i8o 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



May, 1908 





Th< 



5 Summer 



Camp 



at 



Arden 



Beir 



lg an 



Experiment in Henry 



George Principles 







By Mabel Tuke Priestman 







»N INTERESTING experiment is being 

 made at the summer camp at Arden, which 

 is situated at the top of a hill, and consists 

 of a beautiful common partly surrounded by 

 forest, some thirteen miles from Wilming- 

 ton, Del. Its purpose is to furnish for boys 

 between eight and fifteen years of age a 

 holiday during the summer months under simple and whole- 

 some conditions, and in the companionship of those who will 

 enter into their sports, study or work. 



The camp is, however, by no means restricted to boys, as 

 entire families live in the bungalows, enjoying a primitive life 



The Red House, Containing the Club Rooms 



free from the cares of housekeeping, and liv- 

 ing close to nature — a healthy, open-air life, 

 and yet near enough to civilization to enable 

 the business man to quickly reach Philadel- 

 phia or Wilmington. Sometimes the parents 

 come down for a few days, leaving their 

 boys behind to spend the whole summer 

 there. All those who gather at Arden have 

 a purpose in life, and it is very interesting 

 to hear the views expressed on the questions 

 of the day. Here may be found doctors, 

 literary socialists and employers of labor hob- 

 nobbing in the most friendly way with the 

 working man, who brings his children to 

 spend a Sunday, knowing that he will have 



the hand of good fellowship extended to him and a hearty 

 invitation to come again. One of these men was making a 

 tour of inspection when we visited the camp, and plied us 

 with questions as to our reasons for taking photographs. 

 He thoroughly appreciated Arden, and exclaimed, "If only 

 my sister could come to a place like this with her children. 

 They live in the poorest part of Philadelphia, and never a 

 ray of sunshine enters the house, as a high brick wall is built 

 in front of the windows, keeping out every breath of air. 

 The children are pale and delicate, and the only chance they 

 have of playing on grass is when they come to my little lot 

 on a Sunday, and they enjoy to their heart's content having a 

 swing and gathering flowers. It is not much 

 of a lot, as I am only a poor working man, 

 but it is the best I can give them." 



I was glad to notice after dinner that 

 some of the trustees sat and talked in 

 friendly conversation with him, glad to wel- 

 come him to Arden. 



On the outskirts of the common or in the 

 woods the most primitive cabin or artistic 

 bungalows can be erected at a moderate cost. 

 The people at Arden have a very practical 

 way of reducing the cost of labor for build- 

 ing, for here the dignity of labor is at a high 

 premium, and most of the work is carried 

 on by the community. The older boys fell 

 the trees and work in the saw mills, and do 



The Inn at Arden 



