The sun., 1908-04-26

mere VINO are saving money VINO MAKE =
practice Of saving g little money every
month. From his own standpoint and
the standpoint Of his people these men aro
prosperous and their children very lucky
and their wives very fortunate, From
the standpoint Of the college lady / men
toned | suppose they and their families
are very miserable. II all depends on
how you look at II. 49,
"A hind lady who belongs 10 a free kin
dargartAn In the next street said one day
10 me- How dreadful 10 be q stoker on q
vessel And when grinned she said quite
Indignantly How would you like 10 stand
In front Of raging furnace for hours at a
time shoveling shovellingr
81 couldn't. ma am answered.
''Wen, then she said triumphantly,
WHY do you snieY
SBeoatlse know that most stokerB have
been trained for the job. that maybe their
fathers were stokers before them and that
they are husky chaos fitted physically TO
shovel and 10 stand q terrific lot Of heat.
The stoker's work is no harder for him
than your work IN for you,
'Oh, said she, I hadn't thought OF that
when a foreigner who IL settled down
here branches out and takes larger nat
or part Of house and his wife hires some
of her work done it's because he's going
into politics and feels that he must make
some show. That's the only thing pom
erally that ever makes any OF the families
In this npighborhood change their habits
much, and It's something that the folks
who live uptown near Fifth avenue don't
know"
A physician who goes out and IN the
homes OF the residents Of a crowded West
Side Quarter and is intimately acquainted
with the habits Of the men and women Of
foreign countries who have settled there
saws most foreigners are unhappy with
out close neighbors, except In the case OF
Italians who have followed agricultural
habits in the old country. In their case
the ambition OF the man is 10 save enough
TO rent a place in The Bronx OF elsewhere
Rut even when they have done this the
doctor said. the same habit Of crowding
OF Seeping things In confusion 90 notice
able In the tenements occupied by Italians
is rractsed
what appears 10 me and 10 the average
American visitor TO Ru Italians apart-
ment 10 he confusion is not confusion TO
the Italian he slid. There is no one
time when clothing and other BELONGINGS
are al straichtened out and put awav after
the fasAion recommended bv parish visitors.
no particular dav when the place seems
less in confusion than II was the dav before.
The housa nav he verv clean-Ps rule
find the Italians clcan-hut from the narish
visitors stan1point II will he in confusion,
II "A this fact which causes oil sorts Of
ridiculous stories 70 be put in circulation
about the Italians.
as the Italian in this ncighborhood
nrCsneTs he does not rent a larger nat,
hut his wife and children huy gaver clothes
and better furniture, and the clothes are
riled in heaDs covered with curtain as
the Doorer clothes were.
"a lot il said and written about dirty
italian children which they don't deserve,
See them playin0 in the street and gen
erallv thev are dirt because thew are 80
healthy. Ii takes a healthy child to get
dirty. and some persons forget this, Fl
nanciallv | find the Italians make good,
that their word is 10 be relied on, that they
are peaceable and law abiding and happy
In their homes,
THE Black Hand CONTINGENT is no more
like the average hard working Italian than
il an ordinary American thug or hobo
like the rank and file ~ good American
citizens. have known families OF Italians
whose income WAS S. or SO week and who
got along without suffering even with three
children in the family. The mos. prosper
o,is around here soend. should say, about
81 a week for food for a family OF seven,
which includes five children
"The Italian doesn't love meat and he
doesn't care for variety. He will eat spa
ehetti three times day and meyer kick.
Add TO this vegetables and souDs and a
peculiar. substantial bread they bake. and
the Italian asks nothing better, When his
income warrants him buying more Injuries
instead of doing that he saves. Some nf
the sociologis,s don't know this. and the
miserable homes sometimes described by
them are homes most comfortable and
happv from the Italians outlook and their
occupants have savings in the bank.
with the Germans, and there are many
around here. il is different The German
wants more variety in his menu, For a
family of seven the food bills would amount
TO about 81 week. and vet relatively the
family would be living no more luXuriously
than the Italian. The Germans saving Is
done in another direction-that is the class
I have TO deal with. and take him all and
all | call the German the tightest propo-
sition on earth when it comes 20 parting
with cash,
"The Jew is tight in business, but he
will spend money chen he has Tor the
pleasure nf himself and family. The poor
German does not spend money for pleasure;
he saves that money and keeps adding
TO t. They save all that Ia possible on house
rent. a son or daughter who marries gen.
orally coming home to live in order 70 re-
duce expenses all around, and II would
surprise some Of these families very much
IL told that some visitor called them pow
erty stricken and miserable.
"'The Irish families around here spend
more than the foreigners when they have
il and 60 without more cheerfully when
they don't have IT, An Irishman can't get
nearly so much out Of $500 q year as an
Italian or German, but the Irish tempera-
ment mover allows any family TO be unhappy
when the man Of the family has work. no
matter how crowded the fat is. Where
the German spends 81 for food the lrish-
man spends $40 II no has il. The Irish bill
of fare wants plenty OF meat and potatoes.
Il will cut out vegetables every time in favor
Of meat and meat costs the more, and II |
wants beer to wash down the victuals-
plenty Of beer, poor Irishman seldom |
saves ANYTHING or tries 10 save. II few |
dollars get into the bank il is generally the |
wife who puts them there.
aIn the case Of the Irish families in this |
have noticed that even when |
the mans wages are increased beyond q /
certain sum needed for food, rent and clothes |
he is really no better on, for the reason that ,
the surplus goes for amusements and more |
beer instead n more house rent. There !
are Irishmen in this neighborhood, though, |
who have saved money. They are called
almost wealthy. And yet they live in a
fat Of exactly the style they lived In when
thew earned only a few hundreds a year
They are quite satisfied to live In a fat Of
a crowded tenement house, ] am certain,
-. - ~, Aarth ahOuld tho aociOlooiata