Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-08-16
At THE House
Of REFUGE

Sheriff George Maiers, who conduct
ed Daniel Candy to the house of ref
uge last week, on his return, Satur-
, day, gave an interesting description
of the institution, which will prove a
i revelation to many of our readers, who
had preconceived of much more re
pellent place.
The house of refuge where Daniel
! Candy was taken is situated at Glen
Mills, twenty miles out from Phila-
| delphia, toward West Chester. On the
! way there the sheriff and his charge
were obliged to spend half an hour III
Philadelphia The short sojourn in
the metropolis afforded the boy a new
experience. He was half terrified with
the tumult of business and traffic and
while dodging the street cars, the
automobiles and the hundreds of
vehicles he seized hold of the sheriff
with tight grip. He was much i'm
pressed with the statue of "Billy'
Penn on the tower of city hall and the
sheriff was kept busy answering ques-
tiOns.
The "house of refuge is in reality
a farm of 556 acres, occupying one of
the most beautiful sites in the coun-
try. After leaving the cars the visit
or climbs a hill and there two hun
dred feet above the railroad the broad
acres with the beautiful and imposing
buildings spread out before the eye
There is nothing to suggest a dingy
prison house enclosed with frOwning
walls; on the contrary the blue sky,
the broad fields and the growing crops
the busy scene presented where over
six hundred boys are working out their
destiny. carries with it the suggestion
of freedom and contentment rather
than the harsh idea of restraint and
punishment.
To be exact there are Just 63G boys
at the institution apparently between
the ages of s or 10 and l6 That the
boys are under firm discipline there is
no doubt. but every effort is made to
make life. pleasant for them ari to
win them over to the better lite by the
strength of beautiful examples, by
tender treatment and kind counsel
Thus whatever spark of goodness re
mains in the little fellows is develop
ed, while the propensities toward evil
are held in check, so that by and by it
becomes habit with the most of them
to be respectful, truthful and law
abiding. No difficulty whatever is OK
perienced i'll keeping the boys ut the
institution and a large number of per
manent reforms are effected.
The work on the farm is done by
the boys, who are also taught useful
trades. Many of the buildings were
erected by the inmates. There is a
school at the institution and a portion
of each day must be spent in study
under competent teachers. Neither is
religious training neglected. Promin-
ent among the buildings is "A large
church where each boy every Sunday
must attend worship. At : 80 there
is mass for those of the Catholic faith;
at 10 O'Clock there is service for the
Protestants, while the afternoon is set
apart for those of the Jewish faith
fTIa how, arn ,o,1;rnJ -, a., ., l.l
each night at O'Clock and to arise at
6 a. III. Believing that a clean, we'll
nourished, well developed body is in
separable from a we'll balanced mind
and proper moral conceptions the ply
sCal welfare of the inmates is very
closely looked after. They are given
food. As the first thing upon arising in
the morning each boy is required t.
take a shower bath, while the most
striking building is a gymnasium, APP
proXi'nately 300 feet in length, which
cost $50, 600. 1t contains swimming
pool and in winter is heated with
steam
Sheriff Maiers was impressed with
the contentment shown by the boys
and the fidelity and the willingness
with which they seemed to perform
their tasks. He could readily under
stand why none of them wished to run
away. Even Daniel Candy seemed to
II
was to be benefited and offered no OBJ
jections whatever when the sheriff
left, but remained behind in the best
OF spirits.