The Children of the Poor Part 20

This volume is the result of fifteen years' familiarity as police reporter with the seamy side of New York life. It is, however, by no means a mere record of personal observations, but a careful, comprehensive, and systematic presentation of a thesis with ill.u.s.trations. It is philosophic as well as expository, and from beginning to end is an indictment of the tenement system as it exists at present in New York.

No page is uninstructive, but it would be misleading to suppose the book even tinctured with didacticism. It is from beginning to end as picturesque in treatment as it is in material. The author's acquaintance with the latter is extremely intimate. The reader feels that he is being guided through the dirt and crime, the tatters and rags, the byways and alleys of nether New York by an experienced cicerone. Mr. Riis, in a word, though a philanthropist and philosopher, is an artist as well. He has also the advantage of being an amateur photographer, and his book is abundantly ill.u.s.trated from negatives of the odd, the out-of-the-way, and characteristic sights and scenes he has himself caught with his camera. No work yet published--certainly not the official reports of the charity societies--shows so vividly the complexion and countenance of the "Down-town Back Alleys," "The Bend," "Chinatown," "Jewtown," "The Cheap Lodging-houses," the haunts of the negro, the Italian, the Bohemian poor, or gives such a veracious picture of the toughs, the tramps, the waifs, drunkards, paupers, gamins, and the generally gruesome populace of this centre of civilization.

THE CHEAP LODGING-HOUSES. 87

perch in the world. Uneasy sleepers roll off at intervals, but they have not far to fall to the next tier of bunks, and the commotion that ensues is speedily quieted by the boss and his club. On cold winter nights, when every

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUNKS IN A SEVEN-CENT LODGING-HOUSE, PELL STREET.]

bunk had its tenant, I have stood in such a lodging-room more than once, and listening to the snoring of the sleepers like the regular strokes of an engine, and the slow creaking of the beams under their restless weight, imagined myself on shipboard and experienced the very

[SPECIMEN PAGE.]

COMMENDATIONS.

THE NEW YORK SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN, 100 East 23d Street.

NEW YORK, February 28th, 1891.

JACOB A RIIS, Esq.,

_Dear Sir_:--"It gives me very great pleasure to express my gratification in reading your valuable work 'How the Other Half Lives.' I regard it as one of the most valuable contributions to the history of child-saving work in this great city, and as pointing out the numerous evils which exist at the present time and which loudly call for legislative aid and interference.

"The thorough familiarity which you have shown with the subject of your work is equaled only by the accuracy of its detail and the graphic pictures which ill.u.s.trate the scenes described. It is a book which every one may peruse with interest, and the larger the circulation which can be given to it, the sooner I think will the charitable and well-disposed people of this city realize the need, on the part of The Other Half, of support, aid, and a.s.sistance, and which you have so graphically described."

I have the honor to remain, with great respect, ELDRIDGE T. GERRY, President, etc.

THE CHRISTIAN UNION, 80 Lafayette Place, New York.

"It is one of the encouraging signs of the times that Jacob Riis's book on 'How the Other Half Lives' has found so many readers that a new edition is now called for. The priest and the Levite are no longer pa.s.sing by on the other side; that is itself a sign of moral weakness.

"I was first attracted to Mr. Riis's work by an ill.u.s.trated lecture which he gave in Plymouth Church which stirred our hearts very deeply, and which showed how thorough an investigation and exploration he had made.

"His book presents by pictures for the eye, and by pen and ink pictures quite as graphic, those phases of modern paganism which exist in our great cities and are beginning to arouse the wonder, the indignation, and the wrath of philanthropists and Christians.

"'How the Other Half Lives' is worthy to be a companion to 'In Darkest England,' to which, indeed, as a picture of existing conditions it is superior; nor is it without suggestions of remedy, which, if less elaborate than Mr. Booth's, will strike the average reader as more immediately practicable."

LYMAN ABBOTT.

"It was a murderer who asked the question 'Am I my brother's keeper?' and hoped for a negative answer. But the affirmative answer of G.o.d has been ringing through all the milleniums since then. This eternal 'YES' meets the church of to-day, and there are signs that the church is waking to seek some method by which that 'YES' shall be adequately carried out. The first thing is to know how my brother lives, and what are his temptations, difficulties, trials, hopes, fears. On this no book that has ever appeared in this land pours such light as Mr. Riis's book on 'The Other Half.' Let all who want to know what to do for these brothers of theirs in this town, read this book which is enormously more interesting than any novel that ever was written or that ever will be. Dens, dives, hovels, sickness, death, sorrow, drink, and murder, all these exist in our midst in appalling magnitude, and with all of these we must have to do if we are not to be modern Cains. No '_eau de cologne_' business is this, if we are to uplift these brothers of ours, as will be apparent from a reading of this remarkable book. Let all who are in any way interested in the welfare of humanity buy and read it at once, and let all who are not interested repent at once and get the book, and then bring forth fruits meet for repentance."

A. F. SCHAUFFLER.

PRESS NOTICES.

"Criticism, in the narrower sense, has no hold on 'How the Other Half Lives.' The book is most beautiful without, as fascinating within. Every word bears its message; every ill.u.s.tration--there are many--means something. Mr. Riis has deserved n.o.bly of the public for his thorough and resourceful work. We cannot believe that his reward will fail. We should be sorry to think that his earnest words would be less to any reader than a commanding invitation to the thick of the battle against social injustice."--_The Boston Times._

"From personal observation, conducted with the perseverance and tact needed by the newspaper reporter, Mr. Riis has gathered, and here presents, many interesting, pathetic, and monitory facts concerning the extreme poverty, filth, or unhomelike existence of too many of the tenement-dwellers of New York--omitting mention of those costlier tenements which are called flats. He ventures upon some suggestions of remedy, but the chief value of his chapters lies in their exposition."--_Sunday School Times._

"The studies of Mr. Riis among the tenements of New York take the reader into strange places and bring him into contact with startling conditions; but among all the problems now pressing for solution there are none so grave or so difficult as those upon the fundamental facts of which these pages throw light. The author has made a thorough exploration of the great city, and has produced a series of pictures which ill.u.s.trate strikingly the many phases of life concerned."--_The N. Y. Tribune._

"Mr. Riis's book is an important contribution to sociological literature, and the truths it brings forward as well as the conclusions it deduces must not be evaded, for on them rest all really hopeful projects for the restriction of poverty and crime."--_The Boston Beacon._

"This is a book to be studied alike by the social scientist and by the philanthropist. It presents, in compact form, the story of the nether world of New York City, which, in general outline, varies but little from the story of the nether world of any large city."--_Chicago Times._

"This book bears evidence on every page of faithful investigation and intelligent sympathy with the subject, and should be read by everyone who has it in any way in his power to help on the work, for as the author says: 'The "dangerous cla.s.ses" of New York long ago compelled recognition.

They are dangerous less because of their own crimes than because of the criminal ignorance of those who are not of their kind.'"--_Milwaukee Sentinel._