Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-28

T HEY are keeping the lads busy
at the National Training School
for Boys these days with
i thoughts of base ball, track and
learning a trade. and they've
cut down the escapes from 80 month
to one.
Prior to last July 7. when Col. Claude
D. Jones became superintendent Of the
reformatory. which occupies 320-acre
tract on Bladensburg road northeast,
near the District line, boys who became
TOO unruly sometimes were placed in
shackleS.
After an investigation by the board
OF trustees, the Shackles were discarded
RunawayS were beaten with a length
Of rubber hose. This also was ordered
discontinued.
Thep Col. Jones resigned his posi-
ton as head of the Boys Industrial
School, Golden, Colo. and came to
Washington. AS result OF the new
methods introduced by him. most of the
boys not only do not wish to flee the
institution, but when one of their num-
Der does. they actually set out to re-
capture him.
Recently three Of the youngsters de-
cided to run away. They had not gone
very far when their absence was dis
covered by the boys they left behind,
who lost no time in organizing search
ing parties.
Under the direction Of oficials. the
posses hunted through the surrounding
woods and located two OF the fugitives.
Easy TO Recapture.
Recapturing runaways usually is a
comparatively simple matter, for they
cannot get very far without money
Fortunately 0f inn If
the reformatory are content to remain
until they have paid their debt to the
Government, and a few of them are
reluctant to leave even then.
While they are prisoners in the sense
that they are confined to the reforma-
tory as punishment for crimes of one
kind or another, they enjoy many Of
the privileges Of the average boarding
school student.
In the eyes Of Col. Jones, that's what
they are-students! To hear him refer
to them as my boys" is to understand
why so few Of them run away, despite
the fact that leaving the institution is
as simple a matter as taking walk
around the block. There are no walls
at the National Training School, and
the instructors are anything but guards
Col. Jones has inaugurated 'recrea-
ton program" under which the young
every boy of their age loves to do.
Each of the eight dormitories-or
Cottages" as Col. Jones calls them
has its own teams, and what might be
called the varsity" aggregations repre-
sent the reformatory against other In
stitutions.
At present the boys go in for base
ball, basket ball, foot ball. boxing,
wrestling and various track" sports,
and it won't be very long before they
will be taking up tennis and golf.
Deprived Of Pleasures.
Infractions of the rules of the school
result in deprivation Of recreation pr1vi-
leges, which include weekly movie
shows and similar forms OF entertain
ment.
Nearly every State in the Union Is
represented at the institution. About
40 per cent Of the youngsters are there
for violation of the Dyer act-that Is.
stealing automobiles and driving them
out of the State in which the theft oc-
Cured; about 80 per cent for violation
of the liquor laws, and the remainder
| for miscellaneous offenSes, mostly OF 9
I comparatively minor nature. About 70
per cent of the boys are colored. Their
ages range from IL to %, striking an
| average Of about II.
The youngsters rise at am, and
| their day ends at pm, when they re-
tire to their dormitories, sleeping under
the eye of a Waterman. Some of them
attend school, where they may &c
through the tenth grade, while others
| work In the various shops.
Recently. the carpenter shop made
enough screens 70 protect several hull6a