The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-06-07
Children in New York.
CBrooklvn Eagle 1


Park avenue, from Thirty fourth to
Forty-second street, is known as the Chill.
dren's Paradise. l walked up the west side
Of the avenue, few mornings ago, about IL
o'clock. 1t was sort of steeple chase and
hurdle race. There were children every
where l jumped over them, logged them,
ran around them, and worked my way in
and out among them as one would on play
ground of a public school There was q
nurse for every child or two, and 1 observed
that all the butchers and bakers boys had
business along the avenue at that time.
There were many red-cheeked boys sitting
on the boxes of wagons that passed along
slowly. On every block or two some of the
carts stopped at the curb and the drivers
sat with their elbows on their knees and
stared into the upturned face Of a pretty
nursemaid.
1 had never before seen many beautiful
. children at one time. They were perfectly
dressed, their faces were bright and rosy,
end they were jolly as so many little
cherubs. They played all sorts of pranks
with one another, and those who were too
small to toddle about sat in their carriages,
waving their dimpled arms gently and
smiling on the others. The big policeman
who was walking up and down was followed
by train of children, who played about his
legs, and the three churches on the west side
Of Park avenue had left their gates unlocked,
SO that the children were scattered all over
the stone steps. 1t was a beautiful sight.
have always felt sorry for children who
are brought up in boarding houses i'll New
York but the recent experiences have had
of hotel life have convinced me that no child
labors under quite so many disadvantages as
one brought up in one of the busy New York
hotels.
To begin with, a child who is very young
is not allowed to eat IL the dining-rOOm or
with its mother at all, but must go off into a
side apartment with q lot of nuTsemaids and
other children, where they eat like so many
convicts. There Is no place for child in
hotel Every mans hand is against it, and
every thing it does seems to be wrong. Ii it
yields to a temporary flow Of high spirits
and starts to run up the corridor it is sure to
arouse the man who has been up till o'clock
the night before and is trying to get little
sleep. The man rlshes out of bed, yanks
open the door and bawls out to the child in a
blood-curdling voice to cease its noise. If
the child has lived long in hotels it bowls out
a sharp reply and goes on making more
noise; but if it has not it returns crushed
and broken spirited to its mothers room. 1t
is never allowed to ride in the elevator I'M
less its parents are with it. 1t cannot go
around in the offices and reading rooms. and
it stays cooped up indoors all day until its
nurse or mother has time TO take it to the
park.
The result of all this is that hotel children
are solemn, sullen and timid or else they are
the most forward and obstreperous strip
lings imaginable As a rule, think hotel
life has the latter effect upon children. They
see at an early age that they are expected to
look out for themselves, and they find out
how to bully the walters and chambermaids
before they have learned to read.