NEW YORK STATE--THE OPEN FIELDS
"_Every man has something to sell if it is only his arms, and so has
that property to dispose of._"--EMERSON.
Pickle picking had not proved profitable. Continuing my search I found
that factory work was out of the question. At all the factories where
I had applied the reply had been, invariably, "We have a hundred
applicants for every vacancy." In one, it is true, I might have had
work had I been a skillful hatter. But I wasn't. So I resolved to
follow out my original intention of trying the fruit farms which lay on
the west side of the river, beginning at Balmville, some thirty miles
up the stream.
With this in view I crossed the Hudson. The coming of the night found
me in densely-wooded, deeply-shaded intra-mural roadways, extending
for miles, to which clung clambering vines bearing clusters of tiny
fragrant flowers, and red, black and yellow berries. Here and there
were intersecting drive-ways, the entrances to which were guarded by
huge stone columns supporting massive gates, over which the summer had
already begun to weave garlands of honeysuckle and eglantine.
I could see at times, far through the foliage, the shining light of
the palaces. I could hear merry laughter and the sweet song of a
singer with a wonderful voice singing a wonderful song. It was nearing
midnight. I was growing very hungry and weary. I saw a light in the
distance, near the road at the foot of a long hill. It was an inn. The
light was in the bar-room. I entered. Two occupants, Italians (one
behind the bar), were quietly conversing. Entering I asked the man
behind the bar if he could give me supper and a bed, adding, "I have
money." He looked at me curiously. I did not wonder at it for I was
travel-worn. The bundle and stick I carried were covered with the dust
of the highway.
In reply to my inquiry he answered, "I have no bed." Turning to his
companion he said (in Italian), "He looks as though he had come a long
way. I think he is from a prison. Let him sleep by the road. He will
not suffer."
I looked straight at the man, saying, "I may be all that you say, but I
am honest."
Slightly nonplussed he looked at me and grinned, saying, "Ah, you speak
Italian!"
"I spent one winter on the blue bay of Naples," I answered, "and
understand a little."
I had struck a sympathetic chord. He assured me that he told me the
truth when he said he had no bed to give, but he invited me to a good
supper. Greatly refreshed and not caring to sleep by the roadside,
I continued my journey. I decided that I could reach West Point by
daylight.
After I had traveled some distance, intuitively I became possessed of
a feeling of depression. I felt that I was in a realm which demanded
caution. A gargoyle on the roadside, until I saw what it really was,
startled me nearly out of my senses. I heard the mournful baying of
hounds in the distance. I was conscious of climbing a mountain. The
wayside had become open, barren of trees,--its features mostly brush
and rocks. I frequently passed large signs which I could not read from
the center of the road, but becoming curious, I approached one of them
and read: "The property of Sing Sing Prison of the State of New York.
All trespassers are liable to be shot." I was on Bear Mountain. Fearful
of the probability of being near to some headquarters, and that this
warning might be carried out, I turned and went down in the deep woods
below, where I rested for the remainder of the night. As I turned back
I saw far below me on the silver river a night boat throwing a powerful
search light on the dark shores of the stream.
When it was dawn I walked on. I could not but compare the humane
expression of Bear Mountain, and the State of New York, to that little
republic of Switzerland, whose labor colonies cannot be differentiated
from the surrounding rural country. The traveler who enters or passes
that way sees no mark of his erring brethren, no sign to tell the
traveler he may be shot!
It was Sunday morning when I reached Newburgh, a city of thirty
thousand people. I strolled up the hill to the low-roofed house where
Washington and his wife lived from April 4, 1782, to August 18, 1783.
It is now used as a museum for Washington relics. "This," I thought,
"is no doubt of exceeding interest, and educational. I will go in." But
being the Sabbath day, it was closed.
I had not heard from home or friends for a long time. I was getting
hungry and had spent all of my money, but I knew there were letters and
relief at the Post Office, so I made my way there. Being Sunday the
Post Office was also closed. I did not wish to while away the time in
a close, oppressive, ill-smelling back room of a saloon, or sit in the
shadow somewhere on the street, even if the police did not interfere,
but having a desire to read a good book, I hunted up the Public
Library. That, too, was closed. In fact the only things I found open on
this Lord's Day in Newburgh were the streets, the saloons, the churches
and the jail.
During the week or ten days I was in the vicinity of Newburgh I read in
the daily papers the story of three starving men who had been picked up
by the police. Two I particularly recall. One was found unconscious
on the car tracks on which he had thrown himself, soaked to the skin,
in a cold, terrific rain storm. The other was found eating swill from
a garbage can in an alley. Both were thought to be _mentally unsound_.
That is always the police report when these examples insult the
intelligence of a city. Perhaps they were mentally unsound. Why not?
Nothing will dethrone reason more quickly than starvation and neglect.
_They were berry pickers_, the paper said.
