ournals--especially the cheap ones--some of which, however, are dear
bargains at a penny. They swarm around the City Hall, and in the eastern
section of the city, below Canal street; and in the former locality, half
a dozen will sometimes surround a luckless pedestrian, thrusting their
wares in his face, and literally forcing him to buy one to get rid of
them. The moment he shows the least disposition to yield, they commence
fighting among themselves for the "honor" of serving him. They are
ragged and dirty. Some have no coats, no shoes, and no hat. Some are
simply stupid, others are bright, intelligent little fellows, who would
make good and useful men if they could have a chance.

[Picture: THE NEWSBOYS.]

The majority of these boys live at home, but many of them are wanderers
in the streets, selling papers at times, and begging at others. Some pay
their earnings, which rarely amount to more than thirty cents per day, to
their mothers--others spend them in tobacco, strong drink, and in
visiting the low-class theatres and concert halls.

Formerly, these little fellows suffered very much from exposure and
hunger. In the cold nights of winter, they slept on the stairways of the
newspaper offices, in old boxes or barrels, under door steps, and
sometimes sought a "warm bed" on the street gratings of the printing
offices, where the warm steam from the vaults below could pass over them.

The Bootblacks rank next to the newsboys. They are generally older;
being from ten to sixteen years of age. Some are both newsboys and
bootblacks, carrying on these pursuits at different hours of the day.

They provide themselves with the usual bootblack's "kit," of box and
brushes. They are sharp, quick-witted boys, with any number of bad
habits, and are always ready to fall into criminal practices when enticed
into them by older hands. Burglars make constant use of them to enter
dwellings and stores and open the doors from the inside. Sometimes these
little fellows undertake burglaries on their own account, but they are
generally caught by the police.

The bootblacks are said to form a regular confraternity, with fixed laws.
They are said to have a "captain," who is the chief of the order, and to
pay an initiation fee of from two dollars downwards. This money is said
to find its way to the pockets of the captain, whose duty it is to "punch
the head" of any member violating the rules of the society.