The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-21
YOUTHFUL MUSICIANS FROM
 NEW WORKS SLUM DISTRICT
A METROPOLIs-ITs  
 

boys. which are conveniently situated with reference to school, industrial and other special-purpose buildings al- ready erected or to be erected. When the plans in contemplation shall have been realized, the Asylum will resem- ble nothing so much as one of those old-fasnioned~ New England home- steads where every thing was done on the place and there were but few arti- cles of food or clothing which the far mer and his family did not raise or make for themselves. Life at Dobbs Ferry will be comparable to that upon such a self-supporting economically independent old time farm. Even in the home at 176th Street and Amster- dam Avenue, which the asylum has oc- oupied for exactly half century, the authorities have managed to teach their wards a number of different trades; and among the instructors in | the Asylum today are several who ob- tained their knowledge Ss inmates there. The boys bake their own bread, make their own clothes and shoes. 1 print the annual reports, programs. circulars and other literature of the institution. cultivate their own garden | and do necessary carpenterng and painting. All this is. of course, inde- pendent of the ordinary school work, devoted to learning the three R's and l acquiring such other information as
 
 schools of the Unted States. Half the l boys cultivate their minds in the morn- ing and their hands and bodies in the afternoon and the other half reverse | the process.
 those trades for which they show the most aptitude and inclination. Not in- freouently their fathers occupation IS 1 the deciding factor, partly on the prln- | ciple of heredity and partly because this tends to keep the boy in touch with his famlly-lf desirable-after ne leaves the Asylum. Among the dliIer- ent occupations open to the Asylum inmate there is little to choose, for, to
 the boy who Is proficient in any or them. there Is every chance of a good iob There is, however, one important execution to this. For sometime thls autho,itIes have doubted the useful ness of the shoe-making shop In when eighteen boys are employed this year. Az far as the Asylum itself IS con cerped inc shop is a great economy for in if are made all the shoes for the Institution-and good shoes they are, too. but with the establishment or large factories turning out shoes py machinery much cheaper than IS possible to make them by hand' the old-fashioned shoemaker mas ceased lo he nrosperous The cobblers of today are mainly Italians. who do a very small business, practically without as- sistants. and the graduates of the Asy- lum shop have found it more than dim cult to secure an opening. At Doobs Ferry the shoemaking establishment will not be continued. and the Asylum will have to buy it's footgear instead of making it.
 For this financial loss. as well as loss of employment for the boys. the author flies expect to find compensation in me soil. With it's grounds greatly cur tailed by the encroachment of the city if has not been possible for some years to do much out-of door work. This lack has been keenly felt, and an area of twenty-two acres has been set aside at Dobbs Ferry for extensive cultiva- tion. where 1t Is hoped to raise all the vegetables demanded by the instl- tuition and at the same time provide tbe children with healthy work. The garden is to be as much part of the industrial system as the tailor shop, or the printing offce Not only is an out of-door life an indispensable element in restoring many of the boys to nor mai state of health, but a competent gardener can command excellent wages Along the banks of the Hud- son. now lined with large country es- tates, the demand is especially great