When he begins to go to parties, to enter the social world in a small way, a new body of conventions in taste appear and he must be taught to appreciate them if he would be well liked. But the real training in design arises from manual work—the playthings, toys and utensils the boy makes for use. They need not be beautiful nor is there excuse for clumsiness in construction. One cannot expect even the mature child to take much interest in design in the abstract, but when he meets the subject on a common-sense basis, as a part of some personal problem, design—even taste in color and form—acquires definite standing in his esteem. It has earned the right.[27] Hence a liberal contact with youthful amusements and occupations encourages both boy and girl to build ideals of working, and among these ideals taste is bound to appear in some guise—usually unbidden. The book on design or decoration is but a reference, an inspiration, a stimulant, never a text of instruction. The ability to choose, to secure appropriate, beautiful, accurate results, is largely a by-product of judicious reading combined with persistent effort. It remains for the parent to skim off this by-product as it appears and infuse a little of it into each problem the child presents for inspection.

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CHAPTER III

THE REAL GIRL

What Is the Ideal Home?

A School Garden in Jordan Harbor, Ontario, Canada. Any Child Who has had this Experience, Who Has Produced or Helped Nature to Produce such Wonderful Things, will be Richer in Sympathy for Fine Things

Domestic Science Class. These Girls not only Cook but Learn about Foods, Housekeeping, Entertaining, and Themselves Keep Open House at the School Occasionally

Strange as it may seem, most of the plans for industrial training, the majority of school courses of study, and probably seventy-five per cent. of the books on the crafts and arts have been devised for the use of boys. Now there are hosts of girls in this world, probably as many girls as boys, and these girls are just as keen, intelligent, ambitious and curious about things and how to make them, as are boys. In very early childhood when both boys and girls have the same interests, similar books of amusement are used by both. But as girls develop the feminine point of view and need the stimulus of suggestion and aid in creative work, the literature for them seems meagre; they have somehow been passed by save for a manual now and then on cooking or sewing, left as a sop to their questioning and eagerness. This state of affairs[29] is more than unfortunate, it is fundamentally wrong for two very good reasons. (1) The girl up to the age of twelve or thirteen has practically the same interests, pleasures and play instincts as the boy. She is perhaps not so keenly alive to the charm of mechanical things as the boy, but like all children regardless of sex, she seeks to be a producer. She is just as much absorbed in pets and growing things, in nature, in the current activities of her environment, and requires the same easy outlet for her play instincts as the boy. (2) The girl, when a woman grown, becomes the creator of the home, and too often enters upon her domestic career with a minimum of skill or taste in the great body of household arts, which in the aggregate, give us the material comforts and homely pleasures. Moreover, since she, as a girl, probably did not have the chance to satisfy her play desires and consequently never learned to do things herself, she is at a loss to understand the never ceasing, tumultuous demands of her own children for the opportunity to experiment. To quote Gerald Lee in the "Lost Art of Reading," which is one of the real modern books: "The experience of being robbed of a story we are about to read, by the good friend who cannot help telling how it comes out, is an occasional experience in the lives of[30] older people, but it sums up the main sensation of life in the career of a child. The whole existence of a boy may be said to be a daily—almost hourly—struggle to escape being told things ... it is doubtful if there has ever been a boy as yet worth mentioning, who did not wish we would stand a little more to one side—let him have it out with things. There has never been a live boy who would not throw a store-plaything away in two or three hours for a comparatively imperfect plaything he had made himself...."

When one goes deep enough—below the showy veneer of present-day living—one comes to agree with Mr. Lee. The normal child, especially the boy, is potentially a creator, a designer, discoverer, and we have committed the everlasting sin of showing him short cuts, smoothing away difficulties, saying "press here." No child can survive the treatment.

Father and mother have the very simple obligation to furnish the place, raw material (books, tools, etc.), and encouragement.

Copyright, 1909, by Cheshire L. Boone

The Work of Girls in the Public Schools, Montclair, N. J. These Girls are only Eleven Years of Age

A Children's Garden gives Fresh Air and Sunshine, and Best of All, Brings Nature very Near. To Be Really Happy One Must Make Nature's Acquaintance

For these reasons, if for no other, the girl ought to have a permanent outlet for her native ingenuity and constructive skill in such crafts and occupations as are adapted to her strength, future responsibilities and possible interests. A home should comprise[31] other elements than food and clothes, which are bare necessities; and though these may be expanded and multiplied, becoming in their preparation real art products, they alone are deficient in interest. Look over any well-ordered household, note the multiplicity of things it contains which are primarily woman's possessions, and collecting all one knows about them, the amount of real knowledge is surprisingly small. How much does the embryo housekeeper know about textiles, curtains, carpets, hangings, linens, brass, china, furniture? Where do all these charming things come from? Many of the hangings, table linen, embroidery, etc., are home products. They cannot be bought at all. The simple stenciled curtain which one likes so much draws attention by virtue of its personal quality. To have such things in any abundance the girl must create them, and this she is more than willing to do.

How may one explain the restful atmosphere of certain homes visited? How many housewives have intelligent insight concerning home management and administration; of simple domestic chemistry or sanitation? Yet these are vital elements in the domestic machine. One never mistakes a proper household, orderly, smooth running for the showy establishment—gay outside and sad inside. Even[32] the most untutored child unconsciously responds to the healthy influence of selected material environment and conditions, when these are combined harmoniously. There are systematic ways of creating pleasant rooms, fine grounds, comfortable places for living, places imbued with the spirit of contentment. The people who produce such places are seldom the professional decorator, landscape architect, and hired housekeeper. It is the woman of the family, who, having practised some of the arts, or at least been their disciple, has learned to appreciate order and love beauty. Therewith comes an almost instinctive knowledge of how to use them to advantage. One can never really have beautiful baskets, pottery, sewing, gardens, until one has made them. One surely cannot appreciate the true worth of clean linen, a spotless house, and perfect routine anywhere so thoroughly as in one's own house. It naturally follows that the girl, like the boy, should be a producer, not a mere purchaser, of personal or domestic commodities. She may have unlimited means, but the place where she lives as a girl and the home she seeks to create in adult life will always be impersonal, detached, hotel-like, unless she personally builds it. She must know the structure, composition, and functions of inanimate[33] things; this knowledge comes easiest and persists longer through use and experience.

All Children Love to Play at Being "Grown Up," even Beyond the Time of Childhood. These Girls will make Real Women, because They are Normal and Happy

Girls must sometime Learn of the Conventions and Customs of Domestic Arrangement, and too often Their Only Opportunity Lies in such Classes as These

There is a good bit of psychology behind the suggestions offered, and the reasoning is simple. All our ideas, our plans, and conceptions are just ideas and nothing more until they have been worked up into concrete form—put to test. There is nothing tangible about an idea. But living is real; hence all the details which comprise living are real too and mere thinking about them without action is futile. One must execute, arrange, and experiment with the raw materials of everyday use. The result is either pleasant or otherwise; if otherwise, the effort has somehow failed, and one should do it again and learn thereby; if pleasant, one is the richer and happier for a bit of success, and is warmed by the presence of mere accomplishment.

