The Washington times., 1904-01-02
STORIES BY RIIS

There are stories here to make one
laugh. and CRY. and shudder; stories OF
the poor. the helpless. the heroic. the
criminal; the muItifarious life of New
York as the reporter sees II day by
day. Sometimes the laughter and tears
: arc very near together. as I'm the chap
ter which tells of the Christmas toys
sent to the hospital on North Brother
Island, the hospital for contagious dis
eases. IL ends thus:
"A little girl with a rubber doll IN
red wooden Jacket combination to
make the perspiration run right on one
with the humidity at 9s-looks visit
fully down from the second story bal
coay OF the smallpox pavilion. as the
doctor goes past with tfse last sheep
tucked under his arm
But though It baa-a ever so loudly.
X is not for her. II is bound for the
white tent on the shore. Stunned even
here. where sits a solitary watcher gaz-
ing wistfuIly all day towasd TIE city
that has passed out of HIS life Per-
chance IT may bring to him a message
frcn the far-avay home where the
birds sang for him. and the waves and
the flowers spoke to him. and -Unclean'
had not been written against hts name
OF all on the Pest Island ne alone Is
hop less He is a leper, and his SEN
tence is that OF a living death - a
strange land"
The Difficulties of a Deacon" is the
one piece OF pure humor in the book.
1t is rollicking piece of fun, told with
the intense relish which a jolly. whole
souled man has for a joke on himself.
There is poetry in the chapter on Mid
winter in New York and black tragedy
in Niger Martha's Wake. The Cat
Took the Kosher Meat is hardly more
than sketch. but IL is great So Is
"A Story of Blocker Street" The
book is. in fact, SO rich In good things
that II Is difficult to select even two
or three for especial mention.
Mr.. Riis Is not one OF those phflan-
thropists who investigate conditions
merely to say how dreadful it all is. and
then leave things as they are He is
continually looking for remedies. and
when found they are exploited In the
last chapter of this book Is an account
of an interesting experiment which has
been made by Jews in this country. Dy
taking them and their industries out OF
the city into rural districts He says In
conclusion:
The attempt to colonize Jewish i'm
migrants had two objects: to relieve the
man and to drain the Ghetto. In this
last it failed In eighteen years Loo
families had been moved out. In five
months just before I wrote this I2.OoO
came to stay in New York city. The
number of immigrant Jews during those
months was 1928. of whom only 3.Ss1
went farther The population Of the
Ghetto passed already $4,000 II was
like trying to bail out the ocean The
Hirsch Fund people saw it and took
another tack. Instead of arguing w1th
unwilling employees to take the st,s-
they dreaded. they tried to perSa
manufacturers to move out of the cfjy.
depending upon the workers TO foiiev-
their work.
They did bring out one. and bs,
homes for his hands. The arg i1l-f.r
was Briefly that the clothing industry
makes the Ghetto by binding it-eI
most easily to tenement manufacture
The Ghetto. with its crowds and un-
healthy competition. makes the sweat
shop In turn, with all the bad condi-
lions that disturb the trade To move
the crowds out is at once to kill the
Ghetto and the sweet-shops. and to re-
store the industry to healthy ways
This argument is correct The economic
gains by such an exodus are equally
clear, provided the philanthropy that
scrupuIous employees from taking adj
to prevent the old slum conditions being
reproduced in the new places, and I'M
starts IT will maintain a careful watch
vantage of the isolation OF their work
ers. With this chance removed, strikes
are not so readily fomented by home
owners. The manufacturer secures
steady labor. the worker steady job
TIE young are removed from the con-
Examinations Of the tenements. The ex-
pertinent was interesting. but the frac-
ton of a cent that was added by the
freight TO the cost OF manufacture killed
1t The factory moved back and the
crowds with it," New York; The Mac
milan Company