was
behind the other boys in his gang and suffered frequently from the
tongue-lashings of an unsympathetic foreman. His pay was not commensurate
with his tastes. He constantly felt the desire for finer, better, cleaner
things than he was able to earn. The work was hard for him; he suffered
much from the punishment inflicted upon his tender hands, from muscular
soreness and from weariness. As the days rolled on, he grew weaker, rather
than stronger, and became weary earlier in the day. Finally, the time came
when he felt that he could endure the taunts of his foreman no longer, and
he was about to give up when the foreman, exasperated with his
inefficiency, his clumsiness, and his weakness, discharged him.

Having been discharged, it was difficult for him to find another place to
work. At this critical stage, being out of money, and having fallen in
with idlers--and worse--he was influenced to use his keen intellect and
ability in plans and schemes, to commit a small crime, which yielded him
$10 or $15. Being a novice in crime, not naturally a criminal, he did not
protect himself from discovery and punishment, and, as a result, was sent
to a reformatory. After a short term in the reformatory, his behavior was
so good that he was released. After his release, a kind-hearted person,
who had observed him and liked his appearance, secured another position
for him. This also was at manual labor. At first he entered upon his new
work with a determination to succeed, to live down the stain upon his
character caused by his previous speculation, and, therefore, to live an
honorable and successful life.

STRUGGLING AGAINST ODDS

He worked hard and did his best, but the best he could do was not good
enough. He possessed no manual skill, he had no strength, and little by
little he again became physically tired out, mentally discouraged and
sore, and, having once committed a crime, found it easy to seek his former
associates and drop again into the old ways. An opportunity presented
itself to rob a companion's pocket of a few dollars, and he did so. Again
he was sent to the reformatory, this time for a longer term. Then, until
he came to our office, his career was a repetition of what has already
been related. A few months or a year or two in a reformatory, a jail, or a
penitentiary, a month or two trying to rehabilitate himself in some form
of manual labor, and, then, inefficiency, incompetency, lack of skill,
lack of strength, an