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 Chapter 4
Probation and Intermediate Sanctions
CHAPTER OVERVIEW

This chapter describes the history, evolution, and current operations of community sanctions.
Probation has been a part of community corrections for more than 150 years. In many ways,
probation has changed little from its original philosophies and practices. In many other ways,
however, probation has changed significantly, and some suggest there is a “new paradigm” for
probation supervision. However, over the past thirty years, dissatisfaction with standard
probation as a sanction for criminal offenders, combined with recognition of the need for
alternatives to incarceration, has led to an expansion of intermediate sanctions to provide greater
supervision than in regular probation, while still monitoring offenders in the community. This
chapter therefore presents both a description of probation and the many available community
alternatives to incarceration.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

1. Outline the history of probation.

2. Summarize modern probation operations, including the conditions of probation and
revocation of probation.
3. Outline the results of evaluations regarding the effectiveness of felony probation.
4. Describe the goals of intermediate sanctions and the different types of sanctions.

LECTURE OUTLINE

• The History of Probation

o John Augustus of Boston, Massachusetts, recognized as the father of probation
▪ Volunteered to supervise over 1,800 offenders to alieve jails
o Massachusetts was the first state to pass probation statutes in 1878
▪ Remaining states quickly followed
o Teaching Note: Ask students why probation services were authorized first for
juveniles rather than for adults.
• Modern Probation Operations
o Probation – prison sentence that is suspended on the condition that an individual
follow certain rules
o Probation is the most frequently used sentencing option in the United States
o Organization of Probation
▪ Most probation departments are based in county governments
▪ Many varieties of organizational structure
o Characteristics of Probationers
▪ Average time served on probation in 2012 was 23 months
▪ 75% male
▪ 55% white, 30% black; 15% Hispanic
▪ Majority of probationers sentenced for drug or property crimes
o Supervision
 ▪ Probation supervision – role of a probation officer in monitoring an
offender’s behavior
▪ Casework style of supervision – places emphasis on helping an offender
with counseling and treatment
▪ Surveillance style of supervision – places emphasis on monitoring and
enforcing compliance with rules
▪ Regular caseloads – made up of standard probationers with no special
conditions
▪ Intensive-supervision caseloads – made up of offenders with too high of
risk to be on regular supervision and need more required contacts
▪ Special caseloads – made up of offenders with a special type of problem,
such as mental illness or substance abuse issues
▪ Movie Note: Show the 10-minute Tennessee Department of Corrections
clip on the Day in the Life of a Tennessee Probation/Parole Officer.
▪ Teaching Note: Show students the qualifications for becoming a probation
officer in your state/local jurisdiction.
o Conditions of Probation
▪ Standard conditions of probation – must be followed by every probationer
• Maintain employment
• Report to probation officer
• Obtain permission to leave district
• Refrain from associating with criminals or committing crimes
▪ Special conditions of probation – tailored to meet the needs of individuals
• Random U/A
• Drug/alcohol counseling
• Vocational training
▪ Movie Note: Show the video National Geographic Hard Time: Come on
Vacation Leave on Probation. (2010). Season 1, Episode 10.
o Revocation of Probation
▪ Technical violations – violations of community supervision
▪ New-crime violation – violation of condition of refraining from new
criminal activity
▪ Violations are reported and recommendation for action is made by PO
▪ Gagnon v. Scarpelli (1973)
• Guarantees probationers the following rights during revocation
process:
o Alleged violations in writing
o Notice of process in writing
o Preliminary hearing to determine probable cause
o Revocation hearing prior to final decision
o Present witnesses and confront witnesses
o Written decision
▪ Revocation options
• Reprimand and restore to supervision
• Add conditions and restore to probation
 • Revoke probation and restore imprisonment under original
sentence
o Teaching Note: Invite a probation officer to speak to your class as a guest
lecturer.
• Issues Regarding Probation
o A Changing Style of Supervision
▪ Transition from casework style of probation in the 1960s to surveillance
style of supervision
o Effectiveness
▪ Studies demonstrate mixed results in probation’s effectiveness
▪ Best practices:
• Effectively access probationers’ criminogenic risks and needs, as
well as strengths
• Employ smart, tailored supervision strategies
• Use incentives and graduated sanctions
• Implement performance-driven personnel management
o Reforming Probation
▪ States are starting to restructure sentencing to reinvest in approaches that
are cost-effective
o Probation Classification Systems
▪ Community classification systems – risk assessments that predict the
chance of new crimes being committed; used to determine level of
supervision needed
• Intensive supervision
• Regular supervision
• Minimum supervision
• Administrative supervision
• Intermediate Sanctions
o Defining Intermediate Sanctions
▪ Intermediate sanctions – midrange dispositions that fall between
incarceration and probation
• Midlevel punishments
▪ Community corrections acts – acts passed by state legislatures to
encourage counties to develop alternatives to prison
o Types of Intermediate Sanctions
▪ Economic sanctions
• Fines –requirement to pay a dollar amount as punishment for a
crime
• Offender restitution – repaying society for harm performed
• Victim compensation – repaying victims for harm performed
• Cost of supervision – payment for different supervision tactics,
such as drug testing
• Asset forfeiture – seizure of cash and property obtained through
illegal activities
▪ Intensive supervised probation
 • Supervision of community offenders with higher than average risk
• Stricter and more supervision compared to normal probation
▪ House arrest
• Offenders live at home and are only permitted to leave for
work/education/approved visits to probation officer
• Electronic monitoring – GPS device used to monitor offender’s
location
▪ Community residential centers
• Houses in which offenders live in the community that provide
supervision, room and board, and some treatment
▪ Split sentences
• Combination of short jail sentence and return to probation
▪ Shock incarceration/boot camp
• Operated similarly to military camps, including strict discipline,
athletic training, and education
• Low success rate
• Teaching Note: Ask students why boot camps became so popular
at the time.
▪ Shock probation
• Short period of imprisonment to “shock” offender, then return to
probation
o The Effectiveness of Intermediate Sanctions
▪ Limited research examining effectiveness of intermediate sanctions
▪ Goals of intermediate sanctions:
• Divert offenders from prison
o Net widening effect
• Reduce of cost of corrections
• Reduce level of recidivism

