Evening star., 1907-08-03
BOY WANTED" JOBS

whenever. in the afternoon. I pass by
The Star building and see the bunch os
men and boys standing outside reading that
Help Wanted page on the board set aside
for that purpose I fall to remembering how
eagerly, something like quarter OF GEN.
tury ago and may be a little more than
that I used to await the issuing OF The
Star paper OF afternoons" observed q pros
porous man Of forty.
I was in the market for a job q good deal
| Of the time myself in those days and The
Star off1ce>-the old building. Of course-was
| the best place to connect with chances to
get boys jobs. The Star was a four-page
paper at the time when I was hustling
around for work for s. or s. per lunar
week as office boy or bundle wrapper or
package-carrier or anything else that I
could nail in the way Of something to do.
and on the second page Of the paper there
was short Male Wanted list OF Jobs,
tucked away In the middle of which list
there was usually chance for a boy to go
get himself some work-if he was good on
the sprint. I'd begin the day by prowling
around the avenue and F street to see IL
| there was any Boy Wanted signs sticking
In any windows anywhere. but those signs
weren't very frequent in those days, and
they'd hardly be put out before some other
prowiing boy would beat me to them. But
was always there for a chance to see what
The Star paper had to announce In the way
OF wanted boys. and I never reached the
ofice later than a quarter past when I
was looking for work. They all had q sort Of
washed-up-for-the look. as II their
little mothers had seen to 1t that they got
themselves tidy before setting out on the
hunt for work. and every boy knew what
the other boys were there for. and so they
all despised each other In their souls, for
there were never, Of course. enough Boy
Wanted ads tn the old paper to go around.
so that each one of us hanging around for
the coming out Of the paper naturally re-
garded the others as fellows who were there
to beat US out in the hunt for jobs If they
could, and therefore they were our enemies.
"As soon as the bundle of papers to be
placed on the counter was brought in by
the pressman's boy. the whole outfit of boys
would sweep up to try to beat each other in
grabbing out copies. and then there'd be a
rming OF paper as all hands Of the young
sters whisked over to see II there were any
Boy Wanted ads on the second page. and
may be they didn't do some rapid scanning
Of that column!
Then the rush would begin The young
sters would catch the Boy Wanted ad that
came nearest to the top Of the list. and away
they'd scamper, folding up their papers as
they ran. Yes. they actually ran, and that
fact is worth calling attention to, for be-
fieve you don't see boys positively running
themselves into state Of hreathessness in
these days to get work. The boy who was
the quickest to reach the counter and grab
paper and locate the Boy Wanted ad
and then who knew how to pick up his feet
and race for the establishment doing the
Boy Wanted advertising was of course the
Kid who nailed the job and guess may be
an apprenticeship at that sort of job-hus-
thing wasn't a genuinely fine bit Of training
In alertness for the youngsters who went.
through with It.!
But I never was much OF a hustlfng
kid. nor yet good buttnski. and the butt
insh boys were the ones who were the
surest to capture the jobs. I'd get lost in
the crush and scramble up to The Star
desk. to get the papers wet from the press.
and by the time got my paper and turned
over to the Boy Wanted ads a whole par
eel of youngsters, quicker than I to turn
the trick. were already hot-footing it for
the establishments doing the advertising.
and the sooners, naturally enough, took
the jobs If they happened to meet the re-
quirements. and they generally did meet
| to employers In those days to see boys SO
eager for work. that they'd run for blocks
and blocks to beat their competitors out
in making application for jobs.
THE man who was on the job all the
| time back of the old Star office counter
fell to noticing how some boys always
got the worst of 1t in the mix-up. and
occasionally he'd pick out these young
papers JUST a bit ahead of the scramblers.
| In order to give the backward lad an even
thing of 1t in the jeb-hunttng handicap. He
did that for me at least twice. He noticed
L u
thing. and. as he had probably also no
ticed that I'd been hanging around at pa
| per-issuing time for days, trying to get my
work in. he held the whole gang at bay on
over their heads, while I poked my pennies
! into his hand. The other kids, of course,
hated me with q vfndictive hatred because
this was done for me by the gentleman be-
| hind the counter. but he did it for all of
the kids that from time to time he observed
were getting the worst Of the DEAL and so
| 1t was nothing unusual.
TT quite often happened that there'd be
no Boy Wanted ads in the paper at all,
and then the youngsters would look gloomy
and stink out OF the Office with the most
downcast imaginable look about them.
Worse yet the Boy Wanted ads In those
days used to often say, Make application
| in own handwriting, stating age and ex-
perience. and so on-worst yet, l say, for
that thing Of writing an application for
boys job was always mere wretched
gamble, and we all knew 1t. II there's
| anything the 5ob-hunting boy hates it's
one Of those Boy Wanted ads that requires
him to take his pen in hand and make ap-
| plication In writing. for a boy has a pretty
keen idea Of figures in this respect, and
anybody who's ever tried that method OF
getting work knows that it's big odds
against his ever getting any reply to his
letter. know that I never got reply to
any application ever made for q boys
| job in that way, and I could write first
rate hand for youngster, too. But, as
| old Star-paper was one that required the
application to be made in own handwrit-
| ing the boys would shuttle out every bit
as disappointed looking as If there had
| been no ads for boys at all. But they'd
! all be back the next afternoon. all right
and there wasn't chance on earth to
shake one OF them of till they'd all nailed
| their Jobs.
II wasn't, as matter of fact, like some
| Of the other kids in absolute need Of work.
| though the money earned came in pretty
handy for buying clothes and such like
My folks weren't crazy over having me
work, but 1 was there with an intense dis
like for any sort Of schooling. and liked
to have the quarters jingling around in my
clothes, too. for lollipops and such like. So
I started out on the work thing pretty
| early,t and I sure had lot Of experience
| kicking around little old Washington in
the capacity of handy boy-though come
to think of it, 1 couldn't have been SO
blamed handy at that, considering how
many times 1 was incontinently fired from
my boy jobs.
"WelI, the last Job that I beat 'em all to
in getting settled me. I didn't really have
! to beat 'em very much. for. when some of
the boys loped up after I'd nailed the Job
and saw what it probably was like they
didn't look so jealous of me. The job was
that Of general handy boy in a little bit