od, steady cash boys are
almost always in demand. Intelligence commands a premium in this
department, and a bright, well recommended lad will generally be taken on
trial. He starts out with a salary of $3 per week. If he shows
capacity, he is promoted as rapidly as possible. The highest salary paid
to a cash boy is $8 per week, but one who earns this amount does not stay
long in this position. He is soon made a salesman, and may then go as
high in the house as his abilities will carry him. These boys generally
have a bright and lively appearance. Besides acting as cash boys, they
are sometimes sent on errands, they attend the doors, and do sundry other
useful acts. They are strictly watched, and any improper conduct is
punished with an instantaneous dismissal. They generally belong to
respectable families, and live at home with their parents. Many of them
attend the night schools after business hours, and thus prepare for the
great life struggle which is before them. Such boys are apt to do well
in the world. Many, however, after being released from the stores,
imitate the ways of the clerks and salesmen. They affect a fastness
which is painful to see in boys so young. They sport an abundance of
flashy jewelry, patronize the cheap places of amusement, and are seen in
the low concert saloons, and other vile dens of the city. It is not
difficult to predict the future of these boys.

The principal retail dry goods stores of New York are those of A. T.
Stewart & Co., Lord & Taylor, Arnold, Constable & Co., and James McCreery
& Co.

The house of A. T. Stewart & Co. is the best known to persons visiting
the city. Indeed there are very few Americans who have not heard of and
longed to visit "Stewart's." It is, besides, the largest and most
complete establishment of its kind in the world. It occupies the entire
block bounded by Broadway, Fourth avenue, Ninth and Tenth streets. The
principal front is on Broadway, and the public entrances are on that
street and on the Fourth avenue. The Ninth street entrances are reserved
exclusively for the employes of the house. Many persons speak of the
edifice as a "marble palace," but this is incorrect. It is constructed
of iron, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and its fronts are so
thickly studded with windows that they may be said to consist almost
entirely of glass. It is five stories in height above the street, and
above the fifth story there is an interior at