Post by Race on Nov 23, 2007 17:35:12 GMT -5
I take a Creative Writing class and we had to write an essay on anything of our choosing,so...of course I picked the strike. I decided to post it and let you guys read it:
Newsies Strike of 1899
Biggest thing Kids have ever done
By: Kayla Hills
“In 1899, the street of New York City echoed with the voices of newsies, peddeling the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other giants of the newspaper world. On every street corner you saw 'em, carrying the banner, bringing you the news for a penny a pape. Poor orphans and run-aways, the newsies were a ragged army, without a leader, until one day when all that changed.” This is what you hear as you watch the Disney musical Newsies for the first time. This history behind these words is a great one, one of David and Goliath proportions. It tells of kids, the newsboys of New York standing up for their rights against two of the most powerful men of the century, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. So I felt the need to inform you of this. That kids. That’s right KIDS can too have a say in their lives. About their wages, their very way of life. So, here we go into 1899, where it all began.
Newspaper boys, or Newsies had been the main provider of the newspapers
from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s in the United States of America. They were a common sight on street corners of big cities like New York and Chicago, hawking the headlines as you bought them for a penny a paper. They were often the poorest in society, those that could afford it lived in Newsboy Lodging Houses, others sleeping in the streets or wherever they could find shelter. They were very earnest in selling their papers, often making up the headlines to get you to buy them, or shoving a paper in your face for money. Some even went so far as to run off when a person gave too much money and expected change. So the male-treatment of the newsie by their employer was common. They were forced to sell every last paper, often the cries of “Extra Extra” was heard in the middle of the night. When in 1899 it got worse when Pulitzer, the owner of The New York World, and William Randolph Hearst, the owner of The New York Journal, raised the price of the papers 1/10 of a cent, which impacted the poor Newsies at great proportions. That same year a large group of Newsies led by one Kid Blink (called Blink because he was blind in one eye) refused to distribute the papers until the price was brought back down.
They led a strike across the Brooklyn Bridge for days on end, stopping traffic in it’s tracks and the distribution of papers to most of the New England cities. The boys held several rallies and got over 5,000 Newsboys to join their cause because of Kid Blink’s charismatic speeches. Other Newsie leaders were Racetrack Higgins who with his humorous comments to the newspapers, ousted more influence on other Newsies to stand up for their rights. Another was David Simmons who close to then end of the strike was assumed a turncoat, along with Kid Blink because they didn’t want the boys “soakin’ da scabs” who were boys that had stayed with the paper and not gone on strike. Another was Mush Meyers, who would cause a fight with the scabs then run off, leading the cops on a wild chase while the other boys “soaked da scabbahs” .
The Newsies were attacked by men hired by Pulitzer to bring the strike to a standstill, but because there were so many Newsboys and not enough men, they often came up empty handed, leaving Pulitzer furious that they would let a group of kids beat them up like that. The Newsboys would also overturn wagons carrying papers to the distribution apparatus, shredding the papers to bits so no one could buy them. They’d also attack any “scabber” they saw trying to sell papers which explains why they got hostile when they thought their leader Kid Blink had abandoned them. Blink showed up with a new set of clothing, furthering the boys suspicions that their leader was working with Pulitzer. Blink tried to explain to them that he hadn’t, which enraged the boys and they beat him up for it. They finally discovered Blink hadn’t went “scab” on them and allowed him back as their leader along with David Simmons, who they had accused as well.
Pretty soon Pulitzer started noticing the charisma in which the Newsboys fought for rights. One day in late summer of 1899, he drove out to where they were striking and talked to Blink for a long period of time. When he came back, Pulitzer still wouldn’t lower the price, but he agreed to buy back all the papers the boys hadn’t sold that day and pay them for it. In the end the boys agreed to it and went back to selling the papers.
The Newsboy profession lasted on into the 1950’s until suburbs started sprouting up all over the place and newsstands started showing up. Leaving the Newsboy’s without jobs, pretty soon the Newsboy lifestyle no longer existed, but the predecessor, the Paperboy took over. The Paperboy rode around neighbourhoods on their bikes, throwing newspapers to the people within the suburbs. But as it became too much to pay the boys for their jobs. They cut out that form of delivery system all together. Resorting to machines that took your money and you opened a door to get your paper. There were also Newsstands run by men who were paid by the company to sell newspapers, magazines, etc.
So in the long run, it was a Newsboy who chose to stand up for what he believed in. His one voice rose out among all others against the Newspaper Companies of 1899. Let this be a lesson that one voice can change the world. That one voice which can become a thousand voices, maybe even a million, can change even the slightest wrong detail of the world. A mere child can change someone’s mind. So, will you listen when the time comes my friends? I hope you do. Because this proves to me, that even someone my age can make a difference.
