Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-04
BOYS AT GLEN MILLS
ENGAGED IN BUILDING
FIREPROOF HOSPITAL
Huge Undertaking Will Be
Worth $4,000 When
Completed-No Worker
Older Than II Years.

Boys OF the Glen Mills School, none
more than II years old, are building
themselves a modern fireproof hospital
on the school grounds. When completed
the building will be worth $4,000. 1t will
have all the conveniences of the most
modern hospital, including wards, private
rooms, sleeping porches, isolation wards,
dispensaries, drug store, elevators and
quarters for the nurses and attendants.
The hospital is being built more for
emergency cases than because of sick
ness among the boys at Glen Mills. Fresh
air, sunshine. supervised athletics and
gymnastics, supplemented by interesting
work; meal consisting of beef, beans,
beets, bread, potatoes, tea and q good
big slice of apple pie, and plenty of
sleep, keep the boys about as healthy
as boys can be. The authorities at Glen
Mills, however take no chances with
the boys health, and the wards are fire.
quently filled with boys whose tempera-
lures are no higher than normal.
F. H. Nibecker, the superintendent,
said: "It is a tremendous undertaking to
build hospital 9S feet 6 inches long, "a
feet inches wide, n basement and two
stories high, with nothing but boy labor.
There Is not even mason on this job;
in fact nobody looks after it at all but
myself. You must consider, too, that none
of our boys is more than II, and we have
on an average only a year and half in
which to teach the boys how to work"
SHIFTING PRESERVES INTEREST.
AS the boys attending Glen Mills are
generally so strongly individual that they
IN o1I oh ha rfohfa Of nfhard n
is necessary that they be kept highly in
terested to get good work from them.
To prevent q loss of interest In their work
the boys building the hospital are fire.
quently shifted about. They like their
changes, and one boy became so intense
ly interested in his work that he volun-
teered to build the big brick columns that
support the Colonial porch. Since he
started building the columns he has not
had to tear out one layer of bricks, and
the columns are plumb and true
Vocational education has been going
on here for years." continued Mr.. Nj
becker. I'VE teach a trade differently from
the apprentice system. AS soon as a
boy can do a thing well we take him
away from that part of the trade and
put him at something he does not know.
Rather than exploit the boys, we want to
give them something they can use when
they leave u.s.
A boy at Glen Mills learns his trade
much the same as merchaics were taught
10 years ago. In the woodwork, for in
stance, a boy takes a rough board and
works on It until he has finished chair
or a wardrobe or whatever his plan called
for. Much of the equipment for the new
hospital will be built by the boys them
selves.
HOSPITAL OF COLONIAL DESIGN.
The general appearance of the building
will be that OF Colonial mansion. The
foundations and floors are REINFORCED
concrete. The walls are brick outside
and hollow tile inside The boys have
made the forms for the concrete work
and have nodded sll the bases Tor the
columns and the window sills. AS soon
az fine roof is on and the windows are
in they will install steam-heating plant
The hospital Is more than $50 feet above
the Glen Mills station on the Pennsyi-
vania Railroad. The sleeping porches
overlook the Fairgrounds and miles or
what Is considered one of the most oeau-
tiful pastoral sections In America 10
the right OF the hospital is the school
farm OF 5S5 acres The boys 40 shs WIZ 1ia
on the farm and grow their sood Tor the
The boys live In cottages. Each cot
tage Is a unit, and has its own baseeall,
FOOTBALL. basketball and track team anu
nIlitary battalion. Teams to represent
tha school against other schools are
nIc,,ad from the cottage teams bach
cottage has It's piano, game room ra alu
aiming room, and the Interior decor s' atoiis is
IN tba hoys. own work Everything is
done 10 set a high standard OF hRins
Tor the boys in the future aoa
All the work around the sehooi p aone
~, ths hoys. A mechanic has not been on
tSa nlace for years except to repair tue
steep slate roofs