The San Francisco call., 1895-11-17
TWO INTERESTING TYPES OF CITY BOYS
BY w. q. MORROW.

When one compares the messenger-boy
with the newsboy one wonders if the mes
senger lads have parents, if the parents
have wisdom and if society is blind to the
significance and value of the difference BE-
tween these lads and newsboys. a boy is an
irrepressible young animal, hlled with
those inherent qualities and energies
which are to be developed under the re-
action of the social environment. The
kind of man which city boy will become
is more a matter OF association and IN
fIuence than of heredity, as the criminal
records of Mayfair, Whitechapel and the
Bowery abundantly prove. The young
human male, undeveloped by years and
uncontrolled by influences which govern
the conduct OF adults, carries IN HIM the
traits which are common to the race
among them tendency to lie, steal, fight,
rob. dissipate and gamble. To the extent
to which these are suppressed by the In
1uence of the environment and obscurer
and more difficult qualities Of better
kind developed, to that extent is man
good. 1t is an ignorance or an ignoring
of this fact that explains largely the pres
ence of criminals.
I do not know what proportion OF the
criminal element has had its training IN
the messenger-b boy service. 1t cannot be
as large now as it surely will be in the
wears to come, for the business, partlcu-
larIy in its more degraded aspect, is new; ;
but that is hint which the moralists may
take if they please. My business now is
to show what the boys are, or rather what
the tendency of their occupation IS.
1t is fact familiar to those having to do
with messenger-boys that often they
represent low type OF manners and
morals: that some of them are insolent,
sullen and slothful, and that even in their
assumption of humility on occasion for
the purpose of extorting fee, there are
veiled contempt and superciliousness in
their demeanor; that their very presence,
the very atmosphere which emanates from
them, is in some cases repulsiye, and that
any attempt 10 exhibit a kindly sympathy
for them is met with hard, cold cynicism
that renders them sometimes positively
loathsome.
Some readers of this will of course feel
that grave injustice is done, that the life
of a messenger-boy is hard and wearing,
full OF temptations and all that, and that
it is cruel to deny to ambitious and ener-
getic lads the right to earn a living. And
Of course there will be others who know
estimable boys in this business, as un-
doubtedlv there are, and who will base
their judgment on their knowledge of
these and declare that l am wholly in
error and utterly unjust. For such read
ers as these there is no hope of a profitable
reformation; there is no law to prevent
their giving aid and comfort to the harm
which this business is working.
1t is the men who have some knowledge
of the shady side of life in great city who
can give the best evidence of the vital
phases OF this question. They know what
constitutes a very large and profitable part
of the messenger service, and they know
to whom and to what circumstances the
boys look for generous private fees. They
are familiar with the strongest Oh tias
bonds which keep a boy in the service and
are aware that in all its dark features it is
the very kind that necessarily produces a
degraded moral sense and often destruc-
tive physical ailments.
What could be expected of boy filled
with the natural evil of his species if he is
thrown into intimate association with the
worst vices that affiict the race? Who,
with an understanding of his nature and
generous heart, would blame him for fall
ing under the spell of these evil influences
There undoubtedly are good boys in the
service, but they are SO in spite OF their
environment.
Alongside the criminal statistics which
may yet have to be compiled with refer
ence TO the messenger service, there should
be prepared also vital and health Stats
tics. The stopping shoulders, the sham
bling gait, the weak eyes, the sometimes
drooling mouth, the often cadayerous
face-these are signs which an intelligent
eye may see and a clear mind understand.
1t would be interesting for some humane
society to make this a special study. By
the very nature of things the practices to
which some of the boys fall victims are
followed in secret, and can be inferred
only from knowledge of their tempta-
tions and opportunities and from physical
manifestations. We may be sure that the
boys themselves will not disclose the evil
or the authors of the evil that is running
them. We may be sure that they will
stoutly deny every charge and be indig-
nant at its making. But for all that, an
intelligent humane society might, by care
full and competent investigation, compile
health statistics in reference to this busi-
ness that would send shudder through
the whole community.
1t is pleasant to turn from this repulsive
picture to one of a remarkably different
kind. If the newsboy is not one of the
finest of the wholesome products of our
civilization it would be difficult to find
any such product at all.
My particular interest in this matter was
reused some years ago by girl friend.
She is now in another and bigger part of
the world, where she enjoys a success
and fame most eminently deserved.
Being a wonderfully original character
and hungry for knowledge she took up the
personal study of the newsboy and pur-
sued it to its uttermost limit Afterward
she told me all about her discoveries, and
her accounts were as enchanting as ro-
nance. She had formed the acquaintance
and won the confidence OF one little fell
1Ov ha had Al