The Dangerous Classes of New York Part 15

"Among guardians, especially, the custom was prevalent of fixing the amount the boy or girl had to bring home in the evening. But not seldom fathers were prompted by avarice to act still more cruelly against their own offspring, and while the former punished the shortcomings of their wards by furnis.h.i.+ng them with meals of microscopic proportions, the latter, on the presumption, I suppose, of paternal right, went so far as to whip and even expel from home the son or sons who failed to come up to their greedy expectations. At present, however, such cases are almost unknown, owing to the sense of independence felt by the growing generation and to our influence on the parents. But as late as three years ago I had observed that a boy of twelve, who was very anxious to learn, now and then was absent. One evening I called on him for explanations, and he related that he was _'taxed'_ for eighty cents a day, and every cent short of that amount was balanced by a proportionate dose of cowhiding on his bare body. He entreated me most earnestly not to say a word to his father on the subject, otherwise he would fare still worse. Whenever, therefore, he failed to earn the eighty cents by his boot-blacking vocation, he would not go home. This unnatural father did not stop here; he did not care in the least how long his son would remain out sleeping under market-stands and in newspaper rooms, but he insisted on the boy paying over to him, when he would return, at the rate of eighty cents per day for all the time of his absence, without any allowance for food, etc.

"The case was really heart-rending, especially as the boy was developing fine moral and intellectual qualities, and had to be treated with uncommon prudence. At first I told the boy to call on me for whatever he was short, and he did so on two occasions; but somehow or other the transaction was reported to the father, who, rather than desist from his pretension, as any other man would certainly have done, increased the _tax_ to one dollar, with the remark that _'it would make no difference to the teacher, twenty cents, more or less.'_ The very same night this happened, seeing the impossibility of curing this man in any other way, I paid him a visit, which seemed to have surprised him to a great extent. I spoke to him calmly but determinedly, as I never had occasion to do before, but without eliciting any answer, and I left him with the a.s.surance that if he did not desist at once from the vile abuse of parental authority I would have him arrested. After a few days he moved to Laurens street, and in about six months from this occurrence returned, with the whole family, to Italy. I never could learn anything afterward concerning his interesting son.

"The filth prevalent in some of their abodes is really appalling, and in some cases incredible. In ---- Baxter Street there is a bedroom, nine by twelve feet, occupied by four children and their parents. The door, hindered by the bed behind it, opens scarcely enough to give admittance to a person of ordinary size. At the foot of the bed there is, and was, and will be as long as they stay therein, a red-hot stove, between which and the window stands an old chest; opposite the stove a table. The fetid air inside I would have thought to be beyond human endurance. The woman, at my request, opened the window, remarking 'that she did not see the use of burning coal inside, if the freezing air was to be permitted to come in freely.' The children sleep on the floor; that is to say, one nearly under the bed, another under the table, a third by the stove, and the fourth is at liberty to roll over any of her sisters. I could not help noticing an old greasy piece of print, of no distinguishable color, hanging around the bed, and performing, as I learned with satisfaction, the function of a curtain to keep out of view its occupants.

"During the last ten years some fifteen of our girls, and nearly as many boys, married--mostly, I ought to say, intermarried--and as the greater portion of them have children, say from four to eight years of age, in our school, I visit also occasionally among them, the new generation.

And how different in their habits of cleanliness! Floors, walls, ceiling, windows, everything faultlessly clean, their persons neat, so that their rooms are really an oasis in that desert called tenement-houses; and the cordial civility they extend to me carries still farther the comparison by making me realize in their apartments, after a visiting tour at the Five Points, all the satisfaction the traveler derives by the fertile spot after a fatiguing journey across the burning sand.

"I will omit many sad scenes witnessed at the death-bed of several of our pupils, it being my aim to dwell only on such facts as may convey an idea of the nature of the difficulties we had to overcome. But the monotonous scenes of suffering under its various forms are, however, succeeded now and then by others peculiarly exciting.

