The Express.
London, England, 1868-12-26 00:00:00

:11:1sTMAs AT TILE REFUGES.

auager• of Cie refuges and soup kitchens
in,1,07..,:ts liar,' two ways of making
AS 1,45. W:l`oi.;il,lY to their poor—one
c.•:itorting dinner which is
tle• mi•ei. and the other distributing
!icy of goo.l food in lots which the re-
. , or-tune at home.. The Newport-market
e e•terday. and the Ham-card Soup Kitchen
e illustrated each form of benevo-
•ei both amply repaid a visit. The New-
.l., t h. fue was full of men, women, and
”‘stertla . ho sat down at half-past two
•eraighly tlirstmas meal, all of whom
,ve k, pt the festive season in the streets
the benevolent machinery we saw. To
en the line of wan worn faces sitting at
Leads half an hour before dinner tame,
t at the ster.. of their owners' brokenlivos,
alise t 1..• parable in which the highways
t. lied for guests, and outcasts were bidden
art. The entire place, which was origin-
and shingtter-house, was scrupulously
„ea the boys room, which had been con-
alto a temporary banquet chamber, was
filly deem atril and arranged as to make
tivity reel. It was only the diners,
...1 female. who appeared too far gone in
..lness to enjoy. Many of them had not
Lain to a regular dinner for months. Many ,
not tasted wholesome meat, or known the
or of a !smilesr roof for a far longer period
.111 were homeless, penniless, friendless, and
•• •rn. Workers overtaken by sickness and
-ows out of employment poor wretches who
succumbed to temptation, and who now
ked in vain for the husks of former pleasures ;
n and women of good education, who
..1 sunk from their own station and
.1 fallen on the tender mercies of the
radon streets; the shiftless and the unfor-
rate, those beaten in the battle of life, and those
1:o had fallen helplessly or culpably out of the
1.....tik5; such were the partakers of the Christmas
provided at Newport-market.. To give the
rt tier a clear notion of the work this excellent
t tee has performed, and how its functions differ
!-,•••1 the casual ward, we quote some of what are
.:• •I the special cases of the last few days :
1. W. C., a servant. Had been out of a situation some
A situation was obtained for him at an outfitters.
A -..itablesupply of clothing was given to him, and he
c :.t.nues in his employment and is doing well.
H. 8.. a painter. Had been out of work through
.:kness of trade. Had parted with all his money, and
▪ his clothes. His dress prevented him obtaining work,
sit s situation near A— being obtained, he was sup-
} lied with decent clothing. and sufficient money lent to
m b pay his fare to his employment.
3. C.. a lawyer. Had been out of work 'several
'reeks. Temporary employment was obtained for him
• Brompton, and a permanent situation as messenger and
Id man in a large building firm in London.
4. T. IL, a waiter. out of work more than two
tioLthi. Had no clothes left to enable him to make a
roper appearance. A place being obtained at a large
!.,te in Kent, he had necessaries given to him, and he is
tow in his situation.
J. 8., a servant. Had been for some years in a
Xanan's establishment. Left through failure of health;
.t of work nearly six wniths. Came to the refuge com-
culy blokes down. Aft r some trouble a situation as a
dam was obtained for him in the neighbourhood of the
fu and and as his clo-bee prevented him going, a suitable
r war given to him, and he is doing well.
i. acook. Had lost Lisemployment throughfamily
.tges, and wandsred about friendless, and without
• c 111,211$ to maintain himself. Came to the refuge,
• a situation was obtained for hint in the kitchen of
of the largest Wert-end establilments ; some clothes
ri given to him, and money to pay for a week's lodging
•.• to him. He re,aid the money at the end of the
It. and continues in Lis situation.
J. L., a labourer. Had worked at Woolwich.
• of work more thin three months. Completely des-
: • .4, and Mu oat bardnotni. Work for three mouths
• found for him, tam • cl 41,;rg given to Lim, and ho
: t to work a week before Christmas.
• T. IL. a chandelier maker, had not worked at his trade
r s long time; had beun joueing about at anything.
.1 done nothing of any kind for more than three
Jut its. A recommendation to a large firm in his own
are-- was given to h m, and work obtained at once.
It will be seen that the kindly care of the
i • :age does not end with providing food and
.titer for the night. An applicant once admitted,
or alc is permitted to return for seven nights,
