OCR Text |
Show - - - - BOYS GOVERN NEBRASKA NEBRASIA ( TOWN TOWNIts Its Name Is Boys Town To\vn To vn Tom ' \ , and Its Guiding Star , Father Flanagan FlanaganHas , lIas Has Given 4,000 4000 , Homeless HOlueIess Urcl Urchins Urclns ns a Fair Chance in Life . . By WILLIAM C . UTLEYEN UTLEY " " 'EN EN ' miles west of Omaha , Neb , there is a community withthe withthe with withtlie TEN tlie the romantic name of Boys Town Tm\n Tm n Toi \ n . . It is just as romanticL romanticas romantic . as its name , for , with the . exception eception , ofa of a handful of supervising super super- supervising supervising - vising oldsters , it is peopledentirely peopled entirely by boys ofSI ofsixteen of SI sixteen tecn or orless orless orless less . It has a bo boy ) ' mayor , a boy dudof chiefof chief dud of police andIt and it is governed governedby governedby governedby by an elected commission of boys \ who \ ho live there . Boys To\\ To Toss Townl To11 \ \ 11 n I ! It sounds like hke somethingmanufactured something manufactured in a adream adream adreamIt dream ! It is is"Upon isUpon . "Upon Upon ' " cntc entering in - Bo BOS . } ) s Town o , a boy reali7cs reah7cs realt7es that he lie is step step- - - . ping pmg _ int into a new wor-ld wor ld world , , " .says says says _ _ its itshIgh itshigh , itshigh hIgh school sophomore mayor , , Dm Dan DmKampan DanKampan DanKampan : schoo"And schooAnd Kampan "And And " , " His Honor adds , ' ' , tha that t boy realizes tha that t tins tillS this new newworld newworld .orld orld world , . will be just what he makes makesof makesof makesof of ItII it II " IIThe The dream that became Boys BoysTown BoysTown BoysTown Town had bad its beginning begmnmg some twen twen- twenty twenty twenty - ty years ago , in lD the mind mmd of ayoung a aoung young ) oung Catholic priest , Edward J J.Flanagan JFlanagan . . Flanagm Flanagan : , then newly ne\lly ne lly netrly \ ordained ordamed He Hebecame Hebecame Hebecame became interested mterested in m the derel1cts derelicts derel1ctsand derelictsand derelictsand and misfits who were inmates of ofthe ofthe ofthe the Omaha city jail j:1l1 j1l1 : and , with the thesplr1t thespirit thespirit splr1t spirit of the true humamtarIan humanitarian humanitarianpracticed , , practIced such kindnesses kmdnesses upon uponthem uponthem uponthem them that they began to confide lD in lDhun inhim inhim hun him In the pity of their life hfe storIes storIeswas storieswas storieswas was born the mission to which wh1ch Fa- Fa - Father Fa Father . ther Flanagan has since smce commit commit- committed committed . - ted himself hlItlself himselfFed Fed Fcd Hungry MISfitS Misfits.He MisfitsHe . He visited more sinners smners agamst against agamstSocIety againstsociety againstsociety SocIety m the police poltcc courts , unt until untilhe untilhe he decided to help the mIscreants mIscreantskeep miscreantskeep miscreantskeep keep out of jail JnJl by providing provIdmg them themiood themfood themfood iood food and shelter in m the cold wmter winter wmtermonths wintermonths wintermonths months and trying trYl11g to steer themback them themback themback back to the ways of rIghteousness righteousnessand and happiness It Il was an over over- overwhelmmg overwhelming . - whelming whelmmg task tas1 , . , for many of them themwere themwere themwere were hopeless drunks and dopefiends dope dopefiends dopefiends fiends and some even criminals"Bttt criminals crimmais criminals"But "But But "Bllt Bllt "Bttt Bttt " in our uorking ttorJ.mg ttorJmg uorlang . men's mens ' shelter sheltera lclter , a JiunRry llUnw liungr ) man lias ItC13 uas just a hungry man"says mansays man , , " sas saps ) Father Flanagan 'We We 'JVe JVe ' ' We asT.edno askedno asked asT.ed asTed . nofjucstions no noquest noquestions quest questions lOllS At 1t tunes ue sheltredand shelteredand sheltered sheltred { : and andJed andfed andfed Jed fed Jedas fedas as man ntan ) as 500of 500 of them in a sm stn smgle stngle single gle night mgla The