Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-03-23
Waits of a Great City
Write From Western Farms
Letters Which Tell of Childish Impressions of
New and Useful Lfe-How the New York Juv
emile Asylum Has Found Homes for Thousands
of It's Wards.

/ Not all the homes are good, not all the
children thankful. The asylum relies
and experience has shown that it is
justified in relying-on It's visitors,
who inspect several times each year
the condition Of its wards, to discover
any case OF ill-treatment and to re-
move anyone who is not properly
taken care Of. Last year five such In.
stances were brought to light. Two
OF these sprang from a deliberate at
tempt to induce the wards, young men
nearly Is years old, to desert
and consequently abandon the $50 and
new suit OF clothes which were due to
each OF them on his 18Th birth
day. The boys wrote that while they
Gently there had been a complete
change A visitor discovered the
reason fer this and the wards were
taken from their homes. In one case
the farmer was compelled to pay the
boy $42, besides letting him take away
$li which he had put in toy bank
IN another instance th farmer paid
$24 and the sale Of pet calf formerly
given to the boy brought $36 more
A third case was that Of a boy who
was SO badly clothed that his feet were
frozen. The man who had charge of
| him was sUed by the asylum authori-
ties and judgment Of $50 was secured
against him.
The asylum official visitors see that
| the ward Ia well treated but there Is
no sure way of seeing that the ward
treats his guardian well In the ma.
jorIty of cases, however the children
are ms anxious to please aad as crate.
full as could be asked Not infreuuent
| ~ one comes on pathetic letters of
scIf-accusatIon The following is
from flfteenyear old girl:
Il have never regretted coming
west and think 1t Is the most beauti,
Gul part Of the country. | can do al
most all kinds of house work, except
nice pastry cooking. My guardians
have lived In the same house nearly
thirty-eight years. | shall stay In my
home aftor | am OF age II my guar.
dams are willing. | hope | shall get
to he better girl soon, hut 1t 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 | will never come to any
good, but | will promise You to strive
to do better, Mrs. warren thinks
am very slovcnly, and she gets out Of
patience with my work and my tongue.
| was always left to run loose in New
York and think I 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 n good education and can write
very good letter, hut she has a saucy
tongue that ia very hard to endure"
Most Of the discomfort which occa.
sIonally leads a boy to decide to try
HE on his own feet Is due to intorGcr-
once from outside either from his old
home In New York, IL he has any, or
from neighbors who talk to him of
independence and his ability to earn
good wages, Last year a 17.ycar Ttal.
Ian girl was the object of haheas
corpus proceedings in the course of
which an order from the court com-
PEELED the asylum authorities to bring
her from her home in the west to New
York. Her parents, who had paid no
attention whatever to her for years.
were now frantic in their appeals to
the Judge, to the girl, to the asylum
, authorities, to the spectators and to
everybody within Car.shot to restore
their lost child to them. Fhe Judge
decided that as the girl had reached
years of discretion she could decide
for herself what value should be
placed on this newly discovered long.
Ing which had laid dormant so many
years. Tho girl at once declared her
intention of returning to the west and
did so.
What the ultimate fate Is Of these
young coonists from the streets of
New York, is rs interesting as their
life as apprentices. The following
letter Is specimen, not OF the brill,
liant careers which are of particular
va)ue rs texts with which to lecture
children ON the necessity of industry
and good behavior. but of the average
hard.worldug life OF man who was
given a fair show and nothing more
It was received by the asylum authori,
ties some years ago:
Il was brought out to Illinois by the
asylum 81 years ago | was apron
tlced 20 Dennis Rouse Of Danvile.
and remained with him six years. until
1861, when | enlisted in the Thirty.nfth
Illinois Infantry and served my coun
try a. q soldier through tho war. a
period was spent at Andersonvlle IN
a prisoner OF war, After the war
went to Kansas and took possession
of quarter section which | afterward