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  • Newspaper Articles
    • The Brooklyn Eagle
      • July 20, 1899: “Newsboys Start A Strike.”
      • July 21, 1899: “The Newsboys’ Strike.”
      • July 24, 1899: “Messenger Boys Join the Army of Strikers.”
      • July 24, 1899: “The Newsboys’ Strike.”
      • July 30, 1899: “The Newsboys’ Strike.”
    • The Evening Post
      • July 20, 1899: “Newsboys on Strike.”
      • July 20, 1899: “Strike Days in Wall Street.”
      • July 21, 1899: “Newsboys Still on Strike.”
      • July 22, 1899: “Newsboys Aggressive.”
      • July 24, 1899: “Newsboys Want to Parade.”
      • July 25, 1899: “Newsboy Strikers Orderly.”
      • July 26, 1899: “Newsboy Leaders Quit.”
      • July 26, 1899: “Condition of the Newsboys.”
      • July 27, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Still Firm.”
      • July 29, 1899: “Newsboy Strike Leaders”
      • July 31, 1899: “Newsboys Form A Union”
    • The Evening Telegram
      • July 20, 1899: “Newsboys Strike Against Two Papers”
      • July 21, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Spreads to Harlem”
      • July 22, 1899: “Boy Strikers Sweep the City”
      • July 24, 1899: “Can’t Break Boys’ Tie-Up”
      • July 25, 1899: “Newsboy Strike Gains Ground”
      • July 26, 1899: “Newsboys Ready to Show Strength”
      • July 27, 1899: “Salvation Lassies Wouldn’t Sell Them”
      • July 28, 1899: “Newsboys See Victory Ahead”
      • July 31, 1899: “Union to Enforce Newsboys’ Strike”
    • The Morning Telegraph
      • July 21, 1899: “Newsboys Turn Out on Strike”
      • July 22, 1899: “Newsboys Strike A Great Success”
      • July 23, 1899: “Newsboys Still Out On Strike”
      • July 25, 1899: “Tim Sullivan Makes A Talk”
      • July 28, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Must End”
      • July 29, 1899: “Kid th’ Blink” No longer on Top”
    • The New York Herald
      • July 21, 1899: “Newsboys Strike for Better Terms”
      • July 22, 1899: “Spread of Strike Fever Among Lads”
      • July 23, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Promises Success”
      • July 25, 1899: “Newsboys Wage A Merry War”
      • July 26, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Becomes General”
      • July 27, 1899: “Newsdealers and the Boy Strikers”
      • July 28, 1899: “Dealers Boycott to Aid Newsboys”
      • July 29, 1899: “Newsboy Strikers Keep Up the Fight”
      • July 30, 1899: “Striking Newsboys Stand Firm”
      • July 31, 1899: “Newsboys Form An Organization.”
    • The New York Times
      • July 21, 1899: “Newsboys Go On Strike”
      • July 22, 1899: “The Strike of the Newsboys”
      • July 23, 1899: “Striking Newsboys Are Firm”
      • July 23, 1899: “Newsboys May Be Uniformed”
      • July 24, 1899: “Mass Meeting of Newsboys”
      • July 25, 1899: “Newsboys Act and Talk”
      • July 25, 1899: “Violent Scenes During Day”
      • July 26, 1899: “Newsboys Still Hold Out”
      • July 26, 1899: “Seek To Help the Newsboys”
      • July 27,1899: “Newsboys Are Weakening”
