The herald., 1894-03-11
READS TO WORKMEN.
THE NOVEL OCCUPATION FOLLOWED
BY A NEW YORK MAN.


Audience Sometimes Critical.
The Spanish speaking cigar makers in
khis town employ a man to read to them
while they are at work. In no other in
dustry is this thing done, though it
would seem that other workers "by the
piece" could initiate the Cubans to ad-
vantage. Not only do they keep in touch
with all the news, but it keeps them
from talking, and there isn't minute
Of their time wasted.
The Cubaus are great takers, and
this is what probably started the GUS
tom in the cigar factories of Havana.
When the men were brought to this
country to make their cigars in Key
West and the lower part of New York
city, they wanted reader more than
ever. They are very bright, intelligent
fellows. these Cubans, and they take a
deep interest in tho news of the world
as we'll as tho latest Intelligence from
their own little island They all sub
scribe to fund to pay their reader. and
they work all the harder for keeping
their mouths closed and their minds
employed as they roll the tobacco.
Julian Barrcda is probably the most
popular ~ tho young men who earn
good living by amusing and instructing
the cigar makers. He is a native Of
Porto Rico, where he learned the Eng
lish language as we'll as a great many
other things. He has had college ed
ucation and can translate the English
and American newspapers into Latin
and Greek as easily as in Spanish.
He is employed just now in two fac
tories, that of Lozano, Pendas & Co.,
at 200 Pearl street, and another one
at William and Platt streets. When
Barreda first came to this country,
he could not speak the language very
well, though he knew it theoretically
and could read and write it. He is a
skilled electrician, but could get moth
ing to do in his line and SO went to ad-
dressing envelopes at $3.50 n week
There was vacancy in one Of the Gu
ban cigar factories after awhile, asd by
that time Barreda had mastered the
speech of this country.
He walked into the factory one day,
and mounting the table which served as
a rostrum for the reader he made lit
tie speech to tho men, the purport Of
which was that he thought he would
make good reader for them.
They told him to go ahead and show
what he could do. Ho pulled paper
out of his pocket and began reading a
tariff editorial to them. They demand
ed more when he had finished the edi-
torial, and he read to them for an hour,
translating the cable news, the sensa-
tions of the day and the Washington
dispatches into their native Spanish
The trial was satisfactory, and he was
engaged at once for four hours a day.
There were 80 Cubans in the factory at
that time, and each agreed to give him
25 cents week. Then Barreda made
an arrangement on the same terms with
another Factory, which employed 40
mon, and he was in receipt of good in
come at onco.
He reads for q hours at each factory
in the morning and for 3 & hours in the
afternoon. He has his evenings to him
self, but he occupies couple of hours
then in reading the afternoon papers to
familiarize himself with the late news,
and so his day is busy one.
1t is net SO easy task as one might
suppose, said Barreda to reporter
1.-THE men are very critical, and if the
matter is dull or unintsresting they do
not hesitate to shout out and demand a
change. They are especially interested
in the foreign news. Then they want
the general news and anything sensa-
tional in the city news. They like scan
dal. A divorce case. or aDythin on that
order just suits them. Az fast as the
Cuban payers arrive by mail / get them
and read them, and the Spanish papers
published in the city contain a great
deal that TIE msn want to hear.
In tho aRtefaoon'I I rsad to them out
of some book. Jus6now am reading
Gil Bias in one shop and Spanish
novel called The. Two Sisters in the
other When have finished a novel,
select half a dozen Others that think
will suit them and read them list of
titles. Then they vote on which one
shall begin"
"Are they good listeners?'
"The best in the world. They arc
working all the time, and they are anx-
ieus not to miss a word They work
faster when some one is reading, and
they realize that if they ever get to talk
ing together their bill at the end of the
week will be just so much less. They
nre nearly all revolutionists, you knew
and there is great chance for argument
among them, because they all belong to
different factions.
81 have to beivery careful in reading
the Cuban papers and those published
in Spanish in this city that do not
miss an torialrepresenting some par
ticular shade of opinion. No matter how
radical it is, it is sure to have some ad-
herent and some sympathizer in the
shop
Barreda has learned to be very dis
eliminating newspaper reader. He
knows when to skip the dry part of an
article, and he knows just what news
paper is the one to begin on in the morn
ing.
None of his hearers speaks English,
and their desire to know about the
country and the city they are living in
makes the employment Of the reader not
only a luxury which few workmen en-
ior ~ thair occ1natfoue hut an absolute