8 JUKES ED WARDS 



about as much and is about as much of a man at 

 twelve as he will ever be, while the boy that gets 

 an education becomes more and more of a man as 

 long as he lives. 



But this might be said a thousand times to 

 every truant, and it would have very little effect, 

 because he thinks that he will be an exception. 

 He never sees beyond his own boyish smartness. 

 Few men and women realize how true it is that 

 these smart rascally fellows, who persist in remain- 

 ing in ignorance, are to be the vicious, pauper, 

 criminal class who are to fill the dens of vice, the 

 poorhouses, and the prisons; who are to be burg- 

 lars, highwaymen, and murderers. In place of 

 opinions, it is well sometimes to present facts so 

 clear and definite that they cannot be forgotten. 



B. A. Dugdale, of New York State, began the 

 study of "The Jukes" family in 1874, and in 1877 

 in the twentieth annual report of the New York 

 Prison Commission he made a statement of the 

 results.* This brief summary of "the Jukes" is 

 based upon the facts which Mr. Dugdale has pub- 

 lished. 



"The Jukes" is a name given to a large family 

 of degenerates. It is not the real name of any 

 family, but a general term applied to forty-two dif- 

 ferent names borne by those in whose veins flows 

 the blood of one man. The word "jukes" means 

 "to roost." It refers to the habit of fowls to have 



*G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, reprinted this study in " The 

 Jnke." 