i • :rig sent out each morning to look for
-,•• ark. Those present yesterday had come in
• various , and were all without
tangible periods
future. The social enjoyment of
• e day was to them a mere gleam of
• e comfort the well-to-do enjoy, and it would
• difficult to conceive anything sadder than the
• wriest between the well-filled dinner table, with
: • Christmas joints and puddings, its foaming
Lags, and the nuts and orabges of its dessert, and
e uncertainty which every one present must have
It as to dining at all to-day, and in the days to
: llow. Some of the women's stories were even
:_,re pitiable than the men's. One lady's-maid
ho had nursed her mistress through her last ill-
:.ess and then broken down herself and been taken
: • a hospital, whence she emerged convalescent,
: sit too weak and ailing to do aught but " live
• upon her clothes," had been there some days.
Her character was unimpeached, her behaviour
..nexceptionable; but she had no friends, and
without other dress than the deplorable one she
stood in, all chance of obtaining another situation
rust an end. After suffering such privations as
only the penniless and helpless of our cities
'allow, she came to the Refuge, and the su-
r-rintendent is now seeking employment on her
Lkbalf. Another woman, respectably connected
end whose relatives are well before the world,
LA been seduced from her comfortable home, and
:ter living with her betrayer seven years
e•td until he drank himself into a mad-
rase, would have starved yesterday but for
Le Refuge. But to glance hastily down the line
er pitiful visages was to read as in a glass a story
hich might vary in its details, but the eulmi-
Liting catastrophe of which was uniform. The
~:,es and furrows on the cheek and brow, the dark
llows of the eyes, the painfully beaten expres-
- a which made the youngest adult there seem
1, recalled the faces of the doomed in
i .aite's terrible vision. The Christmas apologues
-Lich turn on poor travellers meeting
chance and unfolding the romantic his-
us to each other, and which shed the
• Jot of fancy over the sufferings and privations
' the narrators—all these, and there are many
••h, het med to become unreal as we looked on.
.• • t even Christmas fare, nor the Christmas also-
.tions, would make these people talk like those
• meet in books. The anxiety for the morrow
is too keen for philosophy or sentimentalising as
'‘• the past; and it was impossible not to feel that
surely as the animal sense of comfort and re-
; -thin would die out so the fierce troubles of
.iee care-worn lives would assert themselves with
• .-morrow's sun. But it was a humanizing,
taching sight, and if, amid the merry-making of
this jovial season, the Newport-market Refuge is
i• membered as it deserves, its receipts will far
exceed those accruing from the longest run of the
auesessful Christmas piece.
Ham-yard, Windmill-street, on Christmas-eve,
••• as gloriously busy. What we believe is called
tie. Leicester-square Soup Kitchen is there, and was
everted into a splendid oe-operative store for
t: e evening. Huge plum-puddings lay piled
Lie cannon balls in one corner; portions of
r'.4lly, juicy beef and mutton occupied another;
slide parcels of grocery, and modest allotments of
",inforting drinks were all being rapidly served
(ult. Jovial looking men in white aprons and
'lames distributed these good things like
isnevelent genii, and as if they liked the
Amateur counter women—benevolent
i'odis'e who had apprenticed themselves to the
Leslie...se, and did it capitally—served out the
Owl-ter and tea ; and hovering about übiquitous,
;401 with an ever kindly word, was the clergyman
whose organization the great success was doe.
ithre there was no attempt at eating or drinking
',14 the premises. This Lad been tried on previous
••' to's, and satisfactorily. But it had been neces-
'447 U. cover in the yard, and the money spent in
1 "Iloortiry structures and in the arrangements
'''llowing was this Christman devoted to food. All
this was given away by ticket—that is, the sub-
:, fibers to the fund had vouchers given them,
side's they in their turn bestowed upon the
I Ger they knew to be deserving, or en-
lugt,4l to the missionaries or clergy of
district. The happy possessor of a

-•
'll
• • 31
• to
tis
•
. •
.•o
• '!'•
. •itt
• • ~t.
•?loi
iv
• - ti
. 7 • .tit
• :1171
• • ...lb'.
.
int%
fur
:• •tivn
• ...,1 ft.
•.
. • t
not ti
of
All
-own out
SU=
kid fill
n and
..1 snub
1 fall, t