children complained of by parents, children who desert home, and so
forth.
[Illustration: CHART II
(CHART II.--Nature of Charges. Report, p. 53.)
(Percentages shown are of the total number (9,019) of all cases
arraigned.)]
[Illustration:
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS ALL CASES
CHART III
(CHART V.--Disposition on First Hearing of all Cases Arraigned During
the Year.
Report, p. 57.)]
TABLE THREE
(TABLE IX.--Disposition on First Hearing of all Cases Arraigned During
the Year.[54] Report, p. 57.)
=========================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Disposition | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
1. Summarily disposed of | 2,668 | 56.0 | 29 | 31.9 | 2,697 | 55.6
2. Remanded[a] | 1,389 | 29.2 | 40 | 44.0 | 1,429 | 29.4
3. Paroled[b] | 706 | 14.8 | 22 | 24.1 | 728 | 15.0
-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
4. Total | 4,763 | 100.0 | 91 | 100.0 | 4,854 | 100.0
-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
=========================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Disposition | Male | Female | Total
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
1. Summarily disposed of | 669 | 25.2 | 325 | 21.5 | 994 | 23.9
2. Remanded[a] | 1,552 | 58.6 | 896 | 59.1 | 2,448 | 58.8
3. Paroled[b] | 429 | 16.2 | 294 | 19.4 | 723 | 17.3
-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
4. Total | 2,650 | 100.0 | 1,515 | 100.0 | 4,165 | 100.0
-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
=========================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Disposition | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
1. Summarily disposed of | 3,337 | 45.0 | 354 | 22.0 | 3,691 | 40.9
2. Remanded[a] | 2,941 | 39.7 | 936 | 58.3 | 3,877 | 43.0
3. Paroled[b] | 1,135 | 15.3 | 316 | 19.7 | 1,451 | 16.1
-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
4. Total | 7,413 | 100.0 | 1,606 | 100.0 | 9,019 | 100.0
-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
[a] _Remanded_ means number of children detained temporarily at the
rooms of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children while
case is being investigated, etc.
[b] These numbers include cases placed on probation without remand.
TABLE FOUR
(TABLE XII.--Disposition in Cases of Adjudged Juvenile Delinquents.[55]
Report, p. 63.)
============================+===========================================================
| TOTAL
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------
Disposition | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
----------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Sentence suspended | 748 | 22.8 | 13 | 25.0 | 761 | 22.8
Placed on probation | 1,440 | 44.2 | 31 | 59.6 | 1,480 | 44.4
Committed without probation | 508 | 15.5 | 4 | 7.7 | 512 | 15.4
Fined | 575 | 17.5 | 4 | 7.7 | 579 | 17.4
----------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Total | 3,280 | 100.0 | 52 | 100.0 | 3,332 | 100.0
----------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
TABLE FIVE
(TABLE XIII.--Disposition in all Cases of Special Proceedings where
Complaint was Sustained. Report, p. 64.)
=======================================+===========================================================
| TOTAL IN ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------
Disposition | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
---------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Committed to institutions | 793 | 38.8 | 539 | 41.8 | 1,332 | 39.9
Placed in charge of probation officers | 1,253 | 61.2 | 751 | 58.2 | 2,004 | 60.1
---------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Total | 2,046 | 100.0 | 1,290 | 100.0 | 3,336 | 100.0
---------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
TABLE SIX
(TABLE XVI.--Ages of all Children Arraigned During the Year.[56]
Report, p. 68.)
==========================================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Ages | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
7 years and under | 16 | .4 | | | 16 | .4
8 and 9 years | 236 | 5.0 | 7 | 7.7 | 243 | 5.0
10 and 11 years | 670 | 14.1 | 10 | 11.0 | 680 | 14.0
12 and 13 years | 1,515 | 31.8 | 29 | 31.9 | 1,544 | 31.8
14 and 15 years | 2,322 | 48.7 | 44 | 48.3 | 2,366 | 48.7
16 and over (Transferred to other courts) | 4 | .0 | 1 | 1.1 | 5 | .1
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 4,763 | 100.0 | 91 | 100.0 | 4,854 | 100.0
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
==========================================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Ages | Male | Female | Total
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
7 years and under | 581 | 21.9 | 484 | 32.0 | 1,065 | 25.6
8 and 9 years | 319 | 12.0 | 161 | 10.6 | 480 | 11.5
10 and 11 years | 433 | 16.4 | 191 | 12.6 | 624 | 15.0
12 and 13 years | 625 | 23.6 | 265 | 17.5 | 890 | 21.4
14 and 15 years | 692 | 26.1 | 414 | 27.3 | 1,106 | 26.5
16 and over (Transferred to other courts) | | | | | |
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Total | 2,650 | 100.0 | 1,515 | 100.0 | 4,165 | 100.0
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
==========================================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Ages | Male | Female | Total
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
7 years and under | 597 | 8.1 | 484 | 30.2 | 1,081 | 12.0
8 and 9 years | 555 | 7.5 | 168 | 10.5 | 723 | 8.1
10 and 11 years | 1,103 | 14.9 | 201 | 12.5 | 1,304 | 14.5
12 and 13 years | 2,140 | 28.9 | 294 | 18.3 | 2,434 | 26.9
14 and 15 years | 3,014 | 40.6 | 458 | 28.5 | 3,472 | 38.5
16 and over (Transferred to other courts) | 4 | .0 | 1 | 1.1 | 5 | .1
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 7,413 | 100.0 | 1,606 | 100.0 | 9,019 | 100.0
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
[Illustration:
CHART IV
(CHART XI.--Showing Ages of Boys Arraigned During the Year. Report, p.
69.) Total number of boys, 7,413.]
[Illustration:
CHART V
(CHART XII.--Showing Ages of Girls Arraigned During the Year. Report,
p. 69.) Total number of girls, 1,606.]
(_Black_ indicates Juvenile Delinquency. _White_ indicates Special
Proceedings.)
TABLE SEVEN
(TABLE XIV.--Single and Group Delinquency.[57] Report, p. 65.)
===============================+===================+===================+===================
| JUVENILE | SPECIAL | TOTAL
| DELINQUENCY | PROCEEDINGS | ALL CASES
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Number of cases where children | | | | | |
were arraigned singly | 2,169 | 44.7 | 1,937 | 46.5 | 4,106 | 45.5
Number of cases arraigned in | | | | | |
groups of two | 1,138 | 23.4 | 850 | 20.4 | 1,988 | 22.1
Number of cases arraigned in | | | | | |
groups of three or more | 1,547 | 31.9 | 1,378 | 33.1 | 2,925 | 32.4
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Total | 4,854 | 100.0 | 4,165 | 100.0 | 9,019 | 100.0
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
CHART VI
(CHART X.--Single and Group Delinquency. Report, p. 65.)
TABLE EIGHT
(TABLE XX.--Parental Condition of all Children Investigated.[58]
Report, p. 78.)
==========================================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Parental condition | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Father dead | 270 | 16.0 | 6 | 14.6 | 276 | 15.8
Mother dead | 131 | 7.8 | 2 | 4.9 | 133 | 7.7
Both parents dead | 28 | 1.6 | 1 | 2.4 | 29 | 1.8
Parents separated | 14 | .8 | | | 14 | .8
Deserted by father | 44 | 2.6 | 2 | 4.9 | 46 | 2.6
Deserted by mother | 7 | .4 | | | 7 | .4
Deserted by both parents | 5 | .3 | | | 5 | .2
One or both parents in prison | 2 | .1 | 1 | 2.4 | 3 | .1
One or both parents in other institutions | 15 | .9 | | | 15 | .9
Mother not in America | 6 | .3 | | | 6 | .3
Father not in America | 3 | .1 | | | 3 | .1
Neither parent in America | | | | | |
None of above conditions existing | 1,162 | 68.5 | 29 | 70.8 | 1,191 | 68.7
Parental condition not reported | 10 | .6 | | | 10 | .6
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 1,697 | 100.0 | 41 | 100.0 | 1,738 | 100.0
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
==========================================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Parental condition | Male | Female | Total
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Father dead | 149 | 17.6 | 47 | 23.1 | 196 | 18.7
Mother dead | 99 | 11.7 | 29 | 14.4 | 128 | 12.3
Both parents dead | 19 | 2.3 | 8 | 4.0 | 27 | 2.5
Parents separated | 17 | 2.0 | | | 17 | 1.6
Deserted by father | 25 | 3.0 | 2 | 1.0 | 27 | 2.5
Deserted by mother | 5 | .6 | 3 | 1.5 | 8 | .7
Deserted by both parents | | | 4 | 1.9 | 4 | .4
One or both parents in prison | 4 | .5 | | | 4 | .4
One or both parents in other institutions | 7 | .8 | 1 | .5 | 8 | .7
Mother not in America | 6 | .7 | | | 6 | .6
Father not in America | 1 | .1 | | | 1 | .1
Neither parent in America | 1 | .1 | | | 1 | .1
None of above conditions existing | 507 | 60.0 | 104 | 51.1 | 611 | 58.5
Parental condition not reported | 5 | .6 | 5 | 2.5 | 10 | .9
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Total | 845 | 100.0 | 203 | 100.0 | 1,048 | 100.0
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
==========================================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Parental condition | Male | Female | Total
++-------------------+-------------------+------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Father dead | 419 | 16.5 | 53 | 21.8 | 472 | 16.9
Mother dead | 230 | 9.0 | 31 | 12.8 | 261 | 9.5
Both parents dead | 47 | 1.8 | 9 | 3.7 | 56 | 2.0
Parents separated | 31 | 1.2 | | | 31 | 1.1
Deserted by father | 69 | 2.7 | 4 | 1.6 | 73 | 2.6
Deserted by mother | 12 | .5 | 3 | 1.2 | 15 | .5
Deserted by both parents | 5 | .2 | 4 | 1.6 | 9 | .3
One or both parents in prison | 6 | .2 | 1 | .4 | 7 | .3
One or both parents in other institutions | 22 | .9 | 1 | .4 | 23 | .8
Mother not in America | 12 | .5 | | | 12 | .4
Father not in America | 4 | .2 | | | 4 | .1
Neither parent in America | 1 | | | | 1 |
None of above conditions existing | 1,669 | 65.7 | 133 | 54.5 | 1,802 | 64.7
Parental condition not reported | 15 | .6 | 5 | 2.0 | 20 | .8
------------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Total | 2.542 | 100.0 | 244 | 100.0 | 2,786 | 100.0
------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
NOTE.--In several cases two conditions are reported in one case.
