Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1913 — Newsboy Police to Keep Order Among Fellows [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Newsboy Police to Keep Order Among Fellows

SPRINGFIELD, Mass—The Springfield Newsboys' association has organized a police force to patrol the business section of the city to see that the ''newsies” conduct themselves properly and also that their rights are not infringed upon. Solomon Skvirsky, president of the association and “chief of police” ex-officio, has appointed a sergeant and patrolman for each ward.

Young Skvirsky came to this country from Russia when four and onehalf years old, and since he was seven years old he has earned his own living by selling newspapers. He is the most important person in Springfield in the eyes of the 600 newsboys of

the city, among whom his decrees are law. Gambling and petty thieving are two evils which the newsboys’ leader has worked to suppress. “Our organization has stopped much of the gambling that formerly went on here to quite an extent among the* boys,” said Skvirsky, in speaking of the association, "The gambling habit with newsboys probably starts from seeing older boys who hang around the streets pla# games of chance. “Mr. Sier, a councilor of the association and a former president of the Chicago Newsboys’ association, put before a meeting of our association an ingenious plan for a newsboys’ police rfquad. We adopted his idea and divided Main street, the newsboys' principal source of revenue, into wards, each policed by newsboys. “The duties of these officers are to see that there is no trouble among the boys and to report upon conditions at the meetings of the association. Some things that have been regulated are hold-ups, shooting pen ■'les and crap.”