Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1913-12-26

life seems to be to sit with folded
arms and watch the Kaleidoscope OK
the street. Myriad children swarm
under foot, shouting back and forth
to each other. sometimes In Yiddish,
sometimes In English. usually In SEN
fences of both tongues.
Changing, Vet chanoetess.
The very fact that all of this life u
so precisely like the life Of the East
side eight or ten years ago naturally
makes one curious to understand
what has become of the influence OF
the public schools. the playground
centers the settlements. and all the
other innumerable philanthropic char
table and educational institutions
which have been established there
for many years. AS one walks through
the streets there are few. II any. ovS+
dences of progress, 1t is still an or
thodox Jewry Ten years ago thou
sands upon thousands of boys ana
girls, young men and young women
were looked upon as Americans I'm
process" One naturally asks what
has become OF the Americans or what
has happened to the process 1
In the answer to this question 1ie0
one more Of the interesting features
Of this situation. The lower East
side is in the nature of q great hu-
man sieve. Here the immigrants
come and locate Immediately thsy
have landed, for in this Ghetto they
find a life in outward semblance SLIM
liar to the life Of the Ghettos they
have left in Europe. Every one
speaks Yiddish and consequently ier
norance Of English Is no drawback
Jewish customs prevail. The pre-
vailing atmosphere Is Jewish. Here
they are at home. The schools, tke
settlements, and the social centerD
are open to their children. who arc
never slow to avail themselves of tho
advantages and opportunities offered
them. But as soon as the younger
generation has secured ever so slight
a foothold. they are seized with the
desire to move uptown" so they go
to the Bronx. to East New York or
to Brownsville, making place for the
more recent arrivals from Europe
Thus It 10 that the East side while
composed Of a different population. ~
still the same: while changing II IL
still unchanged The hux Of life
which continues month after month
expels from its borders those who
have become slightly Americanfzed.
At the same time. receiving others Of
the orthodox type who maintain the
standard of life ard keep unsoiled
| h. n1A
time atmosphere Of the Ghetto.
In certain respects the East side 81
today Is a better East side than 81
ten years ago. For one thing, theirs
is less criminality of a serious chn1<
acter. Formerly young boys. scarcely
out of school. took lessons from ez-
perienced pickpockets and practiced
their trade among the throngs Of the
East side streets and the Bowery and
: on various crosstown cars which In
tersect the Ghetto. But little time
made "5ostling'' in a crowd a misde.
meanor and a penal offense. This
practically broke the backbone of the
pickpocket ring for jostling is essen
tial to the successful operation q
pickpocketing on the part OF novfces
The old-time Fagin no longer exists
: and the youth Of the East side have
) learned that pocketpicking does NOT
pay. Gambling exists because gam
. bling will always exist in a Jewish
, population. 1t is a temperamental and
. racial trait. Municipal Judges inform
me that drinking is on the increase
> among the Jewish population Of the
{ East side. This has never been .
, racial characteristic. Drunkenness
I IKE total abstinence. has heretofore
bean unknown. or practically 20
!. among this population, hut 1atteriy
. thsre has been a tendency. especially
. ON the part Of the younger generS
+ ton, toward the consumption Of spe1
| ieuous liquors. which has resufsd u
Q marked increase of drunkenness q
n 49, ver< ~ tho vo,vnUor IAOR