TABLE NINE
(TABLE XV.--Previous Records.[59] Report, p. 67.)
==================================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Number arraigned first time | 3,528 | 74.1 | 90 | 98.9 | 3,618 | 74.5
Number arraigned who had previous | | | | | |
court record | 1,235 | 25.9 | 1 | 1.1 | 1,236 | 25.5
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 4,763 | 100.0 | 91 | 100.0 | 4,854 | 100.0
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
==================================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Number arraigned first time | 2,198 | 82.9 | 1,461 | 96.4 | 3,659 | 87.9
Number arraigned who had previous |
court record | 452 | 17.1 | 54 | 3.6 | 506 | 12.1
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 2,650 | 100.0 | 1,515 | 100.0 | 4,165 | 100.0
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
==================================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Male | Female | Total
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
----------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Number arraigned first time | 5,726 | 77.2 | 1.551 | 96.6 | 7,277 | 80.7
Number arraigned who had previous | | | | | |
court record | 1,687 | 22.8 | 55 | 3.4 | 1,742 | 19.3
-----------------------------------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+
Total | 7,413 | 100.0 | 1,606 | 100.0 | 9,019 | 100.0
----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
NOTE.--The number of children before the court who had previous records
was probably slightly in excess of the number shown by the figures.
TABLE TEN
(TABLE XVII.--School and Employment Record of Children
Investigated.[60] Report, p. 70.)
===============================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Children in regular grades | 1,124 | 66.9 | 26 | 63.4 | 1,150 | 66.8
Children in special classes | 75 | 4.5 | | | 75 | 4.4
Children in ungraded classes | 19 | 1.1 | | | 19 | 1.1
Children having working papers | 339 | 20.2 | 6 | 14.6 | 345 | 20.0
Children not in school | 98 | 5.8 | 9 | 22.0 | 107 | 6.2
Not reported | 25 | 1.5 | | | 25 | 1.5
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 1,680 | 100.0 | 41 | 100.0 | 1,721 | 100.0
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
===============================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Male | Female | Total
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Children in regular grades | 613 | 73.4 | 110 | 55.0 | 723 | 69.8
Children in special classes | 41 | 4.9 | 7 | 3.5 | 48 | 4.6
Children in ungraded classes | 11 | 1.3 | 2 | 1.0 | 13 | 1.3
Children having working papers | 111 | 13.2 | 53 | 26.5 | 164 | 15.8
Children not in school | 46 | 5.5 | 14 | 7.0 | 60 | 5.8
Not reported | 14 | 1.7 | 14 | 7.0 | 28 | 2.7
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 836 | 100.0 | 200 | 100.0 | 1,036 | 100.0
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
===============================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Children in regular grades | 1,737 | 69.0 | 136 | 56.4 | 1,873 | 67.9
Children in special classes | 116 | 4.6 | 7 | 2.9 | 123 | 4.5
Children in ungraded classes | 30 | 1.2 | 2 | .8 | 32 | 1.2
Children having working papers | 450 | 17.9 | 59 | 24.5 | 509 | 18.5
Children not in school | 144 | 5.7 | 23 | 9.6 | 167 | 6.0
Not reported | 39 | 1.6 | 14 | 5.8 | 53 | 1.9
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 2,516 | 100.0 | 241 | 100.0 | 2,757 | 100.0
-------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
[Illustration:
CHART VII
(CHART XIII.--School and Employment Record of Children Investigated.
Report, p. 71.)]
TABLE ELEVEN
(TABLE XXVII.--General Summary of Probation.[61] Report, p. 84.)
=============================+========================+========================+========================
| JUVENILE | SPECIAL |
| DELINQUENCY | PROCEEDINGS | ALL CASES
+-------+--------+-------+-------+--------+-------+-------+--------+-------
| Male | Female | Total | Male | Female | Total | Male | Female | Total
-----------------------------+-------+--------+-------+-------+--------+-------+-------+--------+-------
Number pending on probation | | | | | | | | |
Jan. 1, 1913 | 391 | 40 | 431 | | | | 391 | 40 | 431
Number placed on probation | | | | | | | | |
during year | 1,386 | 36 | 1,422 | 720 | 184 | 904 | 2,106 | 220 | 2,326
Number whose probation | | | | | | | | |
terminated during year | 1,278 | 55 | 1,333 | 501 | 117 | 618 | 1,779 | 172 | 1,951
Number pending Dec. 31, 1913 | 499 | 21 | 520 | 219 | 67 | 286 | 718 | 88 | 806
-----------------------------+-------+--------+-------+-------+--------+-------+-------+--------+-------
TABLE TWELVE
(TABLE XXVIII.--Age of Children Placed on Probation during 1913.[62]
Report, p. 85.)
==================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Age | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
7 Years and under | 4 | .3 | | | 4 | .3
8 and 9 years | 83 | 5.9 | 3 | 8.3 | 86 | 6.0
10 and 11 years | 206 | 14.9 | 5 | 13.9 | 211 | 14.8
12 and 13 years | 486 | 35.2 | 12 | 33.3 | 498 | 35.0
14 and 15 years | 584 | 42.1 | 16 | 44.5 | 600 | 42.2
16 years and over | 10 | .7 | | | 10 | .8
Not stated | 13 | .9 | | | 13 | .9
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 1,386 | 100.0 | 36 | 100.0 | 1,422 | 100.0
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
==================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Age | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
7 Years and under | 9 | 1.2 | 2 | 1.1 | 11 | 1.2
8 and 9 years | 58 | 8.1 | 6 | 3.3 | 64 | 7.1
10 and 11 years | 142 | 19.7 | 9 | 4.8 | 151 | 16.7
12 and 13 years | 234 | 32.5 | 39 | 21.2 | 273 | 30.1
14 and 15 years | 269 | 37.3 | 126 | 68.5 | 395 | 43.8
16 years and over | 1 | .2 | 2 | 1.1 | 3 | .3
Not stated | 7 | 1.0 | | | 7 | .8
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 720 | 100.0 | 184 | 100.0 | 904 | 100.0
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
==================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Age | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
7 Years and under | 13 | .6 | 2 | .9 | 15 | .6
8 and 9 years | 141 | 6.7 | 9 | 4.1 | 150 | 6.4
10 and 11 years | 348 | 16.5 | 14 | 6.4 | 362 | 15.6
12 and 13 years | 720 | 34.2 | 51 | 23.1 | 771 | 33.2
14 and 15 years | 853 | 40.6 | 142 | 64.6 | 995 | 42.7
16 years and over | 11 | .5 | 2 | .9 | 13 | .6
Not stated | 20 | .9 | | | 20 | .9
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 2,106 | 100.0 | 220 | 100.0 | 2,326 | 100.0
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
TABLE THIRTEEN
(TABLE XXX.--Duration of Probation, Cases Ended During 1913. Report, p.
88.)
====================+===========================================================+
| JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Length of probation | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
2 months and under | 312 | 25.4 | 8 | 33.3 | 320 | 25.5
3 months | 220 | 18.0 | 5 | 21.0 | 225 | 18.0
4 months | 288 | 23.4 | 8 | 33.3 | 296 | 23.6
5 months | 100 | 15.4 | 2 | 8.3 | 192 | 15.3
6 months | 97 | 7.9 | 1 | 4.1 | 98 | 7.8
7 months | 43 | 3.5 | | | 43 | 3.4
8 months | 34 | 2.8 | | | 34 | 2.7
9 months | 19 | 1.5 | | | 19 | 1.5
10 months | 14 | 1.1 | | | 14 | 1.1
11 months | 5 | .4 | | | 5 | .4
12 months and over | 8 | .6 | | | 8 | .7
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 1,230 | 100.0 | 24 | 100.0 | 1,254 | 100.0
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
====================+===========================================================+
| SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Length of probation | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
2 months and under | 169 | 26.2 | 38 | 25.3 | 207 | 26.0
3 months | 138 | 21.4 | 28 | 18.6 | 166 | 20.9
4 months | 137 | 21.2 | 26 | 17.3 | 163 | 20.5
5 months | 64 | 9.8 | 10 | 6.7 | 74 | 9.3
6 months | 59 | 9.2 | 16 | 10.7 | 75 | 9.4
7 months | 31 | 4.8 | 11 | 7.4 | 42 | 5.3
8 months | 15 | 2.4 | 5 | 3.3 | 20 | 2.5
9 months | 10 | 1.6 | 5 | 3.3 | 15 | 1.9
10 months | 6 | .9 | 3 | 2.0 | 9 | 1.2
11 months | 6 | .9 | 6 | 4.0 | 12 | 1.5
12 months and over | 10 | 1.6 | 2 | 1.4 | 12 | 1.5
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 645 | 100.0 | 150 | 100.0 | 795 | 100.0
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
====================+===========================================================+
| ALL CASES
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
Length of probation | Male | Female | Total
+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
2 months and under | 481 | 25.7 | 46 | 26.4 | 527 | 25.7
3 months | 358 | 19.1 | 33 | 19.0 | 391 | 19.1
4 months | 425 | 22.7 | 34 | 19.4 | 459 | 22.4
5 months | 254 | 13.5 | 12 | 6.9 | 266 | 13.0
6 months | 156 | 8.3 | 17 | 9.6 | 173 | 8.5
7 months | 74 | 3.9 | 11 | 6.4 | 85 | 4.1
8 months | 49 | 2.6 | 5 | 2.9 | 54 | 2.6
9 months | 29 | 1.5 | 5 | 2.9 | 34 | 1.7
10 months | 20 | 1.1 | 3 | 1.8 | 23 | 1.1
11 months | 11 | .6 | 6 | 3.5 | 17 | .8
12 months and over | 18 | 1.0 | 2 | 1.2 | 20 | 1.0
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
Total | 1,875 | 100.0 | 174 | 100.0 | 2,049 | 100.0
--------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+
[Illustration:
CHART VIII
(CHART XVII.--Duration of Probation. Report, p. 89.)]
