CHAPTER VII

THE CENTER OF THE PROBLEM

In studying the boy of the Middle West Side we are studying the future as well as the present of his district; and in gathering together for a composite picture his various traits which have already been noted, it will not be out of place to refer once more to certain neighborhood characteristics which he reflects as well as to some aspects of his life and environment which have not as yet been illustrated. In this volume we wish mainly to present the boy as he is today, not to suggest the method of his regeneration. But an attempt to account for his peculiarities naturally results in deductions which may seem to argue a basis for some definite plan of reform; and with an increasing intimacy with West Side conditions it becomes more and more difficult to resist the conclusion that many of his vices are forced upon him by circumstances so strong as to be almost unavoidable.

Stealing, for instance, the theft of anything, but especially of coal and wood, is, as we have seen, encouraged; it is looked upon absolutely as a matter of course. The boy is brought up to consider it part of the daily routine;[48] the winter cold drives home his family’s need for heat, yet the family income is too slender to allow the purchase of coal. His mother sends him out to get fuel, and he knows that somehow he must find it. The line of least resistance is worn smooth in his neighborhood, and it is natural and easy to fall in with the parental fiction that the fuel which reaches the tenement has miraculously dropped from heaven.

This fiction does not apply, however, to the more general “swipin’” or “crookin’” which consists in stealing on the spur of the moment any unconsidered trifles which may be lying around. Usually things so stolen are small and of little value. Boys start out on “crookin’” expeditions, taking anything edible or vendible that they can lay hands on; and in this they have the example of older fellows, even married men, who will steal in a desultory way whenever they have the chance. “Every time I get a vacant house,” said a wrathful real estate agent one day, “it means that I’ve got to put in new lead pipes, or new faucets, or new gas fixtures, or perhaps all of them. The damned crooks of the neighborhood, young and old, break in and rip them out to sell.” And a certain settlement had the same experience. When it was first opened practically every removable thing in the house disappeared, including even the necessaries for meals.

Here again, though such thefts are far less excusable, the boys have a definite point of view. They are quite non-moral and have never learned to consider the question of property. Their code is the primitive code of might and they look upon their booty as theirs by right of conquest. Further, the very pressure of poverty is an incentive to stealing for various ends. They are cigarette fiends--they must have cigarettes. They are hungry; they crave amusement, and “the movin’ pictures” mean a nickel. All these things cost money, and when one is penniless and knows no moral code and sees one’s elders acknowledging none, the temptation to adopt the tactics of the thief and the thug becomes almost irresistible.

Much that these boys think and do is the direct result of their natural propensity to imitate, combined with the fact that they have never been taught the difference between childhood and manhood. Thus they learn to fight, to smoke, to drink as their elders do. Fist fights in the street are of the most common occurrence, particularly among the young men from sixteen to twenty years of age. To “go down to the docks and fight it out” is one method of settling all disputes, whether of politics, love, or personal appearance. Homeric tales are related of some of these combats. A youth of eighteen demands of a bigger man an apology for an alleged insult to the former’s sister. The two go behind a sandpile on the docks, where in the presence of a large group of witnesses they fight fiercely for several hours until both are exhausted. Gang fights, as we have said, are frequently settled by a personal fight between two leaders. These fights sometimes end in one or both of the combatants being maimed, and, with the rougher element, occasionally in murder.

The seriousness of a fight between older men in this neighborhood is recognized, and ordinarily every effort is made to separate the fighters before they become committed to fight to the finish. If a man is defeated by the fists of his opponent, he will seize a club, a bottle, a paving stone, or a revolver, if he can get one, and continue the fight with this advantage. Very frequently a street fight between two men results in a feud which will be carried on from day to day, until one or the other is permanently disabled.

Often these feuds result in the destruction of property, which is here an accepted way of “getting even.” Tenants who are evicted are not unlikely by way of revenge to do as much damage as they can to the apartment before leaving. If one club is at war with another, it is expected that the stronger will invade the premises of the weaker and smash up furniture and furnishings. Revenge in this district is wreaked primarily upon person; failing that, upon property. And this latter custom has become so prevalent and so much developed that much damage is done from pure maliciousness and from wanton joy of breaking and destroying. “Scenery Burned by Vandals” runs a recent newspaper headline.[49]

Vandals destroyed three truckloads of scenery stored last night on “The Farm,” in Twelfth Avenue between Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Streets....

Shortly after 11 o’clock last night the first truck was set afire. The scenery was covered with canvas, and when the firemen arrived it was a total wreck. Three hours later the other two trucks were set afire. The trucks also were burned, and the total loss was estimated at $7,000.

Such outrages are quite common. They are merely a development of the method employed by West Side toughs for “getting a come-back”; merely a warning of the fact that the district owns to no law but the law of the Texan or Corsican Vendetta. Does someone habitually steal clothes from the wash-line? Then the husband “lays for” him with a club. Does some man or boy strike a boy on the street? The mother, or father, or big brother goes down to “get even.” Fear and gang ethics forbid the giving of information, and the whole neighborhood is saturated with treachery and suspicion.

With examples of this kind all around him, what wonder that the boy fights often and recklessly; that he turns naturally to violence; and that his combats, singly or in gangs, make no demands on the spirit of fair play?

With regard to smoking, the little West Sider’s indulgence is entirely unrestrained. On the streets, with his gang, and often in his home, he smokes incessantly from about the time that he is six years old; though, of course, to a stranger or a settlement worker he will deny that he has ever touched a cigarette. A boy’s club in the neighborhood recently insisted that its members be allowed to smoke during club meetings. All of them said that they smoked at home and with their parents’ full knowledge. These were boys ranging from ten to fourteen years of age. In another club, a boy of thirteen said that it was impossible for him to refrain from smoking more than half an hour at a time when he was out of school. Other boys sided with him, saying that they simply had to smoke. By a vote of the club, however, smoking was abolished during club meetings. After that, this boy went to the roof or hallway to smoke at intervals during the session of the club. His was not an extreme case, although he smoked to greater excess than most of the boys. And in another club, which was formed away from settlement influence, it was found practically impossible to keep the majority of the boys from smoking. They were willing enough to vote to abolish it, but were unable to adhere to the principle which they themselves had established. A few parents objected on principle to their boys’ smoking, but they had not the power or opportunity of preventing it. So the cigarette habit is added to the boy’s vices, and the stunted, anemic cigarette fiend is a frequent figure on these streets.

In the same way drinking and intoxication come quite naturally into his life. Beer is a great dinner and supper staple in the tenements, and every day sees a long procession of women, girls, and boys, filing with tin pails to the saloon for the evening drink. Most of the girls make for the “Family Entrance,” though many go unblushingly through the screen door to the main saloon and come out a moment later with a foaming pail of beer. Others,--and this is particularly characteristic of the smaller girls,--ask some lounging male of their acquaintance to go in and get the beer for them. The deputy usually rewards himself by a long pull from the pail before he comes out of the saloon. It is astonishing, however, how large a number even of little girls and boys ten years old or less, walk boldly out of the front door with their pails. Almost every saloon has also its line of ragged urchins, crouched on their hands and knees on the stone doorstep, peering under the screen at the crowd within. Occasionally, on gala Saturday nights, a group of men will hold what is known as a “beer racket.” Each one contributes a sum of money, fifty cents, a dollar, or sometimes more, to a saloon keeper, who agrees to furnish all the beer they can drink. The party then retires to a convenient neighborhood roof, and keg after keg is sent up until the last drinker has succumbed. Usually one or more boys may be found with the group, overcome with drink.