This last phrase reveals the nub of the whole question—accomplishment. Material surroundings and comforts of course go far to make one happy, and they are the evidence of success, but the ideal home is also composed of people each of whom is or should be a contributor to the work of the world. The ideal home contains no drones, and therefore no discontent. Now the girl cannot plunge headfirst into the maelstrom of domestic management. She[34] must learn her strength and acquire confidence, and there are simple occupations for early years, occupations which train the muscles, sharpen the wits; occupations which through suggestion gradually lead to a wider and wider intellectual horizon, and which, by a cumulation of information and experience, mature both judgment and taste. These occupations form, as it were, some chapters in the unwritten grammar of culture and efficiency whereby the girl grows in self-reliance and maturity.

There are, for instance, a number of crafts which, in their delicacy of technique and the artistic worth of the finished product, are splendid occupations for girls, and some few of which every girl should know. The girl who cannot sew is an object for sympathy; it is the typical feminine craft for the reason heretofore named—that one cannot know how things should be unless one is familiar with the process involved. Gowns are manufactured of pieces of cloth cut in proper shape and sewn together in some, to the male, occult fashion, and this complex operation only explains itself even to a woman by going through the experience. One has always been accustomed to think that the accomplished mistress is also an expert needle-woman or skilled worker in textiles of some kind. Products of the[35] needle and loom have always been her intimate, personal possessions, and the charm of old hangings, lace, needlecraft of all kinds, rests in the main on this personal quality. Without a doubt the most precious belongings of the young girl are her own room with its contents of decorations and furnishing, and the garments which emphasize her inherent feminine charm. It is not only a girl's right, but her duty, to maintain her place as the embodiment of all that is fresh, cleanly and attractive. To this end clothes and the various other products of the needle contribute not a little; a clean-cut, thorough experience in manufacturing things for herself is the best assurance of future taste, which will spread out and envelop everything she touches. It is much the same with clothes and furnishings as with other matters, what one makes is one's own, characteristic, appropriate, adequate, with the touch of enjoyment in it; the purchased article is devoid of sentiment, it is a makeshift and substitute.

Then by all means let the girl learn to sew, learn to do for herself, to study her own needs and desires, to find as she progresses, ways to master the details of woman's own craft, and it is hoped, lay up a store of just the sort of experience which will enable her to supervise the work of others in her behalf when[36] the time comes. But sewing, valuable as it is in connection with the young girl's problems, is not the only craft at hand. In recent years craftworkers have revived a number of old methods of using or preparing textiles for decorative purposes, and some of these have proven increasingly worth while in the household. Stenciling, block-printing, dyeing, decorative darning, and even weaving itself, since they have been remodeled and brought out in simple form, offer opportunities to the wideawake girl. The results in each case may be very beautiful, and perhaps more in harmony with the individual taste and scheme of living of the particular girl than any materials she could buy, because they may be designed and executed for a specific place. Few people, least of all a child, work just to be busy; there is always a motive. With the girl it is a scarf, a belt, collar, curtain, or sofa pillow; is it not well worth while if she can make these for herself or her room, in her chosen design motif, (as rose, bird, tree, etc.) and color? It may be an ordinary design, peculiar color, but they satisfy a personal sentiment which, by the way, can be modified and improved as time goes on. One must needs allow children to begin with the bizarre, distorted, seemingly unreasonable, archaic desires they have and cross-fertilize these[37] with better ones in the hope of producing a fine, wholesome, sturdy attitude of mind.

Among the minor crafts which may be a source of real pleasure and good taste, two are prominent: pottery and basketry. The technique, decorative possibilities, and functions of the finished products as elements in household economy and ornament place these crafts high in the list of those especially suitable for girls, though boys and adults do find them equally interesting. Pottery is so closely associated with flowers and growing things, with the decoration of fine rooms, with choice spots of color, and with those receptacles and utensils which belong to the household, that it makes a strong appeal to the feminine mind. Here is a craft which vies with textiles in age and beauty of design, and possesses even greater charm of manipulation because it is plastic. One can imagine no finer outlet for creative effort.

Lastly, there is the eternal, magnificent, womanly craft—home-making. When one stops to think that the home is the one imperishable, absolute social unit, the power which creates it must take rank with other vital forces of constructive economics. Mothers' clubs and women's organizations of divers kinds, or, rather, the individuals who comprise such societies, are continually drifting into[38] the discussion of the worries, difficulties, and trials which attend the household. The instant household routine becomes awkward or inadequate it affects adversely each individual member of the family, and naturally the mistress who is responsible shoulders a burden. There are times when the maid leaves, or the cooking goes wrong, or the house is cold, or just a time when one gets started for the day badly. There are times when the innate perversity of humans and material things runs riot. One is led to believe that such untoward occasions, since they have been in the past, will in all likelihood continue to crop up to the end of time, though one cannot find any good reason why they should. There are homes unacquainted with any household rumble or squeak, where the domestic machinery is always in order, and flexible enough to care for sudden overloading, or absorb any reasonable shock. In many such places, devoid of servants and confined to a modest income, the mistress is ever an expert; the chances are that her daughters will be equally resourceful. Really, the only sure way to bring up an adequate number of fine, competent, resourceful wives and home-makers is to train them definitely for the profession. The girls must be made acquainted with every detail of the business which[39] they will surely inherit. The people who would live in hotels and frankly abandon home-making themselves merely emphasize the charm of the household, because hotels have nothing in common with homes.

It seems rather strange that a business so old as housekeeping does not, and never has, applied to its development the laws of commercial enterprise. When the community or corporation state sees the need for workmen, foremen or directors, it tries to educate individuals for the purpose. The supply of competent men and women is not left to chance. Whereas, womankind trusts to a very fickle fortune, that every girl will somehow learn to steer the domestic craft and be conversant with methods of preserving family ideals. Contrast the far-sighted plans of business to fill its ranks with the casual training the average girl undergoes to fit her for the future. What is her chance of success? Is it reasonable to suppose that one who has never made a home, or even helped actively to run one made for her, can on demand "make good?" It is a lasting tribute to the inherent genius and indefatigable patience of the modern woman that she has achieved so much with a minimum of experience.

Hence, in order to properly equip one's children for a practically inevitable future, let the girls into[40] the secret of domestic planning; let them know of costs and shopping, income and expenditure; of materials and uses; the care of possessions, repairs and cleaning; try to show them that the menu is not a haphazard combination of ingredients and foods, but a conscious selection of viands which will entice the appetite, furnish proper nutrition and accord with the season. By all means emphasize the fact that housekeeping, like any business, can be systematized so that the hundred and one activities may succeed one another in orderly procession through the weeks and months. Wash day and housecleaning should be absorbed into the domestic program, and never present their grisly features to the home-coming male, with sufficient trouble of his own.

