Smyrna times., 1915-07-07
SMYRNIANS LAY OUT COL
ONYFOR JERSEYS IMBECILES
MR.. AND MRS. j. FRANK MAcom-
6ER DOING GOOD WORK
Helping The State TO Solve the Oues-
ton of Taking Care of Its Nearly
1000 Feeble Minded Inhabitants

Mr.. and Mrs. J. Frank Macomher.
the latter a sister of Mr.. Andrew d.
Cole. of this town, and both we'll and
favorably known in Smyrna and vi.
einity, came in for much praise bv
the Philadelphia Sunday Record for
the new work they have taken I'D in
the pines at Four Mile. N. ]. Saws
the Record: History Of humane and
economic reforms has produced no more
heroic figures than are found at the
Burlington County Colony for Feeble.
Minded Boys at Four Mile. N. j..
where Mr.. and Mrs. J. Frank Macom-
ber' superintendent and matron re-
spectively. in work that call for a
self-imposed martyrdom. have been
able to demonstrate during the re-
markable institutions first year that
the State has at last found a definite
solution for the great problem Of car
ing for its feeble-minded dependents.
Leaving friends and the comforts Of
civilization behind the Macombers
who he'd been members Of the faculty
Of the Vineland Training School.
went with the spirit that marks all
pioneers into the dreary stretches of
the Jersey pine wilderness, a little
more than a year ago, TO direct the
frst experiment in colonization of
mentally defective boys. To pit waste
humanity against waste land as the
Keynote of the whole movement. and
IN the intervening months the Ma
eombers have shown the State that in
planning to care for the nearly 1000
detectives now estimated TO be at
large, the Commonwealth can solve
the other problem Of bringing much
Of its 700. 600 acres of barren lands
into condition for successful cultiva-
tion. thereby doubling its present
agricultural wealth and productive
ness.
macombers Aid in Laying out Ground
Clearing these lands of scrub oak
and pine an! a dense underbrush is
so expensive an Undertaking that onlv
IN isolated suots has il been attemp-
ted Destructiveness is a natural
characteristic Of boy nature, and the
inmates of the colony who. no matter
what tkeir physical age are only |
children mentally. delight in telling
the trees and grubbing up the under
brush, job at which the ordinary |
normal laborer balks A large park |
and a garden have been cleared bv /
the inmates and Superintendent Ma
comber plans to let the boys attack
the hundreds of acres of surrounding /
wilderness as the improvement at the
home in which they can aid are COM
p!eted and leave them otherwise with
out employment. The State Depart
ment OF Charities and Corrections of
New Jersey looks upon the subject Of
the mentally defective or subnormal
as the most serious problem eOnfron-
ting the department and society IS a
whole. Only children in mental
capacity, persons Of this type weakly
follow the lines of least resistance
and this generally leads them into
crime and subsequently, into trouble
with the Courts. Eighty. FIVE per
cent. Of the criminals in county jails.
It Is estimated by sc ientists in this
branch OF investigation. are morons,
as the higher type Of detectives are
known, or rank even lower in the
mental scale. To shut them up in
cells after their natures have been
developed along criminal lines is a
public necessity; to permit them TO
remain at large is cruelty.
Supt. Maeomber PTeases Authorities
Superintendent Mseomber's work
has shown the State the way to save
these sub-normals from the Courts.
jails and aimhoBses and at the same
time save society the ever. growing
expense Of the maintenance Of this
type. Several hundred Burlington
county residents who contributed
80. 600 for the initial buildings of
The colony, when the State agreed 10
accept the financial burden of main
tenance, have been following the ex-
pertinent with interest. Daniel w.
Bishop. of Florence. N. j., is chair
man Of the colony board Of directors
and has been the chief factor in stim-
llating public interest in the project.
Presbyterian Church Announcements.