New-York tribune., 1902-04-06
WITH CANAL WOMEN.
PHASES OF THEIR HOME AND SOCIAL
LIFE-THEIR SUCCESSFUL CLUB.

More than q hundred women all members OF the
canaIboar population of the harbor, gave SUI 80
party the Rev. Isaac Mcguire mlssioi'',-s .aoI
Coenties Slip station of the Protestant Htl
Church Missionary Society for Searneh, on f
ing last week The festivity was IN ceieoi 3
NJ Naeures 1birtieth anniversary as pastor VI
the mission and his anticipated retIel-iei -
that place May l. The entertainments ' r,t -
bv the Dorcas Society and Women : ooCi'' -,
the mission In the company many mfu anu
women whom Mr. Mcguire christeheu " ~
and whose children he has in turn receiNe I,t
fold of the church For many years d
wedding feast in this port has not pee 49,. f
complete without Mr.. Mcguire ana III I'M
sickness and death he has always oeel d ma t ,
of comfort and help. Addresses maze o"i S
,,.ntn, contained manv touching TESTIMONIALS 10
his faithfulness as friend of the boat people oi
New-York.
The women's club presented to him hahosoiiie
dress suit case, containing seal ledthei vi r,
case fitted with ebonized toilet furhls'iilS'
elaborate supper served to nearly one huii'i 'N CO.
fftv persons was prepared by the women anu
brought from their river and bay homes
From the middle of November uhti 'iie
open in April the Dorcas Society meets res
every Thursday afternoon and the Wonehs 5 0ocia'
C,uh ayary THURSDAY evening During the last year
the Dorcas Society made and distributed dihoIs
the widows and orphans of their own coiiiiuiii',,
between three hundred and four hundred saii"e"'s.
..Copd,tions among the boat people of this port
Ia
cold Mr. Naeufre Yesterday a Tribune reporter
I'm that time the number of boats on the Ere
Canal has diminished from loOo 10 doo'' 1'''
quarter of century ago at least 20 per cen. VI
the boats were brought to the city by the"
owners At present comparatively few OF the cap
tains own their crafts. Then boatmen received as
high as IS cents bushel for a cargo OF gram
while now three cents a bushel is cohsluefeu d Ian
prfce The high price of wharfage IN the cl'3 di9
adds to the conditions which making the canai-
,bi,, of he mast
tho canal as a factor of modern commerce Al the
Erie Basin a boat tie up for the winter lor
about s15 but in Manhattan ana brooNlSH 7''P
and docks loaded boat costs 30 cents a da9'
THE character of the drivers and steerers Oh lle
canaIboats who make up the crews Of the pod'S'
are responsible for a wrong public opinion re3Aru-
ing boat people," said Mr.. Mcguire 1hese men
are usually bad lot and as soon as theS hs'>e
received their pay at the end OF the voyage 'HeS
spend It in dissipation They are the people com
,non1y known as canalboat men, but they are in
reality not boatmen all but landsnen who are
ready take any odd job. The captains VINO SpeIio
their lives the canals and in the harbors are
according TO Mr. Mcguire, democratic. honorable
men, of whom least 90 per cent are Americans
of long lineage. They the type of people that
one finds the farms of the northern and cen
trail portions of this State. and their families
possess a refinement and intelligence superior TO
people of the class ashore
little girl ten eleven years. who was one
Of the guests at Mr.. Magures party. expressed
the educational situation of canalboat children.
We like live the boat she said, because
we have always lived there; but there is one very
bad thing about it. We cannot to school
enough" Another child said that her mother Is
her teacher. Many of the children are left during
the school months with friends in the country.
Others during the winter attend the pub
lie schools. in the towns cities where the ice
catches their boats Not few. from various colo
MES are members of schools in this borough and
Brooklyn. Far from being rude children. the girls
and boys known at The missions and schools
which they frequent as peculiarly wellbred and
gentle hammered. The land youngsters of foreign
parentage from the teuementS In harbor neghbor-
hoods often mistaken for boat children. and
have given the latter reputa ton for rseneSs
and uncouthness which they do not possess
There about four hundred and fifty families
of boat people in New-YOr HarbOr this spring.
said Mr.. Mcguire. and they comprise about
eighteen hundred men. women and children The
homes notably clean and tidy and the wives
famous for the excellence of their cookery and
their neatly set tables. Occasionally a
piano but more often cabinet organ. among the
furnishings Winter finds iiite for the o
do, except the regular work of their small homes.