Little attention is paid by the neighborhood to drunkenness, and among the boys themselves it is regarded as rather a joke for one of their number to become intoxicated. The worst feature of intemperance here is, indeed, not the occasional appearance of a boy intoxicated but the indifference with which the adults treat such a spectacle. At the last annual outing of the Tammany leaders in this district a score or more of unaccompanied boys, from ten to fourteen years old, managed by hook or crook to join the excursion party, which counted among its numbers many well known and responsible business men of the neighborhood. From the time the excursion boat left the landing to the time it discharged its passengers, on both incoming and outgoing trips, the excursionists were drenched in a torrent of free beer. Kegs were tapped a dozen at a time, and in pails, in glasses, in trayloads of “schooners,” it was rushed to the upper decks so fast that it sometimes went a-begging even among the hundreds of thirsty West Siders. Naturally, the small boys got hold of it, and on the way home a group of them with a gang of immature youths scarcely beyond boyhood themselves, sequestered a couple of kegs in a nook on the after spar deck and actually emptied both kegs. When the boat landed several of them plainly showed the effects of their revel, and one boy of fourteen was helped ashore by his laughing playmates, his legs reeling, his head rolling from side to side, and his eyes staring with the dull vacuity of drunkenness. Among the men, hundreds of whom saw this sight, not a voice was raised in protest; some laughed; some scolded the boys for their intemperance; most watched with cynical indifference, as though this were to be expected.

Thus it is seen that all these vices--drinking, smoking, ruffianism--come very naturally to the West Side boy. Even if he realizes them for what they are, he is ill-fitted to resist them. He sees them all around him from infancy; and, boylike, he makes them his own through imitation.

Another of the many ways in which this versatile youngster amuses himself is by playing truant.

The equipment of the typical boy of the Middle West Side when he is first sent to school is pitiable. Excessive cigarette smoking, the wrangling atmosphere of the home, the excitement of the street, have sapped his nervous power. He is restless, easily reduced to sulkiness, and exceedingly hard to interest. The varied excitement of the streets, combined with the inevitable cigarette, has lost to him all power of continued thought or concentration. School itself, like the boy, has little chance. Perhaps it is lacking in anything which makes a vital appeal to his nature, but from the first it is handicapped. Not only is the lure of the streets tremendous, but the bewildered school teacher is presented with a child who has been born into ignorance and inexpansibility, reared in an atmosphere of discord and vice, and given every chance of acquiring disastrous physical and moral habits, before ever he reached the class room; and the problem that confronts the teacher is not that of building up a character but of making over one that is already seriously deformed.

The sources of the truancy habit are undoubtedly to be traced in the boy’s first acquaintance as an infant with the streets. As we have seen, he is familiar from babyhood with the bustle and confusion of street life and his first pleasurable experiences are associated with it. The atmosphere of the street, its scenes and sounds, permeate the child’s whole existence and fasten upon him the shackles of habit. After a year or two of more or less complete subjection of his budding mind to this influence, the child is expected to exchange without protest the thrilling, lawless streets for the orderly commonplace of the school room. Of course he is attracted by the novelty of the latter for a time, but after that he feels the strain of two conflicting influences--the lure of the street and the instinct of obedience to authority. If he wishes to yield to the street, he has the traditions of generations of truants and any number of conniving playmates to aid him to escape. And here we have the beginnings of the “delinquency” which almost inevitably sooner or later leads him to the juvenile court.[50]

Here is the confession of a ten-year-old truant, which is typical of school life in the district:

“I used to go to the Fifty-second Street school with Jimmie, but they made me change to Forty-eighth Street because I stayed away so much. I would leave home in the morning at school time and then come up here and play in the streets instead of going to school. I would just hang around the corners with the other boys or go after loot with them. A little while ago, Jimmie and I wanted money, and we got a dog to follow us into a candy store on Eleventh Avenue, and there we tried to sell it. It was a dandy dog, a thoroughbred, but the storekeeper said he had two already and wouldn’t buy it. We tried to sell it again but it got away from us. We tried that with another one once but it was a bum one. Nobody would buy it, and after spending the whole morning trying, we gave it a kick and chased it off. Jimmie and I and a bunch of boys all got a duck apiece in Jersey once and we were able to sell them for fifty cents apiece.”

“How do you get over to Jersey without paying?”

“That’s easy,” said Jimmie, “you go down to de ferry and wait till two or t’ree ladies comes in togeder. One of ’em gits two or t’ree tickets for the bunch, and you step right up in front of the first lady, like you was her son. The gateman sees the tickets in her hand, and then you beat it, while she’s tryin’ to explain to the gateman. Coming back is easier still, ’cos you can always sneak through the wagon, or express, or employes’ entrances there.”

“When our whole family goes to Jersey,” went on the narrator, “all of us kids sneak in that way. My father buys tickets and then we walk through the gates and he refuses to pay for us because he don’t know us. Just now it is too cold to go to Jersey much, or do anything but keep in school. Besides I’m on parole now. I have to have a good conduct card and have to go and see Mr. Carson once in so often and tell him about what I’m doin’.”

Truancy here is developed into a system, which the youngsters can adjust to any occasion with the greatest facility. If you start to school with your books in the morning it is an easy matter to leave them at a candy store or with a friend, and put in the morning furthering your own interests on the docks or in the streets. If a truant officer asks you your name or your business on the streets, one name is as good as another,--if it is far enough from your own; and there are many plausible reasons for being out of school, if you can avoid having to prove them. A placating note to your teacher written by yourself is as good as one by your mother, if you can only make the teacher believe that your mother wrote it. After two or three days in the street, it is necessary to maintain a strict watch over the mail box, if you would beat your parents to the truant officer’s notice which will sooner or later be found therein. This notice can be removed from the box by the judicious use of a bent pin, and communication between the school and the home is thus indefinitely postponed.

Once these details are arranged, the streets of New York are open to the boys for a holiday. Money, while not an absolute necessity, is much to be desired, and there are many ways of obtaining it,--witness the statement of “Jimmie’s” friend, above. It is against the law for boys under fourteen years to work, and the greater number of employers to whom they apply do their best to make this law effective; in any case, labor as a financial resource makes no strong appeal. But there are things to sell if you can only get hold of them without being caught. Pennies may be begged, or stolen from other and smaller children. Similarly food may be begged when necessary, or obtained unobtrusively from fruit stand and grocery counters. Jimmie’s friend is by no means the only boy who starts for school regularly every morning and very often does not return before nine or ten o’clock at night, staving off the pangs of hunger (which often seems to be the only form of homesickness known in this district) through the resources here described.

