The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-12

ago, is typical of many received by Superintendent Hilles: Tt is going on two years since I came out here and am happy and like It very well; so Is my brother Joseph he lives only two miles from me and [ go to play with him often. I like to be around the horses ana cows and I have football that all the boys like to play with. l had a real big Thanks giving dinner. I go to school during the winter time. and am in the sixth grade; Joseph is in the third grade" !" Going to school during the winter time" Is one of the stipulatIons in the contract signed by the farmer who agrees to treat the child as one of the family until he is eighteen, to send him to- school for five months during
 the year and to give him $50 on his eighteenth birthday when the agree ment expires. The Asylum agrees not to take its ward away before reaching eighteen and though in some cases the Temptation to work induces the ward to desert, there are more who prefer to remain after the contract has ex- pired in what Is usually the only home they have ever known.
 Many of the letters contain evidence that the children become in reality members of the families and do not merely work for their board. The two letters following illustrate this point. The first Is from a 15-year old boy in Iowa.
 We have moved on a larger farm and have stock to take care of. have learned to take care of hogs, horses. cows and calves. and I know how to milk. We are through picking corn and I am going to school. I go to church two miles away. The school is about one-half mile away. We have fun at school. I hunt rabbits and ouails. I have been over to see George: he lives ten miles away. We are all we'll and hope you are also"
 The second letter is more scholarly in tone. It Is from a 13-year old girl.
 T have a nice time here. I like my home and the lady likes me, and the children like me too. We have two horses and seven pigs. four cows and some chickens and turkeys. I go to school and I am in the. Third Reader. I am growing strong and healthy. hope the girls are all well and are hav- ing good times. I spoke a piece on Childrens Day at the church; it had fourteen verses, four lines to each verse; the name of it was Oh. Why Should the Spirit of Mortal Be Proud"
 may seem uAhCCcScdEy tC warn Asylum children against the sin of pride, but the next letter shows evil dences of its insidious approach.
 T am getting along fine and like my Western home like to live on the farm and can do most all kinds of farm work. I have a target rife. a pony and 6 pet pig"
 Almost all the letters speak of some pet animal which has been given to the writer. Unless a child is well taken care of, he Is not likely to receive pres ents of horses. dogs, cats or even pigs- This extract from a 14-year old boys letter is interesting:
 T have been In my Western home four years and my guardians are kind and good to me, and treat me like their own children. I attend school five months every winter. and I have only half a mile to walk. I am small of my age, but milk four cows, and I make half a hand in the corn field, and I ex- pect to plough next summer. l have a pig of my own that weighs one hum dred and fifty pounds. We have six horses, six colts and eighteen head of cattle. We finished husking corn No.