The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-26
Hcrcdity mud Deprnyity.

Hcredity mud Deprnyity.
Sociologists will find Antoine Woode
until very recently an inmate of the Col
orado Penitentiary. an unusually interest
ing specimen. Young Woode Is described
as clever. but hopelessly depraved boy.
When he was eleven years of age he COM
mitted murder his victim having been
hunter for whom Woode was acting as
a guide. The hunter possessed a bright
watch which was coveted by the boy.
Woode shot his patron in the back, took
the attractive timepiece and went home.
For this deed the boy was sentenced TO
twenty-five years Imprisonment. Woode
is now seventeen years Old. The other
night. in company with three other con-
victs, he killed a guard and escaped.
The peculiar feature of the case is that
Woode is not ignorant and unresponsive
to the finer instincts. He writes well,
composes music, PLAYS the violin, and for
two years past had been leading the or
ehestra in the penitentiary chapel. As
an artist, the boy is said to rive great
promise, his work in oil and crayon hav-
ing been highly commended as possessing
unusual merit
Although there have been notable ex-
amples TO the contrary, most people ex-
pect TO find an adherence of crime. es-
pecially in its more brutal forms. among
those possessed of the artistic tempera-
ment. Unless the finer sensibilities have
been practically neutraIized by long asso-
citation with vice. the person of unusual
intelligence and ability is expected to have
an overpowering motive ere he will de-
scend to the level of the vicious. If young
Woode is as described in the dispatches.
he appears to possess the divine afflatus,
and, having given indications of uncom-
mon talents, might ordinarily have been
expected to make name for himself in
one Of the three fields of literature. art,
and music: or he might have developed
into splendid composite genius. since he
displayed natural ability in the several
directions indicated But. at the age of
eleven years he commits frightfui
crime, with the cheapest of motives, and
despite his display of talents, assists in
teen.
II is a favorite assertion in some quar-
ters that genius is separated from in
sanity only by a thin line and the usual
eccentricities Of unusual men are cited TO
sustain such an argument. However this
may be, the explanation does not seem TO
answer in the case of the Colorado boy,
who has such a black record at such an
carly age. II is more reasonable TO pre-
sumo mat young Woode is a moral mon
strosity because Of the innexible laws of
hercdity than to attempt to prove rela
between his artistic temperament
and his horrifying bloodthirstiness.
This is an age teeming with new prob /
lens in sociology. Scarcely day passes |
without presenting cases pregnant with |
pulling questions. The fascinating |
science whose province is the analysis of |
human nature is as intricate as it is in
teresting. II the laws of heredity are ever |
discovered and codlfied, so far as their |
theoretical nature will permit much light |
will doubtless be cast upon the general |
subject OF human conduct; the true origin |
Of motives; the explanation of acts which |
are the product of past influences, and in
whose performance men are simply in
struments, not free agents.
The coming generations are destined to
make more progress in this field than
appears possible in this comparatively
rude era. The fuller understanding Of
ieredity may make plain many things
hat are today utterly mystifying. Per-
,istent Investigations OF the extraordinary
n human conduct are to be encouraged.
There are already numerous theories. but
n the day OF the higher development, it
s to be hoped, the deductions will be re-
Iuced TO a more exact basis, proving OF
ncalculable benefit to the humanity OF the
uture.