TABLE FOURTEEN
(TABLE XXXI.--Volume of Business Before Court During 1913. Report, p.
89.)
==================+===================+===================+===================
| NEW CASES | CASES REARRAIGNED | TOTAL CASES
Month +--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
| Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
January | 1,060 | 11.8 | 1,337 | 9.8 | 2,397 | 10.6
February | 635 | 7.0 | 595 | 4.4 | 1,230 | 5.4
March | 766 | 8.5 | 1,013 | 7.4 | 1,779 | 7.8
April | 834 | 9.3 | 1,141 | 8.4 | 1,975 | 8.7
May | 882 | 9.8 | 1,410 | 10.3 | 2,292 | 10.2
June | 786 | 8.7 | 1,142 | 8.4 | 1,928 | 8.5
July | 615 | 6.8 | 1,039 | 7.6 | 1,654 | 7.3
August | 644 | 7.1 | 1,115 | 8.2 | 1,759 | 7.8
September | 728 | 8.1 | 990 | 7.3 | 1,718 | 7.6
October | 786 | 8.7 | 1,349 | 9.9 | 2,135 | 9.4
November | 694 | 7.7 | 1,166 | 8.5 | 1,860 | 8.2
December | 589 | 6.5 | 1,335 | 9.8 | 1,924 | 8.5
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
Total | 9,019 | 100.0 | 13,632 | 100.0 | 22,651 | 100.0
Average number of | | | | | |
cases per day | | | | | 75 |
------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------
INDEX
INDEX
ABATTOIRS ON WEST SIDE: location of, 3
ACQUITTAL: in children’s court, 92
ADENOIDS: In court cases studied, 90
AGES OF BOYS STUDIED, 167
AMERICAN-BORN PARENTS OF BOYS: nationality of, 7, 169
ANTHONY, KATHARINE: Mothers Who Must Earn, cited, 7, 59, 141
ARRESTS OF BOYS: court disposition of cases involving, 92-95, 97, 172;
for trivial offenses, 18, 19;
for trivial offenses, elimination of, preferable to cursory treatment
in court, 107;
mistaken, 97, 98;
offenses in 463 cases, according to court charges, 82;
offenses in 463 cases, as classified by Bureau of Social Research, 16, 17;
previous, failure of faulty court records to show, 90
ASSAULT: boys arrested for, according to court charges, 82;
boys arrested for, according to classification of Bureau of Social
Research, 17;
penal law regarding, cited, 81;
street fighting and, 37
BACKGROUND OF THE WEST SIDE BOY, 1-9
BAIL: seldom demanded at S. P. C. C. headquarters, 89;
when not required, in cases of juvenile delinquency, 88
BALL PLAYING: illegality of, 37.
See _Baseball_
BALLS: on West Side, 154
BASEBALL: on the West Side, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
BEGGING: by children whose mothers are “harborers,” 73;
by West Side boys, 151
BIG BROTHER MOVEMENT: as a source of names of boys, 167;
probation work of, 86, 87
BONFIRES: boys’ fondness for, 25, 26;
stealing wood for, as a cause of gang warfare, 48
BOSS, THE: and the children’s court, 88, 89
BOXING: on the West Side, 29, 33, 34, 35, 36
BOY FROM ANOTHER STATE: on West Side, case of, 22
BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT: illustrates possibilities in gang for good, 40
BOYS, WEST SIDE: ages of those studied, 167;
and the court, 79-140;
background of, 1-9;
court disposition of cases involving arrests of, 95, 172, 173;
drinking by, 146, 147;
fighting by, 143, 144;
gainfully employed, occupation and wages of, 175;
games of, 24-38;
gang life of, 39-54;
growth in lawlessness of, 15;
homes of, 55-78;
lack of stamina of, 156;
not arrested, who were included in study of delinquents, 95;
not gainfully employed, status of, 174;
not properly delinquent, 95, 99, 100;
offenses of, largely excusable, 18;
offenses in 463 cases of arrest of, 16, 17, 82;
playground of, 10-23;
recreation of, beyond control of family, 77;
scope of study of delinquency of, 94, 95;
sexual immorality of, 154;
smoking by, 145;
sources from which names of those studied were obtained, 167;
spendings and earnings of, 68, 69;
stealing by, 141, 142;
successful institution cases among, 127, 128;
truancy of, 148-151;
truancy records of, classified as delinquent or not delinquent, 173;
two types of, 157, 159;
wanderlust of, 151-154;
who are brought into court, 87-95;
who are let go, 95-107;
who are paroled, 107-116;
who are “sent up,” 117-138
BOYS’ REPUBLIC: George Ruhl sent to a, 158
BRANSFIELDS: reputation of, 112
BREWERIES ON WEST SIDE: location of, 3
“BRUISERS”: rather than real prize fighters furnish example to
West Side boy, 36
BUDGET, FAMILY: often inadequate to cover requisites for healthy
growth, 60
BURCKEL, JAMES: value of neighborhood testimony in case of, 112
BUREAU OF SOCIAL RESEARCH: offenses in 463 cases of arrest as
classified by, 16, 17
BURGLARY: and unlawful entry, penal law regarding, 81;
arrest of boys for, 17, 82
BURNS, JOEY: who had not been in court, 98
CALIBAN OF THE WEST SIDE: and his Setebos, 80
CARSON, MR.: parole of Jimmie to, 150
CARTWRIGHT, O. G.: The Middle West Side, cited, 4, 6
CATESBY, MRS.: case of, 72, 73
CATHOLIC LADIES’ COMMITTEE: probation work of, 85, 86
CATHOLIC PROBATION LEAGUE: work of, 85
CATHOLIC PROTECTORY: children received by, 118, 119;
commitment by children’s court to, 94
CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: Big Brother movement in, 86
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS: commitment by children’s court to, 94
CHARITABLE SOCIETIES. See _Relief Records_; _Relief Societies_
CHARITY ORGANIZATION SOCIETY: as a source of names of boys, 167
CHICAGO: probation cases and officers in, 87
CHILD LABOR LAW: arrests for violation of, in children’s court, 82
CHILD WELFARE EXHIBIT, NEW YORK: Handbook cited, on trivial offenses, 95
CHILDREN: number of, in families studied, 58, 170
CHILDREN, NEGLECTED: children’s court commits to charitable institutions, 94
CHILDREN’S COURT, MANHATTAN: as viewed by West Side boy and his parents, 80;
description of growth, equipment, and processes of, 80-84;
disposition of cases in, 92, 93, 94, 172, 173;
hearings in, cursory and hurried, 97, 105, 106, 107;
investigation in, 90, 91, 92, 110;
judges of, 83;
parole system of, 107-116;
probation cases and officers of, 87;
progress made in, since 1910, 79, 83, 87, 90, 111, 120;
records in, consulted in study of commitment cases, 118;
records in, faulty, 90;
records in, new system of, 90, 111;
records in, samples quoted, 110, 111;
reputed influence of “boss” in, 88, 89;
summary of results of action by, in cases studied, 138-140;
things needed to increase effectiveness of, 107, 140;
trials in, average time given to each, 83.
See also _Juvenile Court_; _Juvenile Delinquency_; _Probation_
CHILDREN’S COURTS: where defects corrected in Manhattan still exist, 79
CHURCH: among sources from which boys’ names obtained for study, 167
CHURCH, A DESERTED: on West Side, 3
CHURCHES: not consulted in court investigations, 114;
probation work of, 85-87
CIGARETTES: boys’ demand for, 142, 145
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, NEW YORK MUNICIPAL: refusal of, to declare
positions of physicians for children’s court exempt, 140
CLUB STUDIES: as a source of names of boys, 167
COAL AND WOOD: theft of, a matter of course on West Side, 18, 141
COAL YARDS ON WEST SIDE: location of, 3
COMEDY, MEREDITHIAN: on West Side, 161
COMMISSION TO INQUIRE INTO THE COURTS OF INFERIOR CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
IN CITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS.
