St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-12-24
A New York Journal Writer
Who Once Taught School
Near Red Wing,
Tells of Little Jacks Hard Lot
And How a Farmer Named
OleSon Treated Him.
A Picture That Is Probably
OVerdpaWn for the Pur-
pose of Effect.
New York journal

are yearly shipped from New York to
the West and South to find homes with
the farmers.
1t is subject in which l have been
very much interested. and l have Won
dered more than once why some philan-
thropic journal did not take the matter
up and tell the truth about it. And L
am more than pleased that the Morning
Journal, which is always on the side of
the weak and oppressed, has had the
courage to speak for these poor little
slaves, who are not able to speak for
themselves.
have spent many years in the West
and South. l know whereof l speak,
and | would like for once to give the
people of New York an opportunity of
hearing the whole truth about this mat
ter of child slavery, and l shall not
make one statement which l cannot
verify.
The m after first came to my notice in
1871, when an incident occurred that led
me to investigate. l was teaching
little county school at the time in one
of the southern counties of Minnesota,
not far from the city of Red Wing.
One day, when going bone from my
school, | chose short way across the
fields, and chancing,to pass near straw
stack, l thought l heard moan. Stop
ping to listen. | heard it again, and.
going up to the stack, spoke, asking
if any one were there. Receiving no
answer, began to explore and found
under one side of the straw little rag
ged. half-starved boy, not over nine
years of age. lie was so weak he could
hardly stand or speak, but in plain
tive, broken way he begged me not to
tell any one where he was.
"Tll be dead in little WHILE" he
said, sobblngly, "and I'd rather be dead
than go to him."
go back to whom?" | asked, for [
had never seen the child before.
Him as was so bad to me-" said the
little martyr John OleSon, down at
the valley dairy"
rs he your father?" asked.
mo, | never seed him afore come
there from New York. He took me
there"
Being only child myself in years l
was interested and at once set to work
to find out the child's story. 1t made
an impression which | shall never for
get | can repeat it in his own words
even now.
You see. miss" said the little fellow,
in a weak, broken way, which was more
pathetic than any platform elOquence
could be, 81 come here last fall with
lot of other children, boys and girls,
too. We was altogether in place in
New York. | can't remember where it
was, cause ! was too little, but ! know
we had pretty good times. We had
enough to eat, and we used to play
sometimes. One day the man what was
our boss come in and said we was all
going out West, where we could live in
the country, and ride horses and have
lots of milk to drink. and folks would
be good to us and send us to school, an
all that. We was all glad to 20, and we
all come out here together"
''HOw many were there of youw !
asked.
"Oh, I don't know, miss. Enough to
fill lot of cars. We stopped at Wi
mona and come up to Red Wing on the
boat. While we was comm up the
river we all had our hands and faces
washed, and they c0mbed our hair and
brushed us up TO make us look as well
as we could, and when we landed we
was took to big house, and a lot of
men was there, and they come in
amongst us and began TO ask US queS-
TONS
Nv hat did they ask you?"
ooh, how old we was, and if we knew
how to work, and if we ever got sick,
and they felt our arms to see if we bad
any muscle. The big boys and girls
was all took first, cause they could do
more work, you see. But we was all
gave out to somebody, and | went with
John Oleson, He said could help the
women in the dairy. He took little
girl, too. She was just about as big as
me-"
Slowly and painfully his voice
chOked with sobs, the poor little
starved, homeless, friendless bit of hui
mainly told me how the brutal Swede
had made him go without shoes and
stockings until after the snow was on
the ground: how he stood out in the
field and husked corn through the cold
November days with his feet frozen so
he could hardly walk. In testimony of
his truth he showed the poor little toes,
all distorted from the freezing and fes-
tering.
He told me how he had worked to
husk the required amount of corn. be-
cause if he did not he would have no
supper. and perhaps be beaten besides.
MY tears fell with his when he told me
of the little girl who was sent into the
field to pile up stalks one day when a
cold rain was telling, and how the little
thing worked patiently until she fell
from exhaustion. Her master came and
told her to get up; she tried. but could
not, whereupon he gave her a brutal
kick They had to carry her home
finally, and two days after she died.
They found her dead in her little cot,
all alone. There was no friend near to
place her little hand i'll that of the ten
der one reached ont to her through the
darkness: no voice to reaSsure the little
fri htened soul as it started alone on its
Journey. There were no tender moth
er's kisses bestowed upon the baby lips
that moaned in that pitiful agony,
which, thank God, can come to US but
once.
Il heard her cry in the night" said
the little boy, land got up and gave
her drink. She didn't say no more,
and next day she was dead. They
made cover TO a box they had and put
her in 1t. The box was too small, SO
they doubled up her legs, and then they
put her iii the ground, and | wished |
was dead, so they could put me there
too"
At last. when the child could endure
il no longer, he ran away after a cruel
beating for something he could not
help. But his great fear of beng
caught would not let him apply to any
one for aid, so he hid in the straw-stack
by day. and at night he went out to try
and find something TO eat. He told how
he went about the chicken houses and
pig pens to try and pick up food that
had been thrown to the animals. At
last dog bit him and frightened him
SO that he did not go out again, and
when | found him he had been two
whole days without morsel of food
His body was covered with bruises
and sores, his hair and clothes (the few
ba moral rUara filled with varYniu apd