148 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [8 :4— April, 1912 



faithfully and with great success. When authority is delegated to 

 the boy, it arouses his self respect, awakens his manhood, and 

 touches the spring of action. We have found this the greatest 

 element to awaken a boy and and head him toward respectability. 

 A little boy was caught stealing pears from a neighboring tree. 

 He was arrested and fined a penny by the boy cops. He paid his 

 fine and next' day the writer asked him how he would like to be 

 a cop. He said he would like it very much; He was told the 

 city council would have to elect him but we could appoint him a 

 watchman. He wanted that position. We then gave him in- 

 structions "to watch that tree and if you see any kids stealing 

 you run and catch them." So this little fellow watched the tree 

 until the crop was harvested in the fall, the very tree he stole 

 from himself the day before he was made a watchman. 



This system had a fine efifect iu another direction. In every 

 city in this country so far as we know the boy is the enemy of 

 the police. This is a serious thing for disrespect for the law 

 officers, finally leads to disrespect for the law and then follows 

 crime. But here the boy is the friend of the police and works 

 in harmony with them. Many cases could be given where the 

 boys were of invaluable service to the city police. It is a great 

 thing in determining the bent of a boy's nature to have a little 

 experience in enforcing the law. Even if it is only for a little 

 while, the good efifect will always stay with him. 



The Zoo was a very interesting feature in connection with 

 . our Garden City work. Cruelty to animals was quite a common 

 thing in the community when we first commenced the gardens. 

 I personally know of a little boy driving nails through a kitten's 

 paws and nailing it down to a board and then stoning it till it 

 died. What are you going to do with a boy of that kind? Tell 

 him he is a very bad boy ! He had been told that a thousand 

 times. Tell him to be a good boy ! He then takes you for a ten- 

 derfoot. We saw the only thing to do was to get some animals 

 and have the boys feed and care for them, and they are sure 

 to pet them. We secured rabbits, quinea pigs, foxes, coon, white 

 mice, white rats, pigeons, etc., and gave them into the hands of 

 the boys to feed and care for. They had no sooner commenced 

 than they were the pets of the whole community. They would 

 not hurt them themselves and would not allow anyone else to do 

 so. Now we have a Band of Mercy 800 strong, one of the largest 

 in the world. There has not been a single case of cruelty to 

 animals for months and months in the whole -district. It is a mat- 

 ter of interest to know how this Band of Mercy was first or- 