LIST OF CHANGES/TRANSITION GUIDE

• New section regarding “reforming probation,” and how efforts to improve probation
effectiveness and save money serve as a way to reduce violations and sentencing to
prison.

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES

Group Activities
• Split the class into groups and provide each group with a condition of probation. Ask
them to determine if the conditions are standard or special conditions.
• Split the class into groups. Provide each group with a scenario of an offender and the
crime he/she committed. Ask the students to determine which intermediate sanction
would be best for the offender.
Class Discussions
• Ask students if probationers should have their probation revoked for committing one
technical violation. If the consensus is “no,” ask at what point should a person’s
probation be revoked.
• Ask students if probation officers should have a clinical background or training in
counseling and rehabilitation of offenders.
• Ask students how the use of intermediate sanctions can result in net-widening and if the
advantages of intermediate sanctions outweighs the possibility of net-widening.

Homework
• Assign students to write a short essay on the various probation supervision styles and
indicate which supervision style should be used by probation officers and why.
• Assign students to pick one intermediate sanction and write a two-page paper on the
effectiveness of that intermediate sanction.

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS

1. What contributions to modern probation did John Augustus make that continue today?

Augustus’s acts of supervising offenders slowly crept into the formalization of the role of POs.
Augustus himself came up with the term probation (based on the Latin term probatio meaning “a
period of proving oneself”), as well as ideas for requiring offenders to meet conditions of
supervision, reporting to the courts, and revoking probation when the conditions were not met. In
addition, Augustus’s idea of investigating offenders’ situations prior to sentencing resulted in the
concept of presentence investigations (PSIs) being assigned to POs. Although probation has
become much more sophisticated in its operation over the years, most of the original concepts
created by Augustus continue to this day.

2. Approximately how many people were on probation in the United States in 2015?

3,789,800

3. What are the primary emphases of probation supervision?

The primary purpose of probation supervision is to maintain surveillance, enforce conditions of

probation, and guide offenders into treatment to protect the public from further crimes.