Akin to truancy is the “wanderlust.” This passion to get out and away, travel, and court adventure, comes to the boy of the Middle West Side as it comes to most boys--and often he obeys its call. The resulting experiences are usually only a short and amusing incident in his life; very rarely do they lead to a permanent change. One young adventurer told of a characteristic trip:

“Denny Murphy came over to our house one morning last summer and said, ‘Red, let’s beat it.’ ‘Sure,’ I said, ‘where to?’ ‘Out west,’ Denny said. I did not have anything else to do and I thought it would be a good thing to go west. So that afternoon, Denny and I went over to Jersey City. Denny had some money. I don’t know where he got it, but he probably stole it, for he was always crazy about robberies; talked about ‘pulling off’ robberies and things of that kind, and I knew he had been in some hold-ups. We were going to go to Philadelphia first, but I thought we needed more money and could probably get a job in Paterson. So we took a freight train to Paterson. Got there in the evening and I tried for a job in the factory. I told the man I had been getting six dollars a week in another factory and told him I lived in Paterson, but the manager caught me lying about where I lived and fired me out. So Denny and I slept that night in the doorway of that same factory.

“In the morning we both looked around for a job, but there was nothing doing. Finally I got on a barge and they were going to take me on there washing dishes and being cabin boy, but there was nothing for Denny to do, and the boat was going up the river instead of down, so there wasn’t any use in our staying there; so that night Denny came in and we slept on the back of the boat. Denny had some more money now--No, I don’t know where he got it--and we went over to Jersey City again on the trolley car. Then we caught a freight train for Philadelphia. The cars were locked and we had to climb clear up and ride on top. We got down to some town just the other side of Trenton before a brakeman saw us and booted us off, and then we had to wait there the rest of the afternoon and get on a coal car which took us to Philadelphia. We spent that night in a freight car and then got on another freight train out in the West Philadelphia yards and started west. We climbed in a box car marked ‘Springfield, Ohio,’ shut the door, and I went to sleep. When I woke up it was daylight, and the car was in another city. I supposed it was Springfield but it wasn’t; it was only Harrisburg. We walked all around the town, but we couldn’t find anything to do, and finally we got out of money. Along about dark we saw a bellboy, we thought he was, coming out of a hotel. He was a ‘coon’ in uniform, so we thought he must be a bellboy. Then Denny said, ‘Here’s our chance to get money.’ He said we could take a club and come up behind and blackjack the coon and rob him. So we came up in the dark and just as we got close up behind him, he turned around and we saw that he was not a bellboy at all but a policeman. I never knew before they had ‘coon’ policemen anywhere.

“Denny and I beat it for the railroad as fast as we could go. We did not wait to eat or anything, but caught a freight train that we saw moving, and when we got on we found we were bound for Philadelphia again. In the car with us was a ‘coon’ bumming like we were. He wanted to know who we were and where we were going. We told him we were just looking around the country, and he wanted to take us south with him. He said the Southern people were mighty fine people and would surely give us good jobs if we would go with him as far as Atlanta. We had come back from the west now and we thought we might as well go south as anywhere else, so we told him we would go with him. Then I went to sleep again and when I woke up there wasn’t any coon any more. He had beat it somewhere and left Denny and me behind.

“We got off the train at a little station called Overbrook, just outside of Philadelphia, and just as we hit the cinders, two railroad detectives jumped out from behind the switchhouse and grabbed us both and that ended our western trip.

“They took us into the city to the House of Detention, where we stayed over that night and the next two or three days. There was a man there who treated us fine and made us tell all about ourselves, and after two or three days he put us on a passenger train and sent us back to New York. I’ve never tried to go west since.”

Parties and dances, now and then a “grand annual ball” or “fête” at a dance hall or casino, an occasional visit to a moving picture show, one or two dilapidated poolrooms, and the sordid and ever-present saloon--these are practically the only amusements definitely offered to the West Side boy. And as he casts about for means to supplement them it is natural for him to turn early to indulgence in sexual immorality, which he has seen and heard talked of in the tenement and the street since he began to be old enough to notice anything. His sense of modesty has been strangled at birth. All round him he is accustomed to hear obscene terms, the meaning of which any older person will freely explain in a way which robs them of any moral significance whatever. There are plenty of “big fellers” and “wise girls” on the streets to teach him anything that he wishes to know. In the tenements themselves immoral practices are common even among small children, with the full knowledge of everyone except their parents, who are nevertheless apathetically aware of the sins of their neighbors’ children. In a number of ways the boys here learn, not the truth about reproduction, for that is very little known here, but about sexual enjoyment and its many forms of perversion, topics which occupy a large share of the mind of adolescent youth in this environment. Children of both sexes indulge freely in conversation which is only carried on secretly by adults in other walks of life. Certain roofs in the neighborhood have a name as rendezvous for children and young couples for immoral practices.

In common with other districts of the city the neighborhood has many sexual perverts, and these furnish an actual menace to the children. As infants, practically, the boys have heard the same stories repeated until they regard sexual matters as forbidden, of course,--and therefore, like smoking cigarettes and gambling, to be hidden from parents, police, or other authorities,--but with no sense of abhorrence. Knowledge of the methods of the perverts, on the other hand, leads to experimentation among the boys, and to the many forms of perversion which in the end make the degenerate. Self-abuse is considered a common joke, and boys as young as seven and eight actually practice sodomy. Every night the doorways are blocked with girls from fourteen to twenty years of age who lean against the walls and rails, and talk with the young men, the “talk” occasionally degenerating into a laughing scuffle. Girls as a rule are never mentioned by the boys except in club-room stories of the grossest immorality.

Universally these boys lack stamina--physical, mental, moral. They are incapable of prolonged exertion; a minute or two of fast boxing exhausts them completely, and only the exceptional ones are able to box continuously for more than two or three rounds. Their baseball teams are too apt to “blow up” in the fourth or fifth inning, no matter what individual cleverness some of the members may have shown, because the players are so shortwinded and feeble of limb. There are, of course, a number of well developed athletes among them, but a boy of normal physique stands out far above his playmates, and those of exceptional skill are few indeed.

Their mental energies are scattered and undependable. They are incapable of prolonged thought upon any one subject, and lack absolutely the concentration which mental discipline can impart. Quick they may be and clever, but they are seldom deep, and through years of mental inaction they seem unable to grasp anything like an abstract idea or principle. Of any except the simplest and most exciting card games they quickly tire.

The lack of moral stamina is even more evident. They are totally unable to resist physical temptation of any sort. In fact, their training seems to offer them no basis of resistance. They are accustomed to striving not to overcome but to gratify every desire. Lack of privacy and the hopelessly unmoral attitude of the neighborhood toward all matters of sex have left them without any moral standards. In deceit and treachery, the use of superior force and of unfair advantage, they see nothing to be avoided or ashamed of. Revenge and the fiercest retaliation for real or fancied injury, accidental or otherwise, are part of their code. Their life is a struggle for self-preservation, and they are naturally consummately selfish; for the feelings of others they have not the slightest thought. Calloused into unmorality they are unconcernedly cruel, and such a thing as the killing of some boy in a gang fight will be related in a perfectly matter-of-fact manner. They have no respect for age or authority.