      • July 28, 1899: “Newsboys Still Hold Out”
      • July 31, 1899: “Newsboys Form A New Union”
      • August 1, 1899: “Newboys Up For Blackmail”
      • August 1, 1899: “Declare Newsboys’ Strike a Failure.”
    • The New York Tribune
      • July 21, 1899: “Newsboys Go On Strike”
      • July 22, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Goes On”
      • July 23, 1899: “Newsboys’ Word Stands”
      • July 24, 1899: “A Newsboys’ Meeting”
      • July 25, 1899: “Boys Forsee A Victory”
      • July 25, 1899: “Newsboys Riot in Mount Vernon”
      • July 25, 1899: “Trenton Newsboys Strike”
      • July 25, 1899: “Park Row Capulets and Monatgues”
      • July 26, 1899: “‘Newsies’ Standing Fast”
      • July 26, 1899: “Yonkers Boys Form A Union”
      • July 26, 1899: “New-Haven Newsboys Strike, Too”
      • July 26, 1899: “Newsboys Striking In Paterson”
      • July 26, 1899: “Strikers in Cincinnati”
      • July 26, 1899: “Strikers Ahead in Mount Vernon”
      • July 27, 1899: “Tried for High Treason”
      • July 27, 1899: “Boys Eloquent in Brooklyn”
      • July 28,1899: “‘Kid’ Blink Arrested”
      • July 28, 1899: “Yonkers Boys Win A Victory”
      • July 28, 1899: “Providence Boys Join the Strike”
      • July 29, 1899: “‘Kid’ Blink Fined”
      • July 30, 1899: “Fable Repeated In Fact”
      • July 30, 1899: “New-York Newsboys,” Illustrated Supplement
      • July 31, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike On Again”
      • July 31, 1899: “Yonkers Boys to Parade”
      • August 1, 1899: “Newsboys Plan Another Meeting”
      • August 1, 1899: “A Big Parade in Yonkers”
      • August 1, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike in Asbury Park”
      • August 2, 1899: “Newsboys’ Boycott Over”
    • The Sun
      • July 20, 1899: “Newsboys ‘Go Out'”
      • July 21, 1899: “The Only Tie-Up In Town”
      • July 22, 1899: “Strike That Is A Strike”
      • July 23, 1899: “Newsboys’ Strike Swells”
      • July 24, 1899: “Plan to Down Newsboys”
      • July 24, 1899: “Sociological Students in Court”
      • July 25, 1899: “Great Meet of Newsboys”
      • July 25, 1899: “Troy Newsboys In Fight”
      • July 26, 1899: “Newsboys Parade To-Night”
      • July 27, 1899: “Parade To-Night, Sure”
      • July 27, 1899: “Newsboys Gain A Point”
      • July 28, 1899: “Newsboys Get New Leaders”
      • July 28, 1899: “Stole Newspapers from Girls and Women”
      • July 29, 1899: “Newsboys’ New Leader”
      • July 29, 1899: “A Kindergarten for Strikers”
      • July 31, 1899: “Rochester Newsboys to Go On Strike”
      • July 31: “Striking Newsboys Elect Officers”
      • August 1, 1899: “‘World’ Jails Newsboys”
      • August 2, 1899: “Newsboys Strike Up the State”
      • August 2, 1899: “Three Newsboys Arrested for Assault”
    • The World
      • July 30, 1899: “Herald Employees Sued for $10,000”
      • August 1, 1899: “Blackmailers Try to Profit by Strike”
      • August 3, 1899: “Plain Statement of Facts for Public Consideration”
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City Hall Park 1899