Recent issues of the magazines have contained much discussion of the household tangle, and most of them have ended with the slogans "industrial education," "back to the kitchen," and such. Granted that girls need this training, and that schools in time will give it; granted that the social position of the servant is a source of discussion and friction; that the demands of modern living are exacting; and, finally, granting the insistent prominence of all the other economic disturbances, who is, in the last analysis, to blame? Would a business man[41] think for one moment of handing over any department of his affairs to one not trained for the particular duties involved? Industry in every branch seeks men and women fitted to take charge of even minor matters. And when trained assistants are scarce the obvious policy is to prepare other promising workers for such special places. On the other hand, mothers too often prepare their daughters for marriage, not for home-making, seemingly blind to the fact that marriage is an inert, barren, static condition, save in the stimulating atmosphere of a fine home. How can the servant question ever be settled by untutored girls who get no closer to the domestic question than fudge, welsh rarebit and salted peanuts? The school can and does now, in all well-ordered communities, give a very satisfactory formal, technical training in domestic art and science.[E] There students learn to cook and sew; they learn a good deal about food values, dietetics and simple food chemistry, simple sanitation, etc. But the management of a real house, system and everyday routine, that fine sense of adjustment to the conditions as they exist—these essentials can only be learned in the home itself. The efforts of the school can[42] largely supplement but never replace home guidance, experience and responsibility. Keeping house ought to be a science and art rather than a game of chance.

Definite Suggestions

In the "Library of Work and Play," to which the present book is the introductory volume, one will find a collection of books replete with suggestion. But these are not manuals, or courses to be followed from end to end, because children do not profit most by such a plan. The child is like a pebble dropped into still water. It communicates its energy of momentum to the surrounding fluid and makes a circular ripple, which in turn makes another and wider ripple, until the energy is exhausted. In much the same way the child, landed in the midst of a more or less inert material world, acts upon it with energy, which, however, is never exhausted, producing the results which become more and more extended. He begins in the middle of a given subject and works in all possible directions, which gives one the clue to how to make the most of books like these.[F]

If the girl has not already indicated a decided preference for some recreation or play, place at hand the books which show the possibilities open to her.[43] It would be well for one to go over them rather carefully first in order to know what they contain. Let the girl take her leisure in searching the chapters and illustrations for the suggestion which strikes a responsive chord. Ofttimes it will be quite in order to point to chapters which have a bearing on some personal need or desire. At any rate, the book or chapters which seem to be most significant at the time should be followed up. Read over with her such a volume as "Home Decoration" or "Housekeeping." Let her discuss the plans offered and try them out in her own home. Every girl wants and should have a dainty, inspiring, beautiful room of her own, and as she grows older she also wants the rest of the house to match, so that she can entertain her friends with pride and confidence. If one will take "Housekeeping," "Home Decoration," and "Needlecraft" as texts, and select from them first those suggestions which are immediately apt in a particular home, the girl will shortly find herself looking at home problems from several different and very important angles. But it is desirable also that the study be taken up first in a very simple way, in order to tie it to real living and needs. New curtains, pillows for the porch or den, stenciled scarf, the decorations and menu for a[44] small party, additional linen: these are some of the problems always coming up, which may be used as a beginning. And once the start is made the girl should have the chance to try other experiments along the same line. Read with her the chapter on menus and marketing, or housecleaning, and turn the house over to the daughter for a time to manage—absolutely. There is nothing in the world which children love more or which develops them more quickly than responsibility, and the mutual consideration of household affairs gives the girl real partnership in the domestic business. She may use the "Housekeeping" book as a kind of reference, to be sought when new problems in management fall to her share.

The question of home decoration is so vital that it deserves special statement. The text[G] deals with all those details of interior furnishing and embellishment which indicate taste. All of these are not equally important, nor do they interest all girls to the same extent, and in using the book one can profit most by the study of those topics which touch the individual or particular family. But everywhere there is the problem of furniture arrangement, wall decorations, color schemes, and the skilful[45] use of flowers, pottery and textiles. Give the young people, and especially the girls, an insight into how the interior should be treated. Have them look up pertinent questions in the text and then try their 'prentice hands at creating a pleasant, restful, homelike house with the furnishings at hand plus whatever they can make or secure. Really, the book is as much a volume of suggestion for the mother, to which she can refer her daughter, as a text for the child. There is very keen interest in taste in recent years, among young people as well as parents, and the elements hitherto lacking have been (1) accessible information and (2) opportunity to "try it out." Offer that opportunity; a flat is just as fruitful a field for experiment as a house, perhaps more.

The active participation in outdoor life, nature-study propaganda and the multiplication of popular scientific (nature) literature has greatly opened another field to children—that of raising pets, gardening, etc. Here the boy or girl will readily make some choice at an early day, if there has been any contact with such things. If not, a volume of this kind[H] will be a real stimulant and inspiration, as it should be, not a lesson manual. Place the[46] book in a child's hands, help him look over the conditions, available ground, cost, care, etc.; let him send for circulars and catalogues, or if possible visit some one interested in the same hobby and the experiment is under way with irresistible momentum. It is a godsend to any child to give him a simple, direct statement of what can be done; he furnishes the steam and imagination for future development, and father and mother comprise the balance wheel of the business. This volume and the one on "Outdoor Sports" contain a mass of information which touch the interests of practically all boys and girls at some time in their first sixteen years. When the child is old enough to launch out in any personal undertaking, old enough for even minor responsibilities, when he or she expresses the desire for possession and money, then give them books like these. Let them soak in and digest. Encourage only those requests which are convincing, but give them all the scope possible. Every child will eventually select the pastimes which are best for her though she may stumble in doing so; she will make fewer mistakes, and waste less time if she have access to books which will crystallize and guide her ambitions.

[47]

CHAPTER IV
THAT BOY

"The prime spur to all industry (effort) was and is to own and use the finished product."—Hall.

One day the pedagogue, who was a learned man and addicted to study, shut himself up in his library, bent on devising a method for training boys into men. This master was well versed in the sciences so that he could follow the stars in their courses, make the metals and substances of the earth obey his will, and guide the plants in their growth from seed to blossom. Nor was this scholar lacking in sympathy for the arts, if they were not too fine, for his desires all led to systems and orderly arrangements of matter, and those subjects which would not succumb to analysis he looked upon coldly.

A Boy's Camp with Ernest Thompson Seton. There Was Never a Boy Who Did Not "Make-Believe," and Here the Play Spirit, under Stimulating Guidance, Becomes a Powerful Factor in Developing the Appreciation of Community Effort

The Play Idea very soon Grows Toward the Representation of Primitive though Adult Customs and Actions, in which Several Join a Common Body or Company. Hence City Gangs which Merely Seek Romantic Expression

