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Show I Newsboys' Home Gives 38 to Assure World Democracy I I BOYS 1VI10 OFFERED SERVICES TO C0UXTR1Y f JoM'pIl JiVUC'Il William Sehiiemakcr 1 rod SchuiMiinkcr Joseph Do Rousso ,. Anthony Tagon i Francis Cox ', - Allen Junuuw - -'VwS&f . . niffonl Tucker ' , . -- Albo-t Wilt ' . . .lolm Hussey . . K-S. Robert O'Brien . ' ' '".'; y Enunot Piukston :. ' - r. Kg ; .) nines 'I'rantOr ' .' 9 3Iike Stelbnsky : VI ""'.' B9 Cornelius DusUu '''"v J5 ' SB -. - - ( f , rah Charles Jhmson v "' , 9 " : ; rnest Gibsor- "'v - 1' . ffl : .James Morris ' B '" Theodore IManU :-'''if ' 18 Dnvd Raiiuon - 'V f . R; Joseph Gohjigen H;' Rnyinond G. 3rc3Inhou '." ." H William WorlliiiiMi: : Henry O'Xell ;;,V;- H Zdurion Lcfltngwell H. Rert Kernes , 7 V: H '. .loliu Anderson .?... H: Clarence Grady Cfl ; Arthur IJeoiiclle y iB : Oliver OWell - . wm' William Cramer cV',: raj'! Thoiuus l'nscn , i 1 Prank Edwards ' - V Claude Stahl :, ' .,--v. gpSKiL EuiH De Rousso i gSr "MilUuni Sanson Hp Francis MeGrnth j a LITTLE more than a dozen H I years ago a. young priest who g 5t, could vividly remember ffl the ceremony of his ordination jj f todo each morning to Msitation J Convent, Avhlch he was serving as jH 1 chaplain In connection with liis N'ork B f in St, Rose's parish, St. Louis. The H I priest was Rev.- Peter J. Dunne.' E& f ' Eacli morning :i ragged, dlrty-faccd j hewshoy boarded the car on which n , Father Dunne rode and the priest be- H cuno his steady patron, being attracl- JS cd by the smiling, good nature of the k I At this period in the ' lifo of the H young priest desire to do something fur & g the boysof the street was forming, a B desire that had its flrst great surge while ha yet was a student at Kenri K Seminary and which has its incept Ivn through a message carried to Amcrira bv Mgr. Nugent, then of Liverpool, w,ho5c many charities to the poor of that great seaport had gained for him the title of their "apostle." The prelate lectured at Kendrick arid told of his struggles in b'ehalf of the poor .Of Liverpool. The determination formed itself in tljc mind of the young seminarian then to devote himself to such work, with specialisation in providing. homos for the boys of the streets. This thought pursued the young man throughout his seminary years and was stronger wlion he reached priesthood. But no definite, concrete plan had been . formed. . . . Father Dunne continued his six-'. six-'. o'clock-iu-thc-morning rides to the " convent and when one morning his young friend of the newspaper, failed to board the car with his wares, and a "stranger appeared in ills stead, the priest was impressed with a feeling of loss. Thinking not a great deal oMhc ' matter the priest remained active with his parish duties while a week passed. Still the newspaper needs ,of the patrons of the early car wore served serv-ed by another lad, possibly a little better bet-ter dressed than the boy whoin his patron knew as "Little Jimmic." . Finally Father Dunne asked the substitute what had become of Jlmmlo .and was informed that his clothing had grown so ragged that Jimmie was afraid Scarry on his miniature business busi-ness because he knew the police would begin asking quostlons. And above all he feared being sent to some "home." There the intention of Father Dunne to somo day start a home for boys 61 the street took concrete form and he was impatient to make a start. Through cajolery he induced the substitute paper merchant io carrj word to Jimmie, making an appointment, appoint-ment, but no Jimmic showed up. Another An-other message was carried and this time Jimmlo reluctantly responded. H was doubtful, but curious. A bath, a haircut, a new suit oi clothes' both ways from the ace am a new Jimmic was born.. Then th ' ' ' - ip story of his playless young life. Little Jimmic had only slight remembrance re-membrance of his mother. He could remember that once a "lady kissed him and told him she was going away," and the next he remembered ho was riding in a carriage and everybody was saying, "Poor Little Jimmic." "I guess," said Jimmie to Father Dunne that first grand day of the haircut, hair-cut, bath and new suit; "my mother mustvhave died about that time; don't ; you think so?" The tiny lad said he just ato and slept whore he could. Ho "guessed he ! slept in a cave." "Well, my boy," said- Father Dunne, "you will sleep in a-cave no more." And Father Dunne took the llttlevmito ; ot.a lad to the home of a friend with the 'request that Jimmie be eared for ! until a time when permanent ar-rnngemonts ar-rnngemonts for his upbringing could : be m?.de. Then