4. Differentiate between the casework and surveillance styles of probation supervision.

A casework style of supervision emphasizes helping the offender with problems, providing
counseling, and ensuring that the offender completes supervision. A surveillance style of
supervision emphasizes monitoring and enforcing compliance with the rules of supervision and
the detection of violations leading to revocation and return to custody.

5. What is the difference between standard and special conditions of probation?

Jurisdictions have standard conditions of probation that must be followed by every probationer,
and judges usually have the authority to impose special conditions of probation. These special
conditions are tailored to meet the program needs for an offender, or can be imposed to address
an offender’s specific risk to the community.

6. List five standard conditions of probation.

1. The probationer shall not leave the judicial district without permission of the PO or the court.
2. The probationer shall report to the PO as directed and shall submit truthful and complete
reports. 3. The probationer shall answer truthfully all inquiries by the PO and follow his or her
instructions. 4. The probationer shall maintain employment. 5. The probationer shall notify the
PO of all changes of address within seventy-two hours. 6. The probationer shall refrain from the
excessive use of alcohol and is prohibited from the use of controlled substances. 7. The
probationer shall not associate with criminals. 8. The probationer shall not commit any crimes.

7. Name three types of probation caseloads.

Regular caseload, intensive-supervision caseload, and special caseload

8. What are the two types of probation violations?

Technical violations (not meeting all the conditions of their supervision) and new-crime
violations (violating the condition of not committing additional crimes)

9. What were the important findings in the Gagnon v. Scarpelli decision regarding
revocation of probation?

Gagnon v. Scarpelli extended the Morrissey due process rights to probationers. These include the
following rights: (1) to be informed in writing of the alleged violations, (2) to have written notice
in advance of the revocation process, (3) to have a preliminary hearing to determine whether
there is probable cause, (4) to have a revocation hearing prior to the final decision, (5) to attend
the hearings and present witnesses on their behalf, (6) to confront and cross-examine adverse
witnesses, and (7) to receive a written decision noting the reasons for the decision.

10. Describe the philosophy of the broken-windows approach to the operation of probation.

Probation supervision reform has also been influenced by a concept called broken-windows
probation. This concept mimics the philosophy of community policing, in that all broken
windows in a neighborhood are to be promptly repaired, as this small indication of a lack of
community concern leads to a larger instability and criminal activity in the community. As such,
probation supervision follows the lead of community policing by partnering with citizen groups,
churches, and other neighborhood organizations to take joint responsibility for supervising
offenders. Emphasizing public safety first, broken-windows probation also allocates resources
according to risk and need assessments, locates POs in the probationers’ neighborhoods, and
uses graduated sanctions, such as house arrest, EM, and mandatory substance abuse treatment.

11. How do community classification systems work, and what is their impact on probation
supervision?

Community classification systems are risk assessments that predict the chance of new crimes
being committed; they are used to determine the level of supervision an offender will receive in
the community. They score offenders based on their offense background and personal
characteristics.

12. What is an economic sanction?

Economic sanctions use money as the means of carrying out criminal sanctions, such as fines,
restitution, or forfeiture of assets. In most cases, economic sanctions are attached as a condition
of probation; however, for minor offenses, they may stand alone as punishments for crimes.

13. Differentiate between offender restitution and victim compensation programs.

Offender restitution requires offenders to repay society for the harm created by the offense.
Victim compensation is where offenders repay their victims directly for their losses and harm
caused by the offense.

14. What is asset forfeiture and why can it be called an economic sanction?

Asset forfeiture is the authorized seizure by the government of money, negotiable instruments,
securities, or other things of value that were obtained through illegal activities. It can be called an
economic sanction because it enables courts to punish offenders by taking away assets they
accumulated as a result of their criminal activity, ensuring that “crime doesn’t pay.”

