Lights and Shadows of New York Life

J >> James D. McCabe >> Lights and Shadows of New York Life

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III. POLICY DEALING.

Policy dealing is closely allied with the lottery business, and is
carried on by the agents for their own benefit. It is one of the most
dangerous forms of gambling practised in the city. It consists of
betting on certain numbers, within the range of the lottery schemes,
being drawn at the noon or evening drawings. You can take any three
numbers of the seventy-eight, and bet, or "policy" on them. You may bet
on single numbers, or on combinations. The single number may come out
anywhere in the drawing. It is called a "Day Number," and the player
deposits one dollar in making his bet. If the number is drawn, he wins
five dollars. The stake is always one dollar, unless a number of bets of
the same description are taken. Two numbers constitute a "Saddle," and
both being drawn, the player wins from twenty-four dollars to thirty-two
dollars. Three numbers constitute a "Gig," and win $150 to $225. Four
numbers make a "Horse," and win $640. A "Capital Saddle" is a bet that
two numbers will be among the first three drawn, and wins $500. A
"Station Number" is a bet that a given number will come out in a certain
place--for instance, that twenty-four will be the tenth number
drawn,--and this wins sixty dollars. Any number of "Saddles," "Gigs," or
"Horses," may be taken by a single player.

All this seems very simple, and indeed it is so simple that the merest
child ought to understand it. The policy dealers know that the chances
are always against a single number being drawn, and still greater against
the drawing of a combination. Therefore they offer an enormous advance
upon the amount staked, knowing that they are as sure of winning as they
could desire to be. A man might play policy for a year, and never see
his numbers drawn. Yet thousands annually throw away large sums in this
wretched game. A large share of the earnings of the poor go in policy
playing. It seems to exercise a terrible fascination over its victims.
They concentrate all their efforts on devising systems and lucky numbers,
and continue betting in the vain hope that fortune will yet reward them
with a lucky "gig" or "saddle." All the while they grow poorer, and the
policy dealers richer. The negroes are most inveterate policy players.
They are firm believers in dreams and dream books. Every dream has its
corresponding number set down in the books. To dream of a man, is one;
of a woman, five; of both, fifteen; of a colored man, fourteen; of a
"_genteel_ colored man," eleven; and so on. A publishing firm in Ann
street sells several thousand copies of these dream books every month.
The negroes are not the only purchasers. Even men accounted "shrewd" in
Wall street are among the number. Indeed Wall street furnishes some of
the most noted policy players in the city.

The policy offices are generally dingy little holes, and may be
recognized by the invariable sign, "Exchange," over the door or in the
window. They are located principally in the most wretched quarters of
the city.

Visitors to the Lunatic Asylum and the Almshouse may see a number of
instances of the fatal results of policy playing.

LXVI. PETER COOPER.

Peter Cooper was born in New York, on the 12th of February, 1791. His
maternal grandfather, John Campbell, was Mayor of New York and Deputy
Quartermaster General during the Revolution, and his father was a
lieutenant in the Continental army. After the return of peace,
Lieutenant Cooper resumed his avocation as a hatter, in which he
continued until his death. It required close attention to business and
hard work to make a living in those days, and as soon as young Peter was
old enough to pick the fur from the rabbit skins which were used in
making hats, he was set to work. He had no opportunity to go to school.
"I have never had any time to get an education," he once said, "and all
that I know I have had to pick up as I went along." He continued in the
hat trade until he had thoroughly mastered it, and afterwards became a
brewer, pursuing this trade for two years, at the end of which time he
apprenticed himself to a coachmaker. Upon completing his term at this
trade, he engaged with his brother in the cloth-shearing business, and
continued in it until the general introduction of foreign cloths, after
the War of 1812, made it unprofitable. He then became a cabinet maker,
but soon after opened a small grocery store on the present site of the
Cooper Institute.

With his savings he purchased a woollen factory, which he conducted
successfully, and some time after this, enlarged his operations by
manufacturing glue. In 1830 he erected large iron works at Canton, one
of the suburbs of Baltimore, and he subsequently carried on extensive
iron and wire works at Trenton, New Jersey. The greater part of his
fortune has been gained by the manufacture of iron and glue. He was the
first person to roll wrought iron beams for fire-proof buildings, and
soon after opening his Baltimore works, he manufactured there, from his
own designs, the first locomotive ever made in America. He has been
interested in various enterprises, the majority of which have proved
successful, and has shown a remarkable capacity for conducting a number
of entirely different undertakings at the same time. He is now very
wealthy, and has made every dollar of his fortune by his own unaided
exertions. He resides in a handsome mansion in Grammercy Park, but lives
simply and without ostentation.

