The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-02-08
sae Aara Times Among the Poor Against
which Philanthropy Is Ever WaTlng.
CHILDREN Of THE IEHEAEATs.
sEhs EaaEiI Ago MT which they Assume
SsES Family RESPONSIBILITIES Where
MinderEareen and Mission choois
Help the Little Rurden Bearers-
Seey Young Mothers.

gsaiIn, but he didn't done it," protested lit
q tie Marie Tralla, and them her older Sis
ter chirned In. "And they say II he
Gwants5to come out OF Jail he must give
& on to tell about the men who lodged
u with hem, because without dodgers they
could not pay all the rent.
.sTheS cook themselves every day. and
then they won't wash their dishes" So
59poor little Marie and Nanetta, whose
[ mother was in the hospital and father
Il ] ISL, had to wash dishes for their
sTecreant dodgers in addition to all the
other burdens placed upon their infan-
s tile shoulders.
VERY YOUNG MOTHERS.
The INITIATED cannot imagine how ear-
ely In life these little daughters of the
tenements bear upon their hearts their
Ishare Of the family troubles and cares.
1 Even little tow-year-old Tessa Corelli.
in spite of her dlminutive size and tom
der years, is, according to her sister
Rosie, useful along certain lines.
Sometimes the whole family go off
and cave her to mind the house and
she stays ujst as quiet, n If anybody
comes to the door she says Get out o
here"
This older sister Rosie, a girl Of IL, has
6been O little woman for many a long
year. Being the eldest of a large fam
sly she has never been without q child
tdn her arms since she was old enough
to hold one. Last summer the only way
that a kind missinary could obtain her
mothers consent for u single days out
ling for Rosie was on the condition that
che should take little Tessnt with her.
fln some ways, II not in all, the law Is
a, kind arIgel to these little ones. Little
Rosie was very anxious for an educa-
ton, but it was thought that she could
not be spared from the home duties
until the same kind missionary made 1t
possible for her to go to school through
the agency of the truant officers. She
q takes her care most sweetly, however,
and Is naturally Industrious, showing
me with pride u quantity of crochet
(which she had managed to do In the
odd moments between her multitudin-
M duties.
LENA'S CASE.
The saddest case that 1 know amongst
Efhese infantile c~aretakers is that OF lit
Ntle Lena. She is IL years old. the eldest
2 six children; when I first knew her
a she lived in the basement Of q, rear ten
q ement, n is q victim of the sweat
shop system. When only 8 years old
;Sshe began sewing on trousers; hemmed
them up at the bottom, sewed on the
buttons, and faced them at the top.
u For this work h got from Z to 9 cents
a dozen pairs. Her mother worked with
rAAsSA "a btioiC OH III
+ trousers, for which she got 4 cents a
s4pair, but the most that she could accom-
IL plish In a day was six pairs, and the
" father got GO cents a day for tending a
Al fruit stand-when he could get one Ia
tend. So little Lena had to contribute
share towards feeding the many
~ and covering the many little
bodies, and all day long through all
these years, she has sat and sewed with
r her mother with never q days outing
y For not a single day through all the hot
yN,weather has she breathed the fresh air
or rested her weary eyes upon the ten.
der blue and green of the country, until
1.-The, long confinement and bad air have
completely stunted her growth and ru.
Ssssdned her health, so that when 1 called
upon her last, / found her quite too II
land listless to even take any interes
Adn anything. Her only longing is t.
u get into the country. n the doctor
says that that might cure her. Blu
&&people living in the country willing t,
stake children at all want bright, heal
happy little children. and not poor
bent, stunted little Lenas. She eats al
n most nothing now, and the great deel
circles under her eyes and hacking
cough tell that she nay aoon go to th'
a fair country, where we hope that a
least nothing so internal as sweat shop.
have an existence.
THE RULING PASSION.
But happily the child spirit is some,
thing too potent to be easily eXtin.
guished. In spite OF inconsiderate
dodgers and her miserable cotton dress
81 little Marie Tralla always comes to Sun.
day school, her face beaming with
81 smiles; and dolls and toys are quite as
welcome gifts in these homes as essen
tial garments and non-essential hats.
Ss1ndeed, these children of the tenements
Il are as brimful Of the mothers instinct
as the children of more fortunate homes
= who count their Imported infants by
Fl the dozen. AS. for instance, 1 one day
I found our two-year-old Tessa tending
with most loving care a barrel stave
wrapped in a towel. BY the aid Of her
Isviyid imagination this improvised doll
5Beemed to answer all practical pur-
M noses, but one could not but fancy with
~ VIVA q beatific smile she would greet a
real live DOLL"
HAPPY INFLUENCES.
from the educational influence
ENNIS impossible to estimate what kin.
naergartens. sewing schools, children,s
& shonr, etc, signify in the lives Of these
little ones, without a glimpse into their
Most of these tenement homes
of but two rooms. one n dark
Sasbed-room and the other a little larger
room n which the family cook eat
s8sleep, wash, iron and liye-if il he Iiv,
sing And as these tenements are bnilt
absolutely without cupboard or closet
SSSSfubs. pals, wood, pots and kettles. ruh,
faS4bish n whatever poor articles the nm
$$s9Drtunate family may possess are In evj-
aSdence. But as one poor Woman .,;5