The church bells were ringing. I looked down at my soiled appearance
and thought, "If I only had an opportunity to renovate, to regenerate,
I could attend divine services." But there was no available place for
the poor, the moneyless man or woman of Newburgh, to bathe but the
river. I looked in my bundle and found a piece of washing soap. I
would first wash my blue shirt, and while I bathed it could be drying
in the sun. So I went to the river where many of Newburgh's destitute
and needy were already bathing, but the sewerage had so contaminated
the water as to make it repulsive, and I felt that to bathe in there
"the last man would be worse than the first." Then I tried to overcome
my prejudice against going to church just as I was. I could slip into
a dark corner and scarcely be noticed. Being penniless I would of
course be humiliated when the contribution plate was passed. I would,
perhaps, be regarded as a dead-beat, but what of that? It would only
be a moment. Finally I decided to go. I walked to one of Newburgh's
large churches, up a cool and shady street. I was early. The silence of
the lofty edifice, with costly, beautiful, memorial windows to those
who had gone to their rest, gave me food for thought long before the
service began. It was a strange coincidence that the scriptural reading
included the following words: "For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat;
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me
in; naked and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in
prison, and ye came unto me." The text was, "_Go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor._" I sat through the service undisturbed.
After a few days of rest I started out again to keep in touch with my
unfortunate brothers from the highways and byways.
I went in search of work to the berry fields. Work is supposed to be
the ready collateral for self-preservation and maintenance, but during
a two-mile walk I stopped at the door of many beautiful and comfortable
homes and asked for the privilege of working for even a piece of bread
and a cup of coffee. To see the owner or lady of the house, was out of
the question. I only came in contact with the servants, and in every
instance I was peremptorily denied. One or two said, "I would give you
a little if I could, but I am not allowed to do so." The servant is
the echo of the house.
Finally, a little way in from the road, on a small beautiful lawn, I
saw a sweet-faced, white-haired lady superintending a bright lad of
sixteen who was making a flower bed. I entered and tried to make a
polite salutation but it was something of a failure as my slouch hat
had slipped down and stuck on my ear. However, I said:
"I will work an hour for you for a piece of bread and a cup of coffee."
The lady inquired with interest, "Would you work for an hour for a cup
of coffee and a piece of bread? Well, if you will help this boy for an
hour, I will give you a good breakfast." I readily assented. The task
finished, and the breakfast as well, the lady assured me there was a
great deal of garden and other work to be done there. If I would wait
until the return of Mr. ----, which would be soon, he would probably
give me work as long as I wished to remain.
I had learned from the boy that the latter was a rich dominie of the
neat little Episcopal chapel just at hand, which he owned, and that
I was working at the rectory. He soon came. After a brief external
examination he asked the question, "Why are you a hobo?"
I replied in one word, "Circumstances."
Apparently satisfied, he said, "What wages do you want?" I explained
that I understood garden work, that I was a conscientious worker, and
if I worked steadily ten long hours a day it ought to be worth one
dollar a day and board. The gentleman thought not. He thought five
dollars a week would be a square deal. The lady, near and interested,
said that a man had come along the day before and offered to work for
four dollars a week.
Having discovered I was a few days in advance of the berry picking
season, after a moment's reflection I told the gentleman I would try
the garden work at his offer.
One half of the garden, a very large one, was clean and growing. The
other half was choked with weeds, and in a very troublesome condition.
I exceedingly enjoyed my garden work. When I was hired (although the
house contained, I should judge, at least fifteen rooms) I was told
that there was no place in the house for me to sleep. I met this by
saying that I could sleep any place, so I was given two comforters and
left to seek my own bed, which I found on a pallet of hay over the
stable. However, I was very comfortable except for feeling the need
of a pillow. In wakeful moments during the silent night I could hear
the beautiful Arabian horse, John, champing his fragrant hay, and I
would sometimes call down, "Hello, John! How are you?" Several times
he answered with a low whinny, as much as to say, "All right. How are
you?"
I dined with the cook and the work boy in the kitchen. We had all
we could eat and it was good. No one worked on the Sabbath but the
old cook. We all went to church except her. The dominie asked me to
attend. I slipped in on a rear seat. The sermon was on the building of
character. The good lady, seeing me, came back and offered me a hymn
book. A pillow offered with the comforters would have held a greater
meaning, but I am sure that the thoughtlessness of this kind lady was
not intentional. I am sure I could have had the pillow if I had asked
for it.
During my short stay at the Rectory many destitute men came to the
door and asked for food. I noticed they were never turned away if they
were willing to work an hour for it, but I noticed, also, that the
man was asked to perform his work before he was fed. The good dominie
and I often exchanged thoughts. He had a pleasing way of making his
help feel that they were his equals. He may not have realized it, but
unconsciously he was building character in a much more effective way
than if he had put it into words.
I finally wished to leave. The dominie wanted me very much to remain.
He said I was worth it, and he would give me the one dollar a day. The
rains, I learned, were still delaying the fruit picking, so I decided
to remain a while longer. When at last I left and was paid for my work,
I said, "If I was worth at the rate of one dollar a day for these last
few days, was I not worth the same for all my work?"
"Oh, but that was not our bargain," he replied,--which, of course, was
true.
One day in one of our brief talks (which turned on the hungry man at
the door), I said, "Doctor, from a business point of view, I think you
make a mistake in asking a man to work before he is fed. A man with a
full stomach can do twice as much work as one with an empty stomach."
"But the man may not keep his part of the contract," he answered.
"Then that is his disgrace and your misfortune. You have done your
part. You have entertained the stranger in a humane way. By working him
first is showing him your mistrust of him and that is demoralizing."
I noticed after this little talk that the man who came to the door was
always fed first.