The Call of the Girls' Camps 



William Gould Vinal 

 The Rhode Island Normal School 



When your grandmother 

 was a girl the neighbors 

 used to shake their heads 

 doubtfully and say "Noth- 

 ing but a regular tomboy, 

 anyway. ' ' She could play 

 "Four-old-cat" or climb a 

 tree with skill that was 

 envied by many of the 

 boys. If the up-streeters 

 wanted to go 'cross lots 

 they always waited for 

 "Jimmie" Morrill. Grand- 

 mother was a hve girl. 

 She vise to pick huckle- 

 berries, spin cloth, romp 

 the fields, feed the cattle, 

 and tramp the roads. 

 From these activities she gained health of mind and body. 



But times have changed. A new kind of girlhood has appeared. 

 The ordinary girl is contented to sit in a stuffy school room, flat- 

 chested and sallow skinned. She exercises her tongue and finger 

 tips but the body muscles remain flabby. Her circulation has 

 become sluggish, her nerves shriek, she gorges herself with choco- 

 lates, takes piano and vioHn lessons, goes to the movies twice a 

 week, dancing school every Friday, and to various parties on the 

 hoHdays. Do you wonder at the palhd cheeks, pale eyes, and need 

 of after dinner pills to assist digestion ? This t>'pe of girl has not 

 learned to live. 



It is now spring and that peristent desire to get into the fields, to 

 eat green herbs, to scale the wall, to wear old clothes, to sleep in a 

 cabin, is a call of nature. It is a desire to leap back into the good 

 old days. You want to get away from the crowded streets, the 

 school room, and the moving picture shows. You wish to meet 



201 