See _Page Commission_
COMMITMENT, COURT: considerations that guide judge in determining on, 119;
different attitudes of parents toward, 124-126;
during parole, in cases studied, 116;
effectiveness of, 117, 137, 138, 139;
frequently made on insufficient evidence, 119, 120;
institutions to which made, 94, 118-119;
length of, compared with length of parole period, 109;
theory of, 117
COMMITTED CASES: absence of investigation in, 119;
scope and method of study of, 118;
where sentence a serious error, 120, 121
“COMMITTED FOR ONE DAY TO THE PARENTAL CARE OF JOHN WARD,” 93, 96
CONCEALED WEAPONS: carrying of, among boys, 45
CONJUGAL CONDITION: of parents of boys, 171
COOGAN, PATRICK: and his court experience, 98
“COPS,” “DINNYS,” AND “GERRYS” ON WEST SIDE, 13
CORRECTIONS, DEPARTMENT OF: former building of, used as children’s court, 83
COULTER, ERNEST K.: Big Brother movement initiated by, 86
COUNTRY OF BIRTH: of parents of boys, 168
COURT DISPOSITION: of cases of boys studied, 172, 173.
See _Children’s Court_
Court, Getting Into, 87-95.
See _Children’s Court_
COURT, JUVENILE: lack of respect for, among boys, 19, 20.
See _Children’s Court_
COURT LIST: names of boys obtained from, 167
COURT OF SPECIAL SESSIONS: children’s court part of the, 83.
See _Children’s Court_
COWARDICE: among West Side gangs. 52, 53, 54
CRAPS, SHOOTING: a year round amusement on West Side, 28;
leads to arrest for obstructing sidewalks, 37
CRIMINAL RECORD: of Middle West Side, 8, 13, 19
CRIMINAL TENDENCY: spirit of youth forced to become a, 38
CRUELTY OF WEST SIDE BOYS, 157
DANCES: among amusements offered to West Side boy, 154
DARK ROOMS: common on West Side, 56
“DEATH AVENUE,” 4
DELINQUENCY OF BOYS: bail in cases of, 88;
scope of study of, 94, 95.
See _Juvenile Delinquency_
DELINQUENT BOYS: those studied who were not properly so called, 95, 99,
100, 173
DELINQUENTS: commitment of, by children’s court, to reformatories, 94
DETENTION HOME OF SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN, 8.
See _Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children_
DE WITT CLINTON PARK: described, 4, 5;
the only park on Middle West Side, 10
DIAMOND LAUNDRY: Matty Gilmore and the, 104
“DINNYS,” “COPS,” AND “GERRYS” ON WEST SIDE, 13
DISCHARGE: of boys against whom no evidence found, 96.
See also _Dismissal_
DISCHARGES: following parole, in cases studied, 116
DISCIPLINE: meted out to the boy, 70, 71
DISMISSAL FOR INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE: In children’s court, 92
DISORDERLY CHILD: boys arrested as, according to court charges, 82;
penal law regarding, 81
DISORDERLY CONDUCT: boys arrested for, 82
DISPOSITION OF CHILDREN’S COURT CASES, 92-95, 97, 172.
See _Children’s Court_
DOCKS: attraction of, for the boy, 20;
baseball on the, 33.
See also _Quays_
DONNELLY, MARTIN: a “successful” institution case, 127
DOOLEY, MRS.: and her Joseph, 71
DOYLE, DENNIS: stone throwing by, 15, 129
DOYLE, MRS.: and her five boys, 128
DOYLE, PATRICK: delinquency record of, 130, 131, 132
DOYLE, RAYMOND: delinquency record of, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134
DRAFT RIOTS: typical of West Sider’s temper, 7
DRINKING: among West Side boys, 146
DRUNKENNESS: among West Side boys, 146, 147
“DUMB-BELL” TENEMENTS: common on West Side, 56
EARNINGS AND SPENDINGS: of the West Side boy, 68, 69
EAST SIDE AND WEST SIDE: compared, 6, 7
EDUCATION LAW, COMPULSORY: boys arrested for violations of, 82
EIGHTH AVENUE: characteristics of, 2
ELECTION NIGHT BONFIRES, 26.
See also _Bonfires_
ELEVENTH AVENUE: characteristics of, 3, 4
EMPLOYED AND UNEMPLOYED BOYS, 174, 175
EMPLOYERS: statements from, in parole cases, 110, 113
EMPLOYMENT: low grade, sought by West Side boys, 159
ENGLISH PARENTAGE: of parents of boys, 8
ENVIRONMENT: influence of, 1
EQUITY POWERS: needed by children’s court, 140
EYES: bad, in court cases studied, 90;
neglect to care for, 60
FAMILIES OF BOYS STUDIED: conjugal condition of parents in, 59, 171;
country of birth and nationality of parents in, 168, 169;
different attitudes of, toward commitment, 124-126;
length of residence in district of, 1, 168;
number involved in delinquency study, 94;
number of children in, 58, 170;
persons in households of, and rooms occupied by, 169;
relief records of, 171, 172;
statements from, secured in study of commitment cases, 118;
status of mothers in, 170;
varying types represented among, 59
FAMILIES, WEST SIDE:
typical day of housewife in, 58, 59.
See also _Mothers_; _Parents_
FAMILY FROM ANOTHER STATE: on West Side, case of boy in, 22
FAMILY QUARRELS: in a “model” tenement, 58
FATHERS OF BOYS STUDIED: absence of, as a cause of delinquency, 125;
American-born, nationality of, 7, 169;
conjugal condition of, 171;
country of birth of, 7, 168;
influence of, in family life, 61.
See also _Parents_
FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS: back of some court cases studied, 90.
See also _Mental Examination_
FERRY RIDES TO JERSEY: the “sneaking” of, 150
“FÊTES” ON WEST SIDE, 154
FEUDS ON WEST SIDE, 143, 144
FIGHTING: and boxing not necessarily associated, 34;
between gangs of West Side boys, 45-53;
street, and assault, 37;
with fists on West Side, 143.
See also _Prize Fighting_; _Boxing_
FINES: in children’s court cases, 93, 96
FIRE-ARMS: arrest of boys for use of, 17.
See also _Weapons_
FIRE POTS, 25, 26
FOLKS, HOMER: quoted on parole, 85
FOOD: adulterated and damaged, commonly sold on West Side, 75
FUEL: theft of, regarded as a matter of course on West Side, 141
GAMES OF THE WEST SIDE BOY, 24-38
GANG: a typical, history of, 40, 41;
responsibility of, for lawlessness of West Side boy, 39;
synonymous with worst side of boy life on West Side, 54
GANG FIGHTS: among boys on West Side, 45-53
GANG LIFE: salient features of, 42, 43, 44
GARBAGE DISPOSAL PIER: on Twelfth Avenue, 5
GAS TANKS: location of, on West Side, 3
GATES, MRS.: and her Jimmy, 64, 65
GERMAN ELEMENT: on Middle West Side, 7
GERMAN PARENTAGE: of American-born parents of boys, 7, 8
GERMANY: parents of boys born in, 7
“GERRY MEN”: dreaded more than the court, 90;
unpopularity of, on West Side, 13
GILMORE, MATTY: case of, 103, 104
“GOPHER GANG,” 42
GREAT KILL SWAMP, 4
GUARDIANSHIP, IMPROPER: among offenses leading to arrest of boys, 16;
arraignment of children for, 81;
boys arrested for, according to court charges, 82;
child dismissed under one charge may be returned for, 92;
warrants issued in cases of, 94
HAGGERTY, MRS.: her system of discipline, 70
HALLWAYS: boys’ use of, 20, 21
HANNON, MRS.: and the “boss” in court, 88, 89
“HARBORERS”: mothers who are, 73
HARRIS, CHARLIE: stories about, 157
HAWTHORNE SCHOOL: Big Brother work for boys paroled from, 87;
commitment by children’s court to, 94.
See also _Jewish Protectory_
HEALTH CONDITIONS: involved in court cases studied, 90
HEARINGS AT CHILDREN’S COURT: cursory and hurried, 97, 105, 106, 107.
See also _Trials_
HOME CONDITIONS: in court cases studied, 90
HOME OF THE WEST SIDE BOY, 55-78
HOUSE OF GOOD SHEPHERD: extreme cases of delinquent girls sent to, 119
HOUSE OF MERCY: Protestant girls sent to, 119
HOUSE OF REFUGE: and Jewish Big Brother movement, 87;
class of cases received by, 119;
commitment by children’s court to, 94
HOUSEWIFE OF WEST SIDE: day of the, 58, 59
HOUSING CONDITIONS ON WEST SIDE, 56, 57, 58
HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD: franchise of, an anomaly, 4
HUSBANDS, SHIFTLESS: treatment of, by their wives, 63, 64
IMMORALITY, SEXUAL: among West Side boys, 154-156
INSTITUTION CASES: successful, 127, 128
INSTITUTIONS: no critical examination made of, 117, 118;
to which children’s court commits, 94, 118, 119.
See also _Commitment_
INSURANCE COMPANIES: and window glass on West Side, 15
INTOXICATION: among West Side boys, 146;
as a cause of arrest of boys, 17
INVESTIGATION: in children’s court, before disposition of case, 90, 91, 92;
in commitment of cases studied, absence of, 119;
in parole cases, how made, 110-114;
rewards for, a light form of punishment, 97
IRELAND: parents of boys born in, 7
IRISH: of Middle West Side, 7
IRISH PARENTAGE: of parents of boys, 8
ITALY: parents of boys born in, 7
“JERSEY”: “sneaking” ferry rides to, 150
JEWISH BIG BROTHER MOVEMENT: probation work of, 86, 87
JEWISH PROTECTORY AND AID SOCIETY: probation work of, 86.
See also _Hawthorne School_
JIMMY: who was caught “when he wasn’t doin’ anything bad,” 19
JUDGES IN CHILDREN’S COURT: attitude of boys toward, 20, 80;
formerly and at present, 83.
See also _Children’s Court_
JUVENILE ASYLUM: commitment by children’s court to, 94, 119
JUVENILE COURT: boys’ contempt for judges in, 20;
understanding of neighborhood conditions essential in estimating work of, 9.
