CHAPTER VIII.The first public appearance of the boys, aside from auxiliary meetings, annual Christmas dinners, attending theatres, entertainments, base-ball games, picnics, etc., and where the boys made a favorable impression upon the public, was the Sunday afternoon meetings held in suitable halls, during the winter season. These were carried on successfully and profitably for several years, until the available halls were too small to accommodate the increasing membership.The idea of Sunday afternoon meetings suggested itself from what the boys said.“If we had meetings of our own we would not attend Sunday afternoon theatres.” Three boys, newsboys, were seen coming out of the back door of a saloon on Sunday afternoon, and to the question asked by the president, why they spent their time in the saloon, they replied they had no other place to go to get warm.“Why not go home?”“We are not wanted at home.”At the Sunday afternoon meetings the entertainments were given by the different Sundayschools of the city, and occasionally by some society, all kindly volunteering their valuable services. Splendid music, interesting talkers, little girls and boys in recitations or songs who always made a hit among the newsies. In time the newsboys became so interested in the work that many of them concluded that they could “do a stunt or two,” and the program was divided in two parts. First, the Sunday-school or society, followed by the newsboys who introduced their best speakers, singers, etc.“These Sunday afternoon gatherings,” to copy from an editorial in one of the daily newspapers, “have improved the tastes, aroused the better natures, stimulated the ambitions, revealed new and nobler ideals and altogether, have opened a new world of more sober and serious plans for future success of the bright little business men.”One of the most trying incidents that ever came to the attention of the president was at one of the Sunday afternoon meetings held in a theatre, when was brought to the rear of the stage two newsboys so drunk that a policeman had to hold them from falling.They had a bottle of whiskey between them. In broken sentences they told where a keeper hadsold them the liquor, Sunday morning, and how the men in the saloon dared them to drink all the whiskey in the bottle. It wasn’t necessary to drink all, a few swallows made them dizzy. “We got funny and noisy, an’ the man pitched us out.” They staggered towards the opera house to attend the newsboys’ meeting, when a policeman assisted them in the house. Immediately upon their entrance their friends hustled them out of sight behind the stage. The president at once called the association officers and turned the two boys over to them. Quickly the officers removed their badges. It was difficult to restrain some of them from “giving the boys a thorough thrashing.” Through the influence of the boy, Jimmy, the sympathy of the newsboys’ turned quickly to the two boys and a determination for revenge on the saloon keeper followed. The newsboy officers took the two little fellows to their homes. In a few days they reported to the president that the boys received such a severe punishment from their parents that they would be laid up for a month. The saloonman was visited by two of the oldest experienced officers. They were received with kindness, and after talking over the matter for some time it was mutually agreed thatthe boys were to notify all members that they must keep out of the saloon, as the proprieter promised not to sell liquor of any kind to newsboys and to refuse to sell liquor to any of the fathers of the newsboys—“when he thought they had enough.”For a month the boys watched that saloon, and if a newsboy entered, his badge was taken from him. The saloonman took greater interest than the boys, for he absolutely refused to sell liquor to any one whom he thought had “all he could carry.”Today this saloonman is respected by the newsboys and many good deeds are credited to him.“He is simply trying to lift up a man instead of pulling him down,” said an officer.The good that has been accomplished from the Sunday afternoon meetings, commonly called “The Popular Sunday School,” cannot be estimated. Thousands of people attend these meetings. They are pleased because the newsboys do the entertaining. There isn’t a great deal of preaching, but there is enough. “The object is not to give so much of that sort of thing,” says an editorial in one of the great dailies, “but whatpreaching they get is wholesome. The boys get a chance to laugh and clap their hands. They are permitted to be boys on Sunday just as on week days. There is good music, too. It is apt to be a patriotic air, or a popular song. A sweet little girl sang ‘The Good Old Summer Time,’ and the newsies joined in the chorus. It wasn’t classical, but it was good. Instead of shooting over people’s heads the musicians aim at their hearts. The preaching isn’t a tiresome string of ‘does’ and ‘don’ts,’ ‘musts’ and ‘mustn’ts’. It is mostly plain talks from plain people who know they are talking to boys whose veins are bulging with rich, red human blood. But the boys themselves furnish most of the program. Boys who sell papers, who shine shoes, on the streets, get up before