Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-06-15
WAUKESHA bad BOYS.
6urnett'ss Visit to the State
Institution.
CONTAINS THREE HUNDRED BOYS

Grave Crimes like Arson Necessary to
spank Them Some Times-Average Stay
In SCHOOL but Two Years Don't Like to
Study Very Well.
Madison. Wis, June Tn writing Of
shs industrial schoo. for the 800 bad
boys atWaukesha 1t would be helpful, IL
we had definition of bad boy"
But definitions are elusive things.
There is 7-year-old in the feeble
minded home, transferred from the
Sparta school for dependent children.
In the latter place she had been a IA
vored pet Of Mr.. Petherick of the board
OF control. and ''Dick" says he never
felt SO like poor. miserable worm as
when by his vote he consented to the
change. though the experts said the
child ives an imbecile.
But one day. while In the classroom,
her teacher, by way OF penalty. ordered
the little tot to stand up IN the corner.
I'll do It," the child replied with
spirit. but you wait until my Uncle
Dick comes round-he'll make 1t hot
for you"
Pretty good for one tagged idiot"
wasn't It.?
What Is Real had Boy?
One of the Waukesha boys was sent
there because he stole locomotive. He
is not yet 16, but he went to the round
house. boarded the iron horse. steamed
up. pulled the throttle and '.let 'er CO."
| and had the whole state by the ears
Was he vicious boy. a devil at
heart? Most people think so.
Or was he a restless, curious, seeth-
| ing piece of boyhood that, had he fall
en- ipto the hands Of some one who
loved boys and could show him how a
locomotive works and secured him q
| place I'm the Allis concern, might make
| a second Thomas Edison out of him.
| That's the newest Interpretation of
| many a bad boy.
| The Waukesha boys range from 10 to
Is years when committed. and they stay
| until they are p. unless otherwise pa
| rolled, as most of them are after an
| average detention of two years. The
! school is but half a mile from the
Northwestern railroad station; In fact.
you can often see boys at work In the
fields from the train. Their Sunday
dress is neat uniform of gray with
brass buttons. Their daily dress is
more after the fashion Of farm hands,
and some are barefooted. But they all
look clean. Nor does the casual OBJ
| server note indications of the criminal
| about them, though frank, open coun-
tenances, and that hearty impulsiveness
that betokens innocence are lacking
| no more. perhaps than In "other insti-
tuition Children Waupun prison has
older and more acutely wicked boys,
| and there are boys with very crooked
| records at Waukesha; but as you see
| them at work in groups about the big
farm of 400 acres. or In the school room,
they look not markedly different from
| ether boys And many OF them do not
| properly belong in even such q mild
form Of reformatory. Three-fourths are
sent as the result of some misdemeanor
usually larceny. 1t sounds serious,
this word larceny" but you examine
| the records and 1t instances the theft
perhaps of dollar bill; or bicycle; in
one case MILESTONE" and other riff
| ling articles. Why, boys of the best
families rarely get through youth
without at least one serious breach of
| morals.
| One-fourth Of the boys are committed
| Judges. In these cases no specific crime
is instanced, but the impeachment is a
| generic one. And here is the peril-too
often 1t means that the boy is not bad,
but inconvenient.
at is amazing" said one Of the wau-
kesha officials In dry way, what a
disproportionate number of these boys
have step-parents."
| There you have 1t. The mother Of the
lad dies; the father marries again; the
step-mother prefers the boys absence
| to his company. He Is no saint; there
| is friction, and some obliging Judge
stunts the boy to Waukesha. OF course,
they have to take him when he as COM
mitted.
So much by way of reminding my
| readers that these boys do not have
horns or other devilish accomplish
menss. Many Of them are unfortun-
| atea Occasionally there is one of good
family. whose parents even are people
| Of considerable standing. But most Of
| them are from sorry. broken down
| homes. There are brothers in the
| school, in one instance group Of three.
| would not intimate that there are
| not boys of very hard character. Some
have committed arson. A few Of them
| have been in the school for eight or
nine years. This means that they havS
not shown moral gumption enough to
| warrant the superintendent in "parol-
| ling them-putting them on farms, in
| some cases, to be adopted; or else they
| have been put out to be returned as
| unsatisfactory.
| The traditional charge against re-
| form schools is that they mix the bad
boys with the good Oor some of the IN
| fortunate commitments are as remote
| from criminals as your boys or mine).
| / asked Superintendent Merica as to this.
| He said the Opportunity for contamina-
| tion is less than popularity suppos ed.
| The boys are kept busy and occupied
from morning to night. They are un-
| der supervision almost constantly
| while at work and at play. At no time
| are they alone for the exploiting Of
| wickedness by word or deed for more
than thirty minutes, and that rarely.
| II is we'll known that Superintendent
Merica in the brief time he has been
| superintendent has introduced marked
| reforms, notably the careful grading
of boys to keep the hardened cases
away from the more innocent boys as
| much as possible.
Too Tired to Think wicke0aess.
| County jails are the worse colleges of
| crime, where first offenders and the
| toughest cases are summered apd win
| tered together with no pretense of oc-
cupation to engage their thought. The
| evils of the reform school have been
minimized by the introduction Of man
| ual training, industries, exercises-all
calculated not only to build up the boys
body. wifi and ambition. but to occupy,
engage and engross him. At B-ock-
ways Elmira school the young men are
| exercised and worked &C hard that at
| nigth they are said to fail asleep
| the moment the head touches the pill
low. without opportunity for evi;
thoughts or plannings 10 tear down the
constructive work of the day. 1t must
| be remembered that the Waukesha
school is for younger boys than Elmira.
Mr. Hegs Green Bay reformatory will
| be parallel institution to Mr.. Brock
ways, In both Of them men being taken
| of % years of age anu even older. and
detained, indefinite,v IL need be.
The Waukesha boy, on the other
hand, is put out In home as soon as
the authorities think the boy will be-
have himself. An agent (Rawson) gives
his whole time to fitting parolled boys
| and homes to each other. to visiting
them, etc. In seven months Superin-