Two types of boy are common in these streets, widely dissimilar, but equally pathetic. The first is the boy who wants to “make good,” but cannot shake off the shackles of association and environment; the boy “who’d make something of himself yet if given half a show.” Since leaving school and going to work he has perhaps gone through the process known as “steadying down” and “getting sensible.” Between the years of fourteen and seventeen there may have come a loosening of the old gang ties, a change, and a reshaping. A later period seems to come when after the excitements of his adolescent years he may realize, as to the loafing and depredations into which he has drifted, that “there’s nothing in it.” Sometimes even a boy from a down-at-the-heels and shiftless family makes a desperate effort to pull up. But he lacks the tremendous energy to struggle through the bad name he has gotten by his own career and by identification as “one of that crew.” His bitterness is natural. “Oh, I know--that is another of those Fifty-third Street stories about Charlie Harris. I’ve heard enough of them.” Such a boy is most susceptible at this time to home and outside influence, and if only the opportunity can be taken it will be not unlikely to prove the turning point in his life. But too often there is no one at hand to help him. The West Side boy does not always respond to kindness. He knows little or nothing of it in his life, and his native fickleness and dislike of direction make him, especially after the school age, difficult to handle.

Yet sometimes the effort does succeed. George Ruhl, for instance, was the oldest of three children in a poor German family. Some years ago, when one of the settlement workers first knew him, he was unruly and “difficult” and quite beyond the control of his parents. He refused to go to school, smoked cigarettes, and got into bad company with his gang. When he was twelve years old a settlement worker sent him away to the home of the Salvation Army. The superintendent would not keep him on account of his bad influence upon the other boys. In order to remove him from his gang Miss Summers had him sent to a Boys’ Republic. The leader kept him for two years and gained a remarkably good influence over the boy. He then placed George on a farm in Massachusetts. George has turned out well. The owner of the farm, a selectman of the town, treated him like a member of his own family and trusted him with money and other important matters. Finally he rented a farm to George and another boy, and they are prospering. They run a truck farm, raising also chickens, eggs, and squabs. For many years George sent his mother ten dollars a month to pay the rent. In 1909 he offered to take the whole family down to his farm, but Miss Summers advised against this because it would have imposed too much of a burden upon the boy. Here is a case in which outside help at the right time worked wonders; and undoubtedly the same success might result in many others, were there only more knowledge of the West Side and more voices that would answer to the call. Meanwhile the boy “who can’t make good” is still with us.

The second type commands pity but deserves few excuses. It is the boy who refuses to make good. When a boy goes to work even the lax discipline of the irregularly attended school is absent. West Side boys are not in demand, and his job is often that of an extra “hand,” easily turned off, or else it is of a “blind alley” nature. His delinquency, however, cannot be considered the effect of his job, for boys of this type naturally seek for a low grade of employment.[51] In a fit of temper or idleness he surrenders his job; perhaps he loses it unwillingly. Whole days of enforced freedom will follow. One day in the streets between weeks of monotonous hardship in the factory may demoralize a boy. Possibly he hears of another position, which he thinks will be easier and pay more than the one he has. So he drops his former job and takes the new one. Before he has been in his new position long, the memory of his day of idleness on the street overcomes him, and with a little money in his pocket he quits his position, and this time he does not hunt up a new one until all his money is spent. The next logical step is to try to obtain food and money as long as possible without working for it. And so step by step has evolved the habitual loafer and hanger-on of saloons, the young man who brags that he does not earn a living and does not have to earn one. Two boys known to our workers went through this process and are now young men. Both live off the earnings of mother and sister, and indeed, one of them ordered his sister to go to work “or else how could he live?” The other blacked his sister’s eyes over a similar discussion. Such things are common on the Middle West Side.

Both of these types are direct and logical products of neighborhood conditions, just as many of the ways in which the boy finds his recreation simply announce the fact that he must invent for himself what his home fails to provide. The boy’s inner life is bleak and wretched because every normal instinct of youth, all the qualities of which future men are made, have been sapped and stunted by the gray, grim neighborhood in which even play is crime. There are ten thousand hopeless little tragedies on the Middle West Side today; and our only answer to their appeal is to call for the police.

If the school is at a disadvantage in its labors to build up character, the juvenile court is even more so. A day at court is a transient experience and soon forgotten. Even the effects of months of institutional life are soon outlived under the strong influences of the street and the gang.

* * * * *

Our picture of the West Side boy is now wellnigh complete. Lawless, defiant, a nuisance to his neighbors and a menace to his playmates, it seems as though the future citizen of these streets were little likely to become other than a burden or a detriment to the whole body politic. Certainly he and his gang, taking them as they are, have little to recommend them or help them to offset a notoriety which they have justly gained.

Of course, their days are not on this account all tears and misery. That side of the story has been emphasized because it bears upon the purpose of this study; but if it were the only side these boys would be almost too impossible to be real. But they are very real, and very boylike, careless and happy-go-lucky, too young to know--of if they did know to reflect on--what might have been, taking their world as it is, and ingeniously determined to make the best of it and have a “good time,” no matter at whose expense. They are quaint little figures, with their rich street vocabulary, their heartless and yet almost innocent paganism, their capacity for achieving the dangerous in amusement though they bump into every corner on the way. Look at the gang ready for baseball; its members do not seem overwhelmed by the burden of juvenile delinquency. Look at the little group “playing hookey” under the dock; fear of the truant officer seems to sit lightly on the shoulders of these boys.

No, comedy is no stranger to the Middle West Side; only it is Meredithian comedy and the laughter which it provokes is thoughtful indeed. And it is assuredly true that if you would see all that is most typical of the West Side boy, if you would see him as expressing what in his life he really is, you must turn your back on comedy and gaze on the sadder picture. Look at the illustrations and see the boy himself; then read the following sketch as the caption under the portrait. It is printed verbatim from the New York _Evening World_ of April 10, 1911, and for its truth to life it cannot be bettered.

Johnnie Moran, twelve years old, ... was arraigned today ... in the Children’s Court.

The boy was taken in charge Saturday night by Detectives Carter and Brown from headquarters, after he had watched his father die of dropsy thirty-six hours previously; after he had seen the body robbed by a playmate; after he himself had taken “de old man’s” watch, and had then gone to play in the street as if nothing out of the usual had occurred.

Johnnie is undersized. His chest is sunken and his shoulders slope; his furtive little gray eyes are deep set under a bulging brow, topped by a shock of hair of no particular color; his small fingers are cigarette-stained, and his clothes look as if their origin had been the ash barrel. Here is the story he told an _Evening World_ reporter, while swinging his thin legs unconcernedly from a bench in the room above the Children’s Court, where the little prisoners were waiting to be called for trial:

“Me old man was sick a week and three days. I didn’t know what wuz the matter wid him, and he didn’t neither. He just laid around and groaned and his legs swelled awful. His name? He wuz named John, too, and he was a night watchman, when he woiked, down to the dock at Thoity-seventh Street. Yes, sir, he drinked some mostly before he went to work in the evenin’. But it didn’t seem to bother him. No, sir, he never treated me bad; hardly ever licked me.

