The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-11-16
WATTS Of A GREAT CITY.
Homes Found on Farms in the
West and a New, Useful Life.
CHILDREN ARE HAPPY
IS Per Cent Of Those sent West Grow
to Be Respected and Useful Citi.
zens. While Only Is Per Cent of
Those In City Turn Out Well.
Not All Homes Arc Good.

Not All Homes Arc Good.
While much is said about the steady
influx of young men and women to the
great cities, a movement which Is es.
timated to add more than one hundred
to this city's population every day.
little is said of the counter current
which is taking the waits of the met
ropolis to good homes in the Middle
West. The institution which does
this work Is the New-York Juvenile
Asylum.
In the last fifty years the Juvenile
Asylum has placed six thousand of
its wards in private homes in the
West. and this work is regarded by
superintendent Hilles and the direc.
tors as the most valuable that the in.
stitution performs, for it has been
found that the children placed in
wholesome homes in the West over
So per cent grow to be useful and re.
spected citizens, while of those who
remain in the city only 25 per cent
turn out equally we'll
There are many thick volumes at
the Juvenile Asylum made up of let
ters from youngsters who, on Western
farms, are gaining a firm foothold and
a new outlook upon life. OF course
mistakes sometimes occur. Not all
the homes are good, not all the chill
iren thankful. The asylum depends
on its visitors, who inspect several
times each year the condition of its
wards, to discover any case of i'll.
treatment and to remove any one who
is not properly taken care of Last
year five such instances were brought
to light. Two of these sprang from
a deliberate attempt to induce the
wards, young men nearly eighteen
years old, to desert and consequently
abandon the $50 and new suit of
clothes which were due to each of
them on his eighteenth birthday. The
boys wrote that while they had hith-
erto been treated well, recently there
had been a complete change. Wis
itor discovered the reason for this
and the wards were taken from their
homes. In one case the farmer was
compelled to pay the boy $i2, besides
letting him take away $l4 which he
had put in a toy bank. In the other
instance the farmer paid s24 and the
sale of pet calf formerly given to
the boy brought $50 more. A third
case was that of a boy who was so
badly clothed that his feet were froz-
en-. The man who had charge of him
was sued by the asylum authorities
and judgment of $50 was secured
against him.
The asylums official visitors sec
that the ward is well treated, but
there is no sure way of seeing that
the ward treats his guardian well.
In the majority of cases, however, the
children are anxious to please and as
grateful as could be asked Not in
frequently one comes on pathetic let
tiers as self-accusation. The follow
ing is from a fifteen-year-old girl
Il have never regretted coming
West, and | think it is the most beau
tiful part of the country. | can do al
most all kinds of housework, except
nice pastry cooking My guardians
have lived in the same house nearly
thirty-eight years. | shall stay in my
home after | am of age if my guar
dians are willing, | hope | shall get
TO be a better girl soon, but it seems
doubtful; and make so much trouble
that | sometimes wish | had never
come West. 1t is trying ordeal for
my guardian to keep me, and | some
times think that | will never come
TO any good, but will promise you to
strive to do better. Mrs. Warren
thinks | am very slovenly, and she
gets out of patience with my work
and my tongue. | was always left to
run loose in New York, and | think
was put in the asylum"
Mrs. Warren's view of the case was
not quite so black. She wrote:
Annie has improved in ability to
work, and live in hopes that she will
do better as she grows older She
has good education, and can write
very good letter, but she has a
saucy tongue that is very trying to
endure"
Instances of asylum boys whose
names are now well known in many
parts Of the country are frequent. For
pAdhipiS, III lHe ldSl COHlSSt lOI lHe
Illinois Governorship John J. Brown,
County Judge of Vandala County,
was prominently mentioned as a can
didate to run against Governor Yates.
Mr.. Brown was sent to Vandalia Coun-
ty by the asylum in 1861 and placed
with William Hemminger, prosper
GUS farmer. Mr., Hemminger's two
sons declined their fathers offer to
send them to college, and instead he
sent young Brown. After graduating
Mr.. Brown studied law and became
active in State politics. The rector
OF one Of the largest churches in
Brooklyn is an old asylum boy, and
one of Chicago's best known lawyers
declares that he got his start in life
when six years old by stealing apples
from a pushoart on the Bowery-a
crime for which he was sent to the
asylum.