The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-15
EVILS OF MESSENGERS BOY.

hOidsSt ST Ill., new CffcduSr S<St1vC-
Poultry-Alive and dressed. quiet. un-
changed.
EVILS OF MESSENGER BOY.
The Child Labor Committee has been
investigating the lives Of the messenger
boys and finds that these lads must be
classed with the goats. largely owing to
evil environment.
According to the report OF Miss Helen
Marot. the chief woman investigator there
are employed at one time. in the Bor-
oushs Of Manhattan and Brooklyn, by
one telegraph company alone, about LOCO
youngsters. During the entire year some
c.eD lads are given employment by this
company; a fact which speaks volumes
for the irregularity of such work In
=. ioition TO this army of uniformed chill
dren there are hundreds of other
boys employed by other somewhat SINH
lar com':,r:es. and of the whole number
of urchins so employed it is probable that
oEe-half started to work when they should
still have been in school.
One requirement of the telegraph ccm-
panies is that the boys shall have reached
the age of fourteen. To secure employ
ment under that age boys declare them
selves fourteen. when as common obssr-
walton indicates. and investigation proves,
they are much less than that age. In one
day twenty-six messenger boys assured
an investigator that they were fifteen
years of age, but it was learned from
school records and other sources that
twenty' of them were only twelve of
thirteen years old
Miss Marot's report shows in unmistak-
able terms that the occupation of these
messenger boys is pernIcious and demon
suit of grataities and amazing over
charges, the boys handle and spend too
much money. Few of them eat square
meals. but stand up at hurryup lunch
counters. or content themselves with
sandwiches. ''hoky-poky," and similar
connections. Most, if not all of them.
smoke cigarettes. and many of them
drink Uniformed messenger boys are
frequently seen dropping a dime in a
slot in a new Broadway slotmachine res
taurant near Grace church, and holding a
glass under n spisot which yields cock
tails, liquors, and liquors. according to
the particular spigot approached Craps"
tossing pennies" ard other minor but
insiduous gambling devices. occupy their
leisure. which is varied by the perusal
of penny dreadful novels.
According to this report, it is not the
honest wage of 81 or s. per week which
allures the little chaps TO the messenger
offices. 1t is the certain hope of tips
galore. which forms the attraction-tips
from the downtown broker we'll as
from the woman of the Tenderloin and
evil uptown flats. For the women the
little fellows run all kinds of questionable
errands. Besides the pauperizing tips.
these messenger boys have abundant
means of adding to their incomes While
out on one message they may. be stop
ped and paid to take a note or message
into some Office or house, and handsomely
paid for the errand-a transaction. though.
which is not reported TO the manager:
but it is regarded perquisite.
But it is in overcharging that the mes
sengers reap their richest harvest Miss
Marot's report shows that the lads not
alone charge more than the tariff rates
for messages and notes. but that their
greatest revenue in the Tenderioin and
uptown districts comes from overcharg-
ing for purchases. Little palefaced fell
lows are often summoned to fats and
sent out on errands by the women occu-
pants to bring in cigarettes, whiskey and
champagne. These lads soon learn how
to buy at cut rates in orde- later to col
iect top-noch prices. Popular brands of
whiskey. which sch at stores for 81 and
buy for 10 cents, and charge the hotel
price to the women who send them out
for the goods The report states that
boys buy pints and quarts of champagne
for sl40 and $40. and charge the wo-
men who send them out s. and 81 for
the wine The practice OF overcharg-
ing is universal; il is an established Gus
tom" saws the report. I'VE can't make
anything if we don't overcharge, said
one of the lads hesita tingly. to the In
vestigator. Some of these youngsters as
sured the investigator that they had TO
share their graft" with their immedi-
ate superiors. who themselves have risen
from the ranks.
The Penal Code declares il is misde-
meauor to send a minor out to carry mes
sagessto 2 house of il-repute. or to de-
liver from such house. but for obvious
reasons. such n law cannot he enforced,
so that the only way to protect youths
is to limit the age of messenger boys,
and restrict the hours in which they may
work. one of the most striking. and u
the same time pathetic. things which APP
nears from the investigation Is the WILL
ingness of the boys 10 incriminate them
selves. and TO acknowledge their metnods
in dealing with the public The whole
system seems. to tend to kill their sell
respect.-Eew York Evening Post.