Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-21
THE MAYNARD BOY.
Methods to Make a Man of Him De-
scribed at Conference

From the New York Tribune.
'If you want to reform a bad boy under
fifteen. send him into the country: but If
he's sixteen. or seventeen, or eighteen,
keep him in the city-that's my expert
ence,' said David Willard at the last
monthly conference of the Charity Organi-
cation Society
Mr. Willard is probation officer at the
general and special sessions and the city
magistrates courts, and every one Of the
many persons present saw at glance that
he had lot to say worth saying about
"City Boys; Their Temptations. Means of
Rescue in Town and Country" 81
Before attempting any reformation of a
boy" said Mr.. Willard. you must first find
out what the reason Is for his being bad A
boy may steal something from a pushcart
because he Is hungry, but because he did
a thing like that one wouldn't necessarily
place him in the category OF bad boys. In
general there are four reasons for a boys
badness-a foul home. unsuitable surround
ings, wretched parental discipline and gen.
eral cussedness on the part of the boy,
known as temperament. Now. up to the
age of fifteen. boy is adaptable. Send him
to farm and he will grow into the coun-
try life and come to love 1t for good. After
that he longs for the city life. He wants
to get back to 1t. Country life amuses him
for only few weeks. Sooner or later.
he'll run Off back to the city. Both the
Juvenile Asylum and the Chiidrens Aid
Society recognize the fact that boy over
| fifteen is too old to be reformed by farm
life. They send thousands of children q
year to Texas homes and country homes
about here, but when asked Mr.. Brace
the other day to send a boy Of mine to a
farm. Sorry he wrote back. but the boys
too old-he's sixteen OF course, you can't
make hard and fast rules. You can't al
ways tell how a child will turn out, as the
Polish woman said when she came to tell
| how her little girl had died. 1t was SO
sudden. She seemed to be getting we'll.
| We did everything for her. We gave her
everything she wanted-beer and soup and
plums.'
And don't understand me as speaking
| against vacations in the country. 1 believe
| in all the fresh air excursions you can get
up. But what 1 mean is that the bad boy
| who has passed fifteen Is bound to revert
| to his home and friends in the city. II he 8
| got any. and it's in his home that you must
| try to reform him.
Not every country home is suitable for
boy, either. I know of very few that
| would consider ideal. There ought at any
| rate to be lot Of woods. and brook. and
| a pond II possible-yes. by all means q
| pond; and good discipline. with hardly any
| rules for anybody to break. In fact. the
two best country homes that I have In
| mind are the Berkshire Industrial Farm at
| Canaan Four Corners. N. Y. and the per-
| sonal home Of Mr.. George at the George
| Junior Republic.
| SeHcfdHy pe6iH ny TAKING d 10Y nome
| with me for three or four days. And he
| hasn't been with me many hours before a
| domestic tragedy Ito his mind occurs in
| which the boy and the bath tub play the
| leading roles. Treatises might be written
| on the uplifting influences Of cleanliness
| Whenever l come upon very bad boy, I
am sure to find a very dirty boy as well
Well. 1 try to get on friendly. terms with
| the boy and be with him a lot and find out
what the matter is, and then try to find
him good home. with people of his sta
| ton in life-an aunt or an uncle. If they
| are decent people, or 1 have him go home,
| keeping in touch with a friendly visitor.
| If the home is not too foul and the environ
ment not too unsuitable. Then find work
for him. The pleasure Of having the money
| to spend and the help and encouragement
| he receives do great deal to keep him
| going straight