The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
WHERE BROTHERS ARE MADE ID ORDER New York's Most Curious Or-
 ganization IT BOOSTS THE BAD BOYS They Are Encouraged Into Better Lives-How Business Men Play
 Big Brother to Waifs in
 the Street.
IT BOOSTS THE BAD BOYS

|
 | New York, May 9.-Makng brothers | to order-and big brothers at that-fully
 grown up and endowed with hair, teeth
 and wisdom, is the work of what is probably the most curious organization
 in New York. It is not science which
 has thus apparently improved on na- 1 ture however, but philanthrophy, for the l Big Brothers organization, numbering l more than 800 members, exists simply to | look out for the waifs of the city who | have come within the grasp of the law. Each member of the Big Brothers is a
 business or professional man who assumes
 responsibility for one boy, giving him
 practical help and especially friendship and advice, which is often the thing
 most needed to give the homeless boy a 1 fair start.
 The work which these men have set
 themselves is simply that of making
 bad boys good the boys who have run counter to law and order and come be- fore the children's court. At the head | quarters of the Big Brothers the execu i tive secretary receives information from this court and various juvenile asylums 1 of boys standing in need of friend and assigns the case to particular Big l Brother. Most of the Big Brothers gain l in this work their first acquaintance with
 the conditions imposed by grinding pow | erty upon vast part of the clty's popu | lation and of the difficulties of grow
 ing up right that are encountered by tens
 of thousands of boys in thls city. h. | deed the work of this unique organiza- l tion is as curious and interesting as its name. The task of "big brothering' the city's stray youngsters not only leads StrauRnSt Sf1rr0IIn0inRS | also surrounded with many difficulties. Many queer cases arise of which the
 following is told by the secretary of the Big Brothers is a fair example "A case which came under my observa- tion a short while ago." said he, will 1 serve to illustrate both the reason for our belief that most of New York's so- called bad boys are in reality only unfor- tunate and that a little friendly help at critical times is all that is needed to keep them from growing up into crimi
 nals and to enable them to become useful citizens. The boy in the case was a sturdy l little German who had been arrested and brought before the children's court charged with collecting transfers and selling them at reduced rates at junction points of the street lines. Of course 1 we always find out everything possible
 about children brought into court since
 
 appearapce there aside from the act | charged against them. In this instance l it developed that the lad had away | from stepmother in a country town in Massachusetts, being furnished with money for the trip by neighbors be-
 cause of the inhuman treatment he re- ceived. He had a grandmother here and went to her upon his arrival. She kept him over night and then turned him into the street. Then he looked up an aunt who agreed to keep him for $5 a week. He was not able to make over $3 working
 in a butcher shop, and so resorted to the
 expedient of selling transfers. His aunt didn't trouble to come to court when the
 boy was arrested and investigation showed
 that what home surroundings the lad had were not beneficial to say the least He manly little chap before
 the judge and evidently needed only a little real help and friendliness to get ! along There was no need to send him
 to an asylum if only just a small boost
 were given and it is Just these boosts
 that the Big Brothers try to give. The deputy clerk of the children's court called up and asked the aid of the organization. Well, what the boy needed first of all a place to sleep and next a job. We took care of the first requisite easily enough and finally a place found for him as a page at Wards Island.
 Over there they said they would give him @ trial if we could get two recommenda- tions to his character. We hunted up the butcher for whom he had worked and he willingly supplied one while the dep- uty clerk furnished the other. The boy
 was in rags. so that we had also to find clothes for him. "The upshot of it is that he is the most 1 grateful youngster in the city and inn i naensely tickled with his new job. We all of us get letters from him at frequent intervals, which make up in enthusiasm ! what they lack in grammar and spelling. 1 I went to see him the other day and ! found that he was hoarding his pennies 1 in order to buy violin and study music 1 of which he seems inordnately fond. Pos sibly we have rescued a genius; at any i rate there is no other organization which | could have taken the place of the Big l Brothers in dealing with such a case as i this" | Each Tuesday night about 50 of these | boys troop to the building where they have been organized into a free gym ] nasium class by the Big Brothers. Attn i letics indeed is great factor in holding i the boys and providing an interest which 1 is common to all of them Classes are l held also in various churches and neigh |
 borhood houses distributed about town. One of these classes resulted in unlocked | for good. It was held in certain neigh | borhood infested by gang of young | crooks who literally lived by burglary ! and worse. One night several members 1 of the gang appeared and stood about | watching. On succeeding occasion three | of them returned and asked to be allowed | to join. They were given permission to 1 do so upon conditions of good behavior.
 That was the beginning of a different | life for all three, but one In particular
 proved remarkable. After a time he pro-
 fessed Christianity at a nearby church
 and later asked permission to organize | a gymnasium class This was given and | he culled from hls formel pals a good | sized class.