The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York CityMcCabe, James Dabney
History
The Secrets of the Great City: A Work Descriptive of the Virtues and the Vices, the Mysteries, Miseries and Crimes of New York City
McCabe, James Dabney
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and travel; New York (N.Y.) -- History
You can scarcely walk a single block without your attention being drawn
to one or more of the class called "street boys." We have already
devoted a separate chapter to the musicians, and we must now endeavor
to give the reader an idea of the rest of this class.
THE NEWSBOYS.
Every morning, by times, and every afternoon between one o'clock and
dark, if you chance to be in the neighborhood of Printing House Square,
you will see throngs of boys rushing frantically out of the cellars of
the printing houses of the daily journals. They have barely passed the
portals, when they set up their morning cry, in a shrill, sharp tone,
"'Ere's your ''Erald,' 'Mornin' Times,' 'Buy a Tribune?'" etc. In the
afternoon, they scream into your ears the names of the "News," "Mail,"
"Express," "Telegram," "Post," and other evening journals, flavoring
their announcements with shouts such as these: "'Nuther murder!"
"Tremendous sensation!" "Orful shootin' scrape!" "'Orrible haccident!"
and so on. They climb up on the steps of the stage, thrust their grim
little faces in the windows, and almost bring nervous passengers to
their feet by their yells; or, scrambling into a street car, they will
offer you their papers in such an earnest, appealing way, that, nine
times out of ten, you will buy them out of sheer pity for the boys.
The boys who sell the morning papers are very few in number. The
newspaper stands seem to have the whole monopoly of this branch of the
trade, and the efforts of the newsboys are confined to the afternoon
journals--especially the cheap ones--some of which, however, are dear
bargains at a penny. They swarm around the City Hall, and in the
eastern section of the city, below Canal street; and in the former
locality, half a dozen will sometimes surround a luckless pedestrian,
thrusting their wares in his face, and literally forcing him to buy one
to get rid of them. The moment he shows the least disposition to yield,
they commence fighting amongst themselves for the "honor" of serving
him. They are ragged and dirty. Some have no coats, no shoes, and no
hat. Some are simply stupid, others are bright, intelligent little
fellows, who would make good and useful men if they could have a
chance.
The majority of these boys live at home, but many of them are wanderers
in the streets, selling papers at times, and begging at others. Some
pay their earnings, which rarely amount to more than thirty cents per
day, to their mothers--others spend them in tobacco, strong drink, and
in visiting the low-class theatres and concert halls.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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