The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-23
Frederic Haskin's Letter
Wauerly House.

tney we're ~: In View Of their NJ,
experience With girls Of this ~
the probation officers believ. WI si.s
they should be placed in coIos;.
for the feeble-minded.
But II a girl has a pretty a..
1t is awfully hard to get a inas ,.s !.
do this" said Dr.. Bingham ,s .
psychiatrist. "And many q aug ~.
high-grade morons and even ,s ssl
grade ones are quite good loot," .'
Some OF them can write ia.,.
names we'll enough, too, ana sa
swer questions with apparent q; ~
telligence during the brief ints,, y.
they are on the witness stand O.
the Judge is often misled. II "A ver,
discouraging. because, unless n.
girl is committed. it Just mean. j
that in a comparatively short tina
she will be back on our hands MN
another baby. And, Of course N.
poor babies are Just as bad Il nv
worse, than their mothers. Il /.
merely feeble mindedness repe,t
ing ITSELF"
When a girl is of normal int.,.
ligence, however, vita a fairly n.
bic nervous system. the probate,
officers turn to hersenvironment n
discover the causes Of hen VA.
ward tendencies. With thsl M
majority Of girls the envirdnmept
is obviously to blame. Their Aomes
are crowded tenements, their oar.
ents too strict, or else immoral
and they have practically no on.
portunities for healthy recreation
The girls cared for at Wayerley
are nearly all Of the type you
would see in factory or a tene.
ment house or commercial dsncs
hall. The matron estimated tha,
at least a third of their number ara
foreign-born and that the other
two-thtrds had foreign-born par.
ents.
The Girls Environment
While each girl, in a sense, rep.
resents a different problem, she
usually falls into one Of three
classes. She is either a girl who
rebels against the harsh and IN.
sympathetic attitude Of her par
ents; one who has developed way.
ward tendencies through the dance
hall, or one who has been encour.
aged to immortality in her own
home.
Some girls with foreign-born par.
ents have a particularly difficult
time at home. Their mothers ars
wholly incapable of comprehend.
ing the American woman's attitude
Of independence, and raise q rou
If their daughters do not spend
their evenings at home, embroider-
ing. If a girl in some of the for
eign colonies stays out until II
o'clock at night, according to the
probation officer, she is apt to re-
ceive a beating when she gets home
and to be accused Of serious mis-
demeanors.
"My mother said I was a bad
woman so many times" explained
one of the girls who came to Va
verley, that l thought l might as
we'll be one"
Perhaps the most pathetic and
difficult problem with which the
probation officers have to deal is
that OF the girl who is taught to
be immoral in her own home.
I'VE usually send girls OF this
type up to Hillcrest farm for the
summer, and let, them live in the
open air as much as possible, and
try to make them forget their past
experiences. Then. if they are too
young, we place them in boarding
homes, or. if, old enough. find then
positions that will make them in
dependent. The court sees that tht
parents are properly disciplined.
"Oh, the work is much mort
hopeful than you would think" tn
matron concluded cheerfully. "f'
surprising how well the girls ge
along. Sometimes We get hart
! case like that dark, pretty. blue
eyed girl you saw in the SEWN,
| class. She married an Italian in
small New Jersey town when sh
was only IS years old and a mont
ago she disappeared. Her parent
fand the husband reported the mat
ter to the police, and last week tn
bureau of missing persons locate.
her in a boarding house, She had
it seems. eloped with the bride
groom's best man, who had remain
ed with her a couple of weeks en'
then left her. Now the girl won
go back to her husband or her PEG
pie, and she isn't trained for an,
work. But. of course, well mn
something for her. We always DO