New-York tribune., 1900-09-02
THE EAST SIDE BOY.
WHAT HE WANTS is COMPANIoNsHIP
AND HALF A CHANCE.

the Practical Sociologist, that most people nave
very queer ideas about the East Side boy.
These two were exceedingly good terms, and
It was understood that differences OF age, social
training and the like should be forgotten when
the East Side boy up to the Sociologists
den and discoursed while that worthy smoked
his pipe. This had been going on for three or
four years. to the edification of each. The two
had met when the boy was just an ordinary
bright East Side yOungster, and mutual curl
osity mingled with growing affection had done
the rest. Now the youth had developed taste
for study and the pair read Latin together'
while the boy and his parents saved up money
to send him to college. Yet the boy remained
an East Side boy, loyal to his part of the city,
even though he knew well the formerly uneX-
plored country above Fourteenth-st AS for the
Sociologist he was merely a philosopher who
spelled Life with a capital L. He was interested
in humanity, rich poor and reflected with
satisfaction that on one occasion he mad at
tended the Anarchist ball evening and
gorgeous Fifth-aVe. function" the next. Which
shows what manner of man the SociOlogist was
Most of the popular ideas any subject are
queer my young friend" said he to the boy, yet
pleased with the prospect of conversation from
that sometime taciturn youth.
But you'd think persisted the boy, that the
East Side children were a special brand. Now,
I was an ordinary boy, in all conscience and
I'm sure I wasn't very wicked or very unhappy.
1 think 1 was in the main remarkably like a
West Side boy any other kind OF boy.
don't think the East Side boy has any more
temptations to crime than the richer ones; not
so many. perhaps. You hear so much about
gangs and crap playing and cigarette smoking.
Well, we do have all that, but it isn't as bad as
It's painted"
How about the gangs| inquired the Soclolo-
aaTO;J halo 70 Da9h
Did I? Why, of course. But, then, there are
at least three kinds of gangs. First, there's the
really tough gang. The boys who belong to this
meet at corners to make trouble, They would
fight, and sometimes they would hold up other
boys and make them give up money. There
used to be lots OF these fellows around Cherry
and Water SITS, but they've been suppressed
now. Some of the gangs were pretty hard to
break up and there may be a few fellows of this
kind still hanging around but not many. OF
course these were bad boys, and the police used
to get after them. But this kind of gang didn't
form the majority, by any means, and they
were only around the docks and other places
that tough, anyway.
Then there another kind-and l think
that most of the gangs they have now belong
to this class. These boys would hang around a
corner and flirt with girls and amuse them
selves with people who passed by. 1 call these
the f1irty gangs, because that is really what
they do. The boys who belong to these gangs
may be bad but most of them all right, l
think. They wouldn't hurt anybody, unless un-
der unusual circumstances. Then, the third
kind of gang, the kind 1 used to belong to, was
Just q social gang formed chiefly for the pur-
pose of playing games, and especially baseball.
We used to joke and have fun but we never did
anything than mischief, and used to
let the girls alone Some of the boys not
good as they might have been, but most of
them were decent enough. Most of them worked,
and none of them have turned out badly at all
We didn't have any organization, except that
all looked UP to the one who strongest
and who played ball best This is the only way
in which any of the decent gangs have a leader
but the gangs that used to fight had recognized
leaders.
There used to be a good deal OF crap playing
around Henryst., where most of the richer boys
the crap playing any worse among our boys
Ihan gambling among uptown boys. Some. of
our boys who had well-tO-do parents, who
had good places, used to lose as much as 50 or
So on Sunday sometimes more. Then, around
EsseX-st there used to be crap club of men
express men and pedlers, and not good men at
ALL They used to play the street or in yards
with some one to look out for the policeman l
don't think that there is much crap playing
as there used to be. All these gangs, except the
ilfa1v at 70