Hence in this problem of education he made a careful survey of the history and development of learning from the beginning—seeking those ideals[48] and standards of culture which had been approved for the scholar, because scholars have always been held in high esteem by those patrons who, being ignorant themselves, wanted scholarship nearby. It was found in the course of his delving that the sciences had originated and developed in about this order, mathematics, astronomy, geology, botany, biology, etc. The arts of expression had of course developed as a group, but chiefly through literature from the beginning. There seemed to be a good deal of recent interest in machines and engineering, and of course certain classes had always tilled the soil, because one must have food; but the study of these activities could not lead to culture, because culture had always had to do with thinking, not manual labor. Therefore it became clear to the master that up to the present time, since the end of all scholarly ambition had been a profession (law, medicine, theology, etc.), education must be a very simple matter. All one had to do was to prepare certain capsules of mathematics, grammar, Greek and Latin, and a few, very few, odd pellets of science, etc., and at stated intervals stimulate the boy's mental organism with the various toxins in rotation. Were these subjects not the very basis of culture, and what would be more logical than[49] direct systematic presentation of the fundamental principles? If the patient did not respond nothing could be done but to use more medicine, more lessons; there could be but one line of treatment. With this question settled the good savant signified his readiness to instruct youth in such branches as were desirable for the educated man, and pupils came in numbers to obtain the precious learning, for the pedagogue was favorably known as a great scholar. But these pupils who came, like the master, happened to live in or about the year 1912, when the chief interests of the people were business, science, and engineering; when transportation and communication had become highly developed and systematized; when farming and agriculture were almost arts, the whole welfare of the nation rested on industry, and utility held high rank as an element in culture among the people who worked. Even when a boy of this period did not seek industrial honors and follow in the footsteps of his father, he must needs be interested as a citizen in so important a source of prosperity. Hence the children who set out to become pupils of the learned teacher were alive to the business and activities of their time and surroundings, and were more than willing to learn when the learning led to a useful end. But[50] the scheme proposed by their mentor was such a queer scheme. Of course it was better to go to school than do nothing and one must study a few things, but how much more fascinating and worth while to talk about birds and animals, trolley cars, the railway, electricity, machines, and doing things with a purpose, than to discuss impossible stories written by people who evidently knew very, very little about young people, to learn unending pages of numbers and definitions and facts, which, since one had no use for them, were speedily forgotten to make room for better material?

A Typical Boy's Workroom and Shop. Pride of Personal Possession Develops rather Early and the Boy Should Have a Place of His Own

The Kind of Shop which One May Have at Home

Now these children were obedient and reverent toward learning and did the tasks assigned them by their master, but in their leisure hours they did a good bit of experimenting along other lines, and found several other studies which were not in the master's scheme much more to their taste. Animals and pets were not only nice, live, soft, downy, fuzzy things to play with, but they had such queer ways and were so useful that one could talk about them forever. And then if one raised numbers of them, often neighbors would desire to purchase, and behold, a business began whereby it was just possible one could make a profit now and then. Again, it was fine if one had even a few tools so that one could put[51] together the toys and playthings necessary to every-day amusement. Of course it was needful to measure and calculate and scheme about materials and costs, but all this scheming led to real purpose, while the questions proposed by the teacher were just questions after all and it couldn't make much difference whether one found the answer or not.

Now the usual thing happened. Because of their reverence for traditional learning and respect for its apostle the youths continued to attend upon the master and go through the ceremonial form of intellectual purification. But really their hearts were outside, wrapped up in the work of the world, where they had found just the tonics which were good for them.

In just so far as the school and home open ways which "enable the student to earn a livelihood and to make life worth living" do we see the passing of the old type school (suggested above) and ideal of training. Not only are there comparatively few in this world capable of receiving high polish through the so-called culture studies, but the definition of culture has changed; now any activity is cultural which arouses one's best efforts. Moreover, the boy of the present is on the lookout for a[52] new type of instructor, one born of the new era of industrial success, a teacher who will unlock the mysteries of modern nature, science, engineering and business, and who will make it possible for the student to find his special abilities or bent at an early age. It is no argument at all to say that the boy is too young to know what is best for him, that the mature mind is the only safe guide. The adult teacher and parent becomes a true guide only when he uses as a basis for guidance those qualities and instincts of childhood which cannot be smothered or eradicated. The child, whether boy or girl, knows instinctively some of the kinds of information which do not agree with him, because they possess no significance at the time and he cannot assimilate and fatten on them. The child needs a new and more nutritious mental diet. Father and mother cannot be of great direct assistance because, strange to say, they are not experts with children, they merely know a child (their own) passably well, but they can provide a most effective, indirect, contributory stimulus through outside opportunities for healthy play and experiment which will supplement the formal instruction of the school. And children of all ages up to the time they go to college need some strong outside interest, or group of them,[53] which will serve as a finder to determine the trade, profession, or business of the future man.

The Kite Fever is an Annual Disease. Common to practically the Whole Country. But it is a Disease which Flourishes only among Normal Children, chiefly Boys

Pump and Waterwheel. A Type of Mechanical Problem which the Boy May Begin With, Both In and Out of School, because It Touches His Keenest Interest

The children who enter the school, from whatever grade of society or given race, are all much alike—lively little animals that sleep, eat and talk continuously, and play, though play and expression are one and the same. They do what all animals do—keep on the move, acquire muscular skill and precision, and endeavor by every possible means to express their ideas and convey them to others. This expression takes on a constructive phase when children play at store, keeping house, fire engine, and make toys of paper and cardboard, and such amusement is the forerunner of that intense mechanical interest which overtakes boys about the age of ten or eleven.[I] Girls have an equally positive leaning which is characteristic and will be noted elsewhere. Watch any group of boys of average parentage and surroundings and make a list of the things they construct for themselves, for their own ends. In any such list extending over a period of several months will be found, according to locality, such things as wagons, sleds, whistles, kites, dog houses, pigeon roosts, chicken coops,[54] boats, guns, etc., etc. The young artisan uses whatever raw material he can; he is chiefly concerned with the plan, and makes the best of conditions and materials. The things he makes are always for real use, a principle held in high esteem in all the arts. In making these toys the boy acquires some exceedingly valuable information and a physical skill and perfection which can only be secured at an early age. He learns about things, about raw material, about tools and utensils common to every household; he gets on speaking terms with the fundamental laws of mechanics and, more than one would imagine, develops a real ingenuity in molding material to his immediate needs. The construction of a bird house or kite is in itself simple enough, but the boy has to spend considerable effort in finding out how to do it, which is beneficial. Moreover, this constant struggle to get into tune with his physical environment and subdue it results in a considerable independence, confidence, and resourcefulness, which under moderately favorable conditions will produce a boy alert to the world in which he lives and full of the spirit of investigation—the critical attitude. Such a boy will not lean on others for either learning or pleasure.

Boat Made by Percy Wilson and Donald Mather, Montclair, N. J., Independent of Adult Assistance. The Method of Construction, which is Unique and Sound, was Devised by the Boys

Copyright, 1910, by Cheshire L. Boone

These are the Forerunners of Numerous Other Electrical Constructions, Many of Which are Produced Out of School, in the Home Workrooms and Shops

Actually, however, the modern boy has not been[55] encouraged along these lines, nor has he been taken very seriously in those activities which affect him most; hence his struggle toward any real efficiency. A prominent man once said:

"When I was fifteen years of age I could break wild horses to saddle or harness, and teach kicking cows to stand while they were being milked. I could fell trees and drop the tree in any direction desired. I knew the relative value of all native woods, appreciated the differences in soil, grains, fruits, and simple minerals. I could use the draw-shove, adze axe, broad axe, cross-cut saw, sickle and cradle. I could make a figure-four trap, an axe helve, a neck yoke, axe yoke, whiffletree, clevis, and could braid an eight-strand cattle whip. We used to mend our harness on rainy days and I could make a wax-end and thread it with a bristle, and use a brad-awl. I knew how to construct an ash-leach and to make soft-soap, apple butter, and pumpkin pies. I knew the process of weaving flax and wool, of making and burning brick. I knew on sight and had names for a score or more of birds, and had a good idea of the habits of squirrels, skunks, wolves, and the fishes that swam in the creeks. I knew how to cure hams, shoulders, and side-meat: to pickle beef and cover apples with straw and earth so that they would keep in safety through the most severe winter, and open up in the spring fresh and valuable. Of course my knowledge was not of a scientific order, and I could not have explained it to another, because I never knew I had it."