15. Describe the results of evaluations regarding intensive supervised probation.

Early research into the effectiveness of intensive supervision usually did not find a reduction in
recidivism, and there have been mixed results in other studies. In a review of fourteen counties in
nine states, Petersilia and Turner found that high-risk ISP participants were watched more
closely than regular probationers, and while this did not result in more arrests, there were
significantly more technical violations, resulting in 27 percent of the ISP participants being
returned to prison or jail compared to only 19 percent of regular probationers at the end of one
year. However, if the ISP supervision combined drug treatment, community service, and
employment programs with surveillance, recidivism rates were 10–20 percent lower than for
those who did not participate in such activities. Another analysis of 175 evaluations of ISP
programs also found that combining surveillance with treatment resulted in reduced recidivism.
More recent research of the use of evidence-based practices was again more positive. A recent
review found that those agencies that utilized a more human services philosophy and provided
treatment had more promising results. Another study found that smaller caseloads themselves is
insufficient to reduce recidivism, yet when combined with evidence-based practices to allocate
resources to the highest risk and need offenders, it is likely that recidivism can be reduced. And a
meta-analysis of intensive supervision programs combined with treatment-oriented programs
found an almost 18 percent reduction in recidivism.

16. How is electronic monitoring used to enforce the requirements of house arrest?

House arrest is commonly used in conjunction with electronic monitoring (EM), or the use of
technology to monitor an offender’s location. EM requires offenders to wear a tamperproof
bracelet around their ankle. The bracelet acts as a receiver for a radio wave sent by a transmitter
that is placed in the offender’s home.

17. Differentiate passive and active electronic monitoring systems.

There are two types of systems, active and passive, both of which are monitored from a central
location. With active systems, the central location maintains a computerized schedule of when
offenders should be in their homes and automatically “alarms” or sends a notice when the signal
is not communicated between the transmitter and receiver during those times. This indicates to
the monitor or PO that the offender has violated the conditions of his or her house arrest, and
someone will be dispatched to check on or arrest the offender. The passive system requires
random telephone calls during times the offender should be in the home. When a monitoring
telephone call is received, offenders have a certain amount of time to place the receiver against
the transmitter, proving that they are in the home as required.

18. What are the two ways that community residential centers are used as intermediate
sanctions?

The use of CRCs as an intermediate sanction can occur in two different ways. First, at the time of
sentencing, judges can determine that offenders need the services of a residential center and can
require probationers to live in a CRC as a condition of their probation. However, CRC placement
more commonly occurs later in the period of probation supervision, after probationers are failing
under their current supervision requirement. POs may determine that offenders have violated
minor conditions of supervision and require more structure and accountability or need a place to
live or additional program assistance. The officer then recommends that the court add a CRC
requirement as a condition of probation.

19. What is a split sentence?

Split sentences are a combination of a short jail sentence and then supervision in the community
on probation. The jail sentence can be anywhere from 30 to 180 days.

20. Describe the operation of a boot camp.

Correctional boot camps are operated similarly to a military boot camp; offenders are required to
have short hair, shine their shoes, wear uniforms, do extensive physical exercise, and perform
hard physical labor. At times, these activities are complemented with education or drug
programming, but the major components of boot camps remain military regimentation,
discipline, exercise, and hard work.

21. How long does an offender usually stay in prison under shock probation?

A few weeks

22. How can net widening reduce the effectiveness of an intermediate-sanctions program?

Most experts would agree that one goal of intermediate sanctions is to manage more offenders in
the community who would (without intermediate sanctions) have to be sentenced to prison.
However, it is generally concluded that intermediate sanctions are not always used with high-risk
probationers, and therefore add to the supervision of probationers who would not have been sent
to prison even if the intermediate sanction did not exist. This phenomenon is called net widening,
the overlapping of criminal sanctions and added supervision for community-placed offenders,
rather than diversion of offenders from prison.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Christopher
Columbus (1440-1506)
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Christopher Columbus (1440-1506)

the first American citizen (by adoption)

Author: W. L. Alden

Release date: September 5, 2023 [eBook #71569]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1881

Credits: hekula03 and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
images made available by the HathiTrust Digital
Library.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (1440-1506) ***
 Transcriber’s Note
The original book did not have a Table of Contents.
Transcriber added one to this eBook by copying the Chapter
names from the text.
Additional notes will be found near the end of this eBook.
 ☞ Slips for Librarians to paste on Catalogue Cards.
N.B.—Take out carefully, leaving about a quarter of an inch at
the back. To do otherwise would, in some cases, release other
leaves.

