The herald., 1898-03-13
TRANSFORMING BOYS.
Methods at Brace Farm Where
Bay City Children Are
Made Good.

O-N' VIZ IA ObiCiil VI IlOW 10 Iudk0
really bad boy genuinely good, has
been solved. A very cheerful method
OF solution it is, and 1T has all been
brought about by that most delightful
OF combinations, charity, kindness, and
pure air.
1T Is only a little joureny from New
York to this place of good deeds. up in
Westchester County. After you have
driven four or five miles from White
Plains, through a wilderness OF rustic
beauty, you see, away up on the top of
one of those famous hills which have
made Westchester famous, a big grey
house that looks comfortable as far az
you can see 1T.
Everybody that lives anywhere
around there knows what it Us. There
lis a genuine ring of pride in the voice
of whomever you may ask about the
Brace Memorial Farm-or, as they cali
it there, the place where they make
children's minds over.
On the way UP to the house boys are
to be seen ON every side, and all are
at work. There are big boys and lit
tie boys, but there isn't one of them
who doesn't look as If he were having
good time right along. 1t is hard to
believe that these lads are waits from
New York streets, culled from that
weltering mass of human flotsam and
Jetsam which contributes so largely to
keep UP the supply Of criminals. That
is exactly what they are, though. The
Children's Aid Society takes them for
the purpose Of reclaiming them from
evil ways and making good citizens out
OF them. They have not necessarily led
criminal lives, though many of them
have; none, however, are old enough 20
have become hopelessly welded to q
life OF vice and crime. There is moth
ing compulsory about their residence
at the farm, to which they are taken
with their own consent If boy in
slsts that he does not want to stay, he
Is taken back to New York, and re.
turned to exactly the situation he was
In when the Society began to try to
help him.
The process OF the evolution Of the
street boy into good citizen is an in
teresting one. The first thing THAT hap
pens to a boy when he reaches Brace
Farm is an introduction to the bath
room. Mrs. Goff, the matron says that
TT is frequently necessary for the com-
fort of the inmates of the house that
the new arrival shall be divested of all
relics of the city as soon as possible.
After the boy has had his bath and has
been provided with another suit Of
clothes, fresh and clean as clothes
could be, he is allowed to go out and
look around the farm and see what he
thinks of it. That day he rests; on the
next he begins to study and to work.
1t Is the belief Of the officials of the
Chi1dren's Aid Society, the organiza-
tion which watches over Brace Farm.
that the best thing for the little vaga-
bonds whom 1T seeks to reclaim Is to
instill in them the belief that there is
no work for them like the work of
farmer. So the boys are taught farm
ing; then, If some sturdy farmer out
west wants to take a boy and make a
man of him, Brace Farm cam easily
supply that want.
The boys enter into the spirit of the
work with much enthusiasm, and show
disposition to be Industrious that
would amaze their former companions
in New York. Supt. Goff says that the
youngsters seem to be stirred to real
ambition for the first time in their lives.
There are So boys ait the Farm at pres
ent Each one has his duties, and each
has the alternative of performing them
faithfully or returning to New York.
Few wish to return, however; it is
such a delightful change for a half.
starved youngster to be sure Of having
all he can eat three times a day, in
stead of not being sure of anything at
all City boys have appetites, strong
and hearty, and when they get into the
country, Matron Golf says, it some
times seems as if they never could get
enough.
While the boys are taught the vari-
GUS things the farmer boy has to know.
their minds are not neglected for mo-
ment. On a hillside back OF the old
farmhouse is perched the school An
sorts of eyes look at you when you
walk into the big room, from the won
dering look of the six-year-old to the
keen glance that is shot from the
shrewd orbs of the boy of eighteen, who
knows chiefly what he has learned In New
York streets. The faces are rarely in
dicative Of serious evil-not nearly al
much so as one would expect when thu
origin of the boys is taken into consid-
GRAFTON. There are few dullards
amongst them, and II appearances
count for anything. some day they will
be notable additions to the ranks oe
American citizenship.
Copyright. 1898. by Bacheller syndicaAa.