How many boys or girls of the present time possess anything like this sum of useful knowledge—useful for the conditions in which they live? There[56] was a time when children had to learn in order to survive, and now that the necessity is removed and children are simply allowed to grow without purpose, the boy and girl inevitably lose one of the best elements in their training unless new opportunities are opened.

It is not difficult to see how the boy's interest in construction grows and expands; mere acquaintance with boys will furnish the data. At a comparatively early stage the youthful experiments are naturally sifted to a few specialties, which assume prominence either because of the boy's reading or the type of locality in which he lives. From time to time his interest may shift, investigating one subject after another, always seeking the unknown avocation. The process will probably lead in time to a more or less fitting selection of trade or profession. How else is the boy to find himself?

Copyright, 1909, by Cheshire L. Boone

A Real Derrick in Miniature, Operated by Means of a Waterwheel (at the right). The Lifting, Turning and Handling of the Bucket are Controlled by Levers Attached to Spools (in the middle section). This Sort of Thing is Part of Regular School Work

Waterwheels (lower illustrations) and Fan (upper illustration), made by Public School Pupils

After he has passed through the preliminary stages of mere play and haphazard amusement the boy becomes conscious of the mysterious, unusual forces of electricity; they hold even adult attention and wonder, but the boy, being more impressionable and confident, immediately forages for information, reads enormously, and experiments. He takes in the whole subject with a vim and sureness that is[57] de facto evidence of its intrinsic worth for study purposes. And in a much shorter time than adults would require, he has mastered the fundamental laws and is eager to put this wonderful force to work, to make things move. He has the same attitude toward steam and gas engines, water motors, and studies them with the same intensity of purpose. Here are dynamic elements which appeal to the human appreciation of power and which may be harnessed, subdued. The idea is comparable to the ancient reverence for fire, water and the storm. Since modern science has organized engineering and mechanical knowledge and simplified it, the student can have at his disposal just the books and periodicals needed to unlock this storeroom of mystery; these publications were written for the purpose. But there are several other openings for creative effort which appeal no less strongly, and among which both the boy and girl may choose, with complete confidence that there will be ample room for initiative, ingenuity, and utilitarian bias.

Every child loves to go camping, and in common with his elders reveals the close connection with primitive life in general through the pleasure derived from the simplicity of camp life. There in the woods, where conveniences are few, every device[58] and construction counts the utmost, and its purpose is apparent. The whole spirit of such living is more in harmony with child nature and longings than the modern city home; it supplies the craving for physical freedom and places the boy or girl almost entirely on his own resources. What he obtains in the way of pleasure comes from his own efforts and is correspondingly precious. The boy especially finds in camp just as much chance for mechanical skill as elsewhere. Temporary furniture, utensils, cooking conveniences, the shelter, traps, etc., are suggestive. And lastly the unconventional, untrammeled outdoor life stands in that same relation to the boy as it did to the savage (because boyhood is a primitive stage); he puts forth his strongest endeavors to conquer the elements, the climate, the earth, and growing things; to provide himself with food and shelter—in other words, to survive as the savage sought to survive. The idea is truly epic. No wonder the child expands and develops under the simple responsibilities imposed, and absorbs woodcraft with such astonishing ease. The recent extraordinary growth of the summer camp among boys' schools, and the results suggested in the writings of Ernest Thompson Seton, are, with the unfolding of industrial education, two pointed examples[59] of the shifting view of education in the home as well as school. Probably no outside agency will in time become so effective for good as the Boy Scouts, whose code is based on a very primitive framework suited to boys. During a recent visit to California, and while crossing the flat prairies of Kansas, the writer saw a company of scouts at work. It was borne in upon the observer that there was an organization which fitted every locality, every climate; it appealed to boy, not creed, social order, time, or adult dogma.

Copyright, 1910, by Cheshire L. Boone

A Self-recording Telegraph Receiver. An Excellent Example of what the Juvenile Mechanical Mind will Attempt. The Number of Boys Interested in such Projects is Considerable

Wireless Station and Workroom of Donald Huxom, Montclair, N. J. This, too, Indicates how Boys Square Themselves with Scientific Progress

One should at least mention athletics in this connection, because of the excellent physical benefit in both activities. Athletics, however, contains an element which is all-important—team work. And no restraint is so much needed, nor so cheerfully heeded for that matter, by the restless boy and girl as a community of effort. The elimination of a purely selfish personal point of view is very difficult to bring about with the best of children, because they are wrapped up in their own affairs, and nothing serves to introduce them to the rights of others and the value of concerted action for a common good so well as sport. The kind does not matter. Any well-conducted, clean enjoyment of this kind develops that mental pliability and willingness to[60] take a part which is a fundamental of citizenship. Incidentally leaders arise, and the beginnings of organization dawn. It is a great day when the boy learns his first code of signals in the ball team!

Copyright, 1910, by Cheshire L. Boone

An Electrical Soldering Iron and Glue-pot, made at Suggestion of Instructor for Use in School Shop

Copyright, 1909, by Cheshire L. Boone

Waterwheel Connected with Model Lathe

There is one more side (at least) to the boy and girl business—earning money. It is nothing short of marvelous that this desire for personal income, however small, has not been taken seriously. Why do children want to earn money? For the best reason in the world, independence. Man's entire existence from the earliest age down to the twentieth century has been one long struggle toward it—toward survival. First he had to combat the elements and animals, then his fellows, for possession of food, lands, water, raw materials, and wives. When he found that possession of certain commodities added to his importance and therefore comfort and safety, and especially to his privilege, he sought wealth and its freedom. Now the boy and girl follow stages in development toward similar independence, and among the privileges most desired is that of money or possessions of value. If they earn it, the amount represents so much work and gives the coins a fixed worth which cannot be established in other fashion. Moreover, this desire for income (rather than money) is one characteristic[61] of the child between the ages of thirteen and fifteen years. His power of reasoning and organization are developing rapidly, and it is the time when adult ideals and actions first look attractive. The time is ever ripe for launching the boy or girl into any avocation which holds their fancy, that they may forget their own oblique tendencies to laziness, stubbornness, wayward action, and selfishness; these are all characteristic of the stage. Sex changes too play no inconsiderable part, because the boy's companions are for a time all masculine. Business of some kind is just what he needs, and if that business is profitable, a powerful motive is supplied. Perhaps the keenest interest is that in nature, and most children at some time have desired pets—chickens, rabbits, pigeons, dogs, song birds. There is scarcely a town or city condition where some animal hobby cannot be pursued without disturbing others' peace of mind. But it should be looked into seriously as a business, a miniature counterpart of other like enterprises. The disposal of personal service and products to others brings the child in close contact with numbers of adults and adult standards and business connections. It fosters responsibility and places upon the child the burden of proof, to show that he is entitled[62] to a place as a valuable member of society. And just here it may be well to say, even if the child does not need the money he earns, it will be the most precious he will ever own, because since it came through effort, it will be spent with due caution.

