The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-10-27
SAVING NEGLECTED CHILDREN.
Cases That Come Under the Notice and Prompt
Ate ntion Of the Board of Guardians.

The Circuit Court room was rowded
nearly all day yesterday by witnesses n
spectators drawn there by the calling OF
cases presented to the court by the Board
of Children's Guardians. The good work
being done by this organization has been
the occasion of considerable commentator
from the public, it being an undisputed
fact that many of the street gamins and un-
cared-f children, whose only home
is the street, have been protected from
temptation and immortality. The process
by which this is being acc emphasized is a
simple one. The board. through its inves-
tigating committees, ascertains the names
of children who, in their opinion. need pro-
lection. and an opportunity is given In
court to have this opinion set aside by evil
dence. Often no defense is made, and the
court passes judgment solely upon the tes-
timony given on behalf of the board.
Seven cases were called yesterday, no
one of which was any more repulsive than
the average. Two of these will serve
as good examples of the manne in
which the facts are brought to the
knowledge of the court. The first was one
n NV a. $500
their three children, Mary, Patrick and
John, aged thirteen, eleven and nine years.
respectively. Their history, as CLEANED
from the testimony, was one which dis
closed frequent family disputes and a home
ruined by drink. The father, when on the
stand, related a story that WAS sad in the
extreme. His wife. he said. is addicted to
drink, and makes him more miserable by
an uncomfortable temper. Il always want
ed to see my children live well" he cOntin-
nod NonA II hnya ntuan fharn mnnay Il
have always been a hard-working man,
aud While / never had much money. /
have always been willing to support my
family. My wife and l couldn't agree, and
l left her after we had had quarrel, She
was drunk at the time, and / had taken a
little something, too, but then l knew trou-
Bile would come again. and SO / went away.
You ask me il my children are vici0usf l
don't know, for | haven't watched them
very closely. j hope, though, they are not
so bad as to require the attention of this
court"
Mrs. Mary Colgan. a teacher in the public
schools, said that she had seen the mother
drunk repeatedly. and at one time had at
tempted TO lead her out OF the school build
ing, where she lac come to see about her
children. On going down stairs, Mrs. Kelly
lost her hold on the railing. and fell to the
bottom. The two boys had attended her
school. but during the present year had
only been present n day. They are
huOWn ID DO VICIOUS, aiiu tlc tOO1o u
larger companions, well versed in the ways
of the streets. A. G. Elster, agent of the
human Society. told a similar story con-
corning the family, he having first
become acquainted with them through
Mary, the young girl who sells newspaper
on the streets. Frank Wright. of the town
ship trustees Office. said that the family's
condition, owing to the mothers habltual
drunkenness. was most miserable. and that
the trustee had often assisted them to get
q living. Mrs. Kelly, when put on the
stand. wept bitterly and pleaded for her
children. In her testimony she tried TO
establish the fact that her daughter was
badly mixed in her dates. The case was
taken under a~dvisement.
The story of Lizzie Pratt, the eleven
year-old daughter of Frank Pratt, was even
more pitiable because of it's closer intimacy
with immortality. According to the testi-
alone, the two living for 2 time on what is
taken into Pratt's house, but it subse-
Quently developed that she was the mother
of an illegitimate child. Pratt. in ask
ing assistance from the township trus-
tee. said he intended TO marry the girl, but
taken to a hospital, where she died:
Pratt and his daughter then took
rooms in the rear of q building on the
corner of Sixth and Tennessee streets.
where they lived for some time. Failing to
pay rent, they were compelled to move,
and they rented two small attic rooms over
a grocery two blocks south, on Tennessee
street, near Fourth. Here, It was claimed,
they occupied the same room, in which
was but one bed. Mr.. Wright in his tes-
timony, considered Pratt mentally un-
sound. and unfit to be intrusted with the
care of a young girl.