The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-03
THE LAST BOZ IN THE PAINT ROOM,
Experience or Fritz and OF the orphan VIII
Succeeded Him In the Place.

Experience OF Fritu and OF the Orphan Whe
Succeeded Him IN the Place.
Tho last boy in the paint room has a hard
time Of 1t" said n well-known scenic artist. II
know that from experience. I began as the last
boy and I am always interested In last boys.
My latest last boy has disappeared, faded, gone.
and l have been wondering what happened to
him.
"We have been doing the work for two big
productions this fall, and I have been SO rushed
that I employed extra men. Until two weeks
ago my boy was q German named Fritz. He was
about ID years old and very stolid. Fritz's only
answer to every question was YAH and in two
days every man in tho paint room made 1t his
special business to make things lively for Fritz
at every opportunity. He had an unusual num-
Der of brushes to clean and there was work for
him all the time. They nearly drove Fritz crazy
the first week, and after that the boy settled
down and did the best he could, and when that
didn't suit he said YAH He never smiled, and
1t was impossible to guess what his thoughts
were. Nearly every man in the room had been
through much the same experience, and each
was ingenious in testing Fritz.
1.-TWO weeks ago 1 engaged o new boy to help
Fritz, and told Fritz to tell him what to do and
see that he did it. Fritz's face broke into a sat
isfed smile for the first time since 1 had known
him. He was pleased. Authority had been
given to him to boss another boy and the antici-
patton delighted him. The new boy was about
Fritz's age. He told mo that he was an orphan,
and I judged that he had been brought up in the
assorted. He had oat6s for every occasion. and
he was never at a loss to find them.- With
It all he was a cheerful little chap and much
brighter than Fritz. He told me that he had
time. and the salary that I gave him seemed
riches to him. l placed him under Fritz. and
during the week that he was with me was too
busy to pay any attention to him. l could not
ally cheerful. Several times he broke out sing
ing, and didn't stop until one of the men threw
a paint brush al him. When Saturday night
came paid my last boy and expected that he
didn't appear, and on Tuesday l became sus-
picious that something had happened to him.
One OF my men, however, assured me that the
last boy had told i'm on Saturday that he was
man could boss him.
II found that the whole room had been enter
tanned by the way in which Fritz had used his
authority over the new boy, and that undoubt-
Fritz assumed all the airs of a scenic artist. He
would soil a clean brush and then order tho new
boy to clean 1t again. II the work was not done
satisfactorily he would mako the new boy do 1t
over again, ~scoldinR him violently all the time
in broker English and German. Fritz devoted
every spare minute that week to torturing the
new boy. and whenever the little chap protested
well, What of itl Amt I der boss ! YAH
THAT was the reason that the little chap
struck. and now Fritz is the last boy again and
he is paying the penalty. It's q hard training
for a kid. l went through it myself. The next
boy who comes to work for me will be instructed
carefully as TO his privileges, and n hint will BIO
given to him that II Fritz attempts to haze him
now l am looking for a good, strong boy. and 1
suspect that there 10 trouble ahead for Fritz"