how true it is that these smart rascally fellows, who persist in
remaining 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 burglars, highwaymen, and murderers. In place of opinions, it
is well sometimes to present facts so clear and definite that they
cannot be forgotten.

R.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.[Footnote: G.P.
Putnam's Sons, New York, reprinted this study in "The Jukes."] This
brief summary of "the Jukes" is based upon the facts which Mr. Dugdale
has published.

"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
different 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 no home, no nest, no coop, preferring to fly into the trees and
roost away from the places where they belong. The word has also come to
mean people who are too indolent and lazy to stand up or sit up, but
sprawl out anywhere. "The Jukes" are a family that did not make good
homes, did not provide themselves with comforts, did not work steadily.
They are like hens that fly into the trees to roost.

The father of "The Jukes" Mr. Dugdale styled "Max." He was born about
1720 of Dutch stock. Had he remained with his home folk in the town and
been educated, and thrifty like the rest of the boys, he might have
given the world a very different kind of family from "The Jukes."