. There are many,
however, who are not so lucky. These are the owners or renters of the
majority of the street organs, the vile, discordant instruments which set
all of one's nerves a tingling. They earn comparatively little, and are
not tolerated by the irate householders whose tastes they offend. The
police treat them with but small consideration. The poor wretches are
nearly always in want, and soon full into vagrancy, and some into vice
and crime. Some of them are worthless vagabonds, and nearly all the
Italians accused of crime in the city are included in their number. One
of these men is to be seen on the Bowery at almost any time. He seats
himself on the pavement, with his legs tucked under him, and turns the
crank of an instrument which seems to be a doleful compromise between a
music box and an accordion. In front of this machine is a tin box for
pennies, and by the side of it is a card on which is printed an appeal to
the charitable. At night a flickering tallow dip sheds a dismal glare
around. The man's head is tied up in a piece of white muslin, his eyes
are closed, and his face and posture are expressive of the most intense
misery. He turns the crank slowly, and the organ groans and moans in the
most ludicrously mournful manner. At one side of the queer instrument
sits a woman with a babe at her breast, on the other side sits a little
boy, and a second boy squats on the ground in front. Not a sound is
uttered by any of the group, who are arranged with genuine skill. Their
whole attitude is expressive of the most fearful misery. The groans of
the organ cannot fail to attract attention, and there are few
kind-hearted persons who can resist the sight. Their pennies and
ten-cent stamps are showered into the tin box, which is never allowed to
contain more than two or three pennies. The man is an Italian, and is
said by the police to be a worthless vagabond. Yet he is one of the most
successful musicians of his class in the city.

The arrangements of a street organ being entirely automatic, any one who
can turn a crank can manage one of these instruments. Another class of
street musicians are required to possess a certain amount of musical
skill in order to be successful. These are the strolling harpers and
violinists. Like the organ grinders, they are Italians. Very few of
them earn much money, and the majority live in want and misery.

Some of these strollers are men, or half-grown youths