The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1854-04-04
From the New-York Times.
WALKS AMONG THE NEW-YORX POOR.

WALKS AMONG THE NEw-Y0Rx POOR.
We arc making our visits in tho ncighbor-
hood of one of tho Industrial Schools, and en-
tor a largo building, filed with poor families.
They arc mostly the poorest working people,
-wash-women, coal-shoveers, wood-sawyers.
and the like. As VIC go from room to room,
il seems as ifscarcely any one was in employ.
There has seldom been n harder Winter for
the Poor. We knock, finally at the door of
ono Of tho upper rooms. "A neat, worn-look-
ing woman within is gcttn. table ready for
ironing, and II man sits in his coat-sleeves by
tho window In little closet of bedroom
opening into the room, a young man is lying,
sick apparently, on the bed. ] toll the woman
we have como to ask about her little girl who
is in tho Avenue ID Industrial School. Her
face lights up at once, and she offers a chair,
and we fall into pleasant convcrsation.-
"Yes, God bless those Ladies, Sir! don't
know what We should have dono. You SEQ,
there mover has been in my memory such
hard winter for the Poor. Why can look
back for twenty five yoar, and there's nothing
like IT, When he there and Iwere first mar
ricd, we used to put up four barrels Of taters
and two of -four, and a leotle pork and such
stuff, and then we hadn't nothn' to do for the
Winter bu. to make out the rent. But this
fall we couldn't no way: everything was so
high. So we kept livin on,-iist from hand
TO mouth, you know,-and tell you, we had
kind of hard scrape now and then"
Couldn't YOU get any work said 10 tho
man.
'There amt no work for such as me- he an
swerei, dcspondingly. Them Irish gifts it all
now
what do you do:'
q saws wood. and ho ve been workin' here
man and boy, five and thirty year, and nev-
er see sich time rs this used to make
twonty shilln day, sometimes, but the formers
and Catholics gifts il now. Thorc amt no use"
and he looked out Of tho window and whs;led
wall. Sir said tho woman again, 'as was
sayin', jist at the beginnin' of Winter, my son
there fell sick, and he's a-boen sick ever since,
and of course that costs us. And we didn't
know what to do for our little girl you spoke
on. She hadn't got any shoes for to go to
school in and no clothes neither and ono day
she heerd ofthis Industrial school where they'd
give her shoes if she came, and teach sewing
and sich. So she went out into the wood
house and raked up an old pair of mino, and
sewed and tied up the holes with string enough
jist so as TO git her through tho snow. And
she's been ever since, Sir and got good pair
Of shoes and dress Christmas, and you can't
think how she reads everything that they give
her,-sho and Tommy both. That are Penny
Ga.ette, and a piece of Almanac they keep
readin SO, over and over
turned to the man and asked about Tommy
whether he would noS like to get him place
i'm the country--it must be so hard for him TO
keep them all together.
'Wall.I'll tell ye plainly, as ye are so kind
MS to offer. 1t is hard, and sometimes don't
know what TO do. But We see Tommy is at
school now and he larns kind o fast; and for
me, never had no edicaton, and that's the
reason am jist as you see mo now. If
should be in your employ, and you should tell
me TO 90 to this place and that, couldn't, no
way; shouldn' know where. ! haint had no
cdication. Jist the time when should ha' ben
larnin, had TO be a drvn' teams through
the snow on farm, upin old Westchester
County. Now | want my boy TO get somethn'
better than had. Not that believe in il all.
| think they're goin' on too fast. But that's my
opinion. But other peoples boys git larnin',
and mine ought to as well as they; and ] know
if he only has that, he can take care of him
self by and by. 1t may come hard, but I'm
willing to come down to a crust good many
days, if only Tommy can lcarn something
gave my most hearty tsscnt to this, of
course, and told him we would help him bv
and by. whom the boy was out of school, and
thon asked why he WIS not out irving for work.
Il hare tried, and I can't find none; but | shall
60 out again to-day. The machinery has ruin
cd us poor folks. There amt no chance
His little girl is one Of the brightest i'm tho
Avenue ID S. hool. and tho ladies will SEQ that
she has fair chance to learn, despite her pov-
crty.
Our Industrial School i'm Roosevelt strret is
ofquite different stamp from any of the 9TH
crs, and has given many of us now glmpsos in
to tho lower life of New-Y Tho children
are from the collars and a,tics of Water, Bata-
va and Oak-streots; growing up among b.oth-
els and groggeries, and roaming hitherto much
of the time through the streets of tho quarter.
| They are mostly the children of foreign pa
rents-poor Irish or Gcrmons-yet they are
in all their peculiar traits distinctly fine, lean.
quick keen excitcable and nqnistive, with
nervous motion, and generally native type
of feature. There is great deal of beauty a
mong them, as in fact is usually tho case among
the poor classes Of the City. There are child
faces there which if their wonderfully quick
chasing expression and sunny bloom could be
caught by the artist, would live on the canvas
| forever. In all expression of the human face
know nothing so cntrancing as this nexprcs-
sibly, sudden flash and shadowing of tho eye
and features, such YOU see in the children OF
the poor, the effect of life which has never
curbcd word or thought. The children of the
Roosevelt School are, without doubt, of our
very lowest class They, for the first time
show mo moro clearly the source Of tho wors,
evils of our City. As they were growing up
they would have become in general tho poor
woman of that quarter; quick. passionate, un-
governed, with beauty, and without any honest
means of support; nurturcd under no moral OF
religious influence, put familiar with tho Ian
guage and the life of the "nash" houses Of the
Ward. Who could doubt of their fatc, and
the sad, sad end, the more sudden and despe.
rate perhaps, as they are brighter and more
passionate than the usual children Of the poor
Yet it is this very thing in which lies the
hope of the many laborious enterprises of oul
City now, for poor children. 1t is vo.y evident
to mo that we have not such class of boys
and girls as tho lowest in London or Liverpoo
Ours may DO worse morally. and moro danger
ous but they are not so stupid or degraded. =
We have not ON Industrial School hero will
such an assembly of dcbascd faces as the Rag
ged Schools Of fLondon.
Even our German school in Houston street
mado up mostly Of rag-pickers and boners
has collection of good honest German coun