The vegetable and flower garden may be made to yield similar returns and such products are always salable. In addition, every house, every yard, every farm is in constant need of repairs, changes and care which the alert boy or girl can furnish. The development of such odd tasks into a business parallels the development of every large enterprise which began in a modest way. It fosters the best of personal and civic ideals, and tames the restless, self-conscious energy of youth into smooth and profitable channels through which to journey in peace to a sane maturity.

Excellent Examples of High School Work which is Really Profitable. These Machines will Work and Develop Power which can be Measured

A Manual Training Shop

Is it any wonder that education is so ineffective at times? In the light of present-day appreciation of physiology and psychology it is increasingly clear that education has furnished an impersonal, rather stilted system of stuffing along restricted lines for a warm-hearted, all-inquisitive, nature-loving human animal which automatically refuses to be nourished thereby, and forages elsewhere. Although the child's judgment can by no means be followed[63] concerning what is best for him, his instincts and possible future will serve as a most excellent guide. His early training must take into account those interests which are most keen and lasting and use them as the framework for instruction, and all subsequent stages of training involve a distinct obligation to build upon this elementary foundation, with a view to social worth. Most children will have to earn a living (the girl usually helps by managing the home), and this necessity is preëminent. But whether rich or otherwise, the ideal of social worth remains for all. And the least the home can do is to nurse childhood's efforts and experiments in play and occupation which lead finally to mature judgment and conceptions.

How to Use Books with Boys

Boys probably obtain more help from books than girls do because they are more self-reliant, more assertive and impatient. And as has been indicated, more books have been written for boys, but the same general method of use is common to both. The boy too finds in the book of crafts, mechanics, science, or sport a stimulant and incentive. He reads it much as he would a story of adventure. No matter what his greatest enjoyments may be,[64] the perusal of accounts of others' juvenile activities widens the productive horizon in a way not to be ignored, and for this reason "How to Do" books of all kinds are a serious element in the boy's life, at a time when he is less concerned with what to do than with how to produce something. But there is a danger in this catholicity of interest: it may become dilettantism. The boy may merely potter or fuss with one hobby after another, more because he cannot supply the need for more and more information, than because he does not care. Hence it is worth while from time to time to add more fuel to the flame of ambition in a given direction, to provide books and tools, a working place or shop, and open the way for progress in some stated direction.

The Machine Shop. Public School, Montclair, N. J.

The Study of Aeroplane Construction, Public School 77, N. Y. City. This Toy is Full of Possibilities for the Live Boy

A Successful Machine

Finished Aeroplanes. Public School 77, N. Y. City

Specifically, books like those on "Mechanics, Indoors and Out," "Electricity," and "Carpentry," and parts of "Outdoor Work" may be considered as of one type. When he receives the books the boy will spend days in absorbing their contents, maybe dreaming a bit over the possibilities in view, and finally, by a process which will always be unintelligible to the adult, will light upon a problem or group of them that meets his wishes, as the kite for instance; all he needs from then on is human sympathy with the, to him, important undertaking,[65] and he will gallop through all phases of the kite construction and devices, aeroplanes, propellers, forms of motive power, probably bringing up short at the steam or gasoline engine, which opens another chapter. The really important item connected with the use of such books is to keep the young mechanic on one thing at a time. A bit of judicious questioning now and then, always aimed at a group of related problems upon which he may be engaged, will keep his mind working connectedly. His efforts will then be cumulative in effect. Visits to the aero park, the museums, to the shops and technical schools, and to the local power plants are other distinct aids which should be invoked to supplement and emphasize reading and experiment. In some of the cities model kite and aeroplane contests are held at regular intervals, and these put boys on their mettle to succeed. In fact the proper way to use books of this kind is to let the boy use them; let him begin in the middle of the book and work outward or at the end and go backward, but see that he has books which present the subject vividly, simply. Provide him with the essential tools and materials and a place to work. About the surest way to make a success with boys is to let them have a room or corner of their own where they can work[66] to their hearts' content, where they can store their precious belongings, and where companions may come and talk over things. Really the book is inadequate alone. Unless one provide the opening for action, books but aggravate and excite the mind, mockingly spur the student on to "do." Hence with the book goes a tacit obligation to provide means and place, even the most modest, for putting the book to test.

There is yet another phase to this use of books, and it is one which the boy will usually meet, if the texts are adequate. It is this: whatever the young student does best will be the result of real desire, real personal enthusiasm. It is a fallacy to suppose that the boy interested in tools should always put up shelves, mend the door, or fix the fence. He will execute these tasks cheerfully, but they are not the subject of his dreams. On the other hand, if the desire be to earn money, to have a small business of his own, fences and shelves and plant stands may be the most interesting things in the world to him, because they are means, not ends. Hence the printed book is no teacher or trainer of children, no direct guide to future vocation, but is the very essence of inspiration, the foundation from which the young secures nourishment for day dreams and ambitions, out of which he patiently weaves the rich fabric of experience.

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CHAPTER V

A HOUSE AND LOT—ESPECIALLY THE LOT

The past decade has witnessed a movement, just now taking aggressive shape, which is unique—the interest in outdoors, nature study, farming, summer homes, sport, and what is termed the simple life. It is a movement filled with the greatest promise of any among the host now claiming attention, and bids fair to soothe the tired nerves and over-stimulated minds of a frantically industrial age. Busy men and women, particularly the men, who once thought their affairs would become hopelessly muddled if they were not at the desk each and every day, now indulge in sport, farming or gardening, and horticulture. They have become convinced of the benefits of fresh air and consequent health, and have a calmer, more serene outlook on life as a whole. It has become "quite proper" now to live in the "country," even though the country is represented by a lot 40 × 100,[68] for one may have a garden which produces wonders even on such a lot. Indirectly, people get the desire to fix up their homesteads, to plant hedges and vines, to have window boxes and put on a kind of apologetic style which develops into conscious pride ultimately. One cannot play with such an avocation long without learning a bit more about nature in general, and without any conscious resolution drifts into keeping chickens or pets as a kind of pleasurable refuge from mundane things. All this activity is much more than a fad; it points to a recurrence of the primitive instinct to always bridge the ever-widening gaps between nature and the human, who is merely an extra-developed animal himself. Children always possess in a marked degree a love for outdoors, for animal life, for growing things, and fight hard during the early years to satisfy the desire. When they cannot achieve results at home, the surplus energy is worked off by harrowing the neighbors. Steam will do a great deal of work when under control, but if one allows steam to accumulate it must get off sooner or later, and children are under steam always.

