Street Arabs and gutter snipes. The pathetic and humorous side of young vagabond life in the great cities, with records of work for their reclamation

Front matter

L I B RARY

OF THE

U N IVLRSITY

Preface

A PREFACE is like a doorway to a house, through whicli the reader finds access to the book. It also gives the author opportunity to explain or apologize. I take advantage of the custom, and, as I usher in the stranger, offer some explanations.

This book is a plea on behalf of neglected and destitute children, found chiefly in our great cities, and too often educated in crime by unnatural parents or vicious guardians ; or who, through the stress of circumstances, are forced into a course of life which tends to the multiplication of criminals and the increase of the dangerous classes.

. This evil is exposed by statement of fact, by illustrated narrative, and by statistics. If public attention is thereby arrested, and sufficient proof adduced to awaken an interest in child-life, and enforce a conviction that thousands of juveniles are degraded through neglect, I am persuaded the tragedies of which children form the chief part will materially decrease.

A protest against wrong-doing is one step in the right direction ; a plea for reform another; both, however, cover only a little of the road over which we must walk if we are alive to diity and sensible to privilege. The practical applications of proved remedies go still beyond, and reach unto the end in view within these pages. True, there are no grand schemes propounded of universal reform ; no novel experiments demanded ; nor are laws and regulations recognized as worthy of world-wide application. Examples are given of work done by humane organizations; and the wonderful achievements of individual enterprises in this field of philanthropy are prominently noticed. But there can be no iron hand to grip and guide young vagabond life ; it must be a hand of love tempered with firmness, guided with wisdom, and ever outstretched in the power of prayer and faith.

iv PBEFACE.

I EAfTORATiox. as one important sclieuK'. — pei'liaps tlie most

I lu'ljitul of all, — -is earnestly commended. Having Avatched its V manifold workings, I mnst testif}' to its beneficent resvilts. Many of the harrowing scenes depicted within these pages, and of the marvelous transformations effected, have come under my personal observation. Emigration as an antidote to overcrowding is fast becoming a doctrine with man}- philanthropists ; as also it is becoming a growing conviction that rhild reclamation is a more important consideration than adult reformation. If the same ])roportionate ability, perseverance, and capital be invested in working tliese "Arab'' mines, which are given to the claims of degraded men and women, there will surely be a better and surer return. Not to call attention from any legitimate method to save the lost are these lines written, l>ut the rather to encourage C'hristian labor in all departments. The salvation of the children V in this generation ensures the salvation of the parents in the next; so also the elevation of degraded adults now will i^ro^e of inestimable value to children yet unborn. But who is sufficient for these things? The old ])roverb, '^Prayers and pains will do anything,'' holds within it the true secret. In this work especially both must be given without stint ; supplications and self-denials ])oured out without measure must and will prevail.

" Xo caprice of niiml, No passing influence of idle time, No popular sliow, no clamor fi'om the crowd, Can move him erring from tlie right."

How much better to prevent a fall than employ an ambulance; how much pleasanter to escort an emigrant than to attend a funeral. There are around us in our Making hours, and haunting us in our sleep, men and women, out of whose eyes, like decaying wood, gleams the dying soul, Avhose existence is a travesty on life, whose death CA'er hasteneth, Avhose childhood was capable of reclamation in days of comparative innocence, Avhile vice had not as yet ossified the heart, nor unltridlcd lust destroyed forever the finer sensibilities; but shall it be said fliat no man caved for them? Even so. Christian Charity never .sought, or, at least, neA'er found them ; for if she found she would surely saA^e ; and now, in premature decay,

PREFACE. V

in swift-consuming corruption, Hope stands aghast witli melancholy forebodings, rendering the little service left to be done, becanse of limited opijortunites, in preparing a shroud and a grave ; and, with the awful hush creeping over her of a consciousness that Neglect had defeated Charity in an attemjit to save these subjects in earlier years, she buries in silence the disfigured body of Death, which might have been, which ought to have been, a transfigured temple full of life and light through tlie indwelling of holiness and love.