"Often, of my own choice, but sometimes entreated by the pupils'

parents, I paid visits to billiard-rooms. Those are placed in the back-room of groceries, of which there are three in that neighborhood, and have, therefore, communication with the yard. Whenever I deemed it necessary to go on such errands, I had to organize previously an expedition of ten or twelve of our oldest scholars, who, in accordance with my instructions, would at a signal prevent all means of egress from windows and doors. I would then go in from the front, and a wild rush for the rear would ensue; but, finding themselves surrounded, all the boys I was looking for, had no other choice but to follow us to school, escorted as deserters. Now, it is more than probable that ninety-nine out of one hundred of billiard-keepers in New York would not allow such proceedings against their interests, for our _descents_ did not particularly improve their profits. Still, those Italian grocers not only countenanced and aided my endeavors, but gave me also all the information I previously demanded. Little by little, by repeated expeditions and an occasional _peeping_ in these places before going to school, I succeeded in nearly breaking up their vicious habits in this respect, and it is only a rare occurrence that one of our boys on Sat.u.r.day nights will go in to _look_ on a game. In corroboration of which success I may mention that early last winter (1867), one Sat.u.r.day evening, the police made a regular and truly formidable descent on these billiard-saloons, arresting, among others, in all twenty-seven Italians, I believe, of whom eleven were boys from seven to fifteen. Next evening I had an application to interfere for their release, as it is usual for me to do whenever circ.u.mstances warrant it, and in looking into the subject carefully I found that of them only two--namely, the youngest and the oldest--belonged to our school, and that both had gone to buy groceries, and, while the grocer was weighing and wrapping the provisions, they had walked to the door between the store and the saloon to look in, and were under that circ.u.mstance arrested. Upon my conviction that such was really the case, I applied for and obtained their discharge. The other boys mostly belonged to families newly arrived from Italy and directed for California, to which State these people generally move if unable to make a living in New York.

"Now I will only add that the Maestro (teacher) at the Five Points has become an indispensable personage among them. He is a.s.sumed to be a lawyer, medical doctor, theologian, astronomer, banker--everything as well as a teacher. A boy is arrested for throwing stones in the street; the Maestro is applied to and the boy is released. One has fifty dollars to deposit; the Maestro is consulted as to the soundness of the savings-banks--and so on. But, to better appreciate their feelings on this subject, it must be known that these poor foreigners have for a long while been victimized by the grossest impositions. I have heard of as much as one thousand dollars lost by one family, through the sharp practice of a man (an Italian) who, taking advantage of their ignorance of the English, and of their confidence, deposited and drew in his name the money which was intended as part payment for a farm they had bought in Ma.s.sachusetts, and gave them to understand that the bank had failed.

And this is one of the many cases they had related to me on the subject.

Nor less shameful imposition they suffered at the hands of the "shysters" whenever some juvenile delinquent was arrested for trifles.

They had to pay from fifty to one hundred dollars, and, what was worse, often without obtaining their release. In order to explain the process by which poor people possess such cash amounts, I must say that in extraordinary circ.u.mstances they help each other with the most disinterested and prompt liberality. Some of those who go to California, having borrowed the money here, remit it generally in drafts payable to order of lenders, who, being unknown to the bank, are refused payment.

The Maestro then, of course, is applied to, and for the first two or three cases I found it hard to make them understand that I did not do it for money. They would insist on my receiving something for my trouble in procuring payment by the drawees, and one, especially, on having paid a draft of one hundred and sixty dollars gold, followed me for a block, with a coin piece in his hand, insisting that I should take it. 'My dear man, keep your money,' I would say; 'I am very glad to have been able to render you this service.' 'No, Maestro, no. Well, take _at least_ these five dollars' (gold). That _at least_ struck me that he must have been laboring under the impression that my services were worth considerably more, and I addressed him in that sense. In answer, he explained that an Italian, who has gone away from New York, charged him and others ten per cent, for cas.h.i.+ng drafts to order.