the battle started. And it was harder than one might imagine." The young priest, his idea overflow- ing his being, went to the archbishop 3 and pleaded that he be allowed to devote de-vote his life to the rcscuo of home- C loss and worse than homeless lads of 1 the streots. He presented his petition well and was granted permission,' He gave hp his work in the more fashionable parish and bccame assistant assist-ant in SL Patrick's, a tenement parish, where he was associated 4wlth Father Dempsey, who also was doing a. great work for unfortunate humanity. Then the real struggle started. Troubles Trou-bles came from unexpected sources. .The young priest was not very, widely wide-ly known, and, further, had no practical prac-tical knowledge of the operation of an institution such as he planned start-ing start-ing Leading him through all these mazes, however, was the one brutal factor. Those for whom he was fighting fight-ing were homeless, hopeless and forsaken, for-saken, illy fed, shivering, suffering. SynipathyVell Based. Back to first principles journeyed the priest. Pie determined to convert as ho saved convert persons in a position po-sition to aid while he saved miserable youths from their terrible surroundings. surround-ings. In the back o his mind Father Dunne no doubt carried some remembrance remem-brance of his earlier struggles. Of the time in Kansas City when "in a. season of financial panic he was reduced to the work of a teamster, and later when he was out of work entirely. What torment he went through in the hands of a loan shark. Of hunger and discouragement. . Through, remembrance remem-brance of his own struggle's he had greater sympathy for the little chaps who were not so capable of fighting against fate. He knew whnt man-hunger man-hunger was, and he believed child-hunger child-hunger was worse. Finally, the opportunity came. Early in 190G lie. was called on to address the members of the "Apostle of the Poor," a Catholic benevolent society, and before the members ho stripped bare his very 3oul. As a result, Father Fa-ther Dcmpsey walked out of the meeting meet-ing with l$G5 cash in his pocket from individuals, and promise of more. With the money he determined to make the plunge for "Little Jimmic" and two other waifs. lie would rent a house and establish a home. Easier said than done! Parents of children know something of the "no children" dictum in some directions. Father Dunne learned of It in all directions. "A newsboys' home? Sorry, but. we can't rent to you!" That was the answer an-swer time after time until he finally mado arrangements to rent the house at 1013 Selby place. Then the "family" "fam-ily" mov-cd in Father Dunne. "Little Jimmic,"- and two lads they had rescued from the streets. But whatn housewarmiug! Something had gone wrong. Friends had promised to equip, thcuplaco .with' " beds and bedding that day and had failed. Again thc determination of Father Fa-ther Dunne won. and he went to bed late, but successful in the desire that the boys sleep comfortably in their new home that night. . . The Newsboys' Home existed in fact. Within a few .days a housekeeper was installed to cook for and mother the boys. Father Dunne says she was not overburdened at first with the cookiug end of her. duties, because there was not much to cook. After the rent was paid' and necessary furniture bought, nothing remained of the $65 and disaster stared the project in the face that is, excepting for the saving presence of Father Dunne on the job. But usually it takes time to raise mon-oy, mon-oy, and things looked bad at the end of a couplo of weeks. Then a stranger appeared in the absence ab-sence of Father Dunne and asked impertinent im-pertinent questions of the housekeeper. housekeep-er. But he found what he wanted to know. In fact, he viewed the emptiness empti-ness of the larder. Just an hour later a wagon backed yes, backed up In front of 1013 Selby Sel-by place, and neighbors thought somo one was starting a grocery store there. The wagon literally was full of food for the boys. Stranger Saves Situation. A few days later the stranger called at the home a second time, and this visit he found tho head of the houso at home. When he departed Father Dunne held an amount of currency in his hand as ho tried to get the -strang-. er to tell his name. "Merely a friend of the homo," was the only answer. But later this "merely a friend" bo-camo bo-camo more than a friend. Although lie still insists that he be known to the public as ho first was known to the home, this man has bestowed many and lasting favors on the institution. insti-tution. On