The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1917-03-01
THE FEEBLE MINDED OF UTAH

said she had visited the family and
that the woman had slammed the
door in her face. Upon investigation
the field worker found little two
] roomed shack on top of hill with
| no nearby neighbors, and nine chill
dren ranging in age from a baby
| about a year old to a boy Of eighteen.
The boy works in a livery stable.
has no ambition, was never able to
do anything in school, and was of
very low grade of mentality. He
was good-looking enough, however,
to prove a decided menace to the
young girls Of the community. The
father did very little to help the fam
| lily along and they were receiving
some support from the county. The
children were all very slow in school ;
| one boy was fourteen and only in
the fourth grade, another twelve and
in the third, another ten and in the
second grade. The ten-year-old boy
was brought recently before the
juvenile court for truancy and on ex-
animation was found to have the
mentality OF child Of seven. The
husband is an illterate man with
only one arm. He cannot read nor
write.
Easy access was obtained to the
house; and the woman, when she dis
covered that the field worker came
from the schools to see If something
could be done to help her children,
was very friendly and talked freely
of herself. She was expecting to be
confined and there was no one to be
with her. 1t was pitiful picture,
made even more so as she stood in
the open doorway and said in weak,
pathetic voice, "You know. l kind o.
hope l won't have any more chill
dren."
The Story of an Old Soldier.
This family was called to the at
tention Of one of the commission
field workers by a truant officer who
was having trouble with some OF the
old soldiers grandchildren. A call
was made on them and friendliness
easily established.
An obese young woman and par
alyzed man, besides the old man and
his apparently imbecile wife, were in
the dirty, comfortless kitchen where
the visitor was entertained. The
young woman was a daughter, the
mother of five or six children, separ-
ated from her husband, and now liv-
ing with her old parents. One or
two of the children were with her,
the others scattered. In answer to
a question about her schooling. her
father said she was always dunn
my in school and couldn't never learn
anything" The man she married
was of the same calibre, for he and
his brother were reported to the
workers several times. The para
lyzed young man is son of the old
soldier. He does an occasional odd
job, but has to be supported most
of the time. An older brother, also
living at home. works when he can
get anything to do. An older mar
ried daughter was visited in her
home, place where dirt and dis
order hold full sway. She weighs
two hundred and thirty pounds and
has five children. all public school
problems. The old soldier himself
is supported by pension on which
he has been living for over twenty
years. The third generation OF this
defective family, of about fifteen
children, is giving trouble now in
the public schools.
The Idiot, the Imbecile and
the Moron.
The idiot cannot walk or talk and
has mentality which does not ex-
coed that OF a two-year-old child.
This type is easily recognized because
usually repulsive in appearance and
unclean in personal habits. The i'm
beetle ranges in mentality from two
to seven. He can walk and talk but
cannot be taught to read or write.
He may be trained to do unskilled
work of certain kinds under super
vision. The moron has mentality
of from seven to twelve. He can
not write, but is highly trainable un-
der SUPERVISION. This type is diff
cult to recognize and is continually
complicating our social problems.
The word moron" comes from