I plead guilty with an old writer : '" I am but a gatherer and disposer of other men's stuff." I have culled freely from many a garden ; others have grown the flowers, I have simply prepared the boiiquet ; none the less acceptable, I hope, that the flowers are natural and homelike. There are those who have long labored with street-children whose experience entitles them to a universal hearing in their pleadings for the little ones. I have neither disguised nor recast their utterances. They speak for themselves ; having done little more than the silent rock, I re-echo their teachings, and with literal exactness.

The sensationalism of the book arises from the tragic conditions detailed ; the grim facts set before us are indeed sensational of themselves, nor is there need to borrow from the artificialitj' of unrealism to excite or surjjrise.

Many of the engravings are taken from photographs which show at a glance the contrasts of the " Arabs " in the city, and the same " Arabs " in the country ; between vice and virtue ; between idleness and industry. The publisher has spared no expense in procuring suitalile illustrations ; Mr. C. L. Brace, of the New York Children's Aid Society, kindl}^ consented that we use the plates from his book,, " The Dangerous Classes of New York " ; Miss MacPherson and Miss Bilbrough permitted us to use photographs of their children ; while Dr. Barnardo's "Night and Day "supplied us with several subjects of interest; — to all of whom we feel greatly indebted.

After sending our final chapter t5 the printer, two additional books came to hand which are worthy of study : " Organized Charities," by Mrs. James T. Fields, and "Traps for the Young," by Mr. Anthony Comstock. These do not deal exclusively with the vi PREFACE.

subject of Street Arabs, but iucidentally aiicl i)Owerfully show how such are made and reclaimed. " Traps for the Young " should be \j carefully read by all ])arents, teachers, and philanthropists. Had we received this book earlier while writing chapter third on " Arabs' Academies," we sh<nild extract from it a few telling passages which relate to vicious literature.

We are one with Mr. Comstock in his exposure of tliis national Idight. " Evil reading debases, degrades, perverts, and turns away from lofty aims,to follow examples of corruption and criminality." \ Again: "The community is cursed by pernicious literature. Ignorance as to its debasing character in numerous instances, and an indifference that is disgraceful in others, tolerate and sanction this evil." After many years of warring with crime this judicious officer remarks : '' I have one clear conviction, namely, that Satan hn/s fJie snare, and children arc his virthns.'' "Light literature, \^ then, is a devil-trap, to captivate the child by perverting taste and fancy." Of the half-dime novels and story papers, lie speaks freely. •• The finest fruits of civilization are consumed l»y these vermin. Nay, tlu-sc products of corrupt minds are the eggs from wliich all kinds of villainies are hatched. Put the entire batch of these stories together, and I challenge the publishers and A'enders to show a single instance where any boy or girl has been elevated in inorals, or where any noble or refilled instinct has been developed by them."

Let children, then, in the tenderness of their years, while habits \, are unformed, and their natures are still plastic, call out our wisest legislation and l>est efforts both to shield and save them. Hark to their plaintive wail : —

" Do not siuiiii iiu', III my )n-ayci-;

For this wamloriiig, ever lon^'er, evermore Hatli overborne me, Anil I know not in Avhat shore I luiiy rest from my desiiair."

: c . yOiQ.jL,a^

Elim Cottage, ]\Iancliester-l)3--tl)e-Sea, Mass.

Chapter I. Duly Qualified

The Title "Arab."' — The Arab of the Desert. — Desert and City Bedouins. —Gutter Snipes. — Waifs. —Children Excite Curiosity. — My First Waif. — Society's Darkest Woes. — Perverted Charity. — An Irish Widow. — The Little Black-ej^ed Girl. — Gone for a Watch. — "A Being of Beauty and a Joy Forever." — "Nobody's Children." — Poor Tom. — Tom in the Carriage. — The Frightened Lady. — Drunken Sal. — " Lem me Out!" — Tom's New Suit. — Tom's Breakfast. — Tom's Home.. 21