~ History of the Newsboys Strike of 1899, through actual newspaper articles from the time.

City Hall Park 1899

Category Archives: The Sun

“She Knew Hungry Joe”

04 Sunday Jul 2021

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in The Sun

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Hungry Joe

From the July 4, 1899 edition of The Sun, another tale of “Hungry Joe”:

She Knew Hungry Joe.

Fine Young Woman Amazes the Park Row Newsboys.

“Hungry Joe,” the newsman whose eccentricities have caused Park row newsboys so much glee, leaned last night against a tool chest which blocks the sidewalk just below Beekman street, evidently meditating about the time he threw a rock at a boy in the middle of the street and broke a plate glass window behind him. A stylish young woman came along with her nose in the air and a messenger boy at her heels. She swung down the street with a straight-ahead gaze past “Hungry Joe.” She went six feet beyond him, then turned suddenly to look. She walked right back to him and smiled a smile that was a sight.

“Why, how are you?” she said in amazement. “What are you doing here?”

The rest of her words were lost in a cable car uproar. The newsboys hugged each other and said:

“Look at them di’mons!”

The young woman passed on in a minute and “Hungry Joe” shook all over, smiling very broadly. He lives in Brooklyn and has meeting clothes which he wears on Sunday, when his Park row friends would not recognize him. As for the newsboys, they tell about his bags of gold and coats lined with greenbacks.

“Hungry Joe the Newsman.”

18 Saturday Jul 2020

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in General, The Sun

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con artist, Hungry Joe, newsman

From the July 18, 1898 edition of the New York Sun, a story about a newspaper seller who isn’t as he seems:

Hungry Joe the Newsman.

When in Brooklyn His Garb Differs from His Ordinary Wear.

The newsman at Ann street and Park row, who is commonly called “Hungry Joe” owing to his famished appearance, changes his garb and bearing when he goes home to Brooklyn. When parading Fulton street, Brooklyn, yesterday, he carried a silk umbrella and wore a black broadcloth suit, surmounted by a derby hat. He was scrupulously clean.

On Park row “Hungry Joe’s” business outfit is a hybrid basket and bag that contains his papers. His clothes are ragged and so faded that one cannot guess their original color. He wears no hat, and appears to be a tramp risen to the dignity of a newsman from desire for an honest living. His trade in papers is large and he makes a good living.

None of the newsboys dare compete with him. He carries a long club, a broom handle, and with this he argues the young idea into his way of thinking.

“Newsboy’s Swift Revenge”

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in The Sun

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Brooklyn, fan fiction, fight, murder, newsboys, revenge

From the July 9, 1899 edition of The Sun, a tale that could spark fan fiction:

Newsboy’s Swift Revenge

Murderous Assault Seen By A Crowd Near Bridge Entrance.

Driver of a Newspaper Delivery Wagon Stabbed in the Back of the Neck by a Youth Whom He Had Thrashed—He May Die—Assailant Chased and Caught.
A crowd of over 1,000 persons saw a newsboy attempt to murder the driver of a newspaper delivery wagon at 9 o’clock last night at Sands street, Brooklyn near the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge. “Over 500 of them pursued the would-be murderer as he fled, and, after a chase almost to the river front, were rewarded by the sight of his arrest.
Peter Peglies, 22 years old, of 29 Main street, Brooklyn, is the murderous newsboy. His victim is William Gibbons, 23 years old, of 66 Fulton street, Brooklyn. They had a quarrel in the afternoon at the Brooklyn entrance of the bridge over the number of papers Gibbons had furnished to Peglies. Gibbons managed to get in several hard blows on Peglies’s face and head before the crowd interfered and separated them to prevent further damage being done.
Peglies declared at teh time that he would have revenge, and warned Gibbons to look out. Gibbons laughed at the threats and taunted Peglies, saying that he could take care of himself easily with such an antagonist. This made Peglies all the angrier.
Shortly after 9 o’clock last night Gibbons was passing through Sands street on his way to Manhattan. In the meantime Peglies had armed himself with a knife and a razor. Knowing that Gibbons was to go to Manhattan, he lay in wait in Sands street for him. When Gibbons appeared Peglies pushed his way through the crowd after him.
When he caught up to the unsuspecting Gibbons, without a word of warning he pulled the knife from his pocket and made a vicious slash. The blade struck Gibbons in the neck, making a fearful gash. Gibbons fell to the sidewalk, and Peglies turned and ran, pushing the crowd aside.
The spectators were so amazed by what they had seen that they made no effort at first to detail Peglies. The sight of the bloody knife in his hand may have added to the disinclination to interfere. Just as he cleared the crowd and turned toward the river some one shouted that Gibbons was dying. Half of the crowd made a rush for Gibbons while the other half chased after Peglies, who was running like mad down the dark street. He was finally captured at Dock and Front streets by Policeman Lunny. The pursuers made no demonstration against Peglies when he was taken back to Gibbons for identification. Gibbons said he thought Peglies was his assailant because of the afternoon row and the threats Peglies had made, but admitted that he had not seen him before the blow was struck. Peglies was taken to Brooklyn Police Headquarters and locked up on a charge of felonious assault.
A call was sent to the Brooklyn Hospital and Dr. Parrish responded. In the meantime a policeman had partially stopped the flow of blood. Dr. Parrish bandaged the wound and Gibbons was taken to the hospital. On his arrival there he became delirious and tore the bandage off, reopening the wound. Dr. Parrish said last night that Gibbons was in a critical condition.