accommodations Ite ue Itet ueuere ttcttcre t ( uere ere able to give gJl"e gJle gate " them were pitifully pitifullyInadequate pitifullyinadequate pitifullyinadequate Inadequate There just Hasn't Hasnt ttasn't ttasnt icasn't icasnt ' the themOTley themoney themoney mOTley money . Humanity IIltmaTuty Iluntanity so easily casily forgets forgetsthat forgetsIliac forgetsthat that Iliac men are their brothers ' 1 I 1cepers Ieepers f cepers eepers It copersIt cepersIt eepersIt ILOS Itas teas discouraging lLork ltOrl icork . , but Htth luth uith theaid the theard theaid ard aid ardof aido o of f God Cod Codn Godn uc n e perSCl perset pcrsctcrcd ered ercd Funds to tocarryon tocarry tocarry carryon carry on ttere ltere uere scraped together it nher . her her-cier her cier . - Cler eter ue lte could get them " The priest and his Ius friends began beganto beganto to study their thelT guests , in lD an attempt attemptto to discover the causes that lay at atthe atthe atthe the bottom of their troubles Com Com- Complete Complete Complete - plete case histories hlstorles were wcre , . kept 1.ept 1ept on on2 2 000 of them , until unbl it 1t became ape ap- ap apeparent apparent ap apparent - parent that most of them were the theresult theresult theresult result of neglected or homeless homelessch homelesschildhoods homelesschildhoods ch childhoods dhoods } , . Father 'ather ather ' Flanagan and andhIS andhis andhis hIS associates concluded that If Ifthey ifthey ifthey they were to save men of tins thIS thus type typethey typethey typethey they must begin begm with w1th the grass grassroots grassroots grassroots roots and save them as children childrenThat childrenThat childrenThat That . was v.as vas the beginning begmnmg of the thedream thedream thedream dream of Bovs Boys Bo ) s TownWIth TownWith Town TownWith With a borrowed capital of $90 90 $90the $90the $90the 90the $ the filst fist month's months ' rent was p paid ld on ona ona ona a house m In Omaha and in it to It In livewent . e ewent ewent went Father Flanagan and fiveboys five fiveboys fiveboys boys , two of them thcm newsboys who whohad whohad whohad had been sleeping sleepmg m In the working workingmen's \ workingmen's workingmens . or1.mg or1mg or1.mgmen's , . men's mens ' shelter and the others boys boyswho boyswho boyswho who had been entrusted to his Ius care careb careb carebv b ) the juvenile Juvemle court With nmaz amaz amazing nmazmg amazing mg ing quickness the news of the new newhaven newhaven newhaven haven for homeless boy bo ; ) s spread and andIn andm andm In m practically no time tune it was filled filledbeyond filledbeyond filledbeyond beyond capacityDonations capacity capacityDonations Donations Donat1ons Finance rmance Work Work.It WorkIt . It was hard going gomg in the early earlydays earlydays earlydays days , for Father Flanagan's Flanagans ' Home , 'then then f ' ' then as now , was supportedenbre supported entire -enbre- enbre entire- enbrely entirely - entirely - ly by the donations of friends fr1ends and andsympathetIc andsympathetic andsympathetic sympathetIc persons Then , as now nowit , it ) t admitted adnutted boys regardless rcgardless of race _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ hh.h hhh _ . _ _ _ . . . or creed , and gave them tllem the tl1e best bestit bestit bestit it had The best , on the first Christ Christ- Christmas Christmas Christmas - \mas mas mas day , that of 1917 , was a barrel barrelof barrelHof \ Hof < of sauerkraut Together they all allknelt allknelt allknelt knelt and prayed praycd that a n nahon nation nahonwould nationwould nationwould would forget the tlle hatreds and C ex- ex excitements ex excitements . - citements cltements of war long enough to tohelp tohelp tohelp help them tllem to live l1ve a real , . AmerIcan AmerIcanl AmerIcane Americanlaic Americanlife AmericanlifeTheir l laic e laicTheir Their prayers pra ) crs must hate hat e been ansteered an anSlvered ansteered Slvered steered , , for shortly afterward