Fergus County Democrat., 1915-10-07
LEWIS CLARK
Makes REPORT
FINDS THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
AT MILES CITY A SPLENDID
INSTITUTION.
DOING GREAT WORK FOR INMATES

Der Oh TIE JURY Wou" N'luHtctl W
act as probation officer to take Mel
vim Conrad. a juvenile delinquent, to
the industrial school at Miles City.
and while at that place to look over
the school thoroughly and make IA re-
port as to its general character. Lewis
c. Clark, well known business man,
finally volunteered for this mission.
He returned from Miles City a few
days ago and has prepared and sub
mitted his report. 1t is of such inter
est and gives SO much information re-
garding the little-known institution at
Miles City that ii is given herewith in
full:
First. desire to say that | found
the appearance of the grounds and the
buildings to be very pleasing. There
are three main buildings. all of which
are large, commodious and attractive,
and the grounds adjacent thereto are
beautifully decorated by "A growth of
trees and shrubbery. There is moth
ing in or about or connected with the
said school to suggest that it is 4
place of detention. There are no
fences, walls or anything to suggest
a reformatory or penal institution. and
in lieu of guards | found a competent
corps Of teachers and instructors
met the president, A. G. Dorr, upon
my arrival, and found him to be a
man of pleasing personality and pos
sessing the confidence of all Of the
children in the school. With him !
visited all of the buildings, including
his Office and living apartments, which
arc located in the girls building. The
dining room is neatly arranged, end
all of the furniture. including tables,
chairs and sideboards, were made by
the boys in the manual training de-
partment, as was also all Of the wood
en- furniture of the institution, and |
must say that it is of a high class
character, being made of hard wood
and is a credit to the workmanship
| of the students. The kitchen in the
girls department is superintended by
competent woman instructor in do
nestle science, wherein the girl stu
dents learn the science of cooking by
actual experience, and in the kitchen
of the boys department | found the
! boys doing all of the work, and in ad-
dition thereto, all of the baking for
+, the entire institution. all of which is
of high class nature and character.
one of the boys having recently taken
prize at the state fair as a baker.
! The girls are taught all of the prac-
tical things of life. In the sewing
room | found conditions to be ex-
/ cellent, and in the music room found
considerable talent.
! The school is run in three different
departments. namely the girls depart
ment, the department of the smaller
boys and the department of the larger
/ boys. All of the students, of course,
are compelled to attend school, and
the regular state course, as prescribed
by the state board of education. is
taught, up to and including the eighth
grade The classes are divided so that
they can be handled to the best ad-
vantage in small classes. an average
of Is to the class. | found all of the
students in a neat, clean and present
able condition The boys all have
two suits of clothes, one for week
days and one for Sundays, and learn
ed by "a visit of the sewing room. tai
lOr shop and shoe shop, that all of
! the clothes. including shoes, are made
/ by the students, and | desire to say
| that the shoe shop is manufactOry
in itself. The shoe is made through
out. Three classes of shoes are made:
A heavy shoe, light shoe and IA
slipper.
The school is possessed of a first
class library, consisting Of l,G0O vol
umes, which is patronizcd literally by
all the students. The library also is
in receipt of % monthly periodicals
and number of daily papers, all OF
which periodicals and papers, before
being placed in the library. are scrut
inized and censored by the teachers
However. each student is allowed to
receive his home paper but accounts
of murders and scandalOus articles
are clipped therefrom before being de
livered to him.
There is IA printing office in the in
stitution. where all of the printing for
the entire institution is done, and in
addition thereto, "The Boys Mes
senger" is printed "The Boys Mes
senger" is a monthly newspaper print
ed entirely by the boys, and all of the
articles are written by the student
body. The paper does not cater to ad
vertisements. as matter of fact, will
not consider advertising. The paper
is OF the four-page, five-column char
acter. and is largely contributed to by
students who have been paroled and
who have reached the age of majority
Out door sports are encouraged by
the instructors and enjoyed by the
students. The play grounds comprise
a baseball diamond, football field
basketball field and an outdoor
swimming pool, which is used in the
summer. Part OF this field is ar
ranged so that it can be flooded in
the winter for skating. (The entire
student body is furnished with skates.
There is also a small gymnasium, useG
for play in bad weather This gym
nasium is inadequate, and solely or
account of the failure of the legisla
ture to appropriate sufficient money
therefor. Ii the next legislature could
be prevailed upon to furnish suffici
cnt money for the material, the stu
dent body would build a gymnatiun
that the staate would be proud OF.
The school owns 738 acres, 200 acres
of which is under cultivation. the bal
hoirn 60 IN he,