Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-07-26
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
Little Breadwinners In Great City.
Organized Effort In Charity.
Four Clever Sisters.
Especial Correspondence


idea of the many methods pursued in
Shis city as the means of earning live
lihood. Many of them are unique and
have been described time and time
again, but the marvel of it all is that
in many lines in which the field really
seems to be overworked the reward is
really frequently very large For in
stance, in the park are scores Of boys
who sell lozenges and other cheap con-
fections. The fact that it is against the
law for them to be there does not seem
to interfere with the composure of these
energetic little fellows. On casual
stroll through the section Of the park
freQuented by them one would be IN
clined to say that their vocation pro
vided mighty little remuneration, but
Just remain in one spot for awhile and
YOU will discover that these boys sell
good deal OF candy in the course OF a
day. AS the profit is large relatively it
will be seen that the money thus earn
ed might amount to a very considerable
sum in the course Of a week, especially
when the youth Of the vendors is con-
sidered. In fact, it is said that several
of these juvenile peddlers are the entire
support Of their families and that upon
at least one Of them devOlves the care
of providing for blind mother, three
younger sisters and two baby brothers.
This particular chap is one of the
shrewdest in the park, and it is said
that he has often earned as mrch as $40
in a week, although his average is usu-
ally q little below SO in the same pc
riod.
Policemen Conveniently Blind.
The policemen in the park, who are
perhaps the most unpopular of the many
thousands of public officers in this city
and who are generally supposed to be
devoid of sentiment, are nevertheless
sufficiently human to be conveniently
blind when these manly little bread
winners are near by. Many OF the vend-
ers have regular customers among the
children and nurses who visit the park
nearly every day, and these people will
never buy from any one else. 1t is a
matter of curiosity as to where this ter
rifle volume Of bad sweetmeats goes. 1t
is certain that if it went into the stom-
achs Of the tots there would be many
families mourning the loss of dear ones
in short order, for much Of the stuff is
alleged to be positively dangerous. But
it is q fact, and surprising one, that
the children seldom eat their purchases
of candy, preferring to save it to feed to
the animals in the menagerie, which
seem TO expect it and to enjoy it huge
~. By the way, that brings up the re-
Election that there may be some connec-
ton between this candy and the fire.
quent sudden deaths among the zoolog-
ical contingent at Central park Bus
that IS another story.
Organized Charity Work.
Margherita Arlina Hamm, the we'll
known writer and ardent advocate of
organized charity as opposed to individ-
ual benefactiOns, reminiscently observes
that the national conference of charities
and corrections in Toronto suggests that
not SO many years ago nearly every
house in the more prosperous districts
of the Greater New York was visited by
beggars 80 and 40 and so times a day.
Investigations by the police showed that
two-thirds Of the applicants for charity
were entirely unworthy. Many had
money in the bank, others were the
wives or sisters of prosperous mechanics,
others were deliberate social parasites,
and still others, shrewd and thrifty,
kept cheap boarding houses in which
the food supplied was obtained by their
mendicancy.
Begging letters were very common.
Bogus schemes Of charity were uni
versal and, to make matters worse, the
ward politician made it a particular
point to distribute public aims in the
shape of money, coal, food and clothing,
at the expense of the state, the city or
the private individual, upon any and
every opportunity. The change for the
better is due almost entirely to the work
done by these conferences and charity
organizations.
Four Clever Sisters.
Anna Belmont, the pretty ingenue
who will be member of George Ell.
Broadhurst's company that will present
s'What Happened to Jones' at the Man
haitian theater, is one Of a quartet of
clever sisters. A peculiar incident in
their theatrical lives is the fact that all
four came before the public in the same
part and play, "Hands Across the Sea-. -
"When I was with that company,
said Miss Belmont, 81 had an offer
from Sol Smith Russell, and it was
such a fine opportunity that I asked
Mr.. Charles B. Jefferson, who was then
the owner, to release me. He demurred
at first Then told him had a sister
who, I thought, might take the part.
What school has she graduated
lrom?' he asked.
1.-the same as did, was my reply.
a Chance For the Dog.
fBut I did not add that it was SIM
ply the school of experience. So he babe
me send for Bessie, who looks very