Evening star., 1945-04-29

ing are in their early teens. They
liked the idea of being cooks, and
were securing the big, old stove
vigorously.
Storage space was most made
quate. Food and supplies were
stocked in all available rooms on the
first floor and in the basement.
Upstairs on the second floor are
the staff rooms and on the third
floor are sleeping quarters for the
80 boys-the steps going up are
slate, and the edges are broken and
sharp. Parts of the steps have
been condemned. The building has
been declared unsafe by the fire
department. But in case of fire,
these 80 boys would have to come
down three flights of broken steps.
All the boys sleep here-the older
boys who are sex problems, the
habitual thieves, the 8-year-old
school truants, the feeble-minded,
the vicious. There is no room to
segregate them. This is true not
only of sleeping quarters but in
everything. They eat together
and there have been frequent in
stances when the younger and less
intelligent ones had their food
taken away by the older boys. They
go to school together. they sleep
together and play together-and
the younger children mimic the
older ones, pick up their habits
and are abused by them.
Because of lack of staff and IA
cilities, there is little vocational
guidance. Some of the girls help
out in the laundry. The boys help
keep the place clean.
Bath Facilities Poor.
The worst example of the condi-
ton of the house-and the lack of
segregation-was the bath facili-
ties for the boys. The room is down
in the damp, dirty basement, where
the walls are streaked with water
and the ratholes are even more ap-
parent than elsewhere One side
of the room is walled off and along
the ceiling runs a pipe from which
three spray spigots hang. This
serves as shower for all 80 boys.
The wash basin-also used by all
is like long horse watering
trough. It was unbelievably primi-
tive.
Because it is in the basement, the
boys have to troop all the way
down every morning and night to
wash.
Also in the basement is the boiler
room and the recreation room" !"
They almost matched the shower.
The recreation room" was a long
narrow hall, entirely bare except
for benches around the wall. On
cold, bad days, the 80 boys are
hudled here, presumably for exer-
else.
The boiler was built to carry 100
pounds of steam. 1t now carries
a maximum of 40 On cold days
they concentrate all the heat on
one building only for half hour,
then switch to another building.
In this way, by midday, if the day,
is not too cold, they can reach
bare warmth minimum.
There is no infirmary, and the
only place sick child can be placed
alone is in the detention room-it
also is in the basement, and is part
of big bare room, walled off
The girls cottage is in better
shape. It is not so dark and dirty
but is just as crowded. However. it
was the most cheerful place in the
home, and the girls were busying
around in the kitchen preparing
supper. Like the boys, however,
they all sleep in the same room, eat
together and go to school together
the 9-year -olds who are there be-
cause Of unsettled home conditions
right along with those who were
sent there because they slept in the
park with servicemen every night.
The school building was big