A Ride in the Country

One evening last week, David M. Campbell Jr., 15-year-old Mobile, Ala. high-school sophomore, told his parents he was going out. His plan for the evening: to be initiated into one of Mobile's six high-school fraternities. When David had not returned by 9:45, the Campbells set out to look for him. On the road an old car shot past at high speed, with a boy outside, on the running board. It was David. The Campbells pursued, caught up with the other car only when it slowed down. David, clad in undershorts and his body smeared with tar, was too dazed to recognize his parents.

At the hospital where he was treated for shock and bruises, David told how he and four other candidates were taken into the country, forced to build a bonfire and take off their clothes. Next, reported David, the boys clipped "and pulled out" his hair, stoned him, forced him to swallow rotten eggs, smeared his head and body with tar and creosote. Finally, after a severe lashing, David was taken for his wild ride.

Superintendent K. J. Clark of Mobile County blamed indifferent parents for the existence of high-school fraternities, which have no official sanction from the school system. His hope: that last week's shocker might lead to state legislation banning such fraternities altogether.

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