The Boy's Life On The Street

Experiences of newsboys working on the streets of Milwaukee.

The work of the boy has been reviewed many times and studies made of his life on the street. The emphasis has been laid primarily on the various temptations and pitfalls open to the street boy. The attempt has been very effectually made to dispel the illusion that the youth, who rushes up to supply the customer, is getting only a valuable training on the street. There have been articles written showing the evils of boys hanging around newspaper offices and carrying heavy bundles of papers, and going into the resorts of the "tenderloins" of our big cities. The gambling of the boys has also been pointed out, as have other phases of the boys' life in the street. The staying out all night and the tendency to become tramps have been emphasized. Accordingly, the attempt has been made in this paper to study these facts as brought out in other cities and to see if the newsboy is affected by them to as great an extent in Milwaukee as elsewhere.

Milwaukee is a rapidly growing industrial city, the greater part of whose business life is centered within a few blocks. The crowds have a tone slightly different, especially in the evening, from those of our eastern cities, but the fascination of the street is the same. There is life all about and continual excitement, even if it takes the form of dodging trolley cars and automobiles. The boy meets a gang that he likes. He naturally enjoys excitement, change, novelty and a congenial "bunch." These are found most easily on the business streets of our cities and when we add the opportunity to make money and to be independent there is little wonder that we find the newsboy in the heart of the city. Moreover there are the added attractions of the brilliantly lighted shop windows at night, and the flashing electric signs to increase the already powerful fascination. It is hard to explain this "spirit of the street," but that there is something that attracts us all in anything that is moving and changing, is undoubtedly true and nowhere is it found to the same extent as on our down-town thoroughfares.

The boy goes into this excitement and has for his workshop a continually changing panorama and for his customers a continually changing stream of people. The day's work naturally starts either in the circulation department of the newspaper office, or on the street, buying from the wagons. Of the circulation offices little good can be said. The delivery office of one of the newspapers is under the pavement, in the basement of the building, and is a small, narrow room adjoining the presses. There is practically no ventilation and the wooden stairs leading to the street would not give sufficient facilities for exit in case of fire. Before the time for the coming out of the various editions, quite a number of boys congregate--mostly the young boys. It would be impossible to give an accurate estimate of the number, since it is continually changing--the boys going out after they get their papers--and varying with the clemency or inclemency of the weather, the season of the year, and the liveliness of business on the street. Another distributing office is also a basement room, but well lighted by large windows and much cleaner and more wholesome. This paper sells to more of the younger boys because it "trusts"---gives credit to--more than any other. These companies have the largest circulation. The others are primarily "home papers" and are sold through boys operating regular routes.

In the offices there are gatherings of boys older and younger and although some of the conversation is not fit to be repeated, it is, for the most part, the bravado spirit that crops out, and the stories tend to the ridiculous rather than to the vulgar. There is continual "rough-house" and horse-play and shoving, but it is for the most part given and taken good naturedly.

The great trouble is the gambling that is permitted in these places. Most of the boys have stated that there is a great deal of gambling, "shooting craps" and "latching" about and in the offices. This is natural, when we consider that there is a group of boys with nothing to do and having considerable time on their hands and money in their pockets. There is undoubtedly a great deal more in the alleys around the offices, than in the offices themselves. The greatest amount takes place just before the noon editions of the paper come out, especially on Saturday; and after 7 o'clock in the evening. There is no excuse for the boys being at the offices at the latter time, for they settle up with the street men and it is only the street men that are to report back at the office at that time. They should not be allowed on or about the premises at that time at all.

When the edition comes from the press, the boys line up before the grating and receive their papers and rush out. After the appearance of the papers the place takes on a business-like air and everything goes with snap and order. The boys seldom count them and simply take their bundles, relying on the accuracy of the circulation manager or his assistants.

The other form of distributing is from wagons or automobiles in charge of boys about 21, employees of the newspaper companies, known as the "street men," who supply the newsboys. The boys then rush to their various corners or if they are not allowed on the corners, begin by selling up and down the street.

