New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-03-13
The Street Arabs oryev York

1hd booiblaeks-are ten times worse than
I'e nyNs''1S, IN consequence Of the idle life
they Read. Thrvclrn IN the a,,-,-., ~,
seycnty-ive cents to-a dollar g, DIV, ~. ..
I only takes few minutes to blacL n r,;- q,
p"ots, The greater part OF their uly +, narcs-
'asi' unemployed. They Ta>s the time in
tossing log PENNIES, cheating one another.
| nShtinS, and qIsvreling. \ cooi m,ny OF
thcn Practice gymnastics. tuu.hlin,,. and con.
| 'ortion, mthc City Hall Park 'rgt~ NJ which
some ttthem become tolcrahIN cvp,rt. Last
| summit was present at one al the chill
steh : plcnicS, which were organized hy the
| NeN OK ItT'tS. An immense crowd Of
visitors was present. numhrring two ,r tbrcr
| thousand ladies' and gentlemen. Two bnot-
blacks Vent Through a really surpyi,ius per-
! '"rhiance IN an lmproviscl ring; and. when
one OF them went round with a hat. he col
lected over four dollars. But h.. ,nul1
not be honest. | found that he had
stuted two twenty-five cent stamps into his
! mouth, while pretending 10 wipe the perspir-
atlon from his face. | compelled him. lit
eraiiy, TO disSorgc, aud thea divided the
money equally between them. | am glad tn
De able To say that they both spent their
lutie- fortune in clothes, of which they both
stood greatly in need. was obliged To pin
them all over before they could perform with
dcceEcy. Their teats were So clever that |
asked them why they did not leave the
streets and perform in public, AT the same
time recommending them To apply 10 some
travelling circus-not a very high walk ia
HE, but they were both orphans, and il i,
better than life in the streets At all
events, they would have no opportunity Of
stealing. One of them took my advice, and
obtained an engagement in a circus rs a hoy
contortioniSt: the other preferred to stick
to hi, Arab lie
One very touching incident came under my
notice at this same picnic. y pale faced, un-
derSIGed little girl, who did not appear to bt,
more than eight years of age though she told
me that she was nearly twelve, asked me ii
all the country looks like this" She in
formed me that she had never seen any trees
except those in the City Hall Park, and no
water save the East river. What volumn.
Gus commentary on tenement-hOuse life A
lallShable incident occurred before starting on
the picnic. a boy asked me for ticket, and
on my referring him to the manager of the
picnic he told me that he had refused to give
Inn one because he was n bad boy. | said,
Then can do nothing for YOU"
lie laid his hand on my arm in a conf
dental way, and said, with the coolest eff
irontery, Say, boss, just you give me
ticket, and the next time write an article in
your paper I'll give you id good putf!'
htSc Sitttt 1AIuDS lose no opportunity oil
stealing. 1t a gentleman buys a paper or has
his boots BACKED, and is rash enough to ten
der twenty-five cent stamp in payment,
they always profess that they have no change
but that they will get it in moment Away
they rush, through one entrance of hotel
and out ut the other or down the narrowcst
street or nearest alley always forgetting to
come back. Two years ago one of their num-
Der tell in an epilcptic fit in the City Hall
Park. Before the passcrs-by could reach
him, the other BOYS had gone through" his
pockets. On the poor little fellow y recover.
ing his senses he said that he had number
OF little knick-knacks, such as boys oil his
class love to collect, i'll one pocket, and
knife and twenty-five pennies in the other
They were all gone. Last summer, while a
gentleman was having his boots BACKED lit
the park, several of the backing fraternity
crowded around, as is their wont, and stole
parcel from his cOat-pockct. II only con-
tanned some samples of CLOTH but he said its
loss would occasion him great Inconvenience
and loss of time. Boys have been known to
be very olliCiOus i'll brushing mud-splas hes on
! their customers coats after blackiug their
boots, and, while so doing, to steal their I'M
| suspicious patrons handkerchief At night,
when they are sleeping OH stOOrs, in entry
! ways, in coal-bOxcs, ora liyOrtc resort in
wintcr--Ovcr the grating5 Of the engine
| rooms Of the printing Offices, they uihlcssly
rob one another if they get a chance. Dc
| casiOnally YOU meet boys who are pals"
! They look after ono anothcr's interests, and
| are sCrupulOusly correct in the settlement Of
their partnership transactions. II one has
! not earned much the other will stand him u
ten-cent supper, on the understanding that
the favor is to be rcCiprOcatcd on some future
occasion, in case Of need. ! once met boy
who had often BACKED my boots. lie told
me, with tears in his eyes, that he had lost
his "pau' when bathing of the docks. ale
was more like IA brother TO me- he said,
"cver since mother died, two year. ago"
And he added, with a touch Of true patho4,
+ "D'yc hear the wind, boss. | guess il !,
mighty bad at sea. think % going to sea.
But the great oshn amt nigh wide a. the
line atwixt Jim an me now"
That boy had heart somewhere about him.
What pity that it could not be brought into
full and healthy working order.
One Of the most striking pcculiaritic, Of
the street Arab is his language. You might
listen to the conversation of II group Of them
for half an hour without being able 10 form
the slightest idea Of the subject Of their con
versatiOn. They have q slang name for every
, body and everything, and even entire sen
! fences Of slang. The names they 20 by, too,
are often ridiculous. "Mickcty,n "l'rofcs.
sor, "O'Neil the Great :" Round Hearts, ,
, Wandering Jew" Horace Greeley" "Tal
: Jack" "DOdge-ne-Jack," "rickic Nose,'
/. "Tickle-my-foo,," Cranky jim" Know
nothing Nike" and ''Garibaldi," all well
, known, and occupy high positions in the
! boot-blacking and Incorporating busi
ness. The last Ia an Italian-boot-b llckne
! being very layorite occupation with poor
boys of that nationality. II suits their idle
iazz1oni nature better than more activ,
, life.
The street Arabs Of New Yorl: are indeed
study. But, at the same time, they arc a
great stain on the escutcheon Of the Amer
can metropolis. Much might Dc done t.
improve them, especially by multiplying such
: institutions as the Sewsboys' Lodging House
-ADpl,foa's Journal