times over
each year, in preventing the growth of thieves and criminals. They are
agencies of pure humanity and almost unmingled good. Their only possible
reproach could be, that some of their wild subjects are soon beyond
their reach, and have been too deeply tainted with the vices of
street-life to be touched even by kindness, education, or religion. The
number who are saved, however, are most encouragingly large.

The Newsboys' Lodging-house is by no means, however, an entire burden on
the charity of the community. During 1870 the lads themselves paid
$3,349 toward its expense.

The following is a brief description of the rooms during the past five
years:

The first floor is divided into various compartments--a large
dining-room, where one hundred and fifty boys can sit down to a table; a
kitchen, laundry, storeroom, servants' room, and rooms for the family of
the superintendent The next story is partitioned into a school-room,
gymnasium, and bath and wash rooms, plentifully supplied with hot and
cold water. The hot water and the heat of the rooms are supplied by a
steam-boiler on the lower story. The two upper stories are filled with
neat iron bedsteads, having two beds each, arranged like ships' bunks
over each other; of these there are two hundred and sixty. Here are also
the water-vats, into which the many barrelsful used daily are pumped by
the engine. The rooms are high and dry, and the floors clean.

It is a commentary on the housekeeping and accommodations that for
eighteen years no case of contagious disease has ever occurred among
these thousands of boys.

The New York Newsboys' Lodging-house has been in existence eighteen
years. During these years it has lodged 91,326 different boys, restored
7,278 boys to friends, provided 5,126 with homes, furnished 576,485
lodgings and 469,461 meals. The expense of all this has been $132,888.
Of this amount the boys have contributed $32,306.

That the Lodging-house has had a vigorous growth, is shown by the
following table:

TABULAR STATEMENT SINCE ORGANIZATION

========================================================
| | | | |
| | | | Return- |
YEAR | No. of | No. of | No. of | ed to |
| Boys. | Lodgings.| Meals. | friends.|
| | | | |
| | |