LONDON ARABS IN CANADA.
In the previous chapter an account was given of the Arabs inhabiting
that wonderful "square mile" in East London, which has since grown to be
so familiar in men's mouths. The labours of Miss Macpherson towards
reclaiming these waifs and strays in her "Refuge and Home of Industry,
Commercial Street, Spitalfields," were described at some length, and
allusion was at the same time made to the views which that lady
entertained with regard to the exportation of those Arabs to Canada
after they should have undergone a previous probationary training in the
"Home." A short time afterwards it was my pleasing duty to witness the
departure of one hundred of these young boys from the St. Pancras
Station, en route for Canada; and it now strikes me that some account of
the voyage out, in the shape of excerpts from the letters of the devoted
ladies who themselves accompanied our Arabs across the Atlantic, may
prove interesting; while, at the same time, a calculation of their
probable success in their new life and homes may not improbably
stimulate those who cannot give their time, to give at least their
countenance, and it may be, their material aid, to a scheme which
recommends itself to all our sympathies--the permanent reclamation of
the little homeless wanderers of our London streets.
The strange old rambling "Home" in Commercial Street, built originally
for warehouses, then used as a cholera hospital, and now the Arab
Refuge, presented a strange appearance during the week before the
departure of the chosen hundred. On the ground-floor were the packages
of the young passengers; on the first floor the "new clothes, shirts,
and stockings, sent by kind lady friends from all parts of the kingdom,
trousers and waistcoats made by the widows, and the boots and pilot
jackets made by the boys themselves." The dormitory was the great
store-closet for all the boys' bags filled with things needful on board
ship; and on the top floor, we can well imagine, the last day was a
peculiarly melancholy one. The work attendant upon the boys' last meal
at the Refuge was over, and there, in the long narrow kitchen, stood the
cook wiping away her tears with her apron, and the six little waiting
maids around them, with the novel feeling of having nothing to
do--there, where so much cutting, buttering, and washing-up had been the
order of the day. When the summons came to start, the police had great
difficulty in clearing a way for the boys to the vans through the
surging mass of East London poverty. Some of the little match-box makers
ran all the three miles from Commercial Street to St. Pancras Station
to see the very last of their boy-friends.
Derby was the stopping-place on the journey to Liverpool, and the
attention of passengers and guards was arrested by this strange company
gathering on the platform at midnight and singing two of the favourite
Refuge hymns. Liverpool was reached at 4 A.M., and the boys filed off in
fours, with their canvas bags over their shoulders, to the river side,
where their wondering eyes beheld the _Peruvian_, which was to bear them
to their new homes.
At this point, Miss Macpherson's sister--who is carrying on the work of
the Refuge during that lady's absence--wrote as follows:--"Could our
Christian friends have seen the joy that beamed in the faces of those
hundred lads from whom we have just parted--could they know the misery,
the awful precipice of crime and sin from which they have been
snatched--we are sure their hearts would be drawn out in love for those
little ones. If still supported," she continues, "I hope to send out
another party of fifty boys and fifty girls while my sister remains in
Canada, and shall be happy to forward the name and history of a boy or
girl to any kind friend wishing to provide for a special case. In the
broad fields of that new country where the farmers are only too glad to
adopt healthy young boys or girls into their families, hundreds of our
perishing little ones may find a happy home."
On Thursday, the 12th of May, the _Peruvian_ dropped down the river;
and, as the last batch of friends left her when she passed out into the
Channel, these one hundred boys, with Miss Macpherson, leaned over the
bulwarks, singing the hymn, "Yes, we part, but not for ever."
From Derry Miss Macpherson wrote under date May 13th:--"With the
exception of two, all are on deck now, as bright as larks; they have
carried up poor Jack Frost and Franks the runner. It is most touching to
see them wrap them up in their rugs. Michael Flinn, the Shoreditch
shoeblack, was up all night, caring for the sick boys. Poor Mike! He and
I have exchanged nods at the Eastern Counties Railway corner these five
years. It is a great joy to give him such a chance for life."
The voyage out was prosperous enough, though there were some contrary
winds, and a good deal of sea-sickness among the lads. The captain seems
to have been quite won by the self-denying kindness of the ladies, and
he lightened their hands by giving occupation to the boys. Then came out
the result of training at the Refuge. Those who had been some time there
showed themselves amenable to discipline; but the late arrivals were
more fractious, and difficult to manage. These were the lads "upon
whom," as Miss Macpherson says, "the street life had left sore marks."
