The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-01-23
rHE HENDERSON GOLD LEAF THURsl

shoes and eloih hes used are made by
the boys. aud while the making of
money III tie efforts of the institu-
ton i purely incidental, yet The idea
of utility is never lost sight Of"
18Th me about the government. I"
"Why, some people SEEN TO have
tile isl.a that S;1ch IN institution as
the State has charged us with inau-
gurating IS nothing short of a con-
vict camp No idea could be more
erroi.pous. There are no stripes, no
chains. no guns, nopistoIs. You will
see no high barb-wire fences around
the buildings, no bars across the
windows, nor armed Gu irds. The
system is one OF merit. The boy is
given the chance OF winning his own
liberty by making his leJger account
square with the charges made against
him. This he does, daily, or he gets
further in debt. 1t is entirely with
him He knows this. 1t requires
but "a few days for him to become
thoroughly impressed with the spirit
OF the government. He is made to
feel that he is in 81 home and all in
dustrial and training school. The
prison idea is not impressed upon
him ut all. The style of government
is military. All, the superintendent,
officers, teachers and the boys, wear
a Uniform made of the same goods
and in the same way The superin-
tendent's right title viii be general;
the leads OF the several departments
will be colonies; and from the boys
themselves for records made, will be
selected the other officers. There is
no time in the day or night when Il
boy is alone His company marches
to meals together, marches to work
together and returns to the cottage
home together.
DO many escapes occur?' THAT
was the question Lasked Superinten-
dent Nibecker, OF the House OF Refuge,
the name of Pennsylvanians give
their school. | do not recall his
exact answer, but | am sure that out
Of over 700 boys not over five tried
to escape-nOne succeeded. 1t is /,
fIct that the work OF preventing es-
10 tilN Cotii c1I y
iny the management. 1t will be years,
OF course, before we can have the sui
ficient and attractive plant Penn
sylvania has, but we can have, as
far AS We 90, just us complete IL sys-
trln ans! ln-t rs Perfect Il ln,nage'
ment.
What is your present purposss re-
garding buildiGg-?''
Our site follows the Southern Rail-
way for one-ba!f mile. From the rail
road back 500 yards the grould
rises to d splendid elevation. Here
we propose to erect our buildings Oh
d plan crescent-shapeJ. The admins
tration building will be set in the
middle, and leading out on either side
will be the school building, the work
shops, the cottages, etc. The whole
crescent Will open out to the railroad
and the front of every building cal
t'e seen from the passing trains. The
open space fronting these buildings
We propose to put in order for drills
and this point to the railroad, VT
hope to soon have beautified with
drives, walks, shrubbery, etc. We
have OR our property a developed
rock quarry which will furnish us al
the stone for pavements, streets ant
building purposes
1T is true that Mr.. Thompson was
not an applicant for the position o
superintendent
Yes, absolutely true. We had /;
number of applicants, mostly iron
other States. Some had worked il
other institutions or had visited
them. Our idea, SO forcibly expressed
by Mr.. Cone (who, by, the way, is ;
tower OF strength on our board, ane
appreciated by each trustee in th'
| same light) was that we are looking
for the man and not the man for u
the man We want is already ell
gagged. A chance statement anu al
occurrence suggested Mr.. ThOmp
| sons fitness and qualifications.
The committee having this mat
ter in charge was not long in gettin.
to that point where they were thor
oughly convinced that he is the man
1t is known that he has thought 70
! years along the line of our work; h
has studied the subject. His quail
| ficatiOns of heart, mind and bod.
make him an ideal selection. 1t i
| gratifying to me to have from hun
| dreds Of sources in the State stron;
endorsements of the boards wisdom
in making the selection Of the su
perintendent. At one time, | enter
tanned some great fears. | havenon
now. Mr.. Thompson, immediatel.
upon his beginning service with u
will spend several weeks at the HOus
of Refuge, where arrangements 10
his care and entertainment have boe
made, to see infinitely into little &c
tails OF government and manage
ment, and gather such information
that might require months to secur
in the school Of experiment.
| How soon will work begin?'
IL was appointed by the eXecutiy
committee to represent them in TIL
employment Of a capable civil engir
eer to make complete survey of til
property, looking to the location {
the buildings, the streets, the pave
ments and the sewerage lines. Thi
duty l am about now to perform.
am in communication with q numbe
OF civil engineers about the matter
and just SO soon as Il contract
made and the work is accomplished
the board will be called together t.
pass upon the whole scheme. G
course, much work cannot be don
until the weather opens in the spring
When do you hope to open th
school for work."
I've hope to be ready before mex
fall. We will build as we can, bu
every time with respect to a CON
plete plan and scheme. We feel tina
We are building for the future, and 70
this reason we decided to have
complete scheme worked out at tin
start. The actual work of the inst
| tutiOn will ho mora ar lose ba nIioa