1899 
5o3 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
Among the Children of Gibeon. 
TENEMENT WORKERS AND WHAT THEY DO. 
Part II. 
Environment and Heredity. —In the 
accounts of the George Junior Republic, 
published in recent issues of The R. 
N.-Y., it was stated that the boys, many 
of whom come from most undesirable 
surroundings, turn out exceedingly well. 
It is the change in surroundings which 
gives them a chance. Mr. Riis said that 
he thinks more of environment than of 
heredity; if he had to believe in heredity 
only, he would just give up. 
A Cat Story. —The speaker said that 
Mrs. Houghton, the editor of The Evan¬ 
gelist, gives the best illustration of what 
the tenement life means to the children, 
in the story of a friend on Staten Island, 
who has a house full of children. The 
children have kittens and a sand heap 
and a dog; that dog considers it his 
special mission in life to kill those kit¬ 
tens; when he finishes one, he digs a 
hole in the sand heap, and buries it 
there; then he walks off, wagging his 
tail with a righteous air, as much as to 
say he has done nothing whatever to be 
ashamed of. The children know him, 
and are always on the lookout to save 
the kittens, but one day while Mrs. 
Houghton was sitting in the parlor with 
her friend, in came one of the girls and 
dropped down a dead kitten before them, 
exclaiming indignantly, “There, Mamma, 
is a perfectly good cat spoiled.’’ Per¬ 
fectly good children are spoiled by tene¬ 
ment houses; spoiled by the everlasting 
contact of 20 families in a house; one 
cannot realize what this means. As 
good children as yours or mine are spoil¬ 
ed there every day in the week. 
about improving his mind. Miss Mayer 
remarked to me last year that she 
thought people in the country were 
sometimes rather disappointed in their 
first view of fresh-air children sent out 
of the city by some charitable society. 
The children are well washed, many of . 
them pretty, and are usually dressed in 
garments which, being given to the So¬ 
ciety, are good and well made. Mr. Riis 
. told of a woman who sent back some of 
these little guests, saying that she want¬ 
ed real slum children. They sent her a 
pair, fresh from the streets, unkempt and 
unwashed, and their hostess was horri¬ 
fied; she said tnat she wanted slum 
children, but not that kind! It is in the 
education of such children that the Set¬ 
tlements find their strongest hope, in 
looking towards a time when, though 
the poor are still with us, the slums 
shall be no more. e. t. r. 
With the Procession. 
... .A woman’s figure ought to be seven 
times the height of her own head. That 
is the perfect proportion, so it is said. 
_There was a meeting of octogenar¬ 
ians of Worcester County, Mass., in 
Winchendon, the other day. There were 
16 of them, and their average age was 86 
years. All were Baptists.—N. Y. Times. 
....At a recent meeting in Manchester, 
Canon Hicks read an instructive extract 
from Boswell's Life of Johnson, show¬ 
ing that, in a previous generation, the 
defenders of the slave-trade used very 
much the same arguments as are em¬ 
ployed to-day to support the drink traf¬ 
fic. Dr. Johnson, who was in many re¬ 
spects ahead of his time, condemned the 
took the chances offered to train them¬ 
selves so that they can do the fine and 
delicate work which must be done if we 
are to raise our civilization above a 
purely material basis.—Theodore Roose¬ 
velt. 
....Never bear more than one kind of 
trouble at a time. Some people bear 
three kinds—all they have had, all they 
have now, and all they expect to have. 
....Live so that you need not change 
your mode of living, even though your 
sudden departure were immediately pre¬ 
dicted to you. When you so live, you 
will look upon death without fear.—C. 
H. Spurgeon. 
....Ceose to the River Ver and only a 
few yards from St. Alban’s Abbey, 
stands the oldest inhabited house in 
England. It was built in the time of 
King Offa, of Mercia, about tne year 795, 
and is thus over 1,100 years old. It is 
of octagonal shape, the upper portion 
being of oak, and the lower walls of 
great thickness. At one time, it was 
fortified, and bore the name of St. Ger¬ 
man’s Gate. 
....A weed known American society 
woman, who recently wrote to Pader¬ 
ewski for "a lock of hair,” has received 
the following reply, signed by the great 
pianist’s amanuensis: “Dear Madame— 
M. Paderewski directs me to say that it 
affords him much pleasure to comply 
with your request. You fail to specify 
whose hair you desire, so he sends 
samples of that of his valet, cook, waiter 
and a mattress belonging to M. Pullman, 
proprietor of the coach in which he 
traveled in America.”—Phila. Record. 
_Modern Manna.— In Arabia, says a 
writer in La Nature, the Arabs some¬ 
times find in the sandy deserts a kind of 
eagle of the age of 56, a Golden eagle of 
46, and a Sea eagle of 42, and many 
other birds of the age of 40 downwards, 
are also recorded.—Knowledge. 
