The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-19
OLDEST SCHOOL BOY
HE IS FIF-TY-THREE YEARS OLD
 AND IS ON THE REGISTER
Has Adopted the ChiIdren's Aid socie- ty--Cannst Be Induced to Stay
 Away from AHome."


 New York. July 1s.--(special IA 5s year old boy who win not go home. to say nothing of establishing . home Of his own. Is problem in what might be called second pedagogy which the Children's Aid Society of New York is being called upon to solve. For, al- though the society's work Is limited to children, and this grey haired man Is technically beyond the province of its aid. what is to be done with a l0- year-old mind In a Ss.year-old bodyf
 So the regulations have been stretch. cd a little in his case to cover aid for second childhood. Besides. what else can be done? During the past ten years of this mans second childhood. he has been dealt with repeatedly as a man. Mans work has been found for him, because in matters Of mere manual labor he is an adult.
 Mans wages and mans independence have been provided for him time after time. But nothing will overcome the child's honing instinct in him. and after a week or two he returns, you can't rightly call 1t running away, from his Job, to the Brace Farm School st Valhallas which he regards as his established home.
 This boy approaching his three-score of years was not always boy. Un- like Peter Pan, he did grow up, and then grew down, 50 to speak. Once he was the prosperous and respected superintendent of one of the most fash- ionable of the clubs for men in the metropolis There he was liked and respected, but in his supervision of the rare wines and liquors in the clubs cellars. he found 1t impossible to leave drink alone. He tried to overcome his weakness. but could not do so.
 aam AA sTw sought Charles Loring Brace. Secretary of the Children's Aid Society, and ask cd if there wasn't something they could do for the man, who was becoming a nervous wreck.
 Send him out to the farm school for a little rest cure. The fresh air and change of scene and absence of temptation will help him."
 So the man went out for a weeks stay and has been there ten years He stopped drinking and has not touched a drop for years. He is 6 model mem Der of the community. But to achieve this pogition he passed from mans es- tate, mentally, to that of a boy. The slate of his mind was washed clean, but his muscles and physique increased under the good diet, the fresh air and outdoor exercise.
 He is not idle and works for his keep. He has taken to himself the job of keeping the great barns and dairy buildings swept out At times he keeps them almost too clean, continues to sweep when there is far more import ant work to be done. but he Is a spe- cialist with broom. and does not care for general practice on the farm.
 Two other things he does-he occA- sionally has q dim memory of days of grown authority. and perhaps orders some of the boys around e little. And the third thing he does is to read one newspaper religiously from cover to cover. The paper he wants is one of the sensational afternoon editions. He does not require that 1t reach him on the day of issue If it comes next day 1t is all right, and if the satur- day edition does not arrive until Mon day noon, he is perfectly satisfied. For having started ten years behind the news of the day, what does twenty four hours matter2
 There Is no call for action on his part in the paper. and although he reads the political news with deep and silent interest, nothing can induce him to vote at the local elections. He never discusses what he reads. never laughs at the funny pictures. He just reads seriously, and having read, goes back to sweeping his barn. and sweeps it the same, whether Taft be nomin- 6SNAs VI eA Se~ SAA N~>AS @A@RRNS At GeAt4 Francisco.
 A visitor to the farm. one day. ar rived just before the noon dinner call The hundred and fifty odd New York boys. taken from the Bowery and the waterfront, to be given a taste of country life which eventually would make the call of the farm alluring to them, were sitting in the same room. Some were playing checkers. others were talking or singing, and all were hungry from working with plough and hoe. But in one corner, obltvious of everything. sat the oldest living stu dent. The mail had arrived. and with it his newspaper. the only luxury he seeks. for he never wants pocket money.
 He read solemnly from the first page to the back and then folded the paper and laid 1t on the table for others.
 One boy asked who had won. mean ing. of course, the Yankees or the other fellows at the ball field, but no attention was paid to the case At din- aar. he sat with the boys. and ate de- nbarately and with good table man. nsrs, but without taking part in the lively boy talk of energetic young st6rB.
 The attitude of the boys. themselves toward the senior student is in itself c study. When these boys of from