Chapter II. Surprises

Pleasure of Surprises. — "Be You God's Wife?" — Crackling's Secret. — Watching Customers. — " Plain Plum or Curran" ? " — Bolting a Choice Morsel. — " Cold Suetty." — Crackling Gone Mad. —The Gaunt Man of Pride. — "God Bless You for Such Goodness to a Stranger ! " — Crackling Victimized. — Endless Freaks and Multiplied Dodges. — My Boy, and Pie-Eulogy. — My Surprise. — " Arabs' " Phraseology. — What is True Charity?. . . 39

Chapter III. " Arabs' " Academies

Our Free Institutions. — The City of Chicago. — A Pandemonium of Vice. — "Arab" Literary Ware. — Anthony Comstock's Mission. — Studying tlirough the Window. — Gloating over Pictures. — Filching a File in Order to Buy a Paper. — All Should Fight This Evil. — Lord Derby's Advice. — Tlie Low Theatre. —The Mimic I'aculty Characteristic of Human Nature. — " I 've Got to Come Home Boozed." — Acting to the Life. — " The Tipsy Rascal viii CONTENTS.

Aged Eiglit." — "She Cried 'Murder, Murder!"" — The Arrest. — The Keooneiliation. — Seeking His Pay. — " Chuckiir Handspriiigs and Somersets." — How the Joke Tickled Him. — ^ How the Grubby-faced Actor Lived. — "It Was a Strange Story."' — The Result of Visiting Low Theatres 55

Chapter IV. Unnatural Parents

" Sairey Gamp" and "Mrs. Harris." — Mistress Society. — Suffering Children. — Unnatural Parents. — A Diminutive Female. — •■ Now They Fit Lovely."" — The Poor Old Cobbler. — Calling on Crispin. — "He Did Pretty Well as a 'Translator.'"" — '•That"s Her Cuss and Mine too."" — The Drunken Wife. — The Relieving Officer's Discovery. — A Healthy Child Reduced to Seventy Ounces. — Terrible Tragedies. — Stepmothers. — Darlv Deeds. — "It Xever Had a Garment."" — Bacchus and Moloch. — ^The Ravages of Drunkenness. — Royalty Among the Lowly. — ""My Heart is Mos" Bruck." — The Three Woolly Black Heads. — ••Five Cents a Sack for Her Work."" — '• Mudder, Let "s Go."" — The Bath, Clothing, and AVarm Soup 7i

Chapter V. Shirkers And Heroes

Temjjorary Employment Provided. — Plan of Operations. — A Pair of Shirkers. — " Charley, I "m Open to be Converted." — Like the Wriggle of a Homeless Dog. — '•Sleepin' on a Hempty Stomach." — Objections to Work. — •• Is this Your Bloomin' House of Labor?"" — Description of a "Rough."' — Heroes. — The Crossing-Sweeper. — Squeaker and Poll. — Porkej-"s Precious Trick. — "I'm the Father, She's the Motlier."' — Papers and Lights by Turns. — ••Poll Earns More "ii I Do."" — Charlej'"s Sudden Alarm. — The Reason Wliy S)G

Chapter VI. " Ways That Are Dark."

" Arabs "' Wonderfully Inventive. — The Potato-man. — '• Like

Ajax Defying the Lightning." — " Arabs"" are Disappointing. —

•Sharp and Sly. — Juvenile Offenders. — Stealing a Jacket. — A

CONTENTS. ix

Public-house Robbery. — Three Bad Boys. — The Donation Box.

— Bobbing a Bather. — Digging up a Diseased Cow. — Drowning a Brother. — Carrotty Joe. — Tlie Slice of Luck. — ^ " I goes in for New Inwentions. " — " Japan Paper Pair-o'-sauls." — The Ruined Lucifer-Man. — The Spill. — Tlae AVliite-faced Blacking-Seller. — Jollying. — "Wallopin"."— The Visit. — "A Chip of the Old Block."' — "An Idle Warmint." — The " Pints." — Hair and Ears 113

Chapter VII. Lights And Shadows

Boys' Noses. — Parrots and Pugs Predominate. — "Arabs'"" Costumes.— The Truant Scholar. — Mr. Spurgeon and the Orphan.

