The Van Buren press., 1897-09-25
MANNED CHILDREN'S CliIp
Call Themselves Little Crooked c.
and Get Enjoyment Ont of "a

and Get Enjoyment Ont of life
The Little Crooked Gang is the man,,
of an organization of children. bet,yaas
the ages of eight and twelve years ub"
are employed in a hinge factory on NJ
Kalb street, near Victor. The urcbins
are not crooked in the criminal sens,
of the word. but each member has bsa,,
manned in some form or other NJ.
igibility to membership lies in BEING
cripple. Some of the boys are minns y
leg, others count several fingers miss
ing, one little fellow exhibits the stumn
of a hand, but all must exhibit soma
physical imperfection before they ara
entitled to membership in the Littla
Crooked Gang. There are IL of them
but they are modest and would NOT.
have their names in the paper for the
world. The president is bright little
fellow, some ten years of age. He has
only lost n thumb, and considers his Inn
very fortunate compared to some of the
other members of the organization.
Off and on the Little Crooked Gano
SItlltiS an evening dt bliO obtldl StItlp-
ment headquarters, corner of Second
and Victor streets. They have fond.
ness for the opportunities of pleasure
and the improvement it affords. As
young as they are, some of them have
formed a fondness for certain juvenile
authors, and spend their evenings in
the library. coming some legend bold
or fairy fable. Mrs. S. E. Frifield, ma.
tron at the place, says that the Little
Crooked Gang is among the best be-
haved and brightest set of children who
visit the place. The little fellows, who
grind the sunshine of their lives out in
the factory gloom, find there some
brightness, some relief, from the cease.
less toll and dangers of the intricate
machinery which has lready left its
disfguring marks upon them for life
Though crippled, they do not seem to
heed their affiiction when holding ses
sions of the gang. Only the present is
for them, and the morrow, with its
toll and trials and dangers has no place
in the dreams they dream and the
castles they build after the big factory
has closed its doors for the day One
member of the gang, who has lost
finger, says that he is going to Alaska
when he grows up to be man.
81 will come back with heaps and
heaps of gold" he said, his bright eyes
sparkling with the expectancy of ta
| fulfillment.
"What will you do with it?' the re-
porter asked.
"Oh, I'll build nice home for mamma
and papa, and then | would start big
| factory. I'd have no boys working
either If they were poor, I'd send
them out in the country. like Mrs Fri,
field does. and if they got hurt at the
machine | would give them lots and
| lots of money. We make out like we
| don't care, but we don't like to lose
our hands and fingers, and it keeps us
| from work, and our mothers scold."
The good work manifested among the
members of the Little Crooked Gang
extends to hundreds of children in the
| district where the social settlement il
| located. Already its eleyating infu'
| ences are being felt The other day II
boys were shipped to the country
| where they could breathe the fresh air
| romp in the sun-kissed clover, gather
| wild flowers, chase the butterflies, fish
| and battle in the brooks and wander in
the woods. Out of the factory's gloom
| away from the scenes of smoke an6
filth, they go, to drisk in the life they
have never known-freedom, air anc
sunshine.-St. Louis Republic.