"In conclusion, the Maestro is called upon for every emergency; Questions undecided between two or more dissentient parties are referred to my arbitration. Family quarrels are submitted to my adjustment. It is no exaggeration to say that the good which could be effected by thus visiting among this cla.s.s is immense--in fact, far beyond the expectation of those who might take as a basis of comparison the result of visiting among the low cla.s.ses of other nationalities.

OUR FRIENDS.

"As the work was done in a most quiet way, our patrons were at first few, and for six years all Americans. After that period, the few distinguished Italians in this city were applied to with favorable result. But it was not until the end of 1868 that their co-operation proved efficient, and relieved considerably the Children's Aid Society of the pecuniary burden. Previous to that time, five or six of them, headed by the Italian Consul-General, Signor Anfora, visited us, to look into the working of the School, and, becoming satisfied that a great good was being accomplished, later on, at the invitation of the Trustees of the Society, organized themselves into a _Co-operative Sub-Committee,_ consisting of Prof. V. Botta, President; E. P. Fabbri, Treasurer; G. Albinola and V. Fabbricotti, Esqs., and Dr. G. Cecarini.

The Treasurer, Signor Fabbri, with that kind and una.s.suming liberality for which he is distinguished, to his annual subscription has added fifty tons of coal to the most deserving, thus relieving their sufferings to a great extent, and establis.h.i.+ng a powerful inducement for indifferent parents. The Committee also reported to the Italian Government what was taking place for the advantage of its dest.i.tute and ignorant subjects in this city, and obtained some subsidy and other encouragement from that quarter. At the head of the Ministerial Department for Foreign Affairs was, at that period. Cav. M. Cerruti, a gentleman of learning and most enlightened views, who has done much in Italy to popularize public instruction as the speediest and surest means of promoting the prosperity of the nation. This gentleman having lately been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary from his to this country, visited, last October, our School, and met with the hearty reception he deserves as one of our patrons. His visit elicited the following letter from the distinguished Italian statesman to Rev. C. L. Brace, Secretary of the Children's Aid Society:--

"'CLARENDON HOTEL, October 29, 1867.

"'DEAR SIR--I beg leave to be allowed to express, in behalf of the Italian Government and nation I have the honor to represent at Was.h.i.+ngton, the most heartfelt thanks for the Christian and n.o.ble undertaking unpretentiously a.s.sumed and most successfully prosecuted by the Children's Aid Society for the improvement of the poor cla.s.s of the Italian population in your city. My visit to the Italian School under your charge, on the 23d instant, was to me a source of high gratification, and convinced me that, by your efficient and humane exertions, hundreds of poor Italian children have been redeemed from vagrancy and turned into industrious and useful members of the community. The cleanliness, mental training, and admirable behavior of the one hundred and fifty pupils a.s.sembled on that occasion, impressed me with a deep sense of grat.i.tude toward the friends of the Children's Aid Society, and to you personally, for your unsparing efforts in devising and forwarding such a useful inst.i.tution. I can only hope that your Society may ever prosper and continue its charitable work in the vast field of its operations with that truly Christian and benevolent spirit which distinguishes this glorious undertaking.

"'Believe me, dear sir, "'Yours respectfully, [Signed]"'MARCEL CERRUTI, "'Minister Plenipotentiary from Italy at Was.h.i.+ngton.'

GENERAL REMARKS.

"For brevity's sake I had to omit mentioning incidents which speak very highly of our pupils. Nor have I s.p.a.ce to describe the many cases of articles and money found by them and handed to me for investigation as to the rightful owner; and their spontaneous liberality and hearty contributions to the Garibaldi Fund in 1859, to the New York Sanitary Fair in 1864, and to the relief of the orphans and wounded of the late war of Italy and Prussia against Austria. Suffice it to say that our aim is to render them useful, honest, industrious, and intelligent citizens.

In that direction we have been laboring, and with what success has been seen."

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE "LAMBS" OF COTTAGE PLACE.

Beyond a certain point, the history of these various schools becomes monotonous. It is simply a history of kindness, of patience, of struggles with ignorance, poverty, and intemperance; of lives poured out for the good of those who can never make a return, of steady improvement and the final elevation of great numbers of children and youth who are under these permanent and profound influences.

