The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-21

Many boys have gone out and are now leading upright lives and making honest l livings, yet, in many cases the struggle I has been a hard one, not because the boys were not worthy. but because of l that narrow, rock-ribbed, unadulterated
 brand of prejudice which many have, l makes them think that because boy has been in an industrial school he is 1 thief, highwayman and vicious male- 1 factor In some cases 1t might be bare l ly possible that the schools or the pupils themselves are responsible for this con l dition of belief but l attribute if to ignorance of the boy sand boy life, to his desires, his ambition, his ability, his ideals; but the light of reason Is shining over the sordid barrier of uncharitabie, marrow beliefs; and Just beyond the dawn
 of a new day is breaking, while a thou sand sunbeams of splendor are playing over the hills of hope, and ere long the sun of forgiveness and love will rise high in the heaven and shed It's rays over the hearts of men. Then 1t Is the children will come into their own, and the strong arm of the state will more tenderly take the erring wholly in her embrace and the understanding of the
 words of the Nazarene will be fulfilled,
 Even as you do 1t unto one of these little ones, even so you do it unto me-
 Need Special Teachers.
 I must reiterate that the class of boys We receive are, as a rule, backward, indolent and ignorant. They would not | work or attend the public school, and many seemed to be endowed with cer- tain, special, complex forms of badness; and there have come to us many pale, cringing pieces of humanity who have never been given any training or school ing, and in some instances they have
 never been to church, and certainly they have never been taught the hope of l 1, fn plan of salvation; neither know they any thing of the power that avenges and de-
 stroys
 To successfully deal with this l class of boys we must have men and l teacres who are all that the word l implies. We must have teachers or l ability, who are intelligent are shrewd, and who have tact that will enable 1 them to take the initiative when the
 occasion demands who can look 1 through the mask the average boy l wears, and can under all conditions meet him only on plane Of honesty i and truth a plane that makes the aver 1 age boy dizzy, a plane that knows no 1 compromise, but stands for the right l always It is hard to secure this class
 of teachers and instructors for It is l not enough that they be enthusiastic, 1 that they be chuck full of theory or ! have had a certain amount of scat i tered experience, but they must De l people who have the cunning of the FOX
 and the moral strength of the lion.
 There are today hundreds of this class
 of conscientious, noble men and women
 who are breaking their lives on the ! wheel of labor endeavoring to inst1l l in the hearts of a great army of mis-
 guided youths those great principles
 of right and justice; and, while they fail in many instances, there is no tdoubt but that they open up for the
 boy many new avenues of hope and
 thus encourage great per cent to go
 out into the great struggle of the battle 1 of life and accept victory only on
 their own terms.
 Our meth cd of managing the insti-
 tuition for the last year has not been changed to any great extent, nor have we introduced any strange or new ln- l novations. There have been some
 changes among the teachers and oif1- cers; some have gone and others have filled their places, and as whole they 1 have all labored to the best or thelr
 ability to further promote the interest 1 of the children.
 The work in the literary depart ment has not been without good re-
 suits. The majority of the pupils passed l their regular annual examination, ana l in a number of cases some of them l made two or three STuuSh III ohS SSe'i' l We now have five boys at Auburn, one
 at Henry and Emory college, Virginia 1 all of wh om passed their entrance eN- l animation in a very creditable manner We find as rule, our boys after 1 they once get started in their school
 work are very apt and studious and 1 the teachers have very little trouble
 with their department.
 Older Boys Give Trouble. In my last report I touched this mat l ter of the older boys, those who come | to us over 16 years of age, and now 1 I must mention it again, for they have | proven to be very disturbing element
 and some provision should be made so
 that, when occasion demands, they | could be separated from those Of
 younger years It must be understood 1 that all those who come to us are not in accord, or in complete sympathy 1 with the plans of the institution. They have more or less demoralizing in- l huence on the others and they should | be segregated until they have proved, l by their conduct, that they are ready l and willing to do the right thing. The general health of the pupils 1 has been good. Of course, we have l had our usual amount of chills levers, l besides an epidemic of the measles and | whooping cough. We had one death | from meningitis. All the boys have | been vaccinated.
 | I would strongly recommend that If l possible, we enlarge and better equip l the various departments we have es- | ta bl ish ed, and where needed employ l proficient instructors. q We now have so many boys That 1 it is almost impossible to find employ l rnent for them, and we haven't the l eouipment to instruct but very lim 1 tied number in each department. It will cost something like $500 to 1 put the printing office in fair condition, | and the like amount could be spent on | the shot shop to good advantage and l many improvements could be made in the barber shop.
 1 The instructors for the shoe shop and | printing office will have to be paid | at least $50 each per month.
 I With very small outlay for a few 1 additional tools we would have equip
 ment enough in the sloyd shop to keep 1 24 boys busy but I do not think an | instructor could be secured for less than s75 per month.
 Blacksmith and Wagon Shop. | I think paying proposition would be | to establish a blacksmith and wagon | shop I believe this would be entirely l practical and could be put in at very | little expense, and after limited time l would prove self-sustaining. I think , members of the Eleanor Hord club, | Woodlawn, would consent for us to use | the money they have saved to start a | broom shop for this purpose.
 We now need another teacher for thu