Kelvin Moore sold evening Herald newspapers outside the Waterside
Hotel in Flinders Street Melbourne. He points to the foundation stone
of the Newsboys Club, a philanthropic centre governed by Edith Onians.
Kelvin Moore's licence. Listen
to his rendition of the cry used by boys of 'Rabbit White', one of
the less scrupulous distributors.
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Read All About It by Edith Onions
AUTHOR'S FOREWORD
I believe sincerely that no boy-I had almost written no one-is
irreclaimable. Every youngster with a mind born into Australia is
a potential source of wealth and happiness. If he fails to fulfil
his possibilities, we, his parents, his guardians, his Government,
are apt to be at least as much to blame as he.
With the exception of mental defectives, who are irresponsible,
every boy is capable of being turned, by appropriate treatment,
into a useful citizen. That may sound sentimental, but it is backed
by a profound psychological truth and by this great certainty ?
that, unless we can believe that our efforts will be successful,
we cannot give them their full driving force. Doubt paralyses; only
certainty achieves.
You will ask-Do you find it worth while to train and guide boys
and do they respond?
My answer is a thousand times - Yes! For now we are thoroughly
established, incorporated and enjoying the high regard of both boys
and public alike. We have succeeded far beyond our cherished hopes.
For today we can number an army of craftsmen-electricians, engineers,
woodworkers, master builders, journalists, a dentist and many other
highly regarded business men.
In one year two of our old boys were City Mayors and one a member
of Parliament. Several hold executive positions on Boards. All the
stories contained in this book are true.
I wish to give grateful thanks to the Melbourne "Herald," "Age"
and "Argus" in whose pages some of them originally appeared.
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The club boasts a spacious gymnasium, fittingly equipped.
a tiled swimming pool of heated, chlorinated water; r; a library of
4000 books, ranging from adventure stories that have delighted three
generations and more, to technical and scientific works invaluable
to ambitious youngsters; and a well-furnished games room. Moreover,
there are class rooms and workshops where skilled instructors, most
of them "old boys,"' come night after night out of gratitude for their
own training In the club to devote their leisure to passing on their
knowledge and the fruits of their experience as tradesmen. In addition
to cabinet-making, wood-turning, metalwork, boot-repairing, turning
and fitting, there are now groups studying such crafts as ticket-writing
and French polishing, and trades such as electrical engineering and
radio. Everything a lad makes in the workshops he takes home if he
has a mind to. Some have furnished rooms at home with tables and chairs,
food?safes, book?cases and wardrobes. And genuine utility pieces are
made, too. For instance, there was Jack from South Melbourne, with
five brothers, and all of them wishing for a sister. They got their
wish at last, and by the time she reached her second birthday, Jack
had built a chair for her-no, ordinary chair, either, but one of those
convenient all?purpose models, the circular removable portion of whose
seat was a triumph of geometry and joinery. It took weeks in the making,
with the whole class standing by in spellbound, unsmiling admiration.
Was ever little sister so envied! . |
