Page 12 - To Dragma March 1932

20 To DRAGMA School lessons
meals, play-life
beyond the physicians and the parents of the San Francisco Bay dis- in the sunshine as
trict, and soon children were sent from Honolulu, Portland, Los Angeles, many hours a da)
and even a few from as far east as Chicago. From accommodations for as possible.
half a dozen children the Farm was soon forced to stretch its walls until
it could care for thirty-five at peak times. The one farmhouse which had Sun baths en
been the nucleus for the experiment was outgrown and other buildings masse, and every
were put up, a dormitory for girls and another for boys, a separate resi- child is glad for
dence for Mrs. Hibbs and—entirely unanticipated, but highly essential the chance to lie
—an open-air school house. quietly.

I t was important that children who were well enough to devote
even an hour a day to school work be kept up with their grades. All
of these expansions meant an increase in personnel, so that soon Mrs.
Hibbs had on her staff house mothers as well as nurses, and a school
teacher as well as a cook.

Only one thing was now needed to make the Farm a complete unit
—a resident physician. What mote logical than Dr. Hibbs, whose inter-
est and whose money had been poured into the Farm from the first,

"If we want civili- Observations of Doctor Hibbs should give up his private practice and join the little group at Top o' the
"Auntie Kay" havt Hill. Nothing was changed. The children continued to be sent by their
sation to march Dr. and Jttrs. jfibbs built a comfortable own physicians, whose instructions were carried out to the letter. But
forward toward there was now a doctor on hand at all times to direct the medical
higher economic There should be ponies to ride—colts home for their regime, to act in emergencies, to keep even more complete case records
to tame—dogs to romp with—pools to little patients at and to add a masculine note to the discipline when necessary. I t was
standards, to moral wade in—lumber for nailing—playmates, Top o' the Hill. now possible^to admit children who were so i l l as to need to be under
and spiritual ideals, and space for all. Rest is the sauce that constant medical observation.
it will march only gives zest to all their play. They have pro-
vided teachers as And so for the past four or five years Top o' the Hill has functioned,
on the feet of Young minds love the freedom of rou- well as nuiscs, caring for from twenty-five to thirty-five children the year around—
healthy children,' tine. feeding them, weighing them, reporting to their parents and their doc-
said Herbert Hoo- pets as well as tors, giving these fortunate children everything that modern science
Health rules can be made part of the pills. as well as Mother Nature can give them to make up for what present-
"gang" code. And the spirit of the gang day civilization seems to have taken from so many of them. And chil-
punishes any infraction of its rules. dren have come from an ever widening field—from London, from Cen-
tral America, from Japan, even one child from Labrador. I n all, sixty
Unhappiness and discontent are always
incompatible with health.

Like the insects these children breathe
with their entire bodies.

Childrm should live in a child's and
not an adult's world. Little growing
minds and personalities should not be
forced to grapple too early with the in-
tricacies of this machine age. If they are,
our children will be broken on the wheel
of civilization.