The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-15
Editor of The Virginian:


Sir.-our interest In the work of
trying to improve the bad boys"
tmisnamed Juvenile Criminals by
somel, prompted Mr.. A. J. Smith,
president OF the Norfolk Juvenile
at the State Reformatory for white
boys at Laurel near Richmond.
About s:3o A. NJ. we stood before
the gateway of the institution. taking
view of the whole premises. AZ
the front stands q very respectable
looking brick building. where the
boys and their fathers" eat. sleep.
attend school, assemble In large
room and sing and attend religious
services. and where all their. food ia
prepared tho left attending tn=
wards the rear, Is row of cottages
occupied by the officers and their
families. In the background and
facing the entrance. four room
school building in the course of con-
struction appears and building ones
used as a carpenter shop, but now
closed for the lack of money TO
utilize the same. To the, right q
tall wire fence acts as a barrier
to the escape of the boys In that
direction. These form a square with
the playground In the center, In the
rear Of the cottages, the greens
In the garden relieve somewhat the
som Der looking picture. The stables
almost hidden from view. and the
small corn stalks on thin land In the
distance made us think that horses
were there, and that some farming
was carried on. If we could have
removed the tall wire fence and sub
stituted fertile fields for the sterile
looking lands. the picture would not
have been a bad one.
A "Trusty" conducted us into this
presence of the superintendent, ane
we introduced ourselves Soon tbs
the four young lady teachers OF these
boys in the public schools. We In
formed them that we had viewed tbs
buildings and grounds from a distance
and Frankly stated that we now
wanted to go among these boys ane
into their home and learn VIVA,
was being done to prepare them &c
enter life as desirable citizens OF Vtr-
ginia. All we're ready to aid us In
our investigation, answering readily
questions and discussing freely tbs
weak az we'll as the strong points OF
the reformatory Some of the features
of this reformatory we We're much
pleased with. Others we cannot com
mend.
Holiday In Honor of Visitors.
From $50 to p. M, the time
of our stay there. We saw no WORK
going on except IN the Culinary De.
partment, and the seheei- as.ae''
open. A holiday was declared Inc
superintendent, his assistant ana inc
lady teachers spent the time win us
while the boys entertained us.
THE bows played baseball, football
and catch" with baseball. In this
latter amusement one Of the lady
teachers iotned The deep Interest
of these four lady teachers in theii
pupils was most apparent Iheii
pleasant manner and happy remarks
brought smiles to many of these boys
More il TO be hoped for IN the up
lifting OF these unfortunates IRON
the good influence OF these young
ladies' than from anything we saw az
this institution.
the brass band OF dozen or more
hovs In white uniforms furnished Us
excellent music in the assembly room
and IL was a rare treat to hear three
hundred and twenty-five voices IN uni
son singing songs. led by the prtncf'
nal of the public school One OF ms
i,tt,s friends from Norfolk entertain
cd MS with an excellent defamation
The buildings are kept fairly neat
The only dormitory which We visited
was as clean and neat as could De, u
the pillow cases had only been MD
den. Religious services are held II
the assembly room at least once q
week by persons Of different denomi'
nations from Richmond.
| The boys do some gardening. farm
inu and brick making, but might,
little.
Officers Popular With Boys.
The officers OF the institution seen
popular with the boys, appeared deep
ii interested In their welfare and ex
pressed regret that they could do ns
more for them because of the SINAI
amount az money appr6priateu to tar
~ on the work. Up to this poin
only the brightest side OF the lie o.
these uhfortunates has been mention
cd. In order 70 carry opt tho puypos'