The Monte Vista journal., 1917-01-20
THE REFORMATION OF
A CRIMINAL

other day, "No criminal ever really
reeormed and no criminal ever will
reform." Mr.. Darrow's experiences
have evidently so embittered him
against the world that his outburst
IL the logical result. In refutation,
the story of Jim Goodheart of Den
vaf, published in the American, is
tho best illustration of reforming
criminal that has been offered re-
Gently:
Thirteen years ago Jim Goodheart
was a salesman for the biggest
Wholesale grocery house in Chicago.
Goodheart was listed as third sales
man of the firm. What he was
worth to his employers in dollars
and cents annually, and in goodwill,
can be left to the magination of the
reader.
hen he began to drink. He start
of the man to put the fullnoss of his
dynamic personality into whatever
he Undertook, Jim Goodheart aband
oned himself to drinking and gamb
ling. Liquor and cards took all his
savings they took the savings of his
wife; they wiped out his home.
Then Jim Goodheart began forg-
ing checks. His wife sacrificed her
property to make the checks good
Jim Goodheart's father did the same
Jim's wife left him, and went back
to her people; went back still loving
Jim, but with her own name to pro-
tect.
Goodheart went to St. Louis
There he forged moro checks that he
night have money for booze" and
or gambling. He wa; just bum
low. He went to Kansas City, and
he Kansas City police locked up
4oodheart, 5,OOO-a-year salesman,
.sSa drunken vagrant.
When he was released from Jail,
10 drifted to Denver. He was
brown off a freight train when
brakeman discovered him riding the
ods" into the Denver yards. And
han the Denver police arrested Jim
nd Jailed him once more for vag-
ancy. He got out of Jail three days
Ater, and wandered into Denver's
snderloin.
A Larimer Street bartender gave
Inn drink and dime that after
con. With the dime he bought
~ bottle of carbolic acid, an(
arted back to the railroad yards
kill himself. On the way he
assed the Sunshine Mission, drifted
without knowing why-heard and
sMeved.
Vets skip what passed in Jim
o4dheart's brain during the next
v@ty-four hours. He got job
yeive dollars week, pushing
uck in pickle factory. One year
ter he was ION the road" for that
'mpany, a crack salesman earning
70 hundred dollars month.
The head of the Sunshine Mission
We up his post Jim Goodheart
as asked to take it. That was nine
ars ago. On the day that he took
large he wrote to all the men he
ID victimized through forgery, told
EN- where he was, said they might
rest him if they chose, and an
unced his intention of repaying
em every cent he owned, a total of
out six thousand dollars.
Jim Goodheart was not arrested,
on January 1st, 1916, he had
q back the last penny.
le took hold of the Sunshine Mis-
and made it an institution
own throughout the West. He
MS hands on every bum, crook,
81, every criminal, in short. he
iid hnd-and he began making
OF them. He has reformed
u9ands; reformed them so that
nave stayed reformed. His
WAS returned to him, and she is
yhappy His little room in the
'spn is stacked with hundreds of
'sRrs' outfits, bottles of nitro
cfin, drills, bits, jimmies. black
W revolvers-the tools given by
mtnals who have listened to Jim
ooheart and have turned another
se.s His daily mail numbers not
r. but hundreds of letters from
nVerts, telling him of the pro-