North Star Port

WORDS ON THE STREET Child labor was widespread between 1890 and 1910, with the 1937 book "Child Workers in America" reporting that "no less than 18 percent of all children ages 10-15 worked" during that 20-year span. On city streets, young newspaper vendors were a common sight. Duluth had its own army of headline hawkers, most under the age of 16, and while these newsies weren't earning fortunes, their job did offer some perks. The highlight was an annual Thanksgiving Eve dinner hosted in their honor by the Duluth Bethel Sunday School. Set for 6 p.m. — an hour after the eve- ning edition hit the street — the 1895 dinner was a rollicking good time. Not only did the hungry retinue of newsies enjoy a feast, they got to do so along - side 150 girls from the Sunday school, making it a festive dinner date, albeit somewhat awkward. Duluth Mayor Ray T. Lewis — a former seafarer — opened the proceedings by reminding the children that they would become the city's future citizens, and that the path to becoming good citizens began by being good kids. After a blessing from Dr. Charles Salter, the event founder and former Bethel director, food was served. According to the Duluth Evening Herald: "There was no disorder during the seating, but as soon as everyone was provided with a plate and spoon, there arose a clatter which would have done credit to bedlam … Willing volunteers from the Bethel mission brought in great heaped plates of good things … On each plate there was turkey with lots of dressing, doughnuts, bread and butter, cake and good, thick, succulent pumpkin pie, which clung to the youth- ful faces and smeared the juvenile hands. There was plenty of coffee, too, and a fellow could have two cupfuls if he wanted it, and most everybody did … The revelry proceeded and joy was unconfined. Through some mischance, 'Nutch' was plastered in the counte- nance with some of the pumpkin pie, and 'Sixteen' and 'Wheels' had choco- late cake rubbed in their hair, but no one minded. It was merely an incident, and there were a good many other inci- dents … The feast was a magnificent success, and it was nearly two hours from the start before the last small stomach was filled to distending." This joyful Thanksgiving celebration not only marked a high point for the chil- dren, but also mirrored the overall pros- perity of Great Lakes shipping in 1895, a year filled with reasons to be thankful. DULUTHPORT.COM | 7 THANKSGIVING Duluth's population grew by 79 percent from 1890 to 1895, reaching nearly 60,000 and ranking 47th among American cities. That expanding roster of citizens, businesses, hotels, and the Bethel mission donated generously to make the Thanksgiving Eve dinner for newsies a reality. The 1895 ledger was especially large, reflecting the community's increasing financial strength as it rebounded from the Panic of 1893. Cash: $25, Duluth Board of Trade (equivalent to approximately $938 today) Turkeys: Booth Packing, Armour Packing, Munsey Brothers, Zenith Provision Company, Dennis & Company, Mrs. James C. Hunter, the Big Duluth, Northwestern Market, Lundberg and Stone Bookstore, Nick Witt, Waller & Harvey, Bevier, Williams & Company, and the Duluth Evening Herald Butter: M.M. Gasser, Farmers Grain and Produce Company, Messick & McCauley Apples: Fitzsimmons-Derrig Company Sugar and Flour: Simon Clark Grocery (at the time, said to be the state's largest retail grocery store) Coffee: Imperial Coffee and Spice Mills Bread: Scandinavian, Zenith City, Gray Brothers and Eureka bakeries Dishes: 1,000, F.A. Parker Company Baking of the turkeys: Spalding Hotel, St. Louis Hotel and Ideal Restaurant (ABOVE) A Civil War veteran and well-known pastor, Dr. Charles Salter was a driving force for the creation of Duluth's first permanent Bethel building, and also for the annual newsboys dinner. (LEFT) Duluth newsboys from the year 1900. The steamship Zenith City loads grain at Duluth's Elevator D in 1895. When the 400-foot steel vessel launched on Aug. 14, 1895, it was the longest freight steamer on the Great Lakes.

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