ALDEN, WILLIAM L. Christopher Columbus (1440–1506).

The First American Citizen (By Adoption). By William L.
Alden. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1881. 16mo, pp. 287.
(Lives of American Worthies).
COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER, (1440–1506). The First
American Citizen (By Adoption). By William L. Alden. New
York: Henry Holt & Co., 1881. 16mo, pp. 287. (Lives of
American Worthies).
HISTORY. Christopher Columbus (1440–1506). The First
American Citizen (By Adoption). By William L. Alden. New
York: Henry Holt & Co., 1881. 16mo, pp. 287. (Lives of
American Worthies).
 LIVES OF AMERICAN WORTHIES.
Under the above title, Messrs. Henry Holt & Co.
are contributing one more biographical series to the
number with which the reading world is being so
abundantly favored.
That there may be something in the method of this
series not altogether identical with that of its numerous
predecessors, contemporaries and promised
successors, will perhaps be suspected from the list of
subjects and authors thus far selected:

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, (1440–1506),

By W. L. Alden, (of the New York Times),
Author of “The Moral Pirates,” etc.
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, (1579–1631),
By Charles Dudley Warner,
Author of “My Summer in a Garden,” etc.
WILLIAM PENN, (1644–1715),
By Robert J. Burdette, of the Burlington
Hawkeye.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, (1706–1790),
By
GEORGE WASHINGTON, (1732–1799),
By John Habberton,
Author of “Helen’s Babies,” etc.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, (1743–1826),
By
ANDREW JACKSON, (1767–1845),
By George T. Lanigan,
 Author of “Fables out of the World.”

If the names of the authors awaken a suspicion that

there may be something humorous in the books, it
should be known that despite anything of that kind, the
truth of history is adhered to with most uncompromising
rigidity—perhaps, in some cases, a little too
uncompromising, or compromising: that depends on the
point of view.
Recent announcements make it proper to state that
this series was begun several years before the date of
this prospectus, and that the first volume published—Mr.
Charles Dudley Warner’s Life of Captain John Smith,
was in type in the Spring of the current year.
New York, November, 1881.
LIVES OF AMERICAN WORTHIES
Christopher Columbus
(1440–1506)

THE FIRST AMERICAN CITIZEN

(BY ADOPTION)

BY

W. L. ALDEN

NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1881
 Copyright, 1881,
BY
HENRY HOLT & CO.
Electrotyped and Printed by
S. W. GREEN’S SON,
74 and 76 Beekman Street,
NEW YORK.
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
Early Years.

CHAPTER II.
First Plans of Exploration.

CHAPTER III.
In Search of a Patron.

CHAPTER IV.
He Receives His Commission.

CHAPTER V.
He Is Commissioned, and Sets Sail.

CHAPTER VI.
The Voyage.

CHAPTER VII.
The Discovery.

CHAPTER VIII.
Adventures on Land.

CHAPTER IX.
The Homeward Voyage.

CHAPTER X.
His Reception, and Preparation For a Second Expedition.

CHAPTER XI.
Explorations in the West Indies.

CHAPTER XII.
Attempts at Colonization.

CHAPTER XIII.
Search For China.—subjugation of Hispaniola.

CHAPTER XIV.
Difficulties and Discouragements.

CHAPTER XV.
His Third Expedition.

CHAPTER XVI.
His Return in Disgrace.

CHAPTER XVII.
His Fourth Expedition.

CHAPTER XVIII.
His Last Years.

CHAPTER XIX.
His Character and Achievements.
 CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS.