He does not enjoy the marked respect and popularity of which he never
fails to receive hearty evidences when he appears in public, because of
his success alone. He is one of the principal benefactors of the city,
and has placed the whole community under heavy obligations to him by his
noble gift to the public of the Cooper Institute, which institution has
been described in another chapter.

He conceived the idea of this institution more than forty years ago, and
long before he was able to carry it out. Having been much impressed with
a description of the _Ecoles d'Industrie_ of Paris, he was resolved that
his native city should have at least one similar institution. As soon as
he felt able to do so, he began the erection of the Cooper Institute.
The entire cost was borne by him, and the actual outlay exceeded the
estimate upon which he had begun the work by nearly thirty thousand
dollars. He had many obstacles, mechanical, as well as pecuniary, to
overcome, and when the building was completed and paid for, he found
himself comparatively a poor man. Almost every dollar of his fortune had
been expended upon his great gift to the working men and women of New
York. He persevered, however, and his Institute began the career of
usefulness which it has since pursued.

Since then he has prospered to a greater extent than ever, and has
acquired a large fortune. He has taken an active part in the extension
of the telegraph interests of the country, and is now a stockholder and
an officer in the Atlantic Cable Companies. He is very popular among all
classes of citizens, and his appearance at public meetings is always
greeted with applause.

[Picture: PETER COOPER.]

Mr. Cooper is of medium height, and is rather thin in person. He has a
profusion of silvery white hair, and wears his beard under his chin, with
the lip and chin clean shaven. His large gold spectacles give a peculiar
expression to his eyes, which are small and gray. His face is sharp and
thin, and very intelligent, and one of the most thoroughly amiable and
benevolent countenances to be met with in New York. It is emphatically
the face of a good man.

LXVII. THE "HEATHEN CHINEE."

According to the Census of 1870, there were twenty-three Chinese
inhabitants of New York, but the actual number of Celestials in the city
at present is believed to be about seventy-five. The most of these are
very poor, and nearly all reside in the Five Points district, generally
in Baxter street. Some of them are wretched and depraved, but the
majority are industrious and well behaved.

The Chinese candy and cigar sellers are well known. They stand on the
street corners, by little wooden tables covered with broken bits of
candy, which they sell at a penny a piece. They are dirty, dull, and
hopeless looking. No one ever sees them smile, and they rarely pay any
attention to what is passing on the street. Of all the dwellers in the
great city they seem the most utterly forlorn. The patience with which
they remain at their posts, day after day, and in all weathers, is
touching, and one cannot help pitying them. Their earnings must be very
small, but they manage to live on them.

The cigar makers are more fortunate. They buy cheap remnants of tobacco
from the dealers in that article, and at night make these lots up into
cigars, averaging from 150 to 180 cigars per night. They dispose of
these the next day at three cents apiece, and some of them earn as much
as $30 or $35 per week. The cigar maker has a peculiar song which he
sings or chants while rolling out his cigars, and varies this chant by
occasionally puffing a cigar.

There are scarcely any Chinese women in the city, but nearly all the
Chinamen are married. They have a great fondness for Irish wives, and
nearly all have two, and some of them three wives apiece. Families of
this size are very expensive luxuries, and it takes all John's industry
to provide for them. A gentleman not long since asked one of these much
married individuals how he managed to keep his wives from fighting. He
was answered that they got along very peaceably together. Upon being
pressed, however, John admitted that they did fight sometimes.

"Then how do you manage them?"

"When he fightee," said John, dryly, "me turnee him out in the yardee.
Me lockee the door, and let him fightee out. He git tired soon, and me
let him in. Me--what you call him?--boss here."

The children by these queer unions seem to be healthy, and nearly all of
them speak Chinese in talking to their fathers, and their English has a
decided brogue. Many of the Chinese decorate their houses with the
letters they have received from home. These letters are curious
collections of hieroglyphics, some of which are executed in brilliant
colors.

There is a Chinese boarding house for sailors of that nationality in
Baxter street, kept by a Chinaman and his wife, who is also an Oriental.
These Chinese sailors are simply cooks or stewards of vessels arriving
here from China or California, and not able-bodied seamen. They do not
frequent the ordinary sailor's boarding houses, and are never seen in the
dance houses or hells of Water street. They pass their time on shore
quietly in their countryman's establishment, and some of them use this
season of leisure in trying to acquaint themselves with the English
language. All are opium smokers.

[Picture: CHINESE CANDY DEALER.]