“The old man never had nothing to eat, ’cept what I bringed him the first day he wuz sick. Yes, sir, I went to school every day. I wuz ’fraid the troont-off’cer’d git me. The old man didn’t mind--he just stayed by himself. No, sir, nobody come to see him, and he never told me to git nobody. After school I’d play in the streets with the other fellows and I’d git some buns and milk. I didn’t want much--wuzn’t hungry--and the old man never seemed to want anything.”

Johnnie produced a wad of chewing gum from some recess of his jacket and a second later the atmosphere around him reeked with the odor of mint.

“Thursday night,” he went on, “he wuz took woise. I slept on a bundle of old things in a corner and in the night I heard the old man git up and go in the kitchen and sit down there. He groaned somethin’ awful--like this,” and the boy gave a startling imitation, “and I couldn’t sleep and I told him to shut up. Then, after a while, he stopped groaning and when I got up to go to school I see he wuz nearly all in.

“He told me to tie a rope around him and try and pull him onto the bed and I did it, but it wuzn’t no use. Then I went out and got a roll and a glass o’ milk and when I come back he wuz half way onto the bed, and he didn’t answer when I spoke to him and shook him. I called him four or five times, but he never answered, and so I went on to school. I didn’t want the troont-off’cer to git me.

“Yes, sir, I knowed he wuz dead, but I had to go to school. Then after school was out, I told some of the fellers and two of ’em went up in the room with me, and one of ’em--he wuz a big boy--took five dollars out of the old man’s pocket and I took his watch. The big boy--his name wuz Frank Reede--wouldn’t give me none of the five dollars and he and the other kid run away.

“The next day I got hungry and I told the janitor and he told the cops and they come and got me and took the old man’s watch to keep for me. Yes, sir, I’m sorry the old man’s dead. He wuz good to me. No, sir, me muther is dead. She died when I wuz a year old when we lived in Thoity-thoid Street. I dunno how long we have been living in Thoity-seckin Street. What’ll they do with me, Mister?”

What shall we do with him? That is a question which the institutions, the officials, and the people of New York must answer.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

TABLE 1.--SOURCES FROM WHICH THE NAMES OF THE 294 BOYS STUDIED WERE OBTAINED

============================================================ Source |Names ------------------------------------------------------+----- 1909 Court list | 202 Big Brother Movement | 43 Special club studies | 10 Charity Organization Society | 8 Additional children of interest in families visited | 20 Known through investigators on other topics | 6 Known through other children | 2 School | 1 Church | 1 Settlement | 1 ------------------------------------------------------+---- Total | 294 ------------------------------------------------------+----

TABLE 2.--AGES OF BOYS[a]

===================================================== | BOYS Age | +--------+---------- | Number | Per cent ---------------------------------+--------+---------- Less than 8 years | 1 | .3 8 years and less than 10 years | 3 | 1.0 10 years and less than 12 years | 24 | 8.2 12 years and less than 14 years | 71 | 24.3 14 years and less than 16 years | 102 | 35.0 16 years and more | 91 | 31.2 ---------------------------------+--------+---------- Total | 292 | 100.0 ---------------------------------+--------+----------

[a] Information is not available as to the ages of two of the 294 boys.

TABLE 3.--LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN THE DISTRICT OF 183 FAMILIES[a]

==================================================== | FAMILIES Years in district +--------+---------- | Number | Per cent --------------------------------+--------+---------- Less than 5 years | 13 | 7.1 5 years and less than 10 years | 31 | 16.9 10 years and less than 15 years | 25 | 13.7 15 years and less than 20 years | 26 | 14.2 20 years and more | 88 | 48.1 --------------------------------+--------+---------- Total | 183 | 100.0 --------------------------------+--------+----------

[a] Information is not available as to the length of residence in the district of 58 of the 241 families.

TABLE 4.--COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF PARENTS[a]

============================================= Country of birth |Fathers |Mothers ----------------------------+--------+------- United States | 81 | 92 Ireland | 64 | 72 Germany | 27 | 18 Italy | 17 | 15 Scotland | 7 | 8 England | 6 | 4 Sweden | 4 | 4 France | 4 | 2 Austria | 3 | 2 Russia | 1 | 3 Dalmatia | 2 | 2 Roumania | 2 | 1 Armenia | 1 | 1 Switzerland | 1 | 1 West Indies | 1 | 1 Portugal | | 1 Denmark | 1 | ----------------------------+--------+------ Total | 222 | 227 ----------------------------+--------+------

[a] Information is not available as to the country of birth of 19 fathers and 14 mothers in 241 families.

TABLE 5.--NATIONALITY OF AMERICAN-BORN PARENTS[a]

=============+=========+=========+ Nationality | Fathers | Mothers | -------------+---------+---------+ German | 28 | 28 | Irish | 21 | 25 | American | 15 | 18 | English | 3 | 2 | -------------+---------+---------+ Total | 67 | 73 | -------------+---------+---------+

[a] Information is not available as to the nationality of 14 of 81 American-born fathers and of 19 of 92 American-born mothers.

TABLE 6.--TWO HUNDRED FAMILIES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF PERSONS IN HOUSEHOLDS AND NUMBER OF ROOMS OCCUPIED[a]

===============+========================================================================= | FAMILIES OCCUPYING +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------- Persons in | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | All household | Room | Rooms | Rooms | Rooms | Rooms | Rooms | Rooms | Rooms | families ---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------- Two | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | 4 Three | 1 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 1 | | | 26 Four | | 1 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 2 | | | 27 Five | 1 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 2 | | | | 27 Six | | 3 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 4 | | | 41 Seven | | | 4 | 11 | 8 | 1 | | 1 | 25 Eight | | | 4 | 17 | 5 | 2 | | | 28 Nine | | | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | | 13 Ten or eleven | | | | 1 | 4 | 1 | | | 6 Twelve and | | | | | | | | | less than 15 | | | | | 1 | 2 | | | 3 ---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------- Total | 3 | 10 | 54 | 75 | 41 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 200 ---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+---------

[a] Information is not available as to the number of rooms occupied by one household of three persons, six of four persons, six of five persons, three of six persons, three of seven persons, three of eight persons, one of nine persons, and one of 12 persons; as to the number of persons in two households occupying four rooms; nor as to the number of rooms occupied or the number of persons in 15 households.

TABLE 7.--LIVING CHILDREN IN 231 FAMILIES[a]

============================+=================== | FAMILIES Number of living children +--------+---------- | Number | Per cent ----------------------------+--------+---------- One | 12 | 5.2 Two | 28 | 12.1 Three | 28 | 12.1 Four | 34 | 14.7 Five | 44 | 19.0 Six | 36 | 15.6 Seven | 24 | 10.4 Eight | 17 | 7.4 Nine | 5 | 2.2 Ten | 2 | .9 Eleven | 1 | .4 ----------------------------+--------+-------- Total | 231 | 100.0 ----------------------------+--------+--------

[a] Information is not available as to the number of children in 10 of the 241 families.

TABLE 8.--STATUS OF MOTHERS IN 222 FAMILIES[a]

=============================+==================== | MOTHERS Status of mother +---------+---------- | Number | Per cent +---------+---------- Living and earning wages | 87 | 39.2 Living and not earning wages | 103 | 46.4 Dead | 32 | 14.4 -----------------------------+---------+---------- Total | 222 | 100.0 -----------------------------+---------+----------

[a] Information not available as to the status of the mother in 19 of the 241 families.