big audiences, make speeches, sing songs, ‘recite pieces’ and do other interesting and instructive stunts. And hundreds of these little newsboys sit in the auditorium, conduct themselves like gentlemen and thoroughly enjoy the entertainment. An interesting fact about this association, is that its membership comprises the rich as well as the poor. If a rich man’s son carries a route he is in the same boat with the poorest lad that peddles papers on the street. There areboys who have rich fathers, boys who have poor fathers, boys who have industrious fathers, boys who have drunken fathers, and boys who have no fathers at all. There are Protestant boys, Catholic boys, Hebrew boys, white boys, black boys—and all are full-fledged, honored members of the same newsboy family, which is run on the principle of equal rights for all and special privileges for none. Rich boys are not debarred. There is a desire to save them from wealth’s temptations and make good citizens of them in spite of their handicap. The poor boys who sell papers to help keep the family from starvation are generous and are willing to let the rich in on the ground floor. So it is a pretty broad and big Sunday-school. And a good one. Every boy who belongs to it is better for his membership. He is taught to travel on his own merits and not lean on his papa. He is taught that he must paddle his own canoe; and that he will be judged by what HE does, not by his father’s success.”FESTIVAL HALL. WHERE THE NATIONAL NEWSBOYS’ ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED, AUGUST 16, 1904.See Page53
CHAPTER VIII.The first public appearance of the boys, aside from auxiliary meetings, annual Christmas dinners, attending theatres, entertainments, base-ball games, picnics, etc., and where the boys made a favorable impression upon the public, was the Sunday afternoon meetings held in suitable halls, during the winter season. These were carried on successfully and profitably for several years, until the available halls were too small to accommodate the increasing membership.The idea of Sunday afternoon meetings suggested itself from what the boys said.“If we had meetings of our own we would not attend Sunday afternoon theatres.” Three boys, newsboys, were seen coming out of the back door of a saloon on Sunday afternoon, and to the question asked by the president, why they spent their time in the saloon, they replied they had no other place to go to get warm.“Why not go home?”“We are not wanted at home.”At the Sunday afternoon meetings the entertainments were given by the different Sundayschools of the city, and occasionally by some society, all kindly volunteering their valuable services. Splendid music, interesting talkers, little girls and boys in recitations or songs who always made a hit among the newsies. In time the newsboys became so interested in the work that many of them concluded that they could “do a stunt or two,” and the program was divided in two parts. First, the Sunday-school or society, followed by the newsboys who introduced their best speakers, singers, etc.“These Sunday afternoon gatherings,” to copy from an editorial in one of the daily newspapers, “have improved the tastes, aroused the better natures, stimulated the ambitions, revealed new and nobler ideals and altogether, have opened a new world of more sober and serious plans for future success of the bright little business men.”One of the most trying incidents that ever came to the attention of the president was at one of the Sunday afternoon meetings held in a theatre, when was brought to the rear of the stage two newsboys so drunk that a policeman had to hold them from falling.They had a bottle of whiskey between them. In broken sentences they told where a keeper hadsold them the liquor, Sunday morning, and how the men in the saloon dared them to drink all the whiskey in the bottle. It wasn’t necessary to drink all, a few swallows made them dizzy. “We got funny and noisy, an’ the man pitched us out.” They staggered towards the opera house to attend the newsboys’ meeting, when a policeman assisted them in the house. Immediately upon their entrance their friends hustled them out of sight behind the stage. The president at once called the association officers and turned the two boys over to them. Quickly the officers removed their badges. It was difficult to restrain some of them from “giving the boys a thorough thrashing.” Through the influence of the boy, Jimmy, the sympathy of the newsboys’ turned quickly to the two boys and a determination for revenge on the saloon keeper followed. The newsboy officers took the two little fellows to their homes. In a few days they reported to the president that the boys received such a severe punishment from their parents that they would be laid up for a month. The saloonman was visited by two of the oldest experienced officers. They were received with kindness, and after talking over the matter for some time it was mutually agreed thatthe boys were to notify all members that they must keep out of the saloon, as the proprieter promised not to sell liquor of any kind to newsboys and to refuse to sell liquor to any of the fathers of the newsboys—“when he thought they had enough.”For a month the boys watched that saloon, and if a newsboy entered, his badge was taken from him. The saloonman took greater interest than the boys, for he absolutely refused to sell liquor to any one whom he thought had “all he could carry.”Today this saloonman is respected by the newsboys and many good deeds are credited to him.