The main room of the boarding house in Baxter street is fitted up with a
series of beds or berths, one above another, extending around it. At
almost any time one may find several Chinese lying in these berths
smoking opium. The opium pipe is a large piece of wood pierced down the
centre with a fine hole. The stem is very thick, and is about eighteen
inches long. The smoker has before him a box of soft gum opium and a
small lamp. He takes a little steel rod, picks off a small piece of
opium with it, holds it in the flame of the lamp for a few minutes, and
when it has become thoroughly ignited, places it in the bowl of his pipe
and puffs away, repeating the operation until he is satisfied, or is
insensible.

They are very fond of cards. Those used by them are brought from China,
and are curiosities. They are about one inch in width and five inches
long, and are gorgeously painted with old time Chinese men and women. To
each card there is attached a certain value. The cards are divided into
six lots of equal size. Each of the two players chooses one of these
packs alternately. The first player places a card on the table, and his
opponent places another immediately across it. The others are placed
obliquely to these, in the form of a star, and each player scores the
value of his card as he lays it down. The game is won by the player who
has the largest score.

Altogether, in spite of the misconduct of a few, the Chinese of New York
are, barring their bigamous affection for the Irish women, a very
innocent and well-behaved class.

LXVIII. STREET CHILDREN.

In spite of the labors of the Missions and the Reformatory Institutions,
there are ten thousand children living on the streets of New York,
gaining their bread by blacking boots, by selling newspapers, watches,
pins, etc., and by stealing. Some are thrust into the streets by
dissolute parents, some are orphans, some are voluntary outcasts, and
others drift here from the surrounding country. Wherever they may come
from, or however they may get here, they are here, and they are nearly
all leading a vagrant life which will ripen into crime or pauperism.

The newsboys constitute an important division of this army of homeless
children. You see them everywhere, in all parts of the city, but they
are most numerous in and about Printing House Square, near the offices of
the great dailies. They rend the air and deafen you with their shrill
cries. They surround you on the sidewalk, and almost force you to buy
their papers. They climb up the steps of the stage, thrust their grim
little faces into the windows, and bring nervous passengers to their feet
with their shrill yells; or, scrambling into a street car, at the risk of
being kicked into the street by a brutal conductor, they will offer you
their papers in such an earnest, appealing way, that, nine times out of
ten, you buy from sheer pity for the child.

The boys who sell the morning papers are very few in number. The
newspaper stands seem to have the whole monopoly of this branch of the
trade, and the efforts of the newsboys are confined to the afternoon
journals--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. The society
fixes the price of blacking a pair of boots or shoes at ten cents, and
severely punishes those who work for a less sum. They are at liberty,
however, to receive any sum that may be given them in excess of this
price. They surround their calling with a great deal of mystery, and
those who profess to be members of the society flatly refuse to
communicate anything concerning its place of meeting, or its
transactions.

A large part of the earnings of the bootblacks is spent for tobacco and
liquors. These children are regular patrons of the Bowery Theatre and
the low-class concert halls. Their course of life leads to miserable
results. Upon reaching the age of seventeen or eighteen the bootblack
generally abandons his calling, and as he is unfit for any other
employment by reason of his laziness and want of skill, be becomes a
loafer, a bummer, or a criminal.

For the purpose of helping these and other outcasts, the Children's Aid
Society was organized nineteen years ago. Since then it has labored
actively among them, and has saved many from their wretched lives, and
has enabled them to become respectable and useful members of society.

The Children's Aid Society extends its labors to every class of poor and
needy children that can be reached, but makes the street children the
especial objects of its care. It conducts five lodging houses, in which
shelter and food are furnished at nominal prices to boys and girls, and
carries on nineteen day and eleven evening Industrial Schools in various
parts of the city. The success of the society is greatly, if not
chiefly, due to the labors and management of Charles Loring Brace, its
secretary, who has been the good genius of the New York street children
for nearly twenty years.

The best known, and one of the most interesting establishments of the
Children's Aid Society, is the _Newsboys' Lodging House_, in Park Place,
near Broadway. It was organized in March, 1854, and, after many hard
struggles, has now reached a position of assured success. It is not a
charity in any sense that could offend the self-respect and independence
of its inmates. Indeed, it relies for its success mainly in cultivating
these qualities in them. It is in charge of Mr. Charles O'Connor, who is
assisted in its management by his wife. Its hospitality is not confined
to newsboys. Bootblacks, street venders, and juvenile vagrants of all
kinds are welcomed, and every effort is made to induce them to come
regularly that they may profit by the influences and instruction of the
house. Boys pay five cents for supper (and they get an excellent meal),
five cents for lodging, and five cents for breakfast. Those who are
found unable to pay are given shelter and food without charge, and if
they are willing to work for themselves are assisted in doing so.