* * * * * * * *

GAMBLING

Practically all writers on street trades have emphasized the great amount of gambling done by newsboys as one of the worst dangers of the business. When Mr. Lovejoy wrote to the heads of our various industrial and reform schools asking for opinions as to the effect of street selling, one of the questions was, "If the tendencies are bad, in your opinion, do you consider the fact of a considerable sum of money in the boy's hands, much of it available for spending without the parents' knowledge, as one cause of the trouble?" The reply was almost wholly affirmative. Since one of the principal ways of spending is gambling, the opinions of these men could be very readily and appropriately applied to gambling.

"Craps" have gone out of style, for the time being, and "matching" has taken its place, for the most part. This is a result of the attempt to stop gambling; "matching" requires no incriminating paraphernalia, and if the police appear it is almost impossible to accuse a boy who simply has coins in his hand of gambling. It takes place mostly in the distributing offices, as has been mentioned, since here the boys come together in the largest crowds and have more time on their hands than during any other part of the day. The place where the most gambling on the street takes place is behind the Schlitz Palm Garden and in the alleys in the immediate vicinity. The crowd around here is Jewish; and gambling is a Jewish trait. This form of amusement, as far as it concerns the boys of Milwaukee, is limited almost entirely to boys of this race.

There is practically not a boy on the street that will not admit that he has gambled, but there are few that will admit that they are still doing so. But it is hardly fair to claim that gambling is directly due to the fact that the boy sells papers, and much gambling would probably be found if a census were taken of our public schools. The fact that the street boy has more money than his brother who does not sell on the street, probably affects the size of the stake rather than the fact of the gambling itself.

The significant fact, however, is not that he gambles, but that he gambles a large part of his time. Many of the smaller boys consider it a part of their life to "shoot craps" or "match" at every opportunity. It should be noted that this gambling fever affects the small boy to the greatest extent, because it is possible for him, in many cases, to go home and report that he did not make anything. Thus his gambling losses are not remarked and no punishment follows. This cannot be said to apply to the older boys who are expected to contribute a definite amount to the family income. They must therefore reserve enough of their earnings to make up this required amount.

If the boy wins, on the other hand, it is probable that he will spend his winnings on "the gang." The worst feature of the gambling that has come to the notice of the investigator is the fact that the gambling is "not straight"--that there is cheating. He was shown a number of ways in which a coin could be turned in the hand so that a definite face might appear in matching, or that the dice could be thrown so that a definite combination might appear. There is undoubtedly great danger in this because it certainly must jeopardize the boy's idea of right and wrong and his sense of fairness.

The police in this district are doing their best to stop gambling, but even with continual watching little seems to result, as there are a great many alleys and small streets, with boxes, behind which the boys conceal themselves. Several of the newspapers have made spasmodic efforts to stop it, but these movements have for the most part been short lived and the moment that careful watching has been relaxed, conditions have again become very bad. The minute a policeman appears within the block, the boys scatter; the result is that this group is developing a fear of the law as expressed in the policemen, and not any respect or desire to carry out the mandates of the law.

OWNING OF CORNERS

One finds, in attempting to make a study of the earnings of newsboys, that the boy on the corner does the largest business and in fact practically all the business of the street. These boys make varying amounts, but it is no exaggeration to say that the earnings of the boys on down-town corners run between $15 and $50 a week. The question naturally arises as to how the corner is first obtained and how it is maintained in the face of what must be very severe competition. The boy clearly has no legal right to his stand, but that certain boys hold definite corners is, nevertheless, undoubtedly true. The boys themselves have no very clear idea of how this right exists, or at least are not willing to explain this peculiar form of monopoly, if they have. Many boys, the proprietors and street sellers, were asked and the only answer seemed that the following system was in vogue: A boy sold papers around a corner until he had established a "trade"--peop1e who bought from him regularly and would in all probability not buy from any one else. Gradually this list of customers would consist of almost all those who bought their papers at this corner, and then the boy would sell the great percentage of these sold at that location, because the regular customers form the backbone of the business, as they form the greater bulk of the sales.

The testimony of the newspapers shows the importance of these regular corners. Mr. Bert Hall, when circulating manager of the "Milwaukee Journal," estimated that the papers sold to transients, people who did not regularly buy papers at a definite place or have their papers delivered to them, did not constitute more than 4% of the circulation of the paper (2,000 of a circulation of 56,000), and Mr. Cull, the present manager, does not feel that the number is above 3,000, although the paper has grown materially since that time. The estimates of the other circulation managers were that at least 75% of the street sales were to people who bought from the same boy at all times.

