Evening star., 1952-03-23

tcontinued PrOm Page c-l.)

children overnight including
m 18-month-old baby, who
slept on . couch.
2. Annex
The Industrial Home school
Annex was created In July, 1913,
when it finally was decided that
dependent and delinquent chill
dren should no longer be housed
together In the Receiving Home
Tor Children. These children are
both boys and girls. white and
colored. They range in age from
/ 8 months to 13 years. They are
in the Annex through no fault
'of their own: they come from
families broken up by adult
sdifnculties. like eviction. illness,
alcoholism or deserticn. They
are Ia for en- average stay Of
three months-until the home
situation can be patched up,
or until they can be placed with
relatives or In foster homes.
The Annex. as presently con-
stituted, holds $50 children. But
like the Receiving Home, it has
no control over the number Of
Its admissions. Last December,
1t managed to find room for
156 children. It occupies three
buildings on the reservation Of
the National Training School.
for Girls, at $500 Loughborough
road NV.
One Of these buildings Is the
notorious Lincoln Hall, q rickety
structure Of wood and brick
which already has been dis
cussed. There are schoolrooms
on the first floor. The third
floor is used for storage. On the
second floor are sleeping rooms
for Is girls, white and colored,
aged from 6 to 13 years. The
rain leaks Through all the way
from the roof. The plaster is
crumbling. A large cat helps
keep the rat population in line.
Then there is the Shaw Build
ing, dating from 1912, built
originally as Q prison for the
most serious delinquent girls.
Downstairs is the nursery
children 6 months to 3 years old
being cared for in q cell block.
Their "playroom" and dining
room is the windowless corridor;
they sleep, 18 Of them, in cribs
in five of the cells. Their laun-
dry is done in the sixth cell.
These babies do not get out Of
doors much. There is not enough
staff for that.
The second floor houses so
boys. aged 6 to 13. They sleep,
double deck style, In cells barely
large enough to hold the bed.
Windows are small and high.
Bathing facilities are made
fquate.
The third Of the Annex build
ings Is Dunbar, q good one.
housing boys and girls aged 3
to 8. These little ones, too,
sleep IN double-decker Army
surplus beds. The legs have
been sawed down, and q board
has been nailed to the up
rights so the children can climb
to the upper deck. There also
is a board along the side to
prevent them from falling out.
The Annex has no infrmary,
ut present, with the result that
epidemics sweep through it con-
stantly and the entire institution
has to be quarantined for months
at a time. This viii be corrected
when the earlier-mentioned
transfer from Lincoln Hall to
Washington Hall takes place.
But Washington Hall, as viii be
seen, has drawbacks Of its own.
.m These are the bare facts Of
khe Annex setup. They do not.
however, tell the full story. For
THE truth is that the Annex Is
a good home. full of happy
children. This is because Of q
triumph Of hopeful ingenuity
over an apparently hopeless sit
uation.
The broken plaster is bright
with cheerful paint. The dingy
little windows are framed with
gay curtains. The atmosphere
is one Of pleasant good will.
Things are this way at the
Annex because the superin-