The boys come in toward nightfall, in time for supper, which is served
between six and seven o'clock. Many, however, do not come until after
the theatres close. If they are strangers, their names and a description
of them are recorded in the register. "Boys have come in," says Mr.
Brace, "who did not know their own names. They are generally known to
one another by slang names, such as the following: 'Mickety,' 'Round
Hearts,' 'Horace Greeley,' 'Wandering Jew,' 'Fat Jack,' 'Pickle Nose,'
'Cranky Jim,' 'Dodge-me-John,' 'Tickle-me-foot,' 'Know-Nothing Mike,'
'O'Neill the Great,' 'Professor,' and innumerable others. They have also
a slang dialect."

Upon being registered, the boy deposits his cap, overcoat, if he has one,
comforter, boots, "kit," or other impedimenta, in a closet, of which
there are a number, for safe keeping. He passes then to the bath tub,
where he receives a good scrubbing. His hair is combed, and if he is in
need of clothing, he receives it from a stock of second hand garments
given by charitable individuals for the use of the society. Supper is
then served, after which the boys assemble in the class room, which is
also the chapel. Here they engage in study, or are entertained by
lectures or addresses from visitors. They also sing hymns and familiar
songs, and the sitting usually terminates about nine o'clock with the
recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the singing of the Doxology. After
this they may go to bed, or play dominoes for an hour or two longer, or
repair to the gymnasium.

On Sunday evening divine service is held in the chapel. Says Mr. Brace:
"There is something unspeakably solemn and affecting in the crowded and
attentive meetings of these boys, of a Sunday evening, and in the thought
that you speak for a few minutes on the high themes of eternity to a
young audience who to-morrow will be battling with misery, temptation,
and sin in every shape and form, and to whom your words may be the last
they ever hear of either friendly sympathy or warning."

"The effect on the boys," he adds, "of this constant, patient, religious
instruction, we know to have been most happy. Some have acknowledged it,
living, and have shown better lives. Others have spoken of it in the
hospitals and on their death-beds, or have written their gratitude from
the battle field."

The officers of the Lodging House use their influence to induce the boys,
who are the most notoriously improvident creatures in the city, to save
their earnings. They have met with considerable success. There is now a
Newsboys' Savings Bank, which began in this way: A former superintendent,
Mr. Tracy, caused a large table to be provided and placed in the Lodging
House. This table contained "a drawer divided into separate
compartments, each with a slit in the lid, into which the boys dropped
their pennies, each box being numbered and reserved for a depositor. The
drawer was carefully locked, and, after an experience of one or two
forays on it from petty thieves who crept in with the others, it was
fastened to the floor, and the under part lined with tin. The
Superintendent called the lads together, told them the object of the
Bank, which was to make them save their money, and put it to vote how
long it should be kept locked. They voted for two months, and thus, for
all this time, the depositors could not get at their savings. Some
repented, and wanted their money, but the rule was rigid. At the end of
the period, the Bank was opened in the presence of all the lodgers, with
much ceremony, and the separate deposits were made known, amid an immense
deal of 'chaffing' from one another. The depositors were amazed at the
amount of their savings; the increase seemed to awaken in them the
instinct of property, and they at once determined to deposit the amounts
in the city savings banks, or to buy clothes with them. Very little was
spent foolishly. This simple contrivance has done more to break up the
gambling and extravagant habits of the class than any other one
influence. The Superintendent now pays a large interest on deposits, and
the Trustees have offered prizes to the lads who save the most." The
deposits of the boys now foot up an aggregate of about $1800.

The boys are assisted to earn their own support. Says Mr. Brace, writing
in 1870:

"Through the liberality of one of our warmest friends, and generous
trustee, B. J. Howland, Esq., a fund, which we call the 'Howland Fund,'
was established. He contributed $10, to which other patrons added their
contributions subsequently. The object of this fund is to aid poor and
needy boys, and supply them with the means to start in business. We have
loaned from this fund during the year $155.66, on which the borrowers
have realized a profit of $381.42. It will be seen that they made a
profit of 246 per cent. We loan it in sums of 5 cents and upward; in
many cases it has been returned in a few hours. At the date of our last
report there was due and outstanding of this fund $11.05, of which $5 has
since been paid, leaving $6.05 unpaid."

The work of the Lodging House for seventeen years is thus summed up by
the same authority:

"The Lodging House has existed seventeen years. During that time we have
lodged 82,519 different boys, restored 6178 lost and missing boys to
their friends, provided 6008 with homes and employment, furnished 523,488
lodgings, and 373,366 meals. The expense of all this has been
$109,325.26, of which amount the boys have contributed $28,956.67,
leaving actual expenses over and above the receipts from the boys
$80,368.59, being about $1 to each boy."