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MOOSEHEART MAGAZINE
MOOSEHEART SERVICE
By LOUIS W. HARVISON, A Mooseheart Student
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The Lane Case
The Jones Children
ROBERT (SHORTY) LANE Columbus (Ohio) Lodge No. 11
' he was really going he wanted to stay. In the meantime it was learned that the adoption was false and that the boy was being cared for by the Loyal Order of Moose. The adoption pa-~pers were destroyed and Shorty returned to MOOSEHEART.
About a year later Shorty became restless and decided to run away. After he left MOOSEHEART he was surprised to find that no one went in search of him. Then it all became clear to him; there were hundreds of other boys and girls waiting to become students. What if one would come and take his place while he was gone! Noon passed by; Shorty felt a pang in his stomach. Six P. M. slowly dragged by; it was becoming unbearable! The sky was clouding up and a storm threatened; all of a sudden there came a heavy rain and Shox-ty was caught in it. It was past twelve o’clock that night when a tired, hungry, wet and footsore lad returned HOME. He asked forgiveness and said that he’d never run away again. This foolish act cost him a long punishment—a month’s work on the hard labor line.
Years have passed, and now Shorty Lane is one of the best boys at MOOSEHEART. He has gone through the “mill” and has turned out to be 5. little man. During his six and a half years of training he has learned how to care for a house, cook his own meals, mend his clothes, has learned׳ all kinds of sports, is in the seventh grade and is learning the trade of a cabinet maker. He now realizes what MOOSEHEART is doing for him and is going to pay for it all when he gets out in the world. And the pay is, that he is going to be a SUCCESS.
Jeanette (Pa.) Lodge No. 114, is attracting the attention of the people of their particular section of Pennsylvania and the “News-Dispatch” of that city recently made complimentary mention of the address delivered before a representative audience by District Deputy Supervisor Harry M. Loy upon occasion of the presentation of the motion pictures of Mooseheart.
Robert Lane is one of MOOSE-HEART’S Id timers. He entered as a student way back in 1913. Robert’s father had been a Moose in good standing of Columbus, Ohio, Lodge No. 11 for several years before he died from pneumonia consequent to the big flood in the early part of 1913. At this time MOOSEHEART was nothing but a dream; but it was a dream of Bro. James J. Davis’ so everybody knew it was going to come true.
Times were hard and Mrs. Florence N. Lane had much trouble in supporting her small son Robert and herself. Soon, however, she remarried and her name became Grimm. Then there came the death of Robert’s second father and once more the mother had to go to work.
One day in March, 1913, the secretary of Columbus, Ohio, Lodge No. 11 visited the mother and asked if she would like to place her son in a large boarding school of the Moose that was to be opened soon. He explained that the boy would get an education and learn a trade. The mother wanting her boy to get the best, of everything that could be afforded agreed to send him as soon as the school opened. In the meantime the Governors passed upon and accented the application.
In the afternoon of July 26th, 1913, a little tousled-headed eight-year-old boy got off a dinky suburban train. Attached to the lapel of his coat was a traveler’s card, almost as large as himself. It had on it “From Columbus, Ohio, to Mooseheart, 111.” Presently a man came to the boy and said “I’ve been waiting for you, you’re Robert Grimm, a new- MOOSEHEART student.” After a pause Robert asked, “But where’s MOOSEHEART?” The man smiled, and pointing in the direction of two small barns and a gray frame house replied, “That’s it!”
There were not more than eight or ten students at the time so Robert was one of the pioneers. He hadn’t been there long before the boys nick-named him “Shorty.” They also called his last name Grimm. He protested and said that his name was Lane.
Shorty was a regular boy with lots of pep and naturally was always getting into mischief. If you have ever read “Peck’s Bad Boy” you will get an idea of what he was like.
It was not long before Dean J. A. Rondthaler arrived. He . organized and brought together the students and officials through Assembly meetings which were held in one of the old red barns. It was here that the students voted upon and introduced va demerit system‘; the demerits were to be given for acts against the rules of MOOSEHEART. When a student received a certain fixed amount of demerits he was placed on the punishment squad. Shorty was one of/ the first to' “tryout” on the punishment squad.
In May, 1915, an uncle named James E. Lane wanted to adopt Robert Lane as his son and heir. The ease was falsely represented in court, saying that the boy was alone and had no one to care for him. Two weeks later Shorty’s mother died after undergoing an operation for appendicitis. He learned of the adoption, and when he went to his mother’s funeral he thought he was leaving MOOSEHEART for good. He had dreamed of leaving several times but now that
to more than sixty concrete buildings and almost eight hundred students.
When the United States took part in the World War in 1917 Mervin enlisted as a bugler in the Navy. He was missed by all the students and they were sorry to see him leave. There were about twenty-five others who joined the colors at the same time.
Wendell and Beatrice Jones are among the nicest boys and girls that can be found. They are growing up to be the best type of citizens and they will be a credit to MOOSEHEART.
Since Beatrice has been at MOOSEHEART she has learned to do many useful things. She has taken a course in domestic science, has learned how to sew, makes all her own dresses, is in the eighth grade of school and plays the viola in the MOOSEHEART Philharmonic Orchestra. She is one of MOOSEHEART’S live wires and is a splendid dancer.
Wendell is learning to be a machinist, he has taken several preliminary courses leading to that kind of work. He is in the seventh grade of school and plays bass horn in the MOOSEHEART Student Band. In addition to this he has learned many household duties' and other nick-nacks such as mending his own clothes, cooking, etc. When camping out with a number of boys last summer he was made chef.
When the secretary of Tacoma Lodge called Mr. Jones on the phone that September evening and said “Come down and be initiated,” Mr. Jones said he couldn’t go because he had no one to “sit at home with the children.” The secretary said “If you fall off that train tomorrow who , is going to ‘sit’ with your motherless children the balance of their lives?”
The Moose are “sitting” with Mr. Jones’ children.
What would these children have been doing hadn’t it been for the Loyal Order of Moose? Members of the Moose, you can now begin to realize what your dollar to MOOSEHEART each year is doing for your deceased brothers’ children and for the world!
Brother Charles Mervin Jones was the father of three motherless children. His loving wife had passed away in the latter part of 1912 and since then he had had a hard time caring for his little. ones. He was a railroad man and lived in the suburbs of Tacoma, Wash.
In the early part of 1913 Mr. Jones■׳ handed in his application and paid his fees to join the Loyal Order of Moose/ of Tacoma, Wash., Lodge No. 435. Time passed and Mr. Jones failed to appear for initiation. The secretary of the lodge explained that he had better be initiated; no one could tell when he would pass away and without being properly entered into the lodge he would lose all chance for a home and an education for his children. Mr. Jones explained that he was kept at home with his children in the evening and that it was hard for him to get away.
On one September evening of 1913, Mr. Jones was initiated and was enrolled as a member of Tacoma Lodge No. 435. Ten days later he was killed in a big railroad smash-up just outside of the city. The secretary of the lodge wired headquarters for the admittance of the three homeless Jones children to MOOSEHEART. The MOOSEHEART Governors accepted the applications and on November 1st, 1913, they׳ were enrolled as students. They were Mervin, age 11; Wendell, age 10 and Beatrice Jones, age 8.
These students are some of the pioneers and have gone through all the early trials and experiences of MOOSEHEART and have helped to make it what it is to-day. They have seen it grow from a small frame house, two hams and twelve students
WENDELL JONES Tacoma (Wash.) Lodge No. 435
BEATRICE JONES Tacoma (Wash.) Lodge No. 435