— Not Enough of Dirt to Make a Minister. — Deacon Day. tlie Cooper. — How to Manage Hot Soup. — " A Home for Pups."" — How to Discover a Pickpocket. — "' The Firm 's Busted." — • Hdw to Manage Incorrigibles. — ^A New Yoi'k Venerable Atom. —

."■ Wee Davy." — Davj^ a Bore. — ^Davy and His Grandmother. — The Doctor's Sermon to Davy. — The Train and the Ticket. — Davy Dying. — Davy's Saviour. — Poem on Outcast Waifs--. 134

Chapter VIII. Woman To The Rescue

Women Philanthropists. — Female Novelists. — ''Too Dreadful to Know of."' — Desolating Individualism. — The Swift and Teri-ible Nemesis. — Save the Children. — The Bristol Plan. — How Five Thousand Girls were Saved. — How Girls are Decoyed. — The •'Black Kitten." — Best Methods of Reclamation. — ^The " Female Brethren.*"- The Dissipated Old Bachelor of Eight. — "All Progress Begins with a Sense of Sin."' — A Disagreeable Subject. — Sky-high Christianity. — Saving Soul and Body. — Spanisli Gypsy Mothers. — - The Old Thatcher. — Experience of a London Barrister. — Our Factory Population. — Saint's Day and Sinner"s Day. — Free-Lovers Sowing their Evil Seed. — Self-sacrifice Demanded 153

Chapter IX. Personal Effort

Story of Little Mary. — Victor Hugo"s Description of tlie " Ai-ab."" — " The Pretty Picture." — " Ma'am, it would make a Gentleman of

X CONTEXTS.

iiie."' — Omnipotency of Faith. — God's Little Girl. — Selling his Son. — The Kunawaj' Pig. — When Polly was Tight. — A Little "Wild Savage. — The Beautiful Moon. — CoiTuption of the Lord's Prayer. — Mary's Conscience Finally Reached. — Asking Forgiveness. — Mary's Changed Conduct. — Her Prayers. — Taken Home. — The Moral Precipice. — "I Serve." — "Little Flower " and the Teacher's Grave. — My Bright-eyed Child. — " Have i ou? " 175

Chapter X. Hard Expeeiences

Child-life Endangered. — The Water-dog. — Who are the Neglected Ones'? — "• Patsey the Dog.'" — The Storj' of Bai-nardo's Rescue Work. — First Efforts. — The Startling Discovery. ^ — Sleeping- Out. — Taught Useful 'J'rades. — Increasing Facilities for Boys and Girls. — '-The Edinboro' Castle." — The Singing-Class. — Ginger, Jumbo. Parrot, and Croppy. — Pummelled by Policemen. — A Sorrowing Mother. — S])ecimen Cases of Poor Girls. — Numbers 1, 2. ;^. 4. — City Missiouar}' Experiences. — Description of a Tramp's Lodging-House. — One-eyed Joey. — Joey's Religion.

— Joey's Singular Gift. — The Girl's Affecting History. — Joey's Honorable Stratagem. — Difficulty of Finding Employment for Discharged Prisoners. — From Despair to Hope. — An AU-Sufficient Remedy. — How to reach the Mountain-Top? — The Stairwaj' and the Elevator.— How to reach the "Arabs" en masse?

— Mr. George IL Stuart and the Little Girl? — The Twelve Lost Girls 19!t

Chapter XI. A Commendable Woiik

Workers Not Alone. — Cliaritable Institutions, where Found. — The Clnidren's Aid Society. — Annual Report. — Criminal Gangs broken up. — Object of the Societ}'. — Industrial Schools. — Decrease of Feminine Crime. — Great Obstacles. — Italian Children.

— The Summer Home. — Lodging-IIouses. — Economy of the Society. — Interesting Statistics. — Occupations of Pupils. — In Winter Many come Barefooted. — Ladies at Work. — Principle of Teacliing. — Kindergartens and Creches. — Night-Schools. — Foreign Children, how Treated. — Germans, Bt)liemians, Italians. — Exhibitions and Recreations. — The Sunnner Home. — How tlie Cliildren Enjoy it. — Xuuiber Benelited. — Enormous Appetites.