TABLE 9.--CONJUGAL CONDITIONS OF PARENTS IN 233 FAMILIES[a]

===================================+=================== | FAMILIES Conjugal condition of parents +--------+---------- | Number | Per cent -----------------------------------+--------+---------- Parents living together | 133 | 57.1 Father dead, mother living[b] | 53 | 22.7 Mother dead, father living[c] | 20 | 8.6 Both parents living, but separated | 15 | 6.4 Both parents dead | 12 | 5.2 -----------------------------------+--------+---------- Total | 233 | 100.0 -----------------------------------+--------+----------

[a] Information is not available as to the conjugal condition of parents in eight of the 241 families.

[b] In eleven cases where the father was dead and the mother living, the mother had remarried and the step-father was with the family.

[c] In four cases where the mother was dead, and the father living, the father had remarried and the step-mother was with the family.

TABLE 10.--RELIEF RECORDS OF 241 FAMILIES

=============================================+=================== | FAMILIES Record +--------+---------- | Number | Per cent ---------------------------------------------+--------+---------- Known to have received aid: | | From relief societies | 73 | 30.3 In form of institutional care for children | 17 | 7.1 From other sources | 15 | 6.2 ---------------------------------------------+--------+---------- Total | 105 | 43.6 Deducting duplicates[a] | 19 | 7.9 ---------------------------------------------+--------+---------- Total | 86 | 35.7 Known not to have received aid | 144 | 59.7 Relief record unknown | 11 | 4.6 ---------------------------------------------+--------+---------- Grand total | 241 | 100.0 ---------------------------------------------+--------+----------

[a] There were 19 cases in which families were known to have received relief of more than one of the three kinds specified.

TABLE 11.--DURATION OF RELIEF RECORDS OF 73 FAMILIES KNOWN TO HAVE RECEIVED AID FROM RELIEF SOCIETIES[a]

================================+=================== | FAMILIES Duration of record +--------+---------- | Number | Per cent --------------------------------+--------+---------- Less than 1 year | 15 | 20.5 1 year and less than 2 years | 11 | 15.1 2 years and less than 5 years | 10 | 13.7 5 years and less than 10 years | 19 | 26.0 10 years and less than 15 years | 11 | 15.1 15 years and less than 20 years | 4 | 5.5 20 years and less than 25 years | 3 | 4.1 --------------------------------+--------+---------- Total | 73 | 100.0 --------------------------------+--------+----------

[a] Information is not at all available as to the duration of the relief records of 13 of the 86 families who were known to have received aid.

TABLE 12.--COURT DISPOSITION OF CASES INVOLVING 454 ARRESTS AFFECTING 259 BOYS AND 221 FAMILIES[a]

======================+=========+==========+========== Disposition of cases | Arrests | Boys | Families | | affected | affected ----------------------+---------+----------+---------- Boy let go | 260 | 197 | 176 Boy paroled | 95 | 83 | 76 Boy sent up | 99 | 75 | 67 ----------------------+---------+----------+---------- Total | 454 | 259[b] | 221[b] ----------------------+---------+----------+----------

[a] Information is not available as to the disposition of nine cases involving arrest.

[b] As some of the boys were arrested more times than one, and as some of the families had two or more boys who were arrested, these figures are absolute totals, and not the sums of the other figures in the columns in which they appear.

TABLE 13.--FINAL DISPOSITION OF 92 WEST SIDE PAROLED CASES AND OF 1,492 PAROLED CASES DISPOSED OF BY THE MANHATTAN COURT IN 1909[a]

=================================+===================+=================== | WEST SIDE CASES | ALL CASES Final disposition of case +--------+----------+--------+---------- | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent ---------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+---------- Discharged or sentence suspended | 78 | 84.8 | 1,264 | 89.5 Committed to institutions | 14 | 15.2 | 148 | 10.5 ---------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+---------- Total | 92 | 100.0 | 1,412 | 100.0 ---------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------

[a] Information is not available as to two of the 95 paroled cases and one case was still pending when the study was concluded.

TABLE 14.--TRUANCY RECORDS OF 215 BOYS, CLASSIFIED AS DELINQUENT OR NOT DELINQUENT[a]

================================+=========================+======= | BOYS | +------------+------------+ Extent of truancy | | Not | Total | Delinquent | delinquent | --------------------------------+------------+------------+------- No truancy | 41 | 43 | 84 Occasional truancy | 17 | .. | 17 Serious truancy | 109 | 1 | 110 Boy physically disqualified for | | | school attendance | 4 | .. | 4 --------------------------------+------------+------------+------- Total | 171 | 44 | 215 --------------------------------+------------+------------+-------

[a] Information is not available as to the truancy of 79 of the 294 boys included in the study.

TABLE 15.--STATUS OF 163 BOYS NOT GAINFULLY EMPLOYED[a]

==============================+======= Status | Boys ------------------------------+------- Less than 14 years of age | 99 14 years of age or more: | Attending school | 31 In institutions | 8 Out of work and out of school | 25 ------------------------------+------- Total | 163 ------------------------------+-------

[a] Of the 294 boys, 100 were gainfully employed. Information is not available as to the status of 31 boys.

TABLE 16.--OCCUPATION AND WAGES OF 100 BOYS GAINFULLY EMPLOYED[a]

==========================+=========================================+===========+====== | BOYS EARNING | | +------+------+------+------+------+------+ Boys | | $2 | $3 | $4 | $5 | $6 | $7 | whose | Occupation | and | and | and | and | and | and | earnings | All | less | less | less | less | less | less | are not | boys | than | than | than | than | than | than | available | | $3 | $4 | $5 | $6 | $7 | more | | --------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----------+------ Errand boy | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 22 Office boy | .. | .. | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 15 Piano factory worker | .. | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 Driver or driver’s helper | .. | .. | .. | 2 | 2 | 3 | .. | 7 Stock boy | .. | 1 | .. | .. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 Printer’s apprentice | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 Plumber’s apprentice | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 1 | .. | 2 | 4 Worker in factory other | | | | | | | | than piano factory | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | 2 | .. | 3 Cashboy | .. | 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 3 Tailor’s helper | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 2 | 3 Farmhand | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 2 | 2 Checkboy | .. | .. | 2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 2 Messenger boy | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 1 | .. | 2 Bakery worker | .. | .. | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 2 Moving picture show | | | | | | | | worker | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 Freight checker | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 1 Packer | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 Garage helper | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 Plasterer’s helper | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. Water boy, Metropolitan | | | | | | | | Railroad | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 1 Engineer’s helper | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 1 Newspaper boy | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 Furnace company worker | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 1 Water works worker | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 Clerk | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | 1 Prisoner in navy prison | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 --------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----------+------ Total | 3 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 11 | 19 | 24 | 99 --------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----------+------

[a] Of the 294 boys, 163 were not gainfully employed. Information is not available as to the status of 31 boys.

REPORT OF CHILDREN’S COURT, 1913

EXCERPTS FROM ANNUAL REPORT COURT OF SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

For the Year Ending December 31, 1913

The following tables and charts are taken from the annual report of the children’s court for the county of New York.