afteruard Father FatherFlanagan FatherFlanagan FatJierFlanagan Flanagan uas Itas was , successfulIn successful in financing financingtire financingthe financingthe tire the purchase of oj 160acrC3 160acres 160 acres acrC3 of oj farm farmuluch farmuluch farmu/nc/i farmu nc i uluch / / had lain lam idle amIlleglt.cted aridrieglccted and amI arid neglected lleglt.cted llegltcted rieglccted . for forjeers foryears jeers ) framebuildings ears The farm hada had a fcio feU few } flimsy fllTlZS ) franl frams f rams ramsbuildings ( . bUlldmgs buildings , but they pronnsedshelter promisedshelter promised pronnsed shelter slieltcrand , . and food could be secured from the theland theland theland thelandToday land landToday Today , through ti1rough Father rather rIana- rIana I'lana Ilana rIanagan Flana-gan'b Flana gan'b ganb ' - gan gan'b ganb ' untiring wlhrmg unttrmg effort errort efforts ; , . and .md md the finan financia financlal financial cia clal ! help of thousands of frIends friendswho , , who gave what the they ) could , however howeverlittle howeverLttle little ttle 11:1S it 11 \ / v/as v as \/:1S :1S 1S ttas / : , there thcre ' ire 'Ire 10 fine fmc , , mod modern modern modcm ern bu buildings dmgs and the well operated operatedarm operatedfarm operatedfarm farm ( arm covers 360 acres Nearly 4 000 000boys 000boys 000boys boys , once homeless and friendless tr.1endless tr1endless . , . have been built bUllt into mto good AmerIcan AmerIcancItizens Americancitizens Americancitizens cItizens with every prospect of a afair afair afair fair deal from l lifeOnly life lifeOnly e eOnly Only half of these boys were wereCathohcs wereCatholics wereCatholics Cathohcs Catholics They came from 33 38 33states 38states 33states states , the District of Columb1a Columbia ColumbiaCanada , Canada , , Alaska , , China Chma and MexIcoThe MexicoThe Mexico MexicoThe The boys are taught trades or orbus orbusiness orbusiness bus business mess PUlsUlts puisuits pui suits or farming farmmg , as asthe1r astheir astheir the1r their abilities and ambitions dIC- dIC dICtate dictate dic dictate - tate Tennis Tenmc ; , baseball basl.ball baslball . , football footballtrack , track and other sports , ascll as \ well \\cll cll \ ns as nssamtary assanitary assanitary samtary sanitary and hygienic hyglemc education educahon , en Ictic letlc letic teams Last year this spIrIt spIrItwas spiritwas spiritwas was brought out by the splendId splendIdrecords splendidrecords splendidrecords records our teams established estabhshed , , , often oftenhavIng oftenhaving oftenhaving havIng to overcome odds thatere that \\ere ere were werethought \ werethought \ erethought thought invincible invmc1ble Our football footballteam footballteam footballteam team often orten came from rom ! behind in th inthe ththe inthe the last minutes mmutcs of play to over over- overcome overcome overcome - come their opponents . . Bo BOYS ) S Aic Aie J\1 J 1 \ e Happy Lot . , ' , The boys m in general are a happyand happy happyand happyand and very appreciative apprec1al1ve group of ofboys ofboys ofboys boys They , at all aU times , . are v t , l11mg filling fillingto l11mgto illingto to jump at the opportunity opportulllty of help help- helping helping . - ing mg their friends and boys who have haveno haveno haveno no friends'From friends friends'From Stateshomelcss Stateshomeless 'From From ' ' From all parts of 0/ 0 0the / the United Umted States Stateshomeless homelcss homeless and Cl1Icl curd Cl1Iclabandonecl curdabandoned abandoned abandonecl bo boys > s rescue rescueshieltcr recc.lt recclt recmoshcln.r recmoshclnr . e shieltcr leltc.r leltcr . . and foodat food at Boys noys Toun TOUTI Toicrr , ; " ' Dangoes Dan Danoes DanROCS /oes oes goes / { on on ern . , . "In In " this manner tlicy they are brollght brought arebrought together amIafter andafter and amI after spendtiiK 5pcndlllf spending { aeio a fett Ieto } ) iiontlis 71I0l1tllS nondis at Boys 110)5 1105 ) Faun fOlw Toter liny tIny understand