[Æt. 0; 1436]

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS was born at more places and to a

greater extent than any other eminent man known to history. He was
born at frequent intervals from 1436 to 1446, and at Cogoletto,
Genoa, Finale, Oneglia, Savona, Padrello, and Boggiasco. Learned
historians have conclusively shown that he was born at each one of
the places, and each historian has had him born at a different date
from that fixed upon by a rival historian. To doubt their
demonstrations would be to treat history and historians with gross
irreverence, and would evince a singular lack of business tact on the
part of one proposing to add another to the various histories of
Columbus.
Perhaps the majority of people believe that Columbus was born
exclusively at Cogoletto; but no one retains that belief after having
once visited Cogoletto, and drank the painfully sour wine produced
at that wretched little village. It is true that Mr. Tennyson, who
remarks that he once

“Stay’d the wheels at Cogoletto,

And drank, and loyally drank, to him,”

still believes that it was the birthplace of the great Admiral. But this
fact simply shows that Mr. Tennyson drank out of his own flask. Few
people who visit Cogoletto take this wise precaution, and the result is
that, after drinking to the memory of Columbus, they go on their way
firmly convinced that wherever else he was born, he certainly was
not born at Cogoletto.
It was the opinion of the late Washington Irving that Genoa was
the real birthplace of Columbus. This opinion was what might have
been expected from a man of such unfailing good taste.
The production of infants is to this day one of the leading
industries of Genoa, and as it is a large and beautiful city, we cannot
do better than to adopt Mr. Irving’s opinion that it was Columbus’s
favorite birthplace. At the same time we might as well select the year
1436 as the year of his birth, with the determination of adhering to it,
for it adds much to the symmetry of a biography if the subject thereof
is given a definite and fixed birthday.
At his birth Christopher Columbus was simply Cristoforo
Colombo, and it was not until he arrived at manhood that he was
translated into Latin, in which tongue he has been handed down to
the present generation. At a still later period he translated himself
into Spanish, becoming thereby Christoval Colon. We can not be too
thankful that he was never translated into German, for we could
scarcely take pride in a country discovered by one Kolompo.
[Æt. 1; 1442]

The father of Columbus was Domenico Colombo, a wool-comber

by occupation. Whose wool he combed, and why he combed it, and
whether wool-combing is preferable to wool-gathering as an
intellectual pursuit, are questions that have never been satisfactorily
decided.
Of Mrs. Colombo we simply know that her Christian name was
Fontanarossa, or Red Fountain, a name more suitable to a Sioux
Indian than a Christian woman, though perhaps, poor creature! it
was not her fault.
Young Christopher was at an early age thoughtfully provided with
two younger brothers—who were afterwards very useful to him—and
a younger sister. The former were Giacomo, afterward known as
Diego, and Bartolommeo, who has been translated into English as
Bartholomew. The sister does not appear to have had any name,
though her mother might have spared three or four syllables of her
own name without feeling the loss of them. This anonymous sister
married one Giacomo Bavarello, and promptly vanished into an
obscurity that history cannot penetrate.
[Æt. 6; 1443]

