Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-08-30
be children Of Israel are much


walks along with child in one arm
and another one hanging on to his
hand. If he has two small children he
carries both. The wife walks along
bearing the bread and cheese which
they will eat at noon and a bundle
containing the extra work which they
did the night before by lamp light until
long after the midnight hour had struck
1t is a tremendous fight against fate
which the East Side Jew wages from
the moment he lands in this country.
Self-sacrifcing, devout, heroic, 1t de-
serves to be written in letters of gold.
He starts without friends, money,
knowledge, as helpless almost as lit
tie child, but with an ambition which
nothing daunts. An energy like that
Of the typical Yankee, a patience sur
passing that of the Mongolians, he de-
votes his life to progress and his own
elevation. Those who fight for an
eight-hour work day and talk of the
cruelty of ten hours of labor seldom
bestow a thought on the black-bearded
shaggy and shabby men of Hester
street. who work uncomplainingly
fourteen. sixteen, and often eighteen
hours out of the twenty-four, whose
wives work with them with the same
assiduity. who refuse every tempta-
ton to healthful recreation and inno-
cent enjoyment, who see themselves
and each other grow prematurely old,
gray and bent, and yet who keep on
until finally the day comes when they
can leave their miserable dens
on the East Side and be-
come contractor, a shopkeeper, a
merchant or man of leisure.
TO THE MINDER.
I'd the narrow stairs of the tene-
ment the children are taken. The
door is ajar waiting for them, and the
minder. thin, pallid and hollow-ehested,
stands in the middle of the room with
grave dignity to receive his guests.
Sometimes his face is smooth, but more
frequently the patriarchal beard falls
upon his chest.
Sometimes he is bald, sometimes
leonine name falls from his head to his
shoulders. but over bald pate or shaggy
locks he wears long conical cap, such
as the Levites wore in Jerusalem. The
courtesies of the day are passed, and
very often-always once week-the
father hands over the stipend. The
sum varies according to the case. If
the children are to be fed the cost is
increased; if they are to be minded an~
not taught it is diminished; If they
are trained 10 recite halachas or rules
for moral action in ancient Hebrew
verse. it comes much higher.
The system irresistibly reminds one
of the immortal negotiations between
Mr. Wegg and Mr.. .Bofin, when the
former gentleman agreed to read aloud
Mr.. Gibbons famous work on "The
Decline and Fall nf tho pnnShian I'm
pire"
As one parent goes out another par
en-, comes in, and in a short time the
full complement of pupils is present.
The poor minder would take every pu-
pil he could get, but there is some I'M
written law between the size OF the
room and the children.
The least successful pedagogue has
about eight, but it is said he can keep
body and soul together with four. Sue
cessful minders have from twelve TO
twenty. The instruction would drive
an American teacher mad. While
teaching the elder urchins one topic,
the minder is compelled to keep sharp
eve upon the still smaller ones. They
evince the baby's instinct Of endeavor-
ing. without any provocation, to fall
out of the windows, to tumble down
stairs. to burn their hands on the
stove, to break any article Of glass and
to swallow anything which they can
put into their mouths.
FAITHFUL PUPILS.
He sits near a small desk or table,
and for his constant companion has a
long rattan or a well-worn ruler He
is a vigorous believer in Solomon's
doctrine as to sparing the rod. To
their credit, be it said, however, that
the little ones do not require much
punishment. They come to learn, they
obey implicitly, and their chief hope is
to carry home in the evening a good
report of their work and conduct dur
ing the day.
1t is wonderful TO witness a sad-eyed
minder instructing the young ones in
his ancient tongue. He will give them
the word with its explanation in jar
gon. their native speech, and then each
will pronounce it 10 the top of his
voice after him.
From words they pass TO sentences,
from sentences TO quotations and
verses.
AT one place in Allen street, near
! Hester. a little boy Of six recited about
One-half OF one Of the great ceremoni-
ais of his faith. He did it with head
Nh. chest out. shoulders back. and with