Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-05-14
TRUANTS FROM HONE.
TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS or RgM-
away BoYs lN NEW YORK

York chief fDSpcctcr-zsoys Get Their i
Ideas ~ the City frgan Lurid EooEls-A 4
Few Examples from the Records.
Having already referred IA y general I
way to the evil effects that usually fan I
I'd the lot Of boy who is s0 foolish and 1
headstrong IS to run away from home 1
and try his fortunes ia the great city, 4 I
viii cite d few cases of tie many with |
which the records Of our police depart /
ment abound. All teach thesame lesson. \
In January, a year or two ago, a boy
eleven years old left his home i'll Albany
and came to this city, as he afterward
said. .sto see the sights" As day after
day passed and lie did not return, his
parents. grestly worried. made inquiries
for him II nafy directions. The police
of this city were asked to join in the
search.
The boy had been absent about three
weeks when one day an officer who was
patrolnng a post ii the neighbCrhood Of
the docks came upon boy who stag
gered as lie walked. The officers first
impression was that the boy was intox-
icated, bu6upon making closer exam
ination and questioning him it turned
out that he was not intoxicated, but
weak from lack Of food and from ex-
posure in the wintry weather.
The policeman took him to headquar-
ters and gave him good meal After
ward it was discovered that he was the
boy from Albany whose disappearance
had caused 50 much concern.
His parents were promptly cemmuni-
Gated with, and he was very glad indeed
to 60 home with his father. Who came
after him without delay.
a few months after this occurred our
police were requested to look for two
boys-one fifteen years old, the other
thirteen en-wfo had run away from their
homes in q New England city They
mad good homes ahd kind parents, but
they had tired of going to school
The idea.of wonderful adventures had
been put into their heads by the books
they had beelHaliowed to read, and they
determined tossee life for themselves in
larger city than the one where they
had been brought up.
They wandered about New York for
five days, but found life here u sterner
reality than they had supposed. The
little money they had was soon spent,
and at the end of the FIVE days they were
glad to give themselvesHp to the police,
and tearfully asked to Be sent back to
their homes
One day Il policeman attached To one
of the down town precincts saw boy,
evidently a stranger in the city. sitting
on the porch Of a house, and sooa found
that he was exhausted from haHgez and
partially overcome by the heat. The
boy was only eleven years Nj age.
He had come here alonc frola u town
in-Massaclusetts first becaUse lls wished
to see what the great city was Like, and
also because he had an uncle Sare, and
expected to be Hospitality received Iie
sad the address Of his uncle, but as lie
Eas totally unia1niliar with The city H.
could not easily find the house.
gghen IT last, after Inuch wandering,
be d5d succeed ii getting To tle street
and Eumber, TO which he had been SO
often directed. he was worse off than il
he had not found them. The nope Of
finding his uncle had been the one thing
that cheered him during Lis jourueyilgs
through the labyrinth Of streets
But now his uncle refused to aid Oh
harbor him. Giving him little bread
and butter wrapped in u paper. he turned
the boy adrift upon tie cherries streets.
Under our law the uncle was arrested
for his inhumau conduct. but he was
discharged in court on his promise 10
see that tie boy was taken back To Lis
parents.
After the ambition to 30 west and
fight Indians perhaps the desire to SO
upon the stage il The strongest motive
aniEnatiIrg BOYS who take y plunge into
the wide world for themselves. More
girls thanaboys are stage struck. but
the girls do not run away as the boys
do-at least not when they are SD young
as most Of the runaways CT tho other
sex.
No doubt the experience gained ID
running away from home is often salu-
tary. The glamour ana glitter that are
imagined to surround Life i'll a big city
are speedily seen to haze no existence
save in the fancy. and the difficulties in
the way of y strange Ind ia strange
place who IS seeking situation, even Of
the humblest llnd-dhhculties which
amount practically To au insurmount-
able obstacle-are soon deeply impressed
upon the mind Fortunately, before the
matter has gone much further, IN most
cases a successful search is made for the
missing one and he eagerly seeks his
fathers door again
But this experience is not one that
rational parents would choose for their
growing boys. Tho stern realities Of
life will come all soon enough in the
natural course Of things.
AS Ihave already more than intimated,
many years Of experience in police work
convince me hatscarcely anything worse
could happen to a boy reared IN the
country or in small town than To be
thrown upon his own resources in a busy
and busting city like New York. The
chances are all against his earning
livelihood, even in an humble way, and
all il favor Of falling into bad company
and leading a worthless, if not posi-
lively wicked, life.
which ire drawn in certain books and
papers TINT are widely circulated have
no corresponding reality, and once
more / would caution parents to use Inc
utmost care III the selection of their
children's reading matter. Here is one
avenue of discomfort that can easily be
closed up. or, rather, never opened.
Moreover, the hard and bitter expert
ences Of boys who have attempted to
seek their fortunes IN the great city, and
the gladness with which they welcome
an opportunity to get back within the
shadow of the roof tree from which they
had lately fed, teach thoroughly tiIe lea-
son that .'to stay at home IS best. -
Thonss Ryrnes m Youths Cnlnn1nion-
EnEIand's Early Coins.
When England was being made into
rnince meat and blocks of real estate By
f1,n Ca,raus aa,l Danes pify-na. r-s1 tts-.,r=