The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-29

Many years ago a woman visiting the iails in Alabama saw young boys, inn mature and undeveloped, awaiting sem tence or already committed in the jails and penitentiaries, these boys having as daily companions the criminals of the state, men of the lowest and most vicious character, all idle, all subjected to the most unwholesome surroundings and re- duced to the horror of long unoccupied days in which to breed crime and dis ease, to wreck lives capable of being saved.
 Like Miss Julia Tutwiler, Mrs. Robert D. Johnston, too, believed that 'ione and God made lpajority," especially when that one wa8a small boy, so she de- cided to get the boys of Alabama out of the jails and save them for some use- funess In the future. It took several years of hard work and much discour- agement to make an impression on the people, and bring them to the realization of what they were doing, what they were not doing for the boys of Ala bama. After awhile she finally got one boy, in a little log cabin, and with this one boy the Alabama Boys Industrial school was started.
 Now this institution ranks as one of the finest of the kind in the south, prob- ably, for that matter in some respects. as fine as any institution of its kind anywhere, and when it has gotten the asked for appropriations for improve ments. it's value to the community will be unlimited.
 Boys Do the Work of the School
 The Alabama Boys Industrial school is beautifully situated at East Lake. on 1S5 acres of land, so acres of which are in full cultivation. The school consists of three large main buildings, the Birming- ham building, the Alabama building and the Johnston building besides the model barn, and the building containing the machine shop, the shoe shop, the barber shop, tailor, printing. forge. manual training. laundry and mending room. Every bit of this work is done by the boys. Some of the work is compulsory, but the majority is classified, according to the boys ability and desire. Each boy is required to learn some trade, equipping himself for the future.
 All the work around the school outside of the shops is done also by the school children; walks have been laid, walls have been made and much of the building has been done by the boys. Several years ago, when the school became very crowd ed, for this institution is used by the entire state for white boys, 1t became necessary to have a new dining room. The Alabama building had no basement and this was considered a fine place for ''mess hall," so the boys were put to work and now the school boasts of up-to-date dining room, with splendid concrete floors, pleasantly tinted walls. neat tables and stools, all the work done by these little boys. Even the furniture was made in the manual training classes.
 This work would have cost the state s30OO or more. AS 1t was done, it cost nothing but the actual material
 Superintendent Report
 From the superintendents report of 1915 we print the following:
 January l, number of boys in the
 school ........................ 344 Received new boys, year .............. 18l Number left over from 1914 ........... 147 Number received since school began
 Tn 19O0 ........................... I3S2 Returned from parole since school
 began s...-..-....s .s...'........... ci
 More than 1000 pupils have left the doors of the institution, yet, during it's early history it was freely stated that there was no need for such a school The need has been demonstrated beyond