 

 

 

“It Is Jane Hanrahan’s Body”

03 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in Newspaper Articles, The Sun

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Jane Hanihan, Jane Hanrahan, Jennie Hanihan, newsboys' house, suicide

The Sun provides a little more information (really, just a recap of articles from the time of her disappearance) in it’s June 3, 1894 article about Jane Hanrahan:

 

It is Jane Hanrahan’s Body.

She was a Servant at the Newsboys’ Lodging House, and Disappeared on March 19.

The body of the young woman that was found on Friday on the shore of Governor’s Island was identified at the Morgue yesterday as that of Jane Hanrahan of 12 1/2 Washington street. The identification was made by an aunt of the girl. Jane Hanrahan was 20 years old, good looking, and quiet and reserved in her ways. She had been a servant at the Newsboys’ Lodging House in New Chambers street for sixteen months, but disappeared from there early on the morning of March 19.

On the same morning, and at about the same hour, passengers on a sound steamer that was rounding Battery point saw a girl throw herself into the river. The steamer was in too much of a hurry to turn back to see what had become of the girl, but it is conjectured that she was Miss Hamahan, and that she was drowned. The body found on Governor’s Island had been in the water too long to admit of signs of foul play being seen, if such there were; but her friends cannot believe that the girl committed suicide. They say though that she had several quarrels with the servants at the lodging house just before she disappeared.

Before she left the lodging house she cut off her hair. The body will be buried to-day in Calvary Cemetery.

“Maybe This Was Jane Hanrahan”

30 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in Newspaper Articles, The Sun

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Brace Memorial Lodging House, Jane Hanihan, Jane Hanrahan, Jennie Hanihan, newsboys' house, suicide

On March 30, 1894, The Sun provides a little more detail about Jane Hanrahan’s disappearance:

Maybe This Was Jane Hanrahan.

Jane Hanrahan, who disappeared from the Newsboys’ Lodging House at New Chambers and Duane Streets on Monday morning last, may have been the girl that two deckhands on the steamboat City of Lawrence say they saw jump off the Battery wall on that morning. The City of Lawrence was rounding the Battery at 6:10 o’clock. Deckhands Peter Maloney and Michael Connery happened to be standing on the forward deck, when, as they say, Maloney saw a woman who wore a white apron and had a dark sack over her head instead of a hat, walking toward the Liberty dock. She walked out on the pier, and after standing for a moment on the edge of the wharf plunged into the river. The men did not report this to the Captain.

It was 5 1/2 o’clock Monday morning when Jane Hanrahan left the House. She wore no hat, and had a sacque thrown over her head. Before leaving she cut off her hair. She also left her trunk, trinkets, and jewelry behind.

A Tale of Two Finns

17 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in Newspaper Articles, The Sun

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Joseph Hartmann, pickpockets, Samuel Neuman

 

From the March 17, 1902 edition of The Sun:

 

Robbed A Policeman.

Two Newsboys Old in Petty Crime Caught at It, Victim Unsuspecting.

 

Policeman John Finn of the Elizabeth street station, while strolling along the Bowery in plain clothes last Saturday afternoon, had his pocket picked by two newsboys who were experts at the trick. The boys were sixteen-year-old Joseph Hartmann, living at the Newsboys’ Lodging House in Duane street, and twelve-year-old Samuel Neuman of 105 Allen street.