COXTEXTS. xi

— Plans for Enlargement. — This Noble Charity has a Higher Destiny. — Interesting- Letter from Dr. Skinner. — Sources of Enjoyment. — Rusticating. — Their Jolly Song. — Batliing. — Principles of Government. — Dining-Tables. — Their Favorite Song.

— Xewsboys Lodging-IIousc. — Eepresentatives from Everywhere.— Former Boys Now in Middle Life. — Newsboys' " Hotel .'' — Sunday Services. — Girls" Lodging-House. — The Laundry. —Illustrative Cases. — Western Attractions. — Western Experiences 237

Chapter XII. Emigration

The Home Rather than the Asylum. — Benefits of the Western Farm. — Promiscuous Emigration. — Miss Annie Macpherson. — A Diamond Picker. — Brain and Muscle. — Contrasts. — Individual Enterprise. — "A Home and a Hearty Welcome."' — Prac- . tical Questions. — Canadian Farmers. —"Arabs " not Little Angels. — Blessings of Emigi-ation. — Illustrative Cases. — -Annie and the Drunken Villain. — Testimony of the late Sir Charles Reed. — Another Sister of Merc}'. — Rev. J. Macpherson. — Good Training. — A Great Wish. — Lord Cavan. ^ — The Demand for Children. — Mr. Henry Varley. — "A Large, Fat, Beautiful Goose!"" — A Montreal Merchant"s Letter. — -Preparatory Work in England. — Boys and Girls Needed in Canada. — Room and a Hearty Welcome. — The Liverpool Scheme. — Mj' Opinion of Emigration. — The Pilgrim Fathers. — New York State"s Penal Code. — Systematic Emigration. — " Waiting and Watching "... 280

Chapter XIII. Transplantations

The Plant and Human Life. — A AVestern Farmei's Letter. — Once a NcAV York Pauper. — How William and Mary Lived. — The Frozen Nose. — How thev Now Live. —The Drunken Mother. — The Good Warlv Opposed. — Train-Wreckers. — From the Orphanage to the Bench. — Lucy is a Very Nice Girl, — Fortunate '"Arabs." — "Arabs" Owning Farms. — -William F. an M.D. — An Orphan"s Career. — A Stenographer, a Musician, and a Druggist. • — Great Emigration of Children from New York. — One Society's Report for 1882 numbers 3,957. —Pluck of G. W. S. — A Grateful Girl. — A Fortunate Condition in Life. — Illustrative xii COXTEXTS.

Cases. — •• I Love these Friendless Childien for Jesus' Sake." — Miss Bilbrouii;h. — For Five Years a Street-Singer. — Toninij^ and Freddy 313

Chapter XIV. Tiiansformations

The Canny Scotch Shepherd. — Human Pearls. — Future Transfiguration. — Mr. and Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness. — Charley Maciuba Sitwana. — Natural Pantomime. — Clotlies -'Too HeaA^y! too Hot!'' — Thirst for Knowledge. — "'My Nose is Very HI." — " Give Wife and Monev! well! well!'' — Hearing of the White Animals. — Going to See the World. — Description of Kaffir Life. — ^The German Missionary. — Worshiping the Serpent. — Kaffir Code of Morality. — The Deserters. — Great London. — King Coftee. — A Cruel Deception. — Charlie's Teetotalism. — Searching for Utjebaz Ujojo. — The Brothers Meet. — Charlie a Heal Missionary. — Dublin "Arabs." — The Little Irish Boy. — The Pass-ticket. — '"John Three Sixteen." — His New Name. ^ The Boy's Delirium. — The •• Something Else.'' — The Nun's Beads.

— The Young Missionary. — How Poor Children Suffer. — "Billy's Dead."— Nell's Idea of Heaven. —The Garret Bleak and Bare. — Nell Seeking the Eose. — "Just a Rose to take to Bill." — The Fretful Lady. — " Billy "s Dead, so is Billy's Sister Nell" 349

Chapter XV. Individual Effort

The Horse-leech. — Over Sixty Thousaiid A'ictiiiis of Intemperance.