The Boy Who does not Love to Camp is Unique. This Illustrates one of Ernest Thompson Seton's Camps where Boys Come in Contact with Nature at Her Best

This and Other Illustrations of Homes in This Chapter, Show such Places as People Make when they Care about Appearances

The adult, when he becomes a city dweller, takes his nature study in stiff two-weeks' doses, fishing or shooting, plus all the modern gastronomic tidbits[69] he can carry, and accumulates a fine crop of scientific fables and sunburn. This is not real rest, not even the best acquaintance with nature; rather it is a sort of primitive spree, inherited in garbled form from tradition as a seasonal necessity. The truly fine side to the nature movement lies in its influence on everyday living through a sound regard for what nature can do at her best, and the resultant modification of taste in general. It is a questionable satisfaction to make a whirlwind campaign into nature's midst for a few short weeks, comfortably supported by the consciousness of urban conveniences in the end, when there is the possibility of bringing nature to our very doors, almost to the hearthstone. Nature is complacent and excellent company when offered a suitable welcome.

The ideal home is ideal throughout—outside as well as in. There is no vital difference between the kind of pride which demands clean linen and that which craves beautiful lawns (to be used however), beautiful flowers (also to be enjoyed), trees and porches for shade and rest. The kind of nature too which really rests and enthuses one is the kind which may be enjoyed for twelve months in the year; in other words, gardens, grounds, and trees[70] which belong to the climate, to the locality, and, being hardy, commend themselves at all seasons.

Even the Most Beautiful House must have a Background to Soften the Conventional Lines and Areas of Construction

One should Build a House as one Builds a Reputation, Gradually, Allowing Ideals and Execution to Expand and Develop Together. Then the House and Grounds will Appear at Their Best

But nature is no designer. The landscape gardener and the amateur must, by their united efforts, bring an artistic plan to bear upon nature's offerings, using her trees and flowers and the contour of the ground, and create an environment which pleases. The result should not only be fine of itself, but should furnish a proper and rich background for the house which is the centre. There are in existence numerous periodicals devoted to country living, farming, gardening, animals, sports, and the special suburban problem, and also a very distinguished library dealing with similar types. These have a surprisingly wide circulation, probably because they are as a class guiding the public taste in such matters instead of following it. This literature has in a few short years uncovered a new public interest in matters allied to nature, notably in home architecture and surroundings, and there is distinct evidence at the present time of improvement in architectural style. Domestic buildings are more appropriate in material and design than ever before, and are such as seem to be in tune with the somewhat informal suburban or village surroundings. Formerly architectural style was imported from abroad, and[71] with it came a certain few odd fragments of landscape gardening, full of patterns, floral arabesques and geometric arrangements, imitation Renaissance, urns and alert iron dogs to guard the dooryard. One can still find houses with ugly mansard roofs, stiff, forbidding doorways, and gloomy windows, the whole perched high on a hill, or at least elevated above the street, suggesting in every feature the barrenness of the artificial. It is art at its worst. The effort was further emphasized by the consistent designers through formal, wax-like landscape accessories, tender budding plants, cast-iron benches and garden ornaments, which must surely be blood kin to the modern steam radiator and art cook stove. There was nothing human about such a place: it always suggested the hereafter. But the new, healthy, public interests in outdoors, in a joyous life, have banished those artificial shells and substituted a type of dwelling which is planned for living. And the outside aspect of the house gives one the impression that it belongs to that particular spot, for those people for home purposes. Of course all houses are not so successful, but one finds a good many nowadays. It was bound to come, because when people began to study nature, to live closer to their flowers and animals, to want green lawns[72] and pleasant hills, they soon sought a type of shelter which would nestle close to the ground and look hospitable and inviting. Architecture and gardening are more closely related than one would first imagine, and it is questionable whether one can deal successfully with one and ignore the other.

Trees, Shrubbery and Lawn form the Frame of the Picture, and a Bad Frame will Spoil the Finest Picture

There was a Time Not Long Since, when People Built Houses According to Style. They Now Build for Pleasure and Comfort, Producing the Finest Style of All

In previous chapters the discussion of children and their training has touched lightly upon certain points which may well be elaborated a bit here. Most of the child's waking hours would virtually be spent out of doors; no house is large enough. And it was urged that these intense outside activities would be excellent foci for most profitable study. No yard, however restricted, is too small to accommodate some hobby which will absorb the child's energy and aid in generating constructive skill and judgment. The matter of pocket money is also very important and becomes a powerful motive when properly used. But there is another and more mature point of view concerning the home as a whole, which should not be discarded. Every child should learn to so respect and value his own personal property and affairs that he will respect those of others, neighbors for instance. He will not do this unless his own efforts and experiments are taken seriously, or unless his home grounds and living are maintained[73] at top condition, or unless he grows to appreciate a beautiful physical environment. The lawn, the garden, poultry house and stable ought to be in perfect trim all the time. It is better taste to have them so, and it is good business. One cannot succeed with raising pets or animals in unsanitary quarters, or inadequate shelter. It will not be difficult to develop proper ideas of taste and charm in the grounds about the house if one begins with the boy's and girl's own business and steers that to a decent working basis. Ragged grounds, unkempt lawns, weeds, littered porches and hopeless, tired-looking flowers—all persistent manifestations of neglect—leave on the youthful mind ineradicable impressions which undermine good taste.

Most boys and girls dislike any kind of work which is mere drudgery, and most children in these days shy at work for ends other than their own, because they have found that they can have privileges and amusements without responsibility or other return to their parents. The solution lies in the restoration to the boy of a feeling of personal responsibility and pride, restoring to him and his sister the rights of ownership to things and privileges earned, and make the children something other than social puppets. Make their youthful occupations[74] count. Among those occupations one finds a number which are equally fascinating to both children and adults.

Courtesy of Miss Annie Washburn

A School Garden. If Children Cannot Expand at Home, the Public School is Under Obligation to Satisfy the Need for Outdoor Occupation

Courtesy of Prin. F. C. Clifton

A School Garden. Watchung School, Montclair, N. J.

Probably no accessory to the home is more to be valued than the garden, especially the flower garden. It adds so much of color and variety to the whole scheme, and helps to bring the house into intimate relation with the grounds. The finest gardening has probably been due to feminine influence, and every girl can draw from practical experience with growing things a delicacy of taste and wealth of knowledge to apply to ends peculiarly her own. The latent intuitive feminine outlook often remains undeveloped in these days, and no craft will preserve and stimulate it more than gardening. There is a reaction just now against the formal flower beds of tender plants, a patch of exotic color dotting otherwise irreproachable lawns, though the florist would like to keep such arrangements in fashion, for he is seldom a true artist. But better standards of living, a fresher study of nature, a more personal, intimate architecture, have brought into them many of the old garden ideals where the garden belonged to the mistress of the house and showed it. The garden has a most significant history. It has always been a centre of family life, and among the Romans was[75] in fact the element about which the household revolved. Here the family rested and visited, worked and played. The dwelling was built around it, with living rooms which opened on its walks and fountains, bringing the family together in the most intimate way. The early Dutch and English colonists brought to America a similar taste for this soothing adjunct to the home and early put into effect such garden plans as their limited resources permitted. And always it has been the women-folk of the community who have kept the garden alive with persistent belief in its harmonizing influence on the family. Not infrequently the children learned their first lessons in business, in ownership and in responsibility, there. Gardening is one of the oldest and simplest of crafts and may not be overlooked in seeking a pathway for youthful energy.

