a photograph shows Ehrich Weiss at the age of 13 when he was a messenger boy for a deparment store in New York. He is a good-looking boy with a ready smile. At this age, he already seems to know how to get people's attention. Ehrich was then living with his family on East 69th Street. When he was 16, his father became ill and unable to work. Ehrich and his brothers worked long hours at any job they could find. From the department store, Ehrich moved to a necktie factory.
that the factory, Ehrich worked nine or ten hours a day. That did not leave him much free time, but he made good use of every minute. He joined the Pastime Athletic Club and competed in swimming and running. Another photograph from this period shows him with athletic medals pinned to his running shirt. He is clearly very pround, a young man who would not accept anything but first place.