The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-10
BOYSCATCHODDGERM
CHILphEMs AID SOCIETY INOCU-
 LAYING STREET ARABS.
Units Them for Street rafe and Makes Them Long for Ccuntry-Pair
 of Oxen which Cure

anu ieauefs ot poys gangs with germ that will i'll them with disgust Tor the crowded streets of the city, and make them yearn for farm life, is one by the Chiidren's Aid Society in its
 work to provide good homes for the supernuoas and unioved children of the | tenements.
 | Once the boys are inocuIated. the rest is easy. For the Society has lists of thousands of chfldiess farms and ranches all over the United States, where people are only too glad to re- receive child. give him an education and anectionate care, and when he grows up. see that he has q start in life that will make Rim a useful citi- 1 zen of his adopted community. Many | of New York's little waIfs, of course, can be sent at once to happiness in the country. but there are other dere- l licts to whom a sudden change of this sort would be mendurabie.
 The typical New York newsie. t6 whom life, evsn though it be a half starved existence. is made up wholly Of the noise and excitement of the street and the brilliant, noisy night existence of the Bowery or the White Way, would die of shock almost if he were suddenly transported to the rural peace of Texas settlement miles away from railroad. How could he exist in place where a newspaper Is a weekly event, instead of an hourly occurrence. and where there is no way of knowing whether the Giants beat "Philly." This type has to be intro- duced to the country by degrees. And the Society has wisely chosen to give its inoculation not too far from Park Row and the deeds of his pet baseball stars.
 rt,ts tnAe,.4..i... .A.A, ~, ., New. York boy gets the first real taste of open air and the first smell of freshly plowed earth is the Brace Memorial Farm School of i5o rolling acres on the hillsides near valhallo Station. It has all the features of a farm-the big barn. the horses, the cows and the oxen, which do not un- derstand profanity; the farming impIe- ments, the spring house and the fields, where corn waves and potatoes grow during the season.
 In lieu Of the "crick" where the farm CT boy goes swimming on sultry June afternoons, 1t has an artificial swim ming pool fed by pure cool springs And there is even a country school house. though 1t is not a red one.
 But is is not altogether a farm. It has two great dormitory cottages ac- commodating 100 big and little boys. a summer hotel for the fresh air" chil- dren, gymnasium. a library. laun- dry and clothes mendinE plant, anl lastly two ideal baseball diamonds q merry-go-round and dozens of swings and see-saws. Also 1t has daily papers from the big city so that boys may not spend sleepless nights in worrying about whether ''Matty's" "fade-awayT ball was too much for the Bean eat- CTS. This is very important. Beyond these things the Auuinnnant consists mainly of omission of mat ters common to institutions. There are no special rules, except that a boy must not smoke or swear too much. must eat three meals and be happy There is no high fence or barred gate: a great open archway welcomes the
 boy to the farm. and he Is free to 1 leave whenever the call of the city | grows too strong. for he is strictly a | guest with all of a guests privileges, l And the worst punishment inflicted is to tell little guest that he has worn out his welcome. and then hitch up and take him to the station and nut
 him on train back to the city.
 Some of the boys never catch the | germ, and strangely enough, a large | proportion of these are Jewish boys
 who are bright enough at, trade, buy-t ing and selling. but who do not seem | temperamentally fitted for farm life l is Jewish boy who likes farming, and few years later the society hears l of him as owning broad acres him. | self.
 Other boys manage to stand the farm
 at Valhalla for about a week, and
 probably get so uneasy that they fin | ally run away" Of course, they can
 not really run away. for they are free
 to go when they choose. The first ] disappointment comes when no one
 chases them. and, after waiting dis | eonsolately for a week for the expected | pursuit. eighty per cent of them re-
 appear at the society's office, 105 East | Twenty-Second street. and ask to be
 sent back.
 The germ has taken and they can
 not endure cramped city life These uneasy boys, c. Loring Brace,
 secretary of the society finds. make | the best material. because they have 1 gumption and push and almost invar-
 iably make excellent farmers when sent a few weeks later to Texas and the Middle West.
 The society doesn't at all mind the birds flying from the field to beat its wings a while on the high buildings l and grow confused by ahe city's arc lights boy who at once settles down and thoroughly enjoys every feature of the farm school and Is will ing to stay there always, will prob ably not make good on a real farm.
 As matter of fact, the school has one boy fifty three years old who cannot be driven away. He gets jobs occasionally, but always returns. And for ten years he has been sweeping out the stable. All the wages he asks Is that the school give him a chance to read each day one of the sensational afternoon newspapers. Other boys will contentedly wash dishes or help cook or volunteer for domestic tasks in- doors where it Is warm. These are not good material. for the real live boy hates "women's work"
 Such boys. when removed from the paternal features of the school to a real farm, are as helpless as a coun- try boy would be alone without money In New York.
 The routine of inoeulation Is com bination of farm life, city play and plenty of good food. a program in which at least two clements are com monly absolute novelties to the ane- mic city lad. All the boys, on arriving at the farm discard their city clothes, which are fumigated, washed and mended. and, after a bath, don farm CTS uniform of overalls and blue jeans coat, flannel shirt, heavy shoes and soft hat.
 They rise early and breakfast at o'clock. Then the older boys troop out stock and hitch up. and the milking squad learns the fine art of piloting stream into a pail and straining and cooling the milk in the spring house. A few minutes later, and boy from tha Rowerv is ha wing hfs dfst eXpe-