In the preparation of this report the court officials had the active co-operation of the Committee on Criminal Courts of the Charity Organization Society. With the approval of Frank Smith, the Chief Clerk of the Court of Special Sessions, and under the direction of Lawrence Veiller, Secretary of the Committee, the report was planned and compiled by George Everson, the Assistant Secretary of the Committee.

These statistics, based on a total of 9,019 cases and representing the juvenile delinquency of the entire county, make it possible for us to compare some of the features of juvenile lawlessness on the Middle West Side with corresponding conditions in the larger area. To quote from the report:

“The total number of arraignments in the Court for the year 1913 was 9,019. The statistical tables of this report are based on this large number of cases. Any facts concerning juvenile delinquency in these statistics should be of permanent scientific value because of the fact of the large number of cases involved.

“In the present report an effort has been made to put before the public more detailed information, in the form of statistical tables and charts, than has been done in previous years. These tables, and their illustrative graphics, will show to some extent the detail of the work of the Court and will make available for popular use some of the information which is carefully tabulated for each case that comes into the Court during the year.

“Many pertinent and interesting facts concerning juvenile delinquency are available from the court records. Owing to the limited time at the disposal of the clerical staff for the compilation of statistics from the individual records of the Court, we have heretofore been unable to get as much of the information before the public as we should like to have done. The assistance which we have received from the Committee on Criminal Courts of the Charity Organization Society has made it possible for us to put the statistics in their present form, they having collaborated with our staff, at the expenditure of considerable time and money, for which we are considerably indebted.

“The installation of the probation system, with its very accurate and detailed records of each case investigated by, or placed in charge of probation officers, has put many more facts at our disposal in regard to the family conditions, school and employment records, etc., of children receiving probationary treatment. It has been our purpose to include some of these facts of general and scientific interest in this report.

“CHARTS AND GRAPHICS.--An effort has been made to illustrate the most pertinent facts brought out in the statistical tables by some simple charts and graphics; it is hoped that the reader will get at a glance the gist of the tables so illustrated. In some instances, the charts have been used to supplement the information included in the tables accompanying them.

“SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY DISTINGUISHED.--It will be noted that throughout the statistical tables distinction has been made between cases of children arraigned as juvenile delinquents and children arraigned in special proceedings. An explanation of these terms may help the reader. The general distinction, broadly stated, is the same distinction which is generally made between delinquent and dependent children. Special Proceedings, however, include beside improper guardianship cases, so-called, all cases of truancy, ungovernable and disorderly children, and cases of girls in danger of becoming morally depraved. While these latter are considered by the Court as being in need of the care and protection of the State, their offenses often show evidence of grave moral turpitude, and the Court finds them to be among the most difficult cases to handle.

“Whenever, in the case of a child brought before the Court on the charge of juvenile delinquency, it shall appear in the course of the trial that the child is without proper guardianship, or is in unfavorable environment, he or she may be adjudged to be in need of the care and protection of the State, and is then arraigned in Special Proceedings.

“PROBATION.--Within the last two years great advances have been made in probation in this Court. A complete and well-organized system of probation records has been installed, and the Court has the service of twenty-three probation officers who devote their entire time and energy to the assistance and reformation of children placed in their charge by the Court. The results of their investigations are invaluable to the judge in making his disposition of the cases, and their work in helping the boys and girls to become good citizens is a great service to the community. The only fault which we have to find with the present system is the fact that the period of probation in general is not long enough to allow the probation officer to do his best work with the children under his charge. Table XXX, and its accompanying chart, shows the length of the probation periods; it will be noted that one-quarter of the cases are on probation for a period of two months or under, while 80 per cent of them are for periods of less than six months. It is the opinion of experts that proper probationary treatment can be given only when the child is placed under the officer for sufficient length of time to allow the officer to do really constructive work with the child, so that it will be of lasting influence in his life. If the offense is not sufficiently serious to require a substantial probation period, then it is not of sufficient importance to have the probation officer spend his time with the case. In order to have longer probation periods a larger corps of probation officers will be necessary.

“TRUANCY.--The report shows that there were 62 cases of violation of the compulsory education law brought into the Court during the year. Investigations of cases by the probation officers have disclosed the appalling prevalence of truancy among juvenile delinquents. Hundreds of cases are on record in the probation rooms showing that children on probation have been habitual truants previous to being brought into the Court on delinquency charges.”

Under the group of cases defined as Special Proceedings is often found the neglected young girl of the accompanying study by Ruth S. True. The columns in the following tables dealing with girls’ cases will throw some light on the charges on which she sometimes gets into court.

TABLE ONE

(TABLE XVIII.--Residence by Districts of Children Arraigned during 1913.[52] Report, pp. 72-73.)

========================================+===========================================================+ | JUVENILE DELINQUENCY +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ Districts and territory in districts | Male | Female | Total +--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+ | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent ----------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+ I. Below 14th St., East of 4th Ave., | | | | | | Bowery and Catharine St. | 1,002 | 21.0 | 23 | 25.2 | 1,025 | 21.1 II. Below 14th St., West of 4th Ave., | | | | | | Bowery and Catharine St. | 604 | 12.7 | 9 | 9.9 | 613 | 12.6 III. East of 6th Ave., from 14th St. to | | | | | | 63d St.[a] | 332 | 7.0 | 6 | 6.6 | 338 | 7.0 IV. West of 6th Ave., between 14th St. | | | | | | and 62d St. | 499 | 10.5 | 10 | 11.0 | 509 | 10.5 V. East of 5th Ave., from 63d St. to | | | | | | 109th St.[b] | 667 | 14.0 | 16 | 17.6 | 683 | 14.1 VI. West of Central Park and 8th | | | | | | Ave., from 62d St. to 126th St. | 253 | 5.3 | 4 | 4.4 | 257 | 5.3 VII. In Manhattan, East of 8th Ave., | | | | | | North of 109th St.[c] | 597 | 12.5 | 12 | 13.2 | 609 | 12.5 VIII. West of 8th Ave. between 126th | | | | | | St. and 155th St. | 91 | 1.9 | .. | .. | 91 | 1.9 IX. West of 8th Ave. and Harlem | | | | | | River North of 155th St. | 32 | .7 | .. | .. | 32 | .7 X. All of The Bronx | 529 | 11.1 | 8 | 8.8 | 537 | 11.1 Brooklyn[d] | 113 | 2.4 | .. | .. | 113 | 2.3 All others | 29 | .6 | 2 | 2.2 | 31 | .6 Not stated | 15 | .3 | 1 | 1.1 | 16 | .3 ----------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+ Total | 4,763 | 100.0 | 91 | 100.0 | 4,854 | 100.0 ----------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+