They approached the unsuspecting Finn from different sides, and under cover of his papers, Hartmann got his fingers into the fob pocket of Finn’s coat and extracted a dollar bill. The moment he had it in his hands he ran, followed by Neuman.

The entire proceeding was observed from a doorway by Detective Sergeant Richard A Finn, who is no relative, although a namesake of the robbed man. Thanks to the second Finn the two little thieves were caught before they had run more than a few feet. The younger boy was sent to the rooms of the Children’s society, where a long record of offences, including one case in which sentence was suspended, was found against him.

Hartmann, the older boy, pleaded guilty yesterday, adding gratuitously the infomation that on Friday he rifled the pockets of six men without getting more than 30 cents, so he was willing to go to jail till his luck turned. The Magistrate held him in $1,000 bail for trial. The Neuman boy, against whom there was no binding evidence, was remanded into the custody of the society till he can be committed to an institution.

“Newsboys At Rosie’s Funeral. “

24 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in General, The Sun

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funeral, Mrs Corcoran, newsgirls, newsies, Rosie Corcoran

From the May 24, 1900 edition of the Sun:

Newsboys At Rosie’s Funeral.

Meanwhile They Are Taking Care of the Corcoran Business at the Bridge.

The funeral of Rosie Corcoran, the Brooklyn Bridge newsgirl, will be held from her home at 102 James street, to-morrow. She will be buried in Cavalry Cemetery. Last night the women friends of Mrs. Corcoran, who are very many in Cherry and Water and Henry streets, sat in the front room about Rosie’s white-covered coffin and commented tearfully on the uncertainties of life. In an outer room at the head of the stairs sat Rosie’s oldest brother surrounded by a large number of his friends. Pipes and tobacco and other simple refreshments were provided for them.
Most of the Park row newsboys intend to go to Rosie’s funeral. A number of them voluntarily took the Corcorans’ places at the Bridge entrance yesterday and carried on the business for them under the supervision of Mrs. Corcoran’s rival, Mrs. Shea, who was anxious that the respect which the family was showing for its dead might not cost it too much. Mrs. Corcoran, who has had years of bitter experience with the Parkrow newsboys, sent them word by visitors at the house that if they thought they were making a permanent entrance on her territory under the semblance of doing her a favor she would take great pleasure in showing them to the contrary when the period of her mourning was over.

“‘Newsboy’ Josephine Beck?”

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in General, The Sun

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"Joe" Becker, Assistant Superintendent Gordon, Brace Memorial Lodging House, Josephine Beck, Matron Hike, newsboys' house, newsgirls, runaway

From the May 1, 1904 edition of The Sun:

“Newsboy” Josephine Beck?

As Joe Becker She Fooled the Lodging House.

She’s 14, and She Acted Like a Girl in Some Ways, but Her Sex Wasn’t Suspected Until She Had Been Sent to the Children’s Aid Society’s Kensico Farm.

Mrs. Charles F. Beck of Newark, N.J., learned yesterday of the appearance at the Newsboys’ Lodging House in this city of Joe Becker, who turned out to be a girl, and she believes that the child is her fourteen-year-old daughter Josephine, who left home on April 14.

The girl disappeared with part of her father’s and part of her brother’s clothing. In her room were found curls of her hair and the scissors with which she had cut them off.

Mrs. beck came to New York last night searching for the child, who had been sent from the lodging house to the Children’s Aid Society’s farm at Kensico and then, when her sex was discovered, returned to this city.

The officials of the society were noncommittal yesterday about the Joe who should have been Josephine, barely admitting that a girl had been at the lodging house and that she is now in one of their institutions. But the newsboys, Matron Hike and Assistant Superintendent Gordon had ideas of their own and freely expressed them.

“Just eleven days ago—to-night,” said Gordon, consulting his register, “he—er,she—came here late at night and asked for a night’s lodging. That’s not unusual. It happens every night. The only thing I noticed was high scared-like voice and eyes as pretty as a girl’s. Joe—that was the name he gave—was bashful, but lots of boys at first are.

