The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-08-31
CHILDREN OF VICE.
WICKED Why's or THE NIGHT-OWI
NEWSGIRLS.

They Infest the Ferry Landing, and the
Police Should Gather Them in-Two
Appear as Complainants Against
Long Branch Waiter.
Almost every one who has occasion to
cross the Pennsylvania ferries in the
night, has had his attention attracted to
two or three small girls who are about at
all hours and in all conditions of weather
selling papers. The girls are attractive in
appearance, and with their plaintive tales
OF want and misery at home, or OF the
cruel parents who will punish them
severely if they return home before they
have sold all their papers, they work upon
the sympathieS of the belated traveller to
their own profit.
Between boats, when the street is prac-
tically deserted, these girls put off their
pitiful expressions and the plaintive tone
leaves their voice. Joining the few boys
who are always to be found on the street,
they laugh and chaff with the youngsters
in a manner not at all conducive to good
morals. They have lost all the natural
timidlty of childhood, and with the assur-
ance of persons much older, both in years
and depravity, they accost strangers
whom most females would shun.
Though little more than infants, these
newsgirls have knowledge which comes
to most people much later in life, and
they evince shrewdness in concealing
that knowledge much beyond their years.
SHOULD BE IN A REFORM SCHOOL.
Katie Finn, aged ten years, and Ida
Capron, aged eleven years, two of these
girls, were in Justice Stilsing's court this
morning as complainants against Robert
II. Rice, a colored waiter from Long
Branch.
Rice was arrested on Thursday night
by Policeman Shelworth. The policeman
said that the ferry master at the Cort-
landt Street Ferry told him that he had
overheard Rice offer the girls fifty cents
to accompany him to the water side.
!. The girls on being questioned by the
policeman said that the ferry master was
correct, and Rice was arrested.
Yesterday morning when he was ar
raigned before Justice Stilsing the girls
failed to appear, and, although he pro-
tested his innocence and said that he
would lose his employment ii he did not
return to Long Branch, he was held until
the girls appeared.
A SHOCKING SPECTACLE.
This morning they were on hand. The
Quinn girl, pretty child dressed in a
manner which denoted that she is in or
dinarily comfortable circumstances, told
her story without the least stembarrhssment
or hesitation
Sne ulSplayeQ remarkable knowledge
of the probable intentions of the waiter,
and expressed but little hesitancy in us
ing terms generally suppressed. Her
story was but repetition of the police
mans charge, except that when Counsel
lor Manning, who appeared for Rice,
cross questioned her she contradicted her.
self several times. The Capron girl cor
roborated Katie's story.
The ignorance of the Bible and the ma
ture of an oath, which the girls displayed
when questioned by the Justice, precluded
the possibility of their being sworn.
Rice made q statement to the effect that
he missed the last train to Long Branch
and came out of the depot on to Elk
change place for the purpose of ascer
tain the way to the Central Railroad sta;
ton.
He was moved by the story of Katie
Finn's brother and bought paper from
him, giving him dime. The youngster
put the dime in his pocket and cleared
out.
Rice then asked the girls to show him
the way to the Central depot and saying
that they would, they took him up the
street. They left him after going short
distance and he came back to the ferry
where he met the Finn boy, who had run
away with his dime. He threatened to
have the boy arrested he said, when Shell
worth came up and took HIM to the sta
ton house.
Justice Stilsing paroled him in the Gus
tody of his counsel.