under understand stcznd stand stczndsome standsome some of tlic the boys bos buys ) , and learn learnmany learnmany learnmany many facts Jacts of oj that lhat part Jart { of oj the cOLlntry country that countrythat cOLlntrythat this or that boy came conic from . "When When " Father Flanagan FlanLlg"1n FlanLlg1n " rented a abuilding abuilding bu building dmg for his Ius ins first Home , it \ was \ as a , simple structure located in Omaha OmahaThrough OmahaThrough OmahaThrough Through the past 18 years it 1t has de- de developed developed de developed - - veloped into mto an institution InstItutlon instituUon made upof up upof upof of 10 large buildings bUlldmgs , amongst amongstwhich amongstwhich amongstwhich which are a n modernly modernIy equipped equippedgymnasIUm equippedgymnasium equippedgymnasium gymnasIUm containing contammg a sWImming sWImmingpool swimmingpool swimmingpool pool , hindball h'1ndball h1ndball handball ' courts , boxing boxmg rmg ring ringstage , stage , and ' ' in 'In auditorium WhICh WhIChhas whichhas whichhas has been rated as one of the best bestm bestin bestm m in the \ Middle l\IIddle l IIddle West . . Many ndp Delp Help Work nark Rork Farn Farri . "Our Our " farm . , of 320 acres ncres on WhICh WhIChfour whichfour whichfour four barns arc are located , produces producespartial producespartial producespartial partial upkeep upkcep of the boys It IS ISequipped isequipped isequipped equipped 1and with machinery machmery o 0 planand plan 1 iand and harvest its produce , , " Din D"1n D1n " contmues continues con ( tinuesThe tmucs tmues tinues ' The print prmt shop , which wluch is pat pa i , of ofthe ofthe ofthe the office building bUlldmg , contains contams cnough enough cnoughmacluncry enoughmachinery enoughmachinery macluncry machinery to publish pubhsh 110000 110 000 COplCS copies COplCSof copiesof copiesof of the 1G 16 10 page magazine magazme pubhshed published pubhshedmonthly publishedmonthly publishedmonthly monthly by the boys"The boys boys"The "The The " recreationalsection recreational section ectlon of 0/ 0 0noys / noys Boys noysTOlen BoysTown BoysTown TOlen Town is composedoj composedof composed of oj oja ofa a football fiela fieldtrnnis , , trnnn taints courts COllrts , baseball dram diamond and , anda andcmder andcinder and a acinder cmder cinder track Upon U pan tllC thew these e fields fielcll fieldJ 200 200homeless 200homeless 200homeless homeless boys bos ) build bluld bluldstrong buildstrong strong bodies bodlCs and andstrong andstrong andstrong strong minds mrnds by participating in tan tart p ' . p } r r8.ivb 8.ivb 8ivb . ( i x xti ti < CS ? < ti ' w t ' t - 5 5V V w wr r $ 5f , , : f far ar yl / r { ? y K k kkS kS , , zr , r- r rr ra rAp - r a Ap ? a , x xa 7 7t 7a t M a s , a as r ' " F . RY 'MC"a MCa ' . " > . . r .w w ra > xX < rokyCg " ' Y 4 ddC 2 ; 1V A : S Sa a- a aBoys - , . . Boys Town Makes This City Waif's Waifs ' Dream Come True able them to grow into healthy , Vlg vig Vlgorous vigorous vigorous orous men The average efficIency efficiencyof of health maintained mamtamed over a perIod perIodof periodof of years is 93 per centIIayor centMayor cent centBIayor BIayor I\Iayor I Iayor Mayor \ Tells TeIls His Ills Story . I Only 18 months ago , , the unusual unusualcommunIty unusualcommunity unusualcommunity communIty was incorporated mcorporated as a avIllage avillage avillage vIllage It has a second class post postoffice postoffice postoffice office , and if you write a letter to toan toany toanyone an any } one there your reply will wlll come comepostmarked comepostmarked cornspostmarked postmarked . ' ' Boys Town , Neb " The mayor of Boys Town faces facesproblems facesproblems facesproblems problems daily dally that few iew mayors m in mthe inthe inthe the land become acquainted acquamted w1th with w1thvery withvery withvery very well m in an entire term You Youwould Youwould Youwould would expect \ Mayor l\Iayor l Iayor Dan Kampan Kampanto to knov/ knov MOV knots knovas / as |