“He is simply trying to lift up a man instead of pulling him down,” said an officer.The good that has been accomplished from the Sunday afternoon meetings, commonly called “The Popular Sunday School,” cannot be estimated. Thousands of people attend these meetings. They are pleased because the newsboys do the entertaining. There isn’t a great deal of preaching, but there is enough. “The object is not to give so much of that sort of thing,” says an editorial in one of the great dailies, “but whatpreaching they get is wholesome. The boys get a chance to laugh and clap their hands. They are permitted to be boys on Sunday just as on week days. There is good music, too. It is apt to be a patriotic air, or a popular song. A sweet little girl sang ‘The Good Old Summer Time,’ and the newsies joined in the chorus. It wasn’t classical, but it was good. Instead of shooting over people’s heads the musicians aim at their hearts. The preaching isn’t a tiresome string of ‘does’ and ‘don’ts,’ ‘musts’ and ‘mustn’ts’. It is mostly plain talks from plain people who know they are talking to boys whose veins are bulging with rich, red human blood. But the boys themselves furnish most of the program. Boys who sell papers, who shine shoes, on the streets, get up before big audiences, make speeches, sing songs, ‘recite pieces’ and do other interesting and instructive stunts. And hundreds of these little newsboys sit in the auditorium, conduct themselves like gentlemen and thoroughly enjoy the entertainment. An interesting fact about this association, is that its membership comprises the rich as well as the poor. If a rich man’s son carries a route he is in the same boat with the poorest lad that peddles papers on the street. There areboys who have rich fathers, boys who have poor fathers, boys who have industrious fathers, boys who have drunken fathers, and boys who have no fathers at all. There are Protestant boys, Catholic boys, Hebrew boys, white boys, black boys—and all are full-fledged, honored members of the same newsboy family, which is run on the principle of equal rights for all and special privileges for none. Rich boys are not debarred. There is a desire to save them from wealth’s temptations and make good citizens of them in spite of their handicap. The poor boys who sell papers to help keep the family from starvation are generous and are willing to let the rich in on the ground floor. So it is a pretty broad and big Sunday-school. And a good one. Every boy who belongs to it is better for his membership. He is taught to travel on his own merits and not lean on his papa. He is taught that he must paddle his own canoe; and that he will be judged by what HE does, not by his father’s success.”FESTIVAL HALL. WHERE THE NATIONAL NEWSBOYS’ ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED, AUGUST 16, 1904.See Page53
The first public appearance of the boys, aside from auxiliary meetings, annual Christmas dinners, attending theatres, entertainments, base-ball games, picnics, etc., and where the boys made a favorable impression upon the public, was the Sunday afternoon meetings held in suitable halls, during the winter season. These were carried on successfully and profitably for several years, until the available halls were too small to accommodate the increasing membership.
The idea of Sunday afternoon meetings suggested itself from what the boys said.
“If we had meetings of our own we would not attend Sunday afternoon theatres.” Three boys, newsboys, were seen coming out of the back door of a saloon on Sunday afternoon, and to the question asked by the president, why they spent their time in the saloon, they replied they had no other place to go to get warm.
“Why not go home?”
“We are not wanted at home.”
At the Sunday afternoon meetings the entertainments were given by the different Sundayschools of the city, and occasionally by some society, all kindly volunteering their valuable services. Splendid music, interesting talkers, little girls and boys in recitations or songs who always made a hit among the newsies. In time the newsboys became so interested in the work that many of them concluded that they could “do a stunt or two,” and the program was divided in two parts. First, the Sunday-school or society, followed by the newsboys who introduced their best speakers, singers, etc.
“These Sunday afternoon gatherings,” to copy from an editorial in one of the daily newspapers, “have improved the tastes, aroused the better natures, stimulated the ambitions, revealed new and nobler ideals and altogether, have opened a new world of more sober and serious plans for future success of the bright little business men.”
One of the most trying incidents that ever came to the attention of the president was at one of the Sunday afternoon meetings held in a theatre, when was brought to the rear of the stage two newsboys so drunk that a policeman had to hold them from falling.