Newsies Strike of 1899
Biggest thing Kids have ever done
By: Kayla Hills
“In 1899, the street of New York City echoed with the voices of newsies, peddeling the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other giants of the newspaper world. On every street corner you saw 'em, carrying the banner, bringing you the news for a penny a pape. Poor orphans and run-aways, the newsies were a ragged army, without a leader, until one day when all that changed.” This is what you hear as you watch the Disney musical Newsies for the first time. This history behind these words is a great one, one of David and Goliath proportions. It tells of kids, the newsboys of New York standing up for their rights against two of the most powerful men of the century, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. So I felt the need to inform you of this. That kids. That’s right KIDS can too have a say in their lives. About their wages, their very way of life. So, here we go into 1899, where it all began.
Newspaper boys, or Newsies had been the main provider of the newspapers
from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s in the United States of America. They were a common sight on street corners of big cities like New York and Chicago, hawking the headlines as you bought them for a penny a paper. They were often the poorest in society, those that could afford it lived in Newsboy Lodging Houses, others sleeping in the streets or wherever they could find shelter. They were very earnest in selling their papers, often making up the headlines to get you to buy them, or shoving a paper in your face for money. Some even went so far as to run off when a person gave too much money and expected change. So the male-treatment of the newsie by their employer was common. They were forced to sell every last paper, often the cries of “Extra Extra” was heard in the middle of the night. When in 1899 it got worse when Pulitzer, the owner of The New York World, and William Randolph Hearst, the owner of The New York Journal, raised the price of the papers 1/10 of a cent, which impacted the poor Newsies at great proportions. That same year a large group of Newsies led by one Kid Blink (called Blink because he was blind in one eye) refused to distribute the papers until the price was brought back down.
They led a strike across the Brooklyn Bridge for days on end, stopping traffic in it’s tracks and the distribution of papers to most of the New England cities. The boys held several rallies and got over 5,000 Newsboys to join their cause because of Kid Blink’s charismatic speeches. Other Newsie leaders were Racetrack Higgins who with his humorous comments to the newspapers, ousted more influence on other Newsies to stand up for their rights. Another was David Simmons who close to then end of the strike was assumed a turncoat, along with Kid Blink because they didn’t want the boys “soakin’ da scabs” who were boys that had stayed with the paper and not gone on strike. Another was Mush Meyers, who would cause a fight with the scabs then run off, leading the cops on a wild chase while the other boys “soaked da scabbahs” .
The Newsies were attacked by men hired by Pulitzer to bring the strike to a standstill, but because there were so many Newsboys and not enough men, they often came up empty handed, leaving Pulitzer furious that they would let a group of kids beat them up like that. The Newsboys would also overturn wagons carrying papers to the distribution apparatus, shredding the papers to bits so no one could buy them. They’d also attack any “scabber” they saw trying to sell papers which explains why they got hostile when they thought their leader Kid Blink had abandoned them. Blink showed up with a new set of clothing, furthering the boys suspicions that their leader was working with Pulitzer. Blink tried to explain to them that he hadn’t, which enraged the boys and they beat him up for it. They finally discovered Blink hadn’t went “scab” on them and allowed him back as their leader along with David Simmons, who they had accused as well.
Pretty soon Pulitzer started noticing the charisma in which the Newsboys fought for rights. One day in late summer of 1899, he drove out to where they were striking and talked to Blink for a long period of time. When he came back, Pulitzer still wouldn’t lower the price, but he agreed to buy back all the papers the boys hadn’t sold that day and pay them for it. In the end the boys agreed to it and went back to selling the papers.
The Newsboy profession lasted on into the 1950’s until suburbs started sprouting up all over the place and newsstands started showing up. Leaving the Newsboy’s without jobs, pretty soon the Newsboy lifestyle no longer existed, but the predecessor, the Paperboy took over. The Paperboy rode around neighbourhoods on their bikes, throwing newspapers to the people within the suburbs. But as it became too much to pay the boys for their jobs. They cut out that form of delivery system all together. Resorting to machines that took your money and you opened a door to get your paper. There were also Newsstands run by men who were paid by the company to sell newspapers, magazines, etc.
So in the long run, it was a Newsboy who chose to stand up for what he believed in. His one voice rose out among all others against the Newspaper Companies of 1899. Let this be a lesson that one voice can change the world. That one voice which can become a thousand voices, maybe even a million, can change even the slightest wrong detail of the world. A mere child can change someone’s mind. So, will you listen when the time comes my friends? I hope you do. Because this proves to me, that even someone my age can make a difference.
