The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-05-07

By Our Special Correspondent.


NEW YoRK's GREATEST PROBLEM.
Turning Of Printing House Square
into a side street the other dsy, J
was partly conscious OF . little urcbir
uotting by my eide begging for nor
ey. at whom. wrapped ia my own
thoughts, l was mechanically shaking
my head in negative response to biz
appeal. In city swsrming with
beggsrs you contract this habit 10
very seIf-defense. Still be trotted on
until | turued into a ball way and be-
gan to clint the stairs. Reused from
my abstraction as the little figure Jeff
nv side, l remembered lie ssid bt
was n~upgry-be hadn't eaten since
yesterday. OF course, be lied; they
ali DEBUT surely be didn't wsn'
money for rum-perbsps be was fam
ishing in a big city, aud ! bad refused
him a moutbfui Of bread! turned
about aud below me VA u weli-knIs
lille furm, covered with rags sDo
DIRT, still standing IN the vrsrbui-
NlmbIy responding 10 my whistle. be
buunoed up The stairs. de had
neither father nor mother; sometimes,
hen be had money enough, be
bought newspapers end svld them
bis hume was an ash box or lumb Der
pile, and be warmed himself by squat
ing on the grazing over our qupuuam
friend The Chained Slave uuder the
| Spruce street sidewalk. The dirt ap
ueursd a month old on Ills hands aEc
wrists; aud when, 10 my friends
ofice, be got down some here uear
The skin The lltlle chspped hands be-
gan to smart, aud | hadn't The heart
" push The cleaning process any. fur-
lher. A few copp.rs brought out a
mVmeDt's CLEAN lulo his stolld face,
aud down stairs be DARED. They
are II bad lot OF boys On this street
They feed IN the scraps passed uut
from these offices AFTER merchants
have finished lbelr lunch. When
they gel sny money, Instead OF going
10 a lodging house, they go to a Bow.
cry Theatre, and hex, Gay act IL on
sgain Oh The street. There's swarm
II them, and all are bad boys, but
keen as razsrs" So said my friend
Passing down Stairs, there sat the
little fellow, perched On a wagon
where | could not fail to zee him,
diving ravenousiy into a huge roll
tnat hid half his stIll dirty face. Here
was New Yofk's greatest problem /!
Not Rapid TraDsil; not new piers
AID ocean lines; not East River
bridges. nor Nor,b River tuuuei-, oui
Der " street boys: boys hat are
training, every day. for The p~eniten-
liary aud The g~allo"s; boys growing
up uneared TOR by any living soul,
fatiDg worse physically than The
horses aud dogs OF Manhattan Island,
and morally ID a darkness and turpl-
tude beside which the GabooD seems
bite aud pure. This group Of boys,
budding over the warm grating, will
be the highwaymeD, burglars. tramps
and muroerers Of fifteen years hence
As surely as effect follows cause.
What else can they be! Why should
not humane Legislation sweep all tnese
poor boys from the slums into q
State factory or farm, where, under
jadieious restraint, they may learn TO
make al honest living, aud be taught
their superiority 10 a skye terrier OF
a stage horsey Viewed from ap
economic standpoint, it will cost less
money To save these boys than ~
hang them. Yet nothing is surer
lnau that al these thousands If street
Buys will grow up bard, unreasoping
criminals. preying gu society I'LL they
Gaally fall into the hands Of the law.
Private charities cannot provide lor
them. They are vicious. Idle, repro
bsie-wby shouldn't they be! 1t
aill need the compulsion Of Lag 10
dra " them frvm the wild freedom OF
their vile and miserable life. l make
ibis appeal 10 yon, genllenen Of the
Pressl For G DIS sake, for humaDi.
Iy's sake, use the mighty power OF
your honorable calling TO procure
such legislation in behalf of these
poor children, aud their piuful coun-
ierpsrts with which every large ely
lie teeming aud fostering to-day. a.
will, at least, lift them OUT ct a con.
ditlon IF lie where msoliuess. purity
and piety have less than a ghost Of d
chancei
A HINT TO PARENTS AND SUNDAY
SCHOOL TEACHERS.
Put The question 10 q thousand
fathers: Whist vice do You most
Tear 10 yoIr boys future life !" and
nine hundred viii answer, "lntem'
perauce." But what are The nine
hundred doing about itY However
men feel about legal prohibition, al
men acknowledge the Justice ana
necessity Of inst:uctlng young and
old upon this important subject
Yet we are mostly drifting along
from day to day bliudly hoping
and half expecting that somehow
our boys will be saved whatever be.
comes Of the res. And ~ amid ID,
wreck Of iresides and the crash o
fondly cherished nopss, the days ruo
Into years that witness no thorsugb
ly earnest, systematic efforts TO pre-
pare the boy for The struggle JUS
ehead. IL need not be 80.
There is 10 New York q society
and Publication House which, start
ing without q dollar of capital auc
supported almost wholly by voluDta
ry contributions, has published six
hundred varieties of books, pam
phlets aud tracts upon every phase
Of the liquor question, spent $70.00l
in stereotyping and for literary labor
printed over three hundred million
pages of temperance literature ant
scattered it throughout every State
and Territory and 10 nearly ever,
country on the globe 1t publisheI
two Grstclass monthly papers, one
the Youths Tempe ance Banner
illustrated, being as it's name indi
Gates. devoted to the children.
But a new department has latel,
been added of which no Sunday
School should be ignorant. Thil
Society is nov publishing some nine
ty
TEMPERANCE LIsRARY BOOKS Fol
SUNDAY SCHOOLS