'Spanking Machine' Reforms a Village

1920

Both Adults and Youngsters "Undergo Treatment" -- and They Don't Come Back!

BRIDGETON, N. J. -- "Schoolboys here don't know that the 'spanking machine' in the back room of the city hall is a barrel stave with a handle carved on it," says Mayor Arthur C. Whitaker.

"It has been very successful since I established it about six years ago. I should say that between fifty and eighty boys and several adults have successfully undergone treatment. And I have never noticed anybody who has tried it once hurrying back for more."

He explained that he had laid in the staves with the idea that many boys might be propelled by them along the path of rectitude who might otherwise go to the State reformatory and from there to a life of crime.

Is Satisfied With Results

"I am entirely satisfied with the results," he said recently. "I personally know of several boys who have been started on the road to useful careers largely through its use. As a preventive of truancy, petty stealing -- that might lead to more serious offenses -- I can recommend it highly.

"Teachers in school obtain order immediately when they ask bad boys if they want to go over to the back room of the city hall and meet the 'spanking machine.' Parents have come to us and asked us to use it on their children."

The mayor said he never worked the "machine" himself, but that either Romaine Kincaid, truant officer, or one of the "husky" policemen did it.

First "Spanker" Proud of Job

"Our first 'spanker' was old Captain Woodruff," the mayor said. "He was mighty proud of the job, too, until he retired from the police force.

"Of course, no boy -- no minor -- ever is spanked without the consent of parent or guardian. Sometimes permission is hard to get, but when it is made clear that the alternative will be worse for the culprit, the difficulty ends."

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, March 27, 1920, page 2.