New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-18
EAST SIDE LOVE OF LEARNING.
HOW THE BOYS SACRIFICE THAT THEY
MAY ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE

MAY ACQUIRE NOWLhDHf"
The people Of the East Side again confronted
with the problem Of how 10 educate their children
and the limited capacity OF the city schools which
Is evident again this fan. is once more cause FOR
keen disappontrnen, and unfu.nled hopes. Those
who do not know the inner life of the tenement
house dweIler. can hardly realize the general eX-
tent OF this disappointment or the acute sunermS
which Il entails on parents and children alike.
There were several brought to public
notice last fall where boys 10 whom had been de-
ried school advantages committed suicide. In
other CAGES similar disappontments resulted In in
sanity Such facts can only occasion surprise 70
,hosa who are unfamiliar with the intense craving
for knowledge which prevails in that part OF New
York where the other half lives. II VIII astonish
many people 10 learn that the average small BOY
Of the Ghetto has none Of the commercial. Instinct
which Is ordinarily taken as a sign and heritage OF
his race There boys want 70 become doctors ana
,awvers-some look forward 70 political career
and socinl questions nj their young lives with rest
loss longing It Is peculiar fact too. that the
fathers OF these boys. who spend their days In the
ul-smelling FISH market Of Hester-st. or live their
ives haggling the price OF pushcart wares en-
courage the younger generation in their desire for
knowledge
ut Is enough that l am merchant" said a
lorr-raberdined peddler yesterday. what Is such
n life? What can do for my people or myself !
My boy shall be a lawyer. learned and respected or
men And II Is for that that ! stand here some
times when my feet ache that ! would gladly
20 and rest. NY boy snail nave kho"itNsc nc
shall 20 to college
OF them The father. bent beneath the load OF
coats he Is carrying TO the factory or trudsing
along with his pushcart, dreams OF a better life
than his own for the boy girl who is so dear TO
his heart When evening comes and the days
work Is over he sits in The little tenement at
the doorstoop or on the Sidewalk and instils into
his chlldren's minds the necessity for knowledge
He points TO his own llfe-how meagre. sordid and
poor II is-and he tells them that TO avoid 1t they
must study hard and learn much.
The book of daily prayer and the Talmud, often
the only books In the house are brought out and
eagerly studied. 1t Is by no means unusual for
boy of nine years 10 be able 10 reclte the Iaimud
from memory The rapidly with which these
children acquire knowledge Is constant cause or
surprise when they enter the public schools Those
who come in contact with them are continually
amazed at the evidences OF precoclty when they
dlsplav There are many who have athers to
bear the family burden while they pursue their
be thought Of but after the work in the sweat
shop Is over they repair 10 the Hebrew Institute
Cooner Union or other places Of a similar charac-
ter where the lectures supply in a measure salts
Ietnpe Is often supp emented with books rescued
from a second hand shop at the sacrifice of break
fast or dinner These are carried TO the poor lodg-
of the first ray OF morning tells the student that
ne must snatch an hours rest before the working
day begins. 1t is no uncommon thing for the East
Side student TO live on 81 a month while he IL
struggling for his education. In fne Ghetto such
A thing is possible.
room the floor for one more and the "boarder"
gets a corner where he may sleep or study. he
or coffee with the family, and once month. pos
sbly he T. allowed S to share the Friday evening
The girls o, the East Side are not without am
bition Also To them the school-teacher represents