In no one of the many branches whose labors and results I am describing, has probably so much vitality been expended, so much human earnestness been offered with such patience, humility, and faith, as in the humble Mission of "Cottage Place."

It began with a "Boys' Meeting," under Mr. Macy, a practical philanthropist, of whom I shall speak again.

The quarter is a very notorious one, and contains numbers of idle and vagrant boys and girls. The success of Mr. Macy with the meeting, and the experience he gained there of a wild cla.s.s of girls induced him and his sisters to attempt in 1859 to found a School for girls; to this was gradually added a "Free Reading-room," a library, and various temperance and other a.s.sociations. Ladies of position and wealth were attracted to it, as well as others, from seeing the quiet and earnest nature of the work done; there was no show or "blowing of trumpets," or any great expense, but there were two or three men and women connected with it who evidently thought night and day of the rough boys and miserable girls that attended it; who felt no toil too great, if it could truly benefit these unfortunate creatures.

The lady-volunteers seemed to catch the same spirit of Christian sacrifice and earnestness. One who has since become a missionary in a distant heathen land, poured out here for these American heathen some of the best years of her youth in the most enthusiastic and constant labors.

Others visited the homes of the poor, some taught in the cla.s.ses, and all labored with their own hands to arrange the festivals and dinners which they provided so freely for the needy children. For twelve years now those young ladies or their friends have wrought, unceasingly at this labor of love.

The great burden of the School, however, fell on Miss Macy, a woman of long experience with this cla.s.s, and a profound and intense spirit of humanity. I never shall forget the scene (as reported to me) when, at the opening of the School, after the July riots in 1863 against the colored people, a deputation of hard-looking, heavy-drinking Irish women, the mothers of some twenty or thirty of the children, waited on her to demand the exclusion of some colored children. In the most amiable and Quaker-like manner, but with the firmness of the old Puritan stock from which she sprung, she a.s.sured them that, if every other scholar left, so long as that school remained it should never be closed to any child on account of color. They withdrew their children, but soon after returned them.

Like the other Schools, the Cottage Place gives a great deal of a.s.sistance to the poor, but it does so in connection with education, and therefore creates no pauperism.

The same experience is pa.s.sed through here as under the other Schools.

The children are nearly all the offspring of drunkards, but they do not themselves drink as they grow up. The slovenly learn cleanliness, the vagrant industry, the careless punctuality and order. Thieving was very prevalent in the School when it was founded; now it is never known. All have been beggars; but, as they improve under teaching, and when they leave their homes, they never follow begging as a pursuit. Hardly a graduate of the School, whether boy or girl, is known who has become a thief, or beggar, or criminal, or prost.i.tute. Such is the power of daily kindness and training, of Christianity early applied.

Outside of the School, great numbers of lads are brought under the influence of the "Bands of Hope," the "Reading-room," and the lectures and amus.e.m.e.nts offered them.

The result of all this has been noticed by the neighboring manufacturers in the moral improvement of the Ward.

THE LITTLE BEGGARS OF THE FIRST WARD.

One of the eye-sores which used to trouble me was the condition of the city behind Trinity Church. Often and often have I walked through Greenwich and Was.h.i.+ngton Streets, or the narrow lanes of the quarter, watching the ragged, wild children flitting about; or have visited the damp underground bas.e.m.e.nts which every high tide flooded, crowded with men, women, and children; or climbed to the old rookeries, packed to the smallest attic with a wretched population, and have wished so that something might be done for this miserable quarter, which is in a Ward where more wealth is acc.u.mulated than in any other one place in America.

First I induced our Board to send a careful agent through the district, to collect exact statistics. Then an application was made to the wealthy Corporation of Trinity Church, to a.s.sist or to found some charitable enterprise for this wretched population under the shadow of its spire.

For two years we continued these applications, but without avail. Then it occurred to me that we should try the business-men who were daily pa.s.sing these scenes of misery and crime.

