Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-09-15
Yousl1's
Ruined
Night Messenger Service in
Cities is But a
Breeding
SCHOOL OF R0TTENNESS,
VICE AND CRIME
For Thousand Of Young Boys
Who Thus Acquaint With
Evil.

Physical and moral ruin of boys by
wholesale is traced to the night mess
enger service. according to an investt-
cation covering twenty six Of the lead
ing cities of the country.
The POPULAR idea of. messenger is
that of small boy In uniform running
at top speed I'd carry a telegram to its
destination. This is correct in the
main, perhaps, lof those employed dur
ing daylight hours, but after legitimate
business has clpsed its doors, the mes
senger becomes an errand boy of vice,
except for the comparatively small
sprinkling of deliveries to respectable
residence distfiets,
It is stated that the variety of va
rious services these boys are called
upon to render cannot be enumerated,
so long and varied is the list, so I'M
printable are the demands. But among
the Gals which the night messenger )
receive are to buy liquor for patrons
after midnight, or on Sundays. when It
is Illegal to sell liquor. calls to gamb-
ling houses; calls to tshow the town"
to strangers, which means~to show. the
sights of the tenderloin; to carry notes
from immoral WDmen to their mais
friends; to carry food and drinks from
restaurants; to act as lady's maid; to
buy opium, morphine and other drugs.
and to buy knockout drops" which
the women slip into the drink of the
men they propose to render uncon
scieus and rob.
The indictment against the night
messenger service is summarized under
s1lxx -.
moral character in the contact with
vice, the obstacle to physical develop
ment in the unnatural hours of labor
and the effects Of vicious habits; and
the barrier to future usefulness, as the
boy has but little chance to be pro-
NOTED or to ieafn1a trade IN fact, the
night messenger service is declared IT,
be blind alley, leaving the boy at the
end of one year or five years as un-
developed as when he began, having in
the meantime absorbed his opportuni-
ties, sappedi his energy blunted his
sensibilities and shattered his ideals.
At fourteen or sixteen the boys are
doomed to enter the ranks Of the I'm
skilled, and from the ranks of un-
skilled boys are recruited later the un
employed men.
The service is a trap for the unwary,
with respect to the parents, as well as
to the boys themselves. The neat UNI
form, the atmosphere of alerthess and
the ease with which a boy may US
ually secure employment as messen-
ger, are points which appeal to the
father or mother, when the boy is maxi
ing his first start at wage-earning
OyI. t. b
vice as one which will sharpen the
wits and develop the natural intelli :
gence, thus giving the boy training
which will be valuable to him in afte"
life.
They look with favor on the man
ner in which he is able to supplement
his wages by tips and accept such in
come as evidence Of the boys superior
fitness for his work or his unusua.
pleasing qualities. In their lack of
knowledge of the pitfalls over which
these gains are realized, they take
pride in that which would excite their
alarm were they really alive to the az
tual conditions. Far better would it be
for the boy if he was forced to the
dirty drudgery Of mill or shop. Here.
at least, his morals would not suffer
the contagion of an abnormal atmos-
phere, and he would be gaining a start
at some occupation that had a future
to it.
Revelations made through the eff.
forts of the National Child Labor
Commission has opened the eyes of the
public to the vicious nature of the
night messenger service. Legislation
has already begun in some states to
protect boys against its dangers. The
managers of the telegraph companies
have agreed to cooperate with the
commission, to the extent of favoring
laws which will forbid the employment
of boys under eighteen years as night
messengers, and to make strong eff
forts to discriminate between legiti-
mate and Legitimate calls on their
boys.