The San Francisco call. [volume], February 04, 1900, Image 2

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
tfrar^ed by an aged skate of a horse and
Arlven fey a ewarthy youth of 16 or 17
years. A few words In tha Italian tongue
we exchanged by the youth and boy and
the latter hand over the package of food,
while tha floureack Is replenished with
matches. Tho driver of the wagon does
not fall to collect the money received by
the child, who starts off . up' the . street
ap-aJn to make the fame or a similar plea
to those who will answer the ring of the
doorbell. t\':^'V ~ v -..*?.*.-
A few blocks tway the driver of the
dilapidated rig mentioned is holding an
animated conversation with another lit
tle dark-skinned match ocddler who un-
of the situation, as shown by the furtive
glances be. takes upon turning each cor
ner. . He gives a start' upon seeing a big,
powerful Italian, .evidently from Sicily, or
Corsica, approach. The latter grunts out
an inquiry arid the youth"' hands over the
purse of, dimes and nickels and points to
tha provisions stored in" the wagon. If
the day's work Is satisfactory the man
grunts again and strolls along. If not,
the fact is apparent from tho unhappy
expression on the face of the youth, who
knows what to expect when the day is
over and he. gets back to the place called
home and when the big man takes pos
session of the horsewhip. Woe be to the
little match peddlers when the "father"
is displeased.
Such is the operation of a "padrone"
system carried on every day In the street*
WHEN AND WHY WE LAUGH
Anthropologists say that the ability to
laughi comes to the child as It grows older.
Tho first smile la observed when the child
Is about forty to sixty days, old., but It
does not begin to laugh until some', time
after that. According to Mantegazza and
others the power of laughing has' to be
", acquired, Just as a child learns how to
Ualk or to walk. Laughter at the earliest
'¦Is observed in infants only after they are
. I three months old.
'. Children and women laugh more than
jmen, not becjause the cares of life lie less
•heavily upon them, but because the
former are more excitable and because
the moderating power 'of the cerebral
though it has its origin from tha -brain ot
a poet.
The envious, wicked and malevolent
rarely laugh- because, phrenologists say,
they, are impregnated with bile and ara
therefore morose. The haughty, the vain,:
and the awkward also laugh very little,
for fear of losing their dignity. The SpanJ
ish people, who are proverbially graver,
are a good example. ;1^
People who have lines extending down-.
ward from the angle at the mouth toward
the chin well marked rarely laugh, and.
moreover, show a tendency to penslveness
in youth and melancholy in after life.'
Thoso who have lines raying outward
hemispheres is leas in them than among
men . generally.
Prqfound- study makes men serious, and
sp > foollsh people are sometimes noted for
laughing immoderately. Yet laughter la
not so, much an index to intelligence as
fcit.ls.'to the pon'dltlon of health. Healthy,
vigorous' people are* proverbially of good
humored, joyous, laughing natures, while
tha "sallow, gloomy-eyed dyspeptic" is a
description scientifically - accurate, al-
from the eyes are, on the, contrary, people
who laugh a good deal, especially when
the upper lip Is framed by two deep fur
rows running down to the mouth.
Lavater, the noted Swiss physiogno
mist, says that frank, easy, copious
laughter indicates "a good soul devoid of
vanity." Such people often have a great
many wrinkles running obliquely outward
and downward from the eyes. They also
have full., ooen Hds and a round, larea
forehead.
Ing on the streets and openly begging. The
authorities at last put down the evil and
now only isolated cases are reported. A
number of years ago a padrone was dis
covered In this' city. He brought from
the East two pretty little girls, whom he
compelled to beg from house to house.
Tha police took tha little ones Into cus
tody, and later tha well-to-do Italians of
another fellow of the same strip* was
starting up In a similar line of business. ".
It is barely possible that the laws of the
State are not broad enough to cover these
cases, especially if the defense should ba
made that the boys sell matches on com
mission—and beg of their own volition.
However, an effort will be made soon to
break up this imported system of child
slavery. \
of San Frandsco under the very eyes of
the police. It was believed that this
shocking: form of child slavery had been
wiped out of every city in the United
¦States, but- it is not. Thepadrone system
of making children earn a living for lazy,
'able-bodied- vagrants originated in Italy
among the lower class, where it flourishes
to-day. The "father." or padrone, as he
1 is called.-hlres, borrows or steals such lit
tle children as serve his purpose best, and
'by brUte force and Intimidation compels
his slaves to beg in the streets, or. from
door to door. In many instances he
teaches them to steal, or to play some
musical. lnstrument, whichever they show
the most aptness for. The thieves are
the more profitable, but there Is 1 less dan
ger to himself in having musicians, as
money dropped in a tambourine or cap is
safer than that pilfered from pockets or
houses. A crust of bread and a curse Is
the masters reward to his slaves, or a
lashing ff the day's returns are too small.
Th'o earnings of the children invariably
go to the wine seller and the card table.
A very small portion is offered to the Vir
gin or one of the saints, for good fortune
for the following day.
The paurone system of child slavery
was imported into this country with the
first Italian immigrants to land at Castle
Garden, and for years the cities of the
East were overrun with little olive-hued
children selling flowers, playing and sing-
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Poor Slave W&M^SX^^^^:
IBS* £> 433 ¦? AJLMk m± ."'• ' •¦; .: : '¦¦¦; i: : ."¦".: '."¦'". ¦'•;' -
Upt Their-
Wealth and IMJBSI m
DREADFUL PADRONE SYSTEM HERE AGAIN
this city provided for them; >n a neflttlß*
manner. The. padrone was; sentence^ to
the full term for vagrancy py- esrljfc.llcar
Judge Hale Rix,: Years after It 'was
learned that the fellow tiad stolen th*jlt
tle girls from their. parentsHn. Italy, to
whom they were subsequently, restored,
but not until ; the ruffian had beert paid a
goodly sum for revealing '. their .where
abouts. '! ' ; ':'"'.'.:''¦ : r-\'l ¦" ''' ¦¦ ¦'.