See also _Children’s Court_
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: a product of conditions in homes and on streets, 140;
as defined in New York, 80, 81;
need of equity powers by court dealing with, 140
JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: history of probation system for, in New York, 84-87
JUVENILE OFFENDERS: consideration of background essential to study of, 1
JUVENILE PROBATION IN NEW YORK: Homer Folks, quoted, 85
KITE FLYING: on West Side, 28
LARCENY, Grand and Petty: boys arrested for, 82;
penal law regarding, 81
LARRABIE, JOHN: and the organ-grinder, 129, 134
LAWYERS: extent to which involved in proceedings of children’s court, 91
“LICKINGS”: place of, in children’s court scheme, 93
“LOITERING”: as an offense against the law, 37
LUMBER YARDS ON WEST SIDE: location of, 3
MCCARTHY, MRS.: and her worthless husband, 64
MCGRATTY, JOSEPH: case of, 133
MACHINE SHOPS ON WEST SIDE: location of, 3
MACY, MRS.: a minder of children at twelve, 62
_Mail, Evening_, New York:
quoted on vandalism on West Side, 144
MALLORY, HUGH: case of, 101, 102
MALLORY, MRS.: her strong and weak points as a mother, 102
MANHATTAN CHILDREN’S COURT.
See _Children’s Court_
MARBLES: games played with, on West Side, 24;
may lead to arrest for obstructing sidewalk, 37
MEALS: irregularity of, in families of boys, 75
MENTAL CONCENTRATION: impossible to West Side boy, 156
MENTAL EXAMINATION: need of, and arrangements for, in children’s
court cases, 140
MEREDITHIAN COMEDY ON WEST SIDE, 161
MISCHIEF AND ANNOYANCE: arrest of boys for offenses of, 17
MISDEMEANORS: penal law regarding, 81
“MODEL” TENEMENT: a social worker’s testimony regarding family brawls
in a, 58
MONEY: boys’ ways of getting, 151
MORAL STAMINA: lacking in West Side boy, 156
MORALLY DEPRAVED: boys arrested as in danger of being, according to
court charges, 82
MORAN, JOHNNIE: story, 161, 162
MORAN, JOHN AND MICHAEL: delinquency records of, 121-124
MORAN, MRS.: and her “ways of finding out,” 66;
character of, 121
MOTHERS OF BOYS STUDIED: absence of, a cause of delinquency, 125;
American-born, nationality of, 7, 169;
conjugal condition of, 171;
country of birth of, 7, 168;
court experiences of, 105, 106;
problems and types of, 55, 61-74, 76-78;
statements of, secured by parole officer, 110;
status of, 170.
See also _Parents_
MOVING PICTURE SHOWS: among amusements offered West Side boy, 154;
desire of boys for, incites to theft, 142;
opinions of mothers regarding, 68
MULLER, CHARLIE: case of, 131, 132, 133
MURPHY, DENNY: wanderings of, 152-154
NAMES OF BOYS: those used fictitious
NATIONALITY: of American-born parents of boys, 7, 169;
of parents of boys studied, 7.
See also _Country of Birth_
NEIGHBORS: statements from, included in study of commitment cases, 118;
statements of, obtained by parole officer, 110;
value of testimony of, 112
NEW YORK CENTRAL. See _Hudson River Railroad_
NEW YORK CHILDREN’S COURT. See _Children’s Court_
NEW YORK CITY PROBATION SYSTEM. See _Probation_
NEW YORK JUVENILE ASYLUM: commitment by children’s court to, 94, 119
NEWSPAPERS, NEW YORK: quoted, 49, 50, 144, 161
NINTH AVENUE: characteristics of, 2
NOURISHMENT: available in West Side families, often inadequate, 60
NUTRITION, INFANT: ignorance regarding, in West Side families, 75
OBSTRUCTING THE SIDEWALKS: games which lead to arrest for, 37
OCCUPATION AND WAGES: of boys gainfully employed, 175
OFFENSES: due to play, enumerated, 37
OFFENSES IN 463 CASES OF ARREST OF BOYS: according to court charges, 82;
as classified by Bureau of Social Research, 16, 17
OFFENSES OF BOYS: serious, few arrests for, 19;
to which arrests due, largely excusable, 18
OFFENSES OF CHILDREN: for which bail is not required, 88;
still registered according to law violated, 81;
trivial, proportion of, according to Handbook of Child Welfare Exhibit, 95
“PADDY’S MARKET,” 2
PAGE COMMISSION: improvements in children’s court recommended by, 84
PARENTS OF BOYS: conjugal condition of, 171;
country of birth of, 7, 168;
different attitudes of, toward commitment of children, 124-126;
nationality of American-born, 7, 169;
responsibility of, for misdemeanors of sons, 56;
value of testimony of, 112.
See also _Families_; _Father_; _Mother_
PARENTS, PAROLE IN CUSTODY OF. See _Parole_
PARKS: none except De Witt Clinton on Middle West Side, 10.
See _De Witt Clinton Park_
PAROLE: and probation in New York, 85;
correct meaning of term, 107;
outcome of, in cases studied, 115, 116;
period of, 109;
system of, in Manhattan Children’s Court, 93, 107-116
PAROLE CARD: form of, 108
PAROLED CASES: final disposition of, 173;
study of, 107-116
PARTIES AND DANCES: on West Side, 154
PAY ENVELOPE: boy’s duty regarding, as viewed by community, 68
PEDDLING WITHOUT LICENSE: penal law regarding, 81
PENAL LAW: juvenile delinquency according to the, 80, 81
PEOPLE’S INSTITUTE: new work on West Side undertaken by, 5
PERVERSION, SEXUAL: among West Side boys, 155
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: needed in many cases brought to children’s court, 140
PHYSICAL STAMINA: lacking in West Side boy, 156
PIANO FACTORIES: on West Side, location of, 3
PICKING POCKETS: arrest of boys for, 17
PIERS OWNED BY CITY: and their uses, 5
PIGEON FLYING: as a West Side sport, 28, 29;
disapproved by mothers, 67
PITCHING PENNIES: a year round amusement on West Side, 28;
may lead to arrest for obstructing sidewalk, 37
PLAY: Offenses due to, among those for which boys arrested, 16
PLAYGROUND: of West Side boy, 10-23
PLUNKETT OF TAMMANY HALL: quoted, 89
POLICE: attitude of, toward boys’ offenses, 18;
boys’ antagonism to, explained, 12;
fires extinguished by, 25;
situation regarding, on West Side, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19
POLICE SERGEANT: discretion permitted to, regarding bail, 88
POLITICAL “BOSS”: and children’s court, 88, 89
POOLROOMS: on West Side, 154
POST-GRADUATE HOSPITAL: clinic conducted by Dr. Max Schlapp at, 140
POVERTY: in West Side homes, 60, 61.
See also _Relief Records_
PRISON ASSOCIATION, NEW YORK: first probation bill as prepared by, 84
PRIZE FIGHTING: and the West Side boy, 33, 34, 35, 36
PROBATION: and parole, in children’s court, 85, 107;
class of boys for whom likely to be most effective, 103
PROBATION AGENCIES, VOLUNTEER: history and scope of, 85-87;
part played by, in first court experience of boy, 92;
proportion of paroled cases studied that were under care of, 115
PROBATION COMMISSION OF STATE OF NEW YORK: report of, quoted, 84
PROBATION LAW, FIRST: in New York, 84
PROBATION OFFICERS, OFFICIAL: in New York, appointment and numbers of, 87;
preliminary investigation by, 90
PROBATION STAFF: an adequate and efficient, needed, 107
PROBATION WORK: essentials to efficient, 139
PROPERTY: antagonism between sport and the rights of, 37, 38;
destruction of, on West Side, 144;
offenses against, leading to arrest of boys, 17, 82
PUSH CART VENDORS: on Ninth Avenue, 2
QUAYS: as a field for baseball, 32.
See also _Docks_
RAFFERTY, JOE AND HARRY: cases of, 135, 136, 137;
gang associates and adventures of, 129, 133, 134
RAFFERTY, MRS.: case of, 135
RAILROAD AND APPURTENANCES: boys arrested for injury to, 82
“RAILROAD” TENEMENTS: common on West Side, 56
REARRESTS FOLLOWING PAROLE: in cases studied, 116
RECORDS IN CHILDREN’S COURT: old and new, 90, 111
RECREATION: of West Side boy, beyond control of family, 77
RECREATION ACTIVITIES: on Middle West Side, and the People’s Institute, 5
RECREATION PIER: on Twelfth Avenue, 5
“RED”: and his wanderings with Denny Murphy, 152-154
REFORMATORIES: commitment to, by children’s court, 94;
short-term commitments refused by, 92
RELIEF RECORDS: of families of boys, 171, 172
RELIEF SOCIETIES: duration of relief records of families known to
have received aid from, 172;
records of, consulted in study of commitment cases, 118;
records of, not consulted in children’s court cases, 114
REMAND FOR INVESTIGATION: did not necessarily mean further inquiry, 97
REPRODUCTION: ignorance of West Side boys regarding, 155
RESIDENCES IN DISTRICT: of families of boys, length of, 168
RETRIAL: rare in suspended sentence cases, 96
REVENGE: among West Side boys, 156, 157
RIDING ON FREIGHT CARS, ETC.: boys arrested for, 82;
penal law regarding, 81
RIEMER, HENRY AND ALEXANDER: cases of, 134, 135, 136
RILEY, GEORGE: case of, 130
RILEY, JAMES: report of investigation in case of, 111
RIORDAN, W. L.: Plunkett of Tammany Hall, quoted, 89
ROBBERY: boys arrested for, 82;
penal law regarding, 81.