... .In 1874, writing from Central Africa, 
where he was striving to crush out the 
slave-trade, General Gordon said to his 
sister: “I gave you ‘Watson on Content¬ 
ment.’ It is the true expositor of how 
happiness is to be obtained, i. e., by sub¬ 
mission to the will of God, whatever 
that will may be. He who can say he 
realizes this has overcome the world 
and its trials. The quiet, peaceful life 
of our Lord was solely due to His sub¬ 
mission to God’s will. There will be 
times when a strain may come on one, 
but it is only for a time, and as the 
strain so will your strength be.”— 
Youth’s Companion. 
....Several years ago, a young man 
who was preparing to take holy orders, 
asked an eminent Head of an Oxford 
College to recommend him a course of 
theological study. The old scholar med¬ 
itated for a time, and then said, slowly, 
“I think—I would recommend you—to 
read—the Gospel by St. Matthew.—And 
then—it might be well—for you to read 
—the Gospel by St. Mark.” Another 
pause. “When you have done that—you 
had better go on—to read—the Gospel 
by St. Luke.” Another minute or two 
passed in silence. “When you have read 
these—I think—yes, I would really ad¬ 
vise you—by all means—to read with 
much care—the Gospel by St. John.” 
B.&B. 
we mean business 
Parental Authority. —One point es¬ 
pecially dwelt upon was the importance 
of parental authority. Many of these 
children in the tenements have no idea 
of obedience, they have never been 
taught self-restraint, and the only 
shadow of authority that they recognize 
is the hated policeman with his club. 
Reformatory statistics show that 50 per 
cent of the boys thus incarcerated had 
bad homes, and nine per cent good 
homes; of the other 41 per cent we have 
no statistics. But 99 per cent of these 
boys kept bad company. 
The Pies Came Back. —Mr. Riis told 
of a Christmas dinner he had attended 
at the Newsboys’ Lodging House, during 
the time Theodore Roosevelt was Police 
Commissioner. The little newsboys are 
very fond of pie, and on this auspicious 
occasion each one was to have a little 
pie all to himself. There was a pie for 
each boy, but when all were seated, 
eight small hands were held up, and 
eight shrill voices said: “I ain’t got no 
pie.” The superintendent, who knew 
the boys and their ways, remarked, 
“That’s funny; there was one for each 
of you,” and then he walked around the 
table tapping the boys’ shirt bosoms to 
see if he could locate the missing pies. 
Mr. Riis wears glasses, and though un¬ 
like Gov. Roosevelt, he has a some¬ 
what similar cast of features, which 
gives him a resemblance to the news¬ 
paper pictures of the Governor. Sud¬ 
denly one of the boys, who had been 
watching him intently, took his knife 
out of his mouth and remarked: “Oh, I 
know you; I’ve seen your picture in the 
papers; you’re Teddy Roosevelt,” and 
as Mr. Riis looked down the silent table, 
he saw eight little pies come stealing 
over the edge. That seems a pretty good 
tribute to the personality of New York’s 
Governor. 
Our Future Citizens. —The workers 
in the Henry Street Settlement say that 
the education of the children is the great 
feature for the regeneration of the 
slums, but education must be supple¬ 
mented by attention to bodily needs. 
We can’t expect a half-starved urchin 
who hasn’t even washed the grime off his 
face for months, to care particularly 
;lave-trade. 
...The Archbishop of Canterbury re- 
:ently said, “If the great mass of well- 
;o-do English people were to become 
,otal abstainers they would do more to 
nake the poorer classes happy, more to 
jet rid of idleness, more to get rid of 
lolly, which led so many of them wrong, 
.han if they spent all they possessed m 
vorks of so-called charity.” 
_Bruce, the well-known Abyssinian 
traveler, gives the following excellent 
idvice:—“I lay down, then, as a posi¬ 
tive rule of health, that spirits and all 
fermented liquors should be given up, 
md, for fear of temptation, not so much 
as be carried along with you, unless as 
a medicine for outward application. 
Spring or running water, if you can find 
it, is to be your only drink.' 
....The success of the battle depends 
quite as much on the courage and obe¬ 
dience of the soldiers, as on the wisdom 
and generalship of the officers; and so 
the welfare of the world is more con¬ 
cerned in the faithful discharge of duty 
by the thousands who lead quiet and ob¬ 
scure lives, than by the great achieve¬ 
ments of the few gilded ones. 
....Sultan, a Newfoundland dog, has 
just died in France. He was noted for 
having arrested a thief, captured an as¬ 
sassin, rescued a child from drowning, 
and saved a man who attempted suicide. 
The Society for the Protection of Ani¬ 
mals presented him with a collar. Re¬ 
cently he prevented a castle from being 
robbed, and was poisoned, it is supposed, 
by those who attempted the robbery. 
