Child Labor in City StreetsClopper, Edward Nicholas
History
Child Labor in City Streets
Clopper, Edward Nicholas
Child labor
A fourteen-year-old messenger in the same city, employed from noon to
midnight, had been in the service only one week when interviewed by
the agent; among other things he said: "All the last week I have been
doing nothing but go to the red light district. I didn't know what
this messenger business was until I got into it, and I am going to
quit just as soon as I see a little more of that kind of thing."
In a certain Indiana city there was found a "kid line" messenger
service, so called because the proprietor was a mere boy who was
formerly in the service of another messenger company. He had two day
boys, but at night answered the calls himself. He was fourteen years
old and told the agent that he had lived in the "red light" district
more than at his home on account of the number of calls he had to
answer there, but of course this was exaggeration intended to convey
the fact that most of his business was with that region. When he
entered into business for himself, he went to all the prostitutes in
the "red light" district and told them that he was commencing on his
own account and that he wanted them to be his customers. "I get a good
deal of their business. I get it because I know how to treat them. I
can get them beer on Sunday and can sneak it into their houses. I know
all the women and can introduce you to any of them, and can get you
any amount of beer or whisky that you want. When I was working for
the---- messenger company there was another boy on the force who tried
to take all the good calls; he divided his tips with the manager, so
he was sent to all the houses where good tips were given. There was
one prostitute who liked me pretty well and gave me ten or fifteen
cents for myself every time I went to her house. I started to answer a
call there one night, and the other boy ran after me. We got to the
place at the same time and had a fight in the hall; the men and women
in the place gathered around us and offered to give us two dollars
each if we would scrap for them, so we started right in, and before I
was through with him he had two black eyes and his face was bleeding,
then he pulled out a knife, but they took it away from him, and the
next day I was fired. There is a young girl in one of the houses who
is a chambermaid and wants me to live with her, and maybe I will but
I'm afraid my mother will get wise."
The fifteen-year-old messenger of another office showed the agent the
list of about one hundred calls sent in the previous night, nearly
every one of which came from the "red light" district.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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