See also _Burglary_; _Theft_; _Thievery_
ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: quoted on gangs, 54
ROOMS IN WEST SIDE TENEMENT HOUSES: dark, 56;
lack of privacy in, 57, 58
ROOMS, NUMBER OF: occupied by families of boys, 169
ROONEY, MATTHEW: case of, 131, 136
RUHL, GEORGE: case of, 158
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY: Catholic Probation League organized
under auspices of, 85
SALOON: children’s visits to, 146
“SCENERY BURNED BY VANDALS,” 144
SCHLAPP, DR. MAX: children sent for mental examination to clinic
conducted by, 140
SCHOOL: as a source of names of boys, 167;
principal of, as a parole officer in cases of truancy, 93;
records consulted in study of commitment cases, 118;
statements from, obtained by parole officer, 110;
value of evidence from, in parole cases, 113;
West Side boy and the, 148, 149
SCHOOL FARM: in De Witt Clinton Park, 5
SELF-ABUSE: involved in court cases studied, 90
SETEBOS: judge of children’s court as a, 80
SETTLEMENT, A: among sources from which boys’ names obtained, 167;
thefts from, 142
SETTLEMENT, A DESERTED: at Tenth Avenue and Fiftieth Street, 3
SETTLEMENTS: value of evidence to be obtained from, in court cases, 114
SEXUAL IMMORALITY: among West Side boys, 154-156
SEXUAL PERVERTS: common on West Side, 155
SHARKEY, SAM: and his mother, 100
SMOKING: among West Side boys, 145;
by boys, difficulties of mothers with, 67
SNOWBALLING: on West Side, 27
SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN: bail seldom demanded
at headquarters of, 89;
boy arrested in evening detained by, 88;
boy taken to court by way of, 80;
cases remanded to, pending investigation, 91, 97;
children under sixteen excluded from operation of first probation
law through efforts of, 84;
detention quarters of, 84;
joining of forces with school due to, 113;
official connection with children’s court, 85, 87;
period of parole of cases under care of, 109;
probation work of, 85;
reports of investigator consulted in study of commitment cases, 118;
uses of detention rooms of, 97, 108;
visitation by agents of, in parole cases, 93
SONS WHO DO NOT WORK: and their mothers, 64
SOURCES: from which names of boys studied were obtained, 167
SPECIAL SESSIONS, COURT OF: children’s court part of, 83
SPINNER, JACK: bail required in case of, 88
STABBING: arrest of boys for, 17
STALEY, PATRICK: report of investigation in case of, 110
STEALING: encouragements to, on West Side, 141, 142
STREETS: influence exerted upon boys by the, 21, 22;
the natural playground of the West Side boy, 10, 11;
uses of, that conflict with boys’ use as a playground, 12
SUMMERS, MISS: and George Ruhl, 158
_Survey, The_: article by Homer Folks on Juvenile Probation, cited, 85
SUSPENDED SENTENCE: after conviction, in children’s court, 93, 96;
following parole, in cases studied, 116
TAMMANY OUTING: drunkenness among boys at a, 147
TEETH: neglect of, 60
TENEMENT CONDITIONS: on West Side, 56, 57, 58
TENTH AVENUE: characteristics of, 2, 3
THEFT: encouragements to, on West Side, 18, 141, 142
THIEF, JARGON OF: common in boys’ gangs, 44
THIEVERY: arrest of boys for, 17.
See also _Burglary_; _Robbery_
_Times_, New York: headlines regarding a gang fight quoted from, 50
TRACY, MRS.: and her Michael’s trial, 105
TRIALS AT CHILDREN’S COURT: brevity of, 83, 105.
See also _Hearings_
_Tribune_, New York: headlines regarding a gang fight quoted from, 49
TRUANCY: among offenses leading to arrest of boys, 16;
developed into a system, among West Side boys, 148-151;
difficulties of mothers with, 67;
procedure in paroled cases of, 93;
records of boys, classified as delinquent or not delinquent, 173
TRUANT, A TEN-YEAR-OLD: confession of, 149, 150
TRUANT SCHOOLS: commitment by children’s court to, 94, 119
TWELFTH AVENUE: characteristics of, 5
UNGOVERNABLE CHILD: boys arrested as, according to court charges, 82
UNITED STATES: parents of boys born in, 7.
See also _American-born_
VAGRANCY AND NEGLECT: offenses of, 16
VANDALISM ON WEST SIDE: as reported by New York _Evening Mail_, 144
WAGES AND OCCUPATIONS: of boys gainfully employed, 175
“WANDERLUST”: among West Side boys, 151-154
WAREHOUSES: on West Side, location of, 3
WARRANTS: use of, in parole cases, 93, 109
WATERS, STEPHEN: a “successful” institution case, 127, 128
WEAPONS, CONCEALED: carrying of, among boys, 45
WEST SIDE, MIDDLE: a dual neighborhood, 37;
apathy of, 8;
characteristics of, explained by history, 6, 7;
comedy on, 161;
criminal record of, 8, 13, 19;
lack of striking features on, 5;
nationalities predominating on, 7;
new correlation of recreation activities on, 5
WINDOW BREAKING: arrest of boys for, 17
WINDOW GLASS: insurance of, on West Side, 15
WORK RECORD: importance of, in parole investigations, 110, 113
_World_, New York: account of gang fighting quoted from, 50
_World, Evening_, New York: story of Johnnie Moran quoted from the, 161
YEGGMAN, JARGON OF: common in boys’ gangs, 44
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION: Big Brother Movement in, 86
RUSSELL SAGE
FOUNDATION
THE
NEGLECTED GIRL
BY
RUTH S. TRUE
WEST SIDE STUDIES
NEW YORK
SURVEY ASSOCIATES, INC.
MCMXIV
Copyright, 1914, by
THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION
[Illustration]
THE TROW PRESS
NEW YORK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Introductory 1
II. In the Grip of Poverty 19
III. Where the School Law Failed 33
IV. Wage-earning and New Relations at Home 43
V. The Will to Play 57
VI. The Breakdown of Family Protection 75
VII. The Italian Girl. By Josephine Roche 95
APPENDICES
A. Economic Condition of the Families 121
B. School Attendance Data 132
INDEX 135
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The material for the following studies was collected by four persons.
The final chapter, which deals with the Italian girl of the West Side,
was prepared by one of the group working independently. This course
was necessary, as the Italian girl’s life is inseparable from that of
her family and the only approach to her is by way of her own home.
One could not know the Italian girl of the West Side without knowing
also her father, her mother, and her numerous brothers and sisters, if
not, indeed, a great many of her relatives. The other three workers,
including the writer, joined in the management of a small house which
was used as a recreation center and club house. They also collaborated
in keeping a daily journal, to which reference is made in the following
pages.
It was our wish especially to gain some knowledge of the type of girl
who is seen so frequently at the street corners and who refuses to be
attracted to agencies which frankly declare a desire to improve her.
The club, therefore, adopted an open-door policy and the leaders tried
to refrain from obvious attempts to influence or control the girls who
came. The aim was to encourage sincerity among them, and to prevent
their “playing up” to superimposed standards “for what there was in
it.” Not that we thought that these girls were especially inclined to
practice fraud; but we knew from experience that work with too obvious
a purpose “to do good” often encourages hypocrisy.
One of our reasons for opening the Tenth Avenue club for girls was
that we had found it impossible to be on an intimate footing with
them in their homes. The atmosphere of family life was far too often
one of mutual reproach and recrimination, and the visitor was likely
to find herself in the embarrassing position of a court of appeals.
Picture an evening spent in the company of the two Katie Murphys,
mother and daughter, thus: Mrs. Murphy, sitting with folded arms in the
rocking-chair, rehearses the story of Katie’s sins. Katie leans against
the back of the sofa with dropped eyelids and a face as expressionless
as putty. All the efforts of the involuntary court of appeals to induce
the girl to say a word in her own behalf are met by stony silence.
Meanwhile, the mother runs on, zealously driving nails in her own
coffin as far as the girl’s affection and confidence are concerned.
Harassed by the problem of feeding, clothing, and housing six children
on $8.00 a week, Mrs. Murphy has little strength or imagination left
for the subtler problem of how to handle an adolescent daughter.
It was such experiences that taught us the necessity of providing some
neutral ground on which to meet Katie Murphy, if we were to secure her
confidence. This neutral ground took the form of club rooms where we
established ourselves with the definite intention of giving Katie the
just due of her youth,--a good time.
We continued, however, to visit the families of girls in the course of
the investigation, collecting thereby material for the observations
on home life contained in the following chapters. The girls themselves
welcomed our visits even though they must have realized in a vague way
that we were keeping “tab” on conditions in the homes from which our
club members came. One day May Sipp,[63] a new girl, came to one of the
club leaders and said, “Miss ----, will you come to my house tomorrow?”
The leader thought that perhaps a party was being planned and asked for
further details. “Why, no one has been to my house yet and I’d like
to have you come,” the girl explained. It was evident that she felt a
little put out because her home had not as yet been visited.
It was the middle of December when we first opened for the girls in the
neighborhood the house which we had taken for the purpose. The place
received no more colorful name than the number on the door, “471,” by
which it was designated during the whole time we occupied it. “471” was
a red brick structure consisting of three stories and a basement. It
was rather a friendly looking house with a “stoop” and the remnants of
front and back yards; that is, there was a small area in front guarded
by a low iron fence with a gate, and a square box in the rear which
became a “playground” in summer. A supervisor from Christ Presbyterian
Church was placed in charge of the latter, and the children crowded
into the little box in such numbers that we soon had complaints from
the neighbors against the shrill chorus rising from the back yard.
