Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-27

chap was being dressed in clean clothes, In
order to be sent down to the country for a
few weeks fresh air, and Benjamin Wsugh'a
dark, deep-set eyes blazed with righteous
wrath as he related the peculiarly revolving
circumstances of his discovery. 1t appeared
the boys father was a preacher on Islington
Green, who, day after day, wept over lost
souls and exhorted his hearers to repent
ance. One evening, q few weeks back, an
officer Of the society accidentally met the
boy shivering in the wet streets, and yainiy
attempting to sell some tracts. Unexplained
that he did not dare go home till the tracts
were sold, as. whenever he failed in
his task, the preacher beat. him, naked,
said the officer, ''if you will undertake to
bear one beating more, promise you 1t
shall be the last" He accompanied the
child to the door. sent him in, and awaited
the result. Soon angry words were heard,
followed by the sound of heavy blow and
the boys scream. The watchman rushed
in in time to see the fathers arm raised q
second time. In one hand was a heavy
whalebone whip, BY the other he held the
boy, stark naked, while the mother looked
on helpless. It required but few moments
to summon constable and give the man in
charge; and next morning ID was q special
qualification to the society to see the ex-
horter to repentance condemned to six
months hard labor.
A PLEASANT JAIL.
By recent police regulation, which re-
joices the heart of Mr.. Waugh, all children
arrested as vagrants, beggars or thieves, and
who are remanded Tor inquiries, are handed
over on bail TO him, instead Of being sent to
the casual ward of the workhouse. Half Of
the shelter is given over to these bail-chil-
dren, who, of course, have to be locked up;
but Mr.. Waugh is very lenient jailer, and
his little prisoners havea very merry time
of it with games and toys. In one room tull
of big boys there was splendid rocking
horse, the gift Of kind lady friend; among
these observed one little chap with swollen
face and two frightful black eyes-the result
of his fathers heavy boots.
"Do they ever run away?" asked.
"Very seldom" was the answer; 81 re-
member one willy little ragamufin who did.
He was observed to look sullenly at one of
our officers in uniform as he passed through
the room; then entered, and the boy stared
at me, without o word. Afterward he
nudged his neighbor and muttered: "A par
SON and bobby is too much for me; I'm
Off And off be was, and it was only after
two days hunt that we captured him again."
As rule, the comfortable quarters, COM
bined with the kind, motherly care Of the
matron and her daughter, both of whom are
inspired with real loye OF childhood, has
q wonderful result even on the most hard
ened of little street arabs.
The Society for the Prevention Of Cruelty
to Children has aid committees in all parts
of England, and employs some 40 detective
officers to watch and report on cases. The
following are instances OF the sort of infor-
nation which they have to act upon, sent to
them by neighbors:
'"There are heard at house near mine
occasional cries and screams as of a dis
tressed child. Most people say that there Is
no child there. One or two say that they
have occasionally seen small girl cleaning
the door step. Now and then the moan is
'Oh, my head, my head"
Or again: "I can hear through my kitch-
en- wall smothered sounds of pleadings and
meanings down in the corner on the floor, at
the other side of the wall. It is my neigh
Dor beating his little stepchild. sometimes
meet the child out; she has often black eyes
and marks on her face. / have tried to
speak TO her but she evidently dare not
speak"
AN ENGLISH BABY FARM.
And here is picture Of baby farm, as
supplied by IN officer: sIn room, II feet
square. almost without furniture and With
bare filthy boards, were found seven chill
dren, nearly naked and covered with filth,
their ages (apparently) 8, 8, 8, 2, 2, 2 years,
and 20 months. All were miserably stunted,
one suffering from bronchitis, one from scalp
complaint, and four from ricketts,. A wit
ness described their legs as hanging like
dolls legs; the stencil in the room made
strong men i'll. The four who were the
weakest were found to be insured"
1t Is satisfactory to know that the man and
woman were prosecuted by the society and
sentenced to nine months and two years.
hard labor respectively.
The clause OF the new act which has ex-
cited the greatest discussion in London has
been that affecting the theater children. In
America, believe, no children are allowed
on the stage until the age OF is; but in En-
gland child performances are all the fash
ion, and the theater managers, headed By
Augustus Harris, Of Drury Lane, have been
up in arms against the new restrictions.
AS there have been endless misunderstood
ings on the subject, Mr.. Waugh begged me
to make 1t quite clear that he has never
brought the smallest charge of cruelty
against the managers. On the contrary, q
detective officer of his has watched the
Drury Lane children for months without
discovering single instance of ill-treat-
ment. Mr.. Harris positively spoils his
children. But that does not alter
the fact that with board, school and
rehearsals, the pantomime children of under
ten years are kept at work IL hours q day,
and only get to bed at midnight. This, Mr..
Waugh contends, must be deleterious 10
the physical health of the children, and he
merely wishes theater-labor to be put on
the same level as all other labor, namely,
interdicted up to the age of ten. He brings
no accusation against the morals Of theater.
children, but he further declares ID is un-
true to speak of them as saving their homes
from starvation, as they are almost invaria-
bly, the children of quite well-to-do people.
The work OF the society spreads every
month, and this new act will entail q very
considerable expenditure. As with all phi
Mr.. Waugh's energies are only
restrained by want of cash, and the society
Just now is very short offunds. The claims
of childhood fortunately are universal and
not national, and if any rich American eiti-
gems felt inclined to help the little starved
English babies, the Society for the Prevsn-
ton of Cruelty to Children would furnish
the best means for doing 90,
VIRGINIA NJ. CRAwT0RD.