From his earliest years Christopher was an unusual and

remarkable boy. One day when he was about six years of age he
was sent by his mother, early in the morning, to the store to
purchase a pound of “blueing” for washing purposes. The morning
grew to noon, and the afternoon waned until evening—processes
which are not peculiar to the climate of Genoa—but the boy did not
return, and his mother was unable to wash the family clothes. The
truant had forgotten all about the “blueing,” and was spending the
entire day in company with the McGinnis boys, watching a base-ball
match in the City Hall Park between the Genoese Nine and the Red-
legs of Turin. At dusk he returned, and his broken-hearted mother
handed him over to his stern father, who invited him into the
woodshed. As Christopher was removing his coat and loosening his
other garments so as to satisfy his father that he had no shingles or
school-atlases concealed about his person, he said:
“Father, I stayed to witness that base-ball match, not because of
a childish curiosity, nor yet because I had any money on the game,
but solely in order to study the flight of the ball, hoping thereby to
obtain some hints as to the law of projectiles that would enable me to
improve the science of gunnery, which is now by no means in an
advanced state. If, in view of these circumstances, you still think me
worthy of punishment, I will submit with all the fortitude I can
summon.”
The father, deeply moved at this frank confession, wore out two
apple-tree switches in connection with his son, and informed him that
if he ever went with those McGinnis boys again he would “let him
know.”
At another time, when Christopher was about eight years old, his
father sent him to a news company’s office to get the last number of
the Wool-Combers’ Trade Review; but, as before, the boy failed to
return, and after a prolonged search was given up as lost, and his
parents decided that he had been run over by the horse-cars. Late in
the evening Christopher was detected in the act of trying to sneak
into the house through the kitchen windows, and was warmly
received by his father, who stood him up in the middle of the kitchen,
and without releasing his ear, demanded to know what he had to say
for himself.
Christopher, with a saddened expression of face, replied:
“Father, I find it a matter of extreme difficulty to depart from the
truth, even at this trying moment. Candor compels me to admit that I
have spent the day in company with Michael and Patrick McGinnis,
in studying the meteorological laws which affect the flight of kites.
With the aid of the last number of the Wool-Combers’ Trade Review
and a few sticks, I made a beautiful kite, and I can confidently say
that—”
Here the old gentleman, exclaiming, “That will do! Your
explanation is worse than your other crime,” applied a rattan cane to
the future explorer, and afterwards sent him to bed supperless.
[Æt. 8; 1449]

There is not a word of truth in these two anecdotes, but they are
introduced in order to afford the reader a slight glimpse of the
boyhood of Columbus. They probably compare favorably, in point of
veracity, with the average anecdotes of the boyhood of great men,
and they show us that even while Columbus was only six and eight
years old he was interested in scientific pursuits, and already gave
promise of great tediousness. Still, it would be unwise for any one to
believe them, and we will pass on to the more prosaic but truthful
facts of Columbus’s life.
Young Christopher early conceived a prejudice against wool-
combing, although it was his father’s earnest desire that he should
adopt that profession. Fernando Columbus, the son of the admiral,
evidently felt ashamed of his noble father’s early wool-combing
exploits, and says that Domenico Colombo, so far from desiring his
son to comb wool, sent him at the age of thirteen to the University of
Pavia to study navigation, with a view of ultimately sending him to
sea. Now, although the United States Government does undertake to
teach seamanship with the aid of textbooks to young men at the
Annapolis Naval Academy, the idea that a young man could become
a sailor without going to sea had never occurred to the Genoese,
and old Domenico never could have been stupid enough to send his
son to the Pavia University with the expectation that he would
graduate with the marine degree of “A. B.” Undoubtedly Christopher
went to Pavia, but it is conceded that he remained there a very short
time. If we suppose that, instead of studying his Livy, his Anabasis,
and his Loomis’s Algebra, he spent his time in reading Marryat’s sea
stories, and dime novels illustrative of piracy, we can understand
why his university course came to a sudden end, and why Domenico
remarked to his friends that Christopher studied navigation while at
Pavia.
[Æt. 14; 1459]

We are told that from his earliest years Christopher desired to be

a sailor. We also know that at that period the Mediterranean
swarmed with pirates. From these two facts any modern boy with
sufficient reasoning powers to be able to put a dog, a string, and a
tin can together, will deduce the conclusion that Christopher
Columbus must have wanted to be a pirate. As to this there can be
but little doubt. When he left Pavia and returned home to comb the
paternal wool, he was doubtless fully determined to run away at the
earliest opportunity, and become a Red Revenger of the seas.
With this clue, we can readily find in the conduct of the astute
Domenico a wise determination to effect a compromise with his
adventurous son. He did not want to be the father of a Red
Revenger, but he knew that he could not compel his son to comb
wool. He therefore induced him to consent to go to sea as a scourge
and enemy of pirates; and accordingly in his fourteenth year young
Christopher went to sea on board a vessel commanded by a distant
relative, who was at one time an admiral in the Genoese service. In
what capacity he shipped, whether as a first-class or a second-class
boy, or as an acting third assistant cook, or an ordinary cabin-boy,
we do not know. Fernando Columbus preserves a discreet silence as
to this matter, and as to the first voyage of his father generally. Of