The front yard was of no particular use except that the iron gate
served to stimulate the imagination of the small boys who haunted our
premises. It was a continual bone of contention. It was always being
carried away by bands of enemies and heroically restored by bands of
friends--who were sometimes one and the same--until at last we decided
to remove it entirely from the sidewalk, where it was of no earthly use
as a gate, and store it in an inner closet.
We occupied two floors of the house, the ground floor and the basement.
In the basement was a large, well lighted kitchen and a living room. On
the first floor were two large connecting rooms which were furnished
with folding chairs and a piano. Though our equipment was meager, we
had a cook stove and a piano. These two pieces of furniture we came to
regard as the necessary minimum of equipment for a girls’ club under
all circumstances.
The occupations of the clubs--cooking, sewing, basket-weaving, brass
work--were carried on as pastime rather than as work. It was necessary
to vary the program repeatedly, for the shifting attention of the girls
refused to consider any occupation as pleasurable for long at a time.
The one thing of which they never seemed to tire was dancing, and in
spite of the ugly forms which this recreation took, it had always the
beauty of spontaneity. Their fondness for popular songs was almost
as spontaneous. “The Garden of Love,” “The Hypnotizing Man,” “When
Broadway was a Pasture,” “The Girl that Married Dad,” and others of
the same lurid and sentimental strain were sung over and over to an
unvarying appreciation.
Our relations with our co-tenants at “471” threw much additional light
on conditions of life on the West Side. Above us on the second floor
lived the McClusky family. Ellen McClusky was fourteen, and since
her mother’s death two years before had been housekeeper for her
father and three brothers. Lately one of the brothers had sickened of
tuberculosis, thus adding to Ellen’s housekeeping duties those of a
sick nurse. Her school attendance had suffered. The truant officer was
paying visits to the house and the health officer was also knocking at
the door. Thus the clouds had already begun to gather on the McClusky
horizon even before our entrance on the scene. Ellen’s joy at the news
that a club for girls had moved in on the ground floor of the house was
unbounded. She was allowed at first to come down to us every evening.
But Mr. McClusky soon turned against us. He was a choleric individual,
and was, moreover, constantly agitated over the condition of his son,
who was dying by inches. It is not surprising that he turned violently
against the social coercion which demanded that Ellen should go to
school and his son be put away in a hospital. He mishandled the truant
officer and forbade Ellen to have anything to do with the “teachers,”
whom he regarded as being in league with the forces that harassed him.
Ellen would hang over the banisters in the evenings watching the hall
below. But her father had forbidden her even to speak to us. In March
the invalid brother died, and the club rooms were closed for a week
during which the house was given over to the solemn splendors of a
funeral. After the undertaker had retired, the health officer took
possession and the rooms were submitted to a thorough fumigation.
We opened our club once more, but Ellen was still forbidden to come
to us. She continued living in the isolation of the second floor,
peeping over the banisters in the evening. It was finally a great
relief to our overstrained sympathies when an officer of the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, upon evidence furnished by
Ellen’s aunt, arrived and removed her from her home. This ended the
vicissitudes of the McClusky family so far as we had any share in them.
On the top floor lived Mr. Distel, a German mechanic about fifty years
old. He was an odd little bitten-off man, unkempt and kindly, who had
lived alone in his three little rooms many years. He liked to hear the
boys and girls downstairs, he said, and occasionally he made clumsy
efforts to join in, but he had been too long a hermit. He could not.
Needless to say, Mr. Distel was our most sympathetic neighbor, and the
presence of the little man finishing off an industrious and worthy life
in his lonely top floor rooms made us but the more determined in our
task of supplying wholesome good times to our friends.
The source from which most of our difficulties proceeded was the spirit
of disorder abroad in the neighborhood. This was indeed a lawless
spirit and, in its extreme form, a sinister and menacing influence.
The “Gopher gang”[64] figured largely in the neighborhood gossip, and
whatever may have been the actual extent of Gopher operations in our
vicinity, the current stories about them, however inaccurate as to
facts, were in themselves a sufficiently evil influence in the lives of
the boys and girls of the district.
Our most direct contact with local disorderly influences was through
the gangs of small boys who haunted our premises, demanding to be
admitted. As we were not prepared to open the house to them, our
apparent inhospitality drew upon us a series of attacks. Not that all
the attacks were acts of deliberate revenge; they were sometimes merely
outbursts of habitual rowdyism. Nevertheless, they were a serious
element in our situation. We found that we could not run a club for
girls on Tenth Avenue without getting the small boys’ consent. Time had
to be spent in conciliating them. At first our method was to station
an out-post on the sidewalk. To one of the “teachers,” who proved an
adept in gang psychology, this difficult task was usually delegated. An
entry in her diary under the date of December 20--a date on which the
usual Tenth Avenue spirit was enhanced by the approach of the Christmas
holidays--reads as follows: “As it was not my night on duty I had no
intention of spending the evening at the Tenth Avenue house. I stopped
in to speak to Miss Barclay and see how things were going, but the
disorder on the outside was so bad that I was forced to spend most of
the evening on the sidewalk outside with the boys.”
An adventure which befell us on the second evening after our “opening”
might have had very serious results. One of the club leaders was
engaged in the front basement room with a group of the older girls.
Early in the evening a gang of small boys gathered at the window
outside to upbraid their sisters for not letting them come into the
club. But they withdrew at a word from the “teacher,” who might have
suspected such unusual docility, but did not. An hour later when the
girls were engaged in their club occupations, there came crashing
through the window a weapon seven feet in length, which proved to
be a gun with a bayonet attachment. It struck the chair in which the
teacher was sitting with such force as to chip the oaken back. As the
gun was slowly drawn into the room there was much wringing of hands and
a general desire to get a “cop.” The gang had promptly made off, of
course, leaving the sidewalk deserted.
It became apparent that the small boy could do serious damage unless
conciliated. Treating with him in the darkness of the sidewalk proved
not to be successful. It was evident that we must bring him inside and
examine him in the light. One evening just after the front shutters
had been pried open by depredators who had then promptly run away, one
of the club leaders went out to the sidewalk, closing the door behind
her. Nobody was in sight. But she had only to continue long enough in
a motionless attitude to coax these young animals from their holes.
Presently a head came out from behind a stoop, and another from an area
opposite. Soon several boys were edging along the pavement toward the
solitary figure in the dark, and in a few minutes the whole gang had
closed in a circle around the trapper. She led them up the stoop, into
the brightly lighted sitting room, and called for a clear statement of
grievances. It was all ready. “Say, ain’t no boys gona be let in never?”
The end of this council and of others which followed was that we gave
Saturday night to the boys. Gradually, by this concession and others,
we were able to conciliate the gangs. The worst of our troubles were
over when they had been somewhat enlisted on our side, but there were
occasions when the alliance proved embarrassing. For instance, one
of the “teachers” leaving the club late in the evening encountered
a group of the older boys who gallantly offered to escort her to the
car. As they neared the corner she remarked hastily that she must catch
a car which had just stopped there. Before she could get her breath,
four of the boys rushed ahead, jumped on the front platform, and began
putting on the brakes so that the motorman could not start his car. The
astonished club leader found herself seized by the other three youths
and hoisted upon the rear platform with a parting shove which sent her
hurtling into the car. The hooting and confusion were intense, and the
passengers stood up in alarm. The boys, however, stood genially waving
their caps as the car started. When the conductor came to collect the
fare, he said suspiciously to the new passenger, “Did you know them
boys?” The young woman was compelled to say that they were friends
of hers, to which he replied, “Gee, but you got tough nuts for your
friends!”
Stories of the disorder in the neighborhood came into the house in many
ways. For instance, it was vividly reproduced in the conversation of
the “gentleman friends” of the girls, who were often our guests. This
was full of wild Gopher gossip and stories of arrests. There was one
evening in particular when Doran thrilled us all with a long story of
how he had gone home early one night and was sitting reading his paper,
feeling rather queer--the trouble was in the air--when a terrific noise
broke out in the hall. A whole gang of fellows had come into the house
through the door on the roof and gone plunging down the stairs pursued
by a trail of officers.
At this point in the story, Cleaver suggested that Doran must have
kept the door shut pretty tight, to which he agreed. Cleaver then
accused him of being afraid, and recalled an instance when, as he
claimed, Doran had shut the door against him when the “cops” were
after him. Doran hotly denied this. The two ruffled spirits had to be
smoothed and then the talk ran on, all about arrests and flights and
pursuits. The whole conversation indicated how precariously near the
edge of trouble these young men felt themselves to be all the time.
It showed also the kind of lawlessness and rowdyism on which they
built their youthful ideals, which lead in turn to further acts of
lawlessness and rowdyism.
Echoes of the Gophers occurred in the talk of the girls. At one of
the first club meetings, a tall, attractive girl arose and proposed
as a name for the club, the “Gopherettes.” As a motto, she suggested,
“Hit one, hit all.” This was Fanny Mayhew, who turned out on nearer
acquaintance to be a wonderfully cheerful girl with a happy disposition
and very popular with her family and school teachers. Though perfectly
able to hold her own, she proved not so belligerent as the episode had
suggested. She told a club leader that she had once belonged to a club
of girls called the “Gopherettes.” They had paid dues and even rented a
basement room for a short time. Later the club had moved to the dock,
and she had not been allowed by her mother to go to its meetings.
