St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-09-08

care 10 moraliZr, that lGl of these found
lin%I were picked up by the police in
| 1870, and rs in 1860, although the
Founding Asylum was in full operation
during 1870, AMI for that reason Il large
iimimuliun in the police cases had been
expected. Formerly, when these ca>ta
way habcs wee found in the streets, it
WAS the custom to transfer them rs SJUn
~ possible 10 the care ot the Commits
-ioncrs of Charities, 10y whom they were
I placed in one of the public asylums, where
most OF them speedily, and rs Il matter
! of course, died. Being now committed
/ To the more careful charge Of the new
Foumdlin" Asylum, Il larger portion of
| them survive 10 become public burdens
daring the years OF infancy. and t" be in
after life whatever chance may determine
for "a child who never had home. 1t
doe rot come within the scope of the
present article To deal with the causes OF
infant abandonment nor will: It's effects
either upon It's subjects or the communl-
the number Of these ct-taway~ aS suili-
ricmt i"r my purpose.
There are other Juvenile uulrasis who
are scli-hcIptnl, and therefore less pain,
iul To- the observer than the classes which
have been mentioned. These are the
thousands OF boys AMI "irlS who are in
great pant iricndlr>, and homeless, hut
scour thc streets for Il livelihood to such
good purpose that few of them actually
suffer for the ncreSSaric~ of life. Chiefly
ncw>boy> and boot-black>, they are the
gamin- of an advanced civilizations, and
could exist only where the undue aggrr-
cation of humanity has produced the pow
erty which inevitably attends such herd
ing. Generally raced, often hatlc,S or
ohoel,s', or both, unclcan in person and
language, the ncw>boy- are Il class by
themselves. Nowhere else, and among
no other human beings, Is there 80 much
cnrr@y, Independence, cilrontcry, cum
nin", smitlc>~nrSS and coutcntcdn, - with
the lot fortune scnl-. Out ut four o'clock
III the morning 10 crowd the folding
rooms "t the morning newspapers, they
can BE- seen from then until late ut night,
when they are vending the cvenin. Jour
nal-, securing every part OF the city and
heard rvcryw here shouting their wares
into the General ear. Zach sale they
make Yields only 4 cent or II fraction OF
IA cent profit, and it can be readily seen
/ that they must make many >alrS, nlulr-
ing hour~ of time and u terrible strain
upon youthful muscles, Tor them TO gan
even Il ~canty subsistence. Ii aboy Sclls
one hundred papers per day, he is doing
more than an AVERAGE bu>lHcS~, but his
profits amount only to about fifty cents
80 ihat three dollars per week is more
/ than the General reward of an occupation
that consumes fourteen hours per day
and requires u daily capital aim ,st equal
t" the weekly profits. Out "l th,-,. scan
ty rainin%-, "nt AT such Great cost, the
ncw>boy can, II he will, live clcanly and
comfortably. Although a II class i'm
pru,ilcnt in the last decree, hundreds ui
the ncw,boys Ia kc the practical philan-
throphy OF the Childrtn'- AID Society,
whi.h has established the Ncwsboy~'
Lodging House ut No. 10 Park Place,
where Il boy can obtain Wholesome meals
and Il clean bed ut 4 cost of six cents
each. Less than half his petty profits
therefore >ullirrS for his SuStcnancc and
shelter, leaving him twcnty-siN cents per
day /" pro\i !c him clothing and other
nccr>lhrir-. Human thrift has never
lIad a more extreme example :Iran that
out ul such gains as these Il fund of -,
l3:i 60 has accumulated in the savings
bank attached TO the lodging house, from
deposits made by ,lOj boys of their sur
plus pennies. But cheering as this fact
il, when others are considered, the I'M
providence of the mass and the vast to-
tai of homeless boys remain uncontIad.rt-
ed. During the last yc:lr s 900 different
boys were inmates for differing periods
CT the LODGING house, and OF tins number
,, - were orphans, 3,GJl were half
orphans. OF the whole number 80 per
"rdtuiIou-ly, because they were destitute :;
and We are thus brought face To face
with the appalling fact that duling 1870
300 boys under the age OF fourteen
years sought i'll vain i'll the streets of New
York for the subsistence that costs only
twcmty-Iour cents per day. That this Is
Il misery that is forced upon and not
sought by It's victims, is shown 10y the
fact that duriu@ the year only 1l3 of
those admitted To the lodging house were
found to be trulnts who had fled from
comfortable homes from an umconrrolla~
Bile spirit Of adventure. All the others
were actually homeless, nor did they con
Stitutc the total Of the infantic privation
of the year. All those admitted TO the
lodging house do not sell newspapers,
nor do all who do seek its comforts.
There are hundreds, many Ol whom are
Urls, who are suffering the marlyrlom
Of prolligatc parcnta@c less fortunate
than their orphaned comrades who can
find refuge III the >anctuaries provided by
a wise bcncliccncc, these outca>tS must
90 ut night To brutal parents III foul tcne-
ment dcns, TO he kicked, cursed. and tie
spoiled of every penny OF their earnings
for the benefit of the rum.cllcr. Taken
altogether, the nrwshoys are subjected 10
great privat;ons and terrible temptations
Among them are many who, surviving
the one and proving superior to the 9th
er, are 10 emerge from this shroudci in
fancy into an honorable manhood But
among them are many others who are to
escape all evil i'll Il panper crave before
chiIlhood is passed, or failing this bcati-
tude are 10 become confirmed vngrants
and thieves.
Akin 10 the new-boys in many respects
are the boolblacks, who are, however, Il
much em,lInr class As their calling has