— Laodicean IndifTerencc. — A lioll of Distinguislied Names. — Personal Eft'ort. — Where are the Boasted Clianipions of Infidelity?

— Christian Slavery ('?) — " Survival of the Fittest." — Resolution of a Barefoot Boy. — Single-hearted Devotedness. — The Orphan Homes of Scotland. — Rescue of Two Thousand Children.

— Opposed to Endowments. — Children at Play. — The Home Idea Fully Carried Out. — A Ship upon the Meadow. —Canadian Farmers and Scotch Children. — Getting Equipped for the Journey. — Personal Attention Recjuired. — Only One Hour for Person:d Business. — Three Hundred Tliousand Dollars in Answer to Prayer. — The City Home and Brhlge-of-Welr. — A Pliysician's Letter. —" What Hath God Wrought? " — Ninety-five per ceot. Doing Well 374

COXTENTS. xiii

Chapter XVI. Local Charities

Emigration Not Always Practicable. — Cripples' Homes. — Family Life the True Principle. — Dr. Howe's Plea. — Children Should be Mothered. — The First Reformatory Institution on the Family Plan. — People at first Sceptical. — ■ Nineteen Years of Experience.— Wonderful Success. — Penal System Modified. — Objections Answered. — A Good Farm Needed. — A Good Location Near Markets Essential. — Everything Should be Made Educative and Pleasant. — Distinguishments in Dress Should be Avoided. — Make the boy Self-sustainhig. — The Home must be well Officered.

— The Fountains of Influence. — Christian Gentlemen and Ladies.

— Children's Charities in Towns and Villages. — What Neglected *• Arabs " Become. — Village Charities. — Girls Harder to Manage than Boys. — City Charities. — Half-time Schools. — New York Experience. — Day Industrial Schools. — Cleanliness and Industry.— Creches for Babies. — Lodging-Houses. — How Prepared.

— "'Placing Out." — Must be Conducted with Great Caution. — Summer Homes. — -Summary of Work Done by Children's Aid Society. — Financial Status. — Effects on Crime. — Sanitary Results. — Report from Kansas. — The Work of one Extensive Charity 392

Chapter XVII. Capturing Arabs. /

A Night on the Streets. — Our Fifth Boy. — " Artful Dodgers." — Mr. Fegan's Experience. — Tlie Key to Unlock a Boy's Heart. — Christian Ladies Well Qualified for the Work. — Remarks by the Earl of Shaftesbury. — Catching '"Arabs." — Barnardo's Methods. — Midnight Wanderings. — How the Low Lodging-Houses are Supplied. — The Vilest Seed in Town. — The Doctor and the Deputy. — The Fever Patient. — Uncle Tom's Cabin. — "The Thief-look." — "Punch." — Punch's Interest in Uncle Tom. — Anxious to Read. — The Doctor's Proposal. — Punch not Convinced. — The Bargain Ratified. — An Educated Thief Most Dangerous. — Punch's Expertness Surprising the Doctor. — No Harm Done. — Sorry Sometimes. — " When you "re Caught." — Punch in a Passion. — An Awakened Conscience. — A New Creature.

— Industry. — Change of Homes. — Marriage. — How Punch Became a Thief. — The Tempter. — - " I do the Liftiri'.'" — The Power xiv CONTENTS.

of Money. — First Theft. — "Arabs'' Lost when not taken in Hand early. — The Expenditure of Crime and Reclamation Contrasted 413

Chapter XVIII. Specimen Arabs

Best Appearances Placed in Front. — Boston Culture. — Wendell Phillips and Dennis Kearney. — "Prim Talkey." — "Arab" Cheek. — Loquaciousness. — Astounding Answers. — The Perplexed Traveler. — " Bully for the Buck-eye." — Talkey in a New Pole. — A Clergyman's Sensible Address. — Talkey a Perfect Humbug. — " Apple-Dumpling." — Why that Name. — Baby Talk.

