MAJOR PEIXOTTO'S BOYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 537, 18 June 1909, Page 4

MAJOR PEIXOTTO'S BOYS.

THE STORY OF A SYSTEM. "It is a dream life, this walking in the sun-' shine; and though it is at times a hardship, and though it teach&s boys a. thousand lessons in bearing with each othor's infirmities, in eating unpleasant foods, and trying to liro together m harmony and peace,'it brings us all back stronger and nobler, and filled with countless remembrances that take the place of idlo gossip during the year to come'/* V In these words Major Pexsotto, the founder. of the Columbia Park Boys' Club,, San Francisco, summed up,-in a recont interview,-the' philesophy upon which he had constructed what is certainly a unique system of training city boys to lead clean, wholesome, arid manly lives. The Union, Company's s.s. Mahapouri, which' arrived in the stream last' night - from America via Tahiti, has on board forty boys from the Columbia Park Club, in charge of Major Peixotto himself. The major retired from business pursuits some time ago in order to follow up his idea of evolving,'by a healthy oiltdoor system of training,. citizens of the ' best typo from ; tho raw boy material which ho saw in the' city streets. He has certainly succeeded. He has'"got at" the boy by appealing: to his innate love of sport and life in the open air. ■■ "For the last ten years," he said, "1 havo made walking trips to the different parts of California. Tho routine of the camp life is done by the members of, tho party. It is a great training, and as I look now upon tho boys who had made those trips, and nnalyso their present-day lives, J can see the influence which the journeys have had on them. In tho development of health and strength, I' can see that theso trips have created strong, sound boys, different altogether from the boys about them. They have limbs of iron and grand, sound bodies; The trips have, as a rule, increased' the 6izo of the average boy of the camp two or three, inches'in'the seven weeks' outing. i "In-order to meet the expenses of the trips,'.' the major continued, "I thought of. giving a little show as we passed through the various towns arid cities along the linp of our march; The receipts taken in at the theatre doors more than paid for the summer outing ; for the party. To , attract the audiences to tho theatres, the boys gavo a marching drill .in the,'streets.just before the . theatre opened. It .was a-, military drill of excellent quality, and with the drum I and bugle corps, made a very interesting impression as a prelude to our ■ evening perform- •

Major Peixotto is a fine all-round athlete himself, and preachce the gospel of fresh air and .vigorous exercise wherever lie goes. In recognition of his services to the State of California he was given a major's commission in the State National Guard.