Since then there has been no child
slavery of this order known of here until
the present instance was brought to light.
The discovery was made by .E. L. Fitz
gerald, late Labor Commissioner.-. ¦ FT*
lives in the Western Addition, and was a
witness to the plea of a little match seller
for patronage and the. youngster- s tear*
and request for food for the Imaginary
hungry mother, brothers and sisters. Ha
also witnessed. the chastisement adminis
tered by the youth who drives tj)9 supply
wagon and gathers in the provisions. Tha
punishment was stopped and Mr. |* lt2 "
gerald made an examination of the con
tents of the wagon. In It h» found over
a hundred pounds of all kinds of edibles
from a soda cracker to the breast of a
turkey, to say nothing Of nuts. fruita'and .
other luxuries given by big. kind-j&eajted
patrons to the small match sellers.'
These facts have been presented toitha
California Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children and Officer McMurray
has been making an investigation which,
will result in the breaking up of the pa
drone system here. It has proved no easy
task to get at the facts, for among this
Class of people there exists an obligation
of secrecy, and even the parents of the
little peddlers sre no harm In their off-:
spring being utilized in this way so lons
as the work brings in a few dimes. Tha
padrone at the head of the local institu
tion came from New York a few. month*
ago, accompanied by the lad who now
manages the supply, wagon. .• .
Among the poorer class of his coun
trymen the fellow soon found all the ma
terial he wanted for hla purpose. From
what can be learned by the officers of
the humane society the little match ped
dlers are bound over by some sort of con
tract which gives the padrone unlimited
power to dr> with them as he wishes, and
this power is respected and feared by tna
unfortunate urchins. The right to punish
for neglecting to make returns on th*
matches, in money or food, seems, to be
delegated tr» the yours fellow who drives
the supply wa son. .... ; «
What .becomes. of all the, food for which
the children beg? From all accounts this
Is" sorted over and sold to the poor In the
Latin quarter of the city, only so much
as Is necessary beinjr saved- for the llttls
peddlers. Some nf the food also goes to
the boys* parents, especially those with
large families, for the services rendered
by the peddler-beggars.
Not only is food asked for, but clothing
and shoes as well. A few days ago Offi-.
cer McMurray was In citizen's clothes on
Sansome street when two little urchins
of the band entered a wholesale furnish
ing store and begged f«r shoes, exhibit
ing their feet, which were poorly shod,
They stated that their parents wefe very
poor and lived on Twenty-fourth 'Street.
near Potrero avenue. The officer, after
much persuasion and some threats. In
duced the lads to confess that they lived
on Vallejo and Dupont streets. Also,'- that
the day being stormy the "boss." had sent
them out for. shoes and clothing, it being*
too wet to peddle matches to advantage.
Sufficient Information, was ' obtained to
warrant taking the YaUejo-sTreet padrone
into custody, and the only reason, for de
lay -was the discovery of evidence that
." ' '¦- ' .¦. ¦ • h •• '.
THE SUNDAY CALL.
2
PLEAS A buya da ma,tc.ha." , ;
The match "merchant" making
this appeal fo the lady at the front
floor of a house In the Western Ad
dition was a diminutive, dark-complex-
Joned chap, very dirty and corresponding
ly ragged. Over his shoulder wa» a flour
eack partly filled with cheap lucifer
matches. In the grimy little fist was a
sample bunch. The lady did not wish
ar.y of the boy's stock and said so. The
rmall peddler from Italy began to sniffle
end grind his knuckles into his eyes la
pemblance of crying.
"Oh. pieasa, mam; I musta sell; I hun
sra; ma motha s=he hungra: my lltta
broda. he maka da cry for da brcada,"
whined the urchin, who by this time had
managed to start- some moisture, which
streaked the dirt upon his olive face in
irrotoprjue linfcs. The cry of the hungry
F«?Idom falls upon deaf ears and the
match merchant went away with a lib
eral package of good things . from the
pantry end half of his stock sold. Once
erour.d the corner and all trace of tears
Is removed by a wipe of the soiled fiour
eack.
Vp the street comes a rickety old wagon
fortunately has ; returned with neither ftjod
nor. money/ -The. lash, previously us.cd on
the horse,, la applied to the -back and legs
of,' the -youngster,' who' ho.wis and -sheds
genuine tears as ha scampers- off up the
street, evolving in his. rhiiid some .partic
ularly harrowing tale of. 'privation and
suffering of ¦Imaginary, dear ones at horn*
to. pour' lnto, the ears, of the.- next eusto-'
mer. The driver of the-;; wagon moves
f rb'm /block to block, zigzagging back and
forth, over a certain territory, gathering
ujithe: proceeds; of the work of half a
dozen, youngsters, to .-•w'hom' he admlnis-.
ters'a few. cuts with the whip 'when, he.
.considers '" it. necessary. ¦ The stock 'of
.'matches 'grows, smaller, and^the load of
provisions' and money, prows correspond
ingly; larger "na the "(J.iy wrnrs on.. ' •
But the driver of the mrajfon is not lord