the records of the home he still is recorded as "Merely a Friend of tho Home." From other unexpected sources then camo small, but reasonably regular, contributions, and three months after the opening other quarters were sought. This change was desired partly part-ly because the first Little Jimmy had been multiplied many times and for the further reason that the surroundings surround-ings were not congenial. To be crass about -it, tho neighbors objected to tho tenants. Once more the Catholic society that' flrst helped Father Dunne in his determination de-termination to aid tho homolcss lads of the city came. t6 the front. This i time they gave a benefit and . netted ( f?.l,000. ' The removal to the new quarters was made just twenty-four hours ahead of an eviction process. Tho fortunate for-tunate change, however, probably saved ,some constable a bit of real trouble. That is, if Father Dunne happened hap-pened to be away from home when the papers were served. There were by this time thirty-five leather-lunged young huskies . who probably would have had considerably more thought for what they would have believed, somdonc was trying to put over on Father Fa-ther Dunne than thoy would have had for the law as represented by the constable. con-stable. Yes, lucky constable. With the growing home and the larger responsibilities of watching out for the boys and providing something for their rapacious stomachs, Father Dunno found that be must have more time. So he resigned his place as assistant as-sistant at St. Patrick's and dex'oted his entire time to the management of the home. And it was a man's job. To acquire this property a 30,000 investment in land must be made. Father Fa-ther Dunne got tho money in a few days. With property holdings, it was deemed necessary to incorporate, and, much against his will, until he was convinced,, by friends of the institution that it was necessary, the homo was incorporated in-corporated as "Father Dunne's Newsboys' News-boys' Homo and Protectorate." A three-story building was soon erected and fitted, and after a beautiful beauti-ful chapel had been added, another addition to the building, also three stories, was built in 1912. And proof that it has been a real home lies In the fact that the first the Adam of the boys is still there. Little Jiuimio has grown into Jimmie Fleming. And ho is as proud of his privilege of tlirning over each week a part of the wage he earns as a plumber plum-ber for board as if he were stopping at the finest hotel in tho land. Why should ho not bo? He is at home. And whoever heard of a hotel being a real home? Besides, Father Dunne is there, and that's enough to keep Little Lit-tle Jimraie-grown-blg. And that Is just what has made the Newsboys' Home such a howling success. suc-cess. It's a home. Open to Homeless Boys. "It always struck me as a strange fact," said Father Dunne, "that while wo had flourishing asylums for tho orphans, or-phans, hospitals for the sick, homes for the poor and aged, schools for the deaf and dumb and tho blind, free schools and libraries without end, free parks and a society for the prevontlou of cruelty to-animals, we hnd nothing for thovpoor children of tho'city. ' "Everybody--seemed to have some kind of a home except the poor ragged ;H little urchin, and tho homeless boy, il ofttlmcs hungry and cold; ho was left il to sleep in sheds and alleys and ll snatch an, occasional bito hero and il there. His condition seemed to appeal tjl to no one; he licd his little life, and jH if he fell by tho wayside, who was R thcro to notice, much less to mourn his J "The Newsboys' Home is open to ev- IH cry homeless boy. It matters not jH whether ho is 12. years old or 15, or . even older; if he is homeless no matter H what his age or what his creed, tho H doors of the Newsboys' Home aro IH . opened wide to him, and he is as wcl- IH come to its hospitality as arc the flow- H crs of the field to the warmth of tho springtime. H "I have never refused admittance to jJ a boy; for the older boys I find cm- jjl ploymcnt, and take care of them until il they arc ablo to leave the place and ll care for thctnBclvcs; the little fellows 'H I keep here, send them to school, and ns they grow older, I see that somo useful trade is taught them, whereby H they may be able to earn their own H livelihood, as they grow to manhood." H Without such a home and such a H head it is very doubtful that a singlo H one of the thirty-eight patriotic lads H who grc(v up under tho sheltering H wing of Father Dunne would ever have H been in physical or mental condition to H so willingly offer their services to the H |