Fortunately, I struck upon a young merchant of singular conscientiousness of purpose, who had felt for a long time the sad evils of the Ward. With him I addressed another gentleman of a well-known elevation of character, and a certain manly persistency that led him never to turn back when he had "put his hand to the plow." A few personal friends joined them, and I soon saw that we were secure of the future. Our leader had a great social influence, and he at once turned it to aid his philanthropic scheme; he himself, gave freely, and called upon his friends for money. The School was founded in 1860, and at once gathered in a large number of the waifs of the First Ward, and has had a like happy influence with our other Schools.

Our treasurer and leader, Mr. J. Couper Lord--alas! too early taken from us all--sustained it himself in good part during disastrous years.

Through his aid, also, a Free Reading-room was founded in the same building, which has been more uniformly successful and useful than any similar enterprise in the city. His devotion to the interests of these poor people has left an enduring harvest of good through the whole quarter.

The following extract from our Journal will give a good idea of the changes effected by this charity, now rightly called the "Lord School":--

A STREET-SWEEPER IN THE LORD SCHOOL.

"For a number of years, the writer of this remembers a little girl in the First Ward School who was a kind of _bete noir_ of the school--Ann Jane T----. Both of her parents were drunkards, and were half the time on the Island under arrest; she herself was twice found drunk in the School before she was thirteen years old; once she attacked the teacher violently. She swept crossings for a living, and 'lived about,' often sleeping in halls and stairways; for a year she occupied the same bed and living-room with eight large boys and girls from the school, and some thirteen grown people; the lower part of the house was a dance-saloon and place of bad character. Annie seemed a hopeless case; she swore and used the most vile language, and was evidently growing up to be a most abandoned woman. The teacher of the Lord Industrial School, Miss Blodgett, was a person of singular sweetness and dignity of character, as well as remarkable personal beauty. She soon acquired a great influence over the wild girl. Once little Annie was found waiting with her broom in a bitter storm of sleet and hail on a corner, and the teacher asked her why she was there? and why she did not go home? She said she only wanted just to see the teacher--and the fact was she hadn't any home--'for you know. Miss Blodgett, there is no one cares for me in all New York but you!' This touched the teacher's heart.

"At length the father died on Blackwell's Island, and the mother was in prison, and Miss B. persuaded Annie to go away to a place she had found for her in an excellent family in the West. When the mother came out she was furious, and often made Miss B. tremble for fear she would insist on having the child back; but she gradually saw her absence was for the best. Now the mother is permanently in the Alms-house.

"The following letter came recently about Annie, who has been in her place some three years. The liberal and kind friends of the School will feel that one such case will repay all their sacrifices. Yet there are hundreds like them, though not so striking.

"It should be observed that nearly all the scholars live a good deal as Annie did, in crowded tenements, and more or less a.s.sociated with dance-saloons and places of bad character. Yet only one has ever gone astray. Here is the letter:

"'F----, ILL., Feb. 15, 1870.

"'MY DEAR MISS FLAGG--Your favor of the 25th ult. was duly received. I am very happy to be able to give you good accounts of Annie, about whom you inquire. She has been with us constantly since she left you, and is now our main dependence. We have sent her to school a considerable portion of the time, and she is now in constant attendance there. Her truthfulness and honesty are something quite remarkable. We do not think she has eaten a piece of cake or an apple, without special permission, since she has been with us. Nothing seems to give her more pleasure than to be able to do something, especially for Mrs. W. or myself. We have been inquired of about getting such girls, by other people--our friends.

Have you others whom you wish to place in situations which we could a.s.sure you would be good? If so, please inform me as to the manner in which you are accustomed to do it. Do you pay their fare to their new home, and are there any other particulars about which parties would wish to be informed?

Respectfully yours, "'GEO. W. W.'"

Since Mr. Lord's death, another treasurer, Mr. D. E. Hawley is bearing the burden of the School, and, in company with a committee of prominent businessmen of the First Ward, is making it a benefit not to be measured, to all the poor people of the quarter.