A SAVER OF BOYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 546, 29 June 1909, Page 3

A SAVER OF BOYS.

■; ■'..'■■], THE REV. G, H. COLE. : .SOMETHING: ABOUT : HIS WOEK. Hard on the heels of' Major Peixotto, of Californian fame, comes another noted worker in. the canse of boyhumanity—tho well-known Victorian missioner, the Key. 6. H. Cole, of Melbourne, who, atNewtown last Sunday, inaugurated a. ten-daye , . mission-campaign, under the auepicee of. the Trinity' Wesleyan Churqh. .The;reverend- gentleman combs to New Zealand as an; accredited visitor 1 to; the State.' He'belongs to the missionary: school of workers, .as distinct from 'our last visitors Major Peixotto;,whose system of reclaiming boys is altogether' . different. 'The : merit of. ■ any.. system' is to be judged wholly by its results, and on that.basis of.assessment there can be no qneetion that the Eev. G. H. Colo, has accomplished, and.still is.accomplishing,.a great and monumental work among the boys of Victoria. ■Interviewed ;by a. representative of TnE Dominion yesterday, Mr. Cole gave an interesting' review of his work, which began, as. many other noteworthy achievements have begun, in a very modest way."... : . , '-' : -.'/';. : . ''.?.'■ ~:\ : ■'..;■. _ i : •.', > "Fetching Them." .V ■ ."The'first thing we had' to do. in onr/work of reclaiming cityboys was to/.'fetch them,', to:use the parlance of,our subjects. .* Buns and. .bananas were , : the .lure' employed. We announced a 'bun v and banana',: meeting. ;.:Wo made, arrangements with the superintendent, of the Lygon Street; Sunday School, that;-at a eiveri signal the children in the building were to be let rout into the'.'yard. : By this time we hod succeeded in-gathering about forty of these youths to the spot, and then came the gospel'for these, lade, according to : buns and aananae.' '.The' , latter ■ disappeared by'.the score.! One man said some swallowed.skins;and all. Wo>kep't this-up for somer, Sundays,.;and then came, storms of. criticism. ' ,Soine ; church ytorkors and a certain './section.- of; the press 'said.-.'Who'.is' this fellow who,: with" other?, goes around with buns and , bananas catching up the boys? ... He will be sure to get a nuuiher : of.them'while he feeds them: like this.' Ourrreply, was,' 'We are prepared, to take; as many as the price.' ; And from that point of our work. we' have, kept right on without- looking back. , . , . . : c;; .■::.■'.■■:■;- V. ;■■ X , : Elementary Discipline. . ;V'lt is one thing to ;catch, a ■ boy, .with va hnn/'-'said'Slr. Cole, ".but quite another thing to hold him, "and point the, way to a better life.-'Let me tell you about our first meeting. Wo got on'to the.platform with a: good long rod. with which to command attention. The doors were opened, and : immediately; about foTty : ; or fifty lads, ranging 'from\ ten; 'years of age up;to about eighteen, rushed in, and we. cbuld 1 see-that they : would have to ' be handled carefully. So for a-startl shouted.'.with my rod -in- the .air, , .' Hats; off, lads!".and likff the shot out of. a gun, .about" thirty/hats \vent bang, against. .the ..ceiling . .and. when '. those'.' hats came 'down,;.we;.think a result was that' some boys ithpj came .with none,\went homewith two. The next. thing:>l*6aw, on-tho ; floor of the'hall, were :about four 'heaps' of' boys' with .legs, hands, and.heads, all mixed: up together in , an .inextricable'.,mass, all .struggling . for . caps.. Some>were shouting, some groaningi others crying, for help. The situation'-'was getting pretty grave.! {How was I to get and keep control of them?, -A. happy,thought suggested itself, 'and I shonted at the top of my voice:'lf we don't get-'silence '.fiom you in two : minutes, then there will , be no buns nor bananas this night.' .This, acted like magic, and "a; stillness'; followed that .would have donb.credit"to a funeral. ,;Ah, the buns'helped ns out' of many' difficulties in those : days- ■'..',-,'.'/ .-.:•- ■_•,..-...;..;.;:. ■.;.•;. ;, v;-... ;"-!.i''p-.-.V;S-,''..; 1 .-'-.!Missiehapy'.!pillti.-: ;<'.-' ; ;S .' ; '■:.■■ ;'."-The"'next..step wae;to approach.the. ernment: on .the matter , and explain-our- position .;and -the nature of • -the -work we were trying : to do. : Asia, result'.they ..granted us .what is practically ■ the status- of a sergeant of police, r'/rhis enables us now to. arrest 1 and control.any, child in .the State : :of Victoria up' o .a:given age. It will",be at once.seen'hoiv this 'enables us t0,.d0 good work 'along' the preventive 1 line,' and thus, even go .'one; better lan .the. Children's Court, for we get in on iom 'before, they'get-,: that far, 'and so.ikeep the stain 'off ; them. -To let a boy; : get: under the shadow.of: the City, Courts.is to send , him half way to perdition. As soon'as practicable we began to'.'cxercise our;.legal powers, and .arrested -.two or .three youngsters for :a' start;The.neit thing was—What were we.to. do with them. ; until v we,coiild. get ithem'awayiinto 'some good iconntry.homepv.To solve the' : difficulty, wevdecided:to' nse^part of, the .'Hospice^',as a kindjiofr.tenipiJrafy; h6Hfc';~We ; rnu.sF .very greenin those days. Anyhow, the boys .were,smarter than wo'.were; ; for if we- could .not: get over a six-foot paling fence,- they .could, and did ; .you might as well have •; tried: to yard w,ild:rats.f;One..night we. had - them,: the 'next ,we hadn t.->!Now, what Mas to be 'done'?. : Well, we.thought- the difficulty,^.would' be met by getting .'.them away, at ohoe into good country tried that, only' to -fail a E ain. Wβ now. got our; finger on the : weak spot at.' the .back of-all/Child Rescue Work,' viz-fthe lack of jproper; training.'.-,, ',-., ■■■■.•,, ■■'-..■■"

