GREY CAP BRIGADE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 258, 31 October 1925, Page 15

GREY CAP BRIGADE.

BOYS OF AUCKLAND. PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION THE "PUSH" MENACE. The cult of the grey cap and rolled down stockings, as affected by young hoys in the poorer districts of Auckland, was the subject of some comment by a gentleman from England, who has engaged in mission and relief work-in the slums of London and other large towns. In conversation with a "Star" representative, he said he had at first been amused at the eight of these youngsters prowling the street* after dark, with large, peaked caps stuck on the back of their heads, and stockings rolled down to the tops of their boots, the sight having impressed him as an unusual one. He had not seen it anywhere else in the world. "I have a rather inquiring turn;of mind, and I felt interested in these boys of the streets, so I made it my business to go out of my way to find out just why they affected this peculiarly vulgar style of dressing," he said. "It was pretty obvious that most of the boys— nearly all of them, I should say —were in a position to dress differently if they chose. That made, mc interested, and 1 got into conversation with several •of them at different times, whenever 1 found one alone—l hadn't the courage to tackle them in the 'push.' One lad. a rather nice, clean lo6king boy', told mc he worked in a factory, and that he simply had to affect this style in. order to be popular with the;'other blokes.' -It was their class badge. Of course, he didn't use that term, but that-was what he inferred. Dressed like that, iin- T - a large yellow or grey cap, with the peak unbuttoned, and with his stockings rolled right down to display two sturdy calves, he was accepted as 'one of the push,' and this gave him the right,of entry into any fun that might be going. His father, so he told mc, thought.the style was an abomination, and consequently he never dared to present himself at home dressed in that way. He always pulled up his stockings before going inside, and was careful to button up the peak of his cap. 'But,' : l ; said to him, 'you wouldn't dress like this; if you were in an office.' 'No fear, office blokes don't dress like this, 'cause they don't belong to the push.' I ■ think this very remarkable." i The gentleman continued by rtatiiig that, just for the sake of arriving ;at the state of this lad's mind, he had offered to outfit the . boy in a more respectable fashion, at his own .expense, but' the lad- became, quite indignant, aud made it clear that he had ample means to clothe himself. "Ain't I dressed all right!" he demanded. "I don't want to look like a ha-haw-" It transpired that the .boy's interpretation of a "ha-haw" was "a bloke wot puts on airs and thinks he's Christmas just because he's got a college cap on the back of his heal.' Hire was class coi'scjousuess, awakened in the youthful mind, with a very real hatred of the boy in more favoured circumstances. In defiance of the conventional attire for lads, these factory and message boys have adopted this style to declare their independence and solidarity, for thy usually keep together, taking their pleasure in "pushes" or clans. In larger cities, such as Sydney and Melbourne, these pushes have been known to terrorise whole neighbourhoods by their activities, which range from merely mischievous to positively criminal acts against individuals and private property. Some of these pushes have their 'feuds and vendettas among themselves, one clan waging war on the other. Not so long ago an experienced police official told a "Star" representative that tl.ere was a danger of some of the better known "grey cap" brigades in Auckland might develop into a menace to-- the public, and, in fact, it had been disclosed in the Juvenile Court, and in other cuses. that many of these lads required careful oversight and a little moral direction, kindly but firmly given, if rhev were to be prevented from becoming nothing more than lounging wasters of no value to the community. '. : _L i