The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-07
NY. BANKERS CLEAN UP
WALL SIS BACK YARD
AND HELP CITY'5 POOR


New York, Feb. 6.--Wali Street iE
cleanlf6 UP its back yard
For more than century the back
ward Of the financial, district has stag
mated. piling UP Nth and horrors IN
its daraying tenements, crushing out
the lives of babies born in them, con
denening men and women to sordid
misery.
During all these years the autocrafs
of finance have come and gone to their
offices on Wall street, scarcely realiz-
ing that on their way they passed
through the worst sluns In America.
II they thought anything of the reek-
ing side streets through which they
pissed. Il was simply that they were
disgusting and disagreeable, and that
"41me one should clean them up
II they thought anything of the for
.iorn children who played in the gut
ltcrs IL was that they were miserable
little specimens OF humanity. and that
they were in sad need of soap and
wfter. 1t never occurred TO them to
find out who lived in the dingy rooms
over the warehouses in the Bowling
Green section a string of fluttering
garments hung out to dry in gap
between two ramsha ckled buildings
might hint of human habitation But
to the Wall street banker or broker,
this merely added a picturesque note
TO the study in contrasts the neighbor-
hood affords. Extreme poverty and
extreme wealth are always interest
ling when they rub shoulders!
Wall street IL Making Amends.
Rut this has all changed. Now
Wall street IS not only conscious of
its neighbors and the stagnant back
yard In which they live; IL is deeply
Interested in them, and is doing its
best 10 make amends for generations
Of neglect.
within the last few weeks the Bowl
ing Green NeiEhborhood association
Aas opened a house at 10 West street.
when the 'neigbbors" gather here.
Mrs Olsen. who scrubs floors in
Broadway office building, lis likely to
take cup of tea with director of
the Standard Oil company. II may
he that the president of one of the big
trust companies will drop In, and II
is positive certainty that John r.
Hail a we'll known banker and secre-
tary Of the association. viii be there.
Mr. Hall knows every nook and crook
ed byway OF the section. He knows
not only the names of tenants of the
&C tenements. but Is familiar with the
ma mes OF real estate aBSnhs anu pfbp-
erty owners of the neighborhood. And
he is using this knowledge to 1.-THE ad-
vantage Of the tenants.
The younger generation OF Wall
street men, many of them clean-cut
young fellows fresh from college, have
adopted Bowling Green rs their own.
They are on friendly terms with the
Youngsters and drop around to the
playground after business hours TO
have a game of ball with them.
When Trinity chimes pealed forth
the tidngs OF peace on earth good
will TO men" this Christmas they
struck responsive chord Many
year the chimes have rung out the
same message, but 1t fell on dull ears
and on hearts numbed by neglect and
misery. This year II was different.
Little Nora Conway whose mother
scrubs the marble Hoors in The Wool
worth building, turned in her sleep
nd hpgged to her breast doll that
had been the favorite plaything Of a
little miss who lives on Fifth avenue.
and whose daddy is power in the
street" why shouldn't Norris moth
er feel that the message was less OF
a mockery than ever before?
JOY! Somebody Cares.
That night she had attended party
at the neigh borhood house. and had
come home with her arms laden with
good things to eat. Her baby, was be-
ing cared for by the nurse at the clinic
and the doctor had sent her husband
to the hospital when he sprained his
wrist. working on the dock Morals
mother felt. as the whole neiehbor-
hood now feels. that somebody cares"
The stock exchange, the corn ex-
change and the produce exchange all
carried bulletins. before Christmas. an
norncing that Santa Claus would visit
Wall streets back yard. These hulle-
tins asked the men OF the financial dis
trlct to send the toys that their own
children had treasured to oil the stock
ings Of their "neighbors' :, children
The Wall Street journal of Commerce
and Finance. publications devoted ex-
clusiVely to tho concerns of the big
business. have carried stories of the
needs OF the Bowling Green settlers
Even the ticker. for the first time per-
h@ps in its-history. spelled out an ap-
pc 81! for first aid to Kris Kringle
The response came, not so much in
checks as in personal visits
10 see What each Individual could do
Rig business showed that il Knows
how to be friendly and neighhorly. No
body is allowed to be- or tries to be.
philanthropist in this newly discover
Ell but lohg-established settlement
Charity is taboo, the kindness and
good fellowship and the responsibility
for being ones brothers keepers are
encouraged. Because of this shirt
Christmas In Bowling Green was the
happiest for many decade and
Christmas on Wall street must have
been more satisfactory than usual