Thomas County cat., 1886-11-18
SINGING SLAVES.
Indeseribabie Wretchedness Of the 1tiser.
able Child Musicians Italy.

Gi,describabie Wretchedness of tho Miscr.
able Child Musicians a. Italy.
An Italian workman in Paris needs
no meat and no wine; he can vcgetate
on water and maccaroni and sleep on
a plank bed in rickety loft. while his
French brother must have his mattress
in MS room, his pint of claret and his
stewe1 beef, and u respectable blouse
to put on when Sunday morning comes
around One franc day will satisfy
the wants of one, while 1t takes four
francs to do justice to the emergencies
of the other, and thus it is why Italian
workmen are to be found ready and
willing to toll during ten, or even
twelve hours for twenty or twenty-five
cents. Many of these Italian exiles,
however, whom have encountered in
Paris, Brussels, Lausanne and Geneva
rarely stoop to manual labor in order
to exc out a living. Before leaving
their native land they kidnap boys and
girls who have good voices. or bring
their own children with them, and
train them up TO play tambOurines and
concertinas, or master the flute and the
violin, and once they have received
this elementary instruction the impre-
sario travels all Europe with them, and
sometimes crosses over to America,
where he generally tancies that large
fortune is to be made out of the mate
rial which he has got ready on hand.
Cafes are generally the haunts of these
itinerant minstrels. When he brings
them into any town or city he takes
up his quarters in one OF the back
lanes, and sends them out to sing. If
they do not lay certain amount of
money at his feet at hight. when they
come home. he beats them and seEds
them to bed supper!ess. and the result
is when they grow to years of maturity
they abandon the old tyrant and he is
forced to seek ''6ther fields and past
ures new" for his fortune-making.
The cruelties practiced on these little
ones are fearful to contemplate. Often
have seen pretty. dark-eyed Ne
apolitan signorina looking pale and
haggard at the early age of twelve or
thirteen summers-her features robbed
of that rich red color of southern
climes, and a pitiful narrowing gaze in
her orbs as she glanced meekly at you
and pleaded mutely for copper.
Others have beheld with scars and
bruises on their cheeks-sad reminders
of the ferocity of their owners, who
pocket the swag and loll lazily at
home all day, while their miserable
little hacks are wasting their lives
away in the fetid atmosphere of low
drinking-saloons crying for aims, and
forced to listen to the ribald conversa-
ton of besotted drunkards. 1 found
one of these pale-faced children
tugging at my coat-taiis one evening
as was leeuing over the battlements
of one of the bridges overlooking the
Rhone at Geneva. When 1 turned
around saw prematurely aged child,
with tear-laden eyes, holding out the
palm of her hand, and looking up
piteously at me. She held very old
violin under her arm, and pair of
tiny cymbals was attached to hempen
cord that encircled her waist. '.Ah!
monsieur" she cried, in broken
French, II have been out all day
playing; but the times are bad and
people have no money to throw away
on me. l only earned ten sous, and
papa always beats me when l do not
bring him franc, and now it is too
late to play any more. and l feel so ill
that fear l will die if he knocks me
down and kicks me as he often did be-
fore. Will you monsieur for the love
of the Madonna have pity on me? o.
cell! inspire monsieur to have pity on
me-! - Jildn Cor. San Francisco
Chronicle.