New-York tribune. [volume], April 17, 1904, Page 5, Image 35

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
NEWSBOYS FIGHTING FOE A FAVORITE COENEJL
bringing the horned team to a halt every f*w
yards.
For three miles the melancholy progress con
tinues until, the sard sradually ending in the
semblance of a road, the oxen are unhitched
and the coach Jolts Mi Jars over ruts and
bowlders, Ehakir.g the traveller about like a pea
la a pint iijeasure ar.j l^i;dir.g him bruised and
CJzzy at Can-.uy.
The reverse of the pi tur<* pre?- I itself in the
thirty-two rcilo? frn-n Cn.u-.ur to \ ndilla, the
tiUrd seaport of t;.- Lsland. and the scene of
thelanfiias «• Columbus in 14' M.
The smooth n.acad;im r".- d, lm<vj with crim
son Camboyaiits arid n .dims palms and shaded
with aimorid and la lisa laurel tree?. Is a model
of scienttlic road building, and Is easily covered
hi an auto:- in less Ui*ii two hours.
SO lU.TThIi TH tS A DOG.
John D. Crimmiiis on i.i.-, rctvra from turoi>e
■Me
"I believe that )... ir^r. should l*arn foreign
kaguaees. Nothing n.r;kcs an American feel
«• provincial as to \;. .! foreign rountrtea and
nave nothing » jt K.-.i-lbh *o depend on. Why.
even in England the ■ .. bob u« In Frvnch. and.
1* you have to I"- : h, i >•!-.- a-e you when it
comes to KAulj ;• ■■ ] : ■ . „; ■ .■ .'
"I tan I ■ . :1 t.-.i.inp chiMr^n
J * asua * ri sbs b . ..,i^^n, b.jjrv-^ited way,
so^that, ■*; | „, i-..;.^ they will say:
""If*. 1 don't speak French, but I u:i'i<.-rstond
* ■*■*, It's :;,...-.
"la a the , on ib<- Avenue de rOpeta I heard
* * our ~ follow .:. | fOaz fur a Job, make that
TWy ren.ark o: .«• .j , A y to un old Frenchman.
" 1 dor/t EjK-ak French, but 1 can understand
■. sir. 1 he s.tid
j^Ta* old PkcßChaaa ar;?wered with a UugU:
■ "Oa, my dog can do that.'"
SIZING DP A NEWCOMER.
In the "Waldorf Room" of th* Newsboy** l»<3«ta « lions*.
NEW-YORK TEIBUNB ULUSTRAZEED SUPrLEMKNT.
WALDORF ROOM AT TUB NEWSBOYS 0 LODGING HOUSE
Some Picturesque Characteristic* of the Little Vcllurmt Who Sell
"Uxtryt" m the Street* of NrayYork.
Whatever the newsboy may lack In appear
ance, he has at bottom all the Instincts of an
aristocrat. Let the sunshine of prosperity beam
on him ev»n for a moment, and he bads with
the true flowers of a patrician. If he mokes a
couple of dollars by the help of th* Japanese
flo^t, \v!.o>-»> latest manoeuvres has furnished him
with a startling bit of news, he spends his
money with a lavish hand. Instead of a box at
the opera, be buys tickets for th* "gang" Just
beneath the r^irny roof of some Bowery theatre*
A striking Illustration of the "newsle's" latent
gentility is furr,lsh<-d by a new feature of the
Newsboys* Lodging House, near Chatham
Square, which has been called the "Waldorf
Koom." Although plenty of white, clean beds
were to be hail in the two big halls for 5 and 10
<•-.•. :s ■ rii^ht. yet an exclusive circle of news
boy society demanded apartments of great pri
vacy. Some of them had obtained work in
nearby business houses, where they were enjoy
ing Informs of $10 and $15 a week; and as
"Dutch Pete." who is now loading delivery
■racona across the alley from the lodging bouse,
• ssed it:
•Wen youVe got de wad, you'se might as well
nr like a gent. An' yer can't be a gent wlddout
piracy. Yer can't mix up wld de bunch «-ad
pcrserve yer rights as a gent."
A room was accordingly set apart, tn which
were put eight beds, each one with a private
locker at Its head. Fifteen cents a night was
charged for sleeping in this apartment, which
soon cam* to be known as the "Waldorf Room.'
and. by reason of the exalted social standing of
th* eight youths who became It* Inmate*, they
wen honored with th* title *f th* "Waldorf
Gang."
As soon as th* newsboy obtains a sufficient
Income he yearns for a bed tn the "Waldorf
Room" as ardently as a successful banker
aspires to a marble front house In Millionaire's
I tow. He becomes discontented with the 10-cent
bed. In which he hitherto slept bo soundly. ll*
looks around th* bis; room, with Its rows of
beds, whose whit* Iron frames look as If they
had been turned oct of the same factory by the
same pair of hands. lie takes a peep Into the
adjoining locker room, where he Just now un
drens»»d with a crowd of other boys, and stowed
his clothes away In a sort of pigeonhole In a
great wire cape and then scampered off to his
benk. He recalls, too. the time when he slept In
a 5-cent bed In th* great hall downstairs,
where there was a still bigger crowd. And al
though he has risen from a 5-cent to a 10-cent
bed. this Young America now feels he will never
be satisfied until he can rest within the ex
clusive sheets of a "fifteen center."
Th* obstacles, however, which beset his ambi
tion seem almost Insurmountable. Kike Mr.
Got-Itich-Quick. who moves to New- York from
Petroleum Creek, and who Is surprised to find
th* doors of Gotham's best society closed against
him, his aspirations suffer many a rebuff. Th*
tenants of "lie ate well dockers" guard the dig
nity of their social rank with Jealous circum
spection, and eves when a bed becomes vacant
THE SAVINGS BANK IN THE NEWSBOYS' HOME.
NEWSBOYS IS A "CRAF" GAMJL
and Superintendent Hrl* sends tn a new boy.
the other seven at flrst regard him as a up
start.
Although Bom* at th« "Waldorf Gang" ar*
earning; enough money to hire a furnished room
uptown, they find the attractions of their pres
ent life too potent "We'd rather be th* main
guys here," as one of them expressed It. "than
be an under dog at a cheap boarding house."
Nevertheless, when th* superintendent flnda
that a youth has prospered sufficiently to mako
his home elsewhere and let some other lad r..-e
to take his place, he transplants the gradual*
Into a good home, where, under the right In
fluences, he can strive for still higher Ideals.
It was Just half % century ago that the
Chatham Square Newsboys' Lodging House
was founded by Charles I-oring Brace. It.
was the first institution of its kind In tho
United States. The building was erected by
private subscription, and was managed by Mr.
Bract for som* time before it was ac
cepted by the Children's Aid Society, of which
Mr. Brace was the executive oflker. Since
then other lodging houses have been estab
lished by th* society, and in its last re
port, which covers fifty years of work, this or
ganization tells of having rescued and plaiv«l in
family homes 23.001 orphans or abandoned chil
dren, provided places in the country for 12.">.«h »0
older boys and girls, and restored 5,551 runaway
children to parents. The vast majority of those
sent to family homes in the West have become
farmers, and not a few have risen to stations ol
high responsibility. John G. Brady, Governor of
Ala-ska, for instance, was once a lodging house
boy, and others whose careers are known to the
society Include two Congressmen, four mem
bers of State legislatures, twenty-seven bank
era, thirty-four lawyers, twenty-two merchant*,
seventeen physicians, fifteen Journalists, eighty-
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