This boy, in case he desires to leave the newspaper business, can sell out his corner, and turn over his customers to a newcomer. But it would be impossible for a boy to hold his customers unless he were at his corner regularly, and in order to maintain his place it is often necessary to hold his position by fighting for it. It is to be supposed that some corners are obtained in this way, by the driving away of the smaller boys. But the presence of the police, and the recognition by the boys of regular rights in corners often prevents this, as is illustrated by the ease of a boy of twenty who had just entered the newspaper field, who was asked why he did not take charge and hold the "Palm Garden" (the block in which the Schlitz Palm Garden is located, one block above the St. Paul depot). He said that it was practically impossible to build up a trade in this locality as the sales were primarily transient, owing to the crowds going to and from the trains; and also that the policemen would undoubtedly interfere if he tried to drive away the little fellows. If the policemen did not interfere, the other boys on the street would, and in the end it would be impossible for him to sell papers at all. The employees of the newspapers, the "street men," have much to do with the maintaining of this right, since they would refuse to sell to any but the acknowledged owner of the corner, and any unknown person would, of necessity, be forced to withdraw.

THE BOY'S PRESENCE IN SALOONS

The law in this state forbidding the presence of minors in saloons is not enforced, although there is one forbidding girls under 17 years of age to participate or be present at any dance in or near a saloon, and also one forbidding the sale of liquor to a "minor", both of which are enforced.

Since this is the case, it is not unnatural that we should find newsboys, even the very youngest, in and about saloons. There are four reasons for this, (1) tips are larger and more frequent in saloons, (2) the crowds are happy and consequently more attractive to the child, (5) the saloon is the warmest and most comfortable resting place, (4) there is lunch that may be taken.

Of course, it is not a very serious matter for a child to enter the saloon of one of his customers and deliver a paper and then leave at once, and the boy who happens to have a saloon on his route need not be considered in this connection.

The youngsters who do not have a definite stand or corner, without exception, state that if they were kept out of saloons, they would "quit sellin'." They explain this by the fact that a great many papers sell for 10 cents in saloons and that almost everybody buys. When people are enjoying themselves, especially when they are spending money freely, they are glad to help a little shaver of 10 or 11 years who asks them to buy something. This is more particularly true when the boy is cold and seems hungry.

It is cold work to sell papers and be on the street for hours at a stretch, and the boy frequently goes into the saloon to get warm, even if there is no sale in prospect. The lights and heat attract, and after the boy learns that money comes more easily, he develops the habit of staying in the saloons a good part of the time. There is, besides these four reasons, the psychological reason that a boy is curious, the crowd in a saloon is always a good-natured one, and the boy likes to be admired and made a fuss over. No one pays much attention to him on the street, but in the saloon the customers are not busy and have the time and frequently the inclination to pet him.

The investigator has never seen a boy offered a drink nor has he seen the boy offer to buy one. Consequently he believes that the danger does not lie in the boy's temptation to drink, but rather in the language and attitude toward life, which he learns from the crowd that is usually found in these places.

On one evening at about 10:30, 7 boys were taken out of one of the toughest saloons in Milwaukee. The oldest was a little over 12 years and the youngest a little under 10. They had apparently stopped selling papers but still had papers under their arms; three had boot-black boxes slung over their shoulders. On the following Saturday 5 boys were found in the same saloon. For the most part, however, boys were found singly, their presence frequently being explained by the desire to transact business.

Some saloon owners, and more particularly the bartenders, stated their opinion that being around did not hurt the boys, and that it was wrong to try to make them stop and to keep them from making a little money. This seems, in fact, general opinion of people on the street. In the better saloons and restaurants boys are not allowed, and if they do enter are promptly put out.

* * * * * * * *

BEGGING

That the conditions which surround the life on the street, make it particularly easy for a boy to beg, is undoubtedly true. It is very hard clearly to differentiate between the system of accepting tips, which is universal, and the asking for money or accepting it without giving any real article or service in return. It is somewhat easier to distinguish between this, however, and what might be classed as petty stealing that enters into many of the transactions of the street.

