The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-29

that substitute home approaches the natural environment the better will be he outlook. and the more likely will we be to make something of the boy. APPROVES COTTAGE SYSTEM
 You will ask, how many boys should such 8 home contain? That is a much mooted question. After many lyears expefience,s we have come to the conclusion that to get as near | as possible to the normal home, tWen- ty-hve to thirty boys should be about dred boys at the Lincoln Agricultural School and these are divided into cottage groups of thirty each We must get away from deadening rou-- tine: machine-1ike system must be 1 avoided. Individual attention must be given to each boy if we want to in dividualize him, and to do this with large numbers seems out of the ques- ton, because for the sake of order and discipline the boy must lose his own individuality and becomes fgur- atiyeV merely piece of machinery. In a small group each boy may be made to realize that he is the object | of personal, individual care, and with. this realization we have the ground work upon which to rear the super REAL HOMES UNKNOWN
 \ 1Il0 t1OLu0 gwen the DOy SflOuiu approach the model family home in it's environment as nearly as possible. To the friendless. unfortunate lad, Home loftentimes conveys only one idea-life in some douloIe-deck tenement. in a crowded section of the city, where In order to move about or assert him self, his little fist has got to push
 his neighbor out of the way. The dingy, poorly ventilated crowded rooms lin which he previously had lived, ad-. united little or no sunlight. and the ineed of room to spread himself drove him Into the crowded street and even tua1ly, perhaps, was the cause of send | ing him to the Institution.
 In the substitute home prepared I for the boy, the aim of course is to l fit the boy to take his place among the respectable men and women of the community hence the necessity of \ making that home attractive and com \ fortable. Example is better than pre- cept. and a we'll ordered establishment 3 will go further in installing a love for home than any course of instruction I that could be outlined. Show the boy | how to make things comfortable, give l him foretaste of that which he should aim to enjoy in the future, and you will engender in him the ambition I to make for himself a. home that will l approach in attractiveness that which j you have provided for him. {sss ssss
 
 ] aThe sitting room should not be for
 looks, but should be so comfortable and inviting that after his days eff I forts, the boy will look forward to
 the evening spent in enjoying it's privi- leges. In it have a suitable library Il for the quiet, studious boy. Music 4 hath it's charms for many boys, hence
 let the boy musicalIy inclined have q chance to develop his talents Making your home not only attractive and I comfortable, but servfcea ble, you serve \ the com bined purpose of not only a harmonious household. but one that I meets the personal needs and tastes 1 of it's members. Of course, the sitting room and parlor Is not the only place
 the boy will want to spend his leisure
 moments There should be more in- formal room where the sport loving boy wants to play games, or maybe T the boy would like to tinker about the
 tool chest, making handy things in his Il leisure moments We have such boys,
 and those privileges give them de- l light
 .sDo not overlook creature comforts. Our dining rooms are an essential ele- !srnent in our training. Our dining rooms are eight in number. and we | accommodate twenty-five boys in a l room. Five sit at table, which is laid with neat linen cloth. with nap I kin, silver, glass, etc. The service is ' indfvidual, and each boy takes his l turn in acting as host, serving his
 companions. Good. table manners contribute much to putting a boy at his ease and at home in any com l pany. Without proper table etiquette | a boy or girl is handicapped and fore 1 doomed to many disappointments. 1 Here again. example is better than 1 precept- Let the boy see things done l as they are in polite society and he is | fn aa ESre
 and observation table manners
 HERMIT INDIVIDUALPTY
 s'It seems to be the little things in T life that count human nature being much the same in all of us. You will find some individuals rejected or ignored because of some little pecu- liarity or dress or of manner and de Il pertinent, and their nobler qualities
 entirely overlooked because of some inconsequential though offending odd
 ness It is our aim to remove these
 rough edges. and to bring out the best Il that is in the boy, to stimulate the desire for personal neatness in our | boys by making them dress for dinner and supper. We do not dress them Il alike, and hardly ever use two suits l of like design. We do not cut the hair of the boys with clippers so that they T look like freaks, but have them bar l bered becoming the features of the | 1n01Nldue1l lAO0C A1IeAO SAA1iISS dA z all very helpful in bringing out the 1 self respect of the boy, and what boy l does not want to be himself The l same methods are carried even into
 the private devotional exercises of the
 boys each one knee1ing by his own
 bedside morning and evening and say
 ing his prayers daily.
 .sIn connection with this individual
 izing influence, by the development io1 I the personal characteristics of the boy
 I would like to tell you of the system
 of discipline in vogue at Lincolndale I which seems to work successful This
 system is very helpful for se1f-devel- T opment because the responsibility fo1
 co-operation puts much the
 sbaIIIders of the boy himself