Even when only nearing the American coast, this indomitable lady's
spirit is planning a second expedition. "As far as I dare make plans, I
should like to return, starting from Montreal July 16th, reaching the
Home July 27th; and then return with another lot the second week in
August. This second lot must be lads who are now under influence, and
who have been not less than six months in a refuge." The finale to this
second letter, written from Canada, adds: "The boys, _to a man_, behaved
splendidly. The agent's heart is won. All have improved by the voyage,
and many are brown hearty-looking chaps fit for any toil."
In the _Montreal Herald_, of May 27th, there is an account of these boys
after their arrival, which says:--"Miss Macpherson is evidently a lady
whose capacity for organization and command is of the very highest
order; for boys, in most hands, are not too easily managed, but in hers
they were as obedient as a company of soldiers.... These boys will
speedily be placed in positions, where they will grow up respectable and
respected members of society, with access to the highest positions in
the country freely open to them.... We hope that Miss Macpherson will
place all her boys advantageously, and will bring us many more. She is a
benefactor to the Empire in both hemispheres."
The importance of this testimony can scarcely be overrated, since many
persons hold themselves aloof from a work of this nature through a
feeling that it is not fair to draft our Arab population on a colony. It
will be seen, however, that it is not proposed to export these boys
until they shall have been brought well under influence, and so have got
rid of what Miss Macpherson so graphically terms the "sore marks of
their street life."
Apropos of this subject, it may not be irrelevant to quote a
communication which has been received from Sir John Young, the
Governor-General of Canada, dated Ottawa, May 3rd, 1870:--"For emigrants
able and willing to work, Canada offers at present a very good prospect.
The demand for agricultural labourers in Ontario during the present year
is estimated at from 30,000 to 40,000; and an industrious man may expect
to make about one dollar a day throughout the year, if he is willing to
turn his hand to clearing land, threshing, &c., during the winter. But
it is of no use for emigrants to come here unless they make up their
minds to take whatever employment offers itself most readily, without
making difficulties because it is not that to which they have been
accustomed, or which they prefer."
I visited the Refuge and Home of Industry a few nights afterwards, and,
though Miss Macpherson was absent, found all in working order.
Sixty-three boys were then its occupants. The superintendent was
anxiously looking forward to be able to carry out the plan of
despatching fifty boys and fifty girls during the ensuing summer. The
sum required for an East End case is _5l._; for a special case, _10l._
The following are specimens of about sixty cases of boys whom she would
like to send out, knowing that in Canada they could readily obtain
places:--
P. E., aged seventeen.--Mother died of fever, leaving seven children;
father a dock labourer, but cannot get full employment.
L. J., aged thirteen.--Mother dead; does not know where her father is;
has been getting her living by singing songs in the lodging-houses; is
much improved by her stay in the Home, and will make a tidy little maid.
This is just one of the many who might thus be rescued from a life of
sin and misery.
Returning home through the squalid streets that night, where squatters
were vending old shoes and boots that seemed scarcely worth picking out
of the kennel, and garments that appeared beneath the notice of the rag
merchant, I saw the little Bedouins still in full force, just as though
no effort had been made for their reclamation and housing. As they
crowded the doorsteps, huddled in the gutters, or vended boxes of lights
and solicited the honour of shining "your boots, sir," I could not help
picturing them crossing the sea, under kindly auspices, to the "better
land" beyond, and anon, in the broad Canadian fields or busy Canadian
towns, growing into respectable farmers and citizens; and straightway
each little grimed, wan face seemed to bear a new interest for me, and
to look wistfully up into mine with a sort of rightful demand on my
charity, saying to me, and through me to my many readers, "Come and
help us!"
After the foregoing was written, a further letter arrived from Miss
Macpherson. All the boys were well placed. The agent at Quebec wished to
take the whole hundred in a lump, but only eleven were conceded to him.
At Montreal, too, all would have been taken, but twenty-one only were
left. All found excellent situations, many as house servants at _10l._
and _15l._ a year. Eight were in like manner left at Belleville, half
way between Montreal and Toronto. Sixty were taken on to Toronto; and
here we are told "the platform was crowded with farmers anxious to
engage them all at once. It was difficult to get them to the office." A
gentleman arrived from Hamilton, saying that sixty applications had been
sent in for boys, directly it was known that Miss Macpherson was coming
out. So there is no need of anticipating anything like repugnance on the
part of the Canadians to the reception of our superfluous Arabs.