“Now this is the pedigree of Josephine, or whatever his—or her—name is.” And Gordon produced a filled out official blank, which stated:

Name? Joseph Becker.
Born? Newark, N.J., Aug 3, 1889.
Parents? No answer.
Profession of trade? Brush maker.
Last employer? J. J. Pett.
Why not working now? Can’t get any.
Ever been in an institution? No.
How much money have you been making? Three dollars a week.
Can you read or write? Yes.
Where have you been during the last week? Roving.
Have you any friends? No.

the boy-girl got a berth in the big five cent dormitory on the third floor, and slept late the next morning. When she appeared at the superintendent’s office about 11 o’clock she asked for some kind of work, and was told to assist the janitor in cleaning up.

“That’s where my first suspicions came in,” said the janitor. “Never a boy could make a bed quick and tidy as that.”

“I just thought he was the prettiest, sweetest little boy I ever come across,” said Matron Hite. “He was so polite and he used to blush when the boys said things.”

“Gee!” said one of the newsboys in the “Waldorf” dormitory, so called because there are a chair and a little locker for each bed and because the cost is 15 cents the night. “Gee! That kid Joe’s a girl.”

“Say, yer slow, Mike,” answered his partner, “yer slow. Half the fellers called him ‘sis.’ Pat Hanley says she gave herself dead away in the gym first time she went there. Somebody pitched a ball her way and she tried to ketch it in her lap.

“She didn’t want to mix up wid us much, ‘cept in sellin’ papers,” said another boy. “Said she wus from de country and asked Pete to show her how ter sell papers. Den she beats Pete at his own game. Say, she had us conned all right, all right. but I wouldn’t ha’ bullied her so much ef I’d ha knowed she wus a girl.”

Just what the real antecedents of Josephine are, no one seems to know. She told several tales, all of which vary and it is believed that she is a runaway girl. She gave her age at first as 15, later as 14, and it is now stated that she is 13. She is about 5 feet tall, well built, blue eyed and golden haired. Her hair was cut short and parted on one side. She had smooth, fair skin and a pretty mouth and teeth.

The youngster’s real sex, it is said, was not discovered until Wednesday, when the superintendent of the society’s farm at Kensico, where Josephine had been sent, became suspicious and asked the disguised adventuress to reveal her identity. Then she confessed.

“Mrs. Bliss Dines Newsboys.”

21 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in The Sun

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newsboys' house, special dinner

From the April 21, 1903 edition of The Sun:

Mrs. Bliss Dines Newsboys.

Back From Europe, She Entertains Them at the Children’s Aid Society’s Rooms.

Mrs. George F. Bliss, the newsboys’ friend, who has just returned from Europe, gave a dinner and entertainment to the city newsboys at all the different homes of the Children’s Aid Society last evening. She wanted this dinner to be on the 19th, the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, but as this was Sunday the entertainment was postponed until last evening.

At the Newsboys’ Lodging House, 9 Duane street, about one hundred and fifty boys sat down to the dinner. Then the adjourned to the schoolroom, where there was music.

“Newsboys Home Fixed Up”

21 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by cityhallpark1899 in Newspaper Articles, The Sun

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Brace Memorial Lodging House, newsboys' house, renovations

From the December 21, 1903 edition of the New York Sun:

Newsboys’ Home Fixed Up.

Changes and Betterments in the Old Duane Street Building.

After being closed for repairs for nearly six months, the Newsboys’ Lodging House, at Duane and New Chambers streets, is again open.
The old dark stairs leading to Duane street have been replaced by a wide, well lighted flight of stone steps leading to New Chambers street. A new doorway and an artistic illuminated sign, presented by one of the managers of Tiffany’s, make the entrance attractive.
The assembly room has been repainted and has a new hardwood floor. New steam-fitting and plumbing have been put throughout the building. The gymnasium has been put in good shape and the house is ready for more boys than ever before.
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