October 30,1911
Newspaper Mogul, Joseph Pulitzer, dead
New York lost one of its most important men yesterday. Joseph
Pulitzer was found dead at home early in the morning. The cause
was presumably old age. Pulitzer.....
It went on, detailing all his achievements and good will.
Quickly scanning the article, David realized that no where did
it mention anything about the strike, or Pulitzer's greed. He
smiled grimly. Even in death Pulitzer still won.
He had won in the strike, although it appeared that the newsies
had beaten him. He kept his cheap labor, and still had it from
the looks of the young boy he had seen.
But that had been 12 years ago. Today was the day that the enemy
had died.
The enemy. Was that term too harsh? All he had been doing was
trying to make money.
He pondered that, and thought of his friends-where they were
now:
Jack had gone out to Sante Fe 5 years earlier, and no one knew
what he had been doing-no word had ever come from him.
Racetrack was now a bookie working for some gamblers down in
Harlem.
Mush was working as a foreman in a factory near Brooklyn.
Blink got a job as a groom in some rich person's house-he knew
next to nothing about horses, but obviously he had used plenty
of charm.
Boots, Skittery, and Itey all were now working for various
newspapers.
Spot and Crutchy were dead-Spot in a fight, only 3 years after
the strike, and Crutchy from pneumonia.
Snoddy-well, David kept up with Snoddy. He had married Sarah.
All of the others....David didn't know about.
No, enemy was a good word to use about Pulitzer. Instead of
caring enough about the newsies to allow them to have some money
to live off, he tried to steal the little money they managed to
make. He was the enemy.
Enemy.....
David looked around. People were bustling around these dirty New
York streets he had once known like his own mind. They didn't
seem to care at all about this paper which had rocked him. But
why should they?
David knew why they should care. No one had ever cared about the
newsies. He had to try to make someone care. He turned on his
heel and strode quickly back to his hotel........
*******************************
Three hours went by, and finally he finished. Sitting up, he
surveyed his finished product with a practiced reporter's eye.
An article, all about Pulitzer....and the newsies.
Pulitzer-the world will know now who he was
Twelve years ago a group of young boys rocked New York when they
led a strike against the most powerful men in the city, Joseph
Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst....and won.
The whole article was only a page long, but David hoped with all
his heart that the message would get across. The newspaper
wouldn't print it-he knew that, Pulitzer was too important-but
someone would read it. Maybe that someone-that newspaper
employee- would go home and tell his family....and the family
could tell the friends....and the friends would tell the
world....
"And the world will know-and the world will learn. And the
world will wonder how we made the tables turn."
David smiled. He would show the world. Once again he left the
building, tossed the envelope containing his article in a post
office box, and strode quickly to the Brooklyn Bridge. Standing
in the middle, tears sprung to his eyes at those memories of all
the things he had once done in this city-but would never do
again. That first time he crossed this bridge.
"I've never been to Brooklyn before. Have you?" Naive young
David, brains but no brawn. "Spent a month there one night,"
"Ha!" David had laughed at Boot's outrageous comment. "So, is
this Spot Conlon really dangerous?"
David pulled the paper out of his pocket and stared at the
headline for a few more minutes. Spot had been dangerous, in his
own way, but had been a good person. Now gone. He threw the
paper over the side and watched it slowly drift off into the
black water. He could hear singing again.
"Once and for all we'll be there to defend one another. Once
and for all every kid is a friend every friend our brother, five
thousand fists in the sky! Five thousand reasons to try! We're
going over the wall. Better to die than to crawl. Either we
stand or we fall, for once...once and for all...."
He could no longer see the paper. It was gone. And somehow,
Pulitzer had gone too. It was over. David was no longer ruled by
Pulitzer. The memories had freed him.
"In 1899, the streets of New Yawk City echoed wit da voices of newsies. Peddlin the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst...and other giants of the newspaper world. On every corner you saw 'em, carryin the banner, bringin' you the news for a penny a pape. Poor orphans and runaways, the newsies were a ragged army, without a leader. Until one day, all that changed..."-Racetrack Higgins, 1899.