HOW LONDON GAMINS PICK UP A LIVING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1892, 15 May 1890, Page 35

HOW LONDON GAMINS PICK UP A LIVING.

One of the standing wonders of the great metropolis is the manner in which the enormous number of boys and girls, who have no settled home, or wnose parents are unable to support thsm, manage to pick up a living. Every one whose acquaintance with London is not of the most superficial description, knows the hungry-eyed little creatures to whom we refer — mere morsels of humanity, stunted and pretematurally aged, showing all too plainly how hard they have found the battle of life already. Many of them have "homes ;" if that sacred word can be applied to the filthy garrets in which they pass their nights. But their parents do not give them anything beyond mere shelter, and for all food and clothing they have to look to their own exertions. Others have no parents, or if they have, know nothing of them. In addition to being obliged to feed and clothe themselves, these children must pick up enough to provide a night's lodging in some of the* "dossing kens" which abound in the lower districts of London. Poor babes 1 they offer a more melancholy subject for contemplation than any other we know. When one thinks of the utter joylessness of their childhood, of their struggles to get enough food to keep body and soul together, of their wretched days spent in the rain and the slush, and of their nighfs in a pestilential garret, or herded among the very scourings of the slums in some common lodging house — the mind recoils from the picture.

No wonder that there is so much wickedness in the world, when these little ones are thus thrown among evil companionship of all sorts, while their souls should be still ignorant of all evil. Who can wonder that they grow up to swell the gains of the gin palace and commit almost every sin that is possible? These children never have a chance. It seems a pitiful thing that any one should be condemned to develop amid such evil surroundings ; that the better part of their natures has no hope of becoming prominent ; but so it is with thousands who at this moment are prowling about the streets and alley 3of London.

Considering the lives they lead, it is wonderful to see how bright and almost happy most of these children are. So long as they can manage to get hold of enough coppers to provide themselves with food and lodging, they are content. Many of the boys look to the evening papers as their principal means of subsistence. They make 5d out of every dozen penny papers or two dozen halfpenny ones that they sell ; and if they can get together a connection among business men who pass them every evening on their way home, they manage to make a very fair living in this way. Of course any unusual occurrence, like the recent strike, helps to swell the newsboy's takings considerably. A smart boy will manage to make, 7s or 8a a week by

selling papers, and this is enough to eflabfa him to support himself quite luxuriously. Some boys form themselves into gangs in order that they may not all be obliged to go to the newspaper office as the successive editions are published. The members of the gang take it in turns to make the journey in the common interest, and the one whose turn it is climbs on to the top of a 'bus with his load of papers, and, making known his approach by a peculiar whistle, drops a certain number over to each of his comrades as he is carried past them. This newspaper business is, however, too humdrum for many gamins. They prefer to vary their employments, and have a disinclination to staying at one "pitch" long enough to work up a paying connection.

" Mudlarking" is a favourite pursuit with these more restless spirits. Probably most of our readers are aware that a " mudlark " is one wto searches the mud left by the receding tide along the banks of the Thames for articles whish have in some way or other found their way into the river. The variety of " finds " made by gamins who devote their energies to this business is quite astonishing. Almost everything one can imagine, from coins and rings to false teeth and cigar cases, may be found along the unsavoury banks of old Father Thames "Mudlarks" have two ways of going to work ; they either select a certain strip of river bank and work it thoroughly, subjecting every square inch of its surface to a close scrutiny, or they walk straight ahead along by the edge of the water. It is difficult in conceive how a sufficient number of articles of any value can possibly be found to make it worth while for so many gamins to go " mudlarking."

Probably many of them are induced to give the river banks a trial by stories that they have heard of finds of purses, or gold, or valuable jewels. Such hauls have, no doubt, been made ; but it is scarcely necessary to state that they are exceedingly rare. Presumably, valuables of this kind are dropped out of boats or steamers; though no doubt, a good many rings find their way into the river every year on account of their owners carelessly letting them slip off their fingers when they are washing, with the result that they make their way into the sewers and then to the river. It is for this reason that the outlets of sewers are such favourite spots with the " mudlark ; " the only positions which vie with them in popularity are those in the neighbourhood of wharves, where ships unload their cargoes. " Mudlarking " is generally pursued by boys ; though sometimes their sisteis take a turn at it. Outside most of the railway stations boys are to be found who pester travellers to allow them to carry their bags. It is quite ludicrous to see a little, half-starved fellow of about 10 to 12 offer to carry a bag, under the weight of which a burly, well-fed man is staggering. Yet he volunteers his service* in perfect good faith, and would attack the heavy package if he were given a chance The gamins who look to this way ot makiiv a living find their occupation a very pre carious one ; it is, indeed, astonishing tha> they should be able to exist on what they ge. out of it.

"Rusting" is a profession whioh, we ex peot, most of our readers would be puzzlec* to define. It consists in searching the neighbourhood of workshops and other likely localities for pieces of sorap iron which are usually rusty ; hence the name given to it. The boy who goes " rusting " naturally does not despise other inoonsidered trifles, ana indeed partakes to a great extent of the nature of the Parisian chiffonnier. Like his confrere in the French metropolis, he knows how to turn all sorts of apparently worthless articles into cash ; and if he is fortunate he manages to make a fair thing out of his curiously-named calling.

Turning cart wheels alongside crowded omnibuses is a method pursued by other boys for keeping themselves alive. It is naturally a risky business, and one that is not nearly so lucrative now as it used to be. Still, a clever " wheeler " can make as much as any other gamin. This particular occupation can only be pursued in fine weather, for it is to the outside passengers of a 'bus that the " wheeler " looks for recognition of his efforts. In the wet, any who are so bold as to ride on top are not in a humour to reward the gyrations of a " wheeler," if, indeed, one was plucky enough to show his agility in the mud and rain.

Other boys pick up a living by aoting as " runners " for workmen who are employed in factories, the gates of which are closed between certain hours. This state of imprisonment is naturally inimical to that love of a glass of beer that is often met with among working men. Deprived of the chance of dropping into a public house, they avail themselves of the services of a "runner," who brings a bottle or jug filled with the coveted refreshment, and manages somehow to scale the wall and let it down to the thirsty souls below. As a general rule, the men who engage " runners " enter into an arrangement with some publican to supply their emissary with so many pints in the course of the day. The " runner "is generally paid more in kind than in coin. A portion of the workmen's dinner or some cast-off garment is the most usual form for his remuneration to assume ; then he also has the opportunity of taking toll from the measures of beer that he carries, and, as a rule, is not slow to avail himself of it. If there is a very startling deficiency his conscience is not too tender to allow him to account for it by saying that he spilt some in attempting to climb the wall.

Those who are observant of the ways of costermongers will, no doubt, have noticed that these men are very often accompanied by small boys. Sometimes the juvenile assistant is the coster's son, but as often as not he is hired to swell the ear-splitting yells with which the peripatetic dealer announces the quality of his wares. Costers' boys are given their food and a number of coppers proportionate to the result of the day's round.

" Step-girls " manage to earn a trifle by washing down flights of steps for a penny oi twopence. Saturday is the great day for them, as most people liko to, have clean step* for Sunday. "Baby-minding" is another source of in come to the little girls who have to makt, their own way in the world. Some of them are employed at the places where working

women leave their babies while they are afc the factory, and others are regularly engaged to wheel babies np and down the streets in perambulators while their mothers are busy with their washiDg or housework.