Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1853-11-24
For the Eastern Times.
New York Charity.
aThe short but stumble annals az The moor

piled than this to the poor Of any city and
New York, blest as she is with charitable in
stitutions, Is no exception 10 the rule. Here
as elsewhere, life of sorrow, fraught with in
cident and misery. pregnant with excitement.
hangs over these wretches from the moment
they are born till the last sigh OF their suffer-
ing frame dies away. AS fit subject for IL
lustraton, we will take this little street sweep
er, hardly ten years old. He has witnessed
misery and crime enough already to make
very respectable modern novel he has seen
one woman killed, one child manned for life by
its cruel father, several men "knifed," some
hundred street fights, not to mention the men,
orabe conflict between Yankee Sullivan and
Morrisey. He has once crawled through the
narrow window of house in 9th Avenue, to
let in thieves, and can drink "brandy smash
ers' without winking. as well as smoke shock
ingly bad cigars without that rebellion of the
stomach which novices are wont to experience.
His dress, which no one can call ioppish, is
merely dirty shirt and pair of blue pants,
with his little black knee peering through
hole torn by a fall he experienced when anus
ing himself chasing pig down Anthony to the
Five Points. The pants are upheld by only one
suspender with hole cut in each end and tied
with shoe strings to corresponding holes cut in
the pants. Having taken his morning meal
seated on the pavement, his feet splashing in
the gutter, and his morning recreation already
mentioned, of chasing a pig down Anthony
ioh cd he IS
amusement and of warming his cold feet, he
has come bearing mere stub of broom to
spend the day sweeping the crossing in front
of Barnums Museum. Some half dozen 9TH
er lit:le urchins are there too, to share his la
Dor; and in the 6rizzly penetrating rain, we
even see some scantily clad girls, with smoky
open work straw bonnets and thin dresses
which shiver like the wearers in the cold blast.
Now they diligently sweep the mud from the
crossing, now stop to warm their blue fingers
by their breath, and now hold them out to the
passers by, saying, ''Wont you give me pen
NY, sir" Stop moment under this awning,
and let us see how much this little shivering
girl gets. Here goes a squad of young men
and from their oddness appropriate enough for
the renowned king of the Can nibal Islands"
We needn't look at them. They never give.
But see here's minister. l know him by
his white cravat, his abstract, benevolent ex-
preston, and By the very fact that he drops
penny in the poor girls hand. He is followed
by several ladies, and an industrious milliner,
all of whom stop moment to give some reward
for this voluntary service. l have always no.
ticed that women are more charitable than
men, as we now see, for scores of the latter
have already passed, all muttering, "there are
institutions provided for you''-"there are in
stitu.ons-" a'i"
Yes, my dear friend, but to use the words of
my honest, indignant country cousin at my ell
bow, "What is the good of institutions if they
won't go to thems That little fellow who as
siduously spatters your boots as you rudely
push him aside, loves his liberty as much as
any one. He won't, and you can't expect the
little savage to give it up. Perhaps he is of a
migratory turn, and likes to sleep tonight on
the City Hall steps, tomorrow night on those
of the Custom House, and the next, if it is
rainy, to shelter himself under pile Of boards
in one Of those large lumber yards at the north
ern part of the city. How could one expect
him TO give up these preferences, strange as
they may seem, for evena good bed. since he
would be compelled to retire at regular hour,
and perhaps have disagreeable bed fellows
Nor would he give up his little pleasure Of
running with the machine," Of poking the
omnibus horses with his broom handle, and
dexterously jumping aside as the drivers whip
lash cuts figure around his ears, and of see-
ing how near he can put his broom to the pass
ing carriage wheels without having it run over
Still they must live. Common humanity says
they must not suffer. Then since they have
chosen this voluntary labor can we not afford
to pay them for the luxury of having the cross
ings swept Would it not, perchance, be pol
tic! Here, Mr.. Jones, is boy miserably clad,
but as YOU see, having remarkably fine cap.
Now, if remember Alright you told me that
your sons "new Sunday cap" was stolen from
the hall the very day you bought it, and that
several plates of cold meat have at sundry times
marvellously vanished. Doesn't he look hun
CRY enough to occasionally steal joint? Per-
haps you would do well to give a dollar to that
girl who is shellering herself behind some store
shutters, and trying to warm her bare feet by
placing one upon the other; in that way you
may save those three dollar overshoes which
yesterday you bought for your daughter Mary,
who you know is VIGOROUSLY careless girl,
and always leaves her things either in the hall
or in the kitchen. No +! you won't encourage
vagrancy. " There are eleemosynary institu-
lions for outcasts." Outcasts truly For in
no country is caste more strikingly distinctive
than the separation of the miserably poor from
the res, of our citizens. Who knows where
they liver Who cares. Who can tell their
occupation-their sorrows or pleasures We
pass them by without a thought, or perhaps
now and then wonder whence such wretches
can come, and feel little self-satisied as we
mark degradation stamped in their counsenanc-
es. We drive them from our offices without a
pang Of conscience, as well as without penny
We push the little rascal aside who is scraping
the crossing, and give no reward for yolun-
tary favor. Finally, to recompense for all this,
we build splendid houses and offer to support
them on splendidly weak broth. On the
whole, could they be treated in any way more
as class entirely different from the rest Of the
world, incapable Of taking care of themelves,
and whom we have in q gracious abundance IF