They had a bottle of whiskey between them. In broken sentences they told where a keeper hadsold them the liquor, Sunday morning, and how the men in the saloon dared them to drink all the whiskey in the bottle. It wasn’t necessary to drink all, a few swallows made them dizzy. “We got funny and noisy, an’ the man pitched us out.” They staggered towards the opera house to attend the newsboys’ meeting, when a policeman assisted them in the house. Immediately upon their entrance their friends hustled them out of sight behind the stage. The president at once called the association officers and turned the two boys over to them. Quickly the officers removed their badges. It was difficult to restrain some of them from “giving the boys a thorough thrashing.” Through the influence of the boy, Jimmy, the sympathy of the newsboys’ turned quickly to the two boys and a determination for revenge on the saloon keeper followed. The newsboy officers took the two little fellows to their homes. In a few days they reported to the president that the boys received such a severe punishment from their parents that they would be laid up for a month. The saloonman was visited by two of the oldest experienced officers. They were received with kindness, and after talking over the matter for some time it was mutually agreed thatthe boys were to notify all members that they must keep out of the saloon, as the proprieter promised not to sell liquor of any kind to newsboys and to refuse to sell liquor to any of the fathers of the newsboys—“when he thought they had enough.”
For a month the boys watched that saloon, and if a newsboy entered, his badge was taken from him. The saloonman took greater interest than the boys, for he absolutely refused to sell liquor to any one whom he thought had “all he could carry.”
Today this saloonman is respected by the newsboys and many good deeds are credited to him.
“He is simply trying to lift up a man instead of pulling him down,” said an officer.
The good that has been accomplished from the Sunday afternoon meetings, commonly called “The Popular Sunday School,” cannot be estimated. Thousands of people attend these meetings. They are pleased because the newsboys do the entertaining. There isn’t a great deal of preaching, but there is enough. “The object is not to give so much of that sort of thing,” says an editorial in one of the great dailies, “but whatpreaching they get is wholesome. The boys get a chance to laugh and clap their hands. They are permitted to be boys on Sunday just as on week days. There is good music, too. It is apt to be a patriotic air, or a popular song. A sweet little girl sang ‘The Good Old Summer Time,’ and the newsies joined in the chorus. It wasn’t classical, but it was good. Instead of shooting over people’s heads the musicians aim at their hearts. The preaching isn’t a tiresome string of ‘does’ and ‘don’ts,’ ‘musts’ and ‘mustn’ts’. It is mostly plain talks from plain people who know they are talking to boys whose veins are bulging with rich, red human blood. But the boys themselves furnish most of the program. Boys who sell papers, who shine shoes, on the streets, get up before big audiences, make speeches, sing songs, ‘recite pieces’ and do other interesting and instructive stunts. And hundreds of these little newsboys sit in the auditorium, conduct themselves like gentlemen and thoroughly enjoy the entertainment. An interesting fact about this association, is that its membership comprises the rich as well as the poor. If a rich man’s son carries a route he is in the same boat with the poorest lad that peddles papers on the street. There areboys who have rich fathers, boys who have poor fathers, boys who have industrious fathers, boys who have drunken fathers, and boys who have no fathers at all. There are Protestant boys, Catholic boys, Hebrew boys, white boys, black boys—and all are full-fledged, honored members of the same newsboy family, which is run on the principle of equal rights for all and special privileges for none. Rich boys are not debarred. There is a desire to save them from wealth’s temptations and make good citizens of them in spite of their handicap. The poor boys who sell papers to help keep the family from starvation are generous and are willing to let the rich in on the ground floor. So it is a pretty broad and big Sunday-school. And a good one. Every boy who belongs to it is better for his membership. He is taught to travel on his own merits and not lean on his papa. He is taught that he must paddle his own canoe; and that he will be judged by what HE does, not by his father’s success.”
FESTIVAL HALL. WHERE THE NATIONAL NEWSBOYS’ ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED, AUGUST 16, 1904.See Page53
FESTIVAL HALL. WHERE THE NATIONAL NEWSBOYS’ ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED, AUGUST 16, 1904.See Page53
FESTIVAL HALL. WHERE THE NATIONAL NEWSBOYS’ ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED, AUGUST 16, 1904.
See Page53