of
New York.

[Illustration: First interview with the news-boy.]

Patrick--for by this name I shall call the boy--sleeps at the
lodging-house for news-boys, and is there learning to read. I
concluded that I would go there, and see for myself what had been done
for the improvement and salvation of these energetic, active boys. I
found the building to which I had been directed, but could not readily
find the entrance which led to the room I was seeking. I inquired of
some poorly-dressed children where it was. A boy about ten years old
guided me. He asked if I wanted a boy. I was sorry to say "No," for he
looked so bright and active that it seemed a pity not to give him some
employment.

I ascended one flight of stairs, and another, and still another and
another, before I came to the right door. I knocked, and was admitted
by a gentleman who has the oversight of these boys. The room which I
entered was nicely painted and whitewashed. There were many seats with
desks as in a a schoolroom, and there were books and slates on them.
Maps and pictures hung on the walls, and there was a library for those
who could read.

The room was neat and tidy, and quite inviting in its appearance. At
the farther end of it was an office for the caretaker, and a
bathing-room, where water can be used without stint or measure. The
boys enjoy the free use of the water, though probably many of them
never bathed in their lives, before they came to the lodging-house. If
"cleanliness is next to godliness," much has been already
accomplished.

The school or sitting-room opens into the dormitory. This is a large
and well-ventilated apartment, and, being in the sixth story,
overlooks most of the buildings in the vicinity. There were
accommodations for fifty boys, and the room is large enough for
eighty. Each boy has a separate bed. They are arranged in two tiers,
as in a steamboat. The beds were all neatly made, and looked quite
comfortable. Many of these boys have never slept in a bed except in
this room. The remarks which they make to each other, when comparing
their beds, with their clean sheets and pillow-cases, with the boxes,
areas, and crannies where they have been accustomed to sleep, are very
amusing.

I am happy to know that there has been a constant improvement among
the boys. They grow more orderly, and are more easily restrained, and
some of them give promise of making useful men. They are not allowed
to use profane language, to f