— An Affecting Tale. — Different from Most Street Juveniles. — The Dumpling Pitying Himself. — How He was Introduced to a Home. — "I Never, Never Steal'd Nothing." — His Two Homes.

— Ragged Dick.— The Box Hotel. — " What "11 Johnny Nolan Say? *' — A Jolly Good Fellow. — Dick Fully Awake. — Pickety.

— "Hain't Got No Name, Sir."' — Sleeping in the "Holler." — A Smile Overcoming the Wolf-feeling. — The Superintendent's Friendly Talk. — The Sleeping-Room. — "The Upper Ten."" — A Charitable Hotel-Waiter. — Pickety"s Earnings. — ^ Seeking to Please God. — Was it a Ghost? — Mino Whistles " Captain Jinks."

— Getting Manners. — Farming a Splendid Business. — Pickety's Fears of Indians. — Interesting Letter. — Accumulating Property.

— A Thriving Farmer 441

Chapter XIX. Save The Childrp:n

A Lost '"Ittle Dirl." — Canon Farrar's Earnest Plea. — Who Fills the Gaps? — Shameful Neglect. — Accident. — Terrible Cruelty.

— Absolute Death. — Besides there is Sin. — Save the Children.

— Dr. Newton's Harrowing Story. — The Foaming Torrent. — "I saw them all Perish.''— The Real Trouble. —The Old Man's Tragic Tale. — Mourning a Mother and Wife. — "I Demanded Food."' — The Shocking Blow. —A Wild Laugh and Pleading Moans. — Frozen to Death. — The Raving Maniac. — " Sign it, Young Man, Sign it." — The Discovery. — A Word About Tramps. — Incurably Lazy. — A Field for the Home Missionary.

— The Brave Hussar. — An Honored Soldier. — Charlie Ross. — The Countess of Belville. — Charlie"s Prayer. — The Missing

I

CONTENTS. XV

Child. — A Sorrowing Mother. — Seeking Comfort from God. — The Young Sweep. — Anxious Questioning. — The Marvelous Discovery. — " My Child! My Child!" — Lady Belville's Charities.— Dr. Pentecost's " Arab." — Wishing to be Gooder. — Changing Mastei'.s. — •"You Bet I Would!'' — Johnny's Prayer. —Are You Seeking to Save? 463

Chapter XX. Odds And Ends

String Wanted. — Pickings and Stealings. — Self-denial. — The Little Black Girl. — "Cheer. Boys, Cheer!" — London Ragged-^ Schools. — Volunteer Teachers. — Powerlessness of Science. — " Science has no Morality." — Broussa Orphans. — Only Sample Cases. — Poem on Christian Liberality. — What a Schoolboy Saw.

— The Sister's Love Letters. — The Parson a-Swellin' Up. — Inviting Jesus to Tea. — Female Orphanages. — Alone in London.

— Mrs. Arden's Forgetfulness. — "Precious Promise." — The Mysterious Caller. — The Zulu "Arab." — Aim High. — Mr. Gough's Cigars. — " Feel o' that air Muscle ! " — Mr. Gough and Mr. Spurgeon. — The Sick Boy. — Mr. Spurgeon at his Greatest.

— The Burned " Arab." — A Hard Case. — Only a Boy. — Bobby and the Breakfast. — Afraid of Being Born Again. — Be Brave, Boys. — The Christian Martyr Picture. — Japan "Arabs.'' — Wonderful Kites. — " Feast of Flags." — '' Feast of Dolls." — The Story-teller. — The Floating Duck. — The " Arab " is Sharp and Sly. — Paddy's Speech. — Another "Arab" Speech. — The Speaker's Departure for the West 487

ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Child-Mother. (Frontispiece.) Page

A Street Arab 22

A Gutter Snipe 25

Waifs 27

Tom 33

A Genuine Surprise 41

The Calm Trencherman 47

Bestowing Gifts 52

A Street Boy 56

Craving after Knowledge 59

A Doleful Quartette 62

A Chief Source of Arabism 67

Chalk-Sketching for a Living 72

A Regular Squall 75

An Officer's Discovery 82

The Homeless 85

An Ill-used Boy 87

In Despair 88

Three Woolly Heads 94

Shirkers 98

Heroes 102

Squeaker 106

The Fortunes of a Street Waif 109

A Pickpocket Still < 115

Youthful Burglars 117

Boy Criminals 120

Old Joe 122

Yankee Puzzles 123

JoLLYiN' Poor Bili 126

X viii ILL US TEA TIONS.

