, have, through their
writings, arrested the thought of busy people long enough to have them see
the error of their ways and are bringing them to repentance.

Camps for boys are springing up like mushrooms. Literally thousands of
boys who have heretofore wasted the glorious summer time loafing on the
city streets, or as disastrously at summer hotels or amusement places, are
now living during the vacation time under nature's canopy of blue with
only enough covering for protection from rain and wind, and absorbing
through the pores of their body that vitality which only pure air,
sunshine, long hours of sleep, wholesome food, and reasonable discipline
can supply.

Character Building

In reading over scores of booklets and prospectuses of camps for boys, one
is impressed with their unanimity of purpose--that of character building.
These are a few quotations taken from a variety of camp booklets:

"The object of the camp is healthful recreation without temptation."

"A camp where boys live close to nature, give themselves up to play,
acquire skill in sports, eat plenty of wholesome food, and sleep long
hours ... and are taught high ideals for their own lives."

"To give boys a delightful summer outing under favorable conditions, and
to give them every opportunity to become familiar with camp life in all
its phases. We believe this contributes much to the upbuilding of a boy's
character and enables him to get out of life much enjoyment that would not
otherwise be possible."

"A place where older boys, boys of the restless age, may live a happy,
carefree, outdoor life, free from the artificialities and pernicious
influences of the larger cities"; a place where "all the cravings of a
real boy are satisfied"; a place "where constant association with
agreeable companions and the influence of well-bred college men in a clean
and healthy moral atmosphere make for noble manhood; a place where
athletic sports harden the muscles, tan the skin, broaden the shoulders,
brighten the eye, and send each lad back to his school work in the fall as
brown as a berry and as hard as nails."

"A camp of ideals, not a summer hotel nor a supplanter of the home. The
principal reason for its existence is the providing of a safe place for
parents to send their boys during the summer vacation, where, under the
leadership of Christian men, they may be developed physically, mentally,
socially, and morally."

Whether the camp is conducted under