The boy trades on the sympathy of the customer by his extreme youth and his appearance of poverty. That the clothes that a boy wears and his size have much to do with the making of the sale and with the proceeds of a sale has been clearly realized by the Manchester (England) ordinance which forbids children who are insufficiently clad to appear on the street.

He is able to turn to account, also, the inconvenience in making change. It must be remembered that the regular price of a paper, one cent, is a very small sum, and in many, if not most, cases, the purchaser has not the exact change. This makes it necessary for the boy to have at the very least four cents in his pocket to make a sale of one paper. In other words, he must, if he started without any capital, have sold four papers. He seldom has this, early in the day, and as the day advances he may frequently find himself without the proper change. The purchaser will then, in all probability, tell him to "keep it." This may be a perfectly legitimate tip, but the boy will at many times thereafter fail or pretend not to have the correct change. Often the purchaser may plan to give the boy a larger coin than the sale calls for, and many persons apparently regularly give a boy five cents for a newspaper. Many sales were watched, and it seemed that this system of giving something extra occurred in about 33% of the sales.

Of course, in many cases sales are lost owing to the failure to have change, and on the other hand, the newsboy often runs off to get change. In the latter case, another danger is encountered. The customer may suddenly hurry off before the boy has returned. If this happens several times, the boy may develop the habit of forgetting to return with the change. In this ease an accident or series of accidents have turned the boy into a thief.

When a newsboy who is selling papers in front of a restaurant or theater rushes to open a carriage or automobile door as the people are about to enter, is he there to sell papers or is he trying to get a tip and really begging? From a number of cases of this type that were watched, it would seem that the only real object was begging, because in practically no cases were the newspapers offered for sale.

Often newspapers or picture postals are used as a blind for begging. Boys have been found carrying newspapers a day old or older editions of the same day. It does not seem possible that they were trying to sell them as they could have "returned" them to the delivery offices and received papers that were up to date. The only explanation is that they were begging.

A boy, aged six, was found in a saloon, with two newspapers and a few grimy picture postals. These he said he had had for several weeks and that he only tried to sell in saloons. He was, of course, violating the law of minimum age; but there are quite a number that make the same pretense of selling, who really engage almost entirely in begging. The majority of the boys that engage in this work are dressed more poorly and scantily than the boys who intend to make the selling of papers their main object.

There are crowds or "gangs" who, whenever an extra appears on the street, take out a number of papers and after the excitement is over return the same papers. They must have been begging.

Another form of begging and one peculiar to the smaller boys is to stand in front of restaurants and theaters and to light the cigars and cigarettes of persons coming out. The man who has just satisfied his palate or delighted his eye is in a mood to feel sympathy for the poorly clad urchin who, seeing him feel for a match, rushes up to supply him; and be gives the boy a nickel or dime. If he resents it, he simply passes on, and the boy loses nothing. This scheme works best on drunken men, or on the young man accompanied by a woman. The latter in particular is the mark of every boy an the street.

Milwaukee is afflicted with what may be called "the suit-case evil." There are a number of boys who loaf near the St. Paul depot and ask anyone carrying a suit case for permission to carry it. The victims are generally women, and it is seldom that a woman can walk between Grand Avenue and the station, on Third Street, without being asked at least half a dozen times if she does not desire to have her suit case carried. If ignored, in many cases, the boy will follow and continue to offer his service, or if refused will frequently turn away with an oath. In many cases, however, the boy will come up behind a woman and "grab" a suit case. He will insist upon carrying it and, finally, refuse to return it unless he is paid. In this service, the boy reckons purely on the generosity of the person whom he has "done." These are by no means the only forms of begging that exist, but they are the ones that come to the surface most frequently and are consequently the most readily noticed.

Many of the boys who have long distances to go after their work, obtain their rides home free. They do not ride behind or on the steps of cars, but when stopping time approaches they take advantage of the desire of some of the T. M. E. R. & L. conductors who do not want to pay for their evening papers. The boys give them papers, and receive in return, transfers good on the line which they take home. It is impossible, of course, to judge of the extent of this, but it is probably a noticeable item. Of course, some boys are given transfers by passersby who do not desire to use them. The investigator, however, did not see any case of the sale of a pass to a passenger, and those the boys obtained were entirely for their own use.