Page

"Brisk an" Cheerful" 130

Turning a Somerset 137

Taken from Life 139

Fairly Trapped 142

Summoned Away 150

Brother and Sister Hescued 157

Factory Girls" Heads IGl

Children's Heads 166

The Street Girl"s End 172

A Country Arab 178

The Chimney Sweep ' 180

Runaway Pig 182

The Silent Watcher , 186

A Drinking Mother 192

Homeless Children 194

The Loving Brother 196

An Arab Factory 201

The Street Boy's Bed 200

Industry • 212

Idleness 214

The Discovery 217

A Deputy 221

Joey's Protegee 224

Explanations 230

"Dead Rabbits'" and "Short Boys" 240

The Free Show 244

The Newsboy 248

The Christmas Tree 254

lodginci-houses as they are 257

Innocent Sleep 260

Children at Play 262

Applying for Lodgings 268

Poor Children Among Flowers 272

Little Miss Vanity 276

LODGING-IlOUSES AS THEY WeRK 289

ILL US TEA TIONS. xix

Page

The Exhausted Street-Sweeper 292

The Little Lamb 295

The Young Farmer 299

A Western Home 300

Rescued Gutter Snipes 304

An Adoption 307

From Street Life to a Home 311

A Transplanted Arab 315

A Happy Brother and Sister 317

Was He a Train-Wrecker? 321

The Reward of Industry 323

Adopted 326

Now AND Then 330

Past and Present 333

A Bonny Farmer's Boy 335

Rescued and Happy 342

A Kaffir Arab 351

"Come Unto Me" 357

Thirsting for Knowledge 363

"John Three Sixteen" 368

A Widowed Mother 376

A Chinese Arab 384

The Strep:t Boy on a Farm 387

Tickets for Charity Soup 393

Catching an Arab . 417

An Unrescued Arab 448

Sheltered 458

Somebody's Baby 472

Wanting to Learn . 490

Warned off by '' Livery" 496

Chapter I. Duly Qualified

The title "Arab." — The Arab of the Desert. — Desert and City Bedouins. — Gutter Snipes. — ^YAIFS. — Children excite curiosity. — My First AVaif . — Society's Darkest Woes. — Perverted Charity. — An Irish Widow. —The Little Black-eyed Girl. — Gone for a AVatch. — "A Being of Beauty and a Joy Forever." — "Nobody's Children." — Poor Tom. — Tom in the Carriage. — The Frightened Lady. — Drunken Sal. — " Lem me ( >ut! " — Tom's Xew Suit. — Tom's Breakfast. — Tom's Home.

^PHE name " Arab," as applied to persons liowever outcast of christianized communities, is objected to by many. It sounds rough, uncharitable, offensive, and degrading. So say some who have the cause of our city waifs nearest their hearts : and who are most zealous in effort to reclaim these same poor children of error and neglect.

Nevertheless, the title " Arab " is, in many respects, the most fitting that can be found. The " street Arab " is a very Bedouin in the midst of the thronging city multitude, manifesting many of those selfsame traits which so uniquely distinguish the veritable " child of the desert."

From remotest periods the descendants of Ishmael have retained their peculiarities. Not more easily is the Jew recognized by his telltale countenance, than the Arab by his irrepressible characteristics. While many of these '•'■ sons of freedom " have applied themselves to trade or agriculture, the majority still roam tlie deserts in untramnieled liberty. Poverty, even, is sweeter to them than confinement. Naturally they become warlike and j^redatory in their habits. Assuming that "all is fair in war,** they act upon the principle that "might makes right,*" whether it be the might of brute force, or savage cunning. The comforts and restraints of social and civil life are