Perhaps the boy or girl would rather grow fruits or berries, vegetables, raise pigeons, keep bees—one and all are equally good. This is the essential fact: every boy and girl should come into direct and positive contact with some of the important natural phenomena and life. Growing things have to be cared for, they must have food, water and protection. One cannot play with them when one feels like it; they need attention every day. The obligation[76] is a pleasant one, but nevertheless it is an obligation and gives a much needed lesson in a way that sticks.

Any occupation around the home, if it be one which ministers either to the pleasure, comfort or profit of individual members, is quite likely to knit that family into a more compact group. It keeps the children more at home. The interchange of service and advice which brings into relief the interdependence of the individuals stimulates this one of the important characteristics of domestic society. There has been an indication in recent years to lay upon the schools the entire training for manhood and womanhood. It is expected to teach manners and ethics, to give the proper kind of academic information, to formulate character, to even teach "nature." It is impossible to do this. The finest character, habits of study, executive ability, and the social attitude must be started and nursed to strength, if not to maturity, at home. Five hours each day under incomplete authority can accomplish little else than formal instruction. Even the beginnings of technical and scientific training have their roots deep in these childish hobbies which originate and flourish at home, where a deep obligation rests upon parents to make[77] the most of this early time. It is a lead the school can follow, but never originate. The school represents the average educational ideal of a given community, and when schools are inefficient, languish and give indifferent service, it is an excellent index of the local culture standard. Therefore, when parents develop to their highest pitch the enthusiasms and abilities of childhood, when they foster family life and enrich it so that every member, particularly the younger ones, become active participants, and feel that they too have work to contribute to the general welfare, then and then only will the school by force of public sentiment revise its own standards.

There is a Fascination about Raising Animals whether for Sale or as Pets. To the Child this Occupation Acquires the Dignity of a Real Business

Two More Illustrations which will Suggest Plans for the Future

For reasons such as these every home should be a kind of unofficial training school, in which the courses are mostly elective. Some outdoor hobbies which the children will enjoy should be maintained, and, on however small a scale, the house and grounds should be planned with this in view. The city boy and girl will have somewhat limited choice, but even there one can enjoy several hobbies, even in a flat. One can at least grow things, for there are few corners, even in a city, so dark that some plants will not flourish.

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CHAPTER VI

VACATIONS, ATHLETICS, SCOUTING, CAMPING, PHOTOGRAPHY

Every Child, and especially the Boy, Needs Active Outdoor Exercise. This kind has much to recommend it

Organized Play (Woodcraft) under Ernest Thompson Seton

The boy of to-day is at a real disadvantage in his struggle for health and happiness. He is always a primitive at heart, surging in the direction of direct physical expression, showing almost on the surface the simplicity of savage instincts, to live close to the earth, be outdoors, perform feats of strength and skill, hunt, fish, camp and play at doing the essential acts of life. Through succeeding generations society has perfected a veneer of convention which glosses over the crudities of childish abandon, and as they (children) grow, the polish becomes thicker and more lasting, even so as to make the individual a "ready-to-wear" being. But at intervals, even in adults, one finds the periodic plunge into camp and field. That vacations do not always supply the benefit which doctors would, but cannot, is rather the fault of brevity than of the outings themselves. Boys can,[79] as a rule, enjoy vacations without responsibilities, they can have ample scope for the close acquaintanceship with the simplicities of outdoor living. One of the first true signs of summer is the tents and crude shelters in backyards of our suburban villages. It is the nearest approach to a normal, sane existence the child can make. No proper child omits to play "Indian" or "hunter" in his early years, and no youth ever quite outgrows the keen pleasure of sleeping in the open, companioned by the sighing of the night. One recent experience of the writer, camping among the giant redwoods of California, where one could before going to sleep have a last look at the stars framed by the wondrous trees, and drift to unconsciousness to water music in the gorge way down below, was a time never to be forgotten. It is such experiences as these in the open which both keep and restore one's mental balance; they breed cheerfulness and optimism, develop friendships. And the boy is not so very particular about the place, provided there is water and woods, some companions, and things to do. He loves to swim and should learn. He wants to be of some account and have a part in the camp, learn how to make camp, protect things, prepare for weather, engineer the routine of camp life. Probably no institution[80] outside formal educational institutions is likely to have more vital influence on boys of the future than the Boy Scouts, already mentioned, a marvelous scheme to organize this play spirit. It takes hold of the most primitive instincts in child life, develops them to the highest pitch of efficiency, and turns the enormous energy generated thereby into useful channels by the simplest of devices—service. But be it noted, service for which the need is perfectly plain. The boy gets the finest of physical training imaginable and readily cultivates moral virtues which have been the despair of teachers and parents.

More Woodcraft. Has the Boy had a Chance at this kind of Experience?

Even the Technical Processes of Photography have been Reduced to Popular Terms

In These Days Photography has become so Simplified that every Child can Use a Camera to Advantage

In general, the vacation cannot be more profitably spent elsewhere than outdoors. If a boy cannot actually go into the woods, away from home and the restrictions which modern living must of necessity impose, then the next best thing is pastime or amusement which requires outdoors for a setting. There is much to be said for each and every one of the sports common at the present time, baseball, tennis, football, golf, boating, riding—they are all good—and every healthy child will take part in one or more. Now a book about sport can never teach a boy or girl how to become skilful; it cannot explain the mystery of the golf stroke or pitched curve, but it can and does awaken the spirit of trial and test. It suggests that[81] there is possibly a right way to do things; to play even, if one would succeed. The book may tell of the necessity for team work and organization, for system and regular living, and observance of rules made by others. In other words, the book acts through suggestion, very seldom directly; and for the same reason that one gives children books on mechanics, sewing, pets and gardening, that they may learn of the dignity and worth of these occupations, so also does one recommend books of sport and games, which surely are the more valuable when taken in all seriousness. It is through their games, involving dependence upon the confidence in others, that children acquire the best traits of character.

Aside from the inherent return in physical well-being derived from amusement in the open air—one can use this kind of medicine twelve months in the year—such pastime possesses a second quality of no mean importance; it brings one, ofttimes unconsciously, into communication or hailing distance at least of that nature which is so charming. It is easy to see the beauties of birds and flowers and skies, in camp; and the dynamic loveliness of crisp fall weather, even in a great city, is evidenced out of doors by the animation of passersby. But one cannot read about the beauties of beneficent nature;[82] one must enjoy them personally, and is led on to do so through those pastimes which take place in the open. Several of these have been mentioned, and there is one other: photography.

Photography has almost ceased to be a science; it is a habit. One goes to the store, invests in a comfortably small parcel and a book of instructions which says "press here," and that is about all. The fine succeeding details are minor matters. Whether one merely "presses the button" or goes the whole road and really makes the picture, photography has come to be a regular accessory to sport and enjoyment. No doubt it is evidence of human vanity, but it takes so mild a form and is the source of so much pleasure that the world needs it, to preserve the thousand and one scenes and incidents which comprise the background of life.

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