The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-12-30
OUR NEW YORK LErr,n.
NEW YORK, Dec. q, 1874.
THE HOMELEss BoYs-

hoS iAh tuOuSduUS upon b~lOUS2ldo {
homeless uncared- for children who iE
the Lord only knows how or where
They 81 the offspring ofeither drunl
en-, erin.inal, or unfortunate parents
w-o t, her turn them out into ID
stree : as soon as they can walk, t
lice o. die, as fate may have it, 0
die and leave them to shift for them
selves. Who they are and fron
whence they came, they do not know
themselves. That they are. is Q ter
rible fact
Some years ago Corlear's HooI
was the rendezvous Of tie depravet
and desperate of the East Side
Gangs of half-grown bows, lawlesi
and desperate, made that locality
their centre, and it was as much al
the life of a man was worth to ven
ture there. The homeless boys and
girlst there graduated from boot-black
and newspaper selling to pocket-oick
ing. burglary and murder, as increas
ing years gave them increased
strength. If one died in a street
brawl, or was offered up a sacrifice to
law, a score OF recruits stood ready
TO take his place from the numerous
ranks Of the homeless. These chill.
dren sleep in store boxes, in ash-bar-
rels. in hav lofts-any place that can
afford a protection from the wind and
rain. For food, the garbage barrels
give them something, the light chan
ces of chance jobs another part, and
theft the remainder.
The Children's Aid Society, an in-
stitution which is practical in its de-
signs and methods of work, deter
mined to purify the Hook and to
that end established a lodging house
for BOYS. A large building was leas-
ed for that purpose in Rivington
street, near the East River, and plac-
ed under the superintendent Of a
man who put his heart into the work,
and was not afraid to go out after
night in search of these homeless
youths, sometimes bringing home as
many as a half a dozen to q good
supper and a comfortable bed.
A boy who has no money is given
food and lodging free-if they have
money, five cents is charged each for
meals and beds. A night school,
where these Arabs are taught to read
and write, is in full operation. A
bathroom is free to all, as well as a
library and reading-room in which
all the daily and weekly papers are
fled.
The effect upon the boys has been
wonderful. The Superintendent,
backed by influential citizens who
give a good share of their time to the
work, not only feeds and clothes the
bows, but he instructs them how to
get an honest living, and aids them
to get in the way OF it.
Since the House was opened it has
fed and sheltered no less than $500
different boys; furnished 204 $50
meals; provided homes in the " est
for 400 boys; found employment for
several hundred others in the City,
and restored 100 truant boys TO their
friends. Hundreds have been educa-
ted. The good work goes on. so
that thesSociety has been obliged to
lease an adjoining building, to afford
more room for the purpose of the
lodging house and school. There is
no reformatory enterprise in the City
that has accomplished more or better
work than this. There ought to be
twenty of them where there is one.
NEW YORK VS.. THE INTERIOR CITIES.
have mentioned several times the
trouble New York is laboring under
at this time concerning her trade.
The merchants of the city have final
v discovered that the loss of trade is
not chargeable altogether to "bard
times" but that the cause is deeper.
An act passed in 1870, made ports Of
entry of Chicago, Cincinnati, Toledo
and various other cities in the west,
and provided that goods might be i'm
ported direct in bond, appraised at the
point of final destination, and the du-
ties be collected there. In conse-
quence of this, the importing trade
increased very largely in the interior
cities, for the retailers were not long
in discovering that they could pur-
chase foreign goods Just .as well in
those cities as in New York, and
even better, for beside the cost of
transportation there is a system in
doing public business in New York
that is expensive TO the outsider
The importers here will make q Wig
orous effort this winter to repeal the
law. and compel dealers in imported
goods to buy in the Atlantic cities, as
Of wore.
The West ought not to permit
this. The privilege of direct importa-
ton to Western cities, has brought
mourning to the extortioners in and
about the Custom House, and has Sc
riously injured the importing bust
ness here, but it has saved the West
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
There is no reason why the cities of
The West should not have all the ia
%cilities for importing that the Allan
tic cities possess, nor can there be
any good reason given for giving
three or four cities a monopoly. Look
out, gentlemen of the West, for. the
New York importers in Congress this
winter.
POLITICS
In the city is mixed. The Democra-
cy are fighting over the sDOils. and