Another means of "beating his way" that is used, is for the boy to keep moving in a crowded car and to manage to keep on the opposite end of the car from the conductor and so avoid paying a fare. But the boy often enters the car and starts fumbling in his pocket when the conductor comes toward him. Usually, he says in a tearful voice, "Ain't got it." Some man in the car will probably then pay his fare. In spite of this virtual begging covered by the carrying of newspapers, there was little if any apparent begging, in the sense that there were no cases where there was not the appearance of a sale or the rendering of some service. This is because existing ordinances against the begging of minors are strictly enforced. It would seem, accordingly, that these other forms could also be done away with and some, at least, that seem inherent in street trading, mitigated.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE STREET

It is difficult to determine that the language of the boy in street trader differs radically from that of the average boy. The youngster between twelve and fourteen, whether or not he has been carefully reared, feels more grown up when able to use vile or vulgar language, or to swear as he hears men do. Newsboys, however, and those in similar occupations have more opportunity to acquire this vocabulary than others, not only because they come in contact with older boys in the newspaper offices, but because they deal almost entirely with men. This opportunity to acquire a vulgar vocabulary is increased in the case of boys who transact much of their business in saloons, and the lack of restraint allowed by their being on the street, with the added dignity implied by their earning money on their own responsibility, affords greater freedom in the use of what they consider "manly" language.

* * * * * * * *

THEATERS

Probably the most important factor entering into the newsboys' search for amusement s that the theaters are open on Sunday. Consequently the boy frequently postpones his visit until that time instead of indulging after working hours as is the case in many places. There are no Sunday afternoon papers in the city and consequently no work in the afternoon. Even if the boy handles a Sunday morning paper he is in all probability ready to stop by 10 o'clock or noon. Sunday is moreover a hard day "to kill" as there is neither the school nor selling to occupy his time. All these agencies tend to make Sunday afternoon the big theater time for the boys. Many boys who claim "to give at home" all the money they make, are allowed money for a show on this day.

There are four varieties of entertainments that the boys patronize: Moving picture shows, burlesques, melodramas and prize fights. These rank in importance in the order named.

The moving picture shows are of two grades, the "nickel-shows" and the "ten-cent shows." The chief difference is in the type and amount of vaudeville that is added to the moving pictures. The boy prefers for the most part seeing two five-cent shows rather than one ten-cent show. Almost all the shows in the heart of the city were visited in this investigation and although many improvements in the matter of ventilation and means of exit in case of fire are to be desired, the shows were, on the whole, very satisfactory. Morally, the pictures were clean and although much of the fun portrayed was of the rough and tumble variety, there could be no legitimate ground for complaint. Often, moreover, very instructive pictures of travel were shown. At one theater there were colored moving pictures that gave the story of various dramas.

The vaudeville portion of the program consisted generally of illustrated songs, and the crowd for the most part did not appreciate the singers. The songs were without exception of the sentimental type, illustrated with colored slides. Boys were seldom found in those places in the evening excepting on Saturday between nine and eleven. But as has been stated, crowds of boys are only present on Sunday afternoons. They are well behaved and, judging from their enthusiasm enjoy the performance exceedingly.

The burlesque played in Milwaukee is second rate, and newsboys do not attend it to any great extent. Moreover "amateur night" has gone; this used to be a great drawing card because of the freedom of language and "rough-house" that was permitted.

There is a merging of the burlesque and prize fight in Milwaukee; the holding of bouts after the regular burlesque show. On this night the number of young boys in the gallery is noticeably larger than ordinarily, but this form of amusement does not seem to have taken a great hold on the boy.

Several boxing exhibitions were visited and again the number of boys attending was found remarkably small.

The melodrama, likewise, does not gain a hold on a great number of boys, although they form a noticeable percentage of the gallery crowd at the Sunday afternoon performance. It is apparent that the moving picture show has made great inroads into the other forms of amusement. Another factor that tends to keep the boys from the various theaters in the heart of the city is the development of centers for amusement in outlying parts.

Source:   THE NEWSBOYS OF MILWAUKEE (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Bureau of Economy and Efficiency, Bulletin No. 8, November 1911)