The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-18

| BODY knows about the work but the prac-
| teal everyday evidence as TO its good
/ results is more of a secret. Factory OWN
| eTs, machine shope foremen farmers and
shopkeepers oil over the country report
| creditably as 10 the good behavior and the
ehcient work done by eX-conVicts whom
they have employed at Mrs. Booths iDsti-
CATION, and by careful computation IL Is
proved that only a Smaff percentage oil her
! prison prOteges founder in wei.-dong.
There are town, village and country
fhOmes dotted oOut from Massachusetts
! TO California, all through Illinois, and
| way up in New York state, that would
1 not have existence to-day but for the vel
| unteer workers instrumentalty-he per-
! sonal exertion 10 obtain reliable employ
/ ment for The newly-released felon and
/ the wherewithal to permit his rejoining
! MS family and getting fair start with
1 bis neighbors. The other day there came
4 ~ the mail TO Mrs. Booth a photograph
| OF bonnie baby girl, just big enough to
/ sit up and look knowingly at The camera
/ pump, prosperous looking little one,
\ and the mother in the background looked
/ content and what the word calls well
! This is The first horn daughter of one
Ifof my boys" said Mrs Booth. He was
! n state prison at y. strong. physically
! nSn9sotne, with bearing mat any man
4 might envy and that showed even i'm his
! prison garb. all-of-a- piece with the 9TH
/ ers. / talked with MIN Individually many
| times. | wrote, 100. sent him reading mat
Ter, and did everyih hing TO impress MIN
with life's possibilities and the assurance
| that would take il to heart greatly IL
! ne Qld not dchieNe some good When he
I. had done his term. To my mind the
mission of a prison should be as much to
reform as 20 punish, and no matter how
grave felon's offense may have been I
/ feel that he should not be shut out from
al chance Of reinstatement once his fault
is eXpiated, but be encouraged to better
| things. Well, this likeness of my boys
wife and baby is more eloquent than any
thing / could say as to the hopefulness
of the argument.
On coming out of prison two years ago.
this baby'S father had only 50 in money
and good report from the warden as to
his conduct after joining my league. He
was well educated, and 1 secured for him
a clerical position in a New Eng
land factory town, where he married
good christian girl whose parents knew
all about his past, and were wiling 10
condone it. His life is now, and | tc-
lieve in the future it win continue to
be, as clean and upright as could be de-
sired ! have visited his cottage home and
had evidence from his employer and the
people he lives among.
Restoring Self Confidence.
Another reformation that I regard as
permanent is The eX-conVict head gardener
OF family estate in New Jersey With
real salient for his business, this man. who
had stumbled through drink, could never
nave obtained position solely on his own
word as 10 reform. Where did you work
last?" is asked Of every applicant and ii
the eX-conVct OWLS that he worked in
state prison it is all over with him. If he
conceais the fact he goes to work with
iic tAl AIS NOiSG-CHcG ana tue QfeaQ OF de-
lection and dismissal present. The only
way to bolster up a mans principles when
they are weak is through spiritual awaken
ing, and l never recommend my eX-prisOn-
ers haphazard, OF until / haVeA belief IN
their ability 10 vindicate their own resolve.
l have the warden's testimony to go by,
and then my own first hand knowledge Of
the men while inmates temporarily of The
homes l have established for released con-
Victs, In various PAGES.
NO one can realize the blank helpless
ness of a man when first coming out of
prison. after FIVE or ten or fifteen years
penalty. He has not even fit clothes to so
llcit work in, and feels shame-faced and
afraid of sights. No matter how earn
est his determination may be to get
abreast of things and do work in the world
again, the odds are against him. On the
outskirts of Chicago, in New York, and in
Massachusetts, l have located places of
simple comfort where my Prison League
eX-conVicts can find shelter during these
first days of strangeness Sometimes u
man waits two months before work can
| be got for him, sometimes only a week,
or couple of days before a chance Of
fcrS; but in the interim he works for me-
doing needed jobs about the place, each
home having vegetable garden stable,
etc, that requires work in the keeping
up.
There are Industrial homes, where
newly liberated prisoners may obtain
work; but for a long term only ex-eonvicts
are employed in such, and the prisoner
working side by side with his fellow
| never has the chance TO fling off the pris-
on atmosphere and look up In the world
| again. Ny aim is to start the men out
| afresh with new conditions. forgetting as
| far as may be the Blight that TREY put
| upon their lives.- Two of these ex-conViet
| homes accommodate forty-eight men each.
| others are not so large or we'll estab-
| lished Their address is kept secret as
| the men are sensitive, and my plans are
most furthered by screening them from
| the intrusive or curious visitors who might
| not respect the motive of the homes ex-
| istence.
An EmbezzIer's Reformation,
| zone of my reforms a nid5le-a oa7
man. has just beeen taken into a pros
/ porous business partnership, and has sent
us substantial reminder of his graft
| tude. He was convicted of embezzlinas
and fell from a good social and business
! position through the 100 great confidence
! reposed in him. I do not seek to excuse
him, but my sympathy was enlisted on
| learning that his mother had disowned
/ him. embittered by the disgrace; that lis
| wife had got a divorce on the ground of
/ non-suppOrt, and that i'm all The world
| there was no single friend or relative who
| gave him either pity or affection. Wei
4 heard all his story, and extended all the
| help / could. Once l Nas enabled TO see
| his family. and | represented his state
of mind and expressed my personal in
terest in him and belief that ne would
/ atone for the past. on liberation | help
ed get him work, work that he took 40
| heartily and executed so wei that his
brother the bitterest of his censors. has
| now taken MIN into partnership. The
| best OF all is that three months since he
! was remarked 60 his former wife, a GOOD
woman, who had been justly INDIGNANT
az the SUR cast upon her innocent chii-
| dren.
His Sweetheart Took Him Back.
Yesterday an old laundress. sturdy but
| scanned with years and trouble, came to
4 thank me for my intercession with her
| son now free man. and thriving IN his
| little truck and express cart business. Il
| brung him up right I could the old
! soul said, and IL took he heart out of me
| when he went wrong and was put in The
stripes; but be's on his feet solid again.
| Mrs Booth, and il was the shock AMI
| you that did it. Some folks has "a ha
! knocked fiat down before they find uut
| that it's best to walk in the straight cath
My boy1l never so wrong again. | can
| see that, and The girl he was going with
fore the trouble has forgive him ana took
! him back
| Some of my convicts never had moth
er's Gaze or home in any sense" AYERS
| Mrs. Booth They are men whose earliest
| ana most unreasonable years were spent
among the worst associations in the low
! quarters of big city, and who. when adj
| Vancement did come. were employed in n
| business the very essence of which was de-
J Ceit aud immortality. on iibera ton from
the Imprisonment that. in their case. IS an
absolute kindness. these outcasrss III nrop-