It was unavoidable that the girls’ conduct should reflect the character
of their environment. However, only once was there an outbreak against
a club leader. Among the friends of the house who kindly volunteered
from time to time to help with an evening’s entertainment was a young
woman from another city who had, thanks to her own efforts and the
interest of a wealthy friend, raised herself from the ranks of the
girls who composed our clubs. On the occasion of this young woman’s
visit with us, there arose from the room where she was engaged with
a group of girls the sounds of a violent quarrel. One of the regular
leaders hastened to the room, arriving just in time to prevent blows.
Julia O’Brien had lifted her arm to strike the young woman who had come
up from the ranks and who was, moreover, for the moment the center of a
hostile, excited group.
The leader of the riot, led downstairs to the kitchen, became instantly
repentant, and the story of the quarrel came out. One of the girls had
stepped on Julia’s foot and she had exclaimed, “Oh, hell!” It was an
unfortunate slip. Julia knew that swearing was not allowed in the club
rooms and she was making strenuous efforts, as the leaders knew, to
break a lifelong habit. But the young woman from the ranks did not know
this and she had rebuked the guilty Julia in a tone of such cold and
stinging contempt that it had not only provoked her victim to the point
of striking blows but had drawn upon the tactless leader the wrath of
every girl present.
A subsequent talk with this young woman revealed the attitude of
offensive superiority which the girls had so hotly resented--an
unfortunate by-product of her rapid rise into responsibility. A
thoroughly self-respecting and deserving person, she had the peculiarly
hard and unsympathetic attitude toward those who had failed to surmount
their disabilities so often held by persons who have themselves
struggled up from the ranks.
“Fights” among the girls were not infrequent. One unusually peaceful
and happy evening, for instance, ended in open warfare because Barbara
Egan, apparently with no evil intent, had asked Louisa Storm why her
fingers were so crooked. No less painful was the quarrel between Mamie
Taggart and Anna Strumpf, which was recorded in the following entry in
the diary: “Tonight it was raining heavily but about eight or ten girls
of the Wednesday night club turned up. Anna Strumpf sent word that she
is not coming any more as she is afraid that Mamie Taggart will do her
up outside.”
Not all the “fights” were duels; some of them were petty wars of
faction with faction. There was one particularly unfortunate evening
when fatal “remarks were passed” and the deadly insult “tough” was
used. The waves of bitterness were long in subsiding. The next evening
a group of the girls, headed by Maggie Tracy and Clara Denley, appeared
at the club wearing large stiff hair bows, some red and some black,
which stuck out defiantly on either side. They announced that they had
been called tough, so what could one expect? The club leaders began to
muster their diplomacy and act as peacemakers, but the air was still
belligerent when the opposite faction came in.
Expecting a repetition of the clash between the two sets, we were
greatly surprised to see Sadie Fleming, the leader of the newcomers,
go up to Maggie Tracy and put her hand affectionately on her enemy’s
shoulder, apparently forgetting that a state of war existed between
them. Sadie and her companions had collected on their way to the club
the most thrilling gossip of the entire year. Father Langan, according
to the story, on his way to give holy communion to a woman who was
sick, had been attacked by a gang of Gophers. He had thrown open his
coat to show the vestment of the priest, but they had robbed him of
some money he was carrying and had left him stretched on the sidewalk!
This story was a nine-days’ wonder on the West Side, where, as a usual
thing, deeds of violence are promptly forgotten. Father Langan flatly
contradicted the report, but this had no effect upon the currency of
so picturesque a story. Very likely there were other quarrels besides
Sadie’s and Maggie’s which were forgotten and effaced in the mutual
thrill over this piece of modernized Irish folklore. Mrs. O’Callahan
was graphic, bringing together details heard from various other sources
as well.
“The father was just afther going t’ give a dyin’ woman th’ Holy
Communion. He was stheppin’ down the street when these fellows set in
upon him. ‘B’ys,’ he sez, throwin’ back his coat and takin’ an’ showin’
thim th’ Sacrament which he had in his pocket, ‘d’ye see what I’m
carryin’ here? For yer own good,’ he sez, ‘Oi warn ye,’ he sez, ‘not t’
lay hand on a priest,’ he sez, ‘an’ him goin’ t’ a sick old woman,’ he
sez. An’ with that they hit him an’ took what money he had--twenty-six
dollars he was carryin’, so they say. Oi can’t understand why the
fire from above didn’t sthrike thim down dead. In Ireland, a priest
there has only t’ stamp with his foot and they’d ha’ been sthruck down
where they stood. But America is a bad place, it ain’t like th’ owld
counthrey.”
When the youthful gang spirit of Tenth Avenue had been conquered it
seemed as though the last difficulty had been surmounted. At the
end of ten months we thought we had taken the measure of all the
unpropitious influences that threatened our enterprise. But not so.
We were yet to capitulate to the last and most powerful enemy of
all--industry. First came a “dispossess” notice, and before we could
get our breath from the surprise the house-wrecking crew were upon us.
It was a simple matter to raze “471” and the adjoining buildings. In a
few days they had all disappeared, along with the tiny back yard, where
the children had played on hot summer days. On the site was erected
a lofty factory building. Tomorrow the machines will be chugging
away in the new shops, tended perhaps by some of the same girls who
yesterday came knocking at the door of “471” asking for room to play.
A neighboring school received the remnants of our clubs. With new
conditions, a new environment, and new groups of girls, an entirely new
start had to be made.
* * * * *
The observations given in this study of girl life on the West Side do
not pretend to be extensive. No attempt was made to gather in numbers.
We had 65 girls in our clubs whose home conditions were very well
known.[65] But the study was written with much additional information
in mind. Other girls came to the house and we were in touch in one way
or another with a great many families of the neighborhood besides those
of club members. The chief purpose, however, was to know intimately and
sympathetically a small group of girls who were typical in many ways
of the girls in any poor and neglected city population. As one writer
puts it: “The alternative lies, not between knowing a few people and
knowing all to an equal degree, but between scratching the surface of
the whole field and digging a portion of it spade deep in order to gain
some idea of the under-soil throughout.”[66]
How far did our groups represent the girl life of the West Side? It was
a comparatively small number whom we knew, and the majority of them
came from the “under-soil.” The well cared for did not come to us. Our
girls were for the most part the daughters of the poorest poor. As a
group they differed essentially from the types of girls usually found
in settlement clubs and classes. Some of them were not of the best
local repute. They were known as “tough,” and had been practically
outlawed by certain settlements and recreation centers for the sake of
the more promising element.
The settlement workers in the district repeatedly assured us that
it was hard to hold the girls who came from our particular area
and impossible to work with them in numbers. This testimony as to
the unsocial character of these girls was sadly borne out by our
experience in trying to organize them into clubs. There were many
who corresponded to the description given by Dr. Katherine Bement
Davis,[67] superintendent of Bedford Reformatory: “Our girls as a class
are anti-social. It is very hard for them to see their conduct in its
relation to the lives of those around them. They are individualistic in
the extreme. They have never thought of the necessity for government
and law, and can see no reason for obedience to anything but their own
impulse.”[68]
But after making all due allowances for the limited number of girls
studied and the “tough” reputations of some of them, the fact remains
that these 65 girls and their friends were representative of many
others who are subjected to the same environment. They had been brought
up from babyhood in these blocks. Born in the crowded, dark tenement
house they had had for a nursery the crowded sidewalk, and for a
playground, the street. They had gone to the nearest school and from
there to work in the nearest factory. They had seen the West Side,
breathed the West Side, fed on the West Side for fourteen years or
more, and had built up their adolescent ideals of the same forlorn
material. That they had succumbed to unwholesome influences does not
prove them to have been peculiarly weak or susceptible. Nor does it
prove that their parents had been culpably delinquent in their duties.
Conditions of living in the crowded city have tended to loosen the
family bond, and the powerful force of neighborhood influence cannot
be adequately combated by parental authority alone. The community must
assume the responsibility for the environment of its least protected
members.
A campaign for the control of conditions in the public dance halls has
been begun. We are told that our young working girls must be given
decent dance halls and not publicly and deliberately consigned to the
degraded centers which attract them under that name. The West Side
girls need much more, however, than protected dance halls. Some of the
girls of this district are too poor to go to public dances. But the
same dangers which threaten the dance-hall girl stalk unrestrained
through the neglected streets and tenements of the West Side, and the
girl of fourteen may fall a victim even under her own roof tree.
Demoralizing neighborhood conditions, such as congestion, filth, street
temptations, and neighborhood gangs, all of which are practically
synonymous with West Side life, influence the girls for evil only to a
less degree than they influence the boys. One needs only to talk with
any good mother of the district and hear how steadily she is engaged
in fending her children against the life of the street to learn how
constant and how potent are its influences. Testimony is borne to their
power by the iterated complaint of West Side mothers,--of those who do
not work away from home as well as of those who do,--that “Mamie is
beginning to get out from under me,” or, “Katie was the best girl you
ever saw until we came to live on this block.”
The problem of waywardness among West Side girls cannot be solved
by long distance methods. Their environment must be made safe and
their pleasures recognized and made decent. Some of the things which
enlightened criminologists recommend for women in reformatories, after
they have completely succumbed to the sort of conditions which abound
on the West Side, are regular school attendance with manual training
and flexible courses of study; regular hours for sleep, for food, for
work, and for play; plenty of nourishing food; fresh air and outdoor
life; the social discipline of community life. These are the things
which are given to the girls in the reformatory at Bedford as a cure.
The same things would help to prevent; they would preserve the West
Side girl to society as a daughter and as a mother, as a worker and as
a citizen.
CHAPTER II
IN THE GRIP OF POVERTY[69]
“You’ve got t’ keep your eye on a girl. Now it’s different with a boy.
He can take care of himself. But you never can tell, if you don’t keep
a watch, when a girl’s goin’ to come back an’ bring disgrace on you.”