... .There has been a good deal of dis¬ 
cussion recently—I am thankful to say 
that I believe that it is of a one-sided 
kind—due to the statements of certain 
gentlemen who have amassed large for¬ 
tunes, to the effect that they do not be¬ 
lieve in a college education. This coun¬ 
try could better afford to lose every man 
in it who has amassed a large fortune 
than to lose one-half of its college-bred 
men. We can get on without the men 
of immense fortunes. Sometimes we 
can do very well indeed without them, 
but we could not do the best work pos¬ 
sible to be done save for tne men who 
fungus which, apparently, resembles the 
manna of the Bible, and which serves as 
food for both men and camels when no 
better is to be had. It appears upon the 
sand after every rain, sometimes in lit¬ 
tle heaps. It is of a grayish color, and 
the separate masses are about as big as 
peas. It has a sweetish taste, and is 
nutritious. 
_The Sketch publishes the photo¬ 
graph of a piece of ordnance which 
was found in the bed of the river 
Thames at Twickenham. Its age is 
computed at 400 years. It consists of 
an iron tube with thick bands of the 
same metal welded on to it at intervals 
of a few inches, and has a total length 
of 28 inches. Tnis primitive form of 
cannon is without trunnions, and it rest¬ 
ed in a rough wooden block which serv¬ 
ed as its carriage. 
_Governor Roosevelt said recently, 
in a public address, that a man is bound 
to work for his living if he needs it. if 
not, he is bound to work for the good of 
the public. The old socialism was ex¬ 
pressed by the phrase, “The world owes 
me a living.” The new socialism, on 
the contrary, is embodied in Mr. Tait’s 
little tablet in a magnificent English 
gallery: “This art collection is present¬ 
ed to the city of London as a thank- 
offering for 30 years of business pros¬ 
perity.” 
....A domestic goose was recorded by 
Willughby as having been killed on ac¬ 
count of its destructiveness at the age 
of 80. A Mute swan, called “Old Jack,” 
died at the age of 70 in St. James’ Park 
in 1840. Mr. Dresser, in his Birds of 
Europe, gives an instance of a raven 
having lived 69 years. Mr. Meade- 
Waldo has in captivity a pair of Eagle 
owls, one of which is 68 and tne other 
53 years old. Since 1864, these birds 
have bred regularly, and have now 
reared 93 young ones. A Bateleur eagie 
and a condor in the Zoological Gardens 
at Amsterdam are still alive at the re¬ 
spective ages of 55 and 52. An Imperial 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
This store doesn’t present a claim so 
half-hearted as is given all the consider¬ 
ation it merits when you say, “I’ll try 
and think it over.” 
Nothing half-hearted about the es¬ 
tablishment, or its methods. 
Kind of evidence we’ll send you will 
appeal to you straightforwardly—have 
tnat true ring of merit you can’t help 
but pay attention to. And you'll 
awaken to the fact that we’re in dead 
earnest about showing you advantage 
every time you have ary goods to buy. 
Sounds like pretty strong talk, doesn't 
it—but once you come in contact with 
this store’s goods and prices, you’ll 
understand we’ve got good reason lor 
urgent talk—in your interest. 
We’ll send samples of silks, dress 
goods or wash goods soon as you give 
us an idea of what kind, or styles for 
what purpose you’re interested in—and 
let goods and prices speak for them¬ 
selves. 
Exceptional variety of good, useful, 
inexpensive wash goods, 5c., 
7%c., 10c., 12%c. 
25 to 35 cent ail wool 32 to 40 inch 
dress goods, 15c.—neat mixtures ana 
fancies—pay you to buy them now for 
girls’ school wear in the Fall. 
Superb summery silks 50c.—Foulards 
and Indias. Styles that will win en¬ 
thusiastic approval. 
BOGGS Sc BUHL, 
1 Department G, 
ALLEGHENY, PA. 
S13.25BUYS A $25.00 BICYCLE 
Don't buy a bicycle before you write for our 1899 
^Catalogue. 2nd hand wheels from 0«) upG nomonky 
.J/UKWUIHKD n Ad»*nro. Addrat VICTO R M A N F G CO- 
i/ Dept. (1 51) 101 to 107 Plymouth PL, Chicago, 111* 
S 
TENOGRAPHY 
tite-writing, 
PENMANSHIP. 
HOOK KEEPING, 
etc., thoroughly taught by mail, or personally 
at Eastman, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Situations 
furnished Catalogue free. 
C. C. GAINES, Box 410, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
NewYork State Fair, 
SYRACUSE , N. Y„ 
September 4 to 9, 1899. 
$25,000 in Premiums. 
New Buildings, New Water Plant. 
Great Attractions. 
Premium lists now ready. Apply to 
JAS. B. DOCHAKTY, Sec’y, Albany, N. Y. 
Special Railroad Facilities. Reduced Kates, and all 
exhibits unloaded from cars on 
the Fair Grounds. 