■ : " B ° ys ' ■* rainin 9 if*rm-/.\ ■ V ■-,■■' Wβ 'hit_ upon the idea of: a--training'farm' at ] Burwood.%t,.and out™ collect,, funds for,; its, establishment. '•- A tour bliW — " nrted :■■' w ; '."bout': JUIOO .being ' .'.netted,- :, after.y. paying .■; expenses, & ''^M' a °^ al : in. value S,s':*;: tendered , -by a'-, friend. i\£'J?J?& ? ur^°° d East.consists of £f or^ ,4 , 0 °l *l»ioh are under orchard.. We: 2S' I°, ,ay " ' :U '/!?• -^ of ■ ;root ' or °Pe we' grow turnips, mangolds, etc.,. as well as maize and beans, : which help to ;kedp the.cows,-pigs and :fowls_ going; a good number of which we keep on. the place. , . We deal with our fruit,to' the best advantage.- When it is not bringing eatisfactory,prices;.in the open-market we pulp and preserve apples, pears, apricots, cher- , nee, and plums, and get; better prices by •disposing, of. them.- , when.. they ■ are •'■ of season. ,, Some,, tons, of .this :fruit -are,' of .course, Consumed on the iarm, as. wajiave a large -household, to pnmde for.,; At'present we'.have a boys, which nieana,wq are.full, , and the part.of::our ; ,work\is: that we>hkvo'td:rS : so i many :'heartbreaking; cases.: It is so hard for.us-to/have tolceepon saying, 'No room, no ™°-ki"■}'■ wust. make room as,: speedily ,'as: possible : for 50 more boys;: : : We. are at-.presenf ln.need'of ■ Our system .works quietly;, herein lies jits effectiveness. - For example V v ?y 'j ln - J-.f«P ectl >We family: has .got: into the hands of the police, ; or getting-there, and if something is.not done in a few days he will-be--before the ..c Our t, and 'the , press will see Ithat- the public knows all about it. We steni in. before this happens, <,stop:"publicity,- run the,., hoy : out^. to the sfarm, take -.. the 'father ■ before, a. magistrate privately,- arid getMiinv td signi over-the .which' gives .us legal, control till. he is 21 years of age 'Now ■' so.elastic.is this.methbd that if.the parents'aro good, We can.save the boy : for .them, and after ' a-period of. training, they may have him , home on probation. ■: But, on the other hand, if,-in' pur opinion, theparents are unfit.-tohavecon-trol: of .him, ";iri: .b6.j,-: 'Hands' off,' for in 'all this:.work the -boy; is ': the first-, consideration: Of , course, most of our boys are what you may ■ call > 'neglected' or Tjeyond their- parents' control. ; Some are orphans, others are , worse, but; all.' are - ; worth". saving, 'as ,we : are proving. ■All under fonrteen, years of age, who have riot secured-their certificates, have to be educated School .-is on. , the; spot. , My-daughter: -has. charge,.-and she gives'- them four hours'' instruction on ■ five: days a , , week, viz., from 9 a.m: to 12 noon, and 7p.m. Hllß p.m*. : They have about two liburs a day for.sport, , and , tho balance, is'filled-in' with work'of yarioris , kinds. :■ VVVe , spent last year, in'.additions to tho farm -buildings, of 'which siim :thb Victorian ;.G6vemment. donated , '£500.. Full}-: , 80 per cent;; of. our boys," /concluded Mr. Cole, "turn out:successful,',' ;..,.:.:: - ■..••.•■■■■. -~■;,•• .

the: Eev.' Mr. Cole, entered npon tho •. second of his ten-days' campaign here. I? the afternoon, a "Bible talk" was given in the Trinity Methodist Church, - Newtown,' and in ; the evening, to-a very, large attendance, the miseioner delivered ' a telling, addrees .on a Triumph or .a:. Tragedy-Which?•' Hβ based his discourse on:the historical responsibilitiesi .of Abraham, and;" elaborated therefrom . ,the leeeons of self-sacrifice in the fulfilment of the cardinal' obligations "of humanity.. -The address was, throughout, Hi tened to with the groatest attention. :".--. '■■■