========================================+===========================================================+ | SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ Districts and territory in districts | Male | Female | Total +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent ----------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ I. Below 14th St., East of 4th Ave., | | | | | | Bowery and Catharine St. | 473 | 17.8 | 235 | 15.5 | 708 | 17.0 II. Below 14th St., West of 4th Ave., | | | | | | Bowery and Catharine St. | 278 | 10.4 | 123 | 8.1 | 401 | 9.6 III. East of 6th Ave., from 14th St. to | | | | | | 63d St.[a] | 192 | 7.2 | 152 | 10.0 | 344 | 8.3 IV. West of 6th Ave., between 14th St. | | | | | | and 62d St. | 330 | 12.4 | 235 | 15.5 | 565 | 13.6 V. East of 5th Ave., from 63d St. to | | | | | | 109th St.[b] | 306 | 11.6 | 186 | 12.3 | 492 | 11.8 VI. West of Central Park and 8th | | | | | | Ave., from 62d St. to 126th St. | 98 | 3.7 | 70 | 4.7 | 168 | 4.0 VII. In Manhattan, East of 8th Ave., | | | | | | North of 109th St.[c] | 257 | 9.7 | 161 | 10.6 | 418 | 10.0 VIII. West of 8th Ave. between 126th | | | | | | St. and 155th St. | 46 | 1.8 | 20 | 1.3 | 66 | 1.6 IX. West of 8th Ave. and Harlem | | | | | | River North of 155th St. | 22 | .8 | 13 | .9 | 35 | .8 X. All of The Bronx | 308 | 11.7 | 191 | 12.6 | 499 | 12.0 Brooklyn[d] | 36 | 1.3 | 13 | .9 | 49 | 1.2 All others | 145 | 5.5 | 37 | 2.4 | 182 | 4.4 Not stated | 159 | 6.1 | 79 | 5.2 | 238 | 5.7 ----------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+ Total | 2,650 | 100.0 | 1,515 | 100.0 | 4,165 | 100.0 ----------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+

========================================+===========================================================+ | ALL CASES +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ Districts and territory in districts | Male | Female | Total +-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent ----------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+ I. Below 14th St., East of 4th Ave., | | | | | | Bowery and Catharine St. | 1,475 | 19.9 | 258 | 16.0 | 1,733 | 19.2 II. Below 14th St., West of 4th Ave., | | | | | | Bowery and Catharine St. | 882 | 11.9 | 132 | 8.2 | 1,014 | 11.3 III. East of 6th Ave., from 14th St. to | | | | | | 63d St.[a] | 524 | 7.1 | 158 | 9.8 | 682 | 7.6 IV. West of 6th Ave., between 14th St. | | | | | | and 62d St. | 829 | 11.2 | 245 | 15.4 | 1,074 | 11.9 V. East of 5th Ave., from 63d St. to | | | | | | 109th St.[b] | 973 | 13.1 | 202 | 12.6 | 1,175 | 13.0 VI. West of Central Park and 8th | | | | | | Ave., from 62d St. to 126th St. | 351 | 4.7 | 74 | 4.6 | 425 | 4.7 VII. In Manhattan, East of 8th Ave., | | | | | | North of 109th St.[c] | 854 | 11.5 | 173 | 10.8 | 1,027 | 11.4 VIII. West of 8th Ave. between 126th | | | | | | St. and 155th St. | 137 | 1.9 | 20 | 1.2 | 157 | 1.8 IX. West of 8th Ave. and Harlem | | | | | | River North of 155th St. | 54 | .7 | 13 | .8 | 67 | .7 X. All of The Bronx | 837 | 11.3 | 199 | 12.4 | 1,036 | 11.5 Brooklyn[d] | 149 | 2.1 | 13 | .8 | 162 | 1.8 All others | 174 | 2.3 | 39 | 2.4 | 213 | 2.3 Not stated | 174 | 2.3 | 80 | 5.0 | 254 | 2.8 ----------------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ Total | 7,413 | 100.0 | 1,606 | 100.0 | 9,019 | 100.0 ----------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+

[a] East of 6th Ave., from 14th St. to 63d St. to 3d Ave.; and 64th St., from 3d Ave. to East River.

[b] East of 5th Ave., from 63d St. to 3d Ave., and 64th St., between 3d Ave. and East River, to 112th St. to 3d Ave., and 109th St. from 3d Ave. to the East River.

[c] In Manhattan, East of 8th Ave., North of. 110th St. to 5th Ave., and 112th St., from 5th Ave. to 3d Ave., and 109th St., from 3d Ave. to East River.

[d] Children living in Brooklyn, but arrested in Manhattan.

TABLE TWO

(TABLE IV.--Nature of Charges.[53] Report, p. 52.)

==================================+===================+===================+=================== | MALE | FEMALE | TOTAL Charges +--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent | Number | Per cent ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- 1. Juvenile delinquency:[a] | | | | | | a. Assault | 236 | 5.0 | 10 | 11.0 | 246 | 5.1 b. Offenses against property | 1,212 | 25.3 | 25 | 27.4 | 1,237 | 25.4 c. Major offenses against the | | | | | | peace | 584 | 12.3 | 12 | 13.2 | 596 | 12.3 d. Minor offenses against the | | | | | | peace | 2,253 | 47.3 | 14 | 15.4 | 2,267 | 46.7 e. Unlawfully employed | 312 | 6.6 | 18 | 19.8 | 330 | 6.8 f. Violation of corporation | | | | | | ordinances not included | | | | | | above | 54 | 1.1 | 4 | 4.4 | 58 | 1.2 g. Unclassified | 112 | 2.4 | 8 | 8.8 | 120 | 2.5 ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- h. Total | 4,763 | 100.0 | 91 | 100.0 | 4,854 | 100.0 ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- | | | | | | 2. Special proceedings:[b] | | | | | | a. Improper guardianship | 2,199 | 82.9 | 1,271 | 83.9 | 3,470 | 83.3 b. Sex offenses | 18 | .7 | 135 | 8.9 | 153 | 3.7 c. Ungovernable and | | | | | | disorderly children | 376 | 14.2 | 104 | 6.9 | 480 | 11.5 d. Truancy | 57 | 2.2 | 5 | .3 | 62 | 1.5 ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- e. Total | 2,650 | 100.0 | 1,515 | 100.0 | 4,165 | 100.0 ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- | | | | | | 3. Total, all cases: | | | | | | a. Juvenile delinquency | 4,763 | 64.3 | 91 | 5.7 | 4,854 | 53.8 b. Special proceedings | 2,650 | 35.7 | 1,515 | 94.3 | 4,165 | 46.2 ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+---------- c. Grand total | 7,413 | 100.0 | 1,606 | 100.0 | 9,019 | 100.0 ----------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------

[a] _Juvenile Delinquency_: _Assault_ includes third degree and felonious assault; _Offenses against property_ includes burglary, robbery, grand and petit larceny, and unlawful entry; _Major offenses against the peace_ includes disorderly conduct as defined by Section 43, Penal Law; carrying dangerous weapons and discharging firearms; _Minor offenses against the peace_ includes disorderly conduct as defined under Section 720 and violation of railroad law. _Unlawfully employed_, includes peddling and violation of the labor law.

[b] _Special Proceedings_: _Improper guardianship_ includes destitute, neglected, and ill-treated children; _Sex offenses_ includes cases under Section 353, laws of 1886, and cases of sex immorality defined in Section 486, Penal Law; _Ungovernable and disorderly children_ includes children complained of by parents, children who desert home, and so forth.

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 ------------------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+

(